An afternoon of Social Informatics lightning talks

Hazel Hall, Brian Detlor

Professors Brian Detlor & Hazel Hall

Dr Brian Detlor, Visiting Professor to the Social Informatics Research Group at Edinburgh Napier University, has been in the Edinburgh for the past week. Last Friday I was pleased to participate in one of the events organised to mark Brian’s visit: a lightening talk showcase of some the excellent research undertaken by researchers in the Social Informatics Research Group.

My own presentation was about the AHRC/Creative Informatics funded Platform to Platform project that I completed last year with Dr Bruce Ryan (PI) and Dr Iain McGregor (Co-I). This work involved the creation of a podcast series based on Lorna Lloyd’s Diary of the war, and an assessment audience engagement with archives in two different digital formats – (1) a Blipfoto journal of text and images, and (2) sound in podcast episodes. The slides for my presentation are available on SlideShare. Continue reading

An evening at Lambeth Palace for the 2022 Janette Harley Award ceremony and the 2023 Maurice Bond Memorial Lecture

Last Wednesday I was delighted to travel to Lambeth Palace to attend the 2022 Janette Harley Award ceremony, and to hear the 2023 Maurice Bond Memorial Lecture. Continue reading

The power of audio – presenting archives via podcasts: submission accepted for Shaking the archive conference, Edinburgh, June 2023

Along with my colleagues Dr Bruce Ryan, Marianne Wilson, and Dr Iain McGregor, I am delighted that the submission that we made earlier this year to the Shaking the archive – reconsidering the role of archives in contemporary society conference has been accepted. Continue reading

National award recognises the Platform to Platform project: British Records Association Janette Harley Prize 2022 runner-up

LogoThe Edinburgh Napier University team that worked on the Platform to Platform (P2P) project to transform Lorna Lloyd’s Diary of the war into a podcast series is delighted to have learnt that this work has been highly commended as a runner-up for the British Records Association’s (BRA) 2022 Janette Harley Prize. This prize, awarded in memory of archivist Janette Harley (1951-2015), is intended to generate interest in archives, and raise awareness of research and achievements in the world of archives. Continue reading

Platform to Platform project presentation at the Creative Informatics showcase

creative informatics logoYesterday afternoon, Bruce Ryan and I headed over to Inspace to participate in the latest Creative Informatics showcase event organised by Vikki Jones and Caitlin McDonald. Members of eight project teams gave short presentations on their research, most of which have been funded in the last couple of years through small research grants. Continue reading

Spreading the word of Lorna Lloyd’s ‘Diary of the war’ podcast series at #ARA2022 and #BBCat100

Members of the Platform to platform (P2P) and Heritage organisations and podcasts: scoping study (HOPSS) project teams from the Centre for Social Informatics have enjoyed presenting their work at two conferences this month. First, at the start of September I attended part of the Archives and Records Association’s annual conference 2022 in Chester. Then, with my colleagues Dr Bruce Ryan and Marianne Wilson, I spent most of last week in Bradford at the BBC at 100 Symposium. Continue reading

Case study on the creative use of digitised archives: presentation on Lorna Lloyd’s ‘Diary of the War’ podcast series at #BBCat100

Bradford City Hall

Bradford City Hall

The BBC at 100 symposium is taking place in Bradford, and online, this week.

This afternoon (Wednesday 14th September) I’m presenting on a panel about the creative use of digital archives. This will be with reference to the production of the podcast series of Lorna Lloyd’s Diary of the war.

Supported by AHRC funding through the Creative Informatics programme, the Platform to Platform project team at Edinburgh Napier University worked on the podcast series between February and July 2022. We combined a personal chronicle of the early months of World War II with contemporaneous news material, some of which was sourced from the BBC Archive. Continue reading

How does engagement with an archive differ depending on its digital format? Preview of presentation on Lorna Lloyd’s Diary of the war at #ARA2022

This afternoon, I am delivering a paper on the Platform to platform (P2P) project at the Archives and Records Association’s annual conference, 2022 in Chester. In my presentation, I will be addressing two main questions.

  1. How do people engage with an archive digitised as a ‘performance’ in a non-fiction podcast series?
  2. How does this engagement compare with that when the audience accesses the same core archive material as online text and images?

Continue reading

The creative use of digitised archives: roundtable to be presented at the BBC at 100 Symposium

The BBC at 100 symposium, organised by Dr Marcus Collins, Reader in Contemporary History and AHRC BBC 100 Fellow at Loughborough University, takes place at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, and online, between 13th and 15th September 2022. A team from the Centre for Social Informatics (CSI), with a colleague from the BBC Archive, is delighted to be presenting at this event. Continue reading

Centre for Social Informatics ‘all centre’ meeting June 2022

Social Informatics Research Group Edinburgh Napier University selfie

Dr Peter Cruickshank, Dr David Brazier, Dr David Haynes, Dr Hazel Hall, Katherine Stephen, Dr Bruce Ryan, and Dr JP Vargheese pose for a post-meeting selfie

For the first time since 18th December 2019, this week members of my research group gathered for an end of year ‘all centre’ meeting to celebrate our recent research highlights.

Although not everyone could make it on this occasion, those who could enjoyed spending the afternoon of Wednesday 22nd June together. We took it in turns to deliver short personal updates to the rest of the group on our own research. We also read out details sent to us by email from those who could not participate in person, and gave each absent colleague a round of applause. Continue reading