Who can contribute to the newsletter?
All members of the North Health Library and Knowledge Networks (i.e. Yorkshire and Humber; North East and North West) are welcome to contribute to Northern Lights. We particularly encourage contributions from para-professional staff and anyone who has not previously written for publication. Contributions from staff in organisations outside of a North Health Library & Knowledge Network are considered on a case by case basis. Still not sure if you can contribute? Drop the editorial board an email northernlights@knowledgeforhealthcare.nhs.uk
Can I contribute if I do not work for an NHS Organisation?
We welcome contributions from library colleagues across the North in the health field, which encompasses NHS, public health, charities, higher education and more. If you are part of a North Health Library and Knowledge Network and work in the health field we are interested in having your perspective. Please contact the editorial board if you are still unsure: northernlights@knowledgeforhealthcare.nhs.uk
Why contribute to the newsletter?
- Share learning (things that worked and things that didn’t work so well) with colleagues
- Hone your writing for publication skills
- Articles make great pieces of evidence if you’re working towards professional registration
Article topic ideas:
What shall I write about? Really it is up to you. We’re looking for topics of interest to health library and knowledge services staff. Below are some suggestions
- A day in the life of..
- Ways to jazz up information skills training
- How you market your sucesses
- Been on a good course lately? Tell everyone what you gained from it!
- Lessons learned (good or bad) from doing something differently in your service
- Good news that you want to share with North colleagues
- Literally anything else you think North colleagues would be interested in
Is there a word count minimum/maximum?
Northern Lights accepts articles of different length. However, a good word length to aim at would be around 700 – 800 words. Short reports of c300 – 400 words would be accepted.
What format should I use to send my contribution and what should I include?
- Send your documents as a Word file (either .doc or .docx)
- Please ensure you include your Name and the organisation your work for as well as a title for your article and a date. You might also want to include some subject tags with your article – see below for our list.
- Any photos or artwork you want to include (preferably in JPG format). Please attach these as separate files, with a meaningful caption, rather than embedding them in the Word document. Make sure you’re happy these can be shared online via the blog.
- Give full details of events, courses and conferences This should include:
- The name of event and location
- Date of event
- Name of organising or sponsoring body
- Details of how any support materials can be obtained e.g. website urls
- Full references to any published reports, articles etc.
- Write out all acronyms in full the first time they are used in the text
- Use whatever writing style you think is appropriate for your piece, informal is absolutely fine – after all, this is a blog not an academic journal!
- Send your article and photo(s) to northernlights@knowledgeforhealthcare.nhs.uk
Tags for your article
How would you like us to tag your article? Here is our list of tags and definitions, please choose from this list and add them to your piece at the end.