Presented at LILAC 2017

1. Engaging with staff through information literacy
and outreach
Alan Chalkley
Library and Archive Service
@alanchalkley

2. Who are we?
Since 1916, the Royal College of Nursing
has pioneered professional standards for
nurses, shaped health policies and
promoted excellence in practice
Today with around 435,000 members across
the NHS, independent and voluntary
sectors, we are uniquely acknowledged as
the voice of nursing by both the government
and the public
A trade union and a
professional organisation

3. The Library and Archive service in context:
• the first RCN Library established in 1923
at Cavendish Square in London
• libraries in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh
and Belfast
• 54,000 print books
• 1,100 e-journals
• 30,000 e-books
• serving 900 staff across the organisation
and 435,000 members
RCN Libraries
LondonCardiff
Belfast
Edinburgh

4. We had to overcome the following:
• perception of a member-only service
• London centric and only relevant to those
near our physical libraries
• purely nursing and clinical collections
• difficult to use and unintuitive website
• lack of visibility across the organisation
• lack of information literacy training for staff
• a staid image
Barriers to
staff engagement

5. We implemented the following:
• library open days for staff and participation in
organisations Learning At Work Week
• IL and 1:1 sessions available for staff
• each RCN office has a dedicated library
outreach contact
• brand new website: ease of use/intuitive
• easy to use single search (SUMMON)
• presence at new staff inductions
• not just nursing books! Collection development
around CPD, health and wellbeing
• assisting with member recruitment and
retention
Breaking down barriers

6. Engaging with
staff

7. The work continues…
Responsiveness to
staff IL needs
Continue to invest
in outreach
Improve intranet
visibility
IP authentication for
staff – no login
Evaluate impact
of work

8. Appendix
Goldstein, S (2016) Information literacy in the workplace, GKIM
matters, 6, June, pp.6-9.
www.informationliteracy.org.uk/2016/07/information-literacy-in-the-
workplace/
RCN Library and Heritage Centre video tour
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdUE5WVrHhA
RCN (2016) RCN Library and Archives 5 year plan, London: RCN.
www.rcn.org.uk/professional-development/publications/pub-005429
RCN centenary timeline (using resources from our archives)
https://edu.hstry.co/timeline/the-royal-college-of-nursing/embed
RCN library online exhibition: The Voice of Nursing: Celebrating 100
years of the RCN: an exhibition in celebration of the College's 100th
birthday
www.rcn.org.uk/centenary/the-voice-of-nursing
Bibliography