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The Librarians of Glasgow University since 1641 are identified, and their periods of office summarised and assessed as far as information allows. The terms of appointment in early years and pattern of town and university alternating nominations are outlined, and the gradual development of the post into that of a professional librarian in the twentieth century is illustrated.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate why and how universities in the Glasgow region sought to leverage the 2014 Commonwealth Games to achieve their own benefits.

An in-depth qualitative case study, utilising documentary evidence and in-depth interviews, was employed to examine how Glasgow universities leveraged the Games, and the outcomes they sought.

Universities sought to leverage the 2014 Commonwealth Games to garner a range of benefits, including increased brand awareness, student and staff development opportunities, new or improved infrastructure, and strengthened stakeholder relationships. Leveraging strategies included developing relationships with other Games’ stakeholders to establish and participate in collaborations, committees, and research consortia, hosting ancillary events, and hosting teams on training camps. However, data revealed substantial barriers to effective leveraging, such as insufficient resourcing and lack of leadership, and consequently several interviewees conveyed a sense of missed opportunities.

The results can inform universities located in host regions about the opportunities and challenges to strategically leveraging an event. Also, if event organisations understand the leveraging ambitions of event stakeholders, such as universities, they can better facilitate and manage their relationships with such stakeholders to maximise event benefits in the host region.

This research considers the leveraging activities of a previously un-researched event stakeholder group (universities) that have the potential to deliver benefits that reach students, staff, and industry interest groups in event host communities. The knowledge contributed could aid universities in future event host regions to strategically leverage to maximise the benefits of major sport events.

This paper examines the pressures being exerted on university library budget structures by consortial licence agreements and “big deal” arrangements. Particular reference is made to developments at three higher educational institutions located in the city of Glasgow, Scotland: the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian University, and the University of Glasgow. Pricing in the electronic information environment is likely to remain a complex and difficult area for the foreseeable future and academic library budgets will need to be sufficiently flexible in nature to be able to accommodate the complexities of current economic models. This flexibility is likely to require some degree of funding to remain under central control.

The purpose of this paper is to chart the development and growth of open access and institutional repositories at the University of Glasgow, Scotland from initial work in 2001 to the University's recently launched service, Enlighten. The University of Glasgow is a signatory to the Scottish Open Access Declaration and recently released a statement on Open Access.

The study will focus on the key lessons learned through a twin track approach of advocacy and service development during the DAEDALUS Project (2002‐2005) and the transition of that work to a University service called Enlighten. This service includes a repository for published and peer‐reviewed papers which has now had over 2 million hits and over 270,000 PDF downloads since it was established in February 2004.

The paper reveals the lessons learned by the Library and the project team. It also identifies the range of issues which must be addressed in the successful implementation of a repository and its transition to a production service. These include the development of content policies, copyright clearance and the cultural change necessary to populate a repository service. These challenges have and continue to be addressed by the repository team at the University of Glasgow.

This paper provides details of the lessons learned in the practical experience of setting up an institutional repository and ensuring its transition to a full and supported University service. It will be of particular interest to institutions implementing a repository or running a pilot service.

Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities received funding from the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to investigate the collaborative provision of library services between the two institiutions. The investigation was, initially, in the area of engineering. The GAELS Project (Glasgow Allied Electronically with Strathclyde) ran between June 1999 and June 2001. An audit of existing information services which demonstrated that perceived information needs of researchers in both engineering faculties did not match the actual needs. Engineering researchers had low use of traditional library services and preferred electronic services. An overlap study of periodicals holdings between the two institutions found duplication in periodicals holdings of around £70,000 per annum. A series of document delivery trials was initiated, including local document delivery between the two sites, a commerical document delivery service for one research group, and a wholly electronic service to the desktop for bioengineers at Strathclyde University. The trials’ findings are presented along with outcomes, both actual and projected, for future collaboration.

Scotland, with its Parliament recently re‐established after 300 years, is likely to see the development of a networked service to make electronic information, learning and research materials readily available to all of its citizens as a key aim in the early part of the twenty‐first century. The newly‐created Centre for Digital Library Research (http://bubl.ac.uk/cdlr) at Strathclyde University (http://www.strath.ac.uk/) in Glasgow aims to be a significant player in the process of making the vision a reality, whilst also contributing to international research efforts in the area. Bringing the networked service of the future into being requires collaborative research and development effort in a range of areas – from identifying and documenting current problems and establishing future requirements, to work on major elements of the problem such as user needs and user interfaces, collaborative collection development, content creation and maintenance, interoperability problems, navigation and integration issues, access control, metadata, and standards and policy frameworks. The Centre is already working with stakeholder institutions, organisations and individuals across the country on a number of relevant projects and initiatives that will contribute to understanding and develop expertise in these areas. Many of them have a practical focus that will help to partially implement the kind of environment envisaged. Examples are GDL (the Glasgow Digital Library project ), CVU (Clyde Virtual University project) (http://cvu.strath.ac. uk/), CAIRNS (Co‐operative Academic Information Retrieval Network for Scotland) (http://cairns.lib.gla.ac.uk/), SCONE (Scottish Collections Network Extension project) and DIO (Digital Information Office project).

The COVID-19 pandemic meant that it became impossible for many individuals with intellectual disability to access specialist mental health support. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a set of guided self-help resources adapted for delivery on an outreach basis.

The use and impact of the resources were evaluated through: data about downloads and requests for printed materials; interviews with individuals who used the resources; webinars with organisations; family members and support workers who had delivered the resources and an online survey with individuals who had delivered the resources.

The resources had considerable reach, with over 12,555 printed copies requested from across Scotland. The materials were perceived to be relevant and useful, helping individuals to talk about difficulties and to be aware that others were facing similar challenges.

The findings highlight the potential long-term value of guided self-help resources to help promote well-being that can be delivered on an outreach basis by family members and social care organisations.

The Glasgow Digital Library (GDL) Project has a significance over and above its primary aim of creating a joint digital library for the citizens of Glasgow. It is also both an important building block in the development of a planned and co‐ordinated “virtual Scotland” and a rich environment for research into issues relevant to that enterprise. Its creation comes at a time of political, social, economic and cultural change in Scotland, and may be seen, at least in part, as a response to a developing Scottish focus in these areas, a key element of which is a new socially inclusive and digitally driven educational vision and strategy based on the Scottish traditions of meritocratic education, sharing and common enterprise, and a fiercely independent approach. The initiative is based at the Centre for Digital Library Research at Strathclyde University alongside a range of other projects of relevance both to the development of a coherent virtual landscape in Scotland and to the GDL itself, a supportive environment which allows it to draw upon the research results and staff expertise of other relevant projects for use in its own development and enables its relationship to virtual Scotland to be both explored and developed more readily. Although its primary aim is the creation of content (based initially on electronic resources created by the institutions, on public domain information, and on joint purchases and digitisation initiatives) the project will also investigate relationships between regional and national collaborative collection management programmes with SCONE (Scottish Collections Network Extension project) and relationships between regional and national distributed union catalogues with CAIRNS (Co‐operative Academic Information Retrieval Network for Scotland) and COSMIC (Confederation of Scottish Mini‐Clumps). It will also have to tackle issues associated with the management of co‐operation.

The purpose of this paper is to present data about the experiences of adults with learning disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic across the UK.

Interviews were conducted with 609 adults with learning disabilities. Family carers and support staff of another 351 adults with learning disabilities completed a proxy online survey. The data were collected between December 2020 and February 2021 and concerned both worries/negatives and anything positive that had happened because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social isolation was the most commonly reported worry/negative for adults with learning disabilities, with other frequently reported worries/negatives including: changes to/loss of routine; loss of support/services; and decreased health/well-being/fitness. A large proportion of participants indicated that nothing positive had happened because of COVID-19, but some positives were reported, including: digital inclusion; more time spent with important people; improved health/well-being/fitness; and, a slower pace of life.

Future pandemic planning must ensure that adults with learning disabilities are supported to maintain social contact with the people who matter to them and to support their health and well-being (including maintaining access to essential services and activities). Some adults with learning disabilities may benefit from additional support to improve their digital confidence and access. This may in turn enable them to maintain contact with family, friends and support services/activities.

This is the largest study about the experiences of adults with learning disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. The authors primarily collected data directly from adults with learning disabilities and worked with partner organisations of people with learning disabilities throughout the study.

This chapter examines the inauguration of the university study of Education in Scotland and its relation to teacher education in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The chapter outlines moves to establish Education as a disciplinary field in higher education and the junctures at which this movement aligns with and is in tension with concurrent moves to advance teaching as a profession. Academisation and professionalisation are the twin poles of this debate. This is not a parochial or obsolete debate. The place of teacher preparation in higher education has been the focus of sustained discussion across Anglophone nations. Three examples – the inauguration of chairs and lectureships, the governance of teacher education and deliberation on the content and purpose of a degree in Education – are used to help explain the apparent paradox between the historic place of education in Scottish culture and identity and the relatively recent full involvement of Scotland's universities in the professional preparation of teachers. Investigating the activities of the first academic community of educationists in Scotland may help to understand continuing struggles over jurisdiction and authority in this contested and yet neglected field.