Frequently asked questions

Anyone who helps to deliver publicly funded health or social care in Scotland is eligible to use our online subscriptions, including the categories listed below: 

Eligible users include:

• Scottish Government employees, including the executive agencies 
• Local Authority staff in addition to social services working in partnership with health services (e.g., through community health partnerships)
• Healthcare staff in the prison service, nursing and care homes, hospices, armed forces, and emergency services
• Full collegiate members and fellows of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Glasgow, Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh, Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh
• Voluntary organisations working in partnership with health and social services
• Undergraduate and postgraduate students who undergo placements or training with the NHS and social services
• Those providing education and training to NHS and social services staff and students
• Researchers working in partnership with the NHS
• Retired NHS staff
• Library staff in Higher and Further Education
• Public librarians and other community information centres. 

If you are in any doubt about eligibility or require further advice, contact the Knowledge Services Help Desk.

Most NHS Scotland staff members no longer need a separate OpenAthens username and password, as they sign in using their NHS email address and password. External users of NHS Scotland subscription resources can reset their OpenAthens password at OpenAthens password reset.

To discover what journals are available from our collection, use Browzine, provided as part of our LibKey suite of resources.

Search for journals by title, subject or ISSN or browse by subject.

Once you have found the journal you want you can look through the issues we have and access the articles of interest to you.

Search Browzine

We provide access to LibKey Nomad a browser extension, which highlights online articles or eBooks which are available through NHS Scotland subscriptions.

With LibKey Nomad installed, search for an article or eBook on the open web (for example on a publisher website or Amazon). Look for the LibKey Nomad button to link directly to the item. When the full text is not available you will be provided with options to request the article through our document delivery service. 

For more information, see our LibKey Nomad guidance.

You can view your account details, borrowing, requests and renew your loans by logging in to Library Search.

• go into My Account;
• view your loans in Overview or Loans;
• select Renew All or click on the individual item and click Renew.

Please note, if someone else is waiting for the book, or you have renewed too many times, you will have to return the item.

For further information, please read our guide

Library search allows you to discover published material which we may not have access to. In this case, users from NHS Scotland and some partners can ask for a copy to be sourced from external suppliers.

If you see a message 'Get It For Me' (you have to be signed in to see this), click on the link and the details of the item you want will be transferred to a form.

Scroll down to check the supply options (print or electronic), where you want to collect the item from, then click on 'REQUEST'.

For further information please read our guide

The Knowledge Network subscription to BMJ Case Reports includes rights to submit a case report. To submit, please contact knowledge@nes.scot.nhs.uk to obtain the institution code for your NHS Scotland board. Publication is free, but will not be OpenAccess published unless an additional fee (circa £475) is paid.

Please register for an account on the E-Learning for health website (ELfH) site using the Register button, rather than OpenAthens sign on. When asked for "Place of work" select "NHS Scotland Practitioner Services".

We welcome and encourage you to tell us if you notice a broken link on any of our websites.

To report a broken link, please complete this short online feedback form.