Social media for academic profile: a presentation to HATII at the University of Glasgow

HATII signLast 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

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

Research impact from LISResearch.org to LISResearch.org.au #LISRAproject

LIS Research Coalition DREaM RiLIES logosBetween 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

Incorporating a research-minded approach to professional practice: opening keynote at EAHIL 2015 #researchminded

EAHIL tote bag logoOn 10th June 2015 I had the honour of opening the The European Association for Health Information and Libraries (EAHIL) conference, held in Edinburgh in collaboration with the International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists (ICAHIS) and the International Clinical Librarian Conference (ICLC). This event is one of a series of biennial workshops and other related events designed to support healthcare librarians and information professionals in their work.

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The future of library and information science education and research: a view from Barcelona #liser2015

Third Seminar on LIS Education and Research logo

I spent Thursday 4th and Friday 5th June 2015 in Spain as a guest of the Faculty of Library and Information Science at the University of Barcelona. Here I was one of many academics from across the world invited to join the Faculty in the celebrations of its one hundredth anniversary. These were organised around an event billed as the Third International Seminar on Library and Information Science (LIS) Education and Research (LIS-ER).

Blaise Cronin keynote speaker

Blaise Cronin keynote speaker

The main theme of the meeting was education and research in library and information science. The opening keynote presentation was delivered by Dr Blaise Cronin, Emeritus Professor at Indiana University, and Visiting Professor at the Centre for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University. There then followed a series of sessions on: LIS education in Europe; LIS education in America; LIS research in general; LIS academic journals; and research data. There was also an opportunity for those who contributed to a poster display to introduce their work in plenary. In this session the speakers invited delegates to visit an exhibition that displayed work on themes that ranged from open science to beach libraries for summer tourists.
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All set for LIS-ER 2015

Third Seminar on LIS Education and Research logo The Third International Seminar on LIS Education and Research (LIS-ER), organised by the Faculty of Library and Information Science at the University of Barcelona, takes place this week on Thursday 4th and Friday 5 June 2015.

The meeting’s theme of education and research in library and information science will be covered in conference presentations, panels, and a poster session. On Friday morning I’m speaking on the theme of challenges in LIS research, drawing on my experience of leading the implementation of the UK Library and Information Science Research Coalition between 2009 and 2012. For a preview of my presentation Meeting the challenges of LIS research: a national coalition approach, please see the slides below.
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Supporting the ‘research-minded’ librarian

EAHIL/ICAHIS/ICLC conference logoThe European Association for Health Information and Libraries (EAHIL) will be holding a workshop in Edinburgh this summer in collaboration with the International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists (ICAHIS) and the International Clinical Librarian Conference (ICLC). This event forms one of a series of biennial workshops and other related events designed to support healthcare librarians and information professionals in their work.

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Modelling information literacy from a lifelong learning perspective: new work by Christine Irving

Christine Irving

Christine Irving

Christine Irving, part-time Research Fellow in the Centre for Social Informatics (CSI) at Edinburgh Napier University, is currently working on a thesis, provisionally entitled The development of a model of information literacy from a lifelong learning perspective, for the award of PhD by Published Works. This work will draw on Christine’s long track record of research and development work on information literacy and lifelong learning undertaken between 2004 and 2010 as part of the Scottish Information Literacy Project (2004-2010), and which continues with the Scottish Information Literacy Community of Practice The right information: information skills for a 21st century Scotland. I am Christine’s Director of Studies, and Dr Alison Brettle of the University of Salford is her second supervisor. Christine is required to submit her 25,000 word thesis by September 2015.

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Facilitating collaboration: a doctoral defence in Sweden

An invitation to Borås

Yesterday I served as the opponent at a PhD defence at the University of Borås in Sweden. This was my second Nordic PhD examining experience this year, following my March trip to the Åbo Akademi University in the Finnish city of Turku to examine a thesis on social media and public libraries, as reported here.

Dr Ann-Sophie Axellson, Dr Monica Lassi, and Professor Louise Limberg

Dr Ann-Sophie Axellson, Dr Monica Lassi, and Professor Louise Limberg

The PhD candidate on this occasion was Monica Lassi who, until recently, has been working as a lecturer in the Swedish School of Library and Information Science. Monica’s work was supervised by Professor Louise Limberg and Dr Ann-Sofie Axelsson. The broad theme of Monica’s thesis entitled Facilitating collaboration: exploring a socio-technical approach to the design of a collaboratory for Library and Information Science is collaboration in library and information science (LIS) research. The focus is on the potential of designated online spaces – collaboratories – to facilitate and stimulate collaborative work related to the creating, sharing, use and re-use of data collection instruments such as interview guides, questionnaires and observation protocols.

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Addressing the research-practice gap: Facet publishes Research, evaluation and audit

Research, evaluation and audit An on-going concern of many professions, such as policing, social work, psychology, nursing, and teaching, is the “research-practice gap”, and the corresponding distance between researchers and practitioners within each community. Much of my work with the Library and Information Science (LIS) Research Coalition, and its associated projects Developing Research Excellence and Methods (DREaM) and the Research in Librarianship Impact Evaluation Study (RiLIES), sought to address the gap within LIS between 2009 and 2012.

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