The census as an information source: paper in press

At i3 2015

At i3 2015

AHRC-funded research student Lynn Killick, who works with me within the Centre for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University, presented a paper entitled The role of the census in public policy-making: information practices of policy makers at the i3 conference last June.

Subsequently Lynn and I worked with Lynn’s two other supervisors to develop this material into an article entitled ‘The census as an information source in public policy-making’ for the Journal of Information Science. This will appear in a special issue of the journal in June 2016. Continue reading

KM as a management innovation: paper in press

Journal of Information ScienceBack in June 2015 Dr Louise Rasmussen presented a paper at the i3 conference entitled A KM implementation as management innovation: the impact of an agent of change. Louise and I have since developed this work into an article for the Journal of Information Science, and it has just been accepted for publication. The paper will appear in a special issue of the journal in June 2016.

The theme of the paper is the introduction and adoption of a Knowledge Management programme within a large distributed public sector agency in Europe. It discusses in detail the results of research that sought to provide insight into the adoption process associated with management innovations, with a focus on decision-making. As well as extending theoretical perspectives on KM, this work developed a model that can be used by KM practitioners as a tool for project management at particular points of the management innovation process, taking into account local contexts.

The full text of the accepted paper is available for download. The slides for the earlier conference presentation can also be found on my SlideShare account.

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

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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Success factors in information systems project management: newly published review of the literature

calculator, pen, and reportThe latest issue of Information Research is published this week. It includes the article ‘Factors, frameworks and theory: a review of the information systems literature on success factors in project management‘, which I co-authored with Dr Robert Irvine. This work is a critical evaluation of the literature on success factors in information systems projects, with a particular focus on organisational information systems development. In the article we identify four broad research themes on success factors in information systems project management. Continue reading

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

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

DREaM Again moves into the data analysis phase

DREaM logoSince 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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Six papers at Information, Interactions and Impact i3 2015, and a preview of iDocQ 2015

i3 logoThe programme for Information, interactions and impact: i3 2015 has just been published. This international conference, held on a biennial basis in Aberdeen, brings together an international community of academic and practitioner researchers to explore the quality and effectiveness of the interactions between people and information, and how such interactions can bring about change. This year it takes place at the Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University from Tuesday June 23rd to Friday June 26th. I’m delighted that six paper proposals that I co-authored for submission to the conference have been accepted, and they can now be seen in the programme.

Five of the six papers draw on projects currently undertaken by colleagues and research students within the Centre for Social Informatics: Christine Irving; Lynn Killick; John Mowbray; Frances Ryan; and Louise Rasmussen. These are:

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Prizes, papers, and a new publication on success factors in information systems development projects

John Mowbray's winning poster

John Mowbray’s winning poster

We currently have eight research students undertaking doctoral studies in the Centre for Social Informatics (CSI) working on a variety of projects. While the goal of our students is to complete their theses within the degree registration period, it’s also important that they share news of their work as it progresses. A number of our current students have recently been busy taking advantage of opportunities to disseminate their research. New work on success factors in information systems projects co-authored by a PhD graduate has also been accepted for publication.

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Social network analysis and festival cities: newly published article in the International Journal of Event and Festival Management

Edinburgh: a festival city

Edinburgh: a festival city

The International Journal of Event and Festival Management has just published an article that I co-authored with colleagues from the School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages at Edinburgh Napier University. The article is one of eight brought together in a special issue on the festival and event experience.

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Knowledge management, culture and Freiraum: Auernhammer and Hall’s article available in final published version

On September 19th I wrote that my colleague Dr Jan Auernhammer and I had just learnt that our article “Organizational culture in knowledge creation, creativity and innovation: towards the Freiraum model” had been accepted for publication by the Journal of Information Science. This work considers established concepts from the domain of knowledge and creativity management, and extends these to deepen understanding of how aspects of organizational culture, including leadership and social conditions, influence organizational performance in terms of (a) improving knowledge creation processes related to creativity, and (b) fostering innovation. It is based on a large empirical study conducted within a large German manufacturing firm.

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