Social Informatics colleagues at the School of Computing New Year research conference 2020

Posted on January 16, 2020 by Hazel Hall

Yesterday, on 15th January 2020, the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University held its annual New Year research conference. The format of the event included sessions on REF2021 led by Professor Ben Paechter and Professor Emma Hart, good practice in PhD supervision led by Professor Ahmed Al-Dubai, data management plans led by Dr Lindsay Ramage, research culture led by Dr Frances Ryan, and a series of short presentations on on-going research projects within the School. There were also good opportunities for networking in the breaks. Continue reading →

Networking as an information behaviour during job search: Emerald EarlyCite paper now available

Posted on January 13, 2020 by Hazel Hall

The article ‘Networking as an information behaviour during job search: a study of active jobseekers in the Scottish youth labour market‘, which I co-authored with Dr John Mowbray (University of Glasgow), is now available as an EarlyCite paper from the Journal of Documentation.

In the paper we show that young job seekers acquire a range of networked information throughout a variety of tasks related to job search, and demonstrate the value of active networking during this process. We also highlight that the propensity for job seekers to network is contingent on a host of factors. These include the occupational level of the job role sought, motivation to find a job, and an awareness of the utility of networking as an information behaviour. Continue reading →

Centre for Social Informatics ‘all centre’ meeting December 2019

Posted on December 22, 2019 by Hazel Hall

Social Informatcis staff and students all centre meeting December 2019

At the Social Informatics ‘All centre’ meeting, L to R: John, Peter, Lyndsey, Katherine, Rachel, Marina, Laura, Hazel, Leo, Ella, David H, David B, Frances, Colin, Wegene, and Bruce

Every six months the staff and research students from the Social Informatics group at Edinburgh Napier University gather for an ‘All centre’ celebration of their recent achievements. The December 2019 gathering took place on Wednesday 18th December, with 19 participants. The format of the meeting allowed for a maximum 5 minute update from each person. Continue reading →

What’s your reputation? Newly published research on parallels between academic and personal reputation building, management and evaluation

Posted on December 18, 2019 by Hazel Hall

Build, manage, and evaluate: information practices and personal reputations on social media platforms, has just been published in the December 2019 issue of Information Research. I co-authored this paper with Dr Frances Ryan, Peter Cruickshank, and Alistair Lawson. Its content draws on some of the findings from Frances’ doctoral study on the use of online information in the management of personal reputation. Continue reading →

30 years an academic

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Hazel Hall

Diary entry/to do list, 11th December 1989: SuperCalc anyone?

Thanks to a minor staffing difficulty at a small Edinburgh HE college, exactly 30 years ago today, on 11th December 1989, I started my career as an academic.

One month earlier, on 9th November (the day that the Berlin Wall came down) I was interviewed for, and then offered, a temporary Lecturer post in the Department of Communication and Information Studies (CIS) at Queen Margaret College (now Queen Margaret University). The main purpose of this role was to undertake the teaching duties of Senior Lecturer Jim Herring (James E Herring) for two academic terms. Jim no longer had the capacity to teach ‘his’ classes because he had recently stepped up as Acting Head of Department of CIS while Head of Department Scott Allan was covering a vacant College Vice Principal post. Continue reading →