Four new projects for the Centre for Social Informatics

Social informatics research group blog headerCongratulations to Centre for Social Informatics colleagues Dr Peter Cruickshank, Dr David Haynes, Dr Bruce Ryan, and Dr Frances Ryan on securing internal Edinburgh Napier University funding for four new research projects. Continue reading

Opportunities for PhD students to undertake placements at the British Library, 2022/3

British Library logoSometimes I wish that I were still a PhD student…

The British Library is currently advertising 15 placement projects for PhD students across a number of departments. The projects last for 3 months, can be undertaken in full-time or part-time mode, and where the nature of the project allows it, some or all of the work may be undertaken remotely.

The earliest start date for projects is June 2022, and the latest completion date is March 2023. The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 25 February 2022. Continue reading

Richard Godden joins the Platform to platform team

Richard Godden

Richard Godden

Just ahead of its formal start date of 2nd February 2022, I am delighted to share the news that Richard Godden will be contributing to Phase 1 of our Platform to platform (P2P) project. Richard is to play the newsreader in the non-fiction narrative podcast series based on the World War II diary of Lorna Lloyd. His role will comprise recording contemporaneous print news coverage of the events that Lorna chronicles in her diary.

Richard’s interest in acting was first encouraged at school in Edinburgh. However, he considers his first ‘proper’ role ‘a frightened and half-naked Pict’ in a University of Manchester production, played when an undergraduate.  After he completed his studies in Continue reading

Goodbye 2021, hello 2022

fireworksEdinburgh Napier University opened its doors again this morning after the Christmas break. This, however, is metaphorical reopening for me. As record numbers of Covid19 cases are reported in Scotland (and the UK as a whole), I will be continuing my research and PhD supervision activities off-campus from home. Continue reading

Applications open for 8 fully-funded PhD studentship places within the School of Computing, Edinburgh Napier University

PhD supervisors Dr Frances Ryan, Dr David Haynes, Debbie Meharg, Dr David Brazier

PhD supervisors of the Centre for Social Informatics invite applications from new students

The School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University is currently advertising eight fully-funded PhD studentships across a wide range of subjects, from sound technologies to cybersecurity. Amongst these are four proposed by Centre for Social Informatics colleagues: Continue reading

Masters graduation day for Social Informatics PhD students John Marshall and Marianne Wilson

John Marshall and Marianne WilsonCongratulations to Centre for Social Informatics PhD students John Marshall and Marianne Wilson, who will be awarded their MSc(R) degrees by the University of Edinburgh today. John and Marianne undertook this degree as the first funded year of their 1+3 ESRC/Skills Development Scotland doctoral programmes, awarded by the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science.

Study for the MSc(R) degree at the University of Edinburgh  comprises core training in social science research methods with modules on research design, data collection, and data analysis, and elective specialist modules specific to individuals’ research interests and needs. Continue reading

Introducing ‘Platform to platform: an investigation into audience engagement with digitised archives and its transformative impact across different online formats’

Lorna Lloyd and Bethany Ray

World War II diarist Lorna Lloyd (left) will be voiced by her great-great niece actor Bethany Ray (right) in a new podcast series, to be released in May 2022

A new project will be hosted by the Centre for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University from February until July 2022. Platform to platform: an investigation into audience engagement with digitised archives and its transformative impact across different online formats (P2P) was recently selected as one of the latest projects for support of the AHRC-funded Creative Informatics small research grants scheme. Continue reading

A presentation by Dr Morgan Harvey on egovernment services and the digital divide

Given that my last in-person research seminar was early last year on 19th February 2020 (when I was the speaker at an event at the University of Glasgow), I was very excited to venture onto campus ten days ago on 17th November 2021 to welcome a visitor to the Centre for Social Informatics. At the invitation of Dr David Brazier, Dr Morgan Harvey, Lecturer in Data Science and Information Retrieval in the Information School at the University of Sheffield, kindly travelled to Edinburgh to present the findings from some research that he conducted when employed at Northumbria University. He also took advantage of the trip north to work with David on revisions to a paper that they have recently co-authored. Continue reading

European Conference on Information Literacy 2021 (#ECIL2021) videos available

Although we have sorely missed opportunities to travel and hear in person about the research of our colleagues from across the world due to the pandemic restrictions, one advantage of the move to online delivery is that much conference presentation material of recent months has been captured as video.

A case in point is the European Conference on Information Literacy 2021 (ECIL2021), hosted by the University of Bamberg in September 2021. The ECIL YouTube channel now holds 113 video-recorded presentations from the conference, including those presented by two Centre for Social Informatics colleagues. Continue reading

A warm welcome to ‘new’ staff and student colleagues to the Centre for Social Informatics

new csi colleagues November 2021

New Centre for Social Informatics colleagues, autumn 2021

Today the Centre for Social Informatics welcomes its newest member of staff: Dr Frances Ryan has taken up a lecturing post with us. This is a return to our group at Edinburgh Napier University for Frances: she graduated from Napier with a PhD in July 2019. In the intervening time, Frances has been engaged in postdoctoral research, first here at Napier and then at the Universities of Dundee and Aberdeen. Continue reading