Information School News

Dr Alasdair Rae Senior Lecturer in Urban Studies and Planning 28th April 2016 | 12 noon | RC-204 Lecture Room in Information School, Regent Court No need to book. In this talk I discuss some recent data-driven projects, covering housing markets, commuting, internet search and neighbourhood deprivation. These projects involve collaboration with partners or funders such as Rightmove, Google, the Bank of England, the Department for Transport and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. What they all have in common is that I was seeking to find answers in data and communicate the results in visually meaningful ways, in order to make some kind of contribution to policy, practice or understanding. This kind of approach often helps capture the attention of policymakers and draw attention to important issues. In this sense, then, it takes numbers out of the domain of data and towards information and knowledge and, it is hoped, wisdom (i.e. 'what should we do?'). But s...

An article entitled ‘Back to School: a Student Insight into LIS Qualifications, the LIS Sector and What it can Offer to New Professionals’ by Information School student Josephine Bailey was recently published in the Legal Information Management journal.  Josephine’s article offers a student’s perspective of LIS qualifications and the current challenges for professionals. Further information on the article can be found here.

The Data Science Forum aims to provide a catalyst for networking and the sharing of knowledge between industry/business practitioners, academics and students on topics related to Data Science.  The Forum is organised by the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University for data professionals located within the city of Sheffield and surrounding areas. The first forum meeting will take place on 4 May 2016, 7:00pm - 9:00pm, Richard Roberts Building, University of Sheffield. The evening will include a talk from Christopher Hopkinson- Virgin Media Title: Understanding Processes and Experiences from Event Data Abstract : In a large organisation, understanding the myriad of processes and experiences can be a complex task. Traditional Business Process Analysis methods rely on interviews and observations which are then documented by a Business Analyst. By focusing on event data generated by source systems we can build an alternative view of processes and...

Interested in a flexible work placement during term time or vacation period?  Bursaries of £1000 available!  The Postgraduate Advantage  Scheme is still accepting applications and  w e would particularly like to see more applications from Information School students.  Successful applicants will receive a bursary from the University to undertake an internship of 100 hours, which  can take place at any time before the end of July 2016. You can fit the hours around your studies.  To take part in the scheme, you first need to find an internship. You can either source and secure your own in an area that interests you (help on the PAS website is given), or apply for one which we have already found via myVacancies.  Roles which are still available include: Data Scientist (particularly keen to attract students from the Information School) Marketing Intern Project Coordinator Conversions Analyst Or...

18th April 2016, 13:00 - 15:00 - Room 205, Information School Applying for jobs? •    What are employees looking for in your CV? •    How do you deal with complicated online application forms? This will be an interactive session run by careers advisor, Sarah Kettlewell that will help iSchool students to improve their CVs and provide advice on how to get the most out of online job applications. This session is particularly recommended for Information School Masters students. For further details and to book a place click the eventbrite link here

A paper co-authored with Professor Peter Bath and Gianluca Demartini titled The Role of Social Media for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Management was presented by PhD student Wasim Ahmed at the Sheffield Institute for International Development (SIID). SIID is an interdisciplinary research body comprising of staff and postgraduate students from various disciplines within the University of Sheffield.  The theme for this year’s Conference was “”Emerging Challenges facing Development and Development Studies”. A link to the slides can be found here.

An article entitled ‘Ethical Challenges of Using Twitter as a Data Source’ by PhD student  Wasim Ahmed   was recently published by the Multimedia Information & Technology (MmIT) journal. In its 40th year of publication the MmIT has over 3,000 subscribers world-wide, with readership comprised of librarians, teachers, academics, and media and ICT specialists.

Information School PhD student Sukaina Edheed presented her research poster 'Social media, Young Libyans and the 2011 uprising: an exploratory study of young Libyans' perceptions of the impact of social media during the period 2011-15' at the recent 2016 iConference, Philadelphia, US. Sukaina's research investigates young Libyans' perceptions of the impact of social media in relation to the Libyan revolution and the post-revolutionary events during 2011-2015.

Having spent 15 years researching public libraries and trying to emphasise their contribution to education and society as a whole, you might expect that I’d be delighted at the good news that our public libraries are finally receiving the media attention and recognition they deserve? Sadly not. The recent boon in media interest is of course linked to a large-scale BBC investigation into the “real” picture of library closures, staff redundancies and budget cuts which have taken place since 2010, the year in which UK Chancellor George Osborne “ unveiled the biggest UK spending cuts for decades ”. I was one of a number of people interviewed as part of the investigation, and have been quoted in two depressingly entitled articles: one on how a quarter of staff jobs have been lost as hundreds of libraries close and another entitled “ Libraries: the decline of a profession ?” The first article presented some stark statistics — based on an extensive series of Freedo...