Training needs analysis of healthcare library staff, undertaken for South Yorkshire Workforce Development Confederation

Urquhart, C., Durbin, J. & Spink, S. (2004). Training needs analysis of healthcare library staff, undertaken for South Yorkshire Workforce Development Confederation. Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth. Sponsorship: South Yorkshire WDC (NHS)

Reading Lydgate's Troy Book: patronage, politics, and history in Lancastrian England

This thesis, Reading Lydgate's Troy Book: Patronage, Politics and History in Lancastrian England, discusses the relationship between John Lydgate as a court poet to his patron Henry V. I contend that the Troy Book is explored as a vehicle to propagate the idea that the House of Lancaster is the legitimate successor to King Richard II in order to smooth over the usurpation of 1399. Paul Strohm's England's Empty Throne was a key influence to the approach of this thesis' topic. I examine that although Chaucer had a definitive impact on Lydgate's writing, Lydgate is able to manipulate this influence for his own ambitions. In order to enhance his own fame, Lydgate works to promote Chaucer's canon so that as Chaucer's successor, he will inherit more prestige. The Trojan war is seen in context with the Hundred Years War, and can be applied contextually to political events. Lydgate presents characters that are vulnerable to human failings, and their assorted, complicated relationships. Lydgate modernises the Troy Book to reflect and enhance his Lancastrian society, and the thesis gives a contextual view of Lydgate's writing of the Troy Book. Lydgate writes for a more varied target audience than his thirteenth-century source, Guido delle Colonne, and there is a deliberation on the female characters of the Troy Book which promulgates the theory that Lydgate takes a proactive and empathetic interest in women's roles in society. Furthermore Lydgate has never really been accepted as a humanist, and I look at Lydgate's work from a different angle; he is a self-germinating humanist. Lydgate revives antiquity to educate his fifteenth-century audience, and his ambition is to create a memorial for his patron in the vernacular, and enhance his own fame as a poet separate from Chaucer's shadow.

The determinants of business performance of estate agency in England and Wales

Purpose: This paper seeks to investigate the factors influencing the business performance of estate agency in England and Wales. Design/methodology/approach: The paper investigates the effect of housing market, company size and pricing policy on business performance in the estate agency sector in England and Wales. The analysis uses the survey data of Woolwich Cost of Moving Survey (a survey of transactions costs sponsored by the Woolwich/Barclays Bank) from 2003 to 2005 to test the hypothesis that the business performance of estate agency is affected by industry characteristics and firm factors. Findings: The empirical analysis indicates that the business performance of estate agency is subject to market environment volatility such as market uncertainty, housing market liquidity and house price changes. The firm factors such as firm size and the level of agency fee have no explanatory power in explaining business performance. The level of agency fee is positively associated with firm size, market environment and liquidity. Research limitations/implications: The research is limited to the data received and is based on a research project on transaction costs designed prior to this analysis. Originality/value: There is little other research that investigates the factors determining the business performance of estate agency, using consecutive data of three years across England and Wales. The findings are useful for practitioners and/or managers to allocate resources and adjust their business strategy to enhance business performance in the estate agency sector.

Towards a Normative Defence of Provocation in England and Ireland

This article compares, in the light of the House of Lords’ decision in R v Smith (Morgan James), the English and Irish approaches to the objective test in provocation. Though the law on this point has developed in radically different directions as between England and Ireland, both jurisdictions demonstrate a profound dissatisfaction with the objective test in its traditional formulation combined with a reluctance to dispense with it altogether. It is suggested that Lord Hoffmann’s approach in Morgan Smith, by drawing out the essentially normative function of the objective test, provides a useful way forward for the law on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Dales, long lands, and the medieval division of land in eastern England

The long, parallel fields of the marshlands between the Fens and the Humber estuary in eastern England, which are recorded on nineteenth-century maps, were the result of the division of the wetlands that occurred particularly during the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. Areas of common fen pasture were partitioned between tenants to provide land for grazing and arable. Similar division also took place on the coastal strip and in the peat fen for land for salt-making and cutting fuel. These long strips, known as dales, are compared to similar areas in open fields in parts of Yorkshire and Northamptonshire, which have been discussed elsewhere. It is argued that the field shape is the result of a type of division in eastern England in which considerable emphasis was placed on case of partitioning land equitably.

An archaeological approach to the development of the late medieval peasant house

Archaeological excavation has provided an alternative source of evidence for the development of the late medieval peasant house. It is argued that whilst there was a significant change in building techniques in the decades around 1200 with the adoption of ground-set timbers, the most important factor which led to the survival of houses was a fall in real wages during the thirteenth century. This encouraged peasants to repair existing buildings, rather than replace them with new ones. Alternative traditions of building are also investigated. Stone construction was adopted in a number of areas of England, but in spite of the durability of the material, few medieval peasant buildings of this type have survived in use because of the failure to use lime mortar. Decisions about whether to invest in a building’s renovation will depend on the capital initially expended upon it. This interpretation is considered against the data from the fifteenth century and found to conform satisfactorily. Its implications are considered for the period between 1200 and 1350. Data collected from archaeological excavations combined with the results of dendrochronology on a growing number of closely dated standing buildings suggest that there was a significant ‘cull’ of houses in the period after 1350 as new dwellings were constructed.

The Distribution and Adoption of the Byre-house (Longhouse) in Late Medieval Britain

It has long been recognized that the byre-house or longhouse, in which animals and humans lived in the same building and with direct contact, was a distinctive building plan. Earlier interpretations have seen it as a ubiquitous house type found throughout Britain, but gradually replaced by separate buildings for keeping animals and accommodating humans. More recent work has suggested that it was a regional variant of the common late medieval domestic plan. The use of this building type was restricted to parts of Wales, and northern and western areas of England. It is argued that the introduction of the byre-house occurs mainly in the thirteenth century as part of a wider trend to provide accommodation for livestock during the winter months. The byre-house was a one response to this need, and its adoption was not due to climatic or geographical factors. Instead, it is interpreted as reflecting localized cultural attitudes to the relationship between humans and animals.

Wine for Sale at Garraway's Coffee-House in Cornhill

A list of wines for sale "by the candle at Garraway's Coffee-house in Exchange Alley, Cornhill..." six pages in length. The list begins with four conditions of sale and then lists types of wines, lot numbers and how many dozen are available. The wines available are: Excellent Old Hock, Old Hock, Rich Hungarian White Wine, Hungarian White Wine, Curious French Claret, White Perfian Wine, and Curious Rich Perfian Red Wine. The broker listed on the final page is Peter Fearon.

Soil geochemical analyses as an indication of metal working at the excavation of a house in the Roman City at Silchester (UK)

Silchester is the site of a major late Iron Age and Roman town (Calleva Atrebatum), situated in northern Hampshire (England (UK)) and occupied between the late first century BC and the fifth or sixth century AD. Extensive evidence of the nature of the buildings and the plan of the town was obtained from excavations undertaken between 1890 and 1909. The purpose of this study was to use soil geochemical analyses to reinforce the archaeological evidence particularly with reference to potential metal working at the site. Soil analysis has been used previously to distinguish different functions or land use activity over a site and to aid identification and interpretation of settlement features (Entwistle et al., 2000). Samples were taken from two areas of the excavation on a 1-metre grid. Firstly from an area of some 500 square metres from contexts of late first/early second century AD date throughout the entirety of a large 'town house' (House 1) from which there was prima facie evidence of metalworking.

Brief and precarious lives: Infant mortality in contrasting sites from medieval and post-medieval England (AD 850-1859)

This study compares the infant mortality profiles of 128 infants from two urban and two rural cemetery sites in medieval England. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of urbanization and industrialization in terms of endogenous or exogenous causes of death. In order to undertake this analysis, two different methods of estimating gestational age from long bone lengths were used: a traditional regression method and a Bayesian method. The regression method tended to produce more marked peaks at 38 weeks, while the Bayesian method produced a broader range of ages and were more comparable with the expected "natural" mortality profiles. At all the sites, neonatal mortality (28-40 weeks) outweighed post-neonatal mortality (41-48 weeks) with rural Raunds Furnells in Northamptonshire, showing the highest number of neonatal deaths and post-medieval Spitalfields, London, showing a greater proportion of deaths due to exogenous or environmental factors. Of the four sites under study, Wharram Percy in Yorkshire showed the most convincing "natural" infant mortality profile, suggesting the inclusion of all births (i.e., stillbirths and unbaptised infants).

Effect of Information about benefits of biotechnology on consumer acceptance of genetically modified food; evidence from experimental auctions in the United States, England, and France

This study investigates the effect of information about potential benefits of biotechnology on consumer acceptance of genetically modified (GM) foods. Consumer willingness to accept compensation to consume a GM food was elicited using an incentive compatible auction mechanism in three US states (California, Florida, and Texas) and in two European countries (England and France). Results indicate that information on environmental benefits, health benefits and benefits to the third world significantly decreased the amount of money consumers demanded to consume GM food; however, the effect of information varied by type of information and location. Consistent with prior research, we find that initial attitudes toward biotechnology have a significant effect on how individuals responded to new information.