Using and Sharing LMI to Inform Future Choices

This practical guide authored by Abigail Diamond, Simon Bysshe, Lindsey Bowes and Sophie Spong is published by UKCES (UK Commission for Employment and Skills) for managers in career organisations that want to improve the way that advisers use and share career related LMI.

The guide identifies five areas that organisations wishing improve their organisational practice can focus on:

• vision and strategy
• partnerships
• systems and processes
• resources
• professional development.

Practical examples from a range of organisations across Great Britain are included as well as tips from people working in the field.

Effective career guidance is underpinned by robust information and intelligence about the labour market. Good LMI helps advisers to answer questions such as ‘what is the age and gender of people in different parts of the labour market?’, ‘where are the jobs in my local area?’, ‘what skills do I need to do a particular job?’, ‘what am I likely to earn in a particular job?’ There are numerous sources of LMI but it can be difficult for advisers to know what the best source is and where to access this.

The UK Commission carried out work to identify the organisations that are using and sharing career-related LMI effectively and has published a series of reports. This report is a practical guide for managers in careers organisations that want to improve the way that career-related LMI is used and shared. It draws on the experience of people working in the field and provides examples. Names and contact details are included so that users of the guide who would like further information can contact them.

Full report (PDF 30pp)

The other reports available are a research report (PDF 58pp) which includes the 12 detailed case studies and a summary (PDF 6pp) of the first stage of the research which identifies some of the challenges and issues for advisers.

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Phrases.net

via Phil Bradley's weblog

Phrases.net is all about common phrases, casual expressions and idioms.

It’s a large collection which can be browsed, searched and translated into various languages. It has a companion website, Abbreviations.com and aims to create a volunteering editors community to increase the number of phrases available. Some examples of phrases that you can find on the site are:

• pit against
• pitch in
• play along
• play around
• play up
• play away
• plump up
• point out
• polish off

The definitions are quite brief (pipe up = to speak up) and as such would be very useful in a educational setting, or with students learning English as a foreign language.
Searching is simple – via an alphabetical listing, search box or random phrase. It’s a nice site and works well in conjunction with the sister site.

Hazel’s comment:
I am so glad that Phil searches out these sites so that the rest of us don’t have to. I can then disregard what he considers rubbish (yes, he does tell us about that as well and I have not disagreed with him yet) and pass on what I think may be useful and relevant for my readers. Enjoy!
And a personal message to Phil – get better real soon!

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Knowledge Nomads

This pamphlet (at 95pp I would have said booklet but ...) from Demos was published in March this year but made the FutureSkills Scotland newsletter this week. It would appear that there are some interesting ideas in this document – see what you think. Worth £10? I think probably “yes”.

The debate about highly skilled migration can be traced back over many decades. But fears about ‘brain drain’ are being challenged by the idea that people flow can be good for global science and innovation. In this pamphlet we identify a new, global breed of scientist: the ‘knowledge nomad’, exploring who they are, what motivates them and why their movement around the world is so important. Knowledge nomads are highly skilled and highly mobile people, open-minded in their choice of home and comfortable moving between different cultures. They are increasingly vital for knowledge economies. Science and innovation now function as global networks, created from the interaction of thousands of highly skilled people. The movement of these people enables these networks to grow and function. They also bring valuable knowledge and expertise home. This pamphlet looks at four case studies where knowledge nomads play a vital role – Pfizer, the UK India Business Council, the city of Manchester and the chemistry department of Imperial College London – arguing that nomads are essential for science and innovation in the UK and beyond. Scientists have always travelled in search of new collaborations, new possibilities and new ideas. We set out how the UK can recognise and build these connections, attract the best people and encourage UK-born nomads to begin their own journeys.

Authors: Jack Stilgoe and Natalie Day
ISBN: 9-781-90669-308-4
Cost: £10
Download

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Does it suck, or does it rock?

via Phil Bradley's weblog by philipbradley on 18 March

Sucks Rocks is a fun resource - not sure that you can call it a search engine really, but we'll let that pass. Throw it a lot of terms or phrases, and it does some complicated maths based on what it finds and if the results link to specific terms such as X sucks, X is lame or X rocks, X is sweet. I did a fun search to compare search engines to libraries and librarians.

Lots of fun can be had with this. Football teams, universities, counties, states, countries even! Not very serious of course, but it could be a nice resource to use to have as an opening icebreaker slide.

Thanks to AltSearchEngines for bringing this one to my attention.

And thanks to Phil for bringing this to me. Great time-waster!

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Policy for a change: local labour market analysis and gender equality

Edited by Sue Yeandle

GBP 65 (52 with website discount)

ISBN: 9-781-84742-054-1

232 pages HB 240 x 172

Using a new and original approach, this illuminating book explores women's employment at the start of the 21st century, identifying aspects of women's labour market situation which remain poorly understood and challenging much “received wisdom” about women and work.

Further information from the Policy Press online bookshop

Hazel's comment:
Probably most of the publications from Policy Press are either a) way out of our league price-wise or b) don't cover the subjects in which most guidance and careers information practitioners are interested.
a) probably applies here except for the larger organisations but b) certainly doesn't. I've not had the opportunity to read the book yet (not yet in the British Library catalogue and at 232 pages I'm actually going to read it) but the write-ups make it look really good.

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United Nations World Youth Report 2007

The World Youth Report 2007 examines the challenges and opportunities existing for the roughly 1.2 billion young people between the ages of 15 and 24 in the world. Distinct from the 2003 and 2005 editions, it provides a regional overview summarizing the major youth development trends in the fifteen priority areas of the World Programme of Action for Youth. The report explores major issues of concern to youth development, including employment, education, health, poverty and violence. At the same time, it highlights youth as a positive force for development and provides recommendations for supporting their essential contributions.
Introduction
Chapters: (PDF Versions)
Asian youth in the context of rapid globalization
Latin American youth in an era of socio-economic and political change
Overcoming the barriers of poverty: challenges for youth participation in sub-Saharan Africa
Labour force participation among youth in the Middle East and North Africa and the special challenges faced by young women
Tackling the poverty of opportunity in small island developing States
Labour market challenges and new vulnerabilities for youth in economies in transition
Opportunities for youth development in developed market economies: An unequal playing field
Ensuring youth development around the world: The way forward

Tax Credit TakeUp Resource Pack

This pack was originally developed for Citizen's Advice but now, funded by HMRC, has been made available to all advisers.

It is available from Citizen's Advice or from RightsNet

Ariadne Summer 2007 issue

Includes articles on repositories, Open Access, web archiving, and more.