Towards Professionalism? Archives and Archivists in England in the Twentieth Century

Archives have the potential to change people’s lives. They are ‘a fundamental bulwark of our democracy, our culture, our community and personal identity’. They are created in the first instance for the ‘conduct of business and to support accountability’, but they also ‘meet the requirements of society for transparency and the protection of rights’, they underpin citizen’s rights in a democratic state and are the raw material of our history and memory. Archivists and records managers are the professionals responsible for ensuring that these qualities are protected and exploited for the public good. Do they belong to a mature profession, equipped for this challenge in the 21st century? This thesis seeks to understand how the archive profession in the United Kingdom (particularly in England) developed during the 19th and 20th centuries by examining the political and legislative context for archives, analysing how archival institutions developed in central and local government, business and in universities to preserve and provide access to records and archives, by considering the growth and influence of professional associations and support bodies and reviewing the education and training of archivists and records managers. None of these themes has previously been addressed in a comprehensive study and together they help answer the question of whether archivists display the characteristics of a fully mature profession or whether it is still an emerging profession. In conclusion the thesis makes recommendations to guide the development of the UK archive profession in the 21st century to enable it to reach its full potential and ensure that archives and archivists play their proper role in society

Teaching and Professional Fellowship Report 2007-2008 : Make the Numbers Count, Improving students' learning experiences through an analysis of Library and Learning Resources data

Feedback on Library and Learning Resources (LLR) services and support at the University of the Arts London (UAL) is received from a very extensive range of sources. However, although a considerable quantity of information is available for analysis, it remains very difficult for LLR staff to extract meaningful data from these numerous sources, which can reveal, in depth, the true, individual student experience of LLR services. LLR is aware that there is a lot that is not known, or is not being asked of our students, about their individual experience, which could prove extremely helpful for effective decision-making and service design and delivery. In particular, LLR is interested in identifying and resolving issues of access and support for students currently studying at UAL who are from under represented groups in higher education. Make the numbers counts has enabled the Fellowship Team to move beyond looking at usage figures, gate counts, numbers of issue and renewal transactions, borrower numbers and percentage satisfaction levels, and to extend and add to our knowledge-base of what students at UAL really think and feel about academic libraries. It has enabled us to explore how individual students make use of the services and support provided by LLR. The qualitative data collected through this project has been compared to existing sources of information and to staff experience and understanding of the issues raised, to see if the findings of our research challenge or correlate with other evidence which relates to LLR use and non-use. The focus of the Fellowship has been to explore the particular experience of students who are the first in their family to go to university and who are currently studying at Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon (CCW) and the London College of Communication. Research has shown that this group of students is important amongst the range of students who are now entering higher education through the expansion of participation in university and tertiary-level study. Talking to first generation students was a key element of the project and the greatest source of learning for the Project Team

Promotion of preservation and conservation in Greek libraries with special reference to the education of Greek librarians

This research concerns the promotion of preservation and conservation in Greek Libraries and the education of Greek librarians on preservation issues. Firstly the problems of the current situation are investigated. Based on a questionnaire survey, the factors which affect Greek library materials have been identified. To further substantiate the results of the questionnaire, a book collection survey was conducted. The study reveals the inadequate housing and environmental conditions of the library collections of the libraries surveyed which results from a lack of awareness concerning preventive preservation measures, lack of preservation programmes and limited conservation education, limited resources for conservation activities, the weak organisational structure and funding of Greek libraries in general. It concludes that unless the existing situation is reversed, collections will continue to deteriorate resulting in the loss of valuable components of the Greek cultural heritage. The contents of possible preservation policy programmes and the problems of their implementation as such in the Greek library environment are described. To improve the situation the establishment of a National Preservation Committee is proposed which will aim at: a) the increase of awareness and education of both librarians and the general public through relevant courses, b) the promotion of the implementation of preservation policies, c) provision of information services, d) promotion of communication and cooperation at local, national and international level and e) addressing national issues such as use of acid-free paper, translation and use of standards and guidelines, research projects, promotion of the creation of conservation and microfilming centres. An improved syllabus for preservation education of library students in the existing library schools and the creation of a preservation administration course are proposed as means for future improvement of the present situation

Monitoramento internacional da produção científica em ciência da informação. volume 1

256 p.Objetivo – Identifi car tendências de publicação de números temáticos (themed issue; special issue) em periódicos de ciência da informação. Concepção/ metodologia/ abordagem – Levantamento de números temáticos indexados em bases de dados internacionais de ciência da informação/ biblioteconomia, no período de 2005 / 2010, monitorados no gerenciador de dados Asksam, para eliminação de duplicatas, derivação de dados estatísticos; classifi cação dos artigos introdutórios aos números temáticos de acordo com a Information Science Taxonomy (Donald T. Hawkins e colaboradores, 2003) e decorrentes análises sobre estado da arte. Resultados – No período selecionado foram publicados 185 números temáticos, distribuídos em 11 categorias, com “Pesquisa em ciência da informação” (20%, 37 números temáticos), “Bibliotecas e serviços bibliotecários (17%, 32 números, com 12 destes sobre ensino e treinamento em biblioteconomia e ciência da informação) “Tecnologias da informação” e ”Questões sociais” (14% cada, 26 números), apresentando-se com as mais representativas do ponto de vista quantitativo. Originalidade/valor – Mapeamento das tendências de publicação de números temáticos para elaboração do segundo produto deste projeto ─, comparação dos resultados deste primeiro produto com trabalhos apresentados em congressos de ciência da informação para fi ns de proposição de números temáticos para a revista Ciência da Informação, editada pelo Ibict

Makers at School, Educational Robotics and Innovative Learning Environments

This open access book contains observations, outlines, and analyses of educational robotics methodologies and activities, and developments in the field of educational robotics emerging from the findings presented at FabLearn Italy 2019, the international conference that brought together researchers, teachers, educators and practitioners to discuss the principles of Making and educational robotics in formal, non-formal and informal education. The editors’ analysis of these extended versions of papers presented at FabLearn Italy 2019 highlight the latest findings on learning models based on Making and educational robotics. The authors investigate how innovative educational tools and methodologies can support a novel, more effective and more inclusive learner-centered approach to education. The following key topics are the focus of discussion: Makerspaces and Fab Labs in schools, a maker approach to teaching and learning; laboratory teaching and the maker approach, models, methods and instruments; curricular and non-curricular robotics in formal, non-formal and informal education; social and assistive robotics in education; the effect of innovative spaces and learning environments on the innovation of teaching, good practices and pilot projects

Developing a new blended approach to fostering information literacy

This thesis examines how to engage UK based undergraduate students in Sport & Exercise in the process of becoming information literate in their subject area. The Main Study focused on three groups of students enrolled on a core subject based module. The module in question was delivered via a blended learning approach where part of the delivery was face-to-face and part online via discussion board within the Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Acquiring a rigorous understanding of how to deliver information literacy (IL) required four things to be achieved: an understanding of the field of IL; an appreciation of the information behaviour (IB) processes underpinning IL, an awareness of current theory and practice in the area of teaching and learning and finally, an understanding of current thinking and scholarship in e-learning. In particular the thesis adopted notions of constructivist approaches to learning recommended by Mayes & de Freitas (2004), community of practice (Wenger, 1999), scaffolding (JISC, 2004), and managing online discourse (Goodyear, 2001) to create a workable, theoretically and empirically grounded model for testing. An in depth investigation of methodological theory was carried out in order to devise a robust research strategy to thoroughly test this new model. This strategy has a number of unique characteristics: it uses an IB model (Hepworth, 2004), a cognitive theory of learning (Bloom et al, 1956) and a notion of metacognition defined by Moseley et al (2004) to code and analyse qualitative data. The model was tested in a Pilot Study, substantially modified and then re-tested in a Main Study. The key findings generated from this indicated the importance of task, role and norms in the IL pedagogical process and that the new model for delivering IL teaching and learning via a blended approach engendered higher order thinking in particular analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Data also indicated four discrete levels of information discernment which suggest a possible format for the structuring of an evaluation of information assessment rubric. It is envisaged that this new model has a broader application beyond Higher Education (HE) and Sport & Exercise. Whilst the study has a number of limitations it can be concluded that the research undertaken here provides a significant contribution to the existing body of knowledge in IL, IB, learning and e-learning scholarship. However, it is recognised that any apparent solution is only provisional in a rapidly developing information landscape and, as a consequence, a number of future avenues for research are recommended.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo