New Ebooks

The following new ebooks are now available via the Library Catalogue. Click on a title to access the Catalogue record and log in with your username and password to access the full text:

• Albrow, M. (1999) Sociology: the basics. London: Routledge.
• Baginsky, M. (ed.) (2008) Safeguarding children and schools. London: Jessica Kingsley.
• Bird, C. E. and Rieker, P. P. (2008) Gender and health: the effects of constrained choices and social policies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Blau, J. R. (ed.) (2001) The Blackwell companion to sociology. Oxford: Blackwell.
• Bulmer, M. and Solomos, J. (eds.) (2004) Researching race and racism. London: Routledge.
• Canter, D. V. (2008) Criminal psychology. London: Hodder Education.
• Collier, A. (2008) Marx: a beginner's guide. Oxford: Oneworld.
• Creme, P. and Lea, M. R. (2008) Writing at university: a guide for students. 3rd ed. McGraw Hill/OUP.
• Denzin, N. K. (1992) Symbolic interactionism and cultural studies: the politics of interpretation. Oxford: Blackwell.
• Entwistle, H. (2010) Antonio Gramsci: conservative schooling for radical politics. Abingdon: Routledge.
• Gabler, J. (2010) Sociology for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
• Gilling, D. (2007) Crime reduction and community safety: Labour and the politics of local crime control. Cullompton: Willan.
• Race, P. (2007) How to get a good degree: making the most of your time at university. 2nd ed. Maidenhead: OUP.
• Rattansi, A. (2007) Racism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Weber, M. (2001) The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. London: Routledge.
• Worsley, P. (2002) Marx and Marxism. Rev. ed. London: Routledge.

Assignment Help - Spotlight Week

Learning Resources are offering a week of 1 hour long training sessions covering the skills you need to research, plan and present your assignments. All sessions are free and are open to all students of the University.

Spotlight on Assignments Week will run from 29th November - 3rd December 2010. All sessions will be held at the Bedford campus, Polhill Avenue in Room P0.13a. There's no need to book - just turn up! For more information visit: LRweb.beds.ac.uk/spotlight

Sage Launches Crimspace, The Criminology and Criminal Justice Network

Sage, one of the world's leading independent academic publishers has announced the launch of Crimspace - an online social networking site for criminology and criminal justice academic communities.

Free to join, Crimspace is open to anyone studying or researching in criminology, criminal justice, juvenile justice, policing, forensics, interpersonal and domestic violence and many other fields related to criminology and criminal justice.

The site provides researchers with the ability to connect with colleagues, discuss issues and controversies in the forum; read free content from Sage books and journals; view podcasts and videos and also find information on relevant events, jobs, funding and training.

Child Abuse & Protection

A serious case review into the nursery where Vanessa George abused children in her care has concluded that the nursery had provided an ideal environment in which George could abuse children. The Plymouth Safeguarding Children Board, which carried out the review into Little Ted's Nursery revealed a series of warning signs that were either ignored or misinterpreted. You can read the review here: Plymouth Safeguarding Children Board: Serious Case Review: Overview Report.

Adoption & Fostering

Ministers are drawing up guidance for local authorities and adoption agencies that say that race and cultural background should not be a barrier to adoption. In an interview with The Times, Children's Minister, Tim Loughton said that too many children languished in care because social workers held out for the "perfect match" rather than deciding whether the would-be adopters would provide a good home. Loughton said there was "no reason at all" why white couples should not adopt black, Asian or mixed-heritage children. Read the article in full via the NewsBank Newspapers UK database.
Meanwhile, new research from the British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF) has found that misconceptions about the adoption process are putting many people off trying to adopt. The study found that people wrongly believe that older people, those with criminal records, single men, smokers and non-swimmers would be excluded from adopting. Read the press release here: New research reveals "alarming misconceptions" about modern adoption, says BAAF.

Child Protection

The Department of Education has published two Serious Case Overview reports into the death of 17 month old Peter Connolly who dies in Tonttenham, North London in 2007 at the hands of his mother Tracey Connolly, her partner Steven Baker and his brother, Jason Owen. The three were jailed last year for causing or allowing Peter's death. The reports show that Peter's death could have been avoided if professional staff had taken the proper steps. The reports can be read in full here: Peter Connolly Serious Case Review Reports.

Rough Sleepers

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published a new report on "Providing personalised support to rough sleepers". The study evaluated the impact of a new pilot study in the City of London and explored the reasons for the projects success. You can read the report in full here: Personalised Support To Rough Sleepers.

Electrical Shutdown: Saturday 6th November 2010

There will be an electrical shutdown on 6th November whilst essential maintainance is carried out. During this time the following services will be unavailable:

• Library Catalogue (& all related services, e.g. e-books, e-journals, databases)
• Breo
• Printing
• Student records
• Timetable
• Network access
• Student email (Google mail)
• Internet access from University PCs
• LRweb

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Chidren in Care

Only 1% of children in care go on to university, but helping them into further and higher education will help to reduce costs according to new guidance published by the National Institute for Health & Clinical Excellence. The new guidance says that more focus on training could lead to less unemployment, crime and mental health problems. Read the guidance in full here: Promoting the Quality of Life of Looked-after Children and Young People.

New Online Tool for Newly Qualified Social Workers in Adult Services

SCIE has just published a new online resource deisgned to help newly qualified social workers meet the 12 outcomes contained in the NQSW framework in adult services developed by Skills For Care. You will find useful resources, suggestions for evidence and links to current legislation and policy to help your continuing professional development. Although the primary focus is on adult services social workers in other settings will also find it useful. You can access it here: Newly Qualified Social Worker Resource.

New Refugee Website

A new website: The Refugee Education Initiative (REI) has been launched by Laura-Ashley Wright and Robyn Plasterer. It aims to be an international forum to link together researchers, professionals and the general public on issues related to refugee studies, forced migration and international education development. The site contains information on:

• Current events & policy
• Relevant websites, blogs and mailing lists
• Non-academic resources: films, books, art and music
• Academic resources: journals, publications etc.
• Work and volunteer oportunities
• Academic programs and scholarship opportunities

Students can also publish their work, blog about international experiences and link to other student networks in the UK, Canada and abroad. Any questions please e-mail them at:mailto: info@refugeeeducation.com

New Government Consultation Documents on Information & Choice within the NHS

The Secretary of State for Health has just published two new consultation documents about the NHS. These are: "Liberating the NHS: An Information Revolution" and "Liberating the NHS: Greater Choice and Control". The documents set out more of the government's vision of "putting patients first" as set out in the White Paper "Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS". They are about providing people with better information about health and social care services to improve outcomes. Links to these documents and further information may be found at: Liberating the NHS.

Coalition Government's New Vision For Social Care

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has just published a new research paper written by Emma Stone and Claudia Wood. Written in advance of Comprehensive Spending Review in October 2010 and the Coalition Government's new vision for social care (expected in early November); the paper:

• examines the fact that we are at a critical point in the history of social care reform
• poses the question: will the proposed funding settlement and statute be aligned with each other - will social care be designed around people's lives rather than services?

You can read the report in full here: A Funding Settlement That Works For People Not Services

The Teaching of Human Growth & Development, Disability and Mental Health on Qualifying Social Work Programmes

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has just published the following report about the teaching and learning of human growth and development, disability and mental health on qualifying social work programmes. The report can be read in full by clicking on the this link: How we become who we are: the teaching and learning of human growth and development, disability and mental health on qualifying social work programmes.

Globalisation and UK Poverty

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation have published three papers as part of their programme on Globalisation that is intended to promote and explore the impact of globalisation in the UK and focuses on communities and people in poverty. The reports can be viewed by clicking on the links below:

• The links between global governance, UK poverty and welfare policy
• The impact of global governance on poverty in the UK
• How globalisation is changing patterns of marginalisation and inclusion in the UK

Drug Misuse

Research by the National Drug Treatment Agency into the long-term success of drug treatment programmes has found that nearly half of the people who participated in them in 2005 have been found to be free of their addiction and no longer committing crime four years after leaving treatment. The study (along with other online publications from the Agency) may be viewed here: http://www.nta.nhs.uk/publications.aspx?category=Treatment+outcomes+and+effectiveness

Child Protection

A major new survey by the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) of 1,390 social workers revealed that 70% admitted being unable to protect a child because of the constraints of their work. The survey also showed that 95% thought that social workers were having to make key decisions based on insufficient information. More than two thirds of social workers said that their job had caused them emotional or mental instability and, of those, 45% had taken time off work as a result. More on the survey can be read on the BASW website here: http://news.basw.co.uk/post/1221899361/major-basw-survey-reveals-child-protection-risks-of

New Research Reports on Children's Participation in Decision-Making

The National Children's Bureau (NCB) and the Children's Rights Alliance for England were commissioned in Autumn 2009 by the Office of the Commissioner to examine children's participation in decision-making in England. The research shows that young people often feel excluded from decisions which affect their lives though children and young people are one of the largest user groups of public services. The research also shows that national surveys about healthcare, quality of public service provision and civic activity often fail to ask them about their experiences.

You can download the series of reports here: http://www.participationworks.org.uk/npf/publications

New Publication on Older People with High Support Needs

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation have just published the first publication from their new programme "A Better Life" - a new research programme looking at how we can improve the quality of life for older people with high support needs.

The full report considers what we know about the needs and situations of older people with high support needs from different equality groups and the barriers they face in service provision. You can view the report here: http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/better-life-high-support-needs

New Student Website From "Community Care"

The magazine Community Care has launched a new website "Student Zone" especially for social work students. The website contains help and advice on: placements, careers, writing essay, dissertations and there is a Forum where you can discuss issues ands concerns with other students.

You can check out the website at: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/social-work-degree-social-care-students/

Guidance for Social Workers on Alcohol & Drugs

The Tilda Goldberg Centre for Research in Social Work & Social Care (based at the University of Bedfordshire) has produced a pocket guide for social workers entitled "Alcohol and Other Drugs". The guide aims to support social workers in taking professional responsiblity for ensuring that their knowledge and skills meet the needs of service users in relation to alcohol and drugs.

You can access the guide (and other publications produced by the Centre) here: http://www.beds.ac.uk/goldbergcentre/resources

Learning Matters Student Promotion

Learning Matters (an important publisher of social work textbooks) is offering new and returning students a 15% discount on all its social work textbooks.

Books can be purchased online through the website: http://www.learningmatters.co.uk or by phoning the orderline: 0845 230 9000 and quoting voucher code: LM26.

Free delivery is offered on orders of 5 or more books.

This offer is valid on orders placed before 31st December 2010.

Reduced Price Books For Sale

Waterstones Bookshop will have a stall in Bedford, Polhill Library from Monday 27th September - Friday 8th October selling core texts on reading lists at reduced prices for students.

More New E-books

Here are some more new e-books which may prove useful for Applied Social Studies courses. As usual log in with your library account.

• Archer, L. (2003) Race, masculinity and schooling: Muslim boys and education. Maidenhead: OUP.
• Barsky, A. E. (2010) Ethics and values in social work: an integrated approach for a comprehensive curriculum. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Bradbury, A. (2006) Successful presentation skills. 3rd ed. London: Kogan Page.
• Carrabine, E. et. al. (2009) Criminology: a sociological introduction. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
• Carey, M. (2009) The social work dissertation: using small scale qualitative methodology. Maidenhead: McGraw Hill.
• Cole, M. ((2008) Marxism and educational theory. London: Routledge.
• Evans, G. (2007) Educational failure and working class white children in Britain. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Jackson, C. (2006) Lads and ladettes in school. Maidenhead: OUP.
• Koprowska, J. (2008) Communication and interpersonal skills in social work. Exeter: Learning Matters.
• Levin, P. and Topping, G. (2006) Perfect presentations! Maidenhead: OUP.
• Lindsay, T. and Orton, S. (2008) Groupwork practice in social work. Exeter: Learning Matters.
• Moore, R. et. al. (2006) Knowledge, power and educational reform: applying the sociology of Basil Bernstein. London: Routledge.
• Rogers, A. (2010) Human behaviour in the social environment. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
• Sanders, B. (2005) Youth crime and youth culture in the inner city. London: Routledge.
• Sheldon, B. and MacDonald, G. (2009) A textbook of social work. London: Routledge.
• Smith, R. S. (2009) Doing social work research. Maidenhead: McGraw Hill/OUP.
• Wharton, A. S. (2005) The sociology of gender: an introduction to theory and research. Oxford: Blackwell.
• Webber, M. (2008) Evidence-based policy and practice in mental health social work. Exeter: Learning Matters.
• Whittaker, D. J. (2006) Asylum seekers and refugees in the contemporary world. London: Routledge.

Got a question for a librarian?

I've just added a new Get Answers gadget to this blog. If you're a subscriber & you've got any questions about finding information for your studies/using our resources etc. - why not post a question for a librarian? I'll try and respond a.s.a.p.

New E-books!

The following e-books are now available both on and off campus. As usual log-in with your library account:

• Scott, D. (2008) Penology. London: Sage.
• Carlen, P. (ed.) (2002) Women and punishment. Devon: Willan.
• Carlen, P. and Worrall, A. (2004) Analysing women's imprisonment. Devon: Willan.
• Matthews, R. (1999) Doing time: an introduction to the sociology of imprisonment. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
• Canter, D., Ioannou, M. and Youngs, D. (2009) Safer sex in the city: the experience and management of street prostitution. Farnham: Ashgate.
• Ritzer, G. (ed.) (2007) The Blackwell companion to major sociological classical theorists. Oxford: Blackwell.
• Pitts, J. (2008) Reluctant gangsters: the changing shape of youth crime. Cullompton: Willan.
• Blyth, M. and Solomon, E. (eds.) (2009) Prevention and youth crime: is early intervention working? Bristol: Policy.
• Barry, M. and McNeill, F. (eds.) (2009) Youth offending and youth justice. London: Jessica Kingsley.
• Marsh, I. and Melville, G. (2008) Crime, justice and the media. London: Routledge.
• Howe, A. (2008) Sex, violence and crime: Focault and the "man" question. London: Routledge-Cavendish.
• Benson, M. and Simpson, S. (2009) White-collar crime: an opportunity perspective. London: Routledge.
• Burke, R. H. (2008) Young people, crime and justice. Cullompton: Willan.
• Letherby, G. et. al. (eds.) (2008) Sex as crime? Cullompton: Willan.
• Bean, P. (2008) Drugs and crime. Cullompton: Willan.
• Miller, H. V. (ed.) (2008) Restoratice justice: from theory to practice. Bingley: Emarald JAI.
• Silvestri, M. and Crowther-Dowey, C. (2008) Gender and crime. London: Sage.
• Cook, P. W. (2009) Abused men: the hidden side of domestic violence. 2nd ed. London: Praeger.
• Barnard, A., Horner, N. and Wild, J. (eds.) (2008) The value base of social work and social care. Maidenhead: McGraw Hill/Open University.
• Fernando, S. and Keating, F. (eds.) (2009) Mental health in a multi-ethnic society: a multidisciplinary book. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

Child Poverty

Figures from the Department of Children, Schools and Families show that almost 1.2 million pupils are eligible for free school meals - an increase of 83,000 pupils over the last two years. Three education authorities have piloted free school meals for all primary school pupils, which could account for the rise, as well as the effect of job losses through the recession, says Christine Blower, the General Secretary of the Nationhal Union of Teachers. She adds: "The challenge for the new government is to maintain child poverty reduction targets and to seek to close the gap between the richest and poorest". Read the full document here: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000925/DESFR09_2010.pdf

New Evidence Based Practice Web Page Now Available

Your librarians have now created a new web page to support the Social Work BSc module: Evidence Based Professional Practice. It contains links to useful resources for social research to help you find the "evidence", including databases, peer-reviewed journals, websites, online reports and more. This page will also be useful for anyone undertaking research in the social care field.

Check it out at: http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/guides/applied-soc-studies/Webresources/Evidence-based-practice

Do you want to find journal articles on education-related topics?

Education Research Complete is a new research database available via the Ebscohost platform. It contains full text articles from more than 1,200 journals and nearly 500 books on all aspects of education including the sociology of education, education support services and child welfare.

It can be searched in conjunction with PsycINFO, the SocINDEX and Academic Search Elite - some of the other useful databases for this area.

Extended Library Opening Hours

The Libraries will have extended opening hours from the following dates: Monday 19th April - Friday 7th May (excluding Monday 3rd May).

The Library Floors at Park Sq , Luton LRC
will be open 8.30 - 02.00 (unstaffed 22.00 - 02.00)

Polhill, Bedford Library
will be open 0.8.30 - 00.00 (unstaffed 22.00 - 00.00)

Recommend a book

The Library has a new electronic "Recommend a book" form. If there's a book you think the Library should have go to the follow link:
http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/contact/recommend fill in the form and submit. We cannot guarantee that all suggestions will be purchased but everything will be considered.

Learning Hub - Revised Opening Hours

In response to students' requests, the Learning Hub based at the Bedford
Campus has extended its opening hours from Monday 1 February as follows:

Monday - Thursday 8am - Midnight
Friday 8am - 6pm
Saturday - Closed
Sunday - Closed

New Research Suggests the Alcohol Industry is Targeting Teeenagers

Researchers writing in the British Medical Journal claim that the alcohol industry is targeting teenagers by implying that drinking will bring friends and fun. Documents obtained by the Commons Select Committee on Health show that market research on 15-16 year olds is used to guide the development of campaigns to promote alcoholic drinks. A ban on irresponsible drink promotions and a compulsory requirement to check under 18s for IDs are among the final conditions of a proposed code for alcohol retailers announced by the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson. A link to the proposed code can be found here: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/alcohol-code-of-practice/selling-alcohol-responsibly2835.pdf?view=Binary

New Research on Violence Against Women & Girls

The results of a new consultation report 'Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls' have now been released. The research was commissioned by the Department of Health and led by the Home Office in consultation with the National Children's Bureau. It elicited the views of young people on issues surrounding violence against women and girls including relationships education at school, social attitudes towards violence and sexual bullying. The full report and further information can be found on the Home Office website at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/Violence_against_women_and_1.html