Information School News

Tuesday 4th December 2018 was the date of our annual ‘industry day’ event organised for students on the MSc Data Science programme. The event invites speakers from various sectors in industry to share their experiences with utilising machine learning, AI and data science for applications within their domain. This year speakers from 6 organisations presented at the event: · Billy Blythe, Head of Data Science, Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) · Leanne Fitzpatrick, Head of Data, Hello Soda · Lauren Rodgers, Data Scientist, and Tom Liptrot, Head of Data Science, Peak.ai · Lisa Clark, Data Scientist, Virgin Media Business (VMB) · Ben Chamberlain, Head of Machine Learning, AOS.com · Hayden Sansum, Senior Data Scientist, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Speakers discussed various topics such as the challenges, benefits and technologies involved in utilising data-driven analytical methods; current technological trends; and what role data scie...

On the 28th of November I had the opportunity to attend the CILIP briefing on ‘Skills for the future academic library’ through a bursary from the Information School and CILIP. The event saw library practitioners and researchers present their findings and experiences of academic libraries, with a focus on what skills and developments they foresaw as particularly important for the future. The day began with Stephen Pinfield’s presentation on the 2017 SCONUL report on ​ ‘ Mapping the Future of Academic Libraries ’ ​ by Stephen Pinfield, Andrew Cox and Sophie Rutter. This presentation introduced the concept of expanding our understanding of skills beyond traditional hard and soft skills, adding ethics and values, mindsets, and contextual knowledge as useful types of skills for LIS professionals to  consider. Values and mindsets As the professional landscape changes, LIS professionals require not only different skills, but changes in mindsets. Regina Everitt from the Unive...