In-depth articles and guest posts on internal and sector-related topics.
Most of us create documents (usually in Word) and circulate them by email to colleagues for comment. This generates many versions of the document on various computers along with a chaotic trail of email correspondence. Someone then has the cumbersome and time-consuming job of coordinating and synthesising all the comments.
An adopted person trying to establish contact with birth parents or other birth relatives may find it a daunting and potentially stressful process, which requires a sensitive and caring approach. Being able to easily access clear information about services is essential to making the experience as straightforward as possible.
With the ever-increasing emphasis on the collection of data around social services, the sector has seen an increasing need for greater data literacy in order to effectively provide insight into key sector information for all levels of staff, users of service and their carers and families.
Child sexual abuse is a not a subject that most people choose to dwell on for very long, however, the reality is that we are living in a world where such abuses can and do occur. Fortunately, there are initiatives doing good work to raise awareness of the issue and provide support in preventing child abuse.
Making that all-important life decision on what career path to follow - whether to go straight into the workforce, or to enter further education or training - can be a daunting one for many young people, especially considering the number of options that are available to them today.
Do you live in a remote location or attend a lot of meetings and find that copious amounts of time and energy is wasted on travel when you could be doing something more productive? If so, Skype could make your life easier and save you time.
A project managed by the charity, Rock Trust, and funded by Communities Scotland, Scottish Social Networks has been created in response to recommendations in the Homelessness Task Force Final Report to raise awareness of the need for positive social networks and to support the development and integration of befriending, mentoring and mediation services for people affected by homelessness or at risk of homelessness.
I think it would be fair to say that a lot of people approach Twitter a little sceptically. To an extent, popular culture will have us believe that it is all about sharing trivial information, such as where you are having coffee or what you are having for dinner in the evening. While some people use Twitter to share the mundane, there are as many individuals and organisations using it to share valuable information on all sorts of disciplines, one of these being social work.
The Knowledge Management Strategy and Action Plan for Social Services in Scotland 2010-12 is very much focused on sharing and collaboration - ways of making it easy for people to share opinions, experiences, resources and knowledge with each other, usually with the objective of improving practice.
The new Social Services Knowledge Scotland (SSKS) website has recently been launched, with improved functionality, which makes it easier to find, save and share information. Developed by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and the Iriss, SSKS is a gateway to social services information and learning resources to support practitioners in their day-to-day work and in professional development.
