Who is the ‘typical’ UK information worker? Headline findings of the CILIP/ARA Workforce Mapping Project

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Hazel Hall

Workforce Mapping Project executive summary

The executive summary is available from the CILIP web site

Last week the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) and the Archives and Records Association (ARA) held a launch event in London. Here an executive summary of the Workforce Mapping Project, with which I have been heavily involved over the past 15 months, was presented. The summary distributed at the launch notes key findings of the study.

These include:

The estimated size of the UK workforce in the Library, Archives, Records, Information Management, and Knowledge Management professions is 86,376.
Women dominate the workforce (78.1% of the workforce is female, and 21.9% male), yet earn less than men, and are not so well represented in senior management positions.
The workforce is highly qualified: 61.4% hold postgraduate academic qualifications.
The workforce is ageing: 55.3% of its members are over 45 years of age. (The equivalent figure for the UK workforce as a whole is 41.1%.)
There is low ethnic diversity in the workforce: 96.7% identify as ‘white’.

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Community councils and digital engagement: report on autumn workshops delivered to date

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Hazel Hall

Dr Bruce Ryan and Peter Cruickshank, both of whom work with me in the Centre for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University, are currently delivering a programme of four workshops on the theme of digital engagement for Community Councils and Registered Tenants Organisations in Scotland.

These workshops are supported by the Scottish Government and the Improvement Service. The main aim of hosting these events is to improve knowledge sharing and networking between community council representatives. They also provide an opportunity to showcase (1) the Scottish Government’s work on Community Empowerment, (2) the Improvement Service’s work on the KnowledgeHub and the national web site for community councils, and (3) how community councils might use digital tools for participatory budgeting. Continue reading →

University of Toronto iSchool/Knowledge Media Design Institute Colloquia Series presentation

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Hazel Hall

This afternoon I will be delivering a presentation as part of the colloquia series of the iSchool and Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI) at the University of Toronto. Continue reading →

Library Research Symposium, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Hazel Hall

Today I’m presenting a research paper entitled ‘Creating a UK-wide network of LIS researchers’ at the library research symposium hosted by McMaster University in Canada. My invitation to speak at this event provides the first opportunity to present the initial findings from the DREaM Again project, which was completed in summer 2015. Continue reading →

Creating, building and assessing personal reputation using online information sources: study participants sought

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Hazel Hall

Frances is ready to hear from potential study participants, especially those under 28 or over 55

One of my PhD students, Frances Ryan, is undertaking doctoral research that is concerned with the role of online information in the creation, building, and assessment of personal reputations. She is currently seeking study participants.

Those who volunteer are asked to make some diary entries about their use of online information over the course of a week. The diary entries can be hand-written or electronic. Paper diaries are provided for those wishing to complete by hand. Continue reading →

Organisational learning and innovation in Scotland: research student Lyndsey Jenkins begins her study

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Hazel Hall

Lyndsey Jenkins

Welcome to Lyndsey Jenkins who has just joined us as a new research student within the Centre for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University. I am Lyndsey’s Director of Studies, with Professor Robert Raeside, Director of the Employment Research Institute at Edinburgh Napier University, as second supervisor. Lyndsey’s study is entitled Enhancing the capacity for workplace learning and innovation in Scotland.

This ESRC-funded research will investigate innovation and best practice in skills development in the workplace in Scotland, drawing comparisons with the rest of the UK and other countries. Lyndsey will explore how employee-led workforce learning can be encouraged to deliver innovation that leads to competitive advantage, employment growth, and increased productivity. The aims of the work are to: Continue reading →

A week in Aberdeen at iDocQ and i3 2015 #iDocQ2015 #i3rgu

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Hazel Hall

Seven weeks of dissemination

When Leo Appleton presents the slides for our joint-authored paper on the value and impact of public library services on citizenship development at the 11th Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services today, this will mark the end of a busy conference season for the staff and research students in the Centre for Social Informatics. Continue reading →

Digital storytelling: an opportunity for libraries to lead in a digital age

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Hazel Hall

Brian Detlor

The Centre for Social Informatics is currently hosting a visit of Dr Brian Detlor of McMaster University. Yesterday Brian gave a talk on his research and involvement with the Love your city, share your stories (LYCSYS) digital storytelling initiative in Hamilton, Canada. This initiative is led by the Hamilton Public Library, McMaster University Library, and the City of Hamilton.

Brian explained how LYCSYS involves the capture and dissemination of digital stories from Hamilton citizens. The stories relate to significant cultural and historical icons in a wide variety of digital formats, and the use of library resources (for example, photographs, geo-coded digital maps, archival material) to enrich and support the digital stories produced. The initiative is viewed as a critical community-based mechanism by which to promote the City of Hamilton’s cultural identity, and to contribute to the preservation of Hamilton’s history. Continue reading →

DREaM Again moves into the data analysis phase

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Hazel Hall

Since the end of May my colleague Dr Bruce Ryan and I have been investigating the long-term impact of the AHRC-funded DREaM project (for which I was Principal Investigator in 2011 and 2012), and the forms that such impact has taken.

As part of this work we have been considering what ‘impact’ means in the context of library and information science (LIS), and how this relates to conceptions of the term in other domains where there is a perceived research-practice gap, such as policing, social work and nursing. This first part of the study has been based on an analysis of the extant literature. We intend to write this up as a review paper.

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DREaM Again project launch

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Hazel Hall

In 2011/12 I was Principal Investigator (PI) on the AHRC-funded DREaM project. The aim of this work was to develop a formal UK-wide network of Library and Information Science (LIS) researchers. The project ran from January 2011 to August 2012, and was supported by the Library and Information Science Research Coalition. We reported the initial successes of the DREaM project in a paper that I co-authored with Alison Brettle and Charles Oppenheim and presented at QQML 2012. Three years later, we are interested in any further lasting impacts of the project.

To this end I am working with my colleague Dr Bruce Ryan on a follow-up study that investigates any longer-term impact of DREaM, and the forms that such impact (if it exists) has taken. I mentioned these plans earlier in the month in a presentation at the Third International Seminar on LIS Education and Research, and then during my recent opening keynote paper at the 2015 EAHIL conference (the format of which was inspired by the DREaM project, and the event masterminded by Marshall Dozier, who was a member of the DREaM cadre).

Continue reading →

Hazel Hall

Emeritus Professor, Edinburgh Napier University

Category Archives: Projects

University of Toronto iSchool/Knowledge Media Design Institute Colloquia Series presentation

Library Research Symposium, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada