Food systems, the British Museum, and mental health: New Official Publications 14.09.21

University of Glasgow Library Blog

European Union

Policy Department, DG EXPO – European Parliament

EIGE’s indicators on intimate partner violence, rape and femicide: EU state of play. “This report analyses the current situation of data collection on intimate partner violence (IPV), rape and femicide in 30 different jurisdictions across all 27 EU Member States and the United Kingdom.” Recommendations to improve data quality, availablility and comparability of was also published.

The impact of disinformation campaigns about migrants and minority groups in the EU: In-depth analysis. “This analysis, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation (INGE), aims to explore the impact of disinformation activity originated or amplified from abroad targeting minorities in the EU over the years 2018-2021.”

United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021: Process, challenges and expectations. “In October 2019, the United Nations (UN) Secretary General called for a UN…

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ParlRulesData.org

is an online database of parliamentary rules, containing the formal rules of procedure for various parliaments over time. The ParlRules database currently covers the UK House of Commons (1811-2019) and the Irish Dáil (1922-2020).

Over the coming years, ParlRules will extend data gathering efforts to other legislative chambers in Europe.

UK Parliament website give more details generally on parliamentary procedure with links to the relevant committees and current standing orders.

Hannah Chandler, Official Papers Librarian, Bodleian Libraries

Festivals, Cephalopods, and SLAPPs : New Official Publications 30.08.21

University of Glasgow Library Blog

European Union

© European Union, 2021

Regulating targeted and behavioural advertising in digital services: How to ensure users’ informed consent. “The study addresses the regulation of targeted and behavioural advertising in the context of digital services. Marketing methods and technologies deployed in behavioural and target advertising are presented. The EU law on consent to the processing of personal data is analysed, in connection with advertising practices. Ways of improving the quality of consent are discussed as well as ways of restricting its scope as a legal basis for the processing of personal data.”

Mobility imaginaries: The social & ethical issues of connected and automated vehicles : narrative analysis and engagement with different actors. “This report summarises key findings and recommendations arising from narrative analysis of policy and industry proposals in the field of connected and automated vehicles, based on a hybrid methodology of ‘discourse analysis’ and a number of…

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Biometric Recognition, Afghanistan, and Baby Boxes : New Official Publications 16.08.21

University of Glasgow Library Blog

European Union

© European Union, 2021

Biometric Recognition and Behavioural Detection Assessing the ethical aspects of biometric recognition and behavioural detection techniques with a focus on their current and future use in public spaces: “This study … analyses the use of biometric techniques from an ethical and legal perspective. Biometric techniques raise a number of specific ethical issues, as an individual cannot easily change biometric features, and as these techniques tend to intrude into the human body and ultimately the human self. Further issues are more generally associated with large-scale surveillance, algorithmic decision making, or profiling. The study analyses different types of biometric techniques and draws conclusions for EU legislation.”

Prison and drugs in Europe: Current and future challenges. “This European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) Insights report provides a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge and latest developments in the field of drug use and prison…

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Pollinators, Music Streaming, and the Gaelic language: New Official Publications 21.07.21

University of Glasgow Library Blog

European Union

© European Union, 2021

Protecting pollinators in the EU: This briefing includes the background of pollinators in the EU, status and trends in pollinators, EU action in favour of pollinators, and policy assessment.

Report on the 2021 big data and economic forecasting workshop: “Modern economies produce massive datasets that need to be analysed using new modelling techniques like those from data science. The exploration of such huge and real-time amount of information generates new insights that are potentially useful for policymakers when designing policy interventions. The second edition of the Big Data and Economic Forecasting workshop (March 16-17, 2021) gathered together researchers, practitioners and policy-makers from diverse backgrounds, with the goal of discussing the latest applications of big data technologies to economics and finance. In this report, we summarize the works presented and the main conclusions of the workshop, highlighting the relevant state-of-the-art and the venues for…

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Net Zero Nation, Tackling Deepfakes, and Further and Higher Education in Scotland : New Official Publications 02.08.21

University of Glasgow Library Blog

Westminster & the UK Government

© Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2021. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

Covid-19 status certification “Covid-19 status certification has been proposed as a means of reducing the risk of transmitting the Covid-19 virus in a number of settings. This briefing explores the Government’s policy on certification. It also provides discussion on the scientific evidence and other issues associated with the use of certification.”

The relationship between church and state in the United Kingdom “A briefing paper on the relationship between church and state in the United Kingdom… The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has two established churches, the Anglican Church of England and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. In broad terms, “establishment” refers to a formal relationship between a church and the state it operates in.”

Investigation of Former Armed Forces Personnel Who Served in Northern Ireland

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League of Nations

The predecessor to the United Nations, the League of Nations was established in 1919, after World War I, under the Treaty of Versailles “to promote international cooperation and to achieve peace and security.” It was disbanded in 1940 due to its powerlessness to prevent conflict.

The National Library of Scotland have digitized a selection of League of Nations documents which are all freely available. Until recently relatively few documents at all had been digitised, so this is a welcome resource for researchers from many disciplines.  

Read more on the UK Official Papers Blog

The Government Information Landscape and Libraries. A new publication from IFLA

OfficialPapersUK

The Government Information Landscape and Librariesillustrates the challenges and complexities posed by government publishing systems and the need to maintain professional government information expertise in libraries to assist users. The report demonstrates this through a series of case studies from selected countries, regions, and institutions worldwide that provide examples of government publishing practices, depositories, access to information, government libraries, preservation, data, and digitization.

Jennie Grimshaw (British Library) and Hannah Chandler (Bodleian Libraries) have co-authored the chapter (with thanks to Fiona Liang, National Library of Scotland) Government Information and Official Publications in the United Kingdom.

The chapter examines the complex and dynamic nature of official publications in the United Kingdom and how publishing has changed since the 1990s. It also looks at how the legal deposit libraries are collaboratively working together to capture digital publications/websites of official bodies (looking at the work United Kingdom Web Archive) and making them…

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Connecting collections amid COVID-19

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the formation of the Central Office of Information (COI), the government’s one-stop-shop communications agency, prompting The National Archives (TNA), British Film Institute (BFI) and Imperial War Museums (IWM) to team up for an ambitious new project showcasing highlights from their shared government films collections. In this blog, Sarah Castagnetti (TNA, Visual Collections), Michelle Kirby (IWM Film Curator, Cold War/late 20th-century conflict) and Patrick Russell (BFI Senior Curator, Non-fiction) explain how this collaboration came about, how their respective COI collections complement each other, and how they believe these uniquely produced films are still well worth watching today.

Read more on the National Archives website

Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence, online advertising, and the future of Public Service Broadcasting: New Official Publications 21.06.21

*OECD Publication – Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence is available to registered readers of the National Library of Scotland, living in Scotland, via the OECDiLibrary.

University of Glasgow Library Blog

European Union

© European Union, 2021

Online advertising: the impact of targeted advertising on advertisers, market access and consumer choice. “In this research paper, we provide a comprehensive overview of online advertising markets and we analyse the challenges and opportunities concerning digital advertising. We review the degree to which existing and proposed legislation at EU level addresses the identified problems, and identify potential solutions, with reference to experience from EU Member States and third countries. We conclude with a synthesis and specific policy recommendations, drawing on stakeholder interviews.”

Towards gender equality in the cultural and creative sectors: Recommendations of the OMC (open method of coordination) working group of Member States’ experts. “All recommendations are based on practical experience and good practise case studies. They highlight the importance of political commitment to improving gender equality in the cultural and creative sectors (CCS).”

Coronavirus pandemic in the EU: Fundamental rights…

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COP26, the 0.7 Percent Aid Target, and UK Sexual Orientation: New Official Publications 07.06.21

University of Glasgow Library Blog

Westminster & the UK Government

© Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2021. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

The 0.7 percent aid target”The UN has a target for countries to spend 0.7 percent of their Gross National Income (GNI) on Official Development Assistance (ODA). In 2013, the UK achieved this target for the first time. Since 2015, the Government has also been under a statutory duty to meet it. However, citing the economic impact of the pandemic, the Government will spend 0.5 percent of GNI for ODA in 2021 as a “temporary measure.””

Policing in the UK “This briefing explains the key concepts underpinning the British model of policing. It introduces the key actors in UK policing. It provides a brief introduction to UK police forces and discusses their performance.”

Flags:the Union Flag and Flags of the United Kingdom “Flags, national and other, have an…

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Gender equality, low car emmissions, and recorded crime : New Official Publications 25.05.21

University of Glasgow Library Blog

European Union

© European Union, 2021

Vulnerable consumers. This briefing considers vulnerable consumers and their ability to find the best deals and benefit from the competitive market. It also covers EU law and policy, and the European Parliament view.

A comparative analysis of gender equality law in Europe 2020. “This report provides a general overview of the ways in which EU gender equality law has been implemented in the domestic laws of the 27 Member States of the European Union, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (the EEA countries), the United Kingdom and five candidate countries (Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey).”

Eurostatistics: Data for short-term economic analysis “shows the evolution of the economic activity in the European Union, euro area and Member States. This monthly review gives a synthetic picture of the macroeconomic situation in the recent past. It is based on Principal European Economic…

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Queen’s Speech 2021, the Future of Europe, and Investing in Destabilisation : New Official Publications 10.05.21

University of Glasgow Library Blog

Westminster & the UK Government

© Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2021. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

Queen’s Speech 2021 “This Library briefing identifies issues and bills that may appear in the Queen’s Speech on 11 May 2021 or require legislation in the forthcoming parliamentary session.”

Connected and autonomous road vehicles “This paper considers some of the key implications of ‘connected and autonomous vehicles’ (CAVs), often referred to as self-driving cars, for the UK road transport sector. It includes discussion of the potential benefits of road-based CAVs; barriers to adoption; and the evolving regulatory framework.”

Coronavirus: Returning to work “This paper provides an overview of the rules surrounding COVID-19 and returning to work. It discusses the lockdown legislation, employer’s health and safety obligations and when workers can refuse to go to work.”

Scottish Parliament & Government

Contains information licenced under the Scottish Parliament Copyright Licence

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Blockchain, football, and Covid-19 : New Official Publications 26.04.21

University of Glasgow Library Blog

European Union

© European Union, 2021

Digital Cultural Diversity “Digital technologies have revolutionised every aspect of our lives, and culture is no exception. Technology has a huge potential to make culture accessible to all, by democratising both consumption and involvement in cultural creation. However, technology depends on equipment and infrastructure, which does not necessarily facilitate the diversity of content available and discoverable online. Other factors, such as language, skills or geographical location can also make it harder to discover online cultural content reflecting cultural diversity.”

Study on ‘Solar Fuels Research & Invest: Defining and developing the global solar fuel value chain: techno-economic analysis and pathways for sustainable pathways for sustainable implementation’: “This European Commission funded study provides a techno-economic analysis of global solar fuel value chains and pathways for sustainable implementation.”

Advanced technologies for industry: AT (Advanced Technologies) watch : technology focus on blockchain. “As part of a series…

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Merging the past with the present: web archiving and the Scottish Parliament website

This blog post has been provided by National Records of Scotland (NRS) and reflects the partnership working between NRS and the Scottish Parliament on web archiving and the release of the Scottish Parliament’s new website.

The Scottish Parliament (SP) launched its new corporate website two weeks ago. One of the challenges they faced was – what do we do with the old site and web content going back to 1999, when the Parliament came into being.

The historical value of this older content was not in question, but the SP team sought options to safely remove this older content from their new site, so long as it remained available elsewhere. To do so, SP collaborated with NRS’s Web Continuity Service to create a solution which incorporated live and archived web content. Read on to learn how we were able to put theory into practice.

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