Going beyond Google

Even Google™, although an excellent search engine, cannot include the whole set of Internet information resources in its cache.  This isn’t slack searching by Google™ but rather, amongst other reasons, because of the significant technological problems in bringing copies of certain materials back to the cache. However, for library and information professionals this ‘invisible’ material is often of high quality. 

Library and information staff need to go beyond Google™ both for the ‘invisible web’ and other search engines, which offer different functions appropriate for the specific types of information required. This course will not dislodge Google™ as a search engine of choice but will highlight alternative approaches for specific enquiries.

By the end of the course participants will have:

• gained an understanding of Google’s limitations
• knowledge of other useful search engines
• an understanding of the ‘invisible web’ – what search engines can’t find easily
• an appreciation for other information discovery tools as Internet resources

This programme will be of interest to library and information staff from any sector who mainly, or exclusively, use Google™ and who may be missing something elsewhere. It is also suitable as a follow-up to the Getting the most out of Google™ programme.

Terry Kendrick

A daily user of the Internet, Terry originally trained as a librarian and worked in reference libraries. In addition to teaching Internet skills to librarians Terry also teaches consultancy, information and internet skills on the UEA MBA programme.

Sample programme

• Is Google™ invincible?
• Other search engines - do we need them?
• The invisible web Lunch
• Subject gateways and virtual libraries
• Rumours and signs: bulletin boards, mailing lists, newsgroups

Getting the most out of Google

Google™ is without doubt the information professional’s general purpose search engine of choice but many may perform searches simply by entering subject terms.  This can often bring back good results but not always, because information professionals are not using Google™ in the most effective way. 

This one-day programme will teach information staff how to bring the most relevant hits to the top of the search list and even get the answers to quick reference enquiries without having to click through to other sites.

By the end of the course participants will have:

• excellent knowledge of basic Google™ and have gone beyond simple subject terms searching
• the ability to use ‘Advanced Search’ with confidence and, indeed, do things that ‘Advanced Search’ cannot do
• knowledge of non-Google tools that help with a Google search

This programme will benefit anyone who needs quality time with Google™ that cannot be achieved at the enquiry desk, and those new to the Internet who want to learn fast but thoroughly. This course is relevant to library and information staff in all types of library from public to academic, business to specialist.

Terry Kendrick

A daily user of the Internet, Terry originally trained as a librarian and worked in reference libraries. In addition to teaching Internet skills to librarians Terry also teaches consultancy, information and internet skills on the UEA MBA programme.

Sample programme

• How Google™ works and why it matters for searchers
• Basic Google™ – subject terms, key words, natural language
• How to describe your search to Google™
• Get answers to quick reference enquiries without clicking through to other sites
• Google™ advanced search functions in detail
• Non-Google tools to help you search Google™ more effectively & efficiently
• So now you think you know Google™? 
• The Google™ future – what’s going on in the labs?

Teaching information literacy in HE: what, where and how?

Information Literacy work is growing exponentially across higher education. Librarians are working to engage as many students as possible, producing materials/tutorials for the digital environment as well as devising face-to-face activities. What is likely to make this ’teaching’ most interesting and effective? What different approaches are possible? 

This programme will address the issues and practicalities associated with designing effective IL activities/sessions.

This course provides participants with an opportunity to: review what aspects of information literacy they currently teach and how they teach them; share ideas and examples with colleagues; begin to adapt their teaching sessions/ materials using current ideas from international research and practice

By the end of the programme participants will have:

• considered the elements which comprise information literacy for the 21st Century;
• shared ideas about the contexts in which IL is taught most productively (e.g. on-line? Disciplinary context? );
• reviewed the design and scope of  learning outcomes;
• considered a range of teaching strategies and activities ((face-to-face and on-line) that can be used to promote student learning;
• adapted or planned an IL session/activity for on-line or face-to-face use.

The programme will be of interest to HE insitutions with library staff who teach information literacy to groups and/or write IL on-line resources, or want to review and adapt their existing practice.  Please note that  participants must already have a grasp of learning theory and principles.  This programme is not about the skills of teaching (e.g. how to manage groups)

Sharon Markless

Sharon Markless works at King’s College London helping colleagues to enhance their academic practice. She is also a consultant with Information Management Associates, doing library research and development work across the sectors. Sharon has published extensively on information literacy and evaluating library impact

Sample programme

• Information Literacy for the 21st century
• Where and when should we intervene in student learning?
• Learning outcomes
• Structuring a teaching session or an on-line activity
• Choosing the most appropriate strategies/activities
• Designing/adapting an IL session
• Planning for further development of your IL teaching

Making database training interesting

How do you make database training interesting? How do you design sessions so that they interest and engage participants? Can innovative methods be used in database training?

By the end of the course, participants will have:

• developed design strategies to make their database training sessions interesting and engaging
• identified and evaluate a range of interactive activities for use in database training sessions
• used interactive activities in their training sessions
• developed contingency plans for dealing with unexpected events

This programme will be of interest to any staff involved in delivering database training sessions to students, customers or colleagues. Many of the ideas and approaches considered in this programme are of value to library and information professionals working with any IT-based training sessions.

This is a practical programme. Learning and teaching activities involve discussions, case studies and other practical activities. Participants are encouraged to bring their current training materials and session plans to the training.

Barbara Allan

Barbara is Deputy Dean at the University of Hull Business School and a National Teaching Fellowship. Barbara’s areas of interest include the development of academic and professional skills. She is author of a number of publications including Supporting Research Students and Blended Learning, Facet Publishing. Barbara is currently working on a new book for Facet Publishing, The No-nonsense Guide to Training in Libraries.

Sample programme

• What are the challenges of database training?
• What are the characteristics of effective training sessions?
• How may interactive activities be used to enhance training sessions?
• Design of database and other IT-based training sessions
• Design and use of interactive activities
• Delivering database and other IT-based training sessions
• Contingency planning: dealing with unexpected events
  
• Action planning

Repackaging your research: adding value to your answers

“Why do I need a library when I’ve got the web?”

With more and more information delivered direct to end-users’ desktops, library & information staff need to go the extra mile if they are to safeguard and develop their organisation’s enquiry services. By presenting answers that are both well expressed and professional in appearance, staff  can add value to the service – and strengthen the organisation’s  branding at the same time.

This is a practical programme, where participants  will learn how to repackage enquiry answers so they highlight the key information the enquirer needs, are visually interesting and act as a promotional tool for their service.

By the end of the course participants will have:

• learned how to assess source documents rapidly and extract the best information from them
• discovered techniques for laying out written enquiry answers effectively
• examined the use of graphs, charts, illustrations and drawing tools to add value to their branded enquiry answers
• practised creating a document that meets all these criteria

This programme is suitable for staff responsible for providing extended answers to enquiries, presenting the results of desk research or creating reports.  To benefit fully from this course, participants will need to be familiar with Microsoft Word and Excel 2007 or 2003.

This course requires all participants to have access to a computer for the afternoon practical. The trainer will provide electronic source materials for participants to work on, although they are welcome to bring their own documents if  preferred.  Most of the demonstrations are based on Microsoft Office 2003 but the course can be adapted for Office 2007 or 2010 if required.

Tim Buckley Owen

Tim has over 20 years’ experience of creating persuasive and visually interesting documents – as a freelance journalist, editor and trainer, and in communications posts at CILIP, MLA and the Library & Information Commission.

Sample programme

• Adding value: the challenge we face
• Presentation: countering the Google™ effect, turning a raw answer into a finished report
• Sources: selection and rejection
• Practical: selecting and prioritising overlapping news coverage
• Practical: document scanning using signposting and rapid reading
• Extracting and summarising the key information
• Practical: fast and accurate abstracting
• Presenting a compelling answer
• Presentation: using layout, signposting, graphics and illustrations to enhance your branded answer
• The project: creating your repackaged research report
• Practical: creating a research report, either on a commissioned topic or one based on your own previous work
• How you tackled the commission
• Presentations: showing some of the repackaged answers, discussing the value they add

Cutting-edge Internet search techniques

Efficient searching of the Internet can be invaluable when dealing with enquiries. Simply entering a few keywords, or juggling a string of Boolean algebra into your favourite search engine, can sometimes produce just what you need to give a good answer. However, on those occasions when you end up with absolutely no hits, or worse still thousands of apparently useless results, it can be extremely frustrating.

This course is designed to enable staff to you use the Internet as effectively as possible when dealing with enquiries. Practical examples and hands on approaches will reveal the nature of the Internet, and help participants discover the most appropriate ways to find relevant materials for their organisations.

By the end of the course participants will have:

• in-depth knowledge of the world wide web, the invisible web and the human web
• the ability to choose appropriate search engines and other discovery tools
• templates to help with advanced search strategies
• a set of URLs to keep them updated on advances in search techniques
• hands on experience of trying out some cutting-edge techniques

The programme is designed for staff  who have been using the Internet to answer enquiries for at least two years. Participants must understand the basic mechanics of using the net, and have some experiences of the joys and disappointments of searching.

Terry Kendrick

Terry originally trained as a librarian and after a career in public libraries moved to become an information and marketing planning consultant. Terry also teaches consultancy, information and Internet skills on the UEA MBA programme.

Sample programme

• Check your searching competence
• Searching the Internet: the winning mindset
• Options: world wide web, invisible web, human web
• Search engines and directories: their range and applications
• Other Internet information discovery tools
• A summary of advanced search strategy logic
• Future technologies and search interfaces

Marketing planning for library and information units

To be able to market your service effectively an organisation must have a marketing plan.  Marketing planning is a proven technique to ensure that effort is focused on activities which bring benefits both for the users (a great library “offer”) and the library service (expected growth in usage or respect) .

The marketing plan should be a subset of any strategic/corporate plan to focus staff on how to engage with their communities, customers, clients, users and non-users.

By the end of the programme  participants from the organisation will have:

• gained an understanding of  the process of  marketing planning and its application in their library and information unit
• increased awareness of the range of tools and techniques available balance the needs of both the users/non users and library survival
• hands- on application of key approaches to marketing planning in group work during the day

This programme is designed for library and information staff from organisations in any sector who have responsibility for marketing, publicity, strategic planning, or customer development.

Terry Kendrick 

Terry has run his own information and marketing planning company for over twenty years working on projects in 18 countries.  He is author of Developing Strategic Marketing Plans That Really Work: A toolkit for public libraries, Facet Publishing, which has received enthusiastic reviews worldwide

Sample programme

• Marketing planning for libraries and information services: a review of current practice
• Developing the “winning offer”:  translating the market for our library and information services into something meaningful for users and non-users
• Marketing objectives and strategies: tools, techniques, advice
• Integrated marketing communications to roll out strategy
  Implementing the plan

Managing outreach in health service libraries

Potential users will not always make the first move in the relationship between a health service library and its community. Great numbers will simply not be attracted by a leaflet alone. Although some groups are natural users, others do not feel the service is for them - not making the connection between what the library has to offer and where they are trying to go in their daily job.

In order to attract those who are not natural LIS users, a service must demonstrate how it fits in with the user’s life. However, LIS staff committed to such an approach are rarely trained in how to manage the process of taking a service out into specific non-user communities. This course will provide participants with a way of thinking about and managing outreach for their organisation.

By the end of the programme participants will have:

• gained an understanding of outreach for health service information centres and libraries
• a set of tools and techniques to use in outreach
• ideas on how to manage the process
• undertaken a series of practical exercises to highlight key outreach ideas

This programme will be of interest to organisations where senior managers  are developing outreach services and where library and information staff  are expected to, or are expecting to, undertake outreach activities. It will be useful for library and information staff looking for a very pro-active element to add to their overall marketing activity for their organisation.

Terry Kendrick

Terry originally trained as a librarian and after a career in public libraries moved to become an information and marketing planning consultant. Terry also teaches consultancy, information and Internet skills on the UEA MBA programme

Sample programme

• What is outreach and what are the required outreach skills?
• What makes a good outreach worker?
• User needs assessment
• Initiating contacts and stakeholder awareness
• Developing relationships and generating trust
• Influencing and consultancy skills
• Alone or in partnership?
• A strategy and action plan for outreach
• Organisational and personal barriers to outreach and how to overcome them
  

Internal marketing for workplace library and information staff

Effective library and information work is not just about maintaining high professional standards.  Good work will not always be recognised.  Why wait for your stakeholders to notice you and the important value you create for your organisation?  Alert workplace library and information workers make sure that they are noticed, understood and valued, internal marketing is the way to do this.

This course explores effective ways to make an impact within your organisation and to keep your service front-of-mind with the senior managers that matter.

By the end of the course participants will have:

• recognised the importance of communicating value not cost
• the tools and techniques to listen to the organisation’s pulse
• learnt how to formulate an internal marketing plan
• considered approaches to internal marketing communications
• tips on how to become indispensable

This course will be of interest to organisations where library and information staff  need to keep their unit front of mind with internal stakeholders to ensure continued support. Information staff who are solo workers not receiving the credit they deserve and those who have some support from stakeholders and wish to capitalise on this further by employing marketing techniques will also benefit.

Terry Kendrick

Terry originally trained as a librarian and after a career in public libraries moved to become an information and marketing planning consultant. Terry also teaches consultancy, information and Internet skills on the UEA MBA programme.

Sample programme

• The difference between internal marketing and selling
• Understanding the value and costs you create
• Listening to the pulse of the client base and organisation
• An internal marketing strategy and plan: quick wins and strategic gains
• Personal marketing and networking
• Relationship marketing
• Marketing communications with an internal user base
• Making yourself indispensable: three key tips
  

Practical project management for LIS staff

This two-day programme will enable staff to understand the general principles and techniques used in project management and enable them to apply these to real workplace projects within the library and information field.

The course is suitable for staff with management responsibilities within any library sector.

By the end of the course participants will have:

• examined a range of project management tools
• applied a number of project management techniques to work-based projects
• produced a project plan
• explored the factors to consider when putting together and managing a project budget
• gained an overview of issues affecting team-building and delegation within a project context

The programme will be of interest to staff  who need to manage projects within a library/information context.

Kathy Roddy

Kathy is a qualified librarian and information manager with considerable experience of working in public, academic and specialist libraries. She also has senior management experience gained in the voluntary sector and for the past ten years been a freelance trainer and consultant specialising in the LIS field. She also holds the Association of Project Management’s Certificate in Project Management

Sample programme

DAY ONE

• Project aims and objectives
• The project life-cycle
• Analysing the project environment
• Critical success factors and performance indicators
• Identifying tasks: the work breakdown structure
• Estimating timescales
• Task dependencies
• Creating a schedule (Gantt chart)
• Critical path analysis: how it helps you manage your project

DAY TWO

• Automating project management: Microsoft Project
• Stakeholder analysis and management
• Tools for building and managing the project team
• Ensuring effective delegation and communication
• Costing the project
• Creating and using the project budget and cashflow forecast
• Risk assessment and management

Abstracting with confidence: electronic

Abstracting and summarising skills are a staple of the effective information professional’s armoury – but assimilating and reproducing screen-based content introduces a whole range of new reading and writing issues that don’t apply to printed material.   Combining presentation, practical work and group feedback, this course will help participants understand and apply the special principles associated with summarising electronic content and will equip them to tackle the challenges this presents with confidence.

This course demonstrates that summarising from web or intranet sites is a learnable skill and introduces participants to effective reading, writing and navigation techniques that will enable them to tackle any site, page or PDF document.

By the end of the course, participants will have:

• applied basic abstracting and summarising strategies and techniques to browser-based content
• been introduced to web accessibility guidelines and understood how to tackle non-compliant content.
• practised using web signposting conventions to navigate round a site
• discovered and practised avoiding the pitfalls associated with summarising unhelpfully laid out HTML pages and PDF documents

This programme will be useful for staff who need to summarise material presented in a browser – whether describing the content of a web page or site, or summarising the text of an HTML or PDF document.  Anyone who needs to understand the principles underlying these practices will also benefit.

Note that the programme can incorporate intensive, time-limited keyboard work during the various practical sessions.

Tim Buckley Owen

Tim has 30 years’ experience in abstracting, report writing, editing and journalism.  Earlier in his career, he managed a team that produced hundreds of abstracts every month for two databases and 10 current awareness bulletins.  Tim is an independent information consultant and a member of CILIP.         

Sample programme 

• Confidence – your innate summarising skills
• Encountering summaries in daily life
• Basic abstracting and summarising principles
• Summarise a web-based news story
• Why some web or intranet pages are easy to read and some aren’t
• W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
• Signposting on web pages
• Describe the purpose, aims and activities of an organisation from its website
• Selection and presentation
• Eliminate irrelevant material from a web page; turn what’s left into plain English
• Dealing with unhelpful screen lay-out
• Review and summarise a PDF document
• Strategic reading
• Find and summarise information buried in HTML text

Negotiating licences for electronic products

This one day course offers a better understanding of licence agreements and the challenges involved in contract negotiation.

The programme will help participants become familiar with the layout used in typical licence agreements for information products, so that they are not put off by the technical language or ‘legalese’ that these agreements contain.

The course includes practical sessions to familiarise participants with examples of suppliers’ terms and conditions; and also to think about the key issues to address when negotiating licence terms. It will provide practical tips and strategies which participants can use in their organisation.

By the end of the day participants will have:

• a good understanding of the typical clauses contained in contracts for electronic products
• the confidence to negotiate for their organisation both on price and other contract terms

This programme is designed for teams of information professionals who have responsibility for negotiating contracts and licence agreements, and who need to gain a better understanding of licence agreements and the challenges involved in contract negotiation.

Paul Pedley

Paul has been a member of the Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance since 1998. He has written a number of books published by Facet Publishing: Copyright Compliance, Digital copyright, Essential law for information professionals (3rd ed); and Managing digital rights (editor).

Sample programme

• Contract law versus copyright law
• The clauses found in a typical contract
• Key definitions
• Protecting statutory rights
• Examples of suppliers’ terms and conditions
• Model licences
• How to negotiate more favourable terms
• Bottom line positions – why negotiations break down
• Unfair contracts legislation
• Practical exercises:   Planning for budget and contract cycles
                                   Data protection and privacy

Copyright in a Web 2.0 environment

Information users are routinely making use of Web 2.0 applications such as social networking sites, blogs, wikis, and sites for sharing content such as videos, images, or presentations. Given that information sharing and collaborative working are now commonplace, this course considers the copyright implications such as where a user forwards third-party content by email; posts it on a website or copies and pastes content to a blog.

The whole programme is interactive, with plenty of opportunities to ask questions and for participants within the organisation to share their experiences of copyright.

At the end of the programme participants will have

• Greater awareness of the risks posed by use of third party content on Web 2.0 applications
• A clearer idea of how to obtain the necessary permissions for use of other people’s content
• An awareness of strategies for protecting the rights in their organisation’s content

The day includes two practical sessions which enable participants to test their knowledge of copyright law and consolidate what they have learnt.

The programme is aimed at those people who already have a good basic understanding of the principles of copyright law, and who want to be able to apply that knowledge to the Web 2.0 environment.

The CILIP Digital Copyright programme provides a useful grounding in electronic copyright issues, while this programme examines copyright issues in a world of information sharing.

Paul Pedley

Paul has been a member of the Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance since 1998. He has written a number of books published by Facet Publishing: Copyright Compliance, Digital copyright, Essential law for information professionals (3rd ed); and Managing digital rights (editor).

Sample programme

• Social networking sites, blogs, and wikis
• Content sharing sites (for videos, images, presentations), podcasts, webcasts, and
• streaming
• RSS feeds, Scraping
• Practical sessions
• Filesharing, mixing and mashups, hyperlinks
• Ownership issues in a world of information sharing
• Orphan works
• The role and significance of licences,  moderation policies, notice and takedown procedures

Metadata essentials

Metadata is playing an increasingly important part in information management.  This course introduces the concepts and terminology of metadata and places it within the wider context of library and information work. 

This  Metadata  Essentials programme  also shows how current thinking on metadata will affect future cataloguing practice.

By the end of the course participants will have:

•             a clear understanding of the definition of metadata

•             identified the relationship between metadata and cataloguing

•             discussed the concepts behind metadata and its terminology

•             examined examples of metadata at work

•             explored metadata standards used in library and information work

The programme is designed for experienced cataloguers and library and information professionals who are deploying their skills in new areas, and also those who are responsible for managing cataloguing departments will find this programme useful.

This programme provides a good introduction to metadata and is not intended for experienced metadata officers. Organisations may also benefit from offering the CILIP programme on Institutional Repositories and Metadata.

David Haynes

David is an information management consultant working in the public and voluntary sectors.  He is a member of CILIP and author of Metadata for Information Management and Retrieval, published by Facet Publishing. 

Sample programme 

• Definition of metadata
• Metadata and cataloguing
• Metadata concepts
• Applying metadata
• Metadata standards in library and information work
• Metadata exercises
• Managing metadata
• Metadata for retrieval
• Review and evaluation

Institutional repositories and metadata

Adding metadata tags to materials in institutional repositories increases their visibility.  This course explores the main metadata standards that are used for information management and retrieval in institutional repositories.

This course will improve the performance and retrievability of material from institutional repositories. 

By the end of the course participants will have:

•             considered the different approaches to institutional repositories

•             explored the fundamental concepts of metadata

•             reviewed the main metadata standards used in institutional repositories

•             learned about encoding schemes and controlled vocabularies

•             practised retrieving information from different types of institutional repository

This programme is of interest to library and information staff with responsibility for cataloguing and tagging materials in institutional repositories and for their managers.  It will also be useful for staff who regularly search for research material.

This course is not about setting up an institutional repository.  Organisations may also benefit by offering the CILIP course on Metadata Essentials beforehand.

David Haynes

David is a freelance information professional who has worked extensively in the academic and research library sectors.  He specialises in information management techniques and is the author of Metadata for Information Management and Retrieval published by Facet.

Sample programme

• Introduction and context
• A rapid introduction to metadata
• Who are your users? (exercise)
• Metadata standards – Dublin Core
• Other metadata standards
• Encoding schemes and taxonomies (exercise)
• Metadata to manage institutional repositories
• Searching institutional repositories (exercise)
• Areas of development

Creating a taxonomy: how to get started

Increasingly, library and information professionals are being called on to develop or adapt taxonomies for information systems such as: file plans, encoding schemes for databases, and controlled vocabularies for intranets.

This course provides a practical introduction to the development of information taxonomies.

By the end of this course participants will have:

•             considered the main types of information taxonomy

•             practised developing a simple classification scheme

•             used classification principles to develop a thesaurus

•             gained an understanding of the context in which taxonomies are used

•             explored opportunities for taxonomy development

•             reviewed software tools for taxonomy development

This course is for library and information professionals who want to create classification systems for: intranets, websites, file plans, specialist collections and knowledge management environments.  It will also be of benefit to managers reviewing the role of classification systems in their organisations.

David Haynes

David is an information consultant who has developed taxonomies, file plans, thesauri and classification schemes for a variety of clients in the public, private and third sectors.  He is course tutor for several CILIP courses on Metadata and Taxonomies.  He is also author of Metadata for Information Management and Retrieval (Facet, 2004)

Sample programme

• Types of classification
• Developing a simple classification (Exercise)
• Context for classification – metadata
• Developing a controlled vocabulary or thesaurus (Exercise)
• Selecting taxonomy development software
• Identifying and adapting classification schemes
• Review

Launch of ‘living’ books breaks barriers between humanities and science

A series of 21 ‘living books’ has been launched online as part of a pioneering initiative designed to provide a bridge between the humanities and the sciences.

The Living Books About Life series is written and produced by humanities scholars from universities across the world – from the UK and America to Poland and Australia – and has re-packaged and re-presented science-related research material to make it more accessible to a humanities audience.

Funded by JISC and published by the Open Humanities Press (OHP), the books address a number of scientific topics whose unifying theme is life, including air, agriculture, bioethics, cosmetic surgery, energy, neurology and human cloning.

Alastair Dunning, programme manager at JISC, said: "By drawing only on Open Access material to create these ‘Living Books about Life’, the team is helping define a new era of scholarly communication – and thereby exploiting JISC’s vision to make the results of publicly funded research available to all."

The books present recent research on these subjects in a palatable way using interactive maps, podcasts and audio-visual materials. The result, which can be shared freely amongst both academic and non-academic individuals alike, is an engaging and diverse resource for researching and teaching relevant science issues across the humanities.

As well as bridging the divide between the humanities and sciences, the three partner institutions working on the project – led by Coventry University and including the University of Kent and Goldsmiths, University of London – have ‘rethought’ the conventional book by developing a new, low-cost and sustainable model for creating, publishing and sharing content.

By embracing the age of open information and the increasing prominence of crowdsourcing, the project leaders ensured each volume in the Living Books About Life series is a ‘living’ medium itself, able to be updated by readers through ongoing collaborative processes of writing, editing, remixing and commenting.

Gary Hall, Professor of Media and Performing Arts at Coventry University, said: "The ‘Living Books About Life’ series doesn’t just represent a new, exciting and more easily digestible way for people without a background in science to learn about important scientific issues – it also has the potential to refashion the process of book publishing itself. It’s a pioneering example of a sustainable, low-cost, low-tech approach to publishing high-quality books that can be shared easily and freely on an open access basis with anyone who has an interest."

Nicholas Mirzoeff, Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University, said: "This remarkable series transforms the humble reader into a living form, while breaking down the conceptual barrier between the humanities and the sciences in a time when scholars and activists of all kinds have taken the understanding of life to be central. Brilliant in its simplicity and concept, this series is a leap towards an exciting new future."

View the books

Read more about the initiative

Image creative commons licensed by Halfrain

JISC and UK Research Councils to build a robust repository infrastructure for the future

Tracking the UK’s research outputs will become easier in the future thanks to JISC and Research Councils UK (RCUK) working together to utilise their expertise.

Over the coming months a piece of work called the RIO Extension project will take place, to scope the issues and requirements from universities, funders and researchers in managing the information about research outputs. The aim of the work is to provide the UK education and research sector with clear, practical guidance on recording and sharing information about its research outputs, so that it can be reused for a variety of purposes, including by the systems used by the Research Councils.

Neil Jacobs, JISC’s digital infrastructure programme director, says, “The UK research community punches well above its weight in terms of the quality and quantity of research outputs. However, these are not systematically recorded, so it can be hard to demonstrate that impact. Researchers, universities and funders have a common interest in ensuring that the outputs from UK research are visible, and that this is achieved without putting undue burden on the sector.

“This can be done using both institutional repositories and more sophisticated research information systems but, in either case, it is important that these interoperate effectively with the systems operated by research funders and others. The RIO Extension project will describe a roadmap for the sector to achieve that.”

Four of the Research Councils are shortly to launch the Research Outcomes System, which will be the primary means by which these Research Councils will collect this kind of information. JISC is supporting the creation of this service by ensuring that it works effectively and efficiently with institutional systems, including the UK repository infrastructure. This flexible and community-owned infrastructure is well suited to meet the demands of the 21st century research community.

Dr Sue Smart, Chair of the RCUK Research Outcomes Project, comments, “With this clear and practical guidance agreed for the research community and Research Councils to use, we can work together to significantly lessen the burden on institutions and organisations wanting to collect this data.”

The RIO Extension project is also part of a larger programme of work scoping and delivering shared repository and curation infrastructure services at a national and international level. This work supports the strategic requirements of universities, colleges, JISC and the Research Councils to build a robust repository infrastructure for the future. It also contributes to the aspirations of the UK Open Access Implementation Group’s 2012 strategy.

Explore JISC’s repository infokit and find out how it could help your organisation

Inquiry into public library closures announced

The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee have launched a new inquiry into public library closures in England. Chaired by John Whittingdale MP, the Committee are inviting written submissions and views on:

• What constitutes a comprehensive and efficient library service for the 21st century
• The extent to which planned library closures are compatible with the requirements of the Public Libraries & Museums Act (1964) and the Charteris Report
• The impact library closures have on local communities
• The effectiveness of the Secretary of State’s powers of intervention under the Public Libraries & Museums Act 1964

CILIP Chief Executive, Annie Mauger, welcomed the news:

“I am delighted. For some time at CILIP we have been lobbying Select Committee members to hold an inquiry. After the outcome of the Brent case I again asked John Whittindgale to consider an inquiry and I’m so glad he has.”

Further details from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee press release:

"A copy of the submission should be sent by e-mail to cmsev@parliament.uk and have ‘Library closures’ in the subject line. Submissions should be received by Thursday 12th January 2012.

Guidance on submitting written evidence

It assists the Committee if those submitting written evidence adhere to the following guidelines:

Each submission should:

• state clearly who the submission is from, i.e. whether from yourself in a personal capacity or sent on behalf of an organisation
• be about 3,000 words in length / run to no more than six sides of A4 paper;
• as far as possible comprise a single document attachment to the email;
• begin with a short summary in bullet point form;
• have numbered paragraphs; and
• be in Word or Rich Text format (not PDF) with as little use of colour or logos as possible.  

Please supply a postal address so a copy of the Committee’s report can be sent to you upon publication.

It would be helpful, for Data Protection purposes, if individuals submitting written evidence would send their contact details separately in a covering email in a block of text laid out vertically.

You should also be aware that there may be circumstances in which the House of Commons will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Though there is a strong preference for emailed submissions, those without access to a computer should send a hard copy to:

Committee Assistant
Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Committee Office
House of Commons
7 Millbank
London  SW1P 3JA

A guide for written submissions to Select Committees may be found on the parliamentary website at: http://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/have-your-say/take-part-in-committee-inquiries/witness/

Please also note that:

• Committees make public much of the evidence they receive during inquiries. If you do not wish your submission to be published, you must clearly say so. If you wish to include private or confidential information in your submission to the Committee, please contact the Clerk of the Committee to discuss this.
• Material already published elsewhere should not form the basis of a submission, but may be referred to within a proposed submission, in which case a hard copy of the published work should be included.
• Evidence submitted must be kept confidential until published by the Committee, unless publication by the person or organisation submitting it is specifically authorised.
• Once submitted, evidence is the property of the Committee. The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to make public the written evidence it receives, by publishing it on the Internet (where it will be searchable), by printing it or by making it available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure. The Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.
• Committees do not normally investigate individual cases of complaint or allegations of maladministration.
• Once submitted, no public use should be made of any submission prepared specifically for the Committee unless you have first obtained permission from the Clerk of the Committee.

For up-to-date information on progress of the inquiry visit: http://www.parliament.uk/cmscom  

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Committee Membership is as follows: 

• Mr John Whittingdale (Chair) (Con) (Maldon)
• Dr Thérèse Coffey (Con) (Suffolk Coastal)
• Damian Collins (Con) (Folkestone and Hythe)
• Philip Davies (Con) (Shipley)
• Paul Farrelly (Lab) (Newcastle-under-Lyme)
• Mrs Louise Mensch (Con) (Corby)
• Steve Rotheram (Lab) (Liverpool, Walton)
• Mr Adrian Sanders (Lib Dem) (Torbay)
• Jim Sheridan (Lab) (Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
• Mr Tom Watson (Lab) (West Bromwich East)"      

-ends-

Press contact:

Mark Taylor, Director of External Relations, CILIP
Email: mark.taylor@cilip.org.uk
Phone: 020 7255 0654
Mobile: 07792 635 305

Financial assistance for study

Here are some useful ideas for library and information students looking for financial support

If you have decided to follow a postgraduate degree or diploma, you can apply for help from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). They administer a fund to help towards living and travel costs while studying, the Postgraduate Professional and Vocational Awards Scheme (PVA). People following postgraduate courses and studentships in librarianship and archive administration are eligible for grants from the AHRC.

Prospective students will only be able to apply for a grant through the institution to which they apply, and then only for one course.

You should also consult Grants directories. These are produced by various publishers and will be found in public, academic and schools libraries.

In Wales, Cymal and the Welsh Assembly offers help for professional development.

The John Campbell Trust aims to further the education and development of information professionals through grants, scholarships, research or travel awards, and thereby to enhance the knowledge and experience of the information community as a whole.

CILIP administers the Mitchell Memorial Fund. The Institute can provide a limited number of interest free loans to help members follow a relevant course further to their professional qualification.

Employers can sometimes help with study. It is worth asking at job interviews if such schemes exist. They may have a day release programme, partly or even fully pay for the course.

Libraries centre stage at WIPO

Read the latest blog post from CILIP's Head of Policy Guy Daines

• Libraries centre stage at WIPO

How to teach … Road Safety Week

The Guardian Teacher Network this week has lots of resources for use with pupils to ensure they are aware of road safety, and what to do if they see an accident

Road accidents are the single biggest cause of death and injury among young people, making road safety a topic that is worth revisiting.

Road Safety Week (21-27 November) is organised by the accident-prevention charity, Brake, and the theme of this year's event is Too Young to Die. The aim is to raise awareness of how to improve road safety and the charity has materials to get you started. These include an introductory guide to teaching road safety, online games for early years and primary, and videos suitable for use with older pupils.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has a range of assemblies about road safety that can be used throughout the school year. Suitable for use from KS1 to KS4, topics covered include the need for young children to hold an adult's hand when near a road, the importance of cycle helmets, and issues to be aware of when learning to drive.

Rural road safety is the theme of a RoSPA teaching pack for KS1 and KS2. The resource is intended to help children in rural areas improve their road safety skills by delivering messages across a range of curriculum areas including maths, English, geography and ICT.

RoSPA has also produced a set of road safety workbooks for use with young learners of English. In the workbooks, a number of road safety key words, phrases and messages are written in Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu and Polish as well as in English. A teacher's guide accompanies the resource, created in response to statistics that show that children with no or poorly-developed English language skills are over-represented in road accidents.

The British Red Cross has produced an assembly pack about what to do if you witness a road accident. Suitable for use at KS2 and KS3, the kit contains a drama performance demonstrating five first-aid principles that young people and adults can use. It also includes ideas for follow-up activities that look at road safety issues from both a UK and international perspective. A separate document contains a set of images to support the assembly.

The theme of first aid can be explored further with some British Red Cross PowerPoint presentations suitable for use with pupils aged 11 to 16. First aid basics 1 explains how to put someone in the recovery position, while First aid basics 2 looks at how to assess if a person is unconscious and how to perform CPR. Teacher's notes for First aid basics 1 and First Aid basics 2 are also available.

Speed read of the latest educational news

Free schools get spiritual, students get nasty and the Skills Funding Agency chief clams up

Enough to make humanists hopping mad

News that the founders of the Maharishi free school, which follows the teachings of the Beatles' spiritual guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, are hoping to open two more like it hasn't gone down well with the British Humanist Association (BHA). It issued a press release earlier this month objecting to the plans on the basis that Maharishi schools teach transcendental meditation, which "adheres to a number of beliefs based on spiritual teachings that lack evidence" – and also, they claim, teaches levitation.

David Hughes, a spokesman for the Maharishi free school, confirmed that there are plans to open two schools – in Richmond, south-west London, and in Suffolk. If there is sufficient demand for the schools, a bid will be made to the Department for Education (DfE) in February.

Cynics will be relieved to learn there is "absolutely no truth" in the idea that public money is being used to teach children how to levitate. The "misunderstanding" could have come about because the BHA is getting mixed up with "yogic flying", Hughes explains, which is an extension of the transcendental meditation technique and involves "hopping" rather than levitation.

Meanwhile, the BHA is also campaigning against an application by Christian Family Schools Ltd to open a free school. The organisation already runs two private schools in Sheffield, including Bethany school, whose science curriculum seems to have a lot about God in it. The Sheffield Christian free school's curriculum would be "broadly based on nine themes found in the early chapters of the book of Genesis". With all these unusual applications in the pipeline, anyone tasked with vetting them for the DfE will need the patience of a saint.

Can Obama stop bullying in Reigate?

A website that encourages students to spread malicious rumours has got one college principal so outraged he has written to Barack Obama asking him to shut down the US-based site.

Many of the comments on littlegossip.com seem little short of cyberbullying. In the case of Reigate sixth-form college in Surrey, whose students have posted more than 300 comments to date, slurs range from mildly insulting ("needs a haircut") to offensive or defamatory ("looks like a bender" and "child molester"). Students can also rate rumours as true or false, and add comments to gossip posted by others.

College principal Mark Ruspoli decided to contact the White House after being told by a DfE official that the department couldn't help because littlegossip.com is US based. Ruspoli has also started an online petition.

What concerns him most is that, while the terms and conditions state clearly that schoolchildren between the age of 11-18 should not be using the site, there are no rules about colleges, whose students can be as young as 14.

About 120 colleges are now listed on the site. It seems especially popular at Bridgwater College in Somerset, whose principal, Fiona McMillan, is president of the Association of Colleges. Its students have posted more than 700 comments on littlegossip to date.

Meanwhile, Ruspoli is still awaiting a reply from Mr President.

Not enough said

Some college principals seemed distinctly unimpressed by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) chief Geoff Russell's contribution to the Association of Colleges' (AoC) annual conference last week. While delegates were expecting a speech, Russell talked for just a few minutes before saying, "That's all I have to say really", and opening up the floor to questions.

But perhaps he could be forgiven for sounding a bit lacklustre. The SFA has recently come under fire from the Treasury for funding adult apprenticeships for employees of big companies such as Asda and Morrisons – which can be completed in as little as 13 weeks – rather than creating new jobs. In a time of record youth unemployment, it is a strategy that couldn't be more unpopular.

And earlier this month, the skills minister, John Hayes, announced a review of the SFA, fuelling speculation that it could be the next casualty in the quango bonfire. There was more grumbling about the speech at the AoC gala dinner, where one college principal was overheard saying of Russell: "I give him three months."

Leave history alone but teach it for longer, says historian

David Cannadine tells Michael Gove to keep syllabus intact and make subject compulsory to age of 16

Towards the end of a typically barnstorming performance at the Hay Festival in May last year, during which Niall Ferguson had rubbished the way history was taught in this country, the spotlight was turned towards the audience to reveal that the new education secretary, Michael Gove, had snuck into the event and was sitting somewhere near the back. And after a few not entirely convincing exchanges of surprise along the lines of "Fancy seeing you here!", "You're marvellous", "No, you're marvellous", Gove offered Ferguson a job on the spot to help reform the history curriculum.

The message from both men was clear. The country had gone to the dogs, and the teaching of history was partly to blame. Under 13 years of a Labour government, the nation's schoolchildren had learned little more than a few episodic soundbites about the Nazis, and consequently had no real understanding of, or pride in, the country's past achievements. Put the Great back into Britain, celebrate the past, forget the post-colonial apologias, and the little blighters will stop stabbing one another and get off their butts and start looking for a job. Here was a post-election narrative for the new coalition government looking to reassure the Tory heartlands that a back-to-basics, common-sense approach to education was firmly in hand.

Wisely, perhaps, Gove chose to consult not just Ferguson. Instead, using the contacts book that mysteriously opens up for new ministers, he also invited several other well-known historians, including Simon Schama and Richard Evans, to contribute their suggestions for the wholesale reform of history teaching. Somewhere not far into the process, he also asked David Cannadine, Dodge Professor of History at Princeton – and, with Ferguson and Schama, yet another of the UK's top academic exports to the US – for his thoughts. Eighteen months down the line, Gove might rather be wishing he hadn't.

Like Gove and Ferguson, Cannadine has also taken a profound interest in how history is taught in state schools; unlike them, he didn't think that relying on hearsay and ideology was the best way to decide public policy. "There had been a great many theories about how history had been taught over time," Cannadine says, "but no one had done any detailed research to provide the evidence to back them up." So about two and a half years ago Cannadine, along with two research fellows, Jenny Keating and Nicola Sheldon, funded by the Linbury Trust and the Institute of Historical Research, set out to find the empirical data, and this week their findings are published in The Right Kind of History.

What emerges clearly is that there never was a golden, sentimental age of history education in which everyone came out of school knowing the names and dates of every king and queen or marvelling in a triumphalist past. "If you go through the records," says Cannadine, "it's clear that up until the second world war, history was only ever taught to a very small elite, and even thereafter, it's hardly been a mainstream subject. Along with Albania, we're one of the few countries in which history hasn't been compulsory beyond 14. And with only two or three hours a week timetabled up until that age, the chances of pupils acquiring a comprehensive grounding in the subject are slim."

Nor does Cannadine believe the fault lies with the national curriculum, which was introduced under the Thatcher government in 1988 in response to similar concerns that standards of teaching had dropped and something needed to be done. "It's become fashionable to knock the history curriculum for being too episodic and for pupils not learning enough about how the past interconnects, but the real problem is that there is not enough time to teach everything," Cannadine says. "If you examine the history curriculum carefully, it does actually cover pretty much everything you might want students to know; the problem is there isn't enough time to teach it. So inevitably there are going to be gaps in people's learning. And it was always like this, even before the national curriculum. Back in the 1930s, the Tudors were the equivalent of the modern-day Nazis, with everyone complaining that pupils spent far too much time on the Tudors at the expense of other periods."

Furthermore, history has incorporated many more areas of study in schools over the last 50 years; where once it was mainly restricted to wars, diplomacy and a bit of economics, it now incorporates race, gender and social issues. So a further dilution of a subject kept within a fixed time-frame was almost unavoidable.

If the history curriculum isn't fit for purpose, then Cannadine believes we should be looking no further than the politicians and Whitehall for the culprits, as when Kenneth Baker et al were drafting the original curriculum in the 80s it was always intended that history should become compulsory until the age of 16. At the last minute, though, Kenneth Clarke, then education secretary, decided to retain the status quo, and ever since history teachers have been forced to cram a syllabus originally intended to be learned over five years into three. As a direct consequence, those students who did choose to continue history to GCSE were frequently forced to cover much the same syllabus in key stage 4 as they had in key stage 3 – only in rather greater depth. It doesn't take a lot of working out to realise why so many students complain that history is repetitive and boring.

Cannadine thinks the answer is quite straightforward. Leave the curriculum alone and go back to teaching it the way it was always intended to be taught, by making it compulsory to 16. "I'm not naïve," he says. "I'm quite sure that in some schools history isn't always taught as well it should be. One should never be complacent about standards. But the same is almost certainly true of every other subject you care to mention and no one is proposing a wholesale reform of the curriculum in those areas."

Which raises an interesting question. Why is it that some subjects, such as maths and physics, are seen as objectively neutral – their syllabus a matter for academic discussion alone – while others, such as history, are considered so important to the national psyche that so many people feel the need to have an opinion about it? Part of the answer is that many of us know – or think we know – more history than science and therefore have some kind of entitlement, but it's also true that our culture loads history, more than any other subject, with a moral narrative. It has become one of the means through which we tell stories about ourselves and shape our national identity.

For those of the Ferguson school, this bending of history to a narrative, interpretative arc presents few problems. And if confined to a few university lecture halls, it probably serves a purpose. Ferguson has built his career on counterfactual history and championing unfashionable rightwing causes, and if he has forced other liberal academics to rethink and defend their positions more carefully, then all well and good. Yet Cannadine believes it should have no role in how history is taught in school.

"History should never be used merely as a means of relaying a desired national narrative," he says. "Putin is doing just that in Russia at the moment by insisting that some aspects of the Soviet regime should be taught in a more sympathetic light. There are also calls in some American states to rewrite their teaching of slavery. This can't be right. If a country has cause to feel awkward about its past, then so be it. We should be grown-up enough to deal with it. Which isn't to say we should wallow in guilt; rather that we should accept the good and bad equally without giving either greater emphasis."

Outsiders to the current history curriculum consultation might also be curious about why it is that three of Gove's most high-profile advisers – Ferguson, Schama and Cannadine – are spending most of their time working in the US. Cannadine insists there's nothing that odd about it. "Just one of those things. A coincidence." But of course, it isn't really, as it highlights problems Gove might also want to address rather higher up the education food chain. The reason top British academics end up overseas is not just because they get paid so much more there, but because they are left on their own to teach what they want, how they want to, without constant interference or being forced to churn out a designated number of papers every four years for the research assessment exercise or its replacement.

Looked at another way, though, what Ferguson, Schama and Cannadine also highlight is that Britain has managed to turn out historians of international stature despite never having had a Govian age of rose-tinted national identity in the classroom. What's more, while Britain has produced historians of many other countries, who are recognised as experts in those countries, there are very few – if any – overseas historians who are recognised as of the same rank as our own custodians of British history. And if that were to change in the future, it would be more likely due to the decline in language teaching – and the consequent inability to work from original sources – than to a fall in the standards of history teaching.

All of which, as Cannadine admits, leaves Gove with a dilemma. "I suspect he might find it politically difficult not to change the national curriculum," he says, "as it's the easiest thing to do and also what many people want him to do. But there's really no need. The biggest and most necessary change is to make history compulsory to 16, but doing that will create other pressures on the timetable. Still, he's had a copy of the book on his desk since September, and if he needs any help writing the speech explaining what really needs to be done, he only has to call me."

So the ball is in Gove's court. To learn from history, or be condemned to repeat its mistakes.

• The headline on this article was amended on 18 November to reflect the fact that although David Cannadine works in the US, he is originally from Birmingham.

• The Right Kind of History by David Cannadine, Jenny Keating and Nicola Sheldon is available from Guardian Books. To order a copy for £11.99 with free UK p&p, call 0330 333 6846 or go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop

Exempting schools from Ofsted inspection is a worrying policy

Only the Treasury benefits from the proposal to waive future inspections for schools that Ofsted judges outstanding, says Estelle Morris

A little noticed clause in the education bill that has just completed its passage through parliament could just herald a significant shift in assumptions that have underpinned our education system for the last 20 years.

From next year, schools judged by Ofsted to be outstanding will no longer be inspected. Under pressure, the government has identified a number of triggers that could lead to an inspection, but the thrust is clear – regular inspection is considered an unnecessary burden on our highest-performing schools.

The school itself can request an inspection, but it will have to pay – perhaps an indication that this measure is as much about saving money as anything. And apart from the Treasury, I can't see any winners.

Standards, in even our best schools, can decline rapidly; parents will no longer have up-to-date inspection information and inspectors won't regularly see the full range of schools, which could influence their judgments. A child could go through a school without it ever being inspected.

External inspection has earned its place in the education landscape. Ofsted has gathered a wealth of information – from both high-performing and underperforming schools – and it has contributed to higher standards.

The change is even more worrying when seen against the wider shifts in education policy. Schools have been subject to significant and relentless change over the last 30 years; government has never been as active or interested in this area of its responsibilities. These decades have seen not only a battle of ideas, but also a search to find which levers are most effective in influencing change. Governments have passed laws, issued edicts, spent money and invented new structures. Their relationship with the profession has swung from naming and shaming to praising and encouraging.

Yet whatever the policy differences between the political parties, there is now some consensus about the need to shift from centralised control. All politicians talk about trusting teachers and their professional decisions. The days of major government initiatives are gone; they wouldn't sit well in the wider political context of devolution and localism.

Yet no politician, no matter what their commitment to devolving power, can afford to completely relinquish all the levers. Government has a responsibility to its electorate and it needs some way of delivering on this.

Over recent years, government has settled on a formula that offers local flexibility but maintains a national framework – more decisions devolved to schools, but government holding schools to account through national inspection, curriculum and testing.

Which brings me back to dropping Ofsted inspections for outstanding schools. Some schools will also be freed from the obligation to teach the national curriculum or to employ qualified teachers.

So as more freedoms are granted to individual schools, government will, for some schools, give up two of its three accountability measures.

I think the education secretary is a true believer in devolution and small government, but I'd be surprised if he didn't want to retain some means of influencing schools – which might explain why he has announced so many policy changes on testing: new reading tests for six-year-olds; a revised test for 11-year-olds; the introduction of the English baccalaureate at GCSE; changes to course work at GCSE and A-level; a revamp of vocational qualifications.

For those schools freed from inspection, and which choose to opt out of as much of the national curriculum as allowed, these test results will be the main way in which they are held accountable for what they do.

This could be the way to resolve the conflict between localism and the need for national standards: as long as the results are delivered, just get on with it.

Yet I remain uneasy about this. If the only national measure of success is test results, we will value even more what we can test and risk even further undervaluing those things we can't. Subjects not in the English baccalaureate are already being pushed out in some schools. This trend might grow significantly.

If, however, I am wrong and ministers really are going to give up all their centralised powers, let's just see what happens the first time a previously high–performing school hits the headlines – and hasn't been inspected for a decade.