Iris Buunk and John Mowbray
Welcome to Iris Buunk and John Mowbray, new research students within the Centre for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University. I am the Director of Studies for both students.
Frances Ryan takes the stage
Hot on the heels of fellow Edinburgh Fringe performer Clare Taylor, last night it was the turn of Edinburgh Napier University research student Frances Ryan to step up to the microphone. Frances delivered an invited presentation at The Banshee Labyrinth (fringe venue 156) under the banner of the Edinburgh Skeptics.
iDocQ, the annual doctoral colloquium for students studying for PhDs in information science and other related disciplines, took place this year on 27th June at the University of Glasgow. It attracted participants at all stages of doctoral study, with students travelling to Glasgow from as far away as Aberystwyth to join in the activities on the day.
Professor Blaise Cronin
Dr Blaise Cronin, Rudy Professor of Information Science, Indiana University is Visiting Professor to the Centre for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University. Next week he will be on our Merchiston campus to deliver a presentation entitled “Beethoven vs. Bieber: On the meaningfulness of (alt)metrics” (abstract below) as part of the School of Computing/Institute for Informatics and Digital Innovation Tech Talk series.
Back in March I put out a call from this blog to fellow library and information professionals to contribute to a research project on the use of Google+. Grant Charters, one of my final year project students in 2013/14, had designed a survey to collect data for a project entitled Social platforms as business tools: An investigation into the use of Google+ by librarians for their professional development and in library and information services delivery. Grant was keen to consult with a range of professionals who work in libraries and information services to find out about their use on Google+ to support services delivery and/or for their own professional development.
Conference dinner at the National Museum of Scotland by Kate Cowan, @katecowan
This year’s ESRC final year conference was hosted by the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science. I was pleased join the delegates at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) on Friday 25th April as one of the presenters.
The heavy emphasis on research impact, career pathways, and sources of future funding at the conference was well-suited to the needs of the delegates, the majority of whom were doctoral students approaching their final submission dates. I also enjoyed talking to the students about their research and career aspirations in the breaks between sessions, and during the poster display at the drinks reception immediately prior to the conference dinner.
Tomorrow I’m presenting a workshop on using social media for impact at the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) 2014 Final Year Conference (hash tag #esrcphd). This takes place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), and is hosted by the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science.
This week my colleague Dr Eve Forrest has been participating at the Helsinki Photomedia conference in Finland. Today Eve is presenting our co-authored paper Between exhibition and contemplation: considering everyday routines on Blipfoto in a session entitled “Non-professional photography: practices and power”.
This is a call to fellow library and information professionals to contribute to a research project on the use of Google+. If you work in the library, information and knowledge sector, please read on to learn more about the project and how you can contribute to it.
Finland experienced a fresh covering of snow last week
I have examined quite a few PhDs over the course of my career, both in English and in French, but until last week I had not had the opportunity to participate in a doctoral defence at a Nordic university. Last week I travelled to Åbo Akademi University in the Finnish city of Turku to serve as the opponent at the PhD defence of a thesis (in English) entitled Social media and public libraries: exploring information activities of library professionals and users.
Hazel Hall 