Blogging Technologies for Outreach and Network Building

Theme: Blogging is commonly perceived as being for individuals to share their daily experiences. But what else can Web 2.0 technologies be used for? In the information and library world information dissemination and current awareness services are well-established activities. What are the impacts when you apply new collaborative technology to these well-worn traditional tasks? Description of project: DrugScope, the national drugs information charity, has been using RSS feeds and blogging for over a year. This paper presents a case study of how two projects - to streamline the dissemination of new catalogue data to our existing user group and to speed-up our acquisitions process - led to the development of the DrugScope blog and how this, in turn, afforded us networking and outreach opportunities within our own organisation, within our existing health and social care networks and within new sectors. We will cover, briefly, our use of news aggregators (Bloglines, NHS My Update, Google Alerts) to acquire information, of blogging software to create our own RSS and atom feeds, and of editorial policies to ensure focused content, before highlighting the impact blogging has had on our internal and external profiles. We will also discuss how networking assisted us in marketing our new product nationally and internationally, and how this increased the size and reach of our networks - even into the cultural sector. We will analyse the impact on our own workload, and, more significantly, the uptake of blogging within our sector - via seminars to independent health information professionals and through articles to European substance misuse specialists. The main focus of the paper is to explore the key learning points - both positive and negative - which could be applied to any professional sector - information, health, social care and beyond

Blogging Technologies for Outreach and Network Building

Theme: Blogging is commonly perceived as being for individuals to share their daily experiences. But what else can Web 2.0 technologies be used for? In the information and library world information dissemination and current awareness services are well-established activities. What are the impacts when you apply new collaborative technology to these well-worn traditional tasks? Description of project: DrugScope, the national drugs information charity, has been using RSS feeds and blogging for over a year. This paper presents a case study of how two projects - to streamline the dissemination of new catalogue data to our existing user group and to speed-up our acquisitions process - led to the development of the DrugScope blog and how this, in turn, afforded us networking and outreach opportunities within our own organisation, within our existing health and social care networks and within new sectors. We will cover, briefly, our use of news aggregators (Bloglines, NHS My Update, Google Alerts) to acquire information, of blogging software to create our own RSS and atom feeds, and of editorial policies to ensure focused content, before highlighting the impact blogging has had on our internal and external profiles. We will also discuss how networking assisted us in marketing our new product nationally and internationally, and how this increased the size and reach of our networks - even into the cultural sector. We will analyse the impact on our own workload, and, more significantly, the uptake of blogging within our sector - via seminars to independent health information professionals and through articles to European substance misuse specialists. The main focus of the paper is to explore the key learning points - both positive and negative - which could be applied to any professional sector - information, health, social care and beyond

Early modern Oxford bindings in twenty-first century markup

Purpose – The Bodleian Binders Book contains nearly 150 pages of seventeenth century library records, revealing information about the binders used by the library and the thousands of bindings they produced. The purpose of this paper is to explore a pilot project to survey and record bindings information contained in the Binders Book. Design/methodology/approach – A sample size of seven pages (91 works, 65 identifiable bindings) to develop a methodology for surveying and recording bindings listed in the manuscript. To create a successful product that would be useful to bindings researchers, it addressed questions of bindings terminology and the role of the library in the knowledge creation process within the context that text encoding is changing the landscape of library functions. Text encoding formats were examined, and a basic TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) transcription was produced. This facilitates tagging of names and titles and the display of transcriptions with text images. Findings – Encoding was found not only to make the manuscript content more accessible, but to allow for the construction of new knowledge: characteristic Oxford binding traits were revealed and bindings were matched to binders. Plans for added functionality were formed. Originality/value – This research presents a “big picture” analysis of Oxford bindings as a result of text encoding and the foundation for qualitative and statistical analysis. It exemplifies the benefits of interdisciplinary methods – in this case from Digital Humanities – to enhance access to and interpretation of specialist materials and the library's provenance record

A Biopsychosocial Model of Body Image in New Mothers

The vast majority of eating disorders literature to date focuses on adolescent and college aged women. However, recent research suggests that eating disorders and struggles with body image are not limited to younger women, but instead occur in women of all ages (e.g. Hay, 1998). One group of women that might be particularly at risk for decreases in body image are first time mothers, as their bodies go through immense changes during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Thus far, the literature has shown a relationship between biological changes, such as weight retention, and low body image in postpartum women (e.g. Walker, 1998). However, little research has explored the role of psychosocial factors in postpartum body image. The current study explored a biopsychosocial model of postpartum image, drawing on psychosocial variables that had been shown to relate to body image in adolescent and college aged women. This study found that psychosocial factors (internalization of the thin ideal, pressure for thinness, and negative affect) accounted for variance in body satisfaction and disordered eating, above and beyond that of biomedical factors (weight change, postpartum BMI, and shape change). Additionally, psychosocial factors partially mediated the effect of weight change and shape change on body satisfaction and disordered eating. These findings have important implications for psychologists and health care professionals who work with new mothers

Grand Bahama Post-Hurricane Dorian: A Comparison of Fresh Water in Two Primary Wellfields

Freshwater lenses, a layer of fresh water that floats atop saline groundwater, are vulnerable sources of drinking water for small islands. The threats to freshwater lenses, and their recovery following catastrophic events, is not well documented. Due to storm surge and flooding during the Category 5 Hurricane Dorian in September 2019, the freshwater lenses of Grand Bahama were inundated with salt water, removing the freshwater source of drinking water for the island. This study builds on previous work to monitor the recovery of the freshwater lenses three years after the hurricane by assessing tidal lag, as well as stable isotopes in water (δ2H and δ18O), to understand the hydrologic characteristics of the FWL in Grand Bahama. Results from electrical conductivity revealed that the tidal lag, or the time it takes for the tidal effect to be observed in groundwater, was approximately 2.5 hours on average. Through stable isotope analysis of precipitation samples, we determined a local meteoric water line of δ2H = 8.2 * δ18O + 12.2, which is close to the global meteoric water line. Groundwater samples did not show evidence of significant evaporation from precipitation. These results serve as baseline data for additional monitoring and recovery efforts on Grand Bahama

"Intellectual and Practical Knowing": the introduction of the Professional Knowledge and Skills Base at University College London

Early work in progress paper, reporting on questionnaire-based survey of students working with the new self-assessment professional development tool (Professional Knowledge and Skills Base (PKSB)) provided by the UK professional association (CILIP). Discussion of the sociology of professionalization identifies Wilensky’s Process of Professionalization as a useful starting point for discussion. Provides historical overview of the association’s seminal involvement in the creation of Library and Information Studies (LIS) as a discipline in the UK. Highlights the importance of the reflective practitioner within LIS education. The first in a series of papers that will explore the implementation of the PKSB within the academic setting in the three-year period 2014-2017.ye

The law giveth and the law taketh away : Marriages out of community of property excluding accrual post 1984/88

Because women are predominantly responsible for childcare, men are the primary income earners. Having acquired the marital assets, on divorce the husband would retain them in a marriage out of community of property. The wife would be left deskilled, financially dependent, with little likelihood of receiving spousal maintenance and with no marital assets. In 1984 the Matrimonial Property Act and in 1988 the Matrimonial Property Law Amendment Act introduced a judicial discretion to equitably redistribute marital assets in certain marriages out of community. This dissertation argues that the bases for the limitation of the judicial discretion to women married before a certain date are unsound and that the limitation arguably violates the equality clause of the Constitution.LawLL.M