Have you borrowed a book lately? The three site libraries managed by the Library and Knowledge Service have wide-ranging collections of books that are updated constantly with new titles, including some on topics that you might be surprised we cover. Our aim is to provide books that meet the needs of staff, trainees and students but we need your help to ensure that the collection is relevant to YOU.
Adding to the collection
Titles are identified in many different ways, for example: suggestions from members of staff; new titles lists from publishers; Brighton and Sussex Medical School reading lists; Journal Clubs. Wherever possible, learners and educators are encouraged to recommend books and share their reading lists with us. You can find out about the new books we are adding to stock by following us on Twitter. If you would like to recommend a book, use our online form or speak to a member of Library staff.
E-books
Increasingly, titles are purchased as e-books, making them available to read from anywhere and at any time. Our e-books come from various collections such as Oxford Medicine Online and Kortext, but all can be found on the Library catalogue.
Searching our stock
The Library catalogue enables you to search for any book held in health libraries across Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Titles range from medical textbooks such as the Oxford Handbooks (also available as e-books) to health-related fiction and humour. If you are looking for books on a particular topic, we publish Resources by Speciality lists on our website.
The catalogue will tell you if the book is available in print or online. You can also search for e-books by using the following limits on your search:
- Click on the ‘All Libraries’ field at the top of the screen and select ‘Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust’
- From the left-hand menu select ‘Electronic Resource’ and click on ‘Include
You will need an OpenAthens username and password to access e-books; register online for one.
Keeping the collection up-to-date
To maintain currency, old editions and underused titles are ‘weeded’ on a regular basis using regional library guidelines. Our system enables us to identify the less well used subject areas as well as those which are more popular and may need to be expanded. We work with a charity partner AnyBooks to find a good home for many of the withdrawn titles. However we do keep older titles including some that relate to the history of the hospitals that make up the Trust.
What if we don’t have the book you want?
Of course, the libraries can’t stock everything which is why we aim to supplement the physical and online book collections with an efficient book supply service. Our links with health, academic and specialist libraries enable us to source a huge range of books, with most available within *one week. If you would like to request a book that we don’t hold locally, just fill in our online form and don’t forget that you can also suggest books for us to buy using the form on this page.
* We aim to supply 75% of book requests within five working days; in our latest review of the service in May 2021, 92% of book request were supplied in five working days or less.
