Here at Tameside we don't issue books to ghosts or stamp in different colours.

However, I think our team has a good sense of what titles are used for reference, even if the books aren't issued. I do appreciate this is perhaps easier to achieve at a smaller service point and that what we are missing the how many to go with the what.

I've said this before in relation to another issue, but I do think the value of our collections is greater than that expressed simply in issue statistics. While I appreciate that books do take up valuable space which might otherwise be used for PCs, for example, one could argue, rather antagonistically, that PCs are often available elsewhere whereas our specialist collections are not. Similarly, I feel that here at least, the number of PCs we have is adequate for the demand - rarely are all our PCs occupied simultaneously (I wonder if that is the case in other places)? I'd be interested to see if we could demonstrate the relationship between an increase in e-resources and an increase in demand for PCs in libraries....

I think literacy is also an issue - IT literacy and general literacy. As we all know, high levels of one type does not necessarily mean good levels of the other. We are here to serve all our staff groups, after all.

We have fiction and 'health and wellbeing' collections collection here at Tameside too, which as well as providing a valued service to our borrowers, help encourage people into our physical library in the first place. This helps us breaks down some of the barriers people have to accessing resources of all kinds, 'e' and print, and often leads them to borrow other titles to those they came in for.

I think Steve is right in that the use of some e-books is the same as or even higher than some print titles and that it is useful to make our purchasing decisions in light of this. However, I think our professional expertise as well as the 'accessibility' of titles should be considerations alongside those related to statistics.

Now, that's enough thinking for a Friday surely.

Claire Bradshaw

Library Services Manager/Mental Health, Knowledge and Information Project Lead

Knowledge and Library Services

Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, OL6 9RW

0161 922 6662 (library) 0161 922 4118 (direct)

Did you know the Knowledge and Library Service will do your literature search for you?

Contact us or view our intranet pages for more information.

From: A list for health related libraries within the North West of England [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Fielding Jeanine (LTHTR) [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 03 June 2010 12:14
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Usage of books stocked in NHS libraries in the NW

Hi Steve

I think you’ve forgotten about in-house use. Looking around the library at any time during the day and evenings, there are a lot of books being used; they just don’t get taken out the door. It’s been the same in any library in which I have worked. Having books available for use is of fundamental importance. It doesn’t matter if the books aren’t actually issued for loan.

Kind regards

Jeanine

Jeanine Fielding, Operational Library Manager

Library & Information Service

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Education Centre 1

Royal Preston Hospital

Sharoe Green Lane

Preston PR2 9HT

Tel: 01772 524294 Fax: 01772 523491 E: [log in to unmask]

Be part of the 6 Book Challenge! Great prizes to be won! Ask for details at either the Royal Preston or Chorley District Hospital libraries.

Have you had an appraisal in the last twelve months? If not, please discuss this with your line manager.....

From: A list for health related libraries within the North West of England [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Glover Steven
Sent: 03 June 2010 11:55
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Usage of books stocked in NHS libraries in the NW

Hi All

I was asked a question by Wiley-Blackwell how often a print book is issued on average?

I answered that I did not know as I had argued that e-book usage is disappointingly low, and they asked me what I was comparing the “low usage” with?

Looking at the HCLU stats on the website for 2007/2008 the numbers were interesting.

11.3 - total number of book stock reported for all services was 405,000 copies

5.1 - total number of issues to own readers was 453754

So I guess as a rough average each book copy is issued 1.12 times per year to our own readers.

Maybe the e-book usage is better than we think?

Or we stock a lot of books that don’t get read?

Cheers

Steve Glover

Education Business Manager

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Manchester M20 4BX

Tel: 0161-446-3449

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