Information School News

MSc Information Systems Management graduate Haijuan Li studied with us 2019-20. She now works as a Product Operation Engineer for AISHU Information Technology Co Ltd . Below, Haijuan shares her experiences. I was working in banking as a software test engineer before my postgraduate course in Sheffield. I decided to study a master's programme mainly because I would like to change position. I also thought a new learning programme would give me new skills for my future career. I was being interested in improving productivity for organisations via computer technologies since starting my first career. Also, I wanted to gain some knowledge of general management. So, I decided to study the MSc Information Systems Management at the University of Sheffield. Now, I am employed by the AISHU IT corporate in Shanghai as a product operation engineer. The product I operate is a kind of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) platform/service. Being this role, I need to know as much as possible about ...

“There’s an imposter syndrome for anyone starting in a new area of work, and the MA helped me to gain the confidence to know I wasn’t just guessing at what I was doing because it was something I’d actually studied”, says Roisin Cassidy, an alum of the Information School currently working as Head of Internal Communications for Education at University College London. Both during her studies and after graduating from our MA Librarianship course in 2014, Roisin has held several information related roles both within Higher Education and outside it, with a career that took her in more directions than she ever even knew existed when she started out. Originally from Ireland, Roisin moved to Yorkshire in 2010 to undertake a graduate traineeship at Leeds University Library. It was after this role concluded that she applied to the Information School, studying the MA Librarianship part-time over two years. “One of the things I really liked about studying the Librarianship course was that it was a ...

Dr. Nipon Parinyavuttichai, who graduated with a PhD from the Information School in 2011, recently earned a certificated of recognition from the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) for his continuing support for social improvement in Thailand. ThaiHealth is a state agency with the mission to inspire, motivate, coordinate, and empower individuals and organizations in all sectors for the enhancement of health promotion, working towards a healthy society and environment. Dr. Parinyavuttichai‘s latest contribution involves the initiation of a volunteer engagement program from various professional fields to help the Cha-choeng-sao municipality create a 10-year strategic plan to provide older people with better provision in various ares such as healthcare services, education, information technology, architecture and social welfare. Dr. Parinyavuttichai applies information theories learned from the Information School, coupled with other information management strategies...

Doctoral student Wasim Ahmed recently visited Harvard University to meet Information School Alumnus Ann Hall who is the Director of Communication at The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.  Ann studied at the Information School from 1990 to 1991 graduating with an MSc in Information Studies, where she was a student with our current Head of School, Professor Peter Bath. Wasim noted that it was a great opportunity to look around the iconic Harvard Campus with a dinner at the famous Grendel’s Den at Harvard Square, and was very grateful for the visit.

Last week, members of the Information School attended the 2017 iConference in Wuhan, China. One of our PhD students, Wasim Ahmed, gives his highlights below, along with some of his photos from the trip. --- My highlights from my trip included me presenting a poster on my pilot study from my PhD, and which received good interest from delegates, particularly concerning the methodology that was used. A number of very useful connections were made from across the world, and there was a lot of interest in the 2018 edition of the iConference which will take place in Sheffield  hosted in collaboration with Northumbria University.   I also enjoyed visiting the Yellow Crane Tower, Hubei Provincial Museum, the East Lake, Wuhan, and the Yangtze River. Wuhan is a beautiful city, and the people are very friendly. I read online that the people in Wuhan are unusually nice, and I have to say that this is very true and I felt very welcome in the city. I...

Sheila Webber presented an invited talk on Information Literacy in Europe, MIL and Sustainable Development Goals , as part of the IFLA Information Literacy Section's session at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Columbus, Ohio, USA on 16 August. The powerpoint is embedded below. Another invited presenter in the session was Dr Jesus Lau , Director, Research Center on Veracruzana University Documentation, México and an alumnus of the Information School's doctoral programme, who talked about the UNESCO Media and information literacy (MIL) assessment guidelines, and MIL in Latin America.

Join us for an afternoon of networking and to learn about your School’s successes, current activities and student projects. Date:  27 November 2015 Time:  3:00pm Location:  ispace,  Information School , The University of Sheffield, Regent Court, 211 Portobello Street, Sheffield, S1 4DP Dress code:  Smart Casual Registration and refreshments are at 3:00pm and the event includes:  3:15pm Welcome address 3:45pm Current student projects 4:00pm Refreshments and networking 4:30pm Facilities tour 5:30pm Close There is also a further networking opportunity with staff and alumni at  Inox Dine  at 5:45pm. Please contact Teresa Smith, t.j.smith @sheffield.ac.uk   by  30 October 2015 if you would like to attend the event.       

Two graduates from our MA Librarianship programme are featured on the "23 Librarians" blog this month. They talk about their current jobs and how they got there: Anneli Sarkanen (Senior Information Officer (Law), Field Fisher Waterhouse, London) https://23librariansengland.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/senior-information-officer-law-field-fisher-waterhouse-london/ Karen Dolman (Information Advisor, Health and Wellbeing Faculty, Sheffield Hallam University) https://23librariansengland.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/karen-dolman-information-advisor-health-wellbeing-faculty-sheffield-hallam-university/

Laura Williams, graduate of our MA Librarianship programme, has won the SLA Europe Early Career Conference Awards 2013 .  Laura, along with three other winners, will attend the SLA Conference & INFO-EXPO in San Diego in June. Laura is currently working in the media library at ITV as a Media Logistics Co-ordinator responsible for delivering programme content on tape across the organisation for broadcast.

Rachel Davies We would like to offer our warmest congratulations to our latest cohort of postgraduate students on their recent graduation. Almost 250 postgraduates successfully graduated from the School's single- and dual-honours degree programmes, and now go on to join the thousands of Information School alumni working throughout industry, government, education and other organisations across the world. You can view the Graduation Cermony, which took place in the University's Octagon Centre, on this Gigapixel Image , and if you are a Facebook user, you can find and tag yourself in the photo. The School held a reception after the ceremony, where our prize winners were honoured for their outstanding achievements. Images are copyright Peter A Bath. Please click to enlarge. Penny Dunn Michelle Parker

Anneli Sarkanen, who graduated from the School's MA Librarianship programme in 2005, is the winner of the 2012 Special Libraries Association Europe/LMD Conference Award . The award recognizes outstanding achievement in the information profession amongst those living and working in Europe.  Anneli works as Information Officer at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, and  is an active member of the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL), and currently serves as Vice-Chair of their PR & Promotions Committee. Anneli was recommended for the award by a former colleague, who described her as  ‘an excellent ambassador for the information profession in London and the UK’.

Bookings are still being taken for the MMIT national conference, which is taking place in Sheffield University on the 17th April. Staff and students from the School have been actively involved in setting up and running the conference. Programme and booking details Alumni of the iSchool can still apply for a free place, thanks to the School's generosity in funding two free places. OCLC are also funding two free places for current LIS students at any Information Department in the UK. To apply send 100 words explaining how the conference would improve your employability to a.m.cox@sheffield.ac.uk