Category: Libraries

Reading Ideas

How to read Shakespeare for pleasure

In recent years the orthodoxy that Shakespeare can only truly be appreciated on stage has become widespread. However, as with many of our habits and assumptions, lockdown gives us a chance to think differently. Now could be the time to dust off the old collected works and read some Shakespeare, just as people have been doing for more than 400 years.

Many people have said they find reading Shakespeare a bit daunting, so here are five tips for how to make it simpler and more pleasurable.

Free E-Books

Hachette UK offers NHS staff free e-books

Hachette UK has set up a new website to offer NHS workers across the country free e-books to thank them for their dedication during the COVID-19 pandemic. The website, which is powered by ebooks.com, will initially be available until the end of May.

See the website and download books here

Clinical, mental health, and nursing e-book collections

Around 5,000 titles have been made available from EBSCO via OpenAthens until the end of May 2020 and include titles from Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, McGraw-Hill Education, Springer Publishing, Wolters Kluwer Health, Taylor & Francis and Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

The clinical collection is available here and topic areas include dermatology, gynaecology and obstetrics, internal medicine, medicine (general), nursing, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, pathology, paediatrics, pharmacology and surgery.

The nursing collection is available here and topic areas include nursing research and theory, pharmacology, nursing management, evidence-based nursing, home care nursing and leadership.

The psychology collection is available here and topic areas include psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, counselling, social psychology, evolutionary psychology, developmental psychology and more.

For support contact EBSCO

Oxford Medicine Online

To help NHS staff who are tackling COVID-19, Oxford University Press is providing access to the entirety of Oxford Medicine Online to the NHS until the end of June 2020.

Library users can freely access Oxford Medicine Online using their OpenAthens login details here.

In addition Oxford Medicine Online has also freed up a collection of online resources and journals addressing COVID-19 in the hope that this information will be useful to medical professionals and carers. Find the resources here.

Online Resources – Knowledgeshare

Knowledgeshare connects health care staff with their local NHS library and knowledge Service

You can join Knowledgeshare by completing this joining form and emailing it to the Gosall Library at academic.library@lancashirecare.nhs.uk. Using the information you provide on this form the library staff will create a profile of you in the system detailing your interests.

Read more about Knowledgeshare here

Jhalak Prize

2020 shortlist announced

First awarded in March 2017, the Jhalak Prize seeks to celebrate books by British/British resident BAME writers. The prize is unique in that it accepts entries published in the UK by writers of colour. These include (and not limited to) fiction, non-fiction, short stories, graphic novels, poetry, children’s books, YA, teen and all other genres. The prize is also open to self-published writers.

See the shortlist here