Webwatch – Social Services Information Landscape

In today’s information rich world finding your way around can be daunting and you can easily become disoriented or lost. Here is quick guide.

The Learning Exchange is IRISS’s digital library of multimedia learning materials, audio and video, policy documents and research findings. Specialist organisations – for example, Shared Care Scotland and SCLD – are invited to contribute material to their own collections, which makes the Learning Exchange a great way for these organisations to publish and share material on the web. Link: lx.iriss.org.uk

Social Services Knowledge Scotland (SSKS) is a gateway based on the extensive resources of NHS Education for Scotland’s digital library, known as the The Knowledge Network (www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk ). These resources span everything from research reports to academic journals. Some materials are password protected (for commercial licensing reasons) by a system known as ATHENS, but NES will provide on request a password to anyone working in the social services in Scotland. SSKS harvests information most relevant to social services and a key feature is a series of portals aimed at different kinds of worker: drugs and alcohol, older people, early years, criminal justice and support workers. Link: www.ssks.org.uk

Casting the net wider, the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), based in England, provides practical guides, briefings and self-assessment tools, as well as Social Care TV – video resources for use in presentations and training – and Social Care Online, a database of research on social care. Link: www.scie.org.uk .

Nearer home, the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), the regulatory body for social services, promotes and supports development through its Workforce Solutions website. Link: http://workforcesolutions.sssc.uk.com/

Watch a guide to the social services information landscape: http://prezi.com/npqc5eu8xmme/copy-of-social-services-information-landscape/