Access eBooks: UKHSA Knowledge and Library Services
Source: gov.uk (2025-07-27)

Knowledge and Library Services (KLS) provide access to a wide range of eBooks to UKHSA staff. Many titles are also available to OHID and NHS England Public Health staff.

Find eBooks

You can find eBooks by:
- using Discovery Search via MyAthens (https://my.openathens.net/) to search for a specific title
- browsing the library catalogue (https://ukhsa.koha-ptfs.co.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-search.pl?advsearch=1&weight_search=on&limit=mc-itype%2Cphr%3AEBK&sort_by=acqdate_dsc&do=Search)
- using the resources list in MyAthens (https://my.openathens.net/app/research) to browse the collections detailed below
Publisher collections

These can be accessed from the resources list in MyAthens (https://my.openathens.net/).

Springer Nature eBooks

Includes chapter-level access to tens of thousands of eBooks published by Springer Nature.

This includes the Springer Protocols Handbooks, which provide step-by-step laboratory methods and protocols across the life and biomedical sciences.

Oxford University Press

Includes major titles such as:
- Oxford Public Health and Epidemiology
- Oxford Textbook of Medicine
- Oxford Textbook of Global Health
Taylor and Francis

Offers eBooks on topics including:
- data science
- statistics
- infectious diseases
- pollution
- health communication
OVID eBooks

Over 270 eBooks are available.

Sage Research Methods (UKHSA staff only)

Provides eBooks covering research methods, statistics, and evaluation.

ScienceDirect Focus Collections (UKHSA staff only)

Thousands of eBooks including book series, major reference works and textbooks.

GIDEON guides (UKHSA staff only)

The GIDEON eBooks cover infectious diseases and microbiology.

The ‘disease series’ summarises the status of individual or related infectious diseases worldwide, with distribution maps and images.

The ‘country series’ summarises infectious diseases for each country, including vaccination schedules. This includes Infectious Diseases of the World, showing worldwide disease status.

View GIDEON eBooks in the library catalogue (https://ukhsa.koha-ptfs.co.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-search.pl?q=se,phr:%22Gideon%20e-book%20series.%22).

Subject collections:
- agricultural, biological and food sciences
- biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology
- biomedical science and medicine
- environmental sciences
- health sciences
- immunology and microbiology
- pharmacology, toxicology and pharmaceutical sciences
BorrowBox (UKHSA staff only)

UKHSA staff can use BorrowBox to browse eBooks, audiobooks, magazines and newspapers. BorrowBox collections include:
- wellbeing
- learning and development
- popular science
You can also access some newspapers and magazines including New Scientist.

Accessing BorrowBox

Access UKHSA BorrowBox (https://ukhsa.borrowbox.com/) on your computer or use the BorrowBox app on your mobile phone or tablet.

To read titles on a laptop, install Adobe Digital Editions. Request this from the software self-service catalogue on the IT helpdesk.

Signing in to BorrowBox

When using BorrowBox for the first time, enter your institution (UK Health Security Agency). Your login is your library catalogue login (the login you use for the library self-issue kiosks and to view your loans or renew your books online). Your username is the first part of your UKHSA email address before the @ sign. Reset your password (https://ukhsa.koha-ptfs.co.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-password-recovery.pl) if you do not know it.

BorrowBox from multiple libraries

If you have BorrowBox access from your local public library, you can still use UKHSA’s BorrowBox collection. Log out of the app and log back in with your UKHSA account to access UKHSA content.

BorrowBox privacy information

The BorrowBox Privacy Policy (https://ukhsa.borrowbox.com/privacy) governs the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information by the service.

Feedback

This is a new service. Help us improve it by providing feedback (https://submit.forms.service.gov.uk/form/7932/give-feedback-on-knowledge-and-library-services).