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This paper will provide an introduction to the argument that there is considerable evidence of poor thinking within the construction industry. The failure to understand the circumstances that are facing industry players will prevent clients, contractors and suppliers from achieving their own objectives. The current problems are further compounded by the advice espoused by the government‐sponsored industry reports advocating generic approaches. In response to these problems the paper will provide practitioners with a theoretical framework for understanding: the structure of the industry and its constituent supply chains; the attributes of buyer and supplier power; the appropriateness of certain relationships according to the firm's power position within the construction supply chain; and, the circumstances where the recent industry initiatives and an integrated supply chain approach may be implemented with success.

The paper presents results from the implementation and evaluation of a EU/WHO multi‐centre programme on the promotion of children's psychosocial development through primary health care services. The aims of the study were to develop methods for use by primary health care workers in their contact with families on issues pertaining to healthy psychosocial development in the first two years of life, to develop a training programme for primary health care workers to implement in their contact with the families, to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme and to promote the implementation of the developed intervention techniques through the network of primary health care services.

This chapter uses a dataset of heights calculated from the femurs of skeletal remains to explore the development of stature in England across the last two millennia. We find that heights increased during the Roman period and then steadily fell during the “Dark Ages” in the early medieval period. At the turn of the first millennium, heights grew rapidly, but after 1200 they started to decline coinciding with the agricultural depression, the Great Famine, and the Black Death. Then they recovered to reach a plateau which they maintained for almost 300 years, before falling on the eve of industrialization. The data show that average heights in England in the early nineteenth century were comparable to those in Roman times, and that average heights reported between 1400 and 1700 were similar to those of the twentieth century. This chapter also discusses the association of heights across time with some potential determinants and correlates (real wages, inequality, food supply, climate change, and expectation of life), showing that in the long run heights change with these variables, and that in certain periods, notably the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the associations are observable over the shorter run as well. We also examine potential biases surrounding the use of skeletal remains.

This paper is based on research being undertaken by the Centre for Strategic Procurement Management (funded by BAA) considering best practice in construction procurement. The primary aim of the study is to establish how supply chains in construction may be managed more efficiently and effectively. This involves the amalgamation of conventional views on industry problems and initiatives for improvement, the theoretical and empirical consideration of supply chain optimisation, the identification of ‘best practices’ in the procurement process, and the development of suitable change management strategies to allow organizations to move towards better practice. This paper discusses the limitations behind the current thinking for reforming the UK construction industry, and how Latham's ‘team’ approach will not succeed where clients adopt a ‘traditional’ approach to procuring their construction needs. There is a need to differentiate between ‘process’ and ‘commodity’ spend in construction. It is argued that the benefits of a collaborative approach can only be realized by those clients managing ‘fit‐for‐purpose’ supply relationships to satisfy their regular process requirements. An approach known as relational competence analysis is suggested as a methodology for helping clients to determine what is ‘fit for their purpose.

A major development in academic libraries in the last decade has been recognition of the need to support research data management (RDM). The purpose of this paper is to capture how library research data services (RDS) have developed and to assess the impact of this on the nature of academic libraries.

Questionnaire responses from libraries in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK and USA from 2018 are compared to a previous data set from 2014.

The evidence supports a picture of the spread of RDS, especially advisory ones. However, future ambitions do not seem to have seen much evolution. There is limited evidence of organisational change and skills shortages remain. Most service development can be explained as the extension of traditional library services to research data. Yet there remains the potential for transformational impacts, when combined with the demands implied by other new services such as around text and data mining, bibliometrics and artificial intelligence. A revised maturity model is presented that summarises typical stages of development of services, structures and skills.

The research models show how RDS are developing. It also reflects on the extent to which RDM represents a transformation of the role of academic libraries.

Practitioners working in the RDM arena can benchmark their current practices and future plans against wider patterns.

The study offers a clear picture of the evolution of research data services internationally and proposes a maturity model to capture typical stages of development. It contributes to the wider discussion of how the nature of academic libraries are changing.

This study provides a framework for comparing construction management contracts in the UK and the US construction practices. It starts by reviewing previous studies on UK and US contracting practices and explores the main delivery methods, inform of comparison with construction management contracting systems. It examines construction management contracting types, processes and procedures and interaction between the construction manager and other stakeholders. This study was based on a literature review and the result shows the similarities and differences between the American and British CM systems within each practice and between both practices; the distribution of responsibilities and risks both in pre‐construction and during the construction stages; and allocation of responsibility in both practices.

To discover how UK academic libraries sought to support student mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The data was from a 24-question survey of UK universities distributed in May 2021 which received 56 responses from 47 different Higher Education Institution libraries. Descriptive statistics are combined with thematic analysis of open text comments.

Libraries were undertaking a wide range of activities, targeted chiefly at students and broadcast via Twitter, other social media and library web sites. The problem being addressed was the stresses of studying in the context of the pivot online and isolation caused by social distancing. Digital well-being seemed also to be an increased concern. COVID-19 had proved the value of digital support but created a number of challenges such as loss of physical space, communication barriers and lack of extra resource. The role had a somewhat informal place in the organisation. Overall library activities were aligned but not strongly integrated into institutional efforts.

This was a study in one specific national context with a relatively limited number of total responses. There could be a non-response bias where respondents were doing more than was typical in the sector.

The paper is one of the first papers to gather sector wide data and move beyond case studies of what individual libraries due to support to mental health and well-being. It also offers a case study of the impacts of COVID-19 on management pointing to its catalysing the digital shift, creating constraints on resources and communication and prompting the emergence of staff well-being as a consideration in management decision making.