Seasons greetingsseasons greetings

December 2014

Issue 69 The Swimming Pool

Newsletter for the

SWIMS Network

The Editorial Team

Sam Burgess Morag Evans Pam Geldenhuys Lucy Gilham Ruth Jenkins Jessica Pawley Imelda Winn

Inside this issue

Welcome to the new editorial team 2

Oxford library trainees 3

Spooky goings on at Discovery Library 4

WOW! Look at that wall 5

Plymouth Lido 6

Connecting Wiltshire Travel Challenge 6

Striving for Excellence Awards 7

HLG Professional Development Fund 8

Tea and tissues in the library 10

Network news 12

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Welcome to the new editorial team As of January 2015 there will be an almost completely new and refreshed editorial team. The “old hands” (such as they are) remaining are Sam Burgess (W01), Pam Geldenhuys (EXE) and Imelda Winn (W01); and the fresh new faces that hopefully come with lots of new ideas are: Lucy Gilham (RBH), Ruth Jenkins (PPH), Jess Pawley (TAU), and Morag Evans (D08). Many thanks go to the former members of the editorial group for doing such a sterling job in keeping the Swimming Pool going; some have already left the NHS but we would like to thank them still – John Loy, Helen Bingham, Lindy Jost, and Trish McLean. The new editorial group has recently met and we have some information and questions for you all. Firstly – the Swimming Pool distribution area has now been split into two areas for editing and submission purposes. If you are based in the South West then you need to contact Sam, Jess, or Pam. If you are based in the Thames Valley and Wessex area then you should contact Lucy, Ruth or Morag. (The editorial team have actually split the two areas further, all will be revealed at the next call for items.) The regular monthly call for items will still go out, but please contact your regional editors if you have a submission or an idea instead of Imelda unless you have a general question. Secondly – the editorial group is only so big, so we would like to ask for a volunteer from each library to be a Swimming Pool champion – this would involve letting us know what is coming up in the next few months so that we can better plan the content of Swimming Pool, (i.e. someone in your library is going to a conference in two months, and the library is having an away day next week). Are you willing to be the point of contact for Swimming Pool for your library – our go-to-person if we need information or to boost our pester power for a tardy author!? Finally – are you happy with the Swimming Pool as it currently stands? Do you like the style, format, or content – would you like to change anything or to keep the status quo? Would you like to see a regular feature or do you want us to provide articles that are more “professional” in content – we would still keep the informal articles as they are interesting, but would like articles that are closer in style to journal articles? If you have any comments, thoughts, or volunteers, please contact Imelda in the first instance – imelda.winn@gwh.nhs.uk Sam Burgess Editor/Librarian Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation trust (W01)

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Helping Oxford library trainees become qualified professionals As a former Oxford University Libraries graduate trainee, I was invited to speak to this year’s cohort of trainees about my experiences studying at the University of Sheffield for my MA Librarianship. Although I was there in a speaking capacity, I personally found the day interesting and informative, and thought it worthwhile to share some of the insights. I was one of four speakers – three of us reflecting on our library school experiences at different institutions, and we were joined by Stephen Pinfield, senior lecturer in the Information School at the University of Sheffield, who discussed the important factors to consider when choosing a course. The University of Oxford Libraries Graduate Traineeship

Although graduate traineeships exist in a number of sectors, including health libraries, academic libraries are generally the most common. Of these, the University of Oxford holds the majority; there are roughly 12 trainees – some years there are more, some years less – based across Oxford in Bodleian libraries and College libraries.

The traineeship offers one year’s practical experience of library work for those wishing to apply to a postgraduate qualification as a librarian or information professional. It provides the requisite amount of experience asked for by most institutions, but it is also an opportunity to decide whether to pursue it as a career before investing money and time in the qualification.

Wednesday afternoons are designated for training, including visits, guest speakers, and careers sessions such as this one I presented at, How to Become a Qualified Library and Information Professional.

Oxford Trainees blog blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/oxfordtrainees

Bodleian Libraries webpage on the traineeship www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/about-

us/jobs/trainees

Advice about library & information qualifications Stephen Pinfield’s presentation was a balanced discussion of how to choose a course and institution that is right for you. Understandably many of his examples came from the University of Sheffield, where he is a senior lecturer and course coordinator for MA Librarianship, but he remained remarkably unbiased – unlike me, as my presentation was distinctly pro-Sheffield. Some of his key questions to ask included:

- What are the module topics and how much choice do you get?

- Full-time, part-time or distance learning?

The Radcliffe Camera - one of over 100 libraries across

the University of Oxford

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- Is the course content practice-based or more theoretical?

- Is the department research- or teaching-led? And which of these is important to you?

- Course titles? Sheffield runs Masters courses called Librarianship, Information

Management, Digital Library Management, and Data Science, all of which would be

appropriate for most library jobs.

- What are the facilities you look for and what are they like?

I was invited to speak firstly as a former-trainee still in the Thames Valley area, and secondly in response to feedback from previous years to hear from someone who is not in the academic sector. The two other former-trainees covered their courses at UCL and Aberystwyth, part-time and distance learning respectively. As my course had been full-time, our experiences offered the trainees a good overview of the options available to them. Unsurprisingly in the current job market, many of the trainees’ questions related to employability, and pathways into particular job roles. I answered lots of questions not only about studying at Sheffield, but also about working in a healthcare library and job roles with more emphasis on research. It was rewarding to contribute back to these very new professionals, especially in this session which I found so helpful when I was in their place. Ruth Jenkins Librarian Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (PPH)

Spooky goings on at Discovery Library

The Information Management and Technology Department at Plymouth Hospital have a monthly ‘dress down’ day in order to raise money for charity; so the library decided to follow suit and have a fancy dress theme day for Halloween! We invited people to “guess how many spiders in the jar” or to “do a Halloween doodle” for a donation. We also provided goody bags direct from the library cauldron and offered sweet treats for our visitors. All the money raised went to the charity of the year for Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust - HeartSWell South West, which is committed to supporting heart patients, their partners, and carers across the West Country. Benita Beeson Library Assistant Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust (PLY)

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WOW! Look at that wall We were inspired by the South Central Christmas meeting last December here at Winchester that involved an exercise in library refurbishment which meant that on a bit of a whim H34 decided to paint one of our walls orange.

Tying in with a major ‘weed’ of stock we moved all our book stock and freed one wall of shelving. The estate painter was thrilled to be using any colour other than NHS green and in no time at all one wall was quite tangerine!

We rearranged some of the furniture we had, and added a few new bits, also orange! We were fortunate to be loaned a large original painting from a talented painter in the Occupational Health team. The newly painted area was also decorated with pictures found

in the archives, and a set of medical illustrations that had been donated to us. The library now has four new zoned areas. The enquiry area, a study carrel area, a relaxed seating area, and finally at the back a small area that can be for group work without disturbing the rest of our readers, which is proving very popular. More good news. This year the Library team at H34 were nominated three times for a WOW award. The WOW awards are an international organisation working with a diverse range of businesses all over the world - “The WOW! Awards are a truly unique way of raising customer service standards, improving employee engagement and bringing better results to the bottom line.” We were fortunate to be chosen as winners in the ‘above and beyond’ category in April. Liz Land and Chris Hobbs attended a celebratory buffet lunch for WOW award winners held in the Ark, a conference centre on site at Basingstoke & North Hampshire Hospital where the Healthcare Library is situated. Christine Hobbs Senior Library Assistant

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (H34)

Here is the HHFT CEO presenting us with our winners’ certificate in front of our new

donated painting

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Plymouth Lido

Following the September launch of the ‘seaside town’ stamps by Royal Mail I decided to venture up to Plymouth Hoe on a sunny, but blustery, day with my trusty SWICE bag for a commemorative photoshoot at the Plymouth Lido. Along the way, we bumped into some friends that were considering going wild swimming – not something that I fancied although I probably would have gone in to the pool if it was full (although my friends did assure me that they had a spare wetsuit!).

As you can see, I had to cling on to the Royal Mail postcard from blowing away as it was such a windy day. The photo does not do the pool justice – if I had received the stamp earlier I would have chosen a better day, but did not receive the stamp until the end of September.

http://www.westminstercollection.com/p-355P/Britain-by-the-Sea-Ltd-Ed.-Philatelic-Book.aspx

Benita Beeson Library Assistant Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust (PLY)

Connecting Wiltshire Travel Challenge – Salisbury W11 In September Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust took part in the Connecting Wiltshire Travel Challenge which involved competing with workplaces around the county to clock up the most number of journeys made to and from work by walking, cycling and public transport. All Library staff signed up to the Challenge and the hospital came 7th overall, and first in the category for the size of workplace. As a result a prize cheque was presented to the hospital for its charity, the Stars Appeal, which is currently raising money for a new Breast Cancer Unit. (A previous appeal raised money for the new Children’s Unit which displaced the Library but that’s another story!) Library staff’s contribution included Jenny Lang’s 176 miles cycled, apparently the equivalent of 18 doughnuts (not sure if this takes into account the hill up to the hospital!). Jenny Lang Head Librarian Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust (W11)

Jenny and bicycling colleagues presenting the cheque to the Stars Appeal

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Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust Striving for Excellence Awards

Library staff winner and library involvement in Trust projects

An annual event is held at Salisbury to celebrate and showcase individual and team achievements in a number of different areas which aim to embody the principles set out in our new Values and Behaviours and recognise the work of both clinical and non-clinical teams. Categories for the awards include:

Chairman’s Outstanding Contribution Award Chief Executive’s Leadership Award Equality and Diversity Award Service Improvement Awards (three categories) Unsung Hero Award Governors’ Volunteer of the Year Award Living the Values Award Customer Care Awards (patient/public nominations)

The ‘Living the Values Award’ is a new award this year and to achieve this, an individual needs to demonstrate that they are 'living the values' of our organisation by the way in which they behave and act towards colleagues, patients and visitors on a daily basis. These values are:

Responsive

Friendly

Patient-Centred and Safe

Professional

Liam Thornhill, Library Assistant at Salisbury was the first ever winner of this award after being anonymously nominated, which is a superb achievement and shows recognition not only of his personal qualities but also reflects on the library service in general. Bless him, Liam is still puzzling over who might have nominated him! Also featured in the Awards Ceremony was the Trust’s new uniform project, which saw staff scrubs replaced with new, smart uniforms colour coded to enable patients to identify staff more easily. This huge exercise has been a great success and was only possible because of the money saved from washing uniforms in the hospital laundry; the new uniforms are washed at home, and the library helped by sourcing the evidence to demonstrate that this was safe and effective. Another award-winning project which has gained national recognition was the introduction of blue crockery to help increase the amount of food consumed by dementia patients. The success of the trial has led to exposure in the national press and plans to introduce blue crockery across the Trust.

Liam with his winning certificate

Hospital staff wearing the new uniforms, a project aided by the Healthcare Library

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Again the library helped in this by finding information to support the trial in the first place. We are proud to have contributed to these Trust-wide and acclaimed initiatives, and to have been so well represented at this prestigious annual award ceremony. Ref: Robinson, Ian. Blue plate scheme gets green light at Salisbury Hospital. Hospital Caterer 2014; April: 29-30. (This article refers to the sources used to inform this project, which were provided by the library.) Jenny Lang Head Librarian Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust (W11) HLG Professional Development Fund - A Master’s with a digital difference!

I am very grateful and honoured to be the first recipient of the new HLG Professional Development Fund. As the degree itself is free to EU residents, my expenses were for travel and accommodation. I applied for assistance with these expenses towards the first study school. I had seen the invitation to apply in the HLG newsletters and when I attended the HLG Conference in Oxford this July, I enquired at the HLG stand about my plight. I was encouraged to apply as soon as possible. I had been considering studying a Master’s degree for some time but needed to be able to cope with the time element required. I graduated with my first library degree from Aberystwyth University in 2010. My mentor had pointed out the Masters in Digital Information some years ago while it was still under development. I had been checking the curriculum regularly and pondering when might be a good time to start studying again. Realising that there is never a good time, I decided to apply, figuring that if I was not successful, I was not meant to study further. Well, I was successful – 10 students are selected annually for each of the autumn and spring admission rounds. I applied in mid October 2013 and was informed that I had been accepted in early March 2014. The first ‘residential’ (study school) was 8-13 September 2014. By now you will be wondering which university I am talking about! It is the University of Borås in Sweden. Borås is a city about the same size as Exeter so I felt right at home straight away. I had managed to find suitable accommodation close to the university. I found that flying from Exeter to Amsterdam and then from Amsterdam to Goteborg was an easier and cheaper option than flying from London. It took the better part of the Saturday travelling before arriving in Borås with time to explore on Sunday. The study school was really intensive with no time left over except for eating and sleeping.

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The degree is a Masters in Digital Library & Information Services (in English) via distance learning and consists of nine modules ending with a dissertation. Ideally one should attend the study schools twice a year but once a year is deemed sufficient. I think it is a very relevant degree as our world becomes more digital and library services become more virtual. As the e-resources co-ordinator for Exeter Health Library at the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, this course is very relevant to me. If you are interested have a look at the modules on offer - https://www.universityadmissions.se/intl/search?freeText=HB-5232C&period=HT+2015&lang=en I was rather apprehensive but very excited on my first morning. I was not disappointed and over the first few hours I made good friends with my fellow students. Most of them live in Sweden but four of them come from Croatia, Germany, USA and Serbia. All are now living in Sweden. We had a case study which had been given to us a week before coming to study school and we were all expected to participate. We were divided into three groups and asked to present on a different aspect of a scenario, inventing our own service. Each team had to select the best person to lead and present along with each member’s support. I was the leader for my group with two Swedes and the Serbian. It was actually quite fun as well as challenging and we were told we tackled the task well. Professor Elena Maceviciute leads the programme along with input from Professor Tom Wilson from Sheffield University (now retired). Communication is via the student portal called PingPong. I am currently studying the module on Digital Library Management along with Technology of Digital Libraries. There is the usual challenge of too much reading material as well as the time factor. I am experiencing the extreme shrinkage of time particularly when I am composing my next assignment! I would love to be able to attend the next study school but will miss the February one and attend again in September. Funding is available from the HLG Professional Development fund once a year if you are looking to access it yourself. I would encourage those who are interested to have a look at the curriculum and consider applying. If anyone would like to discuss the course with me, please feel free to contact me at p.r.geldenhuys@exeter.ac.uk Pam Geldenhuys Electronic Resources Co-ordinator Exeter Health Library (EXE)

(also published in the HLG newsletter)

The sleeping man in front of the library resting his head on a book

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Tea and tissues in the library

Ask anyone what a library assistant does – you nearly always get the same answer! “Stamp books and say ‘Shhhhhh’” In fact the only time you hear a ‘shh’ it invariably comes from a first year med student who thinks he (and it almost always IS a bloke) is hilarious when he puts finger to lips and goes “shhhhhhh” at us. As we all know nothing could be further from the truth. Some days we feel the sign on the door has been mysteriously changed to ‘Information Point’ or ‘Counsellor’ or ‘First Aid’ or even all three. We seem – as a team – to have gained a reputation for being good listeners and of providing the aforesaid tea and tissues. We are really quite proud to be a team that staff feel they can both confide in and rely on to offer an impartial ear. Staff from all walks of life and departments feel able to approach us and either ask us for help or advice on any number of issues, relating to using the library or not! Some of our library staff have completed the “mental health first aid” course which, if you get the chance to do comes highly recommended, and does give you an insight into human behaviour and signs to be aware of. We get all sorts of problems aired (some we would much rather not know about) about work, study, and even personal problems. Mostly we say very little - you know the sort of thing - a few noises hopefully in the right places and in the correct tone. And after a few minutes (sometimes longer) the person brightens up considerably and feels better for that! 9 times out of 10 just by talking it out aloud they have reached their own answer/solution or can just see a way forward. An example would be just listening when a person wanted/needed to talk after a parent had died suddenly. The tissues make an appearance here. (This actually happened again recently.) We’ve also ‘adopted’ a student who for family reasons (small children at home) seems to be a fixture in the library especially before exams. This is where the tea bit comes in. I was cornered in the book shelves one day by a reader who was almost puce she was so worked up about something in her department she was all for quitting on the spot. 15 minutes later she had sorted her head out and was off to talk to her line manager even though she left me feeling rather shellshocked! Just lately we have had to hand hold and guide various members of support staff through on e-learning – sure some of you have had the same thing. The poor things who never use or even had access to a computer at work are sent down to do their mandatory training ‘in the library’ – they’ll help you! On a happier note I helped a member of staff spend her long service award reward points – again can only be done online. Our Trust has been supporting HCA’s through the Open University nurse program which is great and a real pleasure to see them qualify but we have had to do a lot of hand holding and encouragement to see some of them actually get to the end. Going back to study in their 40’s and 50’s comes as a shock to them. Even now they have trained and qualified they pop in to see us not only with their gripes and problems, but successes as well.

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I’m sure we are not the only library that gets asked odd questions, Some of the easier and quickest to answer are:

Where is the canteen Where are the cash point/ post box/ post office. Where is nearest supermarket. How to get to the train station – we can offer the direct route or the scenic route through the graveyard.

Then comes the:

Have you change for the car park, Can I leave my bags here while I go to lecture, down town or the gym. Can I borrow a tissue – yes but rather not have it back thank you! Can I borrow a mug? Spoon, plate? Do you have a plaster - my new shoes are killing me Do you have a phone/ ipad charger I can use?

Even a ‘help my shoes has come apart’ and we could - a quick wrap round with some insulating tape (don’t ask.. in my draw with WD40, screw driver and multitool!) One shoe walkable in again and didn’t look too bad either. You may have seen elsewhere in this edition of Swimming Pool that our team won a WOW award. We won the ‘go the extra mile’ award for helping out the education team with the annual OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) for the medical students. During the practice OSCE’s we get to play patient – which is great fun and very interesting. Especially when encountering the petrified and sometimes tearful first year students. It’s quite difficult after the 10th diagnosis not to prompt their answers. One memorable case the poor girl talked about my AF (Atrial fibrillation) for 10 minutes explaining how the heart worked without mentioning blood or blood pressure once! When she’d left the doctor marking said – well done I think you are dead! The bit that always makes me smile is they come in, remember to introduce themselves and shake your hand - then they spot the hand gel and use it liberally! During the actual exams ‘professional’ patients are used and we get to make sure students are in the right place and the right time, don’t fraternise and we have to escort them to the loo! We are also required to fetch water and the famous tissues! We have also helped the first years learn how to take blood pressures – after ten students have taken your blood pressure in both arms sitting and standing - you know it’s been done we can tell you. Prodded so hard you have a bruise where they think you pulse is in the crook of your arm. One nervous student pumped my arm up and took the reading then explained he’d like to do another reading and was pumping up again before my expression gave it away that he had in fact not released the pressure cuff from the first reading – my fingers felt like the cartoon ones – getting bigger and bigger like a blown up rubber glove! All this may make it sound as if we have no time to do normal work but of course we do… That is, when the NHS IT network lets us as I’m sure we are not the only Trust whose network is so clunky it is us staff in need of tea and tissues and of course not forgetting the ubiquitous CAKE! Christine Hobbs and colleagues Senior Library Assistant

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (H34)

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Editorial Team

Sam Burgess – Editor in Chief: Head Librarian, Swindon Academy Library & Information Service (W01): sam.burgess@gwh.nhs.uk Morag Evans – Editor: Library Assistant, The Library, Dorchester County Hospital (D08): morag.evans@dchft.nhs.uk Pam Geldenhuys – Editor: Electronic Resources Co-ordinator, Exeter Health Library (EXE): p.r.geldenhuys@exeter.ac.uk Lucy Gilham – Editor: Librarian, Trust Library, Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH): lucy.gilham@royalberkshire.nhs.uk Ruth Jenkins – Editor: Librarian, Healthcare Library, Prospect Park Hospital (PPH): ruth.jenkins@berkshire.nhs.uk Jessica Pawley – Editor: Senior Library Assistant, Library, Musgrove Park Hospital (TAU): Jessica.pawley@tst.nhs.uk Imelda Winn – Administrator: Senior Library Assistant, Swindon Academy Library & Information Service (W01): imelda.winn@gwh.nhs.uk

Network news

Moving on from the RBH Staff from the Library and Trust Education Centre at the Royal Berkshire Hospital recently gathered to say good-bye and good luck to Marion Shepherd. After over seven years in the Library at the RBH, firstly as a volunteer, then library assistant then as senior library assistant and administrator for the Thames Valley and Wessex Staff Development Group Marion is now off to Berkshire Healthcare Trust as their Medical Staffing Assistant. Rowena Perry Library Services and E-Learning Manager

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust (RBH)