Search results

Open government data and access to public sector information is commonplace, yet little attention has focussed on the essential roles and responsibilities in practice of the information and records management professionals, who enable public authorities to deliver open data to citizens. This paper aims to consider the perspectives of open government and information practitioners in England on the procedural and policy implications of open data across local public authorities.

Using four case studies from different parts of the public sector in England (local government, higher education, National Health Service and hospital trust), the research involved master’s level students in the data collection and analysis, alongside academics, thus enhancing the learning experience of students.

There was little consistency in the location of responsibility for open government data policy, the range of job roles involved or the organisational structures, policy and guidance in place to deliver this function. While this may reflect the organisational differences and professional concerns, it makes it difficult to share best practice. Central government policy encourages public bodies to make their data available for re-use. However, local practice is very variable and perhaps understandably responds more to local organisational strategic and resource priorities. The research found a lack of common metadata standards for open data, different choices about which data to open, problems of data redundancy, inconsistency and data integrity and a wide variety of views on the corporate and public benefits of open data.

The research is limited to England and to non-national public bodies and only draws data from a small number of case studies.

The research contributes to the debate about emerging issues around the complexities of open government data and its public benefits, contributing to the discussions around technology-enabled approaches to citizen engagement and governance. It offers new insights into the interaction between open data and public policy objectives, drawing on the experience of local public sectors in England.

The article presents research on the long-term information needs of homicide bereaved individuals in the context of record-keeping practice within Major Crime Units (MCU) in England. The research objectives were to: (1) identify the long-term information needs of individuals bereaved by homicide; (2) establish MCU officer perceptions on the provision of information to individuals bereaved by homicide; (3) establish the current practice of MCU officers in managing and providing access to homicide records and (4) explore the capability of current recordkeeping practice to move beyond the use of homicide records for their primary “policing” purpose.

The research objectives were met by combining findings from a literature review across policing, bereavement, death, victimology, criminology, records management and archival studies with results from a singular interview-based study with officers at the Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire Major Crime Unit (BHCMCU).

The findings indicate that the long-term information needs of homicide bereaved individuals are ill-served by the current police recordkeeping framework which provides them with little involvement in record-keeping decision-making and limited long-term access to the information required for sensemaking/adaption in a post-homicide world. In this context, the research demonstrates a long term need for: (1) information access; (2) support for access; (3) a direct and personalised information access service and (4) trauma-informed and victim/survivor centred practice in police recordkeeping contexts.

The research addresses a major gap across disciplinary research literature in its focus on the ways investigative information is disclosed by the police to the bereaved following case closure.

Government administrative data have enormous potential for public and individual benefit through improved educational and health services to citizens, medical research, environmental and climate interventions and better use of scarce energy resources. The purpose of this study (part of the Administrative Data Research Centre in England, ADRC-E) was to examine perspectives about the sharing, linking and re-use (secondary use) of government administrative data. This study seeks to establish an analytical understanding of risk with regard to administrative data.

This qualitative study focused on the secondary use of government administrative data by academic researchers. Data collection was through 44 semi-structured interviews plus one focus group, and was supported by documentary analysis and a literature review. The study draws on the views of expert data researchers, data providers, regulatory bodies, research funders, lobby groups, information practitioners and data subjects.

This study discusses the identification and management of risk in the use of government administrative data and presents a risk framework.

This study will have resonance with records managers, risk managers, data specialists, information policy and compliance managers, citizens groups that engage with data, as well as all those responsible for the creation and management of government administrative data.

First, this study identifies and categorizes the risks arising from the research use of government administrative data, based on policy, practice and experience of those involved. Second, it identifies mitigating risk management activities, linked to five key stakeholder communities, and it discusses the locus of responsibility for risk management actions. The conclusion presents the elements of a new risk framework to inform future actions by the government data community and enable researchers to exploit the power of administrative data for public good.

This article discusses the use of Encoded Archival Description (EAD) as a metadata framework within applications that are primarily concerned with the provision of access to digital forms of archive documents. These digital forms are transcripts encoded using the Text‐Encoding Initiative (TEI) and images. The article argues that EAD, as it currently stands, is focused on the provision of metadata for original archive documents rather than for digital forms of originals, and it explores where metadata about originals and their digital forms converge and diverge. It suggests how the EAD framework can be expanded to allow for the capture of adequate metadata about both types of document and asserts that such expansion enables EAD to act as a more complete and comprehensive metadata framework in online environments. This approach to digitisation relies on the flexibility of XML technology. The article is based on the research undertaken within the LEADERS project (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/leaders‐project/).

The main aim of this paper is to provide a living tribute of lived expert by experience and researcher Andrew Voyce.

Andrew provided the author with a list of names of people he might approach to write a tribute on his behalf.

The accounts describe the influence that Andrew has had both as an educator and as a trusted colleague for the people approached.

In many ways, the voices of people with mental health problems have been marginalised. Few mental health journals, with only some exceptions, encourage lived experience contributions.

The mental health agenda continues to be dominated by professional groups. The remarkable individuals who continually battle with serious mental illness are often lost in official discourses.

Despite the fact that the topic of mental health is now much more in the public domain, research tells us that the most effective anti-stigma strategy is contact with sufferers.

The archivist Dr Anna Sexton co-produced one of the few mental health archives that only featured people with lived experience. Andrew was one of the four people featured in it. This account “showcases” the work of this remarkable man.

This paper aims to offer a profile of Stuart Baker‐Brown.

Stuart provides a short biography and is then interviewed by Jerome. Areas covered in the interview include his trek to Everest Base Camp, involvement with the Time to Change anti‐stigma campaign and his work on the Recovery Archive.

Stuart stresses the importance of giving hope to people with mental health problems. Individuals also need to believe that they can recover. He feels that the new Recovery Archive will help provide a more encouraging alternative perspective on living a life beyond the effects of mental illness.

Stuart is one of comparatively few people trying to present psychosis in a more positive perspective. He has made a significant contribution to helping change public perceptions towards mental illness through his media work.

The purpose of this paper is to present an argument for taking the long view of the retention and preservation of inactive medical records.

Using the theoretical framework of Actor-Network Theory, the author examines medical records, and especially mental health records, as actants that participate in the classification and treatment of patients, and in the development of psychiatry and mental hospitals as social institutions.

The varied and profound roles of medical records demonstrate the ability for records to have multiple “lives” that can touch many individuals beyond a single human lifetime.

As the current and future custodians of historical medical record collections, information professionals are in a position to be greater advocates for the increased preservation of and mindful access to these materials.

Medical records have potential to be cultural heritage documents, especially for emergent communities.

This paper articulates the ways in which medical records are an embedded part of many societies, and affect the ways in which illness is defined and treated. It thus suggests that while laws regarding the retention and destruction of and access to medical records continue to be deliberated upon around the world, such records can have enduring value as information artifacts.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an autoethnographic account of the stories of a mental health professional and a mental health survivor.

Using the autoethnographic approach, the authors provide summaries of their respective psychiatric careers in three parts.

The authors studied at the same University, Reading. Voyce failed his Politics finals and embarked on a trajectory as a mental patient. Carson graduated in Psychology and trained as a clinical psychologist. The recovery movement brought them together, and they have now established an educational and personal bond.

These are of course only two accounts, yet both authors have played a role in developing the recovery model in Britain. The accounts and story show the benefits of adopting a partnership approach between professional and service user.

Both accounts are recovery journeys in their own way. Both highlight the value of education for recovery.

There is no doubt that clinical psychologists are both highly valued and well paid for their expertise. However, the expertise gained through Andrew’s life experience is equally invaluable for today’s mental health professionals to learn from, but perhaps not as well remunerated.

Both accounts stretch back over 45 years and have covered the move from institutional to community care. This paper presents two contrasting perspectives on these changes and the lives of the two people involved.