BookSwap holiday special offer

When you next visit the Library, why don't you leave with some fiction to read over the holidays? The Library's BookSwap scheme allows you to donate a book to BookSwap and take another one away.

Special Offer: from now until 11 January you can take a BookSwap book without donating one first.

Please note that this offer only applies to BookSwap books. All other books in the Library should be checked out on your Library card.

2010 MeSH now included in PubMed and Medline

Each year the MeSH subject headings are updated. The 2010 terms have just been incorporated into PubMed and Medline and there are some new terms which you may find useful.

As well as new subjects such as Influenza A Virus, H1N2 Subtype, new terms have been introduced for Insecticide-Treated Bednets, Mosquito Nets, Climate Change, Travel Medicine, Medical Tourism and Alcoholics. These are among the 422 new MeSH Headings which have been added.

The National Library of Medicine who compile the Medline database do not retrospectively re-index articles, therefore these MeSH terms will only be applied to new items. Check the Scope Note for each new MeSH term to see the Previous Indexing terms most likely used before the new MeSH Heading was introduced.

Some of the 2009 MeSH terms have been changed or deleted. The major changes of interest to School staff include:

• The new heading Eukaryota has been created and added to the MeSH vocabulary. The Protozoa tree was disassembled and the vast majority of newly created taxonomic headings and headings previously listed under Protozoa are now listed under various groups under Eukaryota.
• Hepatitis, Toxic is replaced by Drug-Induced Liver Injury and Hepatitis, Chronic, Drug Induced is replaced by Drug-Induced Liver Injury, Chronic.
• Food Poisoning is replaced by Foodborne Diseases.
• Hemorrhagic Disease of the Newborn is replaced by Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding.
• Antibiotics, Antifungal is replaced by Antifungal Agents.
• Cyclones is replaced by Cyclonic Storms.
• Cytology is replaced by Cell Biology.
• Mass Immunization is replaced by Mass Vaccination.

Please contact Jane Falconer if you would like advice on how these updates will impact your search strategies.

More information on the changes to 2010 MeSH is available via the National Library of Medicine.

WHO World Malaria Report 2009 launched today

The WHO World Malaria Report 2009 has been launched today.

It is freely available to download on the WHO website at www.who.int/malaria/world_malaria_report_2009/en/index.html and can also be purchased from the WHO bookshop. A copy will be available in the Library once it has been received and processed.

Christmas closure

The Library closes for the Christmas break at 8.25pm on Tuesday 22nd December 2009, and will re-open at 8.30am on Monday 4th January 2010. Vacation hours will be in operation on 21st and 22nd December 2009, and from 4th January until 10th January 2010.

Inter-Library loan arrangements over the Festive Season

Any inter-library loan requests received by the Library after 5pm on 16th December will not be processed until the Library re-opens on Monday 4th January 2010. This is to ensure that all incoming requests are processed and received before the School and British Library Christmas closures.

Further information for staff and grant funded research students

Staff and grant-funded research students requesting journal articles or book chapters should be aware that these may be sent to your email address on any day up to and including 22 December. It is your responsibility to ensure that requested items are downloaded and printed within 14 days of the email send date. Any items which expire will need to be requested again, incurring another charge.

NEW FREE RESOURCE - NHS Evidence: Quality and Productivity

NHS Evidence - Quality and Productivity has just been launched. It is a free resource which aims to provide a resource of evidence on how to improve quality and productivity in the NHS. It will and will evolve and expand over time to build a comprehensive library of quality and productivity evidence. The aim of the collection is to provoke thoughts, ideas and discussions about changes that can be made locally in the NHS.

NHS Evidence - Quality and Productivity joins the family of 34 Specialist Collections, providing easy access to high quality evidence on a range of health problems and services.

Ovid Books

We use Ovid for a number of key databases such as Embase, Medline and CINAHL to access resources. You can now use Ovid to access books online. We are looking to expand our e-book collection and have started to purchase a number of texts. You can view these at Ovid Books

Collection of the Month

The Centre for Sexual and Reproductive Health collection includes a wealth of visual and textual material concerning the first 20 years of AIDS prevention and awareness in Europe. The collection's 700 posters and ephemera, as well as evaluation and campaign material, serve as a valuable resource for those studying the early impact of HIV/AIDS and global pandemics as well as public health propaganda.

The posters concern issues such as safe sex and the harmful effects of using needles. They originate from countries across Europe including Norway, Greece, the former Soviet Union and Germany and use strong imagery including condoms and syringes to illustrate how HIV is transmitted. Ephemera includes badges, bags, leaflets and tapes and videos from various countries concerning AIDS and sexual health campaigns. Evaluation and campaign material relates to work carried out in 1980s and 1990s concerning AIDS and notably includes pamphlets and leaflets from campaigns carried out across Europe, AIDS Strategic Monitor publications and surveys and research collated by various market research companies. The collection can be searched through the Archives catalogue at http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/library/archives/ and is accessible to all

World AIDS Day Exhibition

An Archives exhibition to mark World AIDS Day will be displayed in the Library during the first week of December. The material on display includes posters originally collected by the School’s Centre for Sexual and Reproductive Health during the 1980s and 1990s. These striking images vividly capture the kind of propaganda and campaign techniques used by governments during the early days of AIDS awareness.

The posters and ephemera were brought together from a wide range of European countries, including Russia, Romania and Switzerland and were intended to prevent the spread of the disease by informing the public of how AIDS can be transmitted. They serve as a fascinating visual record of how the world was beginning to come to terms with such a widespread threat over twenty years ago