Social Network Analysis (SNA) and LIS research: newly-published article in the Journal of Documentation

Dr Louise Cooke

My co-author: Dr Louise Cooke of Loughborough University

Last year Dr Louise Cooke of Loughborough University and I worked on a research project that explored the applicability of Social Network Analysis (SNA) to Library and Information Science research. The novelty of this work was in its assessment of the value of SNA in the context of the development of researcher networks. The findings from our empirical work, which we wrote up for publication as a research paper, indicate the potential of a methodology that could be used as a replicable framework for further development of networks in other contexts.

The manuscript of our paper was accepted for publication in the Journal of Documentation (JDoc) in December 2012. JDoc is one of the top international information science journals and regularly achieves the highest citation ratings in ISI for comparable titles.

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Sharing the DREaM blueprint: lessons in community network building from the DREaM project

rcahms logoThis afternoon I gave an invited presentation to staff at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS). The RCAHMS is Scotland’s national collection of buildings, archaeology and industry. I’d been invited to contribute to the Commission’s research seminar series not for my knowledge of history, but to share my experience of using social media to support community development. My specific remit was to distil key lessons from the AHRC-funded Developing Research Excellence and Methods (DREaM) project completed in 2012, the main aim of which was to develop a formal UK-wide network of Library and Information Science (LIS) researchers. My full presentation is available on SlideShare.

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New AHRC grant for the Centre for Social Informatics

AHRC logoThe Arts and Humanities Research Council has awarded a grant of £200,000 to the Centre for Social Informatics for a project entitled Informing the Good Society (InGSoc) to be led by my colleague Dr Alistair Duff. Over three years Alistair and the team will address three main areas: (1) population-census informatics and ethics; (2) the future of columns and electronic “punditry”; and (3) the socio-philosophical foundations of information policy. The project aims to make contributions to our understanding of the social importance of information, and to assist in the development of sound policies.

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Latest outputs from CSI projects completed in summer 2012

LIS Research Coalition DREaM RiLIES logos

Summer 2012 was a very busy time as I brought three projects hosted within the my research centre to a close: (1) the implementation of the Library and Information Science Research Coalition in July; (2) RiLIES2, also in July; and (3) the Developing Research Excellence and Methods project in August.

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