Conceptions of Library and Information Science (CoLIS) is a series of international conferences that provides a broad forum for the exploration and exchange of ideas in the field of Library and Information Science, Information Studies, and related disciplines. The ninth conference, which opens today and runs until Wednesday 29th June, has been organised by the Department of ALM, Uppsala University and the Division of ALM, Lund University and takes place in Uppsala, Sweden. If you would like to follow the conference remotely over the next three days, the Twitter hashtag is #CoLIS9. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Centre for Social Informatics
Dr Brian Detlor appointed Visiting Professor at Edinburgh Napier University
Congratulations to Dr Brian Detlor on his appointment as Visiting Professor to the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University. This appointment formalises Brian’s long-standing relationship with staff and research students in the Centre for Social Informatics.
Brian is currently Chair of Information Systems in the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, Ontario, Canada. He is an international scholar who bridges the academic fields of information systems, information science, and business having published extensively in both the information systems and information science disciplines. His work has appeared in leading international journals such as the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, the Journal of Information Science, the Journal of Management Information Systems, the Information Systems Journal, and the Communications of the ACM. Continue reading
Centre for Social Informatics success at the Edinburgh Napier University research conference 2016 #NapRes16

CSI colleagues Iris Buunk, Dr Laura Muir, Marwa Salayma (Centre for Distributed Computing, Networking and Security), Dr Tom Kane, John Mowbray, Lyndsey Jenkins, & Frances Ryan
The Centre for Social Informatics had a very successful day at Edinburgh Napier University’s 2016 Research Conference last Wednesday. We presented our work in three of the sessions: Continue reading
Social media for academic profile: a presentation to HATII at the University of Glasgow
Last Tuesday I was a guest of colleagues at the Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII) at the University of Glasgow. They invited me over to give a presentation on social media for academic profile building along the lines of previous talks that I have given on the subject. It was Dr Ian Anderson who suggested me as a speaker having attended a training session on this theme that I ran at iDocQ in 2014. Continue reading
Vacancy: Edinburgh Napier Principal’s Research Fellowships – apply by July 1st 2016
Edinburgh Napier University is currently advertising a great opportunity for anyone keen to focus on their research over the next five years with the ambition of promotion to Associate Professor. The University’s Principal’s Research Fellowships offer a five-year contract with a salary in the range of £37,768 to £46,414, and include an attractive support package. Continue reading
Frances Ryan presents on online reputation management at #DARTS5
Centre for Social Informatics PhD student Frances Ryan is an invited speaker at the 5th annual Discover Academic Research, Training, and Support (DARTS) conference.
This two day event, which takes place today and tomorrow at Dartington Hall in Devon, focuses on engendering (digital) research culture. It includes sessions on open access publishing, embedding digital research in teaching, bibliometrics, and information literacy. Follow the conference on Twitter using hashtag #darts5. Continue reading
Strategies for building and assessing the long-term impact of research projects: closing plenary at #QQML2016
Today I am at Senate House in London as an invited speaker at the 8th International Conference on Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries. The conference has a packed programme of over 150 contributions. It started on Tuesday morning and ends with my presentation. Entitled What happens next? Strategies for building and assessing the long-term impact of research projects, the presentation covers four main themes: Continue reading
Dr Heidi Julien gives presentation on models and discontents to the Centre for Social Informatics
Last week we welcomed Dr Heidi Julien to the Centre for Social Informatics (CSI). Heidi is Professor and Chair of the Department of Library and Information Studies in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Buffalo in the US.
On the afternoon of Tuesday 17th May, Heidi gave a research seminar entitled Models and my discontents, the content of which prompted much discussion amongst the staff and research students within CSI. Continue reading
New funding for information literacy project
The Centre for Social Informatics has won funding to investigate levels of digital and information literacy within Scotland’s Community Council system in a project entitled Information Literacy for Democratic Engagement (IL-DEM). The award has been granted by the CILIP Information Literacy Group.
Peter Cruickshank, Dr Bruce Ryan and I will explore how community councillors develop the skills required to inform and engage with the citizens that they represent, and how libraries support this work. It will build on two established research streams within the Centre for Social Informatics: Cruickshank and Ryan’s work on digital engagement in local democracy (such as our recent DigiCC workshops), and my work with Christine Irving on information literacy and life-long learning. It will also build on our group’s track record in library and information science research. Continue reading
Research impact from LISResearch.org to LISResearch.org.au #LISRAproject
Between 2009 and 2012 I led the implementation of the UK’s Library and Information Science Research Coalition. The broad mission of the Coalition was to facilitate a coordinated and strategic approach to Library and Information Science (LIS) research across the UK, strengthening links between LIS researchers and LIS practitioners, and between research and practice. This was achieved through the activities of the Coalition as a whole, and its ‘daughter’ projects: Developing Research Excellence and Methods (DREaM), and the two-part Research in Librarianship Impact Evaluation Study. Continue reading


