Books

Winner of DCH library website banner

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DCH Library recently ran a competition inviting DCHFT staff and students to design the banner for our new-look website. The design by Charlotte Bidwell, Digital Projects Support Assistant, was chosen for its colours, cheerfulness and simplicity. Charlotte, on the right in the photo, received her prize of a £20 book voucher in the library. Well done and thank you, Charlotte! You can see Charlotte’s design on the heading banner above.

While most people immediately recognise that the image is of a row of books, some of us see in the design a row of beach huts – which reflects a wider geographical reach than Dorchester, where the library is actually based. Whatever you see in the design we liked the fact that the colours matched those of the NHS and the Trust and that its cheerfulness and effective simplicity reflect the helpfulness and friendliness of the library team.

Charlotte Bidwell (right) receives her prize from Morag Evans, Librarian

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘library’?

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Maybe you think of shelves of books? Well, although we love books (and by the way we do have shelves of books!) did you know this is a tiny part of what DCH library offers? Did you know there is a wealth of other resources and services available to you?

Here’s what you need to know:

  • As well as our print resources, clinical and medical staff also have access to clinical decision support tools like UpToDate and BMJ Best Practice (both available from the Trust intranet homepage) as well as a host of e-journals and e-books on ClinicalKey – https://www.clinicalkey.com/  and much more!
  • To access our e-resources you’ll need an OpenAthens username and password – self-registration is easy and available at https://openathens.nice.org.uk/
  • We can set up evidence alerts in your specialty/interests – let us know your professional interests and we’ll match these to the evidence base and send you fortnightly alerts with relevant high-level evidence. Sign up here
  • We also offer workshops on a variety of topics including:
  • study skills (first Tuesday of every month),
  • evidence searching,
  • basics of critical appraisal,
  • reflective reading and writing,
  • referencing
  • and health literacy
  • We also conduct evidence searches and summaries – just email us at library.office@dchft.nhs.uk with your question!
  • If we don’t hold a book or article that you are trying to get hold of we probably know a library that does and we are usually able to supply it to you. Our popular inter library lending and document supply service is quick and efficient as we belong to a large network of NHS libraries called SWIMS – you can view the SWIMS catalogue here
  • We also have a button on the Trust intranet homepage which takes you to our Discovery Service – basically you can search all our resources in one place – available here
  • There is also a small fiction section and a popular wellbeing corner and resources.
  • The Library is staffed between Monday and Thursday, 8.30am-5pm and Friday, 8.30am-4.30pm. But with your cotag you can access the library 24/7!

Reading for pleasure builds empathy and improves well being – research from The Reading Agency

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There is strong evidence that reading for pleasure can increase empathy, improve relationships with others, reduce the symptoms of depression and the risk of dementia, and improve wellbeing throughout life, new research carried out for The Reading Agency has found.

The report, entitled ‘The impact of reading for pleasure and empowerment’, surveys research into the effects of reading for pleasure on people of a range of age groups and requirements. Among the benefits it finds are improved social capital for children, young people and the general adult population; better parent-child communication and reduction of depression and dementia symptoms among adults.

Another key finding of the report is that enjoyment of reading is a prerequisite for all these positive outcomes: people who choose to read, and enjoy doing so, in their spare time are more likely to reap all of these benefits.

The Reading Agency – Literature Review: the impact of reading for pleasure and empowerment

Updated books for departments

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Now is the time to have a look at the books you may have on your departmental shelves and consider if they need updating.  Perhaps there are new titles that you’d like the Library to stock.  If so, please send book requests to Library Service Manager Jill Buckland by February 20th.

Books on shelf

Books on shelf