Information Portals

Knoema – a free resource for statistical data

cpeppard

If you are looking for data and statistics to support your assignments or research then you might be interested in a website we’ve recently discovered called Knoema.

Knoema has amalgamated open data from a wide range of sources like the World Health Organisation and United Nations to create one easy to use statistical reference resource. The content is discoverable by browsing thematically, by country or by organisation as well as via keyword searches. Once you have found a set of data relevant to your search you can export graphs, information and view the data in a variety of ways. Additionally, you can choose to ‘Explore data’, which allows you to manipulate the information to create custom graphs and charts.

Knoema

For those of you who are concerned about finding reliable information, the data on Knoema links back to the original source material so you can scrutinise its trustworthiness. This can also be useful when it comes to referencing the information.

Knoema is a free resource to use and has a good range of data relating to health and healthcare so worth exploring if you are looking for statistics as part of your research.

Search 25

stglibrary

Search 25 (http://www.search25.ac.uk) is a new regional resource discovery tool run by the M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries, which comprises the collections of almost sixty world renowned institutions across London and the South East. It allows you to search their Library catalogues simultaneously, the idea being that with a SCONUL card you can then visit a library and use its resources having discovered that the institution holds what you are looking for before you travel. There is a video explaining this process, which they term ‘library hopping’ on the Search 25 homepage. Before travelling to another participating library, you need to obtain a SCONUL card; you can apply for one by filling in a form available at the St George’s Library Helpdesk. Also, check with the library to which you wish to use before you go as some places have different conditions to others.

There is more information about Search 25 at the Library Helpdesk; please feel free to ask for further details.

A new online resource for the orthopaedic community

Liaison Support Librarian

Bone and Joint portal: www.boneandjoint.org.uk

The British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery has launched a new online knowledge hub, developed in partnership with HighWire Press, that offers orthopaedic surgeons and researchers access to a range of specialist tools, services and content, designed to support their education and career progression. Features include:
–    Access to the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery – British Volume, where recent articles can now be browsed by speciality
–    Access to Bone & Joint Research, a new Open Access research journal in the field of orthopaedics and the musculoskeletal sciences
–    Speciality channels that allow you to access the latest content, trusted summaries and expert opinion in your subspecialty
–    A range of teaching, training and career development tools from ‘Exam Corner’ that provides practice questions for the FRCS Orth exam and viva, through to a listings page of worldwide Fellowships and courses

NHS Evidence – new website launched May 10th 2011

stglibrary1 Comment

A new-look NHS Evidence site http://www.evidence.nhs.uk/ was launched today. Changes include:

  • Integrated, decluttered redesign of the previous Health Information Resources page, which in the main  will now only provide links to NHS journals, ebooks, databases
  • Introduction of topic pages and accordion panels for clinical and medicines domains- replacing the specialist collections
  • Improved user interface design for search and browsing
  • ’Intellisense’ search prompt, giving spelling suggestions prompt, related searches suggestions and search history panel

More information on the changes and how to search can be found here:
http://www.evidence.nhs.uk/about-us/marketing-resources