New funding for information literacy project

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Hazel Hall

The Centre for Social Informatics has won funding to investigate levels of digital and information literacy within Scotland’s Community Council system in a project entitled Information Literacy for Democratic Engagement (IL-DEM). The award has been granted by the CILIP Information Literacy Group.

Peter Cruickshank, Dr Bruce Ryan and I will explore how community councillors develop the skills required to inform and engage with the citizens that they represent, and how libraries support this work. It will build on two established research streams within the Centre for Social Informatics: Cruickshank and Ryan’s work on digital engagement in local democracy (such as our recent DigiCC workshops), and my work with Christine Irving on information literacy and life-long learning. It will also build on our group’s track record in library and information science research. Continue reading →

Call for participation at iDocQ 6, Glasgow, 23 June 2016 (#iDocQ2016)

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Hazel Hall

iDocQ banner Students working towards research degrees in Information Science and related subjects are invited to register for the 6th Information Science Doctoral Colloquium – iDocQ 6 – hosted by the Information Science Pathway of the ESRC Scottish Graduate School of Social Science Doctoral Training Centre (SGSSS DTC) on Thursday 23rd June at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. The event is suitable for doctoral students at all stages of their studies. Continue reading →

Research impact from LISResearch.org to LISResearch.org.au #LISRAproject

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Hazel Hall

Between 2009 and 2012 I led the implementation of the UK’s Library and Information Science Research Coalition. The broad mission of the Coalition was to facilitate a coordinated and strategic approach to Library and Information Science (LIS) research across the UK, strengthening links between LIS researchers and LIS practitioners, and between research and practice. This was achieved through the activities of the Coalition as a whole, and its ‘daughter’ projects: Developing Research Excellence and Methods (DREaM), and the two-part Research in Librarianship Impact Evaluation Study. Continue reading →

Celebrations of International Women’s Day 2016 #iwd2016

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Hazel Hall

As was the case in many UK universities, last Tuesday 8th March – International Women’s Day – was a busy day for Edinburgh Napier University’s Athena SWAN teams. The coordinators of our gender equality network (GEN) – Dr Clare Taylor (Senior Lecturer in the School of Life, Sport and Social Sciences) and Frances Ryan (PhD student, School of Computing) – organised ‘equality breakfasts’ on each of the three main University campuses. These were co-hosted by the Athena SWAN leads for our six schools and Equate Scotland, the Edinburgh Napier based organisation that supports the recruitment, retention, development, and progression of women in science, engineering, technology and the built environment in Scotland. Continue reading →

Information Science Scotland: advanced training for PhD students April 2016

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Hazel Hall

#InfoSciScot

Information Science Scotland, the partnership of the four Scottish universities that support research students within the ESRC Scottish Graduate School of Social Science Information Science Pathway (Edinburgh Napier, Glasgow, Strathclyde, and Robert Gordon), is hosting a two-day training event on April 12th and 13th 2016. The venue is the Sighthill campus of Edinburgh Napier University (room 5.B.14), which has good transport links to the rest of the city by tram, bus and train. Continue reading →

Invited keynote presentation at #QQML 2016

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Hazel Hall

I have recently accepted an invitation to give the closing keynote paper at the 8th International Conference on Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries (QQML 2016) on Friday 27th May at Senate House, London.

The main theme of my presentation, entitled What happens next? Strategies for building and assessing the long-term impact of research projects, will be the impact of research and its measurement. Continue reading →

Tackling gender inequality from the classroom to the boardroom: workshop preview

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Hazel Hall

A pirate princess gender stereotype compromise?

Why do we continue to see gender stereotyping in education?
What is the impact of such gender stereotyping on the labour market?
How does gender stereotyping limit career opportunities for individuals?
What are the wider impacts of gender stereotyping on society at large?
Which approaches work best in achieving sustained change with respect to gender imbalance in educational settings and the workplace?

These questions will be addressed at a half-day workshop on tackling gender inequality, hosted by the Employment Research Institute (ERI) at Edinburgh Napier University from 10:00-13:00 on Tuesday 10th May 2016. The discussions will take into account recent research on gender imbalances in education and key sectors of the economy undertaken at the ERI. Continue reading →

Proceedings of #IDIMC 2016 available

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Hazel Hall

A PDF file of the conference proceedings of the 2nd International Data, Information and Knowledge Management conference (IDIMC 2016) held in January 2016 has been published by LISU. This provides:

details of the invited papers
the presentation slides and summaries of points made in the ‘Redefining Information and Knowledge Management’ workshop led by Sheila Moorcroft and Noleen Schenk
the full text of all the contributed papers

Among the contributed papers are two co-authored by colleagues at Edinburgh Napier University, the full citations of which are: Continue reading →

Soapbox Science is coming to Edinburgh

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Hazel Hall

The grassroots public outreach programme Soapbox Science is coming to Edinburgh this summer. This free public event, which takes place on the Mound from noon to 3pm on on July 24th 2016, is one of several throughout the UK designed to promote the visibility of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

My colleague Dr Clare Taylor and I became involved in Soapbox Science last summer. One of its co-founders – Dr Seirian Sumner – was in the audience when we made our presentation about Edinburgh Napier University’s work to support the careers of women in STEM at the June 2015 Athena SWAN awards ceremony. Serian was inspired by our energy and enthusiasm for women in science issues, and particularly interested in Clare’s 2014 Edinburgh Fringe show Women – Science is not for you! After the awards ceremony Serian made contact to invite us to become involved in Soapbox Science, and we agreed to arrange for Edinburgh Napier University to present an event in Edinburgh in 2016. Continue reading →

Hazel Hall

Emeritus Professor, Edinburgh Napier University

Monthly Archives: March 2016