Core Collection of Mental Health Books 2014 Revision of 2009 edition

Background

The Core Collection of Mental Health Books has been a useful acquisition tool for health science librarians for almost 15 years. This list is produced by HLG and published by Tomlinsons. We are currently revising the 2nd edition which was published in 2009 to produce an updated edition early next year.

We would like to invite mental health librarians in the NHS, Higher Education and special libraries as well as health practitioners and academic staff working in mental health to contribute to the new edition.

In order to consult with as wide an audience as possible nationally, Library Thing, an interactive ‘social cataloguing’ web tool, is being used to facilitate this process. The list of core titles from the last edition has been loaded onto a Royal College of Psychiatrists Core Collections account as a starting point. The working list has been updated with new editions, and out of print books have been removed.

We are very keen to get your feedback via the LibraryThing account on new titles which should be included and on older titles which should be excluded.

Guidance on how to use the site can be found on the next page of this document.

We will acknowledge all contributors to the revised list in the new printed edition.

Scope

In contributing to the revision, please consider the following aims of the core collection:

Target audience – UK health libraries
Medium – Books only
Level – to include material relevant to undergraduate, postgraduate and working health professionals, but not research.
Size of core collection – There should be an average of 15 books per section

The consultation period will take place from 1^st September to 11^th October 2013

Outcomes

The PLCS (Psychiatric Libraries Cooperation Scheme) are having an editorial meeting in November to consider contributions. Please try to ensure that your contribution is received by the end of October 2013.

A third print edition will be published by Tomlinsons based on the feedback from the consultation, where all contributions will be acknowledged. A web version of the collection will also be available.

How to contribute to the revised edition

Go to www.librarything.com
Log in : Username: RCPsychLibrary, Password: rcpsych
Select the tab Your Books
Click on Tags

Comment on the existing collection

Click the sub category of books you would like to comment on
A list of books will appear. To give your recommendations on a title double click on the comments box, add your text, and save. Please add your name to your comments.
Please comment if you think items should be removed from the collection – but do not delete them!

Suggest new books

Click on the tab Add books
Search for your book using your preferred method e.g. entering title
A list of titles will be generated on the right of the screen – the default catalogue is Amazon, but if the title does not appear, choose Search Elsewhere
Click on the title to add to the Mental Health Collection
Your title will now be at the top of a list entitled Recently Added
Click on Edit Book next to the title of your book
You will now see a record for your book, Enter your tag for your book in the Tags box - record the tag exactly as it is written on the list (see list of tags overleaf)
Enter comments in the Comments field, including your name and that this is a recommendation from you and a brief rationale. Please record your views even if another person has already made the same comment so that we can build a consensus of opinion. Don't forget to save!
If you contribute to the collection, please also send a brief e-mail to [log in to unmask] with your job role and the organisation for which you work to help us assimilate the responses and credit you in the final version.