James Peters, Military Photography and the Northwest Campaign, 1885

In June 1884, the noted buffalo hunter Gabriel Dumont led a delegation of Métis from the Batoche settlement, in what is now Saskatchewan, to Montana in the United States to search out Louis Riel. He hoped to persuade Riel to lead them as he had in 1869–70 in their demands for the Canadian government to recognize their land claims and other grievances. Riel reluctantly returned to Canada. The situation worsened until March 1885, when a skirmish between Métis and North West Mounted Police at Duck Lake, near Prince Albert, cost seventeen dead on both sides. The government feared a general Indian rising in the West (although only the Cree bands of Poundmaker and Big Bear eventually joined the Métis), and dispatched a force which eventually numbered over five thousand militia, including all four hundred troops of the infant permanent force, to the Northwest via the still-incomplete Canadian Pacific Railway

Information policy making in the United Kingdom: the role of the information professional

Should a state have a single overarching national information policy? Currently for the United Kingdom, Buckley Owen, Cooke, and Matthews say no, and suggest that their analysis may be relevant elsewhere. Their conclusion is based on primary and secondary research including interviews with policymakers/implementers at the highest level. In their investigation into UK government policy on citizens’ access to Public Sector Information, they map responsibility for eighteen different information policy issues across nine government departments, noting the diversity of the issues. Instead of a single rule, they offer a “framework” of elements, often representing cross-cutting issues, and offer suggestions for managing their coordination. They note the influence of experts and lobbyists on this process, and see a potential role for “information professionals” who know both technology and policy, with the relevant professional body playing a leading role. The authors conclude with ten recommendations for operationalizing their approach

The development of UK Government policy on citizens' access to Public Sector Information

This paper describes research to investigate the development of United Kingdom government policy on citizens’ access to public sector information from 1996 to 2010, the first such significant project from an information science perspective. In addition to mapping UK policy documents, the main research method was the undertaking of semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders from both inside and outside government. Main findings are: uneven progress in the development of citizen-centric services; the continuing need for intermediaries; and a lack of information literacy policy. The paper also charts the increase in the opening up of government data for re-use during 2009 and 2010. It is considered significant that this increase in transparency, by both main political parties, should come at a time when trust in government was low, citizens’ expectations of electronic access to information were rising and the technology was enabling new channels for engagement. The influence of individuals was found to be considerable, for example by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Professor Nigel Shadbolt and Tom Steinberg. Principles for citizens’ right of access to information are presented

UK government policy on citizens' access to public information

This paper is based upon early findings of PhD research at the Department of Information Science, Loughborough University, 2007-2010. The research aims to identify the different strands of UK government policies on improving citizens’ access to public sector information (PSI) over the last 10 years, investigating how policies were developed and implemented, and by whom. It will particularly look at how the 2007 Power of Information Review (Mayo and Steinberg 2007) is influencing government information provision in the era of Web 2.0. eGovernment initiatives have already transformed the provision of PSI, whether directly through digital channels or through third parties, but use of Web 2.0 has considerable potential to expand information services still further. A review of the literature has so far found that much of the academic writing on eGovernance and eGovernment relates to business/systems re-engineering – ie technological aspects rather than policy aspects – and little has been written in the UK on national information policy, as opposed to IT policy, since 2002. Where policy aspects of eGovernment are covered, they tend to have a more general focus than the specific provision of public sector information, and increasingly address eDemocracy. There seem to have been few investigations into how information policy developed over time: a gap which this research is intended to fill. Using a critical realist approach, policies will be analysed through a content analysis of the policy documents, triangulated with analysis of published comment on the policies and in-depth semistructured interviews with key stakeholders from a range of perspectives. The intention is to gain a three-dimensional picture of the policy-making process and make recommendations on how it could and should work in future. Semi-structured interviews with approximately 50 individuals with different perspectives started in March 2009. Early findings show that co-ordination of policy across government is a problem, there is a need for leadership at the heart of government to make things happen, there is a lack of clarity on who actually makes information policy, and government needs a better understanding of the nature of information and information skills. Central to the research will be identifying what mechanisms, if any, were used to evaluate the success of the relevant eGovernment policies, and how the results of the evaluation were used to develop future policy. Unlike many other studies, the focus will be on qualitative measures, not just on metrics. Drawing on experience of evaluation in other countries, it is intended to develop a framework for the evaluation of current and future eGovernment information policy on the provision of PSI to citizens. Based on the research findings, we aim to make recommendations on how policy on access to public information might be measured and evaluated, and on future directions for research in this area

School-linked sexual health services for young people (SSHYP): a survey and systematic review concerning current models, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and research opportunities

Background: Report based on a service-mapping study and a systematic review concerning sexual health services for young people, either based in or closely linked to schools. Objectives: To identify current forms of school-based sexual health services (SBSHS) and school-linked sexual health services (SLSHS) in the UK, review and synthesise existing evidence from qualitative and quantitative studies concerning the effectiveness, acceptability and cost-effectiveness of these types of service and to identify potential areas for further research. Data sources: Electronic databases were searched from 1985 onwards. For published material: the Cochrane Library (1991–), MEDLINE, PREMEDLINE (2007–), CINAHL, EMBASE, AMED, ASSIA (1987–), IBSS, ERIC, PsycINFO, Science Citation Index (SCI) and Social Sciences Citation Index. For unpublished material and grey literature: the Social Care Institute of Excellence Research Register; the National Research Register (1997–), ReFeR; Index to Theses, and HMIC. Review methods: A service-mapping questionnaire was circulated to school nurses in all parts of the UK, and semistructured telephone interviews with service coordinators in NHS and local authority (LA) roles were conducted. An evidence synthesis was performed based on a systematic review of the quantitative evidence about service effectiveness, qualitative evidence about user and professional views and a mixed-methods synthesis. A proof-of-concept model for assessing cost-effectiveness was drawn up. Results: Three broad types of UK sexual health service provision were identified. Firstly, SBSHS staffed by school nurses, offering ‘minimal’ or ‘basic’ levels of service. Secondly, SBSHS and SLSHS staffed by a multiprofessional team, but not medical practitioners, offering ‘basic’ or ‘intermediate’ levels of service. Thirdly, SBSHS and SLSHS staffed by a multiprofessional team, including medical practitioners offering ‘intermediate’ or ‘comprehensive’ levels of service. The systematic review showed that SBSHS are not associated with higher rates of sexual activity among young people, nor with an earlier age of first intercourse. There was evidence to show positive effects in terms of reductions in births to teenage mothers, and in chlamydial infection rates among young men, although this evidence coming primarily from the USA. Therefore, the findings need to be tested in relation to UK-based services. Also evidence to suggest that broad-based, holistic service models, not restricted to sexual health, offer the strongest basis for protecting young people’s privacy and confidentiality, countering perceived stigmatisation, offering the most comprehensive range of products and services, and maximising service uptake. Findings from the mapping study also indicate that broad-based services, which include medical practitioner input within a multiprofessional team, meet the stated preferences of staff and of young people most clearly. Partnership-based developments of this kind also conform to the broad policy principles embodied in the Every Child Matters framework in the UK and allied policy initiatives. However, neither these service models nor narrower ones have been rigorously evaluated in terms of their impact on the key outcomes of conception rates and sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates, in the UK or in other countries. Therefore, appropriate data were not found to support cost-effectiveness modelling. Limitations: Low response rate to the questionnaire. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were under-represented. Also, the distinction made in the questionnaire between ‘general health’ and ‘sexual health’ services did not prove robust. Conclusions: There is no single, dominant service model in the UK. The systematic review demonstrated that the evidence base for these services remains limited and uneven, and draws largely on US studies. Qualitative research is needed to develop robust process and outcome indicators for the evaluation of SLSHS/SBSHS in the UK. These indicators could then be used both in local evaluations, and in large, longitudinal studies of service effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Future research should examine the impact of the differing types of services currently evolving in the UK, encompassing school-based and school-linked models, as well as models with and without medical practitioner involvement

Contrasting consequences of climate change for migratory geese:Predation, density dependence and carryover effects offset benefits of high-arctic warming

Climate change is most rapid in the Arctic, posing both benefits and challenges for migratory herbivores. However, population-dynamic responses to climate change are generally difficult to predict, due to concurrent changes in other trophic levels. Migratory species are also exposed to contrasting climate trends and density regimes over the annual cycle. Thus, determining how climate change impacts their population dynamics requires an understanding of how weather directly or indirectly (through trophic interactions and carryover effects) affects reproduction and survival across migratory stages, while accounting for density dependence. Here, we analyse the overall implications of climate change for a local non-hunted population of high-arctic Svalbard barnacle geese, Branta leucopsis, using 28 years of individual-based data. By identifying the main drivers of reproductive stages (egg production, hatching and fledging) and age-specific survival rates, we quantify their impact on population growth. Recent climate change in Svalbard enhanced egg production and hatching success through positive effects of advanced spring onset (snow melt) and warmer summers (i.e. earlier vegetation green-up) respectively. Contrastingly, there was a strong temporal decline in fledging probability due to increased local abundance of the Arctic fox, the main predator. While weather during the non-breeding season influenced geese through a positive effect of temperature (UK wintering grounds) on adult survival and a positive carryover effect of rainfall (spring stopover site in Norway) on egg production, these covariates showed no temporal trends. However, density-dependent effects occurred throughout the annual cycle, and the steadily increasing total flyway population size caused negative trends in overwinter survival and carryover effects on egg production. The combination of density-dependent processes and direct and indirect climate change effects across life history stages appeared to stabilize local population size. Our study emphasizes the need for holistic approaches when studying population-dynamic responses to global change in migratory species.</p

Picturing the nation : The Celtic periphery as discursive other in the archaeological displays of the museum of Scotland

Using the archaeological displays at the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, this paper examines the exhibition as a site of identity creation through the negotiations between categories of same and Other. Through an analysis of the poetics of display, the paper argues that the exhibition constructs a particular relationship between the Celtic Fringe and Scottish National identity that draws upon the historical discourses of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland as a place and a time \u27apart\u27. This will be shown to have implications for the display of archaeological material in museums but also for contemporary understandings of Scottish National identity. <br /

Relaciones de gobernanza e innovación en la cadena de valor: nuevos paradigmas de competividad

El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la estructura de gobernanza de la cadena de valor territorial en el cluster cerámico español, a través de la comprensión de las funciones anteriores y actuales de los diversos sectores involucrados en el sistema de creación de valor. Por medio de un estudio de casos y el enfoque de la metodología cuantitativa, se explora el cambio de paradigma donde los actores tradicionales de la cadena de valor están perdiendo el control de su contribución al sistema de creación de valor territorial, a la vez que aparecen nuevos actores con una función más estable y prometedora