POST – The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology

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The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology is a valuable resource for MPs and researchers.

Their website describes the work they do as follows:

What we do

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) is a research and knowledge exchange service based in the UK Parliament. It works to ensure that the best available research evidence and information is brought to bear on the legislative process and scrutiny of Government. It primarily supports the select committees of both Houses.

POST:

  • publishes impartial, non-partisan, timely and peer-reviewed research
  • helps Parliament to access experts and evidence
  • identifies emerging areas of interest to Parliament through horizon scanning
  • supports the exchange of information and expertise between researchers and the UK Parliament through fellowships and other knowledge exchange activities

Latest briefings include: automated vehicles; reducing plastic waste; What is the metaverse and what impacts will it have for society; food waste; Health impacts of ultra-processed foods; and Mental Health Act reform – impacts on autistic people and people with a learning disability.

To find out more about POST and to access it’s research briefings, please go to its website:

https://post.parliament.uk

Loot Boxes in Video Games – Research Briefing

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Another research briefing from the House of Commons Library: Loot Boxes in Video Games

In September 2020, the Government launched a call for evidence into the impact of loot boxes on gambling-like behaviour. This Library Paper gives a brief overview of loot boxes, what the law says, and concerns that have been raised.

You can find it here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8498/

POST Training for Academic Researchers

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POST – the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology – is presenting regional training sessions for researchers to learn how the UK Parliament works and ways to engage with Parliament using research, with a particular focus on framing and communicating your research in a policy context.

What does the training cover?
This training gives an overview of the UK Parliament and covers ways to work with the institution including details on Select Committees, legislative scrutiny, the House of Commons and House of Lords libraries, and POST. It also includes sessions on identifying how your research relates to policy, and communicating your research at Parliament.

How is the training delivered?
Sessions are delivered by officials from POST and Select Committees. The training is interactive and practical. You will leave with an action plan, plenty of resources and the chance to join our alumni network to receive further opportunities and support from Parliament. Refreshments and lunch are included.

Who should attend?
This event is aimed at academic researchers as well as those working in policy brokerage/research impact roles.

What will I learn?
As a result of the training you will:

  • understand Parliament’s role and processes and the difference between Parliament and Government
  • know how research is used in the UK Parliament
  • be able to identify opportunities to feed your research into Parliament’s work
  • know how your research could be relevant to Parliament’s work, and how to frame it in this context
  • learn tips and advice on communicating your research at Parliament including style and tone
  • be aware of where to go for further support

What does it cost?
There is an attendance fee of £40, including VAT. If this fee is a barrier to your attendance, please contact us; we may make exceptions in some circumstances.

More information can be found at www.parliament.uk/academic-training

Have you looked at POST’s publications recently?

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POST provides balanced and accessible overviews of research from across the biological, physical and social sciences, and engineering and technology. It places the findings of this research in a policy context for Parliamentary use.

The best known format for these briefings are ‘POSTnotes’: four page summaries of public policy issues based on reviews of the research literature and interviews with stakeholders from across academia, industry, government and the third sector; they are peer reviewed by external experts. POSTnotes are often produced proactively, so that parliamentarians have advance knowledge of key issues before they reach the top of the political agenda.

Find out more here: https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/bicameral/post/publications/

Research Briefings, Standard Notes and Debate Packs

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Research briefings, Insights, Debate Packs and more

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research/

The Commons Library provides an impartial research and information service for MPs and their staff. It publishes politically-impartial policy analysis and statistical research, free for all to read. Explore quick-read articles, in-depth research, and interactive data visualisations.

The Library also provides research of the weekly business of the House of Commons: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/this-week/.

 

Types of Research

Research briefings: In-depth analysis of bills, legislation, policy and topical issues. Read quick summaries online and download the corresponding PDF documents to access the full analysis.

Insights: Quick-read articles on current issues. These are published in line with topical events and provide need-to-know information on local and global topics.

Debate Packs: Research that is produced in relation to debates taking place in the Commons Chamber and Westminster Hall. They contain background information, parliamentary and press material, and suggested further reading.

Data tools and resources: Browse datasets and interactive dashboard on a range of topics. View our Constituency Dashboard for headline statistics about your constituency, explore parliamentary and elections data, and get the latest data on the economy.

Constituency casework articles: FAQs and quick explainers to help caseworkers with a range of constituent queries.

 

Research by Topic

The Commons Library research can be viewed by topic and sub-topic. The links to these listings can be saved as bookmarks so you can go straight to the subjects you are interested in.

 

Research from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) is a bicameral body within Parliament which produces impartial, timely and peer-reviewed research, on topics such as biology, health, energy, environment and physical and social sciences.

Find out more about POST: https://post.parliament.uk/about-us/.

 

Types of Research

POSTNotes: Four-page research briefings reviewing emerging areas of research.

POSTBriefs: Dynamic and strategic syntheses, produced rapidly in response to current affairs or the work of select committees.

Rapid responses: Rapid response content published within weeks of important research developments, produced to brief parliamentarians.

 

Research by Topic

Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology – POST notes

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The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST, for short) has been producing impartial, non-partisan, and peer-reviewed briefing notes for over thirty years on various subjects which may be of interest to Members and staffers.

POST is the UK Parliament’s in-house source of independent, balanced and accessible analysis of public policy issues related to science and technology.  Their aim is to inform parliamentary debate.

More information and the full list of POSTnotes can be found on the main POST site here: https://post.parliament.uk/

Their work programme covers:

    • Biology and health
    • Energy and Environment
    • Physical and digital science
    • Social Sciences

Their analysis covers:

    • COVID-19
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Food Security
    • Transport and Infrastructure
    • Digital Tech
    • Security and Defence
    • Education
    • Crime and Justice
    • Health and Social Care
    • Science Policy

All publications (since 1995) are available in PDF format.  To sign up for their mailing list, please click here: https://mailchi.mp/email.parliament.uk/post

POST also hosts seminars and training events, details of which can be found here:  https://post.parliament.uk/events/

Email etiquette

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Isn’t it annoying when people send you e-mails that don’t contain any punctuation?  Or when you are sent an e-mail which has 300 recipients, and you scroll down through all the names to find a one-line message at the bottom?  Honestly, some people should use a bit of Netiquette!

What is Netiquette? 

Internet Etiquette, or ‘Netiquette’ is the unofficial ‘code of conduct’ for Internet users; a guide to avoiding inadvertently offending those with whom you communicate by e-mail and other electronic means such as chat rooms, instant messengers and message boards.

Blind Copying

Blind copying, or ‘BCC’ is a useful way of hiding the names of the recipients of an e-mail.  There are three main reasons for using the ‘BCC field’:

  1. to keep e-mail addresses private (so that the recipients aren’t able to copy the e-mail addresses of everyone else on the list)
  2. to prevent long lists of names appearing when printing or forwarding messages – some recipients get so irritated by long recipient lists, that they just delete the message without reading it.
  3. To prevent accidental clicking ‘Reply to All’ occurring.

If you can’t see the BCC field when you open up a new message in Outlook, simply click VIEW > BCC field and it will appear.  It will then show up on all new messages, unless you choose to hide it again.

Shouting

When people type messages which are all in capital letters, e.g. with the Caps Lock on, it is referred to as ‘shouting’ and is considered very rude indeed.

Use Appropriate Language

Just as in face-to-face communication, adjust your language according to your audience.  Avoid swearing or using abusive language, don’t write anything which could be construed as sexist, racist, homophobic or comments which could incite arguments (flaming)

Punctuation

Rules of punctuation still exist in e-mails.  When it comes to punctuation, you should treat an e-mail in the same manner as a formal written letter.  Lack of punctuation not only makes a message very difficult to read, but also makes the writer look very unprofessional and, on occasion, a bit of an idiot.

Emoticons

An emoticon is a graphical representation of an emotion.  The most common of these is a ‘smiley’  –   :o)   When looked at sideways, it looks like a smiley face.  These should not be used in formal communication, but are sometimes useful in very informal chat situations where a message you mean as a joke may be misunderstood, or otherwise be deemed rather impolite.  There are many different emoticons and many  lists of them can be found on the Internet, simply by searching on the word “emoticons”.

Post in Haste, Repent at Leisure

If you receive an e-mail which annoys or upsets you, don’t respond to it immediately.  Print it out and keep it for a while.  With e-mail, it’s too easy to whip off a tart response in seconds, hit the ‘send’ button and…..”damn, I got it wrong, I didn’t mean that”.  Too late.  It’s gone, and it’s almost certain you can’t get it back.  Always think before you reply.

Flaming

Flaming is where people make personal (written) attacks, especially in chat rooms, rather than sticking to the topic of conversation.  Flaming should be avoided at all costs, because it spoils the conversation for other members of the group.  Sometimes, flaming occurs because of a misunderstanding, for example when someone has been SHOUTING in their messages.

Beware of ‘Reply All’

Beware of defaulting to use the ‘reply all’ button all the time. Only use ‘reply all’ if your reply is important to all the recipients. Also, using it too often can lead to automatically replying all with an email not intended for all recipients – very embarrassing and a sticky situation to have to escape from.

Avoid Embarrassing Emails

It’s easy to accidentally hit ‘send’ when a message was not yet ready to go. This can be quite embarrassing, especially if you’d intended to change the text later before sending the mail. Since it’s difficult to disable the ‘send’ button, you should make sure the message does no harm even if you hit that button accidentally.

Either:

  • leave the address field empty, or
  • address the message to yourself while you are still composing it.

Only enter the final recipient when you are absolutely ready to send the mail.

Safety Online

Spam

Spam is, quite simply, unsolicited junk mail.  The name ‘spam’ comes from a Monty Python sketch where, on the menu in a cafe, everything comes with spam.

Some people are lucky enough not to get any spam at all, others may get hundreds of unwanted messages a day. Users of the Parliamentary Network benefit from a spam filter, which does catch most of the rubbish before it gets to your inbox.

Spam does not necessarily have to come from unknown sources, a lot of spam comes from friends in the form of jokes and ‘sillies’, which they send to all of their friends, who in turn send it to all of their friends. Before you know it, your e-mail is full of the stuff and you’ve got no work done. If a friend starts sending you unwanted e-mails, ask them to stop.

However, you must never click on an ‘unsubscribe’ link (or any other links) in messages from unknown sources, as you are just confirming to the spammer that you exist, and you’ll probably end up on even more junk mailing lists.

If you receive spam of a racist or obscene nature, especially if it involves children, you can report it (anonymously, if you prefer) to the Internet Watch Foundation (www.iwf.org.uk) who will investigate and take appropriate action.

Personal Information

There is a famous cartoon from the New York Times, showing two dogs at a computer, and one says “On the Internet, no-one knows you’re a dog”.  We can’t reproduce the picture here, for copyright reasons, but you can find it easily enough by searching on the Internet.  Although it’s funny, it’s also a very serious warning.

People you may chat with by e-mail or in chat rooms may not always be who they seem.  Anyone can be nice in such an anonymous setting, but how would you like it if those people started knocking on your door, or phoning you?  Don’t ever give out personal details such as phone numbers, e-mail addresses, or information about your family, school or workplace.  There have been many cases of personal details being abused, causing great distress to the victims.

Office Email Policy

You may find it useful to establish an office email policy, which can incorporate the above and any other rules for using email you think appropriate for your office and staff (seek colleagues’ opinions first of course). All employees should sign off on having received the information once it is finalised.

You might consider:

  • how restrictive you should be on the use of email for personal reasons at work. Your policy may like to emphasise that the use of the domain name (@parliament.uk) should be reserved for work-related emails and emails to colleagues only.
  • whether you will require all employees to have an email signature.
  • whether to establish a policy for deleting messages.
  • when to use email and when to use post – is your MP happy for you to contact constituents via email if they have emailed you, or should a letter always be sent?
  • When sending emails outside of the Parliamentary Network, a disclaimer is added automatically, which reads:

“UK Parliament Disclaimer: This e-mail is confidential to the intended recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail. This e-mail address is not secure, is not encrypted and should not be used for sensitive data.”

  • Do not allow the employee to pass off personal views as representing those of the party or Parliament – you should add your own disclaimer, along the lines of:

“Views expressed in personal emails do not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the Labour Party/Conservative Party/Liberal Democrats.”

Further reading : The Core Rules of Netiquette, by Virginia Shea