RSS 1.0Support Departments
The Library offers a wide range of services at our campuses in Chester and Warrington and at the Faculty of Health and Social Care Education Centres in local hospitals. We hold extensive collections of books and journals (in printed and electronic format) to support University teaching and research, plus the audio-visual and IT resources to help staff and students prepare learning materials and produce assignments and dissertations.
Copyright resides with the authors. Reproduction permitted for education purposes under a Creative Commons licence with acknowledgement.
Recent Submissions
-
The Supporters of the Macclesfield Society for Acquiring Useful KnowledgeThe Macclesfield Society for Acquiring Useful Knowledge was founded in 1835 and became one of the East Cheshire silk town's most successful educational institutions by the mid nineteenth century. The Macclesfield version was part of the second wave of mechanics' institutes and lasted for fifty-seven years. The Society originated from two mutual improvement groups who enlisted the help of a leading silk manufacturer. As a result, the Society was founded to provide useful knowledge to the town's inhabitants without any political or religious bias. The Society's supporters tended to be businessmen, professionals and representatives from prominent families in the area, in common with those of many other mechanics' institutes. The extant reports contain information on the institution, together with speeches given by its prominent patrons which cover a broad range of topics, from local and regional issues to national legislation. This source material gives an insight into the beliefs of the Society's supporters and how they changed in response to different influences, such as the introduction of the 1870 Education Act, the effects of trade depression on Macclesfield and the loss of protective tariffs for the English silk industry. © The University of Leeds, 2011.
-
How Can We Do This? Power Constraints & Barriers to InnovationThe author explores how power constraints and other barriers may factor into the innovative progress of careers services and professionalism of the career development sector - in this study funded by the Jisc careers research grant. In the rapidly evolving landscape of higher education institutions, career development practitioners stand at a critical juncture. At the heart of their role lies a critical challenge: navigating the intricate power dynamics that define and often constrain their ability to innovate. Practitioner voices on the process of innovation in their work have not been examined extensively in the sector's research literature before. This study examines the factors influencing their decision making about innovative practices.
-
From Power Gaps to ProgressThis article discusses the power gaps faced by career development practitioners when applying innovative practices in higher education. Innovative practices have the potential to meet the demands of the evolving future of work, and power gaps can undermine our professionalism.
-
How can we do this? An investigation of power constraints and other barriers to career development practitioners’ innovation in higher educationThis article investigates the factors influencing career development practitioners’ decisions in relation to innovation in a Higher Education context. Drawing on a dissertation research project, it presents an early substantive grounded theory of practitioners ‘Constructing Empowerment’ to overcome power constraints and other barriers to innovation. The article provides an argument that the sector is at a ‘critical juncture’ in which radical ideas can rapidly be implemented, and that a decision-making model to discern good, from bad or ambiguous ideas may be beneficial for maintaining quality standards and healthy professional boundaries.</jats:p>
-
Presenting a theory of how career development practitioners innovateThe presentation shares an introduction to a theory of how careers practitioners innovate in higher education. It explores the output from a grounded theory study in a cathedrals group university, where practitioner voices about innovation are explored. Previously their voices have only been based on conjecture, not grounded in their own words.
-
A theory of how career development practitioners innovateAn exploration of the power constraints and other barriers to innovation by career development practitioners in HE. Based upon a grounded theory study of a Cathedral's Group University.
-
Community, Cholera, Chapel and Children: The History of Chester Royal Infirmary’s Surviving Stained-glass WindowsThe installation of two sets of stained-glass windows at Chester Royal Infirmary in the early twentieth century represent one of the ways in which Florence Nightingale’s suggested improvements to the lives of patients could be achieved through attractive and colourful objects in the hospital environment. Generations of patients were thus able to benefit from these artefacts until the closure of the hospital in 1994 and the removal of the windows from the original building. Four of these windows were installed at the University of Chester’s Wheeler Building (formerly County Hall) as a community project in 2023. Background research was undertaken to piece together the stories behind these windows and the many people involved, who themselves contributed to the hospital, city and beyond in many different ways. Therefore, this article explores the history behind the windows and their time as popular features of this key medical institution, which provided care for Chester’s patients for over 230 years.
-
Back into the light: The unveiling of Chester Royal Infirmary’s stained-glass windows at the University of ChesterOn 7 June 2023, the University of Chester’s Faculty of Health, Medicine and Society (FHMS) Historical Society hosted an event at the University’s Wheeler Building, when four stained glass windows from the former Chester Royal Infirmary were unveiled in their new home
-
Macclesfield Baths and Washhouses and its patrons in the nineteenth centuryThe East Cheshire market town of Macclesfield had grown to become the leading centre of the English silk industry by the mid nineteenth century and this resulted in severe pressure on the town’s inadequate services. One element of the national campaign to improve sanitary conditions in urban areas was the public baths and washhouses movement from the 1840s, which resulted in the Public Baths and Wash-houses Acts in 1846 and 1847. Macclesfield’s Baths and Washhouses opened in January 1850 and it was one of the first provincial towns after Liverpool to provide such facilities. This article will therefore explore the national baths and washhouses movement, the impact of industrialisation on living conditions in Macclesfield, the history of the town’s Baths and Washhouses in the nineteenth century, the people active in its development and the range of motives which may have encouraged their support for this early addition to the public services for inhabitants.
-
The Fall of the House of Wynnstay: The 1885 Election in East DenbighshireThis article discusses the 1885 election in East Denbighshire when the Williams-Wynn family of Wynnstay lost the parliamentary seat that the family had represented for over 170 years. The election took place amidst the backdrop of legislative changes to corrupt practices, the electorate, and changing constituency boundaries. Conservative and Liberal party organisation in East Denbighshire is discussed.
-
The role of the local newspaper during World War One: An important link between the home front and the battle frontThis article discusses the role of the local newspapers during World War One and argues that it provided a link between the home front and the battle front, in particular as a reminder of the home front, keeping up morale and encouraging recruitment, providing war news and descriptions of wartime experiences, helping to send gifts to soldiers, alleviating boredom, and creating a community of soldiers.
-
Trabant: Go with the legend"The car is that mediation between state and society. If you look at when they finally opened the borders for people to go West, the Trabis also went with them." Modern Languages undergraduate Austen Lowe was invited to Drystone Radio's Backseat Driver show to discuss his research on the Trabant with Mark Stone. This radio broadcast outlines the misunderstandings surrounding GDR mobility. The conversation focusses on how the wooden and plastic car personifies the state in which it was made. The broadcast aims to draw parallels between production techniques in the GDR and the FRG, relating these methods to cars produced more recently in Zwickau. What did quality actually mean in the GDR and is the Trabant really a motoring legend?
-
Exploring the Development Needs of Postgraduate Taught Dissertation SupervisorsThe Graduate School, in collaboration with the Learning and Teaching Institute (LTI), undertook this project to explore the development needs of PGT dissertation supervisors. This information was vital to the effective planning of development opportunities, in order to enhance dissertation supervision on PGT programmes and ultimately improve the overall postgraduate student experience.
-
Welsh periodicals in the nineteenth centuryThis presentation places the developing Welsh periodical press within the changing economic, political, and social nature of nineteenth century Wales.
-
Information literacyThis book chapter discusses the importance of developing information literacy skills in healthcare students.
-
PDP in the curriculum - how far have we come?This presentation discusses the extent to which the University of Chester's revised academic framework will raise the profile of personal development portfolios and career development learning. The potential impact on the student experience will also be explored.
-
Examining the workings of a late nineteenth century provincial press conglomerate: Frederick Edward Roe and his newspapersThis presentation discuss four newspapers located in north Wales and the Marches owned by Frederick Edward Roe between 1880 and 1887. It analyses the relationship between the four titles and the extent to which they shared content, advertising, and staff.
-
Ethical issues in pedagogic researchThis paper explores the ethical issues identified by a research ethics committee (REC) over a three-year period. The REC is situated in a medium-sized univerity in the north west of England and deals exclusively with proposals for pedagogic research. The purpose of the research was to identify the nature and frequency of ethical concerns expressed by the REC, in order to improve guidance for future applicants. The most common concern was the lack, or inaccuracy, of the information provided to potential participants by which they were expected to make an informed decision about participation. Other concerns included the potential for bias, the lack of information provided to the REC, the provision for fair access by vulnerable groups and undue influence on voluntary particpation. The paper concludes that the potential risks of practitioners researching their own students are not given due consideration by many applicats. In particular the potential threats to valid informed consent are identified. Implications for improving the relationship between researchers and RECs are discussed, as is the guidance for applicants.
-
Kindle project at the University of ChesterTowards the end of 2010, Learning and Information Services (LIS) at the University of Chester decided to undertake a pilot project which explored how useful e-readers are in a university setting and if they could help to resolve issues about resource availability.
-
Meeting the needs of distance learners: The creation of an interactive resource pack for library inductionsWithin the UK, higher education is increasingly becoming more competitive, particularly with the arrival of increased fees from 2012. As a result, over the past few years the University of Chester has ran programmes in other countries including Dublin and Mumbai to raise its research profile and meet the needs of the market. Students on these distance learner programmes have the same rights with regards to online library resources as those studying at Chester. One of the main problems that has arisen from this has been how to induct the students and show them the wealth of online library resources available to them. The presentation will focus on an initiative at the University of Chester that looked at developing a new approach to inducting students at a distance. In September 2011, the Applied Sciences and Social Science library subject team at the University created a resource pack for students on distance learner programmes in other countries with an aim to improve the student experience during induction. The resources pack consisted of an interactive tutorial DVD and a resource CD containing information on how to access the library resources the students would need for their course. This pack replaced previous methods of induction such as printed hand-outs and workbooks. It was hoped it would be a more personable and accessible method of inducting the students into the library at a distance. The presentation will examine the rationale behind creating the resource pack and will look at the benefits and challenges involved in creating the content including compatibility issues with the format of the DVD. It will consider the feedback received from students regarding the resources pack and areas for potentially developing the project in the future.
