Blogs for Psychology

One way of keeping up to date is to keep an eye on blogs in various subject areas. Be critical though; like websites, not all of them will have accurate or authoritative information!

The ones listed below might be worth taking a look at, and if you find them interesting you can subscribe to receive regular updates.

Research Digest Blog
http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/
Reports on new psychology research, comments and discussion, this blog carries  the logo of the British Psychological Society. Regularly updated, research is reported in clear English and there are links to related resources and to the full text of the orginal article in many cases.

Cognitive Daily
http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/
A chatty blog commenting on peer-reviewed developments in cognition, usually with plenty of comments discussing the research topic.

Encephalon Archives
http://www.sharpbrains.com/resources/encephalon-blog-carnival
A fortnightly roundup of the best neurosceince and pyschology blog posts.

Database State

A report by The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, entitled Database State, says that ‘more than half of Whitehall’s 46 databases and systems have significant problems with privacy or effectiveness, and could fall foul of a legal challenge.’
Guardian, p4, 23 March 2009

“Children and Families (Wales) Measure”

Is poverty or safety the No.1 issue for children at risk? – Tackling child poverty and strengthening support to those families in greatest need is at the heart of a new Welsh law recently laid before the Welsh National Assembly by Ministers.  The proposed Children and Families (Wales) Measure is intended to help improve the lives of some of the most disadvantaged children and families in Wales.

It sets a clear direction for the WAG’s aim of improving the quality of life & equality of opportunity for every community in Wales.  A duty will be placed on Welsh Ministers to develop a new Child Poverty Strategy for Wales, which would have to be reviewed every 3 years. The proposed Measure will also place a duty on specific Welsh public bodies to identify & take action to assist in the goal of eradicating child poverty by 2020.

Providing opportunities for play will also be embedded in the Measure, as will assuring children & young people’s participation in decisions which affect their lives. Welsh Ministers will also be able to place a duty on local authorities to secure free, high quality, targeted childcare in specific areas, in line with One Wales commitments.

New Integrated Family Support Teams will be created across Wales to help children & families whose complex needs such as substance misuse and domestic violence, require intense & multi-disciplinary support from skilled professionals.

[Press release from Wired-GOV.net, 9th march 2009]

Children’s literature event on the theme of inclusion, Swansea, March 25th.

CILIP Education Librarians Group
Children’s Literature Event

March 25th 2009 2:00-4:30pm at the new Swansea Central Library

In The Picture

This Education Librarians Group children’s literature event is on the theme of inclusion. With generous funding from SWAP (South West Area Partnership) we are offering a free afternoon workshop on the In the Picture project with Penny Dickinson to be held at the new Swansea Central Library.

Scope’s In The Picture campaign is about embracing diversity – so that disabled children, who have been virtually invisible until recently, are included alongside others in illustrations and story lines in books for young readers. The campaign has been supported by Jacqueline Wilson and Quentin Blake. See the web pages at http://www.childreninthepicture.org.uk/index.htm

This event will be of particular interest to those working with young children, including early years specialists. There will also be the opportunity to have a tour of the children’s section in the Library. All are welcome. There is no charge but booking is essential.

Please contact j.mills@roehampton.ac.uk (020 8392 3772) Roehampton University Library, Roehampton Lane, London SW15 5SZ

Venue: Swansea Central Library, Civic Centre, Oystermouth Road.
Information about the venue with link to map:
http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=10956
Directions for parking:
http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=23044#

Penny Dickinson of Scope was involved in the initiation of the In the Picture campaign and will lead an interactive workshop which will:

Explore the work of the project – its aims, aspirations and successes – and the way forward

Emphasise the importance of inclusive resources for young and disabled children

Increase awareness of existing resources – particularly books toys and games which include all children

Examine the role disabled children have played in literature in the past and their ideas for the future

Increase understanding of methods to make settings more inclusive

Demonstrate the effectiveness of certain media when working with children

 

The Guardian’s Data Store – facts you can use

From Intute: Social Sciences Blog by Stuart Macdonald

The Guardian have compiled a Data Store whose aim “is to make important data more accessible to people.” It consists of a set of links to data and statistics pertaining to a range of contemporary subjects including: Migration, Education, Health (UK and beyond), Military, Politics, Unemployment, Finance. Within each data page there’s a link to a Google spreadsheet where you can see, download and manipulate the data. The accompanying Datablog provides an avenue through which such statistics and data can be discussed.

Research Professional

For some years the Department of Research & Innovation has taken a subscription to ResearchResearch, the leading publisher of news and information for the international research community, allowing staff to hold a personal account and tailor funding alerts to their individual academic interests. A new version of the ResearchResearch website, called Research Professional has been launched, with greater flexibility and several new features. You can access it at http://new.researchresearch.com/

If you already hold an account it should have been moved automatically from the current website to Research Professional. All of your account settings will remain the same, your current username and password will still work, and any email alerts, saved searches or bookmarked items will be transferred to the new site. To register for an account use the self-registration button on the home page or contact the administrator, Mrs. Chris Beynon in the Department of Research & Innovation ( c.beynon@swansea.ac.uk ).
Video tutorials and a downloadable quick start guide are available on the new website.

Do you feel lucky?

From Intute Social Sciences blog:

Is Britain a nation of optimists or pessimists – a new report may surprise you – but that obviously depends on your point of view!

The report presents the first findings of research conducted by the Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC) into the nature of optimism in 21st century Britain.

Intute: Social Sciences features more Internet resources on Social Perception and Cognition, the National Lottery and the Sociology of Emotions.

What’s on your mind?

From Intute Social Sciences Blog:

Is the mind blank at birth? Or does it come pre-packaged with mechanisms, ways of viewing the world, ideas? Here’s a video that’s recently been added to the Intute catalogue. It features Professor Steven Pinker of MIT – author of The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and Word and Rules – speaking at a recent Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference.

National child protection recruitment drive launched

The first ever national campaign to respect, recruit and retain child social workers will be launched today with a drive to recruit 5,000 professionals who have recently left to tighten the safety net and reduce the chance of children dying from abuse or neglect.

Council leaders will highlight that, while there have been consistent improvements in recruitment and retention over the last few years, there are still problems that need to be addressed. In the aftermath of the tragic death of Baby P, council leaders are deeply concerned that the fallout from the case will lead to a decline in respect for child social workers, a wave of departures from the profession and a difficulty in attracting new candidates.

A new report launched today, Respect and Protect, by the LGA shows that:

• One in ten child social worker post are vacant at any one time
• Of those councils who experience recruitment difficulties, 89% had trouble recruiting experienced children social workers
• Around 5,500 child social workers are agency staff.

Read the press release