The Royal College of Nursing
‘The RCN represents nurses and
nursing, promotes excellence in practice
and shapes health policies’
A union and a professional body
Around 420,000 members
RCN Library Service
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Why did we want virtual
enquiry?
Increased online & mobile access to
services
Geography
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Day time service from the
RCN 9.00 am - 5.00 pm Monday to Saturday,
Enquiries on:
– Sources of information
– Using RCN library services
– Accessing resources in RCN e-library
– Searching strategies & techniques
– Evaluating information
This material is copyright to the RCN
What do people ask?
“I thought I was doing so well with my
references! Please could you tell me what
pages make up this article...”
“Trying to obtain nursing salary rates for
1980s”
“Hi, I am looking for research papers for my
research project at Uni...but I am struggling to
find any decent articles – can you help?”
This material is copyright to the RCN
Chasing the Sun
Reciprocal agreement between libraries
in Australia and UK
Makes use of the time difference
between countries
Bali Bombings
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Out of hours service
Available Midnight to 9.00 am every day from Sunday to Friday (UK time)
Puts healthcare practitioners in contact with an information professional to help with information queries
Support for use of common healthcare databases and resources
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What can’t they help with?
General IT queries – e.g.: if
databases are not working
Passwords
RCN-specific information
This material is copyright to the RCN
8pm in the UK
4am in Perth6am in Sydney
11am in Vancouver
3pm in Montreal
This material is copyright to the RCN
How does it work?
Chat software enables real-time communication
This material is copyright to the RCN
What does it look like?
Demonstration...
http://www.rcn.org.uk/development/library
_and_heritage_services/contact_us/virtual
_enquiry
This material is copyright to the RCN