Hello, my name is David Bedford and I am the Academic Support Librarian for the University of Kent Division of Dentistry supporting the BSc in Primary Dental Care at the Universities at Medway.
What am I here for? Well, my job is to support the students and staff from courses run by all three of the Universities at Medway, whether undergraduate or postgraduate. I am here to help you get the very best use out of all the information sources available to you, whether these are on the shelves in the library or found on-line. I run workshops when asked by the various departments I support, and am happy for students to come to me for help in small groups or one-to-one.
These pages are a guide to the resources available for Dental Care in the Drill Hall Library and the services available to you on-line.
Contact me!
Dental Care students and staff are welcome to come and see me in the Library or send me an e-mail via the Contact Your Librarian form (select Health!).
If you need to contact the Library in general the main contact details are available from the Drill Hall web pages.
My twitter feed is below. This includes some general updates about the Drill Hall Library as well as subject-specific information for all the courses I support such as the newest books in stock, new resources you might find useful and details of workshops and drop-in sessions I run. If you're on Twitter, you can follow me on @dhldavidb. The Drill Hall also has an account - @drillhalllib, and also has a Facebook page.
Books for Dental Care
The Drill Hall Library catalogue contains all the books currently held in the Drill Hall Library. When you have found the book you require, take a note of the location/shelfmark (the number which will be on the spine of the book) to help you pinpoint it on the shelves. These numbers are part of the Dewey Decimal system. If you find this confusing, please consult our pdf guide to finding books using the Dewey Decimal system.
Most of the books relating to Dental Care will have numbers beginning with 617.6. However, you will find relevant books in other areas of the library. These are some of the other numbers where you will find Dental Care books :
- Anatomy and physiology - 612
- Dental public health - 362.1976
- Medical ethics - 174.2
- Oral health - 617.601
- Psychology - 150
- Social policy - 361.610941
There are also many reference books such as specialist dictionaries available in the Drill Hall Library.
Although all the books needed for the programme should be available in the Drill Hall Library, you may occasionally need to reserve resources from Avery Hill or Maritime Greenwich (University of Greenwich libraries) via the Library Catalogue or submit an inter-university request form for resources held at the University of Kent's Templeman Library in Canterbury. See the inter-site loans page on the Drill Hall website for further details.
New books
New books arrive through most of the year. From the 2011-2012 academic year onwards, we will post regular updates on what's new here.
Electronic books
e-books or electronic books are just like the books on the shelves, but accessible on-line using your university account. e-books are available via the Templeman Library Gateway. Most useful are the selection of Reference Resources (see particularly Oxford Reference Online which provides access to various dictionaries and encyclopedias including A Dictionary of Dentistry by Robert Ireland) and the guide to accessing e-books.
Suggest a book
Is there a book that you think the library should have, but doesn't? If so, contact me using the form below, supplying as much information about the book as possible. If it is needed for a specific module, please indicate this. I can't promise to order everything, but I will investigate any books that are suggested.
Journals for Dental Care
Journals, also known as periodicals or serials, are published regularly - weekly, monthly, or several times each year. They contain up-to-date information on specialised subject areas, and often include articles on the most recent research that has been carried out. We have access to them in print format, on the shelves in the Drill Hall (in block 13, grouped loosely by subject, so see Health) and also in electronic versions. The electronic versions contain the same information, but can be accessed from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
Journals in the Drill Hall Library
You can find out more details about the journals on the shelves by looking them up on the Drill Hall Library catalogue. You may find some Social Science and Social Work journals useful, but the key journals for Dental Care are grouped together under the heading Health. The Dental Care journals available on the shelves are :
| Community Dental Health |
2008 - |
| Dental Nursing |
2008 - |
| European Journal of Dental Education |
2008 - |
| International Journal of Dental Hygiene |
2008 - |
| Primary Dental Care |
2008 - |
Electronic journals
The University of Kent webpages include a searchable list of journals subscribed to. You can also browse the list of Health & Biological Sciences journals from the page - see particularly the Dentistry section. The list includes journals which are freely available on-line as well as the ones specifically subscribed to by the University. Core journals identified for your programme include :
| Title |
Holdings |
Available from: |
| British Dental Journal |
1999- |
Nature Journals Online |
| Dental Update |
1999- |
Single Journals |
| European Journal of Dental Education |
2006- |
EBSCOhost EJS |
| International Journal of Dental Hygiene |
2003- |
EBSCOhost EJS |
| Journal of Dental Research |
1919- |
EBSCOhost EJS / Sage Complete A-Z List |
| Primary Dental Care |
2000- |
IngentaConnect |
Additionally you can search for journals and journal articles via the databases.
Free journals
Some publishers make certain journals available on-line at no cost. Some of these are quality peer-reviewed journals and are very much worth investigating. Some examples include :
Websites for Dental Care
The internet can be one of the most valuable tools in your quest for information during your time at university. However, with so much information out there, it can be very hard to find the best information, or to know that you've found it when you've got it! Two documents that might help are my guide to some questions to ask about web pages and my top tips for finding information (both are PDF files).
General
- FeedNavigator is a site which brings together the latest updates from selected journals, blogs and news sources. It's worth having a look at - FeedNavigator for Dentistry
Information Gateways
These are services which provide links to quality health and social care information on the Internet. Some are created by librarians, others by academics and others by practitioners :
Organisations
Many official organisations have a web presence which is worth investigating :
Libraries
You might want to visit some other libraries, particularly if you live a long way from the campus :
Databases for Dental Care
Databases are collections of useful information. This might be journal articles, maps, videos, sounds, case histories, references, abstracts or almost anything else you can think of. Most databases are constantly updated with new information, and are often a great way of keeping up-to-date and discovering the newest research for your subject area. The University of Kent subscribes to a range of databases which are intended to support students in their learning and research. A full list of online resources can be found through the Templeman Library gateway. Some of the services most useful for Dental Care are :
- Academic Search Complete - covers social sciences, humanities, general science and education
- Business Source Complete - covers management related subjects
- Cochrane Library - systematic reviews and controlled trials from health and medical research
- Nexis News - access to full-text newspapers including UK nationals and UK broadsheets (accessed via the Newspaper Resources page on the Templeman Library Gateway)
- PsycINFO - covers psychology and behavioural sciences
- ScienceDirect - full-text access to selected scientific, medical and technological journals
Another key resource is Pubmed. This is a wide-ranging health and medicine database which is highly recommended. It is available freely online, and I have created a PubMed for Dental Care guide as an aid to its use.
Librarian
As your subject librarian, you can come to me for help on information and library-related matters. Whether you are having trouble using the catalogue, need some advice on internet searching, want to know more about databases or are stuck with referencing, I am the person to ask!
I also run training sessions when asked by academics from the courses I support, and am often involved with modules on research skills or evidence-based practice.
Study skills
If you need help with study skills in general, including academic writing, then help is available from your university. University of Kent students should contact SLAS (Student Learning and Advisory Service), who have an office in the Drill Hall Library. Useful resources from the University of Kent include :
Students from all 3 universities can see Stephen Wakelam, Royal Literary Fund Fellow. He is based in an office in the Drill Hall Library on Wednesdays and Thursdays and can offer useful advice on writing skills.
Library resources for study skills
You will also find lots of helpful books on study skills in the Library. Some useful classmarks for study skills topics include :
- 001.42 - general research skills
- 025.04 - internet research
- 025.0661 - the internet for health
- 378.170281 - higher education study skills
- 808.066 - academic writing skills, including referencing and avoiding plagiarism
- 808.06661 - writing skills for health students
- 808.51 - giving presentations
