The Idox Information Service is the most complete and accessible public and social policy library in the UK and areas covered include public sector management, economic development, planning, housing, social services, regeneration, education and environmental services.
To register visit the Idox Information Service website. Under the Profile option select the following profile: NICS Library Service Customers and complete the rest of the form with your own details. Your will receive an email once your registration has been confirmed. Once registered, you can access the service at any time to search the library, subscribe to current awareness services, obtain items from the database or request an information search.
To access the database
- Go to the homepage of the NICS eLibrary: http://library.nics.gov.uk
- Click on the Idox Information Service button on the left hand side
- Or click on resources and e-resources A-Z and select Idox Information Service
- Click on Login and enter your username and password. If you have still to register click on the register here link and select the Profile: NICS Library Service Customers
- Click on the ? icon on the top right to access User guides including a list of the journals collection
Membership provides you with access to:
- An online database of over 200,000 reports, journal articles and books covering public policy and research in the UK, available 24/7 and updated daily. Contact NICS Library staff for any articles you would like to view. Email: nicslibrary@finance-ni.gov.uk
- A Weekly Bulletin highlighting new material which is available to download under the What's New tab. Click on the link to take you to any freely available material, otherwise contact NICS Library staff if you wish to read any of the articles. Email: nicslibrary@finance-ni.gov.uk
- Topic Updates - to set this up click on the user icon on the top right of the screen and select Topic Updates. From here you tick the subjects you are interested in and select Confirm. You will receive a fortnightly email with updates on that subject. Examples include economic development, energy, health, public finance and waste.
- Email Alerts - to set this up carry out a search, e.g. sustainable development, on the results page click on the 'Save as alert' link which will take you to a page where you can choose a name for your alert and decide how often you would like it emailed to you. If you select 'on demand' you won't receive any email updates but will be able to run the saved search whenever you want from the My Alerts page.
- Research support through the ‘Ask a Researcher’ service, where the experienced research team can conduct searches on your behalf, saving hours of time
- Briefings and analysis on current and emerging issues
- To contact the Idox Information Service team directly, simply call 0141 574 1920 or email AskTheResearchTeam@idoxgroup.com.
Please contact a member of the NICS Library team if you require training or assistance using this database: nicslibrary@finance-ni.gov.uk