SPEIR: developing a common information environment in Scotland

Purpose - To report on the work of the SPEIR project and indicate its relevance beyond the Scottish information environment. SPEIR was funded by the Scottish Library and Information Council to identify, research, and develop the elements of an internationally interoperable Scottish Common Information Environment (SCIE) for Library, Museum and Archive domain information services, and to determine the best path for future progress. A key focus was to determine the distributed information infrastructure requirements of a pilot Scottish Cultural Portal being developed in parallel with the SPEIR work, building on existing pilot initiatives such as the CAIRNS distributed catalogue and landscaper, the SCONE collections database, the SCAMP staff portal and an embryonic organisational infrastructure based on the Confederation of Scottish Mini-cooperatives (CoSMiC). Design/methodology/approach - A series of practical pilots was undertaken. These were underpinned by relevant desk and field research and conducted within an overarching holistic approach to developing the distributed environment. Practical implications - Key outcomes included the creation of a single upgraded integrated service incorporating an extended distributed catalogue, collections database, and landscaper, the creation of a pilot distributed digital library, the development of open-URL-based facilities to permit portals to incorporate 'canned searches' of the catalogue, the collections database, the SDDL, and other compatible services, an illustrative pilot Scottish terminology mapping service, and various organisational infrastructure and professional support improvements. Originality/value - The embryonic technical and organisational infrastructure reported may provide a model for other small countries (or regions within larger countries) seeking a coherent approach to the development of an interoperable information environment

Subject Classification of Collection-level Descriptions Using DDC for Information Landscaping

Collection-level description (CLD) has emerged as an important tool for facilitating user access to large heterogeneous collections within digital library and hybrid information environments. Such metadata enables "information landscaping" techniques to be deployed, thereby allowing users to survey, discover and identify relevant collections. This can aid the precision of item-level queries by eliminating collections which may produce a significant number of false-drops or may contain no relevant items. The ability to provide suitable subject indexing and subject-based organization within such collection-level environments is an increasingly important user requirement, particularly for landscaping; yet it remains highly problematic owing to, for example, the broad subject coverage of many collections and the item-level nature of controlled vocabularies. In this paper we propose a methodology for the subject designation of collections using the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC). The proposed approach allows the establishment of reliable, consistent and meaningful DDC class numbers to facilitate improved user browsing and searching tools within CLD systems. The methodology will be demonstrated using the Scottish Collections Network (SCONE) and alternative techniques to facilitate general subject analysis will also discussed

Creativity and service innovation: an examination of differences between theory and practice

This study addresses creativity and innovation literatures and explores the necessity for creativity in the implementation of service innovations in the English National Health Service. In doing so, it examines whether the standard definition of creativity (Stein 1953; Runco and Jaeger, 2012) is sufficient to explain the workplace creative practices associated with the implementation of a service innovation through the replication of best practice. Based on a qualitative research design, and using a critical realist approach (Bhaskar, 1975/2008, 1998), this research unearths a rich seam of empirical data through observations and semi-structured interviews in an English National Health Service primary care organisation, known as a NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (NHS CCG). Although human creativity is an essential ingredient of any successful innovation, characterised by individuals and teams having ‘good ideas’ (Amabile et al, 1996), creativity has a crucial role in the development of new services (Zeng, Proctor and Salvendy, 2009). However, it is noted that there have been relatively few recent empirical studies of creativity in service innovation (Giannopoulou, Gryszkiewicz and Barlatier, 2014), and in particular in the public sector. Thus models of organisational innovation remain virtually unchanged over the last three decades (Anderson, Potočnik and Zhou, 2014), and have not attempted to account for creativity and service innovation in the English NHS. The thesis makes a number of contributions to creativity and innovation literatures. It also provides some understanding of creativity and service innovation in a public sector health service context. First, the study provides empirical evidence for human creativity when new services are introduced through the replication of workplace practice from another geographical location or organisation. This means that the current understandings of creativity, which are focused on creativity as a teleological outcome, driving the production of novelty, for example a creative product, need to be modified to account for novelty in a new context. Accordingly, a definition of creativity which accounts for contextual novelty is presented. Second, the research study also contributes to existing knowledge by illuminating the creative practices of workers tasked with implementing service innovations. Hitherto, creativity research has focused attention on the importance of creativity in the earlier ideation stage of the innovation process (for example, West, 2002a). The empirical evidence presented in this thesis demonstrates that creative practices are also necessary at the back end of the service innovation process, and may be driven by human reflexivity, rather than more formal organisational structures, such as ideation workshops. Third, there is a contribution to both creativity and service innovation literatures. These literatures are influenced by stage-gate models of innovation, with an ideation stage followed by an implementation stage. This research study suggests that future approaches to service innovation should embrace the innovation process as a whole social process rather than be separated into discrete segments. A final contribution relates directly to the context of the research study. The English NHS is one of the world’s largest employers, with strategic guidance provided by the Department of Health, and operational training and developmental needs met by NHS England. However, this top-down approach has not stifled the capacity of its workforce to problematise issues arising during the implementation of service innovations, even though there is a lack of purposeful guidance on how to do this. Instead, with the support of the local clinical and managerial leadership, front-line staff are able to address difficulties requiring creativity as they arose, drawing, primarily, on their reflexivity. Further, while the workforce is being creative, it is not associating their practices with creativity. Consequently, people lack a discourse of creativity, which would otherwise make further calls on their reflexivity, and positively impact on their productivity

Spatial and temporal variations in potentially toxic elemental (Sb, Pb, Cu and Zn) and PAH concentrations and associations in run-off from urban and rural areas of Scotland

Since the UK industrial revolution, coal combustion, ore smelting and other industrial activities have resulted in a marked increase in emissions of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) such as antimony (Sb), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), along with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), to the atmosphere. Although stricter environmental regulation and improved technology has led to a notable decline for some contaminant emissions in recent decades, this has not been observed for all elements, e.g. Sb, where only a modest reduction in emissions have been recorded. Once emitted, Sb along with Pb, As, Cu, Zn and PAHs may persist in the environment for considerable periods of time after their release; although their chemical associations may change, elements are not broken down over time and organic contaminants may break down slowly. Above all, PTEs and PAHs are detrimental to human and environmental health, with chemical forms of Sb, Pb, As and PAHs categorised as carcinogenic. Understanding their behaviour and fate in the environment is therefore an important step towards evaluating their likely impact on both ecosystem and human health. Consequently, this study focuses on the release, behaviour and fate of contaminants from current and past anthropogenic sources in the urban and rural environment, with a specific interest in Sb and PAHs, where emissions originate from similar anthropogenic sources, with Pb, As, Cu and Zn also included for comparison purposes. Current and past industrial activity was identified as the dominant source of PTEs and PAHs to the urban environment, with emissions from vehicle, coal combustion and metal smelting identified as main contributors to total contaminant concentrations. Using road dust collected from Edinburgh at five high- and low-traffic roads at a distance of 10 and 50 m from the closest road junction, concentrations of Sb, Pb, Cu, Zn, PAHs and Pb isotope ratios were determined, with road dust undergoing further characterisation using chemical (sequential extraction) and spectroscopic (X-ray diffraction, SEM-EDX) techniques. No consistent trend for the element concentrations released from vehicles braking at 10 and 50 m from the closest road junction was observed. Mean concentrations for Sb, Cu and Zn were 5.3 ± 2.8 mg kg-1, 91.4 ± 48 mg kg-1 and 237 ± 144 mg kg-1, respectively, and were similar to road dust sampled from five high- and five low-traffic locations in Glasgow (Sb 4.5 ± 2.1 mg kg-1; Cu 117 ± 71.9 mg kg-1; Zn: 283 ± 146 mg kg-1). This was in contrast to mean concentrations for Pb and Σ16PAHs obtained from Glasgow (Pb 250 ± 283 mg kg-1, Σ16PAH 7.7 ± 4.3 mg kg-1) where values were approximately double and two-thirds greater than those found in Edinburgh (Pb 135 ± 129 mg kg-1, Σ16PAH 4.7 ± 2.9 mg kg-1), respectively. Lead isotopic analysis of Glasgow road dust (206Pb/207Pb range of 1.140-1.174) showed a strong influence of past emissions from coal combustion and metal smelting, and was in agreement with Glasgow's industrial history. For Edinburgh, the isotopic signature was considerably lower (206Pb/207Pb range of 1.116-1.151), and was influenced moreso by emissions of Australian sourced Pb in leaded fuel. Isotopic signatures in Edinburgh were lowest at easterly locations within 5 km of Edinburgh airport (206Pb/207Pb ~ 1.12), and corresponded with past vehicle emissions from leaded petrol use, and to a lesser degree, emissions from avgas, which was consistent with the mean annual wind direction for Edinburgh. The mobility of elements from the road dust to the aqueous phase were assessed by sequential extraction, and by using road surface water samples which showed mobility decreased in the order of Zn>Cu>Pb>Sb. Road dust characterised by XRD and SEM-EDX had a high proportion of quartz present (~55%), whilst the presence of less abundant minerals such as calcite were found to increase Pb mobility through ease of dissolution into the aqueous phase. For the rural environment, the behaviour and fate of elemental pollution originating from two former mining sites, an Sb mine at Glendinning, SW Scotland, and a Pb mine at Tyndrum in central Scotland was examined. Under specific environmental conditions, Sb was found to be both mobile and immobile in the environment. The chemical weathering of stibnite found in spoil heaps at Glendinning Sb mine demonstrated that ~3% of total Sb can be mobilised during the chemical weathering process, while hydrous Fe oxides and organic matter in the surrounding soil favoured its retention. The retention of Sb, along with Pb, was similarly observed in Loch Tay sediment downstream of Tyndrum Pb mine, where upon deposition, Sb and Pb remained immobile in sediment and allowed the construction of deposition chronologies for two sediment cores to be established. Excellent agreement between the sediment core deposition chronologies was observed, with both chronologies identifying atmospheric deposition as the primary source of Sb to Loch Tay sediment, whilst the dominant source of Pb was from Tyndrum Pb mine ~25 km upstream of Loch Tay. Relative to Sb and Pb, As had the greatest mobility, with its geochemical behaviour and partial retention by the solid phase influenced by the presence of Fe. This was evident in the surrounding soil at Glendinning Sb mine, where As was associated with hydrous Fe oxides present in the solid phase, while at Loch Tay, the redox cycling of Fe resulted in the post-depositional mobility of As in sediment. The use of ombrotrophic peat bogs for this study provided an effective means to assess atmospheric deposition of contaminants over past centuries; they continually accumulate and receive all their nutrients and contaminants exclusively by deposition from the atmosphere. The deposition archives of Sb and Pb from two Scottish peat cores sampled from Great Moss, Cairngorms Mountains, and, Auchencorth Moss, Midlothian, were used to construct chronologies for historic and contemporary emissions, particularly in relation to current and historic anthropogenic activities observed in urban and rural environments. At Great Moss, the deposition of Sb and Pb during the 19th century increased by a factor of 10 and 4, respectively, as a result of the industrial revolution and emissions from the combustion of coal and metal smelting. The trend continued into the 20th century where Sb and Pb deposition peaked ~1950, followed by a decline towards the early 21st century by a factor of 5 and 11, respectively. Over this period of time, the contribution from coal combustion and metal smelting towards total anthropogenic emissions was on the decline, while emissions from the combustion of leaded fuel increased until the ~1980s. Although deposition chronologies before 1970 for Sb and Pb at Auchencorth Moss were generally in agreement with those from Great Moss, several differences were observed after 1970, or more specifically, in the top ~10 cm of the peat core. This was a result of sub-surface perturbations for Ti, Sb, Pb and 210Pb concentrations, and indicated once deposited, elements were susceptible to post-depositional mobility brought about from a change in environmental conditions. The thicker acrotelm layer present at Auchencorth Moss, and the vertical movement of the peat water-table within this layer, resulted in a change in redox conditions and led to the redox cycling of Mn and Fe, which in turn, influenced vertical concentrations of Ti, Sb, Pb and 210Pb. While Sb and Pb are usually found immobile in peat systems, the post-deposition mobility of Sb and Pb at Auchencorth Moss was comparable to a peat core sampled from Flanders Moss, and indicated that under specific environmental conditions, both elements can become mobile in ombrotrophic peat bogs. It is worth bearing in mind however, that these results are the exception, and in all other cases ombrotrophic peat bogs remain a reliable archival material to use

CC-interop : a post mortem

This presentation - delivered at a Department of Computer and Information Sciences seminar - summarises the outcomes and outputs for Work Package A of the JISC funded CC-Interop project. The project involved partners from University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, London School of Economics and University of Hull, and sought to explore the feasibility of cross-searching between physical and virtual union catalogues, using COPAC and the three functioning "clumps" or virtual union catalogues (CAIRNS, InforM25, and RIDING), all funded or part-funded by JISC in recent years. The key issues investigated were technical interoperability of catalogues, use of collection level descriptions to search union catalogues dynamically, quality of standards in cataloguing and indexing practices, and usability of union catalogues for real users

Creativity and service innovation: an examination of differences between theory and practice

This study addresses creativity and innovation literatures and explores the necessity for creativity in the implementation of service innovations in the English National Health Service. In doing so, it examines whether the standard definition of creativity (Stein 1953; Runco and Jaeger, 2012) is sufficient to explain the workplace creative practices associated with the implementation of a service innovation through the replication of best practice. Based on a qualitative research design, and using a critical realist approach (Bhaskar, 1975/2008, 1998), this research unearths a rich seam of empirical data through observations and semi-structured interviews in an English National Health Service primary care organisation, known as a NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (NHS CCG). Although human creativity is an essential ingredient of any successful innovation, characterised by individuals and teams having ‘good ideas’ (Amabile et al, 1996), creativity has a crucial role in the development of new services (Zeng, Proctor and Salvendy, 2009). However, it is noted that there have been relatively few recent empirical studies of creativity in service innovation (Giannopoulou, Gryszkiewicz and Barlatier, 2014), and in particular in the public sector. Thus models of organisational innovation remain virtually unchanged over the last three decades (Anderson, Potočnik and Zhou, 2014), and have not attempted to account for creativity and service innovation in the English NHS. The thesis makes a number of contributions to creativity and innovation literatures. It also provides some understanding of creativity and service innovation in a public sector health service context. First, the study provides empirical evidence for human creativity when new services are introduced through the replication of workplace practice from another geographical location or organisation. This means that the current understandings of creativity, which are focused on creativity as a teleological outcome, driving the production of novelty, for example a creative product, need to be modified to account for novelty in a new context. Accordingly, a definition of creativity which accounts for contextual novelty is presented. Second, the research study also contributes to existing knowledge by illuminating the creative practices of workers tasked with implementing service innovations. Hitherto, creativity research has focused attention on the importance of creativity in the earlier ideation stage of the innovation process (for example, West, 2002a). The empirical evidence presented in this thesis demonstrates that creative practices are also necessary at the back end of the service innovation process, and may be driven by human reflexivity, rather than more formal organisational structures, such as ideation workshops. Third, there is a contribution to both creativity and service innovation literatures. These literatures are influenced by stage-gate models of innovation, with an ideation stage followed by an implementation stage. This research study suggests that future approaches to service innovation should embrace the innovation process as a whole social process rather than be separated into discrete segments. A final contribution relates directly to the context of the research study. The English NHS is one of the world’s largest employers, with strategic guidance provided by the Department of Health, and operational training and developmental needs met by NHS England. However, this top-down approach has not stifled the capacity of its workforce to problematise issues arising during the implementation of service innovations, even though there is a lack of purposeful guidance on how to do this. Instead, with the support of the local clinical and managerial leadership, front-line staff are able to address difficulties requiring creativity as they arose, drawing, primarily, on their reflexivity. Further, while the workforce is being creative, it is not associating their practices with creativity. Consequently, people lack a discourse of creativity, which would otherwise make further calls on their reflexivity, and positively impact on their productivity

Archaeological Excavations at Nethermills Farm, Deeside, 1978-81

This publication is grant aided by Historic Environment Scotland.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Patterns and impact of hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, and glucose variability on inpatients with insulin-treated cystic fibrosis-related diabetes

Introduction: Mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD) is higher than that in patients with cystic fibrosis without diabetes. Hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, and glucose variability confer excess mortality and morbidity in the general inpatient population with diabetes. Methods: We investigated patterns of hypoglycemia and the association of hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, and glucose variability with mortality and readmission rate in inpatients with CFRD. All capillary blood glucose (CBG) readings (measured using the Abbott Precision web system) of patients with insulin-treated CFRD measured within our health board between January 2009 and January 2015 were. Frequency and timing of hypoglycemia (<4 mmol/L) and was recorded. The effect of dysglycemia on readmission and mortality was investigated with survival analysis. Results: Sixty-six patients were included. A total of 22,711 CBG results were included in the initial analysis. Hypoglycemia was common with 1433 episodes (6.3%). Hypoglycemia ascertainment was highest between 2400 and 0600 h. Hypoglycemia was associated with a significantly higher rate of readmission or death over the 3.5-year follow-up period (P = 0.03). There was no significant association between hyperglycemia or glucose variability and the rate of readmission and mortality. Conclusion: Among inpatients with CFRD hypoglycemia is common and is associated with an increased composite endpoint of readmission and death. As with previously reported trends in general inpatient population this group shows a peak incidence of hypoglycemic during the night