The drag-and-drop, click-to-add features are an aspect of Blogspot I’m enjoying, because I like new techie toys as much as the next Kiwi, but I’m not into the nitty gritty of programming. So a nice feature that I’m going to use on a semi-regular basis, is the Link List option. If you look on the left, you’ll see that there's a new bit to the sidebar showing books on “Urban design”. It's rather taken over the top of the sidebar, since there've been a few bought on this subject in the last few months, and I’m using that term fairly widely to cover urban design, city planning and anything else that seems to fit into the category.
New subjects will appear as future Link Lists, replacing this one - sustainability books are an obvious choice for an upcoming one, but I’m happy to put one together if any of you want to know what LOGIS has in its book collection on a particular topic of your interest. I just can't guarantee how many recent ones there'll be on your topic!
Of course, your suggestion could result in me having to search out some more titles to order, but that’s all to the good – suggestions for new book titles that I may have missed are always welcome.
From the LOGIS Desk.
Friday, 9 November 2007
Monday, 5 November 2007
From the LOGIS news alert subscriptions:
Business & management:
•The 2007 Business Budget Summit held recently to discuss health, the skills shortage and tax reform and provide recommendations to government. Background papers and surveys, speeches and a list of recommendations can be found at the Summit website.
•New Zealand has dropped from 21st to 24th in ranking, on the World Economic Forum’s 2007/08 Global Competitiveness Index.
•Big investors, foundations and advocacy groups are beginning to show their strength in influencing the way companies do business around environmental and ethical issues –the US Securities and Exchange Commission is being asked to require publicly traded companies to provide information about their risk from climate change in their formal reporting statements, and a charitable trust has removed their investment from a large publisher, because of an exhibition for the arms trade.
• A recent US survey has found that 92% of young people want to work for an environmentally friendly companies, or in a job that has a positive impact on the environment.
Health & well-being:
•The Ministry of Health has just released the 2007 edition of An indication of New Zealanders’ health – it’s a snapshot of the health of the nation, and “includes 71 different health and health-related indicators relating to key issues affecting the health status of New Zealanders”.
•The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs has opened a new office intended to utilize space technologies to respond to disasters globally. The office will carry out the aims of the UN Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response UN-SPIDER, and workshops were held recently.
•In the UK, big changes are going on in the way local government there handles its social care functions. A recent Guardian article outlines the way local government is partnering with different parts of the NHS to change their local services.
•At the same time as the NZ Drug Foundation wants NZers to talk more about the issues around cannabis use/misuse, the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, NZ Inc included a news item on its website from the UK, indicating that Home Office statistics show that among 16-24 year old users in the UK , marijuana use has dropped since possession became a non-arrestable offense.
•The World Cancer Research Fund’s report on diet, exercise and cancer can be found online as well as continuous updates since publication.
•Downloads of information are available on the Commonwealth Fund’s International Health Policy Survey in Seven Countries (which includes NZ).
•Results of a survey in NZ on ethnic differences in drug and alcohol use will be released at a conference today, but key findings from the last 12 months are already available.
Environment & sustainability:
•The first hybrid-only taxi company Matakabs started business in the Matakana region in July 2007.
•The UK Housing & Planning Minister has announced an ideas competition to develop and set the design standards for 10 new eco-towns. Judging will include a citizen’s panel & ideas resulting from the competition will be drawn together to help inform local authorities and developers.
•The US Conference of Mayors has just met in Seattle for a Climate Protection Summit.
People, culture and diversity:
•The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is warning of the possibility of an increase in sexual violence and trafficking of women, as the rise in prenatal son selection in Asian countries results in the birth of fewer girls.
•Lonely Planet has just released the 2008 annual from its Bluelist website, with several NZ attractions making some of the top ten lists.
Science, technology & transport:
•The wireless and broadband conference Convergence Oceania 2007 will be on in Auckland next week, showcasing leading technologies in the industry.
•Consumer’s latest ISP survey reveals a lot of dissatisfaction with internet and broadband services in NZ.
•The 2007 Business Budget Summit held recently to discuss health, the skills shortage and tax reform and provide recommendations to government. Background papers and surveys, speeches and a list of recommendations can be found at the Summit website.
•New Zealand has dropped from 21st to 24th in ranking, on the World Economic Forum’s 2007/08 Global Competitiveness Index.
•Big investors, foundations and advocacy groups are beginning to show their strength in influencing the way companies do business around environmental and ethical issues –the US Securities and Exchange Commission is being asked to require publicly traded companies to provide information about their risk from climate change in their formal reporting statements, and a charitable trust has removed their investment from a large publisher, because of an exhibition for the arms trade.
• A recent US survey has found that 92% of young people want to work for an environmentally friendly companies, or in a job that has a positive impact on the environment.
Health & well-being:
•The Ministry of Health has just released the 2007 edition of An indication of New Zealanders’ health – it’s a snapshot of the health of the nation, and “includes 71 different health and health-related indicators relating to key issues affecting the health status of New Zealanders”.
•The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs has opened a new office intended to utilize space technologies to respond to disasters globally. The office will carry out the aims of the UN Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response UN-SPIDER, and workshops were held recently.
•In the UK, big changes are going on in the way local government there handles its social care functions. A recent Guardian article outlines the way local government is partnering with different parts of the NHS to change their local services.
•At the same time as the NZ Drug Foundation wants NZers to talk more about the issues around cannabis use/misuse, the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, NZ Inc included a news item on its website from the UK, indicating that Home Office statistics show that among 16-24 year old users in the UK , marijuana use has dropped since possession became a non-arrestable offense.
•The World Cancer Research Fund’s report on diet, exercise and cancer can be found online as well as continuous updates since publication.
•Downloads of information are available on the Commonwealth Fund’s International Health Policy Survey in Seven Countries (which includes NZ).
•Results of a survey in NZ on ethnic differences in drug and alcohol use will be released at a conference today, but key findings from the last 12 months are already available.
Environment & sustainability:
•The first hybrid-only taxi company Matakabs started business in the Matakana region in July 2007.
•The UK Housing & Planning Minister has announced an ideas competition to develop and set the design standards for 10 new eco-towns. Judging will include a citizen’s panel & ideas resulting from the competition will be drawn together to help inform local authorities and developers.
•The US Conference of Mayors has just met in Seattle for a Climate Protection Summit.
People, culture and diversity:
•The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is warning of the possibility of an increase in sexual violence and trafficking of women, as the rise in prenatal son selection in Asian countries results in the birth of fewer girls.
•Lonely Planet has just released the 2008 annual from its Bluelist website, with several NZ attractions making some of the top ten lists.
Science, technology & transport:
•The wireless and broadband conference Convergence Oceania 2007 will be on in Auckland next week, showcasing leading technologies in the industry.
•Consumer’s latest ISP survey reveals a lot of dissatisfaction with internet and broadband services in NZ.
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