Joining the Library
Membership
Available training courses
Obtaining Journals Articles
Photocopying
Summary of Photocopying Licensing Terms for the NHS in Scotland
Obtaining Out of Hours Access to the Library
Place a Hold/Recall a Book
Obtain Passwords
Searching the Catalogue
University of Aberdeen Libraries
The Robert Gordon University Library
Highland Health Sciences Library in Inverness
Membership Application Form (Word format) which can also be obtained by contacting the library.
here. Staff members of NHS Grampian, independent practitioners (e.g. General Practitioners, Dentists and Pharmacists), NHS Grampian partners (e.g. those employed in Social Care, Community Health, Voluntary Services and Local Authorities) and students of Aberdeen University and The Robert Gordon University are eligible for membership. Forms are available on the NHS Grampian Library and Knowledge Services website, from the library sites, by fax, post, email or on request.
It is the policy of NHS Scotland to encourage partnership and the sharing of healthcare information. Accordingly, it would be very unlikely that any person with a valid need would be unable to use an NHS Grampian library.
NHS Grampian staff and partners have access to a range of library services, including borrowing, document delivery, literature searching and photocopying.
A current membership card issued by an NHS Grampian library allows access to full library facilities from the following NHS Grampian sites :
Woodend Hospital Site ( Library, General Block)
Dr Gray's Hospital Site
Cornhill Hospital Site (Library, Clerkseat Building)
Robert Gordon University Library
NHS Grampian have a reciprocal arrangement with the Robert Gordon University Library to access certain services at all library sites Application for membership is available at
all sites. Staff must show a valid ID badge when registering and membership is for one year in the first instance.
Highland Health Sciences Library (Inverness)
NHS Grampian staff have a Service Level Agreement with Highland Health Sciences Library to enable staff living and working locally access to certain services (including training and borrowing of material).
Staff must show a valid ID badge when registering and membership is for one year in the first instance.
University of Aberdeen Library Services
NHS Grampian has a Service Level Agreement with the University of Aberdeen that allows NHS Staff to join AU library services and gain access to a host of physical materials and resources.
NHS Staff wishing to join AU libraries must provide the following information:
*Completed AU membership application form
*Photocopy of NHS Staff ID badge
*Photocopy of page of contract with expiry details or alternatively a letter from your department
confirming length of contract.
Completed AU library membership forms with proof attached should be sent to:
Dorothy Spence
Supervisor
Medical Library
Polwarth building
Foresterhill
Aberdeen
AB25 2ZD
Incomplete membership form will be returned to the reader for completion. Once processed your membership card will be posted to your departmental address unless specified otherwise.
Library courses are available free to all NHS Staff throughout the year. The training centres are the library training room, Royal Cornhill Hospital in Aberdeen and Dr Gray's Library in Elgin.
To check availability, dates and to book courses:
VENUE: Library Training Room, Royal Cornhill Hospital and Dr Gray's Library, Elgin
DURATION: 2 Hours
To provide a brief overview of NHS Grampian Libraries, how to access electronic databases, fulltext journals, ebooks and information via NHS Scotland e-library, how to register for an Athens password and the options on "my knowledge space".
VENUE: Library Training Room, RCH and Dr Gray's Library, Elgin
DURATION: 2 ½ Hours
This in-depth course provides users with literature searching skills using many of the different electronic databases, searching for abstracts, journals and other web sites available via the e-library and how to use reference managing tools.
Searching for journals and journal articles can be a frustrating and time consuming exercise. Therefore, the Library staff have devised these several helpful steps below to try and ease the process. These steps can be followed, AFTER you have found out the name of the particular journal article you are looking for. If you do not yet hold this information, you may wish to do a literature search first. Remember, if you have any problems whatsoever - just contact us!
Find out whether the print copy of the journal is held in the Library. To do this, either:
ShelcatIf the journal is held by the respective Library, it may be read in the Library or photocopied for reference later. Before photocopying journals, be sure to read the Summary of Photocopying Licensing for the NHS in Scotland. If the journal IS NOT held by the Library - please proceed with Step 2.
The next step is to find out whether the journal can be obtained electronically. There are many different ways how you can do this but it is advisable to check in the following order:
NHS e-library. If it is, you can log in to the e-library using your Athens Account to receive a PDF copy free of charge.
Free Medical Journals website
Library Catalogue (all NHS Staff can join Aberdeen University Libraries free of charge and can borrow books from them)
If the journal is not available from any NHSG Library or The Knowledge Network, you will have to make an interlibrary loan request via our online document delivery servce (Shelcat). The Library staff will source a supplier for the request and obtain a photocopy of the article(s) for you.
Photocopying facilities at each site are available for use by both staff and students. Please contact a member of the library staff onsite if you require assistance.
Photocopying of Journals
If you work onsite at one of the NHSG Libraries(e.g. at Cornhill Hospital), you may borrow journals for a short time, to photocopy at your own department. Before doing so, you are advised to read the Summary of Photocopying Licensing for the NHS in Scotland.
NHS Scotland and Wales User Guidelines Form A4 (PDF format)
NHS Scotland and Wales Legal Information summary A5 (PDF format) The NHS in Scotland and Wales hold licences with The Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd (CLA) to take photocopies and to scan from magazines, books, journals and other periodicals on the prescribed terms and conditions in the Licence. This is in effect from 1 April 2007 to 31st March 2008. CLA's licence authorises photocopying and distribution in paper format or, in the case of scanned copies, via a secure intranet to broadly all staff employed by, and some individuals contracted by, the NHS in Scotland and Wales. However, information cannot be exchanged between the NHS in Scotland and Wales under the terms of this licence
Photocopying
CLA Website Scanning
The List of Excluded Categories and Works should be displayed next to the copier and is available on the CLA Website
All staff, including General Practitioners, officers, directors, and lay representative employed or contract by the NHS and its NHS bodies, who are engaged in the provision of health care within the public sector
The licence covers copying for NHS internal information purposes or for the benefit of patients in connection with their treatment or condition. You can make as many copies as you require for each particular purpose.
Your NHS organisation must own an original published paper edition or a copyright fee-paid copy supplied by a licensed document supplier such as the British Library or a CLA licensed press cuttings agency. Each act of copying may consist of up to:
Digital Copies may not be edited or manipulated in any way and may not be stored on a central server or systematically indexed with the intention of creating and electronic library or corporate information resource. Copies may not be placed on, or linked to the worldwide web or an intranet
Your Licensing Co-Ordinator*: Christopher Russell at
christopher.russell@nhs.net
This document is intended for guidance only and not as a substitute for the CLA Licence terms themselves which should be read in full. In the event of a conflict between the two, the Licence shall prevail
Want to find out more about
Copyright Licensing Agency?
The Copyright Licensing Agency Limited
CBC House, 24 Canning Street, Edinburgh EH3 8EG tel: 0131 272 2711
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Dr Grays Library, Elgin: Office hours only at present (under review)
Woodend Library: Office hours only
Cornhill Library: 24hr Access to Training and Resource Room facility. See below for user instructions.
Please register with a member of the Cornhill Library staff prior to first using the facility. Access will be given only to staff/students who have registered. When registering you will be required to provide the following :
Please sign in at the Clerkseat Reception where your identification badge or matriculation card must be shown. If you do not have your I.D. or matriculation card, no access will be given. The Receptionist will give you the key for the Training & Resource Room. Please note - whoever signs out the key is personally responsible for it.
Please refer to the "Access to Computer" Guidelines displayed in different locations in the Training & Resource Room.
Should you have any problems logging on, please refer to the "How to Logon" instructions displayed in different locations in Training & Resource Room.
No, but please refer to the comprehensive
The Knowledge Network online journal and book holdings.
Lock the Training and Resource Room door, return the key to Reception and sign out. If someone is still using the PC's, ALWAYS, sign the key back in at Reception and ask the other person to sign it out in their own name.
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Holds can be placed for books or reports in one of two ways:
1. Using
Shelcat (Online Library Catalogue) This incorporates resources from all the NHS Grampian Libraries as well as over 40 other libraries throughout Scotland.
Should you have found an item on the catalogue which is already checked out to another user, it is possible to place a hold/recall yourself using Shelcat online. For detailed instructions how to do this, please read the
Shelcat User Guide first, on page 4 of the guide for placing hold requests.
Only books or reports can be ordered through Shelcat, at present, by members of the NHS Grampian Library i.e. not journals. This facility allows users to 'hold' books and have them sent to the location of their choice e.g. Dr Grays Library, Woodend Library or Cornhill Library. If the user is based on-site (e.g. based within Cornhill Hospital) and the item they require is located at Dr Grays Hospital they will be notified by NHS Grampian Library staff when the hold request is processed and the item will be sent down to Cornhill Library at The Royal Cornhill Hospital for the user to collect.
The library staff are more than happy to place holds for users on their behalf using the staff computerised system. It is helpful if users can provide library staff with as many details as possible, such as book title, author and edition etc.
If a book or report is already issued but is urgently required by another user, it is possible for a 'recall' to be done. A recall notice will be sent to the user asking for the item to be returned within 7 days. Therefore, the minimum time an item can be on loan is one week.
(Please note that recalls can only be done by library staff members on behalf of readers)
The Knowledge Network (previously known as the NHS Scotland e-library), is freely available via the Internet to all NHS staff, regardless of discipline, grade, sector or geographic location. With over 4000 full text electronic journals, over 200 electronic books, approximately 1500 free quality health information websites and over 20 major biomedical databases, including Medline, Embase, CINHAL, PsycINFO, EBM Reviews and MD Consult, the invaluable 'e-Library' presents an extensive collection of information and learning resources for users.
Access to the vast array of subscription resources is authenticated via a single "ATHENS" username and password, available to NHS staff. To register online, please visit The Knowledge Network homepage and select the link "Need to Register?" at the top right of the page
Alternatively contact your local NHS Library who will be able to assist you:
Shelcat is an easy to use online catalogue, comprising holdings of all the NHS Grampian libraries as well as over 40 other libraries throughout Scotland, which lists both printed and electronic resources held.
To find out more about this new catalogue click
here