Here for you: what the RCS Library does for Members

Now that we’ve moved into our new home in the College’s Nuffield Building, we have opened a Library Enquiry Point in the Nuffield Lounge where you can drop by and meet the team. You can book one-to-one appointments with Library staff for more information about our resources and services. We offer support in accessing online resources and can assist you in planning your own literature searches using our databases. Did you know that the Library offers you online access to 78 out of the top 100 surgical journals, anatomy resources, databases and more?

All of our services, including electronic resources, are available via the Library web pages, and can be accessed from anywhere in the UK or overseas. Your starting point for online resources is to sign into the RCS website with your College login. If you have any questions about the process, please send us an email or telephone 020 7869 6556.

Finding e-journals & e-books

Once you’ve logged in, search SurgiCat+, our online catalogue, to find and access over a thousand e-books and e-journals. You can use the drop-down lists to the left of the search box to focus on online material, or use the lists on the left of the results page to filter your results.

For e-journals, click on the “Online Access” button for more information and links to the full text. Illustrated help on accessing the content is available by clicking the grey bar marked with a green question mark.

The catalogue also provides direct access to e-books: clicking on the “E-book” button for a title will take you into ClinicalKey to view the book; you can save chapters to read later.

ClinicalKey is marketed as a “clinical search engine” and contains over a thousand e-books, e-journals and images, as well as video content, and helpful features like the presentation maker (PDF), Table of Contents (TOC) alerts and a way of tracking CME (PDF). It also has “First Consult” pages, which provide succinct clinical answers for point-of-care, and “Procedures Consult”, a series of step-by-step procedural videos and articles. To get the most from ClinicalKey, register for your personal account (PDF).

3D Anatomy

Anatomy.tv lets you explore detailed, interactive 3D human anatomical models and images, with lots of supporting text and quizzes to test your knowledge. In addition to the 3D atlas covering the body’s structures, “Functional Anatomy” covers sports injuries and “Clinical Specialities” looks at head & neck anatomy and dentistry in more detail.

Acland’s Video Atlas of Human Anatomy provides video recordings of real human anatomic specimens, covering the major structures with images that can be rotated. Video clips show muscles, tendons and joints as moving structures and there are regular review sections.

Current Awareness Service

The Library provides specialty-specific, current awareness Updates, which are concise email summaries of the latest surgical evidence. They are designed to support surgeons in the use of evidence, guidelines and new technology in their practice. Compiled by trained Information Specialists, with the assistance of a panel of Specialist Advisors, they are sent directly to your inbox once every two months. We currently provide Updates for eight specialties, aiming to cover all eleven by the spring of 2018.

Literature searches

As well as providing resources for you, our team of Information Specialists provide a literature search service to help you find the information you need to support your practice and research. Searches are carried out using Ovid’s Medline and EMBASE databases, using other resources as appropriate. Results include links to full text articles where covered by RCS e-journal subscriptions. If we don’t have the titles you are looking for, we also offer a document delivery service.

What else?

We’re currently working with partner organisations to develop ways of delivering services while our physical collections are off-site. Information on changes to library services can be seen our regularly updated web page.

And if you’re interested in finding out how we’ve moved 110,000 books and journal volumes, 3000 boxes of archives, and the contents of both the Hunterian Museum and Wellcome Museum of Anatomy and Pathology off-site, read the “Collections on the move” posts on our Library Blog.

We are open for business and the RCS Library team are here to help with all your information enquiries. Visit us, email library@rcseng.ac.uk or phone 020 7869 6555.

Susan Isaac, Information Services Manager