Libraries & Collections Staff Picks
Staff Picks is a regular feature where our Library & Collections staff recommend must-read books and must-watch films from our collection, chosen to captivate your curiosity and spark your imagination.
Sylvia Wynter: On Being Human as Praxis
Selected by Sheneez Sylvia Wynter, O. J., a celebrated and notable alumni of King's College London, is a Jamaican writer whose many essays invite us to rethink and challenge the ways in which we see the world.
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This book, editted by Canadian Professor Katherine McKittrick, is one of only two editted volumes on Wynter's work, and it sees prestigious decolonial scholars from around the world celebrate, comment upon and dialogue with Wynter's ground-breaking ideas. It opens with an epic and extensive chapter co-written by Wynter and McKittrick, that should not be missed by anyone interested in decolonial thought and/or Caribbean philosophy!
In The Dream House
Selected by Red
Wouldn't exactly say it was a pleasurable read but it was definitely an enthralling one. This book is a memoir mostly centred around the author's experience of abuse in a queer relationship. Would describe as raw, heavy, and frightening, but really beautiful writing with an interesting structure, in the way of chapters varying from being just one sentence to written in the style of a 'Choose your own adventure', and so many lines I had to write down to hold onto.
Demon Copperhead
Selected by Louise
A modern re-telling of David Copperfield, exploring the devasting effects of poverty and the opiod crisis in 1990s/early 2000s rural America. Not an easy read in terms of its subject, but an important one.
The Gentrification of the Mind
Selected by Jack
Landlords jack up rents, ruin neighbourhoods, destroy cities and are a big part of why I can’t go watch a play in London anymore because they’re all either rubbish or £50. Read if you are interested in New York, the AIDS crisis, theatre, being gay, making art, or you have a sort of general sense of malaise and unease and you don’t know why. SPOILER: It’s probably capitalism.
Sisterhood of the Squared Circle
Selected by Charlie W
Women's wrestling isn't new, but that is rarely acknowledged or understood by wrestling fans today. The fight to be respected, to be included, to break down the systemic barriers that exist - well, it's better, but it's still ongoing. This biography does a great job in surfacing the history of women's wrestling, the changemakers and the trail blazers.
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There are career profiles of over 100 women wrestlers from throughout history, ranging from Minerva to Manami Toyota to Mae Young to Sasha Banks (or, should I say, Mercedes Moné? CEO! CEO!) There's also good international coverage (although it is US focused). Whether you like wrestling or this is all Brand New Information I'd highly recommend this informative, and easy going read.
When Nietzsche Wept
Selected by Arved
The amount of underlining I have done puts this firmly in the favourite books of all time category. Yalom is one of our most gifted living authors, with an unmatched penetrating kindness. One for all those that tend to often be proven right in hindsight and thus find it hard to let go off projects.
Getting started using ebooks
A growing range of ebooks are available for NHS staff.
A key resource is the full collection of all health related ebooks from Oxford University Press - including all the handbooks and Oxford Textbooks.
Additional titles are gradually being added to eBook Central. OpenAthens login is required for this. This system supports the "borrowing" of titles for use on tablets and devices.
A growing number of ebook titles are available via Kortext (OpenAthens required). This includes a collection of titles in support of diversity and inclusion as well as some of the most popular books in NHS libraries.
The majority of university ebooks listed on the Library Catalogue are not available without a staff or affiliate King's College London username and password (k number).
- Oxford Medicine Online (OMO) - NHS This link opens in a new window Choose 'NHS England' as your institution then use OpenAthens detailsOxford Medicine Online is a collection of online medical resources which cover every stage in a medical career. The collection covers prestigious digital medical resources from Oxford University Press, including world-renowned titles covering a variety of specialty areas ranging from anaesthesiology to nursing, and from dentistry to neurology. Available on the Oxford Academic platform, content is easy to navigate, accessible on any device, and supports a myriad of tools and features, images and videos, diagrams and charts, and more.NHS users have access to over 1700 books including Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine, Oxford Textbook of Medicine and Oxford Clinical Guidelines..NHS Staff can self register for OpenAthens - contact nhsenquiry@kcl.ac.uk with questions or if you are a King's student.
- Ebook Central (Proquest) - NHS This link opens in a new window Libraries & Collections are exploring the potential for ebooks for our NHS staff. A small collection of purchased titles is available with further access to over 154,000 titles. You can read online but also borrow (download) these titles for a few days at a time.NHS OpenAthens required:NHS Staff can self register for OpenAthens - contact nhsenquiry@kcl.ac.uk with questions or if you are a King's student.
- Kortext ebooks OpenAthens required click more for additional information
- Library catalogueThe resource links in LibrarySearch are to the University access. NHS staff should use the Knowledge & Library Hub for ejournals and check the ebooks tab on this guide. Use the filters to limit to paper books.
ebook options
Ebooks via Ebook Central
Over 150,000 books are available via Ebook Central Platform (OpenAthens required). You can read online, print, copy and download to devices. The titles are a mixture of frequently borrowed items, assorted handy bits and a wide range of materials across all subject areas. You can find the whole of Rook's Textbook of Dermatology, Brocklehurst's, texts on mentoring and Revalidation and the seminal How to read a paper. Do contact the library with suggestions for titles that would be particularly useful to have electronically.
For Health Information Week a collection of books on health and wellbeing topics was been created. You can find links to books on things like exercise, mindfulness and more from the PDF below
- Health Information Week ebooksLinks to a range of ebooks on health and wellbeing topics created for Health Information Week 2019
Ebooks from Oxford University Press
You can access the full collection of Oxford University Press ebooks in health via the Oxford Academic platform. So every Oxford Handbook, Oxford Textbook, Emergencies in, Oxford Desk References whenever you need it. And online offers additional possibilities so books like Oxford Textbook of Medicine is updated on a regular basis and includes extra chapters, videos etc. You can download high quality images for your power point slides. Login free access is available via IP on GSTT and King's College London Library PCs or remotely direct via OpenAthens from anywhere.
To login via OpenAthens - go to OxfordMedicine.com and click on the account profile icon on the top right hand side of the screen to view the sign in options. Click "SIgn in via your institution". At this point you need to identify yourself as being part of "NHS in England" by either typing into the list or selecting the option when offered if you have accessed the site before. You will then be prompted for your OpenAthens login.
To register for an OpenAthens acccount, visit http:openathens.nice.org.uk
Ebooks from Kortext
A growing collection of titles focussed on the needs of NHS staff is available on the Kortext platform (OpenAthens required).
Click on Collections to browse or search all the titles.