Information School News

Professor of Search Analytics Paul Clough has been giving a selection of lectures at Devon County Council as part of their education programme. One of Paul's lectures was recently picked up in The Data Dispatch, a blog from Devon County Council. Read the blog here:  https://inside.devon.gov.uk/blogs/blog/the-data-dispatch-telling-stories/

Launch of Sheffield Metascience Network (MetaNet) This workshop aims to bring together researchers across the University Sheffield with an interest in metascience, or research on research. Book here. About this Event Worldwide, interest continues to intensify in how research is funded, practiced and evaluated, and in how research systems and culture can become more robust, open, inclusive and impactful. A growing number of researchers, from diverse disciplinary starting points, are applying novel methods, network and data analysis to the scientific process itself. But research on research—sometimes called metascience, meta-research or science of science—remains poorly joined-up. More effort is needed to develop theoretical frameworks, standardize methods, strengthen networks, and test the transferability of approaches from one context to others. Sheffield is active across these agendas: for example, through its membership of the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN); its recent appointment...

Writer, researcher and Information School PhD student Phoenix C S Andrews has recently signed a book deal with Atlantic Books, who will release Andrews’ book I Heart Politics: Why Fandom Explains What’s Really Going On in 2022. "From Brexit rallies to the Capitol Hill Riot and QAnon to Extinction Rebellion, I Heart Politics argues that to understand what’s really happening behind the headlines we need to think about one overlooked phenomenon: fandom”, the synopsis reads. Whilst this is an area not explicitly related to Phoenix’s PhD study, it’s something that they have been interested in and writing about for some time. Fandoms and politics may not seem obviously linked at first, but at their core, fandoms are about the shared emotional attachments that people have to certain ideas, people or media. For many, this can certainly extend to individual politicians, political parties, campaigns or even politics as a whole, whether or not the fans themselves realise it. “Lots of peopl...

Senior Lecturer Dr Paul Reilly will give a talk entitled  Digital Contention in a divided society: social media, parades and protests in Northern Ireland on the 25th February, 4-5pm, for the Interdisciplinary Digital Research Group at Dublin City University. The talk is part of their 2021 Hybrid Research Seminar Series, featuring new books and research projects in the interdisciplinary space of humanities and social sciences. How are platforms such as Facebook and Twitter used by citizens to frame contentious parades and protests in ‘post-conflict’ Northern Ireland? What do these contentious episodes tell us about the potential of information and communication technologies to promote positive intergroup contact in the deeply divided society? These are the questions addressed in the talk. Register to attend this event (via Zoom) here: https://dcu-ie.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lHqPCJ4LRoO-bl-thpOUfw

New research from the Universities of Sheffield and Leeds could improve hand hygiene in office settings using new ‘smart’ hand sanitisers Developed by British hand hygiene technology company, Savortex, the smart sanitisers can provide real-time data on how often people use them, send reminders to staff to sanitise their hands and help companies refill sanitisers more effectively Partnership shows how research can quickly develop new solutions for battling the pandemic Good hand hygiene is a proven, effective method for preventing the spreading of viruses including Covid-19 'Smart' hand sanitisers that can provide data on workplace hand hygiene are being trialled across the country, as part of research by the Universities of Sheffield and Leeds into how best to engage people with the latest Covid-19 workplace hand hygiene guidance. The new technology can grab the attention of the users with integrated video screens to display the latest workplace hand hygiene guidance and provid...

CILIP Accreditation - Success! We are thrilled to announce that  the following PGT programmes have now been re-accredited by CILIP through to the end of 2025. MA / PG Diploma Librarianship. Full-time and part-time. MSc / PG Diploma Information Management. Full-time and part-time. MSc /PG Diploma Information Systems. Full-time and part-time. MSc / PG Diploma Data Science. Full-time and part-time MA / PG Diploma Library & Information Services Management. Part-time by distance learning CILIP’s learning provider accreditation is designed to help students choose library, information and archive career programmes that cover the essential skills and knowledge, and have been rigorously assessed.  All programmes are assessed using the Professional Knowledge and Skills Base (PKSB) tool which identifies the core knowledge and skills of the profession. The PKSB is a flexible and practical tool which has been designed to be straight forward and comprehensive in order to capture the m...