Paul Catherall

University of Liverpool | UoL · Library

Remotely-based Library service users - principally comprising students, but also other types of user, such as post-graduate researchers, PhD students and staff members - will typically rely on personal computer equipment and network infrastructure. ‘Internet Control’ refers to measures imposed on Internet infrastructure for restriction/ blocking, f...

The Libraries Connected ‘Library Service Recovery Toolkit’ is the output of consultation between this Library organisation (formerly the Society of Chief Librarians, SCL) and UK government agencies such as Public Health England (PHE) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The recovery toolkit is cited in the UK Government document for managemen...

In winter 2019/20 the University of Liverpool (UoL) School of Psychology delivered a series of online seminars within a Cyberpsychology module to explore “...psychological and societal impact of computers, digital technology and virtual environments.” The module duration was 12 weeks with online seminars delivered via Microsoft Teams and the Blackb...

The current Covid-19 pandemic at the time of writing this directory has resulted in widescale disruption to routine patterns for work, business and leisure, with significant impact on employment, education and training.The medium of the Internet has been used during the pandemic to compensate for a lack of physical access via online communications,...

Over the course of 2019-20, it became apparent that ISC would require updated infrastructure to ensure proper digitisation, indexing and integration with contemporary publishing platforms and standards (such as OAI-PMH metadata). ISC previously lacked integration with metadata standards or indexing with major database systems, resulting in less exp...

ISC has been in existence since the early 1990s and had previously arisen from earlier publications/ zines such as AIR (Alternative Information Record) and Peace News. During 2018 to 2019 all early back issues of ISC and AIR were obtained and scanned, then provided via the ISC Web site Table of Contents page http://libr.org/isc/table-of-contents-cu...

The current UK Higher Education climate is a fees-based system, with tuition fees of up to £9,250 pa (for UK/EU nationals) chargeable by universities in England and Wales, with interest-bearing loans repayable over 30 years. Additionally, student maintenance is principally funded using a means-tested loan component (both components attract interest...

The expansion of online information and educational resources has offered widening access for participation in developing regions. Internet access for developing regions is now characterised by ongoing growth in connectivity and widescale adoption of mobile devices such as smartphones. Poushter (2016, p.5) comments that "...smartphone ownership rat...

Recent new UK Government regulations for Web accessibility (UK Government, 2019) includes a requirement for implementation of accessibility standards (WCAG 2/ Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, AA level) for publicly funded organisations. This regulatory requirement confirms a long-standing onus on public organisations for accessibility of digit...

The expansion of the Internet and World Wide Web has seen the development of repository platforms for storage, preservation and dissemination of scholarly and wider textual resources, including multimedia, recordings and artistic works. Key platforms for these purposes include Project Guttenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) established in 1971, the...

The expansion of the Internet and World Wide Web has seen the development of repository platforms for storage, preservation and dissemination of scholarly and wider textual resources, including multimedia, recordings and artistic works. Key platforms for these purposes include Project Guttenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) established in 1971, the...

Over recent years I have used the WordPress application to manage a number of Web sites. Previously this process would have involved handcrafted HTML design and development, comprising activities such as managing diverse, separate Web applications and configuration of complex scripts, often requiring high-end IT skills, programming or server manage...

It can be seen that a growing narrative or advocacy surrounding literacies or competencies has developed over recent years (Jones and Flannigan, 2006, p.6). It may be useful to outline a comparison of some key ‘literacies’ which have emerged, such as ‘Digital Literacy’ - which seeks to define a pluralistic or broad range of learning strategies in r...

The ‘Progressive Library Organizations Update, 2013–2017’ by Al Kagan outlines the current status of Library and Information groups, journals and related bodies in the arena of progressive or radical libraries, this is an addendum to Kagan’s book ‘Progressive Library Organizations: A Worldwide History’. The update includes coverage of the Swedish ‘...

This Question Time episode features a previous contributor to ISC, Anneliese Dodds, Labour MP, Shadow Treasury Minster and former MEP. The episode was presented by David Dimbleby in Worthing. The panel included Conservative MP Anna Soubry MP, Daily Mail and Sunday Times columnist and former editor of the Sunday Telegraph, Dominic Lawson, Professor...

The implementation of ‘E-Learning’ as a strategic imperative can be observed in the context of UK government advocacy for digital literacy, reflecting a demand-led role for Higher Education and emergent lifelong or flexible learning for an increasingly dynamic employment market (Kruss and Petersen, 2016). Advocacy within the UK to implement technol...

The NMC organisation (New Media Centres), an independent research body has produced a number of reports under its ‘Horizon Project’ in collaboration with EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI), researching “trends, challenges, and technology developments likely to have an impact on teaching, learning” across educational sectors, including the Higher Ed...

Talks are on-going regarding the planned closure of libraries in the City of Liverpool, UK, following the plans of Liverpool Town Hall to transfer libraries to volunteer groups. These measures reflect saving by Liverpool City Council after 11 libraries were threatened with closure in 2014. In Spring 2015, seven libraries earmarked for closure were...

I recently had the occasion to be required to request personal data held on a family member from a Public Sector organisation. I had never before used the services of the Office of the Information Commissioner (UK), however, this route presented itself as a means to obtain the personal data being held on the family member mentioned. One of the init...

It is late summer 2015 and the UK Labour Party is currently experiencing a leadership election, the candidates include two former Labour ministerial office holders in the previous Labour administrations(s) 1997- 2010: Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham. Another contender, Liz Kendall is a relatively new MP, serving since 2010. Yet another contender, Je...

In my various Library and IT related roles over the years I have encountered situations where students or other clients I have worked with found it difficult to access the WWW or other Internet services such as email, sometimes due to their home ISP having network configuration issues such as a workplace firewall, or most often, due to being curren...

Recent years have seen a proliferation in ‘smart phone’ and ebook reader devices, such as the iLiad, Nook and Sony Reader. Most recently the Amazon Kindle has taken a leading share in the individual user E-Book market (coupled with the launch of the Kindle online book store on Amazon to purchase e-books in the proprietary Kindle format). Parallel t...

The origin of librarianship is closely entwined with that of public libraries. In the UK, the history of public libraries began in the late 15th Century with early clerical libraries made accessible for public use, an example of these libraries included the Kalendaries library of Bristol (Storer, 1814), opened in 1464: “By far the most interesting...

Recent years have seen the proliferation of terminology and jargon to describe the use of computer-based technology to facilitate learning and teaching. For some commentators writing from a critical pedagogic perspective such as Preston and Cuthell (2012) or Kress and Pachler (2007), the question is asked if E-Learning is no more than jargon descri...

In a dramatic move following months of community action by local residents, trades unions and library activists, the planned closure of 11 public libraries within the city of Liverpool (UK) has been averted. A recent campaign to save the libraries included rallies held across the city, many public protests and calls of support from a wide range of...

In an article I wrote some years back, ‘Critical Perspectives in E-Learning’, I provided a critical commentary on E-Learning in the context of UK government advocacy for digital literacy, a demand-led role for Higher Education and emergent lifelong or flexible learning for an increasingly dynamic employment market: “In recent years, the post-statut...

During approximately 2005-2012 I embarked on a PhD project/ thesis, comprising research into the use of Web-based learning technologies at a Higher Education Institute (HEI) in North Wales (The North East Wales Institute of Higher Education, NEWI) later knows as Glyndŵr University. This project became focused around the Grounded Theory methodology...

In recent years, the phrase 'Food Bank' has become prolific across UK media via newspaper, television and radio; these facilities supposedly represent a charitable form of food provision for citizens struggling in adverse economic conditions. The Food bank phenomenon has its origins in the soup kitchens of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century (Bur...

Since around the early 2000s we have seen the widespread adoption of E-Learning technologies, initially within the Higher Education sector, and now also prolific within the Further Education and Statutory Schools sectors. E-Learning technologies, comprised for the most part by Web based platforms, delivering a combination of static document-type in...

As part of its "Big Society" agenda (intended to displace state-run services by community-run enterprises and voluntary work), the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government launched its "Free Schools" programme (via the Education Act 2011 and "New Schools Network”).

Noam Chomsky is both one of the most eminent and recognisable figures in the world of academia and popular social commentary, spanning fields including philosophy, linguistics, cognitive science, artificial intelligence and many allied areas of study; he is an emeritus Professor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a Fellow of Harvar...

Today in the UK a range of schemes exist to coerce the unemployed, and particularly young jobseekers into low paid, often retail work, this approach to managing unemployment began with the introduction of the New Deal by the New Labour government in 1998 and many similar schemes have followed in recent years under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat...

The advent of the 2008 global Recession and an ongoing austerity agenda following the UK Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition Government agreement of 2010 has brought dramatic and sweeping changes to the landscape of services for young people in the UK. The political context of austerity has been accompanied by devastating neoliberal style gover...

The Liverpool University and College Union (UCU) branch of University of Liverpool have produced a charter seeking to hold the University of Liverpool to the highest academic standards for University research and to uphold the values of academic freedom essential for objective and rigorous academic practice. The UCU Liverpool branch have responded...

Libraries have been under severe attack under recent political administrations in the UK, many hundreds of smaller Public and larger Civic Libraries have closed since the advent of the New Labour administration in 1997 and subsequent Conservative - Liberal Democrat Coalition of 2010. Libraries not only provide a location for accessing printed books...

In this paper I would like to describe the kind of statutory school education I received up to the age of around 16. I attended a “County Primary” during early years and then a Comprehensive Secondary School (post 11) in North Wales, UK, both these schools were Local Education Authority controlled, although the first school I attended had historic...

This paper is based on a flyer developed for the University and College Union, University of Liverpool branch during 2013. The Finch Report “Accessibility, sustainability, excellence: how to expand access to research publications”, 2012) comprises outcomes of the UK Coalition government-sponsored Working Group chaired by Dame Janet Finch tasked wit...

Andrew McGettigan has been invited by the University and College Union (UCU) branch at University of Liverpool to speak on several occasions; the themes McGettigan addresses concur with debates within UCU and across the Higher Education Sector on trends reflecting challenges to academic freedom and University governance. Recent proposed changes to...

Developing a Grounded Theory of Blended Learning in a Part Time Low Contact Participant Group, PhD related presentation, October 2013.

This paper explores one of the most damaging and brutal attacks on our meritocratic infrastructure in the UK, representing the reversal of decades of educational progress and reform, namely the rise of the de-regulated Academies schools network and forced Academisation of well performing state schools.

Recent years have seen a proliferation in ‘smart phone’ and ebook reader devices, such as the iLiad, Nook and Sony Reader. Most recently the Amazon Kindle has taken a leading share in the individual user E-Book market (coupled with the launch of the Kindle online book store on Amazon to purchase e-books in the proprietary Kindle format). Parallel t...

The UK experienced a new Westminster Government in May 2010, including the Conservative Party and a junior coalition partner, the Liberal Democrat (LibDem) Party. These parties were elected on a platform to address the UK financial deficit (of around £180 billion), with varying policies on domestic and overseas issues, including the Conservative Bi...

This article examines the broad scope of systemised learning (e-learning) in post-statutory education. Issues for discussion include the origins and forms of learning systems, including technical and educational concepts and approaches, such as distributed and collaborative learning. The VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) is defined as the prevalen...

On the first general point about the library being superseded by the Internet, I think the 'definition' of library is central to this question, a library is universally regarded as a collection or place where books are present, however modern information usage practices have also expanded beyond the formalized, establishment-derived medium of the b...

This article examines the broad scope of systemised learning (e-learning) in post-statutory education. Issues for discussion include the origins and forms of learning systems, including technical and educational concepts and approaches, such as distributed and collaborative learning. The VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) is defined as the prevalen...

Recent years have witnessed the rapid growth of the World Wide Web as the most popular form of technology used on the Internet – in the areas of education, leisure and commercial activity. While it is generally accepted that the popular web browser application has broken down the barriers of technical complexity seen in early Internet technologies,...

This talk was part of the International Development seminar series at Manchester University and discussed the changing ways in which information and communication technologies have been viewed within dominant paradigms of socio-economic development. The seminar described pervasive socio-economic models from an historical perspective, including stru...

In recent years, the post-statutory UK education sectors have seen dramatic change in policy and focus, largely driven by the education policies of the New Labour government elected in 1997. This government's vision for education has cited a combination of widening access to post-statutory education and training and use of emerging technologies to...

This book provides an in-depth and yet accessible treatise on the implications of globalisation as represented by the impact of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on public services. Whilst the book does focus on the implications of the WTO agenda for libraries, there is much material of interest to other public sectors or to anyone interested in t...

This book provides an in-depth and yet accessible treatise on the implications of Globalisation as represented by the impact of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on public services. Whilst the book does focus on the implications of the WTO agenda for libraries, there is much material of interest to other public sectors or to anyone interested in t...

This event was a mini-conference held at Swansea University and was jointly organised by the Career Development Group Wales and the activist e-journal Information for Social Change. The conference was introduced by Neil Smyth (CDG Wales). Two speakers gave presentations at the event. Firstly, Ruth Rikowski (Visiting Lecturer at London South Bank Un...

This poetry anthology is ‘narrated by a twenty something man still trying to come to terms with the death of his mother to leukaemia when he was 6 years old’. Profits from the book are also donated to a leukaemia charity. The book contains around forty poems, split into three sections entitled ‘The Change’, ‘The Pause’ and ‘The Warmth’. The first p...

The technique developed by Strauss and Corbin follows these same grounded principles as Glaser but applies a greater degree of evaluative method to the development of categories, with a more complex and subjective approach in the discovery of data, for example, Straus’ axial coding suggests that categories should be developed under headings such as...

This event was organised by UNESCO Wales and included a series of presentations on journalistic freedom and its link to poverty in the developing world. The event was introduced by Professor Michael Scott, Principal of the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education and chair of UNESCO Wales. The first speaker was Nadira Tudor, a broadcaster and...

Watchdog Brands Profits on PFI Scheme 'Unacceptable' (Nicolas Timmings). This article reveals how Britain's biggest investors in the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) have been described by the parliamentary spending watchdog as 'the unacceptable face of capitalism', including companies such as John Laing, Serco and 3i who have been accused of abusi...

‘Contestability’ : buzzword that could open academy’s doors to private interest. Overview of an article in the Times Higher Education Supplement, April 28th 2006 citing Glenn Rikowski, senior lecturer in Education Studies, Northampton University. By Paul Catherall. This article, by Nic Parton, outlines the emergence of ‘contestability’ in education...

This book was published as a response to the events surrounding the World Trade Organisation’s 3rd Ministerial Conference in Seattle November 1999, when an estimated 40,000 individuals protested against the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO).

In recent years, the Information Sector has witnessed significant change, most visibly in the form of digitisation and the growing prevalence of Information Technology. There is a constant challenge to maintain awareness of current developments, not only in terms of Information Technology, but also in areas such as Copyright, Accessibility and Free...

This book provides a comprehensive overview of e-learning (online learning) systems in the context of system delivery for Higher Education Information Services. The book considers practical issues in choosing a virtual learning environment and discusses a range of issues in implementing, managing and maintaining the service for users. In particular...

Asked recently to write a short article on my own career experiences, I was a little perplexed, what interest could my career history be to the aspiring ranks of library and information professionals? Therein lies the answer, because whilst I possess a library and information qualification, and am chartered with CILIP, I am at times uncertain how f...

Recent years have seen a new impetus amongst academic institutions to embrace VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments) within existing academic structures and modes of course delivery. The JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) and other leading regulatory bodies in Further and Higher Education are encouraging the development of e-learning as an ad...

This Business Plan attempts to provide a structured schema for the situation and environmental analysis of the Buckley Public Library. The board objectives of the business plan are as follows: To clarify organisational purposes and objectives; To determine organisational objectives and priorities; To provide a framework for policy and decisions; To...

Investigation into the forms and application of resource description on the World Wide Web. Aims to evaluate major World Wide Web resource description models, and demonstrate their effectiveness as facilitators of resource classification and retrieval. Methodology for investigation comprises a literature search, using book sources, journal articles...

This proposal considers the advantages of replacing our existing Library Management System at Llanelwy University with a more recent and powerful system. The proposal is presented in three main sections: An assessment of developments in Library Management System features and capabilities since our present system was installed in 1988; An overview o...

Although a relatively recent innovation, the WWW is merely the latest network interface to appear on the internet. Over the past 30 years, network professionals have attempted to create more powerful and user-friendly networking interfaces and data transfer systems. In the evolution of the Internet, a relationship has emerged between increasing net...

The UK public library sector consists of almost 5000 libraries of varying sizes. These facilities provide many types of information for the general public, including the following: hard-copy and electronic material, academic and educational resources, official reports and statistics and material for the purposes of entertainment and culture. Accord...

Central to the life and works of Percy Bysshe Shelley were the momentous philosophical and political writings of the two centuries previous to his birth. The political and constitutional debate of Shelley's lifetime had its roots in the tradition of those earlier European philosophers and social theorists.During the late fifteenth and sixteenth cen...