Government news from Holyrood

Informing future approaches to tackling multiple deprivation in communities: Beyond the Fairer Scotland Fund – research to provide a picture of the continued support needs of Community Planning Partnerships in tackling poverty and deprivation

Legal Services (SPICe Briefing 09-78) – provides a summary of the key provisions of the Legal Services (Scotland) Bill

Managing the needs of drunk and incapable people in Scotland: a literature review and needs assessment – summary of findings and recommendations from a research study on managing the needs of drunk and incapable adults and Services that manage the care needs of drunk and incapable people: a review of the literature – reviews the worldwide literature on services that exist. Undertaken as part of a larger study on services for drunk and incapable people in Scotland

Recruitment and retention of head teachers in Scotland main report – study commissioned by the Government due to the growing concern about the recruitment and retention of high quality school teachers. See also: Technical report

Research to support Schools of Ambition: Annual report 2009 – Schools of Ambition aims to promote transformational change in secondary schools

Scottish Government response to the recommendations of the Commission on Scottish Devolution – sets out the Government’s response to the final report of Sir Kenneth Calman and the members of the Commission

Statistical bulletin household transport in 2008 – information about the transport facilities available to households (e.g. cars, bus services) and some travel by household members in each council area in Scotland

Ask staff in the Maps, Official Publications and Statistics Unit on Level 7 for further info about Government materials.

A new framework for higher education has been unveiled

The Government has unveiled a new framework for the future success of higher education, setting out the important role universities will play in securing the country’s economic recovery and long term prosperity.

The higher education framework, Higher Ambitions, sets out a strategy for universities to remain world class, providing the nation with the high level skills needed to remain competitive, while continuing to attract the brightest students and researchers.

Key measures set out in the framework include:

• More competition between universities, giving greater priority to programmes that meet the need for high level skills
• Business to be more engaged in the funding and design of programmes, sponsorship of students, and work placements
• Creating more part-time, work-based and foundation degrees to make it easier for adults to go to universities, with routes from apprenticeships through to Foundation Degrees and other vocational programmes
• Encouraging universities to consider contextual data in admissions, as one way of ensuring that higher education is available to all young people who have the ability to benefit
• Universities setting out clearly what students can expect in terms of the nature and quality of courses offered
  Sustaining our world class research base by continuing to focus on excellence, concentrating research funding where needed to secure critical mass and impact
• Encouraging collaboration between universities on world class research, especially in high cost science

Further information including the full report, executive summary and Lord Mandelson’s oral statement to the House of Lords can be accessed here:  http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/higher-ambitions

Ask staff in the Maps, Official Publications and Statistics Unit on Level 7 for further info about Government materials.

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation just published

The third Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 2009 has just been published. SIMD presents a picture of multiple deprivation across Scotland. Taken together the three indices (2004, 2006 and 2009) provide a series of snapshots in time of the concentrations of multiple deprivation across the country.

Headline findings:

• Improvements in Glasgow
• Concentrations of multiple deprivation becoming more spread out geographically
• Concentrations of deprivation in most deprived datazones reduced slightly
• 4 in 5 datazones that moved out between SIMD 2004 and SIMD 2006 stayed out in SIMD 2009
• 4 in 5 datazones in 15% most deprived in SIMD 2009 have been in both SIMD 2004 and SIMD 2006

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2009: General Report is available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/10/28104046/0

Full results from all three SIMD indices and a new interactive mapping tool (which can be used to identify Scotland’s most deprived areas and their location within each local authority area) can be acccessed from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SIMD/

Ask staff in the Maps, Official Publications and Statistics Unit on Level 7 for further info about the SIMD.

Government news from Holyrood

Criminal Appeal Statistics, Scotland: 2008-09 – Statistical Bulletin – presents figures on criminal appeals which are concluded in the High Court of Justiciary

Curriculum for Excellence: Building the Curriculum 4:  Skills for Learning, Skills for Life and Skills for Work – sets out key messages about how children and young people develop and apply skills

Economic Recovery Plan: Update – focuses on supporting jobs and innovation

Judicial Review (SPICe Briefing 09-75) – provides an overview of judicial review in Scotland and looks at recent policy developments

Review of Fatal Accident Inquiry Legislation: The Report – Rt Hon Lord Cullen of Whitekirk KT has published his report

Scottish Corporate Sector Statistics 2009 – National Statistics publication on Scotland’s business stock

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation in Scotland: 2009 General Report - presents a picture of multiple deprivation across Scotland

Ask staff in the Maps, Official Publications and Statistics Unit on Level 7 for further info about Government materials

Take Flight!

To celebrate Archives Awareness 2009, Archive Services have launched a new exhibition – Take Flight!

This features images of the aircraft built by William Beardmore & Co Ltd and the ahead of its time George Bennie Railplane.

Enjoy!

Ripping Yarns, Jolly Hockey Sticks, and Lashings of Lemonade

Ripping Yarns, Jolly Hockey Sticks, and Lashings of Lemonade

The Library has now acquired a wonderful collection of children’s literature items, dating from the middle of the nineteen century up to the nineteen thirties.  It includes examples of all the popular contemporary genres, such as school stories, stories with a strong religious/moral element, and adventure stories.  It also contains examples of some of the most popular magazines of the time such as “Chums” and the “Girls Own Annual”.  You can see some of these on our Flickr account

Additional interest is provided by the many colour plates and illustrations within these items, and by the fact that a number of them were “presentation copies”, ie prizes for school work or Sunday School attendance etc, and still have the original certificates pasted in.  This growing collection, which is held on Level 4, will appeal to a wide range of students and researchers, including those interested in children’s literature, social and cultural history, art history and indeed any aspect of the Victorian era and the early 20^th century.

Clyde Shipyards on Show

Tonight’s Time Shift – The Men Who Built the Liners – focuses on the Clyde Shipyards; telling the story of the people who built some of the world’s most famous ships including Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and the QE2.

The film producers visited Archive Services earlier in the year to film some of the records of the Clyde Shipyards that we hold.  They were particularly interested in the ships’ detailed plans and the photograph albums that show their construction in the yards.  Keep your eyes peeled and you might be able to spot some of them!

The Men Who Built the Liners is broadcast on BBC Four at 9pm on Thursday 29th October.

School Experience Collection

The audio visual material – videos, DVDs, packs etc -  which are part of the School Experience  Collection and which were on Level 4 have been relocated.  They are now on Level 2 in what was formerly the library’s refreshment room.  This room is just at the library entrance, to the left of the turnstiles.
All material in this collection is available for borrowing.

ScienceDirect scheduled outage Sunday 1st November 2009

Please be aware that ScienceDirect will be unavailable due to scheduled maintenance for  9 hours on Sunday the 1st of November between 1.00 am to 10.00 am. GMT

Now on display in the Hunterian Museum

Last week we changed over the Library books that are on display in the Hunterian Museum as part of the Hunter: man, medic and collector exhibition. As usual, the two books now on exhibition are from William Hunter’s magnificent 18th century library.

Engraving from Teuerdank

On display is the chivalric romance Teuerdank. Written in courtly verse, it tells the story of Emperor Maximilian I’s incredible journey to the Netherlands to fetch his bride, Mary of Burgundy. Produced in 1517, this triumph of book design has been described as one of the greatest illustrated books of the German Renaissance.

Also highlighted is a 15th century medical manuscript from Mesopotamia. It is a copy of the Taqwīm, or the Arrangement of bodies for treatment, by the 11th century physician Ibn Jazla (d. 1100). His work discusses illnesses, dietary matters and hygiene. The exhibited opening features an illuminated frontispiece that depicts Aristotle, Galen, Plato and Ahiqar – the legendary wise man and counsellor of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.

You can read more about these books on the Special Collections web pages and see them on display in the Hunterian Museum until the end of Feburary 2010.