The impact of UKRC networking grants: a new publication on the long-term sustainability of the AHRC-funded DREaM network

DREaM again bannerAmongst the various funding schemes offered, the UK research councils support the development of research communities through schemes such as AHRC networking and EPSRC Digital Economy Network Plus grants. While it is possible to learn about the activities of these networks during their period of funding by reviewing their details on the Gateway to research, it is a more difficult task to discover their long-term impact.

This blog post concerns a new publication that addresses the question of network sustainability within a community of library and information science (LIS) researchers and practitioner researchers. Continue reading

Practitioner research: value, impact, and priorities #libresearch17

This Wednesday 8th November I will be the opening speaker at ‘Themes and trends in library and information research‘, a one-day conference hosted by CILIP in Kent at Canterbury Christ Church University. Entitled ‘Practitioner research: value, impact, and priorities’ my presentation covers four mains themes:

  1. The long-identified (and debated) research-practice gap in library and information science research
  2. The case for research-led practice and practitioner-led research
  3. Access to current research in library and information science research in the UK
  4. Means of generating new research ideas

Continue reading

Centre for Social Informatics at the ‘Ways of being in a digital age’ review conference

Ways of Being in a Digital AgeThe Ways of being in a digital age review conference is currently underway at the University of Liverpool. The conference closes the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project Ways of being in a digital age. The project was commissioned by the ESRC in 2016 to help identify and prioritise future areas and methods for research on the social, economic, political, psychological and cultural impacts of digital media and technologies.

Amongst the delegates at the conference is Centre for Social Informatics PhD student Alicja Pawluczuk. At the conference Alicja is presenting a paper that she has co-authored with the members of her supervision team: Dr Gemma Webster, Dr Colin Smith and myself. The paper is entitled ‘Digital culture co-creation: capturing the social impact of small-scale community projects’. The slides are available on SlideShare and below.

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Defining the UK information worker: the CILIP/ARA Workforce Mapping Project #lib_research17

Senator William McMaster, founder of McMaster University

William McMaster

Yesterday I delivered a presentation about social media research undertaken by staff and students within the Centre for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University (slides available on SildeShare) at McMaster University.

Today I am returning to campus to contribute to the McMaster Library Research Symposium 2017.

At this event I will be relating the main findings of the CILIP/ARA Workforce Mapping Project completed in 2014/15, and the impact of the work to date. The slides for my presentation are available on SlideShare, and below. Continue reading

Research into social media practices and social media practices for research

Downtown Toronto

Downtown Toronto last Friday

I’m currently working in Canada, where I am a guest of McMaster University, hosted by Dr Brian Detlor.

This week, amongst other activities at McMaster, I am delivering two invited papers. The first paper, which I am presenting twice to two different audiences on Monday 14th August, is about social media research undertaken by staff and students within the Centre for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University. The slides for this presentation are available on SildeShare and below.

Continue reading

Information: interactions and impact (i3) 2017 review #i3rgu

CSI staff Peter Cruickshank, Dr Laura Muir, Professor Hazel Hall & Visiting Professor Brian Detlor at #i3RGU

Centre for Social Informatics colleagues Peter Cruickshank, Dr Laura Muir, Professor Hazel Hall & Visiting Professor Brian Detlor gather at #i3RGU

This blog post was updated in March 2018 to include links to the full text of seven manuscripts of articles developed from nine of the papers presented by CSI staff at i3 2017. These articles will be published in the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science (JoLIS) later in 2018.

Information: interactions and impact (i3) 2017 took place at Robert Gordon University at the end of last month from Tuesday June 27th until Friday June 30th 2017, with a packed programme for delegates who had travelled to Aberdeen from across the world. As in previous years, staff and research students from the Centre for Social Informatics (who didn’t have too far to travel) enjoyed participating at the event. We delivered a total of nine papers, as summarised in the table below. Continue reading

A successful CPCI symposium #CPCINapier #ELIS

#CPCINapier bannerResearchers with interests in Everyday Life Information Seeking (ELIS) and information behaviours in online environments gathered at the Edinburgh Napier University Craiglockhart campus for the Connecting People, Connecting Ideas (CPCI) symposium last month on 22nd June 2017. The event was organised by Frances Ryan, with assistance from colleagues in Edinburgh Napier’s Centre for Social Informatics. Continue reading