The award for effective use of technology in further education, sponsored by Jisc, was given for the college’s programme - ‘Seamless learning – any time, any place’ - which involved making cloud-based learning available to students and staff across the college.
The AoC Beacon Awards celebrate the best and most innovative practice among UK further education colleges. They reward colleges that go above and beyond in providing high-quality technical and professional education. Award winners must also offer something exceptional to students and the wider community.
As part of a phased introduction of the technology, the invested £1.3 million to improve its previously insufficient Wi-Fi coverage. Introducing the new system, which uses Google apps, has brought significant improvements in teaching, learning and student achievement.
Sally Dicketts, chief executive of Activate Learning, which runs Reading College, said:
“Our approach to using online technologies has helped to realise our aim of extending and enlivening students' learning. This has led to them making faster progress and achieving higher grades.
Digital technologies have also enabled us to connect with employers in new ways; to facilitate the co-creation of project based learning. This has provided a flexible solution to building relationships with those individuals who are knowledge rich but time poor.
As the pace of technological change increases, we are pleased to be at the forefront of exploring and utilising new technologies to support our students' learning.”
Paul McKean, Jisc head of further education and skills, said:
“As UK government continues in its aim to reform post-16 education, the role of technology will grow in importance – supporting colleges to build a strong foundation that will enable them to survive, thrive and continue delivering outstanding learning experiences into the future.
We already know of colleges who are leading the charge and using technology to elevate learning, teaching and assessment. This award celebrates those frontrunners, while giving an excellent opportunity to showcase best practice so that others can learn by their example.
I wish to congratulate all those who entered, but in particular Reading College, who stood out for delivering truly transformational digital experiences.”
Dame Pat Bacon, chair of the AoC Beacon Awards, said:
“Reading College is an outstanding representative of the excellent work happening in colleges across the country. It’s a privilege to be part of an awards programme that recognises the energy colleges put into supporting their students, staff, employers and local communities.”
Mike Davis, chief assessor for the AoC Beacon Awards, said:
“The high standard of submissions to the AoC Beacon Awards often makes it very hard for the judges to choose the winners. Reading College can be proud to receive this award for demonstrating its commitment to create the best possible experience for its students.”
The AoC Annual Conference and Exhibition marks the coming together of people from across the further education sector to exchange ideas, share best practice and stimulate debate.
Speaking to Val Keay, Paul McKean, our head of further education and skills, reflects on the Jisc panel session from the first day, which featured college principals who are using technology to enable organisational change and enhance the learning experience.
On Monday 14 November, the Guardian published details of an open letter to the Department of Education from Children's Laureate Chris Riddell and all eight former children’s laureates, asking them to investigate school library closures.
“I am asking you to act on request and then, with the support of Ofsted, to set out clear standards for library provision that will end this disadvantageous school library lottery that limits many children’s life chances. I am asking you to fund this from the education budget so that every school has a library service it can be proud of: books to borrow and wherever possible a school librarian to help children choose”
..by promoting reading for pleasure, introducing our children to life-changing books and turning them into lifelong readers, school libraries are a vital resource that must be nurtured”. Chris Riddell
Nick Poole CILIP CEO also commented:
“School librarians are a vital part of teaching and learning in the modern world, but figures show that many schools are failing to make adequate provision for a properly staffed and stocked school library, particularly in the state sector,” said Poole. “We need every parent to demand that head teachers and politicians ensure their children can benefit from a great school library and a professional librarian.”
Yesterday, the letter below was sent by a group of Durham school librarians and head teachers endorsing Chris Riddell’s message and has been published here with their permission. CILIP also provided information and comment for the following media articles:
Dion Lindsay, DLC Ltd (New Knowledge Management Techniques)
Demonstrate the value of Knowledge Management in your organisation and implement effective strategies.
Do you need to know how to convince senior management that managing knowledge is crucial?
Do you want to find out how to actually "do" effective KM or develop a KM strategy?
Then this practical course - based on extensive, real-life case studies - is a must!
Feedback from previous workshop
“a good introduction to a complicated subject”
“right mix of theoretical and practical”
Who should attend?
Information Managers and staff who are planning or contemplating taking up KM as a key area of services for their library or information unit.
Information Professionals who see the need for a robust understanding of KM for their professional development
Information Managers in organisations preparing to embrace KM
CILIP’s Professional Knowledge and Skills Base (PKSB)
This course supports the following elements of CILIP’s PKSB:
2 Knowledge and Information Management
2.1 Knowledge Management
2.6 Organisational knowledge/knowledge assets
2.7 Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration
10. Strategy, Planning and Management
10.1 Strategic Planning
10.10 Change Management
Effectively managed knowledge is one of the greatest resources modern organisations possess – and information professionals, with their expertise and understanding of their organisation’s working needs, are well positioned to take the lead.
The concepts and theories of KM are essential when interacting with senior management and other key stakeholders but doing KM is intensely practical. Knowledge Managers have to find out what will work for their organisation, and discovering new ways to engage work colleagues will be challenging and fun.
How to decide the most appropriate KM initiative(s)
Designing your own KM development strategy – big bang or soft launch?
Selling KM to your users, managers and sponsors
Relating KM to your information services and the digital workplace
Dion Lindsay is a highly-experienced knowledge management (KM) practitioner, trainer and consultant and workshop leader. His experience covers KM in commercial, government and charity environments and he has a wealth of examples and case studies to bring to courses. After a career in information management and librarianship in the civil service, Dion was appointed Knowledge Manager for the Motor Neurone Disease Association before becoming a full-time trainer and consultant in knowledge management and information management.
Jisc's Niall Sclater takes a closer look at the report, discussing the potential of learning analytics, blockers and challenges, and gives advice on how to move forward and make the most of the opportunities.
UKeiG is looking for additional Management Committee members.
Are you a CILIP or a UKeiG member who wants to be active on a committee? Now is your chance to join the management committee of UKeiG, a special interest group of CILIP with over 1300 members.
We promote and advance the effective exploitation and management of electronic information and digital resources, and offer a wide range of resources including training events and our quarterly publication, eLucidate.
UKeiG’s management committee meets four or five times a year and is supported by an administrator and collaborative working platforms. We work in small groups focusing on activities ranging from the creation of great new training and networking events, providing a range of awards and bursaries to information professionals and students, to commissioning content for our website and eNewsletter.
This year in particular we are looking to appoint new committee members for the following roles:
The 2016 CILIP Ireland Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held a 12pm on Wednesday 30th November at the Linen Hall Library, Belfast. The AGM is open to all CILIP Ireland members and forms part of the CILIP Ireland Open Day programme.
Any current CILIP Ireland member is eligible to stand for election to the Committee. By becoming a Committee member you can actively contribute to and shape the work of CILIP Ireland. Committee membership presents a wealth of opportunities to develop new skills and experience while representing the library and information profession across all sectors in Northern Ireland.
Under the CILIP Ireland Constitution, ratified at the 2015 AGM, one third of the posts on the Committee must be vacated each year and persons elected to fill the posts. Details of the posts to be filled at this year’s AGM are set out in the nomination form below. We would be grateful if you could take the time to complete the attached nomination form and return it to the CILIP Ireland Secretary Joy Conkey (j.conkey@union.ac.uk) no later than 5pm on Wednesday 23rd November 2016. You may nominate yourself for a post. In the event that more than one person is nominated for a post an election will be held at the AGM to select the post holder.
Job descriptions for the role of Chair, Candidate Support Officer and Mentor Support Officer can be found in the Appendix of the CILIP Ireland Constitution. All other roles are newly created. Please contact the Development Officer for further information.
Where possible the CILIP Ireland Committee includes representatives of each of the employment sectors from which CILIP Ireland members are drawn. The Committee would also welcome expressions of interest for Ordinary Members.
The Committee generally meets around six times per year at venues in the greater Belfast area. If you would like further information on the work of the CILIP Ireland Committee please contact the Development Officer Gerardine Blee (Gerardine.blee@cilip.org.uk.)
A strong public library service is the foundation of a literate and inclusive society and a competitive knowledge economy. Great local libraries are an investment in communities, providing a cost effective way to improve health, support business start-ups, improve literacy and skills, and do all of this in a way that is open to all.
In the past twelve months alone, CILIP staff, Trustees and the Presidential Team have talked to and worked with hundreds of local communities campaigning to save or reduce cuts to their libraries, in places like Swindon, Berkshire, Birmingham, Lambeth and too many others. We have seen the alarm raised by Peers in the House of Lords debate about how the lack of support for libraries is accelerating the UK’s literacy and skills crisis. We have heard from 30,000 UK consumers who believe local library services should be protected for the benefit of everyone in our society. We have seen a national public demonstration supported by the Labour Party. And we have worked with the BBC and others to highlight the scale of public library losses.
CILIP’s My Library By Right campaign holds Local and National Government to account for their statutory duty to promote the improvement of library services for all. As the UK’s lead organisation for the library and information profession, we are pleased to set out our 10 ‘key principles’ for the leadership and development of public library services in England over the next 5 years.
We now call on responsible government departments and the national bodies who are fellow members of the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce to make a public declaration of their commitment to public libraries in England by supporting our principles and working with us to ensure they are reflected in the implementation of the upcoming Ambition for Public Libraries in England.
We challenge our Government to provide targeted emergency relief funding in next week’s Autumn Statement. This need is echoed by Lord John Bird in his address to the House of Lords last month: “Libraries are essential, yet what is happening is that they are being cut. I recommend that Her Majesty’s Government supply some emergency relief money to stop local authorities doing this dastardly deed, this process of philistinising our communities.”
As well as emergency relief funding we need ongoing financial support for Local Authorities. We also need to strengthen national development support for libraries, consider all options and carry out realistic long-term planning when considering transferring library services into community ownership, and have a robust national plan for developing and improving libraries.
If we don’t take urgent, collective action to deliver these key principles we will fail to meet local needs and national priorities.
We will add the details of the national bodies who pledge their commitment to this blog post.
Key principles
As the UK’s lead organisation for the library and information profession, CILIP is calling on HM Government, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Local Government Association, the Arts Council England and fellow members of the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce to support our Principles for the Leadership and Development of Public Library Services in England:
England’s public libraries are part of a successful network which delivers key outcomes including learning, health and wellbeing, digital inclusion, civic participation and stronger local economies.
Securing these outcomes for the long-term depends on effective leadership through a fully-funded and evidence-based National Public Library Plan for England that is owned jointly by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Local Government Association.
Implementing this plan requires appropriate governance of the library network, including partnerships for local delivery, regional and national support and with appropriate engagement with the equivalent strategies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It also requires a national strategy for the development of the professional library workforce alongside the appropriate use of volunteers.
Effective national support for the library network requires an appropriately-resourced and mandated national development function, the responsibilities of which should include quality standards, targeted investment and development support and a transparent approach to monitoring and impact evaluation.
HM Treasury must make available to Local Authorities emergency relief funding and transitional support to ensure they are adequately resourced and funded to meet their statutory obligation for the provision of a quality public library service and to set in place appropriate plans for long-term governance and sustainability.
Library service points should not be transitioned out of statutory provision unless all alternative options for their maintenance have been explored, a full cost/benefits analysis has been conducted in consultation with the community and a realistic plan for long-term support is put in place.
Where a Local Authority fails to meet agreed standards on statutory public library service delivery (so-called ‘hollowing-out’ of services) DCMS and DCLG should use effective strategies for early intervention & improvement, including options for sanction and the removal of library services (and funding) into a national or regional Library Service.
Public libraries must work in partnership with other local community organisations to sustain and amplify the reach and impact of their services.
Public engagement with libraries should be promoted and encouraged through a joined-up programme of media and public relations led jointly by members of the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce (and in future by the organisation with responsibility for the national development function for public libraries).
References
Image credit: Act Now by Michael Tapp via Flickr, original resized and cropped (CC BY-NC 2.0)
The ARLG-LASE is pleased to present a guest lecture by Mr Alan Danskin, Vice-Chair of the CILIP Cataloguing & Indexing Group, & Metadata Standards Officer at the British Library, on the following subject:
“Unlocking the value: the British Library’s metadata strategy”, based on his paper given to the CIG annual conference in September 2016.
Abstract
“Our vision is that by 2020 the BL’s collection metadata assets will be comprehensive, coherent, authoritative and sustainable, enabling their full value to be unlocked for improved content management, greater collaboration & wider use of the collection”.
The lecture will be held on Wednesday December 7th, 2016, in Room M at the UCL School of Pharmacy, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London,WC1N 1AX, from 6-7.30 pm. The nearest tube station is Russell Square on the Piccadilly line, 5 minutes walk, otherwise a bus from Waterloo station to Russell Square, then 10 minutes walk.
The admission fee will be £3 for ARLG & CILIP members, & £5 for non-members, payable at the door. Registration & social networking will take place from 6-6.30 pm., including refreshments of tea, coffee, & biscuits. The lecture will last from 6.30-7.10 pm, followed by a Q & A session from 7.10-30 pm.
The meeting room holds a maximum of 40 seats, so all bookings should be sent to: David Lass, Hon. Secretary, the ARLG-LASE Committee, at his e-mail address david@davidlass.co.uk by the deadline date of Monday November 28th.
Insofar as copyright treaties go, this one is relatively straightforward. It contains two key proposals: firstly, it obliges all contracting parties to enshrine a copyright exception that facilitates the making of accessible works into their domestic copyright law and, secondly, it enables these parties to send accessible copies across country borders.
The treaty also outlines other benefits including making explicit that TPMs (Technological Protection Measures) should ‘not prevent beneficiary persons from enjoying the limitations and exceptions provided for in this Treaty.’ This represents a departure from copyright laws in the UK which are typically set out in a way that benefits the rights holder rather than the user. This traditionally puts the onus on the user to raise a complaint with the Secretary of State if a TPM prevents them from benefiting from an exception.
The need for Marrakesh has arisen largely due to the market’s failure to provide books for those with visual impairments. The World Blind Union estimate that only 7% of hard copy books published in rich countries such as the UK are available in accessible formats e.g. braille, audio and large print, with this dropping to 1% in less developed countries.
What’s happened so far?
The Marrakesh Treaty needed twenty ratifications in order to come into force which took nearly three years. Canada became the twentieth nation to ratify the Treaty on the 30 June 2016 and was one of only two developed countries to do so with it coming into force on 30 September 2016.
At the time of writing, twenty five countries had ratified the Marrakesh Treaty but no European Union member states with the region’s 25 million visually impaired people unable to benefit. Three years of political wrangling over whether the EU has competency to ratify the Treaty in its own right instead of the member states, means that the EU had made precious little progress. The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) delivered an opinion on the 8th September 2016 which concluded that the EU does have exclusive competence to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty.
What happens next?
In September this year, the Commission proposed a directive and a regulation, implementing the Marrakesh Treaty into EU law. The directive creates a mandatory exception harmonising member states’ laws for the production of accessible format copies and the regulation will apply directly in all member states, permitting the cross-border exchange of works between EU Member States and third countries which are party to the Treaty. The European Parliament will consider the legislation in the coming months and it is expected to be passed during 2017 and implemented in EU member states 12 months later.
What is the UK’s position?
Brexit adds a further complicating factor. EU regulations whose provisions have not been transposed into UK law before ‘Brexit day’ will fall, so it is important that the UK introduces the provisions of the Marrakesh Regulation directly into UK law before then. Ideally the UK will transpose both the directive and regulations at the same time. Post-Brexit the UK will need to ratify the Treaty immediately if the Marrakesh provisions in UK law are to continue to function without a gap.
Additionally, LACA and the UK Visually Impaired Persons community are keen to ensure that core elements of the treaty are protected. Libraries and charities will be key providers of accessible copies under the Treaty. We oppose the proposed onerous and bureaucratic reporting of accessible copies by libraries to rightsholders, nor do we wish to see member states take up the option of introducing remuneration schemes in their laws. Additionally, during the legislation’s passage we do not want to see any amendments requiring libraries to first check for commercially available editions in recipient countries, many of which will be developing countries lacking the digital infrastructure to provide this information in a timely manner.
It is unclear at this time whether the UK will accept the EU has competence to ratify the Treaty, even though Brexit makes the issue a moot point. The UK will probably decide its position after another ruling from the CJEU which is expected in mid-January.
What can I do to get involved?
Follow LACA on Twitter @UKLACA – we will post updates on the progress on the Marrakesh Treaty ratification.
The British Film Institute (BFI) collects and preserves the nation’s film and television production and promotes appreciation of the medium through its cultural programme of screenings, education events and research services. The library’s research collections of print and electronic resources devoted to the study of the moving image are made freely accessible to all with an interest in the subject. This visit will highlight how the BFI makes use of its data to promote its collections starting with an introduction to the library and ending with a presentation on the Britain on Film project.
Please note that there are a maximum of 20 places available.
Launched yesterday at the euroCRIS meeting in Athens is a report and position statement from Science Europe covering Research Information Systems - used by Research Performing Organisations and Research Funding Organisations to collect and manage data about their own and other activities (monitoring and evaluating research activities and outputs, allocating funding, supporting decision making, etc). The Science Europe Position Statement is published as a contribution to enhancing the interoperability of research information systems by providing a set of common principles to guide their development.
The paper notes:
The Open Science agenda captures the latest trends in terms of the organisation of scientific enterprise and the societal expectations of it. Open Science is an example of how quickly the context, needs and objectives related to research systems can evolve. The pace, direction and nature of such changes are unpredictable.
This calls for research information systems that are capable of effectively supporting this constant and unpredictable change with the intelligence and insights needed to perform strategic, analytical and management functions.
The Science Europe paper invites all research organisations to develop resilient research information systems by adopting the core principles of Flexibility; Openness; FAIRness; and Data Entry Minimisation.
A press release byThe Netherlands Association of Public Libraries (VOB) announces:
10 November 2016
EUROPEAN COURT DECIDES: ‘LENDING RIGHTS FOR E-BOOKS THE SAME AS FOR PAPER BOOKS’
THE HAGUE – On 10 November, the judges of the European Court decided that there is no difference between lending a paper book and lending an e-book. The European Court of Justice (CJEU) in Luxembourg ruled against the Dutch Public Lending Right Office (Stichting Leenrecht) in the case initiated by the Netherlands Association of Public Libraries (VOB).
The judges followed the conclusion of the Advocate-General of June this year.
Updated copyright
VOB is pleased that by means of this ruling, the European Court is helping the public libraries in the complex field of copyright in the digital domain. As a result, little by little the contours of an updated copyright are emerging. This will enable public libraries to continue to perform in the digital world the social role that libraries have in society. They will be able to continue to offer complete, high-quality, accessible and neutral access to information and literature.
Questions referred for a preliminary ruling
In the proceedings, questions were referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling. The issue revolves around the question of whether public libraries should be able to lend e-books online against payment of the statutory lending rights fee and that publishers are therefore not entitled to prohibit the online lending of e-books.
Consequences
The Netherlands Association of Public Libraries will now sit down with interested parties in the near future to further put into practice the lending of e-books based on this ruling.
Now a couple of months into deployment, we pick up conversations with Nick to find out how far they’ve come in the on-boarding process, experiences in terms of challenges and opportunities, and what comes next.
The 2016 Lecture was given by Peter Ingwersen, Professor Emeritus at The Royal School of Library and Information Science, University of Copenhagen, at the Geological Society during the afternoon of Monday 31st October. It was preceded by a paper from Stephen Robertson - the first winner of the Award in 1998 - and full details of the programme for the day can be found on the web site.
During the afternoon the 2017 Award winner, Professor Maristella Agosti, was presented with her certificate and trophy. Professor Agosti will be giving next year's annual lecture on Friday October 20th 2017.
The entire event was streamed live and the recording - which covers both papers and the presentation - can be found at the above link to the 2016 Strix Annual Lecture page.
Michael Morpurgo has received the prestigious Action For Children’s Arts J M Barrie Award for his contribution to children’s literature. The award which champions the arts for children now in its 12th year was presented at a ceremony at the BBC Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House, London. Storymaker, playwright and performer, Michael Morpurgo’s work reaches across the arts. He is the author of over 140 books, and his novels have been adapted into hugely successful productions for both the stage and screen. The J M Barrie Award is given annually to a children’s arts practitioner whose lifetime’s work has delighted children and will like J M Barrie’s Peter Pan stand the test of time.
Michael Morpurgo said, “J M Barrie, or Peter Pan, tells us: 'The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it’. Storymakers and storytellers like Barrie, and like all the previous winners of this award, have given us the hope and faith children need, we need, to keep flying, have sustained us through dark and troubled times, have banished doubt. To touch the lives of children, to witness their listening and reading silence, is reward enough in itself. This is simply the icing on the cake. Icing is best tasted while still in the mixing bowl, on the end of finger. This is an icing sugar day. Thank you, and thankyou dear Mr Barrie, and Peter. I'll keep flying”. Find out more about Action for Childrens Arts and the JM Barrie Award at http://childrensarts.org.uk/
The next HLG committee meeting takes place on Thursday 15th December at CILIP HQ in London. If you would like to be join in as an observer contact Imrana or Sarah via hlgchair@gmail.com
There has been a call for papers for the 6th Information: Interactions and Impact (i3) conference, 27-30 June 2017 at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK - a conference for which UKeiG has provided funding to help students attend in past years.
Submission are invited of high quality papers that report original research or critically discuss underlying methodological issues associated with the main themes of the conference. Papers may reflect ongoing or completed research studies and should not have been previously published or be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. Particularly welcomed are papers which address two or more of the conference themes.
Important Deadlines
All abstracts should be submitted by Wednesday 25 January 2017.
Notification of acceptance will be emailed in mid March.
The final copy of full papers for the peer-reviewed journal will be around September 2017. Details to be confirmed.
Conference themes
The conference focuses on the quality and effectiveness of the interaction between people and information and how this interaction can bring about change. i3 will look beyond the issues of use and accessibility of technology to questions about the way people interact with the information and knowledge content of today's systems and services, and how this might ultimately affect the impact of that information on individuals, organisations and communities. Research questions may include, but are not restricted to the following:
How much do we know about the impact of information behaviours and capabilities on the quality and effectiveness of learning, knowledge building and sharing, decision-making and problem solving, creativity, democracy?
How do information behaviours and literacies contribute to the economic or social value of information assets or the intellectual capital of an organisation?
How do/can organisations and communities harness their information assets to meet challenges, solve problems, survive and thrive?
Is there a connection between information and inspiration?
How well do our models and pedagogies for information literacy relate to real-world information contexts in workplace, community, education or home environments?
Are new information environments changing the way people seek and use information?
What are the methodological challenges of addressing such issues?
Submissions will be anonymously reviewed by two members of the International Programme Committee specialising in one or more of the conference research streams.
Submissions are invited for full papers, short papers and round table discussions. The conference language will be English.
Please join the CILIP Thames Valley committee for our annual Christmas quiz! There will be questions on a range of subjects, and prizes for the winners.
Meet at 7:15pm in the Wadham Room at the Kings Arms, for the quiz to start at around 7:30pm. For teams of 2-6ish people, though no need to have organised a team before booking – they can be created on the night (amusing library-related team names win bonus points).
The burgeoning use of big data in healthcare research is revolutionising the way health records are collected, used and shared. But, with controversial projects such as NHS care.data still fresh in everyone’s minds, how can researchers reassure the public that highly sensitive data is safe in their hands?
Remember the NHS care.data controversy from a couple of years ago? Of course – it was a complete public relations disaster for both the health service and health data research.
Eventually fully scrapped in July this year, wasting millions of pounds, it caused a public outcry over privacy and data sharing, amid accusations that the creation of a vast database of medical records was being rushed through without explaining to patients of the security implications for their highly sensitive information. Leaflets posted through letterboxes failed to include any information on the risks of sharing data (and in many cases apparently didn’t arrive at all) while it also emerged that many patients who had opted-out were still having their data shared.
NHS care.data is one example, albeit a calamitous one, of the rise of health informatics - a rapidly expanding field seeking to exploit the potential of big data analytics for healthcare - and some of the red-hot issues around this new industry.
Health informatics is revolutionising the way that healthcare information is collected, managed, analysed and shared, and the research and clinical potential is unprecedented.
Healthcare revolution
"We are seeing the convergence of traditional health records, laboratory test results, imaging and genomics data, all being used to answer more and more complex questions regarding the determinants of health and effectiveness of treatments" says Jonathan Monk, director of IT at the University of Dundee. "When we combine this with advances in analytics, such as natural language processing, we will hopefully start to see changes in the way patients are treated, which should ultimately lead to better outcomes for everyone."
[#insertinlinedriver blog#]
The implications stretch far beyond the integration of electronic health records. From allowing patients to access their own medical records online, to analysing enormous datasets to identify trends in disease and treatments, to ascertaining gaps in healthcare provision and directing more efficient allocation of resources, health informatics is a burgeoning industry.
A 2014 Burning Glass report projected that demand for health informatics workers would increase 22% by 2018 – more than twice the rate of growth for all industries, translating to more than 40,000 new jobs. Once primarily an administrative field, health informatics is now struggling to recruit sufficient numbers of qualified coders, software developers and e-infrastructure specialists.
As with all revolutions, however, it is controversial. "More and more data is becoming available to for research, but the sheer scale of it creates new problems ensuring privacy and confidentiality," says Monk. NHS care.data stalled on the issue of informed consent. "Much of the rich patient data available within the NHS was not collected specifically for research purposes," he explains, "so patients have not given consent for researchers to use it".
Building trust
A governance committee review of the NHS’s failings stressed the need to build trust with the public. Nathan Lea, senior research associate at the UCL Institute of Health Informatics, argues that the NHS remit was "too broad to be able to get any kind of consent".
He reflects that "the overriding message is that people have a right to opt out and we should respect that". The research community needs to encourage open, informed discussion, while accepting that "trust is not something you build, trust is something you may or not get – it’s something beyond your control".
For Lea, the issue of trust encapsulates a wider problem with public engagement and articulating the benefits of data collection in healthcare. "On one hand," he explains, "people are bleeding personal information on Twitter, Facebook, social media, collecting data and putting it through apps, often to their detriment, yet at the same time they are concerned that medical records are being used without their knowledge."
Instead of trying to persuade people, he suggests, a more productive line of inquiry would be to investigate that dichotomy – why are people apparently more trusting in one environment than another?
Security and risk
Lea works with the Farr Institute, a UK-wide research collaboration involving 21 academic institutions and health partners in England, Scotland and Wales working to develop governance frameworks to underpin the safe and trusted use of patient data, and answer the sector’s most urgent question: given the particular requirements of health informatics in terms of data management, privacy and data protection, what constitutes good governance for health research?
Farr Institute: #datasaveslives
A campaign designed to highlight the positive impact of health informatics research on public health
For Lea, while technical elements are important, security is also more fundamentally about how you assess and understand risk, and use it to develop procedure, ranging from encryption to NDAs1.
"Security will make it more likely for people to trust you," Lea says, "but ultimately you cannot guarantee security, there’s always some uncertainty. My position has always been that if you’re clear with people that there is always some risk – “we think it’s unlikely but always possible” – that’s a good place to start an open, honest conversation that you deal with together."
People don’t need to be technically savvy, he explains, but they do need to be able to articulate and understand risk.
Collaborative approach
It seems significant, then, that at Dundee, security and research ethics is not solely an issue for the university’s Health Informatics Centre (HIC) but requires a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach.
"We are seeing a lot of interest from other disciplines that work with confidential, identifiable data such as social sciences and computing", says Monk, which means the university needed to develop tools enabling researchers to collaborate securely both internally and externally. As a result, Dundee has clear published guidance that helps research staff use the most appropriate method for storing and managing data, from the enterprise file sync and share service Box, through to the large IBM Spectrum Scale Research Data Stores and the highly secure environment within the HIC.
Monk explains that Dundee has several key approaches to improve secure storage and access to files. "Firstly, the data is anonymised for each research question. Secondly, to mitigate the risk of data leakage, the researcher does not get given the data; rather, they are given access to a virtual desktop from which they can run analysis. We have a lot of automated pre-processing and validation that ensures consistency in data definitions, usage and reduces the manual effort needed to get data to the researcher."
[#insertinlinedriver iso#]
"Finally," he concludes, "we have built a detailed set of documented processes and standards, all managed through Box, that have enabled us to be certified as compliant to the ISO27001:2013 standard and to be considered an accredited Safe Haven by NHS Scotland."
Monk’s advice for other institutions would be to understand that it is highly likely that they will need a palette of tools and technology to meet diverse learning and research needs, one combining technical security measures such as anonymity and encryption with stringent governance procedures in order to ensure research is conducted with access to data only where appropriate and with the approval of public benefit and privacy panels.
Monk maintains that, as a result, "we are seeing a sector-wide improvement in the management of data and information due to both legislative pressure and more widely available best practice."
The safe share project
A similar plurality of approach characterises a recent secure data access pilot called the safe share project. Led by Jisc, safe share creates encrypted and assured network connections between parts of infrastructure and safe places where research can happen, with intrusion detection and security monitoring at network level, provided by a impartial not-for-profit service.
At Swansea University Medical School, safe share assists projects for the Administrative Data Research Centre as well as healthcare research. At its most basic it effectively provides "a managed service, where Jisc put a firewall here and then encrypt traffic between here and wherever the data is trying to go, where there will be another Jisc-owned firewall, which can decrypt the data there," explains Simon Thompson, systems analyst at the school.
[#insertinlinedriver safeshare#]
Safe share currently connects universities at Swansea and Cardiff and, will soon be connecting Leeds, Manchester, Southampton and Edinburgh and also ensures compatibility, becoming a de facto standard for interconnecting securely. Its potential resides in "making things easier on a per-project basis - this project is allowed to talk to this institution on this dataset – and we can make data requests on a more impromptu basis, because we know all the endpoints are secure," says Thompson.
While he fears that "you wouldn't be able to create such a large dataset now compared to when the repository was first created ten years ago, there's too much nervousness," he insists "you do need this size to avoid bias in the research; you can look at subgroups of people but that only makes sense in comparison to everyone else. You need everyone's data to get real value." And for that, research institutions need public trust.
Trusting dialogue
Nathan Lea concludes that there are potentially disturbing parallels with the use of data and the case of Henrietta Lacks, or the Alder Hey organs scandal. Both provoked highly emotional public debates, but they were also defining moments in the history of health research, engendering crucial ethical re-evaluation and, ultimately, new codes of practice.
"What we must do," Lea says, "is show that we have learnt some lessons, especially in the research community. You have to foster a trusting dialogue between the public and the data science community, and you have to maintain that – trust is not something you get and keep, it is ongoing – a process."
Leading experts from Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and Germany will present current projects and share their experiences and ideas with the audience.
The seminar will be chaired by Martyn Wade, Chair of the CILIP Board and Chair of FAIFE (Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression Advisory Committee) Committee of IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions).
09:30 – 10:00 Registration – Tea and coffee
10:00 – 10:10 Introductions
Welcome: Angela Kaya, Director of Goethe Institut London (tbc)
Introduction: John Lake, Vice Chair of CILIP ILIG
10:10 – 10:50 Martyn Wade, Chair of the Conference (UK) “Librarians, Libraries, and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”
10:50 – 11:30 Diana Puyo, Head of Programs at Libraries without borders (France) tbc.
– short tea and coffee break-
11:45 – 12:25 Britta Schmedemann, Specialist for work with library target groups at the Bremen Public Library (Germany) “Bremen Public Library – culture on the move”
12:25 – 13:05 Helena Topa Valentim, New University of Lisbon (Portugal) “Languages and books in the quest for human rights”
– Lunch break-
14:00 – 14:40 Paz Fernández, Library Director at the Fundación Juan March (Spain) „The right to privacy vs the right to access information: a real-life case of the right to be forgotten”
14:45 – 15:00 Loida Garcia-Febo, President of Information New Wave, IFLA Governing Board Member, ALA Executive Board Member (USA) “Diversity and Ethics: to foster dialog about inclusion and ethics in libraries” (Presentation via Skype)
– Tea and coffee break-
15:15 – 15:55 Dr. Marino Sinibaldi, Journalist and writer, Director General of Rai 3 (Italy) “Books and Freedom”
