Information School News

Andrew Cox, working with Lizzie Gadd of the Lis-Bibliometrics Group, gave two workshops on the outcomes of the bibliometrics competency work  they have been doing at UKSG conference this year. The UKSG conference and exhibition is a major annual meeting of librarians, publishers and other intermediaries to consider developments in scholarly communication. http://www.uksg.org/ #UKSG17

The iSchool's Pamela McKinney (pictured right) has been giving regular reports on the LILAC conference being held in Swansea, Wales, 10-12 April, both through the iSchool's Twitter account and via the Information Literacy Weblog . She's reporting on the last day of the conference today.

Information School students have the opportunity to take part in the University’s eMentoring scheme which partners students with professionals working in their target field. Through engaging in the scheme and talking with mentors, students gain insights into particular job roles, gain valuable advice about the recruitment process and develop important industry knowledge. Students have two opportunities to register for the scheme, and are matched to a professional volunteer mentor in a relevant job role. All students who applied for the scheme in 2016-17 were successfully matched with a mentor. The student and their mentor meet virtually for 7-10 weeks to discuss technical and professional topics, share experiences of job search and recruitment and discuss applications and CVs. Students who have taken part in the scheme report that they feel better informed about their career options in their field, have improved confidence and feel better equipped to apply for jobs and attend interv...

Information School lecturer Pam McKinney and PhD student Jess Elmore will be attending the 2017 Librarian’s Information Literacy Annual Conference LILAC  in Swansea next week. LILAC is organised by the CILIP Information Literacy Group, and brings together Information Literacy practitioners and researchers with the aim of improving approaches to IL teaching across the world. Pam has a long history of presenting at LILAC with colleagues and students and is delighted to be representing the Information School at this year’s conference. Pam and Jess will be available in breaks and lunchtimes for delegates to discuss the on-campus and distance learning Masters programmes, and options for full and part time PhD study with the Information School.

The World Investment Report is the flagship annual report produced by the UN Conference on Trade and Development ( UNCTAD ). This year it will focus on the importance of investment in the digital economy, highlighting that the digital economy is increasingly a crucial aspect of national economies, both in the Global North and South. Dr Chris Foster (Information School) was part of last week’s Expert Group Meeting in Geneva, which is supporting the production of this report. His contribution was based upon his previous in-depth research on the digital economy in East Africa, as well as his work on policy constraints and drivers for effective digital innovation. The report, the first to explore the global implications of the digital economy related to foreign investment, will be released in June 2017

Matt Seddon, PhD student in the Chemoinformatics research group, has won the CINF Scholarship for Scientific Excellence at the American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco, April 2-6. The scholarship program of the Division of Chemical Information (CINF) is designed to reward graduate and postdoctoral students in chemical information and related sciences for scientific excellence. The award was made for his PhD work which he presented as a long abstract and in poster format: Global spectral and diffusion geometry descriptors of 3D molecular shape for virtual screening Authors: Matthew Seddon, David Cosgrove, Martin Packer and Val Gillet Matt also gave an oral presentation. Matt Seddon (second from right) and colleagues Matt's PhD is being funded by a BBSRC Industrial CASE Partnership Studentship in collaboration with AstraZeneca. He is supervised by Professor Val Gillet.