Congratulations Dr Rachel Salzano!

Posted on July 13, 2023 by Hazel Hall

Rachel Salzano at the Usher Hall just before the start of the graduation ceremony

Congratulations to Dr Rachel Salzano, who was awarded her PhD at the Edinburgh Napier graduation ceremony at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh last Friday 7th July.

I supervised Rachel’s doctoral work alongside Dr Gemma Webster and Dr David Brazier. Given that Rachel was only five and a half months into her doctoral study when the UK went into the first of the COVID19 lockdowns* in March 2020, we consider it a real achievement that she managed to complete her empirical work, write it up, and submit her thesis in October 2022, exactly three years after joining our research group.

Rachel’s doctoral study is entitled The influence of culture on perceived use of public libraries by forced migrants in Scotland and England. Continue reading →

Information literacy competencies for career transitions in the digital age: book chapter now published

Posted on June 22, 2023 by Hazel Hall

Pete Robertson, Hazel Hall, Marina Milosheva, Peter Cruickshank

L to R: chapter co-authors Pete Robertson, Hazel Hall, Marina Milosheva, and Peter Cruickshank

Information literacy and the digitalisation of the workplace has recently been published by Facet. I picked up my copy of the book this morning when I was on campus for a meeting with my fellow co-authors of Chapter 6: Marina Milosheva, Pete Robertson, and Peter Cruickshank (pictured above). Continue reading →

Developing the Young Workforce evaluation: evidence synthesis by Marina Milosheva now available

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Hazel Hall

Developing the Young Workforce evaluation: evidence synthesis, Marina Milosheva

Marina Milosheva authored the report

Last autumn, Social Informatics Research Group PhD student Marina Milosheva completed a 13-week internship administered through the Scottish Graduate School of Social Scottish Science (SGSSS) internship scheme.

In this period, Marina worked in the Advanced Learning and Skills Analysis Unit of the Scottish Government. With a remit to improve the lives of children and young people in Scotland through raising educational standards, this Unit is a part of the Scottish Government’s Learning Directorate. Continue reading →

Applications invited for a fully-funded PhD studentship on digital literacy skills

Posted on March 27, 2023 by Hazel Hall

The successful candidate will be based at Edinburgh Napier University’s Merchiston campus

Applications are invited for a fully-funded PhD studentship within the Social Informatics Research Group at Edinburgh Napier University. The successful candidate will work with Director of Studies Dr David Haynes on a project entitled Digital literacy skill requirements for new employees and its relation to productivity in the Scottish economy. Continue reading →

Information literacy and the digitalization of the workplace: new book to be published on 13th April 2023

Posted on March 15, 2023 by Hazel Hall

Along with my co-authors Marina Milosheva, Pete Robertson, and Peter Cruickshank, I am excited to see that the details of Information literacy and the digitalization of the workplace are now available in Facet’s publishing catalogue.

The anticipated publication of the book next month on 13th April comes just over two years since its first editor Gunilla Widén (Åbo Akademi University, Finland) initially approached me about the possibility of contributing to this new work. The conversation ultimately led to the preparation of a chapter that draws primarily on some of the research that PhD student Marina Milosheva has undertaken for her ESRC/Skills Development Scotland funded doctoral study on career information literacy and career decision-making, and team discussions in Marina’s supervision meetings. In it we focus on the importance of employability information literacy and career information literacy to sustainable employment in largely digitised work environments. Continue reading →

New roles for Katherine Stephen and Rachel Salzano

Posted on March 13, 2023 by Hazel Hall

Rachel Salzano and Katherine Stephen

In October 2019 new PhD students Rachel Salzano and Katherine Stephen joined the Social Informatics Research Group at Edinburgh Napier University. Three and half years later, they are now coming to the end of their PhD journeys while settling into new work roles. Continue reading →

A conceptual framework of career information behaviour and career information literacy: new research published in ‘Information Research’

Posted on December 23, 2022 by Hazel Hall

Capturing career information use in everyday life: introducing the CIEL conceptual framework by Marina Milosheva, Hazel Hall, Peter Robertson, and Peter Cruickshank has been published. The paper features in the proceedings of Information Seeking in Context (ISIC) 2022 in a special issue of Information Research. ISIC 2022 took place between 26th and 29th September at the Berlin School of Library and Information Science at Humboldt University. Continue reading →

Funded Social Informatics PhD opportunities at Edinburgh Napier University: apply by 15th January 2023

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Hazel Hall

If you would like to study for a PhD from October 2023, the Social Informatics Research Group at Edinburgh Napier University is currently advertising the following projects:

Behaviour change for cybersecurity: Increasing awareness and reducing susceptibility – supervised by Dr JP Vargheese
A new model for information literacies of community representatives – supervised by Dr Peter Cruickshank
Online safety and digital literacy – supervised by Dr David Haynes
Organisational learning and agile coaching – supervised by Dr Pritam Chita and Dr Peter Cruickshank
Policy changes for inclusion of disabled students in HE – supervised by Dr Debbie Meharg
Privacy and identity in the metaverse – supervised by Dr David Haynes
Trust, risk and digital identity for digitally-unsure citizens – supervised by Dr Peter Cruickshank

Continue reading →

An afternoon of advice on studying part-time for a PhD

Posted on December 10, 2022 by Hazel Hall

Last month on 18th November 2022, I was delighted to take part in an event deigned for those interested in undertaking part-time doctoral studies.

The speakers at Routes and experiences of doing an LIS PhD were brought together by the committee of the Library and Information Research Group (LIRG) of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) to provide insight into the experience of undertaking a PhD while working, as well as provide practical information on topics such as making an application for a PhD place, and the different routes to earning the title of ‘Doctor‘. Continue reading →

Forced migrants, integration, and public libraries: new research published in ‘Information Research’

Posted on November 15, 2022 by Hazel Hall

forced migrants, public libraries, integration, local authorities, Scotland, research, Salzano, Hall, Webster, Brazier

Abstract of ‘Is the public library included? An analysis of local government documentation on the integration of forced migrants in Scotland’ (Salzano, Hall, Webster & Brazier, 2022)

Is the public library included? An analysis of local government documentation on the integration of forced migrants in Scotland by Rachel Salzano, Hazel Hall, Gemma Webster, and David Brazier has been published. The paper features in the Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science as the October 2022 special issue of Information Research.The 2022 CoLIS conference was held at Oslo Metropolitan University between May 29th and June 1st 2022. Continue reading →

Hazel Hall

Emeritus Professor, Edinburgh Napier University

Tag Archives: doctorate