How young people are faring 2012

This report provides an independent, up-to-date and in-depth analysis of the education, training and work activities of young Australians. The series provides important information on how successfully our education and training system is working to meet the needs of young Australians as they make the transition from school to further study and work.  This contemporary, point-in-time picture of the learning and earning circumstances of young Australians is also placed in the context of the long-term trends that emerge from looking at changes in educational and labour force participation over the last two to three decades. How Young People are Faring 2012 has been prepared by Lyn Robinson and Stephen Lamb from the Centre for Research on Education Systems at the University of Melbourne. The significant story that emerges from HYPAF 2012 is one of a changing landscape of work and learning. The report shows solid gains in educational attainment , however, the data suggests that we should not become complacent about broader and alternative pathways from school to work, further study and training. Traditional education pathways are not enough in themselves to help young people enter the world of work. The combination of a changing youth labour market, long-term unemployment and the persistent marginalisation experienced by certain groups reinforces the need to ask: how well are young people prepared for increasingly fluid worlds of work? Image: merfam / flick

"A different kind of knowing": speculations on understanding in light of the Philosophy of Information

This short and speculative paper considers some philosophical approaches to understanding, particularly those related to Luciano Floridi's Philosophy of Information, and based on the general idea that understanding is a special kind of knowledge. It is a slightly extended and updated version of the paper presented at CoLIS9

Super-science, fundamental dimension, way of being: Library and information science in an age of messages. With critique from Rafael Capurro

This is a blog post containing the somewhat revised text of a chapter published in a Festschrift for Rafael Capurr, with comments from Capurro on our chapter

Into the infosphere: theory, literacy, and education for new forms of document

Coming changes in the information environment, particularly the infosphere and immersive documents are briefly reviewed, and their significance for library/information science considered, with a focus on topics addressed in the writings of Tatjana Aparac-Jelušić. Issues analysed include the nature of these new developments, new models of information behaviour and information literacy, consequences for education and professional training, and the relation between theory and practice

Impact of digital information resources in the toxicology literature

Purpose – The purpose of the study reported here was to assess the degree to which new forms of web-based information and communication resources impact on the formal toxicology literature, and the extent of any change between 2000 and 2005. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of an empirical examination of the full content of four toxicology journals for the year 2000 and for the year 2005, with analysis of the results, comparison with similar studies in other subject areas, and with a small survey of the information behaviour of practising toxicologists. Findings – Scholarly communication in toxicology has been relatively little affected by new forms of information resource (weblogs, wikis, discussion lists, etc.). Citations in journal articles are still largely to “traditional” resources, though a significant increase in the proportion of web-based material being cited in the toxicology literature has occurred between 2000 and 2005, from a mean of 3 per cent to a mean of 19 per cent. Research limitations/implications – The empirical research is limited to an examination of four journals in two samples of one year each. Originality/value – This is the only recent study of the impact of new ICTs on toxicology communication. It adds to the literature on the citation of digital resources in scholarly publications

Continuing professional development for library and information science - Case study of a network of training centres

Purpose – The paper aims to describe a network of training centres (TCN-LIS) to support continuing professional development (CPD) of library and information specialists in countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, funded by the Open Society Institute (OSI). It also aims to draw some general lessons for CPD in the library/information sector. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the development and activities of the training centre network, and reflects on issues raised and lessons learned. Findings – The paper finds that TCN-LIS has been effective in raising standards of professional competence among library and information specialists in the countries of the OSI region. General conclusions can be drawn about good practice for CPD, in issues including the most appropriate topics to be covered, most appropriate methods for teaching and learning, situation of CPD training centres, and relations between CPD and formal education. Research limitations/implications – The study is based on a network of training centres in 23 countries between 1999 and 2006. Originality/value – This is the only paper describing TCN-LIS, and the library/information training activities supported by OSI. It provides a unique perspective for considering library/information CPD issues

Three views of the "musical work": Bibliographical control in the music domain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of the “musical work”, and its consequences for library/information provision. Design/methodology/approach – Analysis of journal and monograph literature is supported by interviews with music editors, examination of documents, and self-reflection on music cataloguing practice. Findings – The nature of a musical work is shown to be complex, and influenced by many contextual factors. Phenomenological and ontological models can prove useful in understanding practical issues of information provision. The work of music editors has a strong relation to that of cataloguers and curators. Bibliographic models such as FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) can gain from, and contribute to, music information, through the centrality of the concept of “work”. Research limitations/implications – The literature review is selective rather than comprehensive. Practical implications – The study provides direct guidance for library/information practitioners in the music domain, and an insight into issues of relevance to information provision in any specialized subject. Originality/value – The paper is a contribution to the literature on the application of philosophical and conceptual analysis to documents and bibliographic entities in specialized subject areas, and to domain analysis

Use of Mobile Technologies by Law Students in the Law Library: an Exploratory Study

This paper outlines the first part of a wider, two-part study on the information behaviour of law students. The authors are Zaki Abbas, Andrew MacFarlane and Lyn Robinson. The background and motivation for the study have been described in a previous publication 1 which reports the results of interviews with three academic law librarians. Our initial work found that although mobile technologies offered benefits to law students seeking information for their academic studies, there was concern from law librarians that the use of electronic resources via both non-mobile and mobile interfaces resulted in a loss of skills required for information retrieval due to the increasing capabilities of electronic resources’ search interfaces. To gain more insight into how law students were using mobile information resources, and to further understand the advantages and disadvantages of such resources, we extended our study to a wider cohort. This second phase, of our first part study, was conducted over two years (2013–2015). During this time, we carried out interviews with thirteen law librarians and fielded both quantitative and qualitative questionnaires to 36 law students. We also conducted a greater review of literature and examined several existing information-seeking models. We used the results of the research from this phase of study, together with the knowledge from the literature to propose a novel information-seeking behaviour (ISB) model for law students. These findings are reported within this paper. The second part of this research will look at expanding our research cohort to cover a wider audience throughout the UK and use a focus group to validate our proposed model. This will be reported in a following paper

The effects of part-time work on school students

This report investigates the character and consequences of part- time work by school students. It looks at students\u27 experience of part-time work; the measured effects of part-time work on schooling; and the initial labour market outcomes of employment during secondary school

The ‘Got Milk’ project. The timing of lactogenesis phase II: the impact of mother-infant proximity

This study explores the effects of mother-infant close-contact while on the postnatal ward on the maternal perception of the onset of lactogenesis phase II (LII).The 'Got Milk?' project utilized a sub-sample of 49 mothers of newly delivered infants participating in a large randomised trial (The North-East Cot Trial) which had allocated the mother-infant dyads to receive either a stand-alone bassinette (current hospital practices) or a side-car crib (a three sided bassinette that attaches to the mother's bed) while on the postnatal ward. Data were collected using simple daily home diaries completed immediately following birth until five days postpartum. Mothers of infants assigned to located the side-car crib condition reported experiencing: the onset of LII earlier (p=0.003); more physiological sensations of LII on reported day of milk arrival (p=0.025); and were discharged earlier from hospital (p=0.042), in comparison to mothers whose infants were allocated the stand-alone bassinette condition. There was a clear trend for infants in the side-car crib group to breastfeed more frequently than infants in the stand-alone bassinette group. Multifarious mothers, regardless of cot allocation, reported experiencing: the onset of LII sooner (p=0.046); a greater frequency of breastfeeding (p=0.026); and a greater confidence in breastfeeding their infant (p=0.003), sooner than primiparous mothers. This study contributes to the growing understanding of the effects current Western postnatal infant care practices on the breastfeeding physiology in the immediate postpartum period. Side-car cribs allow mother-infant close-contact which facilitates an earlier onset of LI