The findings of the safeguarding report in Rochdale

I suspect you may have already read about how a number of teenage girls in Rochdale were abused, resulting in the men who perpetrated these crimes going to prison.

The subsequent report that these events prompted can be viewed and saved by clicking here.

I also heard an interview on Woman's Hour with one of the girls who was abused. Inevitably it's pretty upsetting stuff, but it does give some insights into how the abuse continued for so long. I'm not sure how long the link will work for (the BBC only leave their stuff on iplayer for so long) so my advice would be to listen to it as soon as possible. The interview is the first feature on the programme and can be heard here.

As always, let me know if you want more information on how to find reports online.

Welcome back.

Hello again. You're looking fabulous after a good break I see.

After a summer of swanning around the south of France with kings, knaves and Lana Del Ray I suppose it's about time I got back to work myself. Sorry the blogging has been quiet in the last few months. The genuine reason is that with many of you not around I decided to work on other projects for a while.

But I'll be sending out posts regularly again from this week onwards. Many of these will certainly mention DISCOVER. I want you to learn to love DISCOVER. Not just like it, but truly love it. Because the old library catalogue is no more and DISCOVER is so much better. I know that 'new and improved' often means 'new and about the same, but more expensive'. Well in this case I really do think DISCOVER has made searching for information easier.

If you haven't had a go yet then DISCOVER can be found here. You'll need to use your log in as it contains journals as well as books and everything else we have electronic access to.

If you're reading this you're probably a second or final year student. Which also means you'll be used to searching the databases one at a time. And that's where DISCOVER wins. Not just wins, but wins and gloats about it by singing "I AM THE CHAMPION" at unedifying volume. Because DISCOVER searches all the databases at the same time and that's even better than two weeks in France with Lana Del Ray.

Trust me. I should know.

New e-crime figures announced.

This is an interesting one.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) released a report this morning showing a big increase in electronic crime (or e-crime) in the UK. The most common type of e-crime involved some form of identity deception in purchasing goods.

One thing I learned from the report is that the UK has the biggest internet spend per-capita of any nation, so the potential for online fraud is huge.

The report isn't huge, but it's fact with good stats and you can find it here.

New research proposes link between the increase in suicide rates and the recession

Firstly, I want to acknowledge that suicide is quite a difficult subject to discuss. I know that many issues within your subject area are tough but that clearly isn't a reason for me to steer clear of them on Bedtimes and Deadlines. So when I heard this morning of new research looking at the link between increases in suicide rates and current unemployment/recession figures, I thought it worth sharing.

You can read The Guardian's account of the research, published in the British Medical Journal, by clicking here.

If you'd prefer to just head straight to the report then go here.

There are a few recommendations in there that seem quite reasonable; none more so than a call for support staff in job centres to be aware of customers showing worrying levels of depression. As always, if you'd like me to show you how to access mental health research then just ask.

The Riots: In Their Own Words

Tonight (August 13th) will see the first of a two part series of programmes being broadcast on BBC2 at 9pm covering last summer's UK riots. Tonight's show features the words of people who took part in the rioting (their words are voiced by actors) whereas next week will feature interviews with the police.

It promises to be an engaging and insightful account of what occurred. Have a look here for some trailers and further information on how the programmes came to be made.

The UK riots: one year on.

A year ago I blogged in the immediate aftermath of the UK riots by highlighting the 'broom army'. Slowly, more analysis emerged; sometimes biased , sometimes contradictory, always troubling. The one year anniversary of the rioting has provided another opportunity to reflect. It is a particularly interesting time to reflect on such upsetting events whilst in the midsts of what has (so far!) been a wildly successful London Olympics.

On this morning's Today programme there were two pieces on the 2011 riots.
One gave a voice to the rioters themselves, whereas the other interviewed Chief Constable, Ian Learmonth.

I've got more pieces I'd like to share with you on the analysis of the 2011 riots, but I'll spread them out over the next few weeks.

The library catalogue is dead; long live Discover.

First thing's first-nobody panic. OK?

Take deep breaths and put the kettle on if that'll help.

Ready?

Now. I've got some big news for you-the library catalogue is being replaced by a newer, better, simpler, smarter and sexier interface called Discover. It's all coming via one simplified search box, courtesy of EBSCO.

And it's really good.

If you've used any of EBSCO's databases before then the look of Discover won't phase you in the slightest. But the advantages are that you can search across books and journals via one search box.

If you're a returning first or second year I'll be demonstrating Discover to you in induction sessions when you return. I'm just mentioning it now so it's less of a shock come the new term and rest assured that although it's new it's also very easy to use - you'll be finding things within minutes! If you want to email me with any concerns or questions at this stage then feel free. I really don't mind.