Embrace knowledge and information management
THE UK’s Housing Ombudsman has called for better Knowledge and Infor- mation Management practice to be adopted, describing it as the “closest thing to a silver bullet”. In one of a series of special reports pre- pared by the Ombudsman, On the record: Spotlight on Knowledge and Information Management, 21 recommendations are made to ensure good K&IM practice. The report looked at the Housing Ombudsman’s case- work and found that two thirds of upheld cases feature poor quality data or difficult to access information.
Ombudsman Richard Blakeway points out the real-world impact of poorly managed data and information was seen in the lives of tenants, saying: “The correlation between poor knowledge and information manage-
ment and delay, poor communication, financial uncertainty and poor complaints handling, and the human consequences of that, are evident throughout our case- work.”
The recommendations for landlords include calls to:
l Implement a Knowledge and Informa- tion Management Strategy
l train staff on the requirements of the Equality Act 2010
l review internal guidance around recording vulnerabilities
l develop organisational key data recording standard requirements.
Richard adds: “Successful knowledge and information management starts with an
understanding and appreciation of its ben- efits to both the landlord and its residents. This needs to be centrally led, with sen- ior leaders clear about the importance of knowledge and information management, and their standards and expectations. “For landlords, this can feel like another thing on an already impossible to-do list, but poor information management is such a strong and reoccurring theme across service areas that it is the closest thing the sector could get to a silver bullet. I urge the sector to digest the learning from this report and create a KIM strategy that stops these issues from occurring and fosters a more positive complaints culture.”
Read the full report at
https://bit.ly/3Xcyv8O. Former librarian’s art funds travel
A FORMER Librarian and infor mation manager, who celebrates her 102nd birthday in June, is putting one of her other talents to good use by fundraising for her a student travel fund.
The Joyce Spurr Art Travel Fund raises money for grants through sales of Joyce’s portrait and land- scape paintings. The grants are available to students at Sheffield Hallam Univers ity’s Department of Art and Design, the city where she lives and worked. A number of Joyce’s own paintings are in the city’s art collection. During her career Joyce spent
time as Deputy Head of Sheffield Libraries Commerce, Science and Technology and also worked as
Head of United Steel Companies Ltd., Information Manager. She has continued to maintain and interest in CILIP and the library profession. The travel fund was created in 2019, and Joyce told Sheffield Hal- lam University: “As an artist, one of the best things is seeing other artists learning and developing their craft. That’s why I wanted to start this fund – to give young people a chance to be inspired and develop their skills.”
There are number of similar grants and bursaries run by CILIP and its member networks (www.
cilip.org.uk/GrantsandBursaries),
and
anyone interested in supporting CILIP’s charitable work can find more details of how to do so at
www.cilip.org.uk/donate.
Steel Forging Works and the River Don from Effingham Street, South Yorkshire.
Artwork © Joyce Spurr. Photo: Sheffield Museums Free engineering resource packs for public libraries
A RESOURCE kit for budding young engineers is being offered for free to 10 library services. Each kit includes two copies of the book Engi- neers Making a Difference, by Dr Shini Somara, 12 hot-topic posters, a four-metre-long timeline wallchart and a teacher’s guide. The pack has been created to help widen access to engineering careers and has been supported by the Gatsby Foundation. Schools across the UK have already been given copies, and now the team that helped create it are offering a limited number to public libraries.
June 2023
The teacher’s guide offers a series of activities, which could be adapted to library settings – espe- cially those with maker spaces. The book itself is aimed at 12 to 15-year-olds, and looks at some of the impacts of engineering in the world, as well as highlighting a diverse range of inventors, technicians, scientists, tech entrepreneurs, and engineers.
If you’d like more information, please do get in touch via the contact form at https://engineers-mak-
ing-a-difference.com or by emailing engineers@imperi-
al.ac.uk.
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