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After having read Julie McLeod's opinion piece on the lifecycle of records concept, I felt compelled to commit my own opinions to paper. Strange really, I never thought of myself as being a strongly opinionated person, which just goes to show that you do indeed learn something new everyday, even if it is about yourself!

This article describes a survey carried out in the Department of Information and Library Management (DILM) at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle, in relation to the training and education needs of records management practitioners. The survey was conducted as part of the 4 year Continuing Vocational Education (CVE) initiative funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The context of the study within DILM is described and the results of the research are presented along with suggestions for further areas of research.

Explores the newly emerging information discipline of records management, focusing on its current status in the UK where it is represented by a range of sector‐specific and general for information professionals organizations. Investigates the issue of education and training in this developing field in the context of a research project on continuing vocational education for records practitioners, which is being undertaken by the Department of Information and Library Management at the University of Northumbria. Early results from the project identified two main training needs: one relates to a specific area of information management, that of managing electronic records, and the other relates to the general area of strategic approaches to management. While records management involves some skills and knowledge which are different from those already mastered by library and information professionals there are significant overlaps in terms of cataloguing, classification, indexing, identifying and meeting user needs and the challenge of dealing with information in electronic form. Contends, therefore, that in the changing and sometimes shrinking market of some of the more traditional library sectors records management may offer the opportunity to develop or shift one’s career path while remaining within the discipline of information management.

All organizations produce, use and disseminate their own information during the course of their business, but most organizations do not manage this internal information very effectively. Looks at the need for records management, i.e. the management of an organization’s internal information at a strategic level. Examines why records management is necessary for the continued effectiveness, success and competitiveness of an organization and looks at the implications of implementing a strategic records management policy. Presents two scenarios of the potential effects of bad records management practice.

This article examines the HEFCE‐CVE funded project undertaken at the School of Library, Archive and Information Studies, University College London to investigate distance education as a mechanism for delivering continuing professional development in the field of archives and records management. The first part of the project focused on determining the training and educational needs of the sector in the UK, by means of a survey of members of the profession. The results of this survey form the main part of this article, but other conclusions of the project to date are also reported.

This is the second part of a two‐part article which examines the various definitions accorded to the two key terms in records management – the records and records management. Variations in their definition have lead to confusion which affects the formulation of theory to underpin the discipline. Having discussed the changing definition of a record in Part 1 in this part the authors discuss the various definitions of records management.

This article is the result of a brief survey, conducted across the Internet by researchers from the Archives and Records Management Programme at the University of Wales at Aberystwyth. The authors discuss the need for records management training and education world‐wide, and the emergence of records management as a subset of information management, with an acknowledged impact on the systematic and efficient management of organisations. They show how the focus of records management has shifted over the recent past from the archival management of unwanted documents, to the management of electronic systems, giving records managers an equal standing with other professionals in the field of information management. Using a comparison between Malaysia, where much of the training is provided by visiting consultants, and the United Kingdom, where records management training is provided by the universities, the authors conclude that the needs of qualified and well‐informed professionals in this distinct field is dependent upon the training and education provided by courses in universities world‐wide. Their survey, however, reveals that there is no standard approach to the training provided by these institutions: some are likely to reflect their archival origins, others represent various streams of the broad context of information studies.

There is high incidence of dementia in individuals with Down’s syndrome. Much of the emphasis has been on Alzheimer’s disease as being most prevalent; however, it is apparent that other dementia types are also likely, to which this patient cohort may be predisposed. Specifically, this paper aims to highlight the potential for subcortical dementias in Down’s syndrome, suggesting a role for broader cognitive screening in aging individuals.

This paper describes a case of a female with Down’s syndrome and mild intellectual disability who presented with early signs of distinctive cognitive impairment and radiological calcification of the basal ganglia.

An active 42-year-old lady, who was mostly independent of activities of daily living and in part-time employment, presented with a three-year history of progressive cognitive deficit, characteristic of subcortical decline. She had no personal or known family history of mental illness, epilepsy or dementia. Routine blood tests showed chronic renal impairment, mild hypocalcaemia and vitamin D deficiency, managed by her GP. CT scan showed only bilateral basal ganglia calcification.

There is a widespread appreciation for the link between Down’s syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease but lesser consideration of the possibility of subcortical dementias. Given the differential nature and presentation of the two dementias, this case report highlights a need for clinicians to consider both to effectively manage these patients in the longer-term. Screening is discussed as a potential means of achieving this.

Young people transitioning from child to adult mental health services are frequently also known to social services, but the role of such services in this study and their interplay with mental healthcare system lacks evidence in the European panorama. This study aims to gather information on the characteristics and the involvement of social services supporting young people approaching transition.

A survey of 16 European Union countries was conducted. Country respondents, representing social services’ point of view, completed an ad hoc questionnaire. Information sought included details on social service availability and the characteristics of their interplay with mental health services.

Service availability ranges from a low of 3/100,000 social workers working with young people of transition age in Spain to a high 500/100,000 social workers in Poland, with heterogeneous involvement in youth health care. Community-based residential facilities and services for youth under custodial measures were the most commonly type of social service involved. In 80% of the surveyed countries, youth protection from abuse/neglect is overall regulated by national protocols or written agreements between mental health and social services, with the exception of Czech Republic and Greece, where poor or no protocols apply. Lack of connection between child and adult mental health services has been identified as the major obstacles to transition (93.8%), together with insufficient involvement of stakeholders throughout the process.

Marked heterogeneity across countries may suggest weaknesses in youth mental health policy-making at the European level. Greater inclusion of relevant stakeholders is needed to inform the development and implementation of person-centered health-care models. Disconnection between child and adult mental health services is widely recognized in the social services arena as the major barrier faced by young service users in transition; this “outside” perspective provides further support for an urgent re-configuration of services and the need to address unaligned working practices and service cultures.

This is the first survey gathering information on social service provision at the time of mental health services transition at a European level; its findings may help to inform services to offer a better coordinated social health care for young people with mental health disorders.

In his apocalyptic book on the environment and public policy, Timothy C. Weiskel warned of the consequences of humanity's intrusion into the biological and geo‐chemical processes of the natural world. He said that our intrusions have been massive and thorough; that they now threaten to transform ecosystemic parameters; and that unless responsible public policy directs itself toward moderating our current destructive impact on the environment, we will face ecosystemic collapse and human catastrophe “on a vastly greater scale than has ever been recorded in human history.”