Information School News

Press: University support package hailed as 'creative and clever' Professor James Wilsdon A university bailout package announced by the government in the wake of the coronavirus crisis has been welcomed by research policy analysts. Announced on 27 June by business secretary Alok Sharma, the package includes loans to make up for the unexpected loss of a cross-subsidy from international students, plus £180 million to support salaries and laboratory costs. James Wilsdon, a professor of research policy at the University of Sheffield and director of the Research on Research Institute, told Research Professional News the package was “very welcome”. Read the rest of the article on Research Professional News here .

Dr Susan Oman Lecturer in Data, AI & Society Dr Susan Oman has had some of her research highlighted by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.    In partnership with Arts Council England, Dr Oman developed a new process to improve inequality measurement, including class background, in the UK cultural sector. Through funding from AHRC’s Creative Economy Engagement Fellowship scheme, Dr Oman’s research triggered the creation of a new network of arts and culture professionals working in publicly funded institutions which offers support in gathering and analysing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion related data. Read more here.

Blog: My Year as a Library and Information Services Management Student by Rachel Colley Rachel Colley I’ve just finished my first year of my Master’s degree which is a Library and Information Services Management degree. This course has been challenging but in a way that has pushed me further in my academic studies. It has allowed me to write various types of assignments that I have not had experience of writing before in my undergraduate degree. These experiences have shown me that I am capable of more than I thought of when it came to my academic studies and assignments and what I have achieved because of this over the past year.  Two of my favourite modules that I have had so far have been the Libraries, Information and Society as well as Leadership, Strategy and Change modules. These modules have both taught me in detail how the mechanisms of libraries work with the key different aspects along with how the management structure works within the library and information services se...

Tools for Life Research Project Seeking Views on Patient Data Dr Sarah Hargreaves We are inviting members of the public, patients, and health professionals to take part in interviews which aim to explore what people think about sharing patient data/medical records for purposes beyond their individual care, e.g.for research to improve treatments or healthcare service. We are looking for people aged 25-44 or 65 plus and from a range of different backgrounds to take part. Your participation would involve being interviewed to find out your opinions about sharing your patient data/medical record. The expected length of the interview is about an hour. This would take place at a data/time of your choosing, and via the telephone, or skype, or google hangouts. To say thank you for your time, all participants will receive a £30 Amazon voucher which will be emailed to you after the interview. If you have any questions about the study and to receive an information sheet with further details please...

Survey Results: University library support to student mental health and well-being during COVID-19 Dr Andrew Cox Andrew Cox and Liz Brewster (Medical School, Lancaster University) undertook a survey of how university libraries are supporting student mental health and well-being during COVID-19.  The survey was open from 18th to 29th May 2020. This is a brief report on some of the main results of the survey. There were a total of 59 valid responses, representing 49 different institutions (some institutions gave more than one answer). Two were from outside the UK. For the purposes of this short initial report we have not de-duplicated responses. Of the responses 17 (29%) were from library directors and 13 (22%) from staff with a particular responsibility for the subject.  We are offering limited interpretation of the data at this stage. Watch this space for a pre-print of the paper using the survey. We would like to thank everyone who participated in the survey, and those who he...

Research Seminar: Back to better? post-pandemic challenges for research cultures, policies and prioritisation. Professor James Wilsdon ** Please note that you will be sent a web address for this seminar on June 29th** Book your place here. Among the myriad disruptions and uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic, now rippling across all aspects of our social and institutional lives, within research systems, the crisis has triggered some rapid innovations in funding, peer review, dissemination and communication. What evidence and insights can we draw from these responses to help in strengthening research systems and cultures over the longer term? Can we identify wider lessons for processes of research prioritisation; for the use of rapid or flexible funding mechanisms (e.g. https://fastgrants.org/ & the Covid-19 Therapeutics Accelerator); for wider process innovations (e.g. in collaboration, review and open research); and for longer-term changes to research practices (e.g. more digita...

Press: Understanding Europe’s Fashion Data Universe Dr Alessandro Checco We are pleased to share coverage of the School's FashionBrain project on CORDIS website. The feature has been published in six languages.  Using technology and big data, a team of European researchers is developing a number of tools to help fashion retailers improve the customer experience... You can read the article here.

Research: The Information Worlds of Informal Carers From Inform II Magazine June 8th-14th 2020 marks  Carers Week  and we're taking a look back at some research featured in our  Inform II Magazine  about The Information Worlds of Informal Carers by Sheila Webber and Dr Pam McKinney.  Here is the original article written by Richard Spencer, Sheila Webber and Dr Pam McKinney: The combination of an ageing population, and the increasing frequency of people moving around the country to follow their ambitions is causing untold numbers of people real difficulties when it comes to caring for their elderly or infirm relatives whilst in different locations. ‘The original stimulus for the research was my experience of caring for my own mother at a distance’, says Senior Lecturer Sheila Webber, who is researching these issues with Dr Pam McKinney. ‘She was in Sussex whilst I was in Sheffield, and although I consider myself information literate, I was very stressed by the in...

Blog: My Year as a Librarianship Student By Bethan Morgan Bethan studied our Librarianship MA Whilst being in the midst of impending deadlines and the dread of job applications, I thought it would be a good opportunity to reflect on my year as an MA Librarianship student and a student ambassador for the Information School. Although it is fair to say that certain events (aka a global pandemic) have meant that my experience has been far from normal, it has nevertheless been a highly enjoyable and rewarding year.  I have to say that I was slightly perplexed to be given a box of lego during the first session of ‘Information Organisation’ in Semester 1. However, it very quickly became entirely natural to start arranging the bricks into different categories on a table in the library (probably resulting in a few strange looks). I think this best sums up what I liked most about the course, which is the range of teaching methods and assignments within each module. For example, for ‘Informat...

Blog: My Year as a Librarianship Student By Fernando Bravo  Fernando studied Librianship in 2019/20 Hello everyone, I am writing this text for prospective students interested in the University of Sheffield Information School. I’m a mature and international student who planned to study the MA Librarianship a long time ago after working some years in University, Public and National Libraries. The time here has been challenging, the overall course is one of the best in the world and with a very good reputation between the librarian community, certified for one of the most important professional associations in the world. U.K library information association: CILIP . During the course I have had the opportunity to assist activities related to my field, for instance, a Reference Training Session in the British Library in London, a session in Manchester with new professionals , also in Sheffield I visited the headquarters of the Children Library Service and the children book award , as w...

Media: How TikTok got political By Penny CS Andrews   Our PhD Researcher in information, media and communication, Penny CS Andrews, has written a piece for The Conversation.  They discuss how Tik Tok has become a platform for political messages.  You can read their article here.

Blog: My Year as an Information Systems Student Ying Ji Ying Ji at the BBC I am an MSc Information System student this academic year, and also a Student Ambassador for the Information School. The year of living and studying in the iSchool has given me a very deep and beautiful memory. The Information School provides a variety of courses for student learning. In the two semesters, I have learned the knowledge related to information system modelling, planning and organization management, taken programming (JAVA), database design and business intelligence as my optional modules. In addition, I learned about the legal and ethical issues of computing and information systems in society, which expanded my background knowledge.  At University, we have lots of different learning methods such as lectures, seminars, lab classes and group meetings. In my opinion, most of these courses are based on the case of the enterprise work, so that students can be familiar with future real work tasks and...