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The purpose of this paper is to present asynchronous social search as a novel and intuitive approach to search for information in which people collaborate to find the information they are looking for.

A prototype was built to test the feasibility in a business environment. A case study was performed at an organisation with over 1,000 employees to evaluate the quality of asynchronous social search as a single point of access to information.

Based on the results, the authors conclude that asynchronous social search has great potential as a single point of access to organisational information. Key strengths include that the implementation requires no integration with the existing information technology infrastructure of organisations and participants were very satisfied with the results provided by the prototype.

This work demonstrates that asynchronous social search indeed provides a very good starting point for a single point of access to information, as integration with existing software systems is not necessary, and due to the lightweightness of the approach it also performs really well which, in turn, stimulates the technology’s acceptance by its end-users.

Following the development of a service that consisted of a “single point of contact” to coordinate end-of-life care (EoLC), including EoLC facilitators and an urgent response team, we aimed to explore whether the provision of coordinated EoLC would support patients being cared or dying in their preferred place and avoid unwanted hospital admissions.

Using a realist evaluation approach, the authors examined “what worked for whom, how, in what circumstances and why”. Multiple data were collected, including activity/performance indicators, observations of management meetings, documents, satisfaction survey and 30 interviews with service providers and users.

Advance care planning (ACP) increased through the first three years of the service (from 45% to 83%) and on average 74% of patients achieved preferred place of death. More than 70% of patients avoided an emergency or unplanned hospital admission in their last month of life. The mechanisms and context identified as driving forces of the service included: 7/7 single point of contact; coordinating services across providers; recruiting and developing the workforce; understanding and clarifying new roles; and managing expectations.

This was a service evaluation and the outcomes are related to the specific context and mechanisms. However, findings can be transferable to similar settings.

“Single point of contact” services that offer coordinated EoLC can contribute in supporting people to be cared and die in their preferred place.

This paper provides an evaluation of a novel approach to EoLC and creates a set of hypotheses that could be further tested in similar services in the future.

The need for joint working between statutory and non‐statutory bodies is an important component of policy across the UK. While it is something that governments push for, it has not always been delivered effectively in practice. This paper reports on a project that sought to bring together statutory, voluntary and community sector bodies to help improve and strengthen the planning and commissioning of services from the third sector to support health and social care needs. The model was intended to provide planners with a single reference point for procurement of service packages from a combination of statutory, independent and third‐sector organisations for specific regional and local service‐user groups. We report on the experience of the first 18 months of this project, indicating that the project has been highly successful in the eyes of a range of stakeholders. Stakeholders from a range of backgrounds were far more positive about the experience than the literature would predict to be the case. Outcomes monitoring suggests that service users were far more independent and had seen improvements on a range of dimensions. The paper finishes by formulating suggestions for the factors which seem to have contributed to its success.

The purpose of this paper is to show that the development of the “Knowledge Portal” is an attempt to develop a central access system in terms of a “single point of access” for all electronic information services. This means that all these sources – from the library's catalogue and full‐text in‐house applications to external, licensed sources – should be accessible via one central web service.

The Knowledge Portal is a piece of software and a real library application, based on Primo, a commercial product, which has been enhanced through a cooperative project from ETH Libraries (Libraries of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich) and ExLibris. The new portal will be the result of integrating this new metasearch and the library's homepage.

The paper gives an overview of the general idea behind this complex and clearly user‐oriented project and shows which steps are necessary for its launch.

The paper gives an example of how to organize cooperation between quite different project partners and shows the complexity of setting up a portal as the single point of access.

This paper discusses the importance of providing coherent and “seamless” access to information resources in an increasingly digital environment, in ways that meet customer needs and expectations. It looks at how customer access needs can be identified, at the tools and skills needed to deliver such access, and at the importance of measuring the success of that delivery. A response by the National Library of New Zealand to improving access, by providing a single point of access to local and remote resources, is set in an international context.

This study provides a comprehensive framework of adaptation in triadic business relationship settings in the service sector. The framework is based on the industrial network approach (see, e.g., Axelsson & Easton, 1992; Håkansson & Snehota, 1995a). The study describes how adaptations initiate, how they progress, and what the outcomes of these adaptations are. Furthermore, the framework takes into account how adaptations spread in triadic relationship settings. The empirical context is corporate travel management, which is a chain of activities where an industrial enterprise, and its preferred travel agency and service supplier partners combine their resources. The scientific philosophy, on which the knowledge creation is based, is realist ontology. Epistemologically, the study relies on constructionist processes and interpretation. Case studies with in-depth interviews are the main source of data.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the journey so far for the North Wales Regional Single Point of Access (SPOA) through the lens of programme manager with views from the programme team. SPOA is the integration of access points to community health and social care services with strengthened links to the third sector, one SPOA in each of six local authorities in the Betsi Cadwallader University Health Board footprint.

Kotter’s 8 step theory of change model (1996) supplemented by the organisational, cultural and professional and contextual factors from research that impact on integrated working between health and social care (Cameron et al., 2012); the focus is programme level.

Kotter’s 8 step model is a useful tool for reflection on the factors identified in research that promote and hinder integrated working. Key messages and innovative ideas of interest for practitioners embarking on a similar “Quest”, including: “keep using your ‘levers for change’”, “Adopt and Adapt”, “right people in the right place”, “it’s ok to tweak your vision, ‘Make it mean something to everyone’, ‘accept and Adapt’, ‘Don’t sweat what you can’t affect’, ‘Find your allies – it’s better together’, ‘Celebrate ‘small wins’’, ‘The people’s voice drives change’ and ‘a sense of humour brings you through’”.

This is a personal reflection from the North Wales Regional SPOA Programme.

It makes use of collaborative work focused on delivering a SPOA, helping others to learn from the struggle.

Diben y papur hwn yw adlewyrchu ar y daith hyd yn hyn ar gyfer Un Pwynt Mynediad Ranbarthol Gogledd Cymru (SPOA) yn bennaf trwy olwg rheolwr y rhaglen ond mae hefyd yn cynnwys safbwyntiau tîm ehangach y rhaglen. Yn greiddiol i’r SPOA ceir integreiddio pwyntiau mynediad i wasanaethau iechyd cymunedol a gofal Cymdeithasol gyda chysylltiadau wedi eu cryfhau i’r Trydydd Sector, un SPOA ym mhob un o’r 6 Awdurdod Lleol sydd o fewn ôl troed bwrdd Iechyd Prifysgol BC.

Canfu model damcaniaeth newid (1996) 8 cam Kotter, a ategir gan y ffactorau sefydliadol, diwylliannol a phroffesiynol a’r ffactorau cyd-destunol yn sgil ymchwil mai effaith ar waith integredig rhwng iechyd a gofal cymdeithasol (Cameron et al., 2012) sy’n rhoi’r strwythur i’r papur adlewyrchol hwn; sydd, ar y pwnt hwn o’r daith, yn canolbwyntio ar lefel y rhaglen.

Roedd model 8 cam Kotter yn offeryn defnyddiol ar gyfer yr adlewyrchiad hwn ar y daith hyd yn hyn. Mae ein profiad hyd yn hyn mewn cytgord â’r ffactorau a nodir mewn ymchwil sy’n hyrwyddo ac yn rhwystro gwaith integredig. Mae ymarfer adlewyrchu wedi galluogi negeseuon allweddol a syniadau arloesol a allai fod o ddiddordeb i ymarferwyr sy’n dechrau ar ‘Gais’ tebyg, i gael eu hatgyfnerthu. Mae ein negeseuon allweddol sydd mewn cytgord ag eraill ym maes gwaith integredig fel a ganlyn: ‘Nodi a pharhau i ddefnyddio eich ‘dylanwadau ar gyfer newid’, ‘Mabwysiadu ac Addasu’ , ‘Cael y bobl iawn yn y lle iawn’ , ‘Ni fydd eich rhaglen yn dod i ben os byddwch yn addasu eich gweledigaeth, ‘Gwneud iddo feddwl rhywbeth i rywun’, ‘Derbyn ac Addasu’, ‘Peidio poeni am y pethau na allwch wneud unrhyw beth yn eu cylch’, ‘Canfod eich cynghreiriaid – mae’n well gyda’ch gilydd’, ‘Dathlu eich ‘buddugoliaethau bach’, ‘Mae llais y bobl yn bwerus i lywio newid’ a ‘chofiwch mae synnwyr digrifwch yn dod â chi drwyddi’.

Mae hwn yn adlewyrchiad personol o Raglen Un Pwynt Mynediad Rhanbarthol Gogledd Cymru.

Mae’n defnyddio gwaith cydweithredol ag yn canolbwyntio ar gyflawni SPOA, gan gynorthwyo eraill i ddysgu trwy’r her.

A word of caution to users of online databases — do not rest on your laurels. Though you may be users of online information you must ask yourself, how much of your information is available online? We are all aware of the countless studies that have shown anywhere from 93–95% of all information used by organizations today is in paper format. More importantly, research conducted by the Delphi Consulting Group has shown that less than one tenth of 1% of the information stored electronically is under the control of a text retrieval system. If that concerns you — it should. But it should not concern you as much as the fact that the overwhelming majority of full‐text retrieval front ends to online databases do not utilize state‐of‐the‐art functionality and features. If you believe that as an early adopter of online technology you are guaranteed a place among the victors of the information revolution, you are in for a rude awakening.

This article summarizes a study that identified and described federal information inventory/locator systems. Such locator systems provide an important means of accessing a range of government information not previously available to the public or other government officials. Overall, the study's goal was to improve access to and use of U.S. government information. The study produced a final report describing study efforts, identifying issues and conclusions, and recommending the design of an networked‐based government‐wide information inventory/locator system (GIILS) (Volume I), the Federal Locator Database (FLD) — a machine‐readable database of descriptive information on some 250 federal databases, of which fifty‐three met the study's criteria as a locator, and a user's guide to that database (Volume II includes a machine‐readable version of the database and the user guide and codebook). The study recommends that the U.S. Office of Management and Budget develop a policy framework requiring agencies to design and maintain machine‐readable locators, meeting certain requirements and standards and that these be accessible over the Internet/NREN.

The paper describes how Charles Darwin University (CDU) used a three-pronged approach to better serve its researchers: it developed a single interface for improved accessibility and discoverability of its research outputs, consolidated its corresponding policies and procedures and implemented training programs to support the new portal. This in turn made its suite of research outputs more openly accessible and better discoverable. The intention was to make CDU research compliant with the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) policy statement, affirming the need to make Australia's research more visible, thereby enabling better access, better collaboration locally and internationally and researchers more accountable to their community.

This paper uses case study methodology and a qualitative approach.

CDU Library collaborated with the University’s Research Office in undertaking a series of strategies towards reframing access to its research. The partners migrated their research collections into a single, new, integrated interface; developed new policies and consolidated existing ones; and to this end, rolled out a training and educational program for the research community. The intention of the program was to introduce the Pure repository to new researchers and to train all staff to self archive and curate their own research outputs. This new streamlined approach ensured a more comprehensive and timely availability and accessibility of the University's research outputs.

A single source of truth was established through the migration of iCDU’s research collections, ensuring data quality was maintained. At the start of this project, there were few institutions in Australia using the Pure system, and even fewer using it as their sole repository for displaying research outputs.