Nurture groups have contributed to inclusive practices in primary schools in the UK for some time now and have frequently been the subject of articles in this journal. This large-scale, controlled study of nurture groups across 32 schools in the City of Glasgow provides further evidence for their effectiveness in addressing the emotional development and behaviour problems of vulnerable children. In particular, Sue Reynolds, Principal Educational Psychologist, Maura Kearney, Senior Educational Psychologist, both working in Glasgow City Council Psychological Services, and Tommy MacKay, Professor at the University of Strathclyde and Director of Psychology Consultancy Services, suggest that is the first study to report quantitative gains in academic achievement when the progress of pupils in nurture groups is compared with that of matched children in mainstream classes. This highlights the importance of providing a nurturing context as a basis for promoting children's learning.

This paper presents a review of the professional discourse regarding the evolution of information and learning spaces in academic libraries, particularly in the first decade of the twenty-first century. It investigates the evolution of academic libraries and the development of learning spaces focusing on the use of the terms which have evolved from the information commons concept. The literature review is primarily guided by an effort to make clearly visible the connections and distinctions between different models for the use of space in academic libraries for delivering information and learning services, up to the very recent occurrence of "maker spaces". Attention is given to the language used to describe the different models and to changing historical factors, purposes, pedagogical influences, and attributes of each model for better recognition of shifts and emerging trends.

Purpose With the rise of virtual library users and a steady increase in digital content, it is imperative that libraries build websites that provide seamless access to key resources and services. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Usability testing is a valuable method for measuring user habits and expectations, as well as identifying problematic areas for improvement within a website. Findings In this paper, the authors provide an overview of user experience research carried out on the University of Toronto Scarborough Library website using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research methods and detail insights gained from subsequent data analysis. Originality/value In particular, the authors discuss methods used for task-oriented usability testing and card sorting procedures using pages from the library website. Widely applicable results from this study include key findings and lessons learned from conducting usability testing in order to improve library websites.

It is important for libraries to confront and successfully adapt for the future needs of users in a world which is continually and rapidly changing. The Australian Library and Information Association believes that Australian libraries are part of a worldwide network of libraries and that the future success of Australia's public library networks will be determined in part by the future successes, or failures, of public libraries on a global scale. In order to do the planning required, libraries in Australia and internationally are envisioning their future. This research analysed a range of forecasting reports in order to identify the themes and trends that are most likely to have an impact on how Australian public library services are offered, operated, funded and used into the future, a future which is in flux and uncertain. A range of published documents address the predicted future of libraries. These documents cover various time spans, from 2012 out to 2030, and vary in their predictions. The intent of this research project was to map the themes determined from the individual published documents in varying contexts (date span and geographic location) to produce an overview of convergence and divergence. The reports examined are not an exhaustive coverage of the literature that currently exists on the topic of the future of Australian public libraries, let alone the future of libraries generally on a global scale, but the results of the project indicate both agreement and disagreement, enabling a wider view than might be seen by individual organisations.