National School of Government

er? a National School for government? government of what?

the blurb that arrived in my reader did not enlighten me much:

As the business school for government, we provide high quality learning and
development solutions to government organisations and individuals providing public services.
Visit our website

Public services? Ah yes, that's the public sector, isn't it? Well, yes it is but not entirely because there are now many organisations that provide public services whose staff are not public servants.

The old name for the organisation -- The Civil Service College -- really did not, it was decided by the powers that be, reflect what the organisation was about.

And that thought brings to mind a very pleasant 15 minutes that I spent with a lady on the National School's stand at a recent exhibition in the Excel Centre in London. We established that we both came from a Jobcentre background and thought being an employment adviser was the best job ever and then got on to the different training courses that are available at the National School.

Latest additions to the Credo Reference database

The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia of Modern Criticism and Theory, Edinburgh University Press
Late Antiquity: A Guide to The Postclassical World, Harvard University Press
Marquis Who Was Who in America 1985-present
The New Americans: A Guide to Immigration Since 1965, Harvard University Press
The New Harvard Guide to Women's Health, Harvard University Press

Hazel's comment:
For regular readers -- 'nuf said.
For newcomers -- Credo Reference is a wonderful resource that for the small business or individual is simply far too expensive. However, many public libraries make this available through your "library card" -- and you don't have to go to the library to access it (at least if you live in Northamptonshire you don't).
For all reader -- please remember that the databases made available through your public library are usually there for personal use only so please check ther terms and conditions and don't abuse the service.

Uncertainty-tolerant design: Evaluating task performance and drag-and-link information gathering for a news-writing task

an article by Simon Attfield, Ann Blandford, John Dowell and Paul Cairns, (UCL Interaction Centre, University College London) in International Journal of Human-Computer Studies Volume 66 Issue 6 (June 2008)

Abstract
Part of the challenge of designing systems to support knowledge work is to do so in a way which is sympathetic to users’ uncertainty. NewsHarvester is a test-bed system designed to support news research and writing in a way that accommodates uncertainty in relation to information gathering. It does this using ‘drag-and-link’; a simple feature by which text extracts copied from source locations are appended with hyperlinks to force the re-display of the source. The authors describe the rationale for using drag-and-link within NewsHarvester based on a previous ethnographic study of journalists, describe its implementation within NewsHarvester, and report a user-evaluation which compared drag-and-link with printing and standard drag-and-drop as information gathering mechanisms. They found that users wanted to relocate information they had not previously identified as useful in order to include it in their report, to better understand the context of information already extracted, and as part of a more serendipitous search for information to add to a near-complete report. Users also considered drag-and-link an easier method for gathering information than printing, and considered that drag-and-link made it easier to relocate information. They also considered that drag-and-link promoted more flexible and dynamic working and increased user enjoyment. An assessment of the quality of their work showed a trend that favoured drag-and-link over the other two methods, although this was not statistically significant. They conclude that drag-and-link improves user-experience during research and writing tasks in the face of information gathering uncertainty.


Hazel's comment:
And it all sounded very interesting until I tried to find this NewsHarvester "thing" as a thing in its own right. I found lots of different news aggregators which have tags and/or keywords of news harvester but not a product that is actually called that.
Ah well, I tried and admit defeat!
Anything which takes more than five minutes to find a sensible answer is not worth looking for (unless, says she with an avaricious gleam in her eye, I'm being paid for my time).

Uncertainty-tolerant design: Evaluating task performance and drag-and-link information gathering for a news-writing task

an article by Simon Attfield, Ann Blandford, John Dowell and Paul Cairns, (UCL Interaction Centre, University College London) in International Journal of Human-Computer Studies Volume 66 Issue 6 (June 2008)

Abstract
Part of the challenge of designing systems to support knowledge work is to do so in a way which is sympathetic to users’ uncertainty. NewsHarvester is a test-bed system designed to support news research and writing in a way that accommodates uncertainty in relation to information gathering. It does this using ‘drag-and-link’; a simple feature by which text extracts copied from source locations are appended with hyperlinks to force the re-display of the source. The authors describe the rationale for using drag-and-link within NewsHarvester based on a previous ethnographic study of journalists, describe its implementation within NewsHarvester, and report a user-evaluation which compared drag-and-link with printing and standard drag-and-drop as information gathering mechanisms. They found that users wanted to relocate information they had not previously identified as useful in order to include it in their report, to better understand the context of information already extracted, and as part of a more serendipitous search for information to add to a near-complete report. Users also considered drag-and-link an easier method for gathering information than printing, and considered that drag-and-link made it easier to relocate information. They also considered that drag-and-link promoted more flexible and dynamic working and increased user enjoyment. An assessment of the quality of their work showed a trend that favoured drag-and-link over the other two methods, although this was not statistically significant. They conclude that drag-and-link improves user-experience during research and writing tasks in the face of information gathering uncertainty.

Hazel's comment:
And it all sounded very interesting until I tried to find this NewsHarvester "thing" as a thing in its own right. I found lots of different news aggregators which have tags and/or keywords of news harvester but not a product that is actually called that.
Ah well, I tried and admit defeat!
Anything which takes more than five minutes to find a sensible answer is not worth looking for (unless, says she with an avaricious gleam in her eye, I'm being paid for my time).

Mind Publications April 2008

Every month Helen Finch at Mind, the mental-health charity, sends me an email about its new books, any special offers and news from the organisation. Contact with Mind, and other similar organisations, is a hangover from the days when ADSET put together the leaflets for Information for Social Inclusion (IfSI). However, I still maintain that contact and will, perhaps, maybe, one day put IfSI information online.

The purpose of these meanderings? I thought you might like to know about the following new books.

Finding Jericho
An accessible novel about about a boy who lives with his uncle who is experiencing mental distress. An excellent resource for helping teenagers and adults to understand the impact that mental illness can have on the lives of those experiencing it and their families. £10
http://www.mind.org.uk/osb/itemdetails.cfm/ID/870

Living without marbles
A mix of autobiography, poetry and self-help tools written by someone who has learned to live with manic depression, anorexia, self-harm and her mother's suicide. £10
http://www.mind.org.uk/osb/itemdetails.cfm/ID/872

and revised books

BMA new guide medicines and drugs (seventh edition)
This excellent home-reference guide contains information on all major drugs and medicines in use in modern medical practice. £16.99
http://www.mind.org.uk/osb/itemdetails.cfm/ID/357

and special offers

Self-harm: perspectives from personal experience
Edited by Louise Pembroke, this is an enlightening and practical resource for anyone who harms themselves, and for those who care for them. Was £12, now £9.99
http://www.mind.org.uk/osb/itemdetails.cfm/ID/384

Trashing your info

I wrote a post this morning this morning about businesses finding their information "trashed" through negative comments being posted to various online fora.

Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends has provided some advice on how to counter this damaging trend.

I thought:

a) I wonder whether it's not just business but information services that find that reputations have been lost through malicious comment; and
b) if you would link through and read about a charity site which I support called Answer4Earth.

Tenuous joining of two stories? Not really.

I support Anita's work but find much of it irrelevant to the UK (as she well knows since I not only read her blog regularly but am also Facebook friends with her) and until VERY recently Answer4Earth was very US-centric in its questions. I found it very difficult to get beyond level 15 because I had to keep guessing which person had done what in a baseball or Super Bowl event. No more! As promised Answer4Earth now recognises where you are from so please, please join me in looking at the ads and planting trees.

Blind People need not apply, the truth about online accessibility discrimination

via Onrec.com - United Kingdom headlines on 8 April

A lot has been said lately about the Disability Discrimination Act and whether or not your website is illegal.

Read more >>

Hazel's comment:
The truth is, as I'm sure many of you are aware, that there are more websites that do not comply with accessibility legislation than do.
And there are many that do not include the required company information.