IDOX Information Service

The IDOX Information Service covers all aspects of regeneration and development - community, economic, environmental, and physical - and has developed into the most comprehensive service of its type in the UK.

The Information Service is used by both large and small companies and organisations, from the public, private and voluntary sectors, to complement and add capacity to in-house research and information gathering.

To satisfy the need for relevant information, the Information Service scans all issues of over 400 journals and periodicals annually, looking for high quality, informative articles on policy, its interpretation and implementation across the wide range of subjects, topics and issues.

The Information Service also scans newsletters, press releases, email alerts and eBulletins from many sources including national and regional government departments, public agencies, local authorities, community and voluntary sector organisations, consulting and professional firms, academic think tanks, research departments and individual writers respected by their peers for their insight and expertise.

Every week the IDOX Information Service team identifies around 200 new items to be added to stock.

"IDOX provides a unique, customer-oriented information service which is up-to-date, comprehensive, and accurate (and user-friendly!). It is invaluable for researching contemporary research and policy initiatives across the whole range of planning, housing and regeneration, and for keeping abreast of newly-breaking developments. Compiling bibliographies, writing research and conference papers and teaching preparation are transformed by IDOX, but among its many leading features are the expert abstracting (a real boon, indicating expert readers), the availability of a customised service, and the responsive of the service to customer feedback. More power to IDOX for getting it right. (and keeping ahead of the competition at a reasonable price)."

— Professor Alan Hooper, Professor of Housing and Planning, Department of City and Regional Planning, Cardiff

For each item added to the library, an indicative summary (abstract) is prepared and keywords assigned. These abstracts are added to the database, while the full text items are held within the Library.

The abstracts make it easy for members to identify the usefulness of the document for their particular needs and interests. Often the abstract itself provides the information required and the reader does not need to spend time reading the full document.

The Service is easy to use, gives a consistently fast response, and can be accessed across organisations. There are over 140,000 items on our database and in our library. In 2000, The British Library assessed this collection as better than their own or that held by the former London Research Centre.

The ability to search the database either by telephoning and speaking to one of the information officers, or via this website, means that precise information can be located quickly - or a good spread and selection if that is what is required.

Documents are provided as downloads or legal photocopies to keep, where permitted, otherwise the original items are provided on loan.

Top 5 downloads: January 2010

Title
Regeneration: should it be targeted at a city-region or neighbourhood scale?
Strengthening the link between performance measurement and decision making
Best laid plans? (New system for handling planning applications in Scotland)
How long should houses last?
Economic development in the UK: challenges during and after the recession

Access to the IDOX Information Service is by annual subscription and provides users with single point access to up-to-date and reliable information on current practice and policy from a very wide variety of sources.