Health Libraries Week (14-18 November 2005)

For Health Libraries Week this year, we’re planning a national media campaign to complement the local awareness-raising campaigns that you undertake within your organisations.

We’re able to make use of the NHS Connecting for Health Media Relations team, who have suggested that the best way to sell a story to the media is to use case studies that demonstrate how library services (both electronic and physical) are used by frontline staff, and are ultimately benefiting patients.

We will use case studies in our communications materials including newsletters, leaflets, web copy, articles and some media relations activity. We will also build a database of case studies that you will be able to draw on for use in your own organisation’s publications, newsletter, etc.

The template has been designed to help us to gather the key information we need from you and your library users. However, we may contact the individuals concerned to gather further information, hence the need to ask for contact details.

If you have local champions, library users, trainees or other examples of people who would be willing to share their experiences of how they use library services and how they have helped benefit patients, please ask them to fill in the template, and either email back to nelh@cfh.nhs.uk or post to Fran Wilkie, NLH, Aqueous 2, Rocky Lane, Aston Cross, Birmingham, B6 5RQ.

In order to get articles into journals for November, we need to have responses back by 31st August, please (although responses returned after that time can be added to the database).

The template can be found at www.nelh.nhs.uk/dlnet/casestudytemplate.doc or follow the link from www.nelh.nhs.uk/dlnet