Department Of Information Studies Research Articles

Two information retrieval learning environments

The design and evaluation of two information retrieval (IR) learning environments took place in a basic course of IR (6 ECTS credits) at the Department of Information Studies at the University of Tampere. The course consisted of lectures, web exercises and tutored search exercises. Tutored exercises were carried out in two learning environments, in a traditional and in an experimental one. The participants in the study (n=57), were undergraduate students of information studies at the university.

Distance learning masters students in the Department of Information Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth: past, present and future

This paper examines the postgraduate student body studying by distance learning within the Department of Information Studies at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. The demands of both students and employers have been the chief influences on the evolution of the specialist postgraduate programmes and also the later generalist and further specialist programmes. Changes in the range of expectations are matched to the review and revision of individual schemes of study. The management of the distance learning programmes and the role of residential study schools and communication channels within the student group are described. The students’ collective awareness of their peers is identified as core to the success of the programmes.

Funding for postgraduate studies in librarianship and information science in the UK since 1990: An overview

Potential applicants for postgraduate courses in librarianship and information science (LIS) have always had to consider how they would finance their studies. This paper examines how the funding axis for such courses has changed and how applicants from the UK are now looking to employers to fund courses rather than seeking support from national award making bodies such as the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB). The historical context of such a shift is investigated; the current nature of AHRB provision is evaluated; the pattern and cost of postgraduate courses in LIS is outlined; and the paper closes with an analysis of a sample of distance learners at the Department of Information Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, concentrating in particular on any financial support received.

InterPARES: Securing the Future of Our Electronic Records

InterPARES: Securing the Future of Our Electronic Records

Research-Led Teaching in Librarianship and Information Studies

Discusses the role of research within the teaching curriculum of departments of library and information studies (LIS), drawing on the experience of the University of Sheffield’s Department of Information Studies. Explains that the quality of research is assessed through the RAE (Research Assessment Exercise) but that research also plays a fundamental role in the teaching activities of departments. Describes how research is incorporated into the teaching curriculum by: drawing on research undertaken by members of departmental staff; the involvement of research staff in classes; teaching and learning activities involving practical research exercises; inquiry-based learning; the incorporation of others’ research into teaching. A taught research methods course with dissertation is also discussed, which ensures that students have the practical skills necessary to carry out their own research projects. The need for effective dissemination of research activities, undertaken in libraries as well as by academics, is emphasized to ensure that the results of research are converted into policy and practice.

Life after Sheffield

Follow-up surveys of Masters programme graduates at the Department of Information Studies have been conducted at regular intervals since 1973. The findings of these reviews are outlined here, with particular reference to graduates’ perceptions of the relevance and value of the programmes they followed to their subsequent professional employment, and to factors affecting their job satisfaction in first and subsequent posts. Overall, graduates surveyed commented favourably on the quality and relevance of the programmes while making positive suggestions as to how the programmes might be improved. Factors affecting job satisfaction varied, depending on job destinations and employment sector, as did the commonest causes of job dissatisfaction.

Approaches to User-Based Studies in Information Seeking and Retrieval: A Sheffield Perspective

The paper traces the development of user-based research in the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield over the past 40 years, and highlights and assesses the different research questions addressed and main characteristics of projects undertaken. Four phases of user-based studies relating to information seeking and retrieval are identified including: preliminary studies on library users; empirical studies on information user groups by the Centre for research on User Studies; the development of a theoretical framework for user studies; and the integration of information seeking and retrieval research. The review concludes that user-based studies have evolved linking together studies on information use and provision, information seeking behaviour and the design and evaluation of actual retrieval systems. The unifying element has been the emphasis placed on methodological issues. More recent work is transcending user-orientated and system perspectives giving way to a more integrated approach and emergent interaction paradigm for user studies.

Individual differences in learning entrepreneurship and their implications for web‐based instruction in e‐business and e‐commerce

AbstractThis paper reports on outcomes from a White Rose Centre for Enterprise funded project Managing Innovation in the Digital Economy. This project aims to incorporate learning for enterprise into undergraduate and postgraduate curricula in information management and information systems. The paper presents results from a survey distributed to postgraduate information management and information systems students following completion of a module in E‐Business and E‐Commerce delivered by the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield. The findings suggest that differences in levels of prior knowledge of business studies and in cultural background can impact on students’ acquisition of domain knowledge and intellectual and information research skills during collaborative development of a business plan. Implications of the results for web‐based instruction are addressed, by identifying teaching and learning strategies that support differential treatment of learners in terms of content and process. It is concluded that empirical investigation of individual differences within a student body can inform more effective methods for information systems and information management graduates to learn about and for entrepreneurship.

Chemoinformatics Research at the University of Sheffield: A History and Citation Analysis

This paper reviews the work of the Chemoinformatics Research Group in the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield, focusing particularly on the work carried out in the period 1985-2002. Four major research areas are discussed, these involving the development of methods for: substructure searching in databases of three-dimensional structures, including both rigid and flexible molecules; the representation and searching of the Markush structures that occur in chemical patents; similarity searching in databases of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional structures; and compound selection and the design of combinatorial libraries. An analysis of citations to 321 publications from the Group shows that it attracted a total of 3725 residual citations during the period 1980-2002. These citations appeared in 411 different journals, and involved 910 different citing organizations from 54 different countries, thus demonstrating the widespread impact of the Group's work.

Educational Informatics: An Emerging Research Agenda

This paper discusses educational informatics as a research field and provides an overview of the scope of work in this, and closely related, areas by members of the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield. Current work in Sheffield focuses on the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in universities and schools, seeking to understand the effects of using ICTs in educational practice on learners, teachers and learning support staff. It also seeks to develop practical knowledge of relevance to the design and facilitation of ICT-enabled learning environments. The paper highlights the interdisciplinary nature of this research, and discusses theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches that are being used by Sheffield researchers. It concludes by suggesting that library and information science has a distinctive contribution to make to the study of ICT-enabled learning, and that there is a need for further discussion within the literature of this emergent field of inquiry.

Library and information science education in Thai public universities

Formal library and information science (LIS) education in Thailand was initiated in 1951 at Chulalongkorn University, when Fulbright Foundation scholars developed basic courses that evolved into a degree programme in 1959 [1]. (Atthakorn and Nandhivajarin, 1988). Since then, a variety of LIS programmes, both undergraduate and postgraduate, has been developed by many institutions, including public and private universities and the Rajabhat Institutes (former teacher colleges). Responding to changes in the expanding information world and the advancement of technology, traditional LIS programmes are becoming broader in scope in order to encompass the education of information professionals in the widest sense, and not just librarians as in the past. Even superficially this is evident in the way in which library and information science departments are ‘re-inventing’ themselves as departments of information studies, information management information science, etc. This descriptive article provides an overview of LIS education in the 13 Thai public universities that offer degrees or majors in LIS.

Recruit, Retain and Lead: The Public Library Workforce Study20023Bob Usherwood, Richard Proctor, Gordon Bower, Carol Coe, Jeff Cooper, Tony Stevens. Recruit, Retain and Lead: The Public Library Workforce Study. Centre for the Public Library and Information in Society, Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield and Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, Sheffield: Library and Information Commission Research

Recruit, Retain and Lead: The Public Library Workforce Study20023Bob Usherwood, Richard Proctor, Gordon Bower, Carol Coe, Jeff Cooper, Tony Stevens. <i>Recruit, Retain and Lead: The Public Library Workforce Study</i>. Centre for the Public Library and Information in Society, Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield and Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, Sheffield: Library and Information Commission Research

Supporting Open and Distance Learners with Computer Conferencing: Potential Benefits and Barriers

The aim of this paper is to outline the issues surrounding online support for open and distance learners in a dual-mode department. In recent years with the acceptance of learning as a lifelong process, many UK universities have broadened their remit to embrace a larger and more diverse learner population. This cultural change in education policy has corresponded with rapid developments in educational technology. The Open Learning Unit (OLU), University of Wales, Aberystwyth, was established in 1993 specifically to develop open and distance learning degree schemes. It is directed by an educational philosophy of learner-centred, open and flexible learning. Central to this work is the implementation and maintenance of a learner support system, which includes the use of computer conferencing. Using over 600 distance learners from a Department of Information Studies as a case study, this paper aims to outline the issue of support for open and distance learners, describe the benefits and barriers of computer conferencing as a support medium, and consider the potential of social cognition research to investigate lurking behaviour in online teaching and learning environments.

Mastering your career: linking workplace training to tertiary studies

It is widely acknowledged that in today’s society, one must actively pursue the goal of life long learning, both for career and personal growth. However the costs in terms of finances, time and commitment are often a deterrent to further education. The University of Technology, Department of Information Studies and the Internet Training Institute are working together to make workplace training and further education easier for information professionals, through the recognition of accredited workplace training as a legitimate component of tertiary library and information studies. The partnership essentially involves the ITI Train the Internet Trainer program, the first nationally accredited program of its kind in Australia. The Train the Internet Trainer program is a practical three‐day hands‐on training workshop designed to give professionals the skills to prepare and deliver effective Internet training programs within their organisation and to the wider community. The UTS and ITI partnership commenced with the academic year in 2000.

Losing the quality battle in Australian education for librarianship

The author asserts that something is wrong with university-based education for librarianship in Australia. Librarianship does not have a clear disciplinary identity in universities. The lack of differentiation between the roles of technicians and professionals clouds the issue. For these and other reasons, education for librarianship in Australia is suffering. Comparisons are made with the United States and Canada. Some suggestions for improving the quality of university-based education for librarianship, based on increased cooperation among departments of information studies, are made.

Evaluating equity in public library services

Reports results of research conducted by the Centre for the Public Library in the Information Society, Sheffield University, Department of Information Studies, to develop a tool for evaluating the social impact of public library activities. The project included an examination of equity or fairness in the distribution of services in relation to objectives. The study involved library staff, elected members, focus groups of local residents, users and non users of public libraries in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne and the County of Somerset, UK. The methodology used in the study has been published in detail elsewhere ( IFLA Journal, 25 (2) 1999, 90-6). Barriers to equity were found to be related to: physical barriers; geographical barriers; economic barriers. The data shows that both Newcastle and Somerset library services are administered fairly, with only isolated examples where equity had to be counter balanced with efficiency considerations. In terms of equity of access to services, both library authorities had policies to improve access for people with disabilities, although there was a call for a more user focused approach by the focus groups. Problems in Somerset, resulting from rural isolation, were overcome through a comprehensive network of services. Problems in Newcastle, resulting from economic barriers, were helped through policies directed at priority groups and areas.

The development of self‐assessment tool‐kits for the library and information sector

The article considers methodological issues which arose in undertaking a two‐year British Library funded research project – Assessment Tools for Quality Management in Public Libraries – jointly managed by the Department of Information Science, Loughborough University and the Department of Information Studies, Sheffield University and discusses the principal findings. The aim of the research was to assess the potential of and then to develop and evaluate self‐assessment techniques for the public library and information sector. The authors argue that by using an action research methodology they were best able to produce a self‐assessment toolkit which matched the needs of public library services. Using evidence drawn from three case study library authorities and the literature, the authors go on to suggest that whilst self‐assessment can have a role to play in the evaluation of library and information services, there is a real need to tailor and adapt tools to reflect specific service cultures and experience.

Proper citations

Journal of the American Society for Information ScienceVolume 51, Issue 9 p. 882-882 Letter to the Editor Proper citations Marcia J. Bates, Marcia J. Bates mjbates@ucla.edu Department of Information Studies, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, 230 GSE&IS Building, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1520Search for more papers by this author Marcia J. Bates, Marcia J. Bates mjbates@ucla.edu Department of Information Studies, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, 230 GSE&IS Building, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1520Search for more papers by this author First published: 18 May 2000 https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(2000)51:9<882::AID-ASI100>3.0.CO;2-ORead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume51, Issue92000Pages 882-882 RelatedInformation

Graduate employment outcomes for qualifying library and records management courses at Curtin University of Technology

This paper reports on the results of a postal survey of graduating students from courses offered by the Department of Information Studies at Curtin University of Technology for the years 1993–1997. The survey recorded, inter alia, categories of graduate employment, perceptions of the relationship between the knowledge acquired in the course and the employment outcome, and levels of satisfaction with the course. The results of the survey are compared with those obtained in a previous survey which recorded similar data for the graduating classes of 1988–1992.

Manpower requirements in the emerging information society of the Baltic states

This paper is based mainly on the results of the 'Survey of Information Specialists Labour Market in the Baltic States', a research project undertaken by the Faculty of Communication at Vilnius University and the Department of Information Studies at the Tallinn Pedagogical University. The objective of the research was to establish the main trends in the labour market for information spe-cialists that will enable planning the studies and number of students for institutions of higher education. Three main sectors of employment were selected: a) emerging sector of information service; b) established sector of libraries; and c) information management in different economic sectors. The author introduces the methods of re- search and main findings.