Medical LibraryOur resource of the month for September reflected the fact that so many of our library users either live away from Cambridge, or spend a great portion of their time away on placement at other Trusts throughout the region (for example clinical students). These users may find it difficult to use the Medical Library as a physical space, or make use of physical resources such as printed books. Our resource this month was a collection of tips about how to take the library with your wherever you go — a Medical Library in your pocket!
Our first recommendation was BMJ Best Practice – a fantastic point-of-care tool that can be downloaded as an app to use via your phone. You need an Athens login to use this resource — visit the Athens registration page to get an Athens account set up, or to reset your password.
You need an Athens account to use it, and can also download it as an app if you prefer. Details here: https://t.co/ICb6fdQy7P
— Cambridge Medical Library (@cam_med_lib) September 2, 2019
Our next piece of advice was our top tips for accessing full text:
1. It may seem obvious, but check if we have access to the journal at all. Search iDiscover (https://t.co/Cj0rEQwwUi) with the name of the journal to see if we have access, and what years that access covers. Is the article you want included within those years? #ResourceOfTheMonth
— Cambridge Medical Library (@cam_med_lib) September 9, 2019
3. Tell Google Scholar that you are a student or researcher at Cambridge. You need to edit the settings in Scholar to do so. This will mean the results in your searches prioritise full-text articles available via University of Cambridge subscriptions. #ResourceOfTheMonth
— Cambridge Medical Library (@cam_med_lib) September 9, 2019
5. Install a browser extension such as Kopernio or Lean Library. This will ensure either Open Access, or articles available to you for free due to being a Cambridge researcher or student, are highlighted to you in search results. #ResourceOfTheMonth
— Cambridge Medical Library (@cam_med_lib) September 9, 2019
These top tips can all be found on the Medical Library website, or this PDF guide.
Our next tip was to make use of the library’s extensive collection of online guides and tutorials which teach you how to search for literature in various databases, use referencing software, and more.
Today's recommendation will help you if you are at home, on placement, or otherwise away from the library, and struggling to do a literature search. Our 'teach yourself' guides and curated list of tutorial videos can help you use databases more effectively https://t.co/TuRROiFPZA
— Cambridge Medical Library (@cam_med_lib) September 16, 2019
The link to these guides can be found on the Research Support section of the Medical Library website.
Our final recommendation: start using ebooks! No need to worry if someone recalls the book while you are on placement, no fines, and no borrowing limit — plus no need to carry heavy textbooks with you.
Did you know that you can use ebooks as well as or instead of borrowing physical copies? This is great if you're away on placement. Simply limit your search on iDiscover (https://t.co/Cj0rEQeW2K) to ebooks, and follow the prompts.
— Cambridge Medical Library (@cam_med_lib) September 23, 2019
The Medical Library also holds regular ebooks drop-in sessions to answer your ebook and library questions.
Do be sure to follow the Medical Library on Twitter for more great resources every month.