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Background: E-cigarettes are a popular smoking-cessation tool. Although less harmful than tobacco, use of e-cigarettes by non-smokers should be prevented. There is concern about the use of e-cigarettes by young people and that e-cigarettes may renormalise smoking. In May 2016, Tobacco Products Directive regulations aimed to reduce e-cigarettes’ appeal to young people. Aims: To examine the effects of the Tobacco Products Directive regulations on young people’s use of e-cigarettes, and the role of e-cigarettes in renormalising smoking. Design: A mixed-method natural experimental evaluation combining secondary analyses of survey data, with process evaluation, including interviews with young people, policy stakeholders, retailers and trading standards observers, and observations of retail settings. Settings: Wales, Scotland and England. Participants: Survey participants were aged 13–15 years, living in England, Scotland or Wales and participated in routinely conducted surveys from 1998 to 2019. Process evaluation participants included 14- to 15-year-olds in England, Scotland and Wales, policy stakeholders, trading standards offices and retailers. Intervention: Regulation of e-cigarettes, including bans on cross-border advertising, health warnings and restrictions on product strength. Comparison group: Interrupted time series design, with baseline trends as the comparator. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was ever e-cigarette use. Secondary outcomes included regular use, ever and regular smoking, smoking attitudes, alcohol and cannabis use. Data capture and analysis: Our primary statistical analysis used data from Wales, including 91,687 young people from the 2013–19 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children and School Health Research Network surveys. In Scotland, we used the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey and in England we used the Smoking Drinking and Drug Use surveys. The process evaluation included interviews with 73 young people in 2017 and 148 young people in 2018, 12 policy stakeholders, 13 trading standards officers and 27 retailers. We observed 30 retail premises before and after implementation. Data were integrated using the Medical Research Council’s process evaluation framework. Results: Ever smoking continued to decline alongside the emergence of e-cigarettes, with a slight slowing in decline for regular use. Tobacco Products Directive regulations were described by stakeholders as well implemented, and observations indicated good compliance. Young people described e-cigarettes as a fad and indicated limited interaction with the components of the Tobacco Products Directive regulations. In primary statistical analyses in Wales [i.e. short (to 2017) and long term (to 2019)], growth in ever use of e-cigarettes prior to Tobacco Products Directive regulations did not continue after implementation. Change in trend was significant in long-term analysis, although of similar magnitude at both time points (odds ratio 0.96). Data from England and Scotland exhibited a similar pattern. Smoking followed the opposite pattern, declining prior to the Tobacco Products Directive regulations, but plateauing as growth in e-cigarette use stalled. Limitations: Alternative causal explanations for changes cannot be ruled out because of the observational design. Conclusions: Young people’s ever and regular use of e-cigarettes appears to have peaked around the time of the Tobacco Products Directive regulations and may be declining. Although caution is needed in causal attributions, findings are consistent with an effect of regulations. Our analysis provides little evidence that e-cigarettes renormalise smoking. More recent data indicate that declines in smoking are plateauing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the mitigating strategies used in North American petitions to King George III in order to minimize the face threatening potential inherent in the colonists' requests for redress of their grievances. Drawing together models from speech-act, politeness and relational theories, the study aims at establishing the complex facework dynamics deriving from a clash of reality paradigms between the inhabitants of the colonies and the British government. Results reveal an ambiguous attitude on the part of petitioners who, while striving for reconciliation, venture into face attacks which ultimately reveal their contrasting views on the issue of the American dependence on Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the history of the special acts of worship that were widely observe by the Anglo-Jewry community in Great Britain in 1700-1970. The acts were for the same purpose as the acts ordered by the Church of England. Other topics include the attitudes of the British Jewry leaders to the wider British community and its institutions and the Jewish communities worldwide, and the histories of British religion and international Jewry.

Librarians support research in a wide variety of ways. However, librarians may not always receive recognition for the valuable contributions they make to the research life cycle or research environments. In higher education institutions (HEIs), librarians face competition from other professional support services in addition to external organizations and suppliers. This article provides an analysis of submissions made by HEIs to the UK's Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2014 and demonstrates that the work of librarians is rarely acknowledged in substantive ways, particularly in STEM disciplines. It provides an overview of the multiple ways in which librarians contribute to research environments as well as how they can practically contribute to the REF 2021 submission process and other research assessment processes. Librarians have developed a wide range of responsive and innovative support services over the last decade and REF 2021 is demonstrated to be an opportunity for librarians to gain recognition for the important role they play in UK HEIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the performance materials collection in available in British music libraries. Vocal scores; Orchestral sets; Lending and borrowing procedures.

The article presents updates on building projects in health sciences libraries as of July 2014. These include projects at Al Maktoum Medical Library of Mohammed Bin Rashid at Academic Medical Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Regional Library and Information Service at Dr. Steevens' Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, and Denmark Hill Campus Libraries at King's College London in Waterloo, London, England.

This article is about using archived oral histories in research. It advocates greater exploration of oral history archives in the UK in light of burgeoning research into the history of post-war society and the social sciences. Drawing on the author's experience of utilising interviews from the Millennium Memory Bank (MMB), it offers a critical reflection on the process of using this particular archive from the perspective of a social historian. Although the challenges of working with the MMB are noted, its unprecedented scale, and incorporation of the 'life history' method, demonstrate its value as a source for historical enquiry. The author highlights the importance of summaries and supporting literature attached to interviews to assist with accessibility and contextualisation, envisioning the archive as an ongoing process, whereby original and subsequent researchers ensure its legacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring the use, outcomes and value of the library's role in scholarly reading helps demonstrate the value library collections bring to scholarship. The Scholarly Reading and the Value of Library Resources project, funded by JISC Collections, measured the value and outcomes to academic staff members from access to scholarly publications. Six higher education institutions in the UK participated in the 2011 survey of scholarly reading. Over 2,000 academic staff members responded to the survey, which asked questions about reading of scholarly articles, books and other materials. Respondents read from a variety of materials, an average of 22 articles, seven books and ten other publications monthly, for an average of 39 scholarly readings per month. Readings from the library are more likely to be for research or teaching and the libraries' e-journal collections are the main source for article readings. Additional reading patterns and outcomes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to reflect on the origins and meanings of names describing investment practices that integrate a consideration of environmental, social and corporate governance issues in the academic literature. A review of 190 academic papers spanning the period from 1975 to mid-2009 was conducted. This exploratory study evaluated the associations and disassociations of the primary name assigned to this genre of investment with variables grouped into five domains, namely Primary Ethical Position, Investment Strategy, Publication Date, Regions Covered and Periodical Type. The study indicated that papers coded as expressing a deontological ethical position were more frequently associated with the name Ethical Investment, whereas those with an ambiguous ethical position were less frequently associated with Ethical Investment. Three investment strategies (positive screening, best-in-class and cause-based investing) were unusually associated with the primary name Responsible Investment. A strong preference for the name Ethical Investment was noted in the United Kingdom, and contrasted starkly with an apparent aversion for this name in the United States. The name Ethical Investment is significantly more frequently used in journals dealing with ethics, business ethics and philosophy than in finance, economic and investment journals. Finally, the study yielded some weak hints that the name Responsible Investment might perhaps be linked to an egoist ethical position. On the basis of this, and because these have already been substantively linked through the Principles for Responsible Investment in the popular discourse, we follow the heuristic tradition set by Sparkes (Business Ethics Eur Rev 10:194-201, ), and propose that Responsible Investment be defined as 'Investment practices that integrate a consideration of ESG issues with the primary purpose of delivering higher-risk-adjusted financial returns'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Companies in Victorian Britain operated in a laissez-faire legal environment from the perspective of outside investors, implying that such investors were not protected by the legal system. This article seeks to identify the alternative mechanisms that outside shareholders used to protect themselves by examining the dividend policy and governance of over 800 publicly traded companies at the beginning of the 1880s. We assess the importance of these mechanisms by estimating their impact on Tobin's Q. Our evidence suggests that dividends and well-structured and incentivized boards of directors may have played a role in protecting the interests of outside investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As British planning education celebrates its centenary, there remain unresolved questions about its distinct disciplinary identity. This paper argues that although planning has evolved into an academic discipline in institutional terms, its intellectual underpinning has remained ill-defined. Periodic changes to planning education have neglected the epistemic aspects of the discipline and the clarification of its distinct identity. Based on a critical review of the evolution of the discipline, structured under five distinct phases, the paper concludes that ambiguity about the nature of planning knowledge may lead to the weakening of its position as a distinct academic discipline. Three key areas are identified as the focus for future debate: space as the discipline's substantive object of enquiry, the nature of integrative knowledge, and the interface between knowledge and action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Britain's House of Commons and House of Lords Libraries have a lengthy history beginning with small collections of books and papers in the eighteenth century and evolving into today's large organizations offering a sophisticated range of services. The central theme of this article is the conservatism of these institutions over most of their history, with the creation of modern library facilities only beginning in 1945 for the Commons Library (a process that did not accelerate until some three decades later) and in 1976 for the Lords. By way of comparison I will discuss: the U.S. Library of Congress (founded in 1800); Japan's National Diet Library (created in the postwar reconstruction in 1948); and, to offer an example of a smaller country, Ireland's Oireachtas Library. In summarizing the history of the British parliamentary libraries, I have also tried to indicate some ways in which we might draw upon this historical experience to identify fruitful new future directions for libraries supporting legislatures throughout the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at the issues facing libraries as they seek to manage and communicate rights negotiated in an ever increasing number of licences for online resources. It addresses the work that JISC Collections and EDItEUR have been engaged in to develop machine-readable licence expressions of JISC Collections licences that are suitable for import into library systems. The article explores the potential benefits such work offers to the UK academic community, as well as the issues and challenges JISC Collections has faced in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is widely acknowledged that there is a global divide on health care and health research known as the 10/90 divide. Methods: A retrospective survey of articles published in the BMJ, Lancet, NEJM, Annals of Internal Medicine & JAMA in a calendar year to examine the contribution of the developing world to medical literature. We categorized countries into four regions: UK, USA, Other Euro-American countries (OEAC) and (RoW). OEAC were European countries other than the UK but including Australia, New Zealand and Canada. RoW comprised all other countries. Results: The average contribution of the RoW to the research literature in the five journals was 6.5%. In the two British journals 7.6% of the articles were from the RoW; in the three American journals 4.8% of articles were from RoW. The highest proportion of papers from the RoW was in the Lancet (12%). An analysis of the authorship of 151 articles from RoW showed that 104 (68.9%) involved authorship with developed countries in Europe or North America. There were 15 original papers in these journals with data from RoW but without any authors from RoW. Conclusions: There is a marked under-representation of countries in high-impact general medical journals. The ethical implications of this inequity and ways of reducing it are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents news briefs related to computer technology in Great Britain as of May 2002. Development of an application based on facial recognition technology by the National Crime Squad; Introduction of an intelligent solution to handle water managementby Schlumberger Oilfield Services; Launch of PowerManager forecasting software by EnvaPower.

Presents updates on library and information services in Great Britain as of May 2002. Information on the public library system; Contributions of library and information services in the policies designed to combat social exclusion; Discussion of the digitization of internationally important books and manuscripts.

Discusses the formation of English departments in colleges in Great Britain. Condition of the English grammar during the eighteenth century; Role of the Oxford and Cambridge universities in England in the formation; Difference between the study of English in Scotland and Ireland.

The article discusses the wages fund theory and popular influence of economists. Aside from discussions over technical aspects of the theory, economists as social scientists have always been concerned with public questions of their day. Although the wages fund is mainly of historical interest in economic theory, it has generally been supposed that it represented a subject on which professional economists made a contribution to public opinion of mid-nineteenth century Great Britain. Study of the views of great variety of individuals as presented in reports of a British Royal Commission in 1867-68 indicates that the discouraging conclusions of economists on the success or justice of trade-union action raise wages were not widely known. In the history of the development of economic theory it has been represented that this theoretical argument of the ranking economists was used by the general public to demonstrate the futility of strike action over wages. The author further discusses theory proposed by various economists and suggests that historians of economic thought have been wrong in ascribing to economists a leading influence on the popular opinion of mid-nineteenth century Great Britain in regard to trade unions and their efforts to raise wages.

The article explores the history and progress of moving image archives. According to the author, the moving picture archives are a recent phenomenon resulting from various technological innovations that existed during the 19th century. During the mid-1890s the movies came into being. Both William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, an Englishman who worked for U.S. inventor Thomas Edison, played a key role in the development of motion pictures and supported the validity and usefulness of the moving image archive. The first successful film archives were established after the U.S., Great Britain, France and Germany collaborated to form an International Federation of Film archives (FIAF).

Background: The release of internal documents now available in the Truth Tobacco Documents Library has offered important insights into the machinations of tobacco companies. These documents potentially offer additional insights into the nature of the alcohol industry, due to co-ownership and collaborative working across industries. This proof of concept study aims to build on the few examples of internal tobacco company documents being used to study alcohol industry activities, to identify the scope of information available on the UK alcohol industry.Methods: We identified the principal company names of the major national brewers, including predecessor company names, until the late 1990s, contemporaneous to the bulk of the tobacco documents. Using these names as initial search terms, we searched the Library to identify relevant material. Documents returned were then analysed for evidence of alcohol industry connections to the tobacco industry in the UK.Results: We found evidence of significant relationships between the two industries including previously unidentified data on co-ownership and cross industry shareholding; informal help-seeking between sectors; collaboration on issues of common interest; and cross industry ties via third party service providers, membership of common organisations and participation in shared events and platforms.Conclusions: These findings call for further research to analyse in greater depth the information identified here, and to explore alcohol industry activities and links with tobacco companies in other national contexts. This preliminary investigation suggests there is much valuable data available in the Truth Tobacco Documents Library that can serve to guide research on the alcohol industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kevin Kilburn reports on the discovery of a long-forgotten star atlas at Chatsworth House. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]