Next week I will be attending the 2016 Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) Annual meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark. On the evening of Tuesday 18th October there will be a University reception at the conference. I have created a flyer to distribute at this event with Frances Ryan (one of my PhD students, whose participation at the conference is supported by the John Campbell Trust). The flyer provides details about the Centre for Social Informatics (CSI) at Edinburgh Napier University.

Since its establishment by Professor Elisabeth Davenport in the late 1990s researchers within CSI have developed a distinctive body of work that reflects a shared interest in socio-technical interaction at different levels of organisation, and at different stages in the system life cycle. This work has also considered methods to support research in these areas. CSI provides critical perspectives on, as well as analysis of, ICT trajectories, socio-technical and organisational issues with a particular focus on:

• Democratic digital engagement
• e-Government
• Information policy
• Information seeking behaviour and use
• Knowledge management
• The Information Society
• Online communities
• Open data and open government

Please find below profiles of the researchers in CSI. For further details, please download our flyer.

Dr Hazel Hall, Professor and Director of the Centre for Social Informatics
I lead the research in CSI. My main research and teaching interests lie in information sharing in online environments. Other themes in which I maintain an active interest include social computing/media, online communities and collaboration, library and information science research, and research impact.
(h.hall@napier.ac.uk | http://hazelhall.org | @hazelh)

Peter Cruickshank, Lecturer
Peter’s main area of research is the adoption and use Internet technologies for participation in democratic processes, particularly at the hyperlocal level. He teaches in the area of information security, with particular interests in the cultural and organisational factor that underpin security. These two areas encompass concepts of identity and information behaviour.
(p.cruickshank@napier.ac.uk | @spartakan)

Dr Tom Kane, Lecturer
Tom’s research interests include telepresence and relationships between natural people and artificial persons (organisations of people), particularly in relation to the newly emerging field of Cognitonics, the science of the human being in the digital world.
(t.kane@napier.ac.uk)

Dr Laura Muir, Associate Professor
Laura’s research is focussed on user-centred design of information systems and services.
(l.muir@napier.ac.uk | @iLauraMuir)

Dr Bruce Ryan, Researcher
Both Bruce’s research and personal interests coalesce around the use of ICT in (hyper)local government with a focus on Scottish Community Councils. Facets of these interests include the actual technologies that are/could/should be used; how elected representatives learn to use technology and process information; the formation of Communities of Practice around such matters; and the means by which hyperlocal governments develop and learn in general.
(b.ryan@napier.ac.uk | http://community-knect.net | @myceliumme_CC)

Dr Colin Smith, Senior Lecturer
Colin’s research examines the relationships between new information and communication technologies, strategic innovation and organisational change, particularly in the contexts of e-government and e-democracy. His core interests include: the evaluation of the contribution of the Internet to the role played by political parties in contemporary democratic practices; the assessment of digital delivery platforms for public services; and the exploration of the implications of new web-based technologies for parliamentarians.
(cf.smith@napier.ac.uk)

Dr Ella Taylor-Smith, Researcher/Lecturer
Ella’s current research focus is student transitions into, and through, university and on to employment. Previously she explored the use of online and offline spaces in democracy. Her interests include: social informatics, social media, eParticipation, identity, and transitions.
(e.taylor-smith@napier.ac.uk | @EllaTasm)

Dr Gemma Webster, Lecturer
Gemma’s principle research interests lie in the field of human computer interaction, health care, older adults, community and assistive technologies. She is an experienced multidisciplinary researcher and keen to expand work that involves ‘real-world’ environments, problems, and partners.
(g.webster@napier.ac.uk)

Leo Appleton, PhD student
Leo’s main research interests are based around the value and impact of libraries. His PhD specifically investigates the value and impact of UK public libraries in the Information Society, and their role in citizenship development. In addition he is interested in the role that public libraries play in the generation and exchange of intellectual, social, and transactional capital.
(l.appleton@napier.ac.uk | @leoappleton)

Iris Buunk, PhD student
Iris’ PhD explores the impact of social media tools on tacit knowledge sharing practices between employees within public sector organisations.
(i.buunk@napier.ac.uk | https://theknowledgeexplorer.org | @irisbuunk)

Lyndsey Jenkins, PhD student
Lyndsey is interested in workplace learning development, innovation in the workplace, innovative work behaviours, information behaviours and seeking in relation to both learning in the workplace and general learning, career decision making, and associated influences (personal, context and environment). The primary focus of her PhD is workplace learning and innovation.
(l.jenkins@napier.ac.uk | https://lyndseyjenkins.org | @LJenk2015)

Lynn Killick, PhD student
The focus of Lynn’s PhD research is the future of the population census, and its role in informing the good society. This work has been undertaken as part of a wider project that examined information and its role in society as part of the AHRC-funded Informing the Good Society (InGSoc) project.
(l.killick@napier.ac.uk)

John Mowbray, PhD student
John’s research interests include networking as an information seeking behaviour, social networks, social media, job search, and employability.
(j.mowbray@napier.ac.uk | https://johnmowbray.org | @jmowb_napier)

Alicja Pawluczuk, Research student
Alicja is passionate about participatory digital storytelling and community development. Her PhD research focuses on digital youth, informal education and social impact evaluation in Scotland.
(a.pawluczuk@napier.ac.uk | http://www.phdadventures.com | @alicjapawluczuk)

Todd Richter, Research student
Todd’s research identifies and articulates the impact on young people of exploratory making with technology in hands-on, informal, and experimental learning environments such as Makerspaces and FabLabs.
(t.richter@napier.ac.uk | @todderichter)

Frances Ryan, PhD student
Frances’ doctoral investigation explores the role of online information in personal reputation management in the context of everyday life information seeking and human information behaviours and use.
(f.ryan@napier.ac.uk | http://www.JustAPhD.com | @cleverfrances)

Some colleagues from CSI: Iris Buunk, Laura Muir, (Marwa Salayma), Tom Kane, John Mowbray & Frances Ryan