Centre for Social Informatics PhD student Marina Milosheva has recently learnt that both of the submissions that she made earlier in the year for Information Seeking in Context (ISIC) 2022 have been accepted. Marina will participate in the doctoral workshop, and present a full paper co-authored with her PhD supervisors (myself, Professor Pete Robertson, and Dr Peter Cruickshank) as one of the contributions to the conference programme. Continue reading
Conceptions of Library and Information Science (CoLIS) 11 opens today in Oslo, Norway. Hosted by the Department of Archivistics, Library and Information Science at Oslo Metropolitan University, the conference runs until Wednesday 1st June. Continue reading
With colleagues Dr Paul Gooding (University of Glasgow) and Amina Shah (National Library of Scotland), Dr David Brazier of the Centre for Social Informatics has been awarded an Applied Research Collaborative PhD Studentship by the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH). Continue reading
Dr Leo Appleton
I have recently published a new paper on research methods in Library and Information Science (LIS) research with Dr Leo Appleton of the Information School at Sheffield University.
This work is concerned with the data collection phase of Leo‘s part-time doctoral study completed in 2020 within the Centre for Social Informatics. For this, Leo deployed a novel multi-location longitudinal focus group method. Fifty-three participants took part in three rounds of focus group meetings in eight public library authorities in England and Scotland over a period of three years. Continue reading
Rachel Salzano
Congratulations to Centre for Social Informatics PhD student Rachel Salzano, who has won a bursary to attend the 2022 Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) conference in Liverpool on 7th and 8th July.
The award is sponsored by CILIP’s Library and Information Research Group (LIRG). The purpose of LIRG is to promote the value of information research, and strengthen links between research with practice. As a qualified librarian who is currently undertaking a doctoral study that aims to influence practice as well as contribute to the development of theory, it is fitting that Rachel has been selected for the bursary.
Find out more about Rachel’s PhD in the PhD musings on her web site Librarian Sans Library.
The public library as public sphere: a longitudinal analysis has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Documentation. I recently co-authored this article with Dr Leo Appleton (Senior University Teacher at the University of Sheffield).
In the article, Leo and I discuss the role of the UK public library as a public sphere, and the ways in which this role relates to the epistemic, community, and political functions of public libraries. The article is a major output from Leo‘s doctoral research, which he completed part-time in the Centre for Social Informatics. The findings presented in the article derive from the analysis of empirical data that Leo collected in 24 focus groups with active public library users over a period of four years. Continue reading
Why is it important to make professional connections online – especially when working remotely? How might this be achieved effectively?
Centre for Social Informatics PhD student Marina Milosheva addresses these questions in a new article for The Conversation.
In the article, Marina draws on her own ESRC/Skills Development Scotland (SDS)-funded doctoral research on career information literacy, and that of our PhD graduate John Mowbray on the role of networking and social media tools during job search (also funded by the ESRC and SDS). Continue reading
Rachel Salzano
Centre for Social Informatics PhD student Rachel Salzano is looking forward to travelling to Oslo at the end of May to present a paper accepted for Conceptions of Library and Information Science CoLIS 2022.
Co-authored with her supervision team (myself, Dr Gemma Webster and Dr David Brazier) Rachel’s paper is concerned with the findings from an element of the empirical work that she has undertaken for her doctoral study: an analysis of documents gathered from Scottish local authorities on strategies to support the integration of newcomer populations who have entered the country as a result of forced migration. The specific focus of this piece of research is the perceived role of Scottish public libraries in such efforts. Continue reading
The 2022 iConference opens today, with sessions running throughout the week until Friday 4th March. Hosted online by University College Dublin, Kyushu University, and the University of Texas at Austin, the 2022 conference theme is ‘Information for a better world: shaping the global future’. Continue reading
Edinburgh 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
Hazel Hall 