Library and Knowledge Service

The Library and Knowledge Service is for our staff, students on placement, other NHS staff, and public health staff in Berkshire West. They are here to help you grow personally and professionally, improve your skills, and do research. This way, you can make well-informed decisions and give excellent patient care.

You can find out more about the service by visiting our staff intranet (Nexus).

• Go to Nexus

Our library is not open to the public.

Public libraries have health books and eBooks. 

• Find your local public library

The NHS Knowledge and Library Hub connects you to high quality knowledge and evidence resources in one place. It includes journals, books and databases with one-click links to full-text.

Library membership

The Library is free to use for our staff, students on placement and public health teams in Berkshire West. 

Library membership allows you to:

• Borrow books
• Request articles (staff and public health teams) 
• Request evidence searches (staff and public health teams) 
• Attend training sessions

If you work for another NHS Trust or a GP Practice you can visit our Library and borrow books. Contact us to find out more and arrange a visit.

• Membership form
• Contact us

Book and article requests

Search for books on the Library Catalogue or the Knowledge and Library Hub. 

• Library Catalogue
• Knowledge and Library hub

Articles

You have online access to 1000s of journals. You can access these by using your OpenAthens account. If you are unable to access an article, please get in touch and our team will be able to provide you a copy. 

Evidence searches

An evidence search is a search to look for and find the best available research and information to answer questions about health, healthcare, public health, and social care. The knowledge specialists (librarians) can do an evidence search for you. It must be for work or clinical purposes.

To request an evidence search, please complete the form. 

• Evidence search request form

Keeping up to date

The Library and Knowledge Service can help you stay up to date. 

KnowledgeShare sends you a personalised email every day, every two weeks or every month. It contains details of new articles and reports that match your interests.

A personal profile based on what you care about is created – this can be a broad topic like "learning disabilities" or something very specific like "cerebral palsy."

• Stay up to date

Training

We offer a range of training sessions to help improve your skills in finding healthcare information. All the training is delivered via Microsoft Teams. Face-to-face training is available on request. 

Berkshire Healthcare staff can browse Nexus eLearning for training dates and book a place.

Public Health staff can book a place by contacting us. 

• Visit Nexus elearning

OpenAthens provides a username and password that allows you to access a range of online resources. To register, please complete the OpenAthens registration form using your Berkshire Healthcare email address.

• Register for OpenAthens

Public Health staff in the local authorities of Reading, West Berkshire and Wokingham can use the Library and Knowledge Service as part of a service level agreement. This includes borrowing books, article supply, evidence searching, training and email updates. 

You will need to sign up to the Library and Knowledge Service before you can use it. 

• Sign up

Resources

More information about resources and support can be found on the UKSHA website. 

• Visit UKSHA

Key documents