Department Of Information Studies Research Articles

A new perspective on information education from Australia

What is the future for graduate information education in Australia? The Department of Informa-tion Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney has been grappling with this question over the past eighteen months with a view to revising its Master

New Library - New Measures: A Social Audit of Public Libraries

Bob Usherwood, Professor of Librarianship at Sheffield University's Department of Information Studies,is widely experienced in the practice and teaching of librarianship and information studies. Before joining the Department at Sheffield he was Chief Librarian in the London Borough of Lambeth. He started his career with Devon County Libraries and has also worked for the London Boroughs of Havering and Sutton, and the Polytechnic of North London. Over the years he has presented papers to many conferences and courses in the UK and abroad. His international work has taken him to various parts of the world, including Singapore, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Ethiopia, Poland, Canada, Russian Federation, Scandinavia, Swaziland and Hungary. He served on LISC's predecessor, LACE (the Library Advisory Council for England), the Library Association Council and many professional working parties and committees. He was Chair of the Library Association's Working Party on Ethics that led to the LA adopting a Code of Professional Conduct in 1983. He was presented with an Honorary Fellowship of the Library Association in 1992 and made a Fellow of the Institute of Information Scientists in 1993. He was President of the Library Association in 1998. He obtained his Doctorate as a result of undertaking research into the role of elected members in the operation of public library services. His other research interests include the social impact of library services, public policy issues, interpersonal skills for LIS workers, the role of total quality management in public libraries and public library expenditure in the private sector. He is also responsible for the Centre for the Public Library in the Information Society (CEPLIS), at Sheffield University's Department of Information Studies. Mr Usherwood may be contacted at the Department of Information Studies, Sheffield University, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK (fax: +(44- 114) 2780300; e-mail: r.usherwood@sheffield.ac.uk). Rebecca Linley received her first degree in politics from Newcastle University. After this she worked for several years in the civil service, most recently in the R&D Directorate of the Department of Health. She completed her MA at Sheffield University in 1996, and since then has worked on two British Library Research and Innovation Centre (BLRIC) projects- the social audit project at Sheffield (October 1996 until January 1998), and from February 1998 until the present at Leeds Metropolitan University on "Education and Training for Information Work in the Voluntary Sector", with four other co-workers. Ms Linley can be contacted at the School of Information Management, Leeds Metropolitan University, the Grange, Beckett Park, Leeds LS6 3QS, UK (e-mail: r.linley@lmu.ac.uk).

Follow-up study of graduates from the MSc Information Management programme at the University of Sheffield

This paper reports the principal results from a postal survey (response rate: 62%) of the students graduating from the MSc Information Management programme in the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield in the years 1994-96. The most important conclusions to be drawn from the responses that were received are that: most of the graduates rapidly found employment in librarianship and information science, with the largest single group of students starting work in the industrial or commercial sectors; the most commonly occurring duties are database management and searching for information, with library skills being required for only a small fraction of their duties; the extensive restructurings that have occurred in many organisations have left the graduates largely unaffected; use of the Internet, practical computer skills and database design are the elements of most use in their postgraduate careers.

Business Use of The World Wide Web: A Report on Further Investigations

As a continuation of previous study 1 1 Cockburn, C. and Wilson, T. D. Business Use of the World Wide Web. ( http:// www. shef.ac.uk/ uni/ academic/ I-M/ is/ lecturer/ paper6.html) University of Sheffield, Department of Information Studies. Site accessed: 22/1/1997. this paper reports on a series of studies into business use of the World Wide Web and, more generally the Internet. The use of the World Wide Web as a business tool has increased rapidly for the past three years, and the benefits of the World Wide Web to business and customers are discussed, together with the barriers that hold back future development of electronic commerce. As with the previous study, we report on a desk survey of 300 randomly selected business web sites and on the results of an electronic mail questionnaire sent to the sample companies.

Modelling User Navigation Behaviours in a Hypermedia-Based Learning System: An Individual Differences Approach

The rapid evolution of hypermedia technology makes it possible to access an immense volume of information in an educational setting, This research examines the relationship between individual differences (in particular, cognitive styles) and navigation strategies using a WWW-based hypermedia learning system. The hypermedia learning system was used at Sheffield University's Department of Information Studies. Twenty Masters students were pre-tested for their cognitive styles. Dependent variables included navigation patterns, selection of navigation tools, and reactions to the hypermedia system. The results indicated that students with differing cognitive styles and individual characteristics selected different access facilities and applied different navigation patterns. The implication of these findings and the role of individual differences in designing hypermedia-based learning systems are discussed.

Research Degrees in Librarianship and Information Science:: A Survey of Master's and Doctoral Students from the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield

Research Degrees in Librarianship and Information Science:: A Survey of Master's and Doctoral Students from the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield

Research degrees in librarianship and information science

This paper reports the results of a survey of the students from the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield who successfully completed research degrees (MA, MSc, MPhil or PhD) in librarianship or information science in the period 1968-96. An open-ended questionnaire was distributed to the 123 former students for whom a contact address was available, and usable responses were received from 66 students, giving a response rate of 54%. The questionnaire sought to identify publications derived directly and indirectly from the research programme, and the students’ views of the benefits and drawbacks that accrue from having carried out their research programme. A total of 393 publications were identified as arising directly from the research degrees, with these attracting at least 1593 citations, thus demonstrating the impact of research-degree work on the profession. Students predominantly take up employment in the academic sector, and find their research training invaluable in their subsequent career. The great majority (71%) of the respondents would recommend such training to others; the main problem identified is the lack of a long-term career structure for those wishing to enter the UK higher education system.

The use and value of MSc in information studies/information management dissertations at the University of Sheffield

This paper reports a study of the use and value of MSc in Information Studies/Information Management dissertations produced during the seven years, 1988–89 to 1994–95, at the Department of Information Studies in the University of Sheffield. Responses to a questionnaire that was sent to students, supervisors and external collaborating organisations showed that they all used the dissertations in various ways, as did other Departmental staff and students. Some dissertations lead to publications in the open literature, and a citation analysis showed that these publications are successful in bringing dissertation results to a wider readership.

From Local Village to Global Village – Can the Two Meet?

Paper originally presented at the Pre-Congress Seminar of the Education and Training Committee of the International Federation for Information and Documentation (FID/ET), held in Graz, Austria, on 20 and 21 October 1996. Outlines the development situation of Namibia and the problems of gaining access to information in Africa. Describes a pilot project in Namibia to establish Community Learning and Development Centres (CLDC) to offer learning opportunities to the community. CLDCs will be based in schools and make use of the school facilities after school hours. The Department of Information Studies at the University of Namibia and the University Library are collaborating in a Human Resources Development Project linking the library to nine centres throughout the country to facilitate access to the University Library database and other databases and also provide access to the Internet. The Department has also designed courses to teach information literacy to university students and children in primary and secondary schools. Cncludes that a holistic approach to African librarianship will do much to reverse the negative image many Africans have of the traditional library.

New directions in teaching online search techniques

Pieter van Brakel became a Professor of Information Science in 1985 and transferred from the University of Pretoria to the Department of Information Studies at the Rand Afrikaans University in October 1991. His teaching responsibilities there include information technology, indexing, abstracting, thesaurus construction and all aspects of online searching, including the Internet. He is currently involved in a research programme investigating different applications of the World Wide Web to improve scholarly communication. He spoke to us about his experiences of teaching in an information context and also about the changes to which IT teachers must adjust.

Training information service specialists in the less-favoured regions of the European Union (TRAIN-ISS): the diploma/MSc programme at the University of Sheffield

This paper describes the implementation of the TRAIN-ISS programme at Sheffield University's Department of Information Studies. The primary aim of the programme was to provide training to information service specialists from the Less Favoured Regions

Cataloguing in the electronic age: future librarians' cataloguing of Internet resources

The authors describe how an existing course in cataloguing for postgraduate students of librarianship at the University of Sheffield's Department of Information Studies was modified to include practical work on cataloguing electronic resources. The students were instructed to search the Internet for resources associated with some topic, and to design a cataloguing and classifying system for these resources. Each system was implemented as a collection of World‐Wide Web (WWW) pages, which have been installed on the Department's WWW site for global viewing.

Strategic planning for information and technology in higher education

Many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UK are developing Information Strategies. Paradoxically, there is no consensus over terminology and concepts surrounding the issue. Very little research has been conducted in this area and this is reflected in the dearth of literature available on the subject, both practitioner and theoretical. As part of an ongoing research project in the Department of Information Studies at Sheffield University a survey was sent out to four stakeholders in 192 Higher Education Institutions in the UK. The aim of this survey was to explore process, content and use of the two intertwined concepts of Information Strategies and Information Technology (IT) Strategies. This paper focuses upon the data from the survey that illuminate issues relating to the success or failure of IT strategies developed in HEIs and the extent to which this can inform the present Information Strategy formulation process. The following issues are discussed in this context: Ownership, Motivation, Lead...

Importance of the project Train‐ISS for LFR

This paper puts into perspective the importance of the European project Train‐ISS, taking into account the experience gained by one of the contractors INETI/CITI (Instituto Nacional de Investigacao e Tecnologia Industrial/Centro de Informacao Tecnica para a Industria) in developing the information market in Portugal. The most important landmarks of the development of the information market in Portugal are outlined. One of the factors restricting this development has been the shortage of trained information professionals. Two projects developed by INETI/CITI, in collaboration with the University of Sheffield, Department of Information Studies, to counteract this shortage are outlined. These are the Postgraduate Course for Information Intermediaries, an intensive six‐month training course which ran for three consecutive years, 1987–1990, and the MSc in Information Management from the University of Sheffield delivered at INETI. The paper concludes by addressing the skills of the professional information Specialists trained by INETI and potentially by the Train‐ISS advanced training programme in Information Management. It indicates the main parts of the contents of the programme leading to a Diploma in Electronic Information Management. Those who wish to continue and submit a dissertation within one year of obtaining the diploma would be awarded the MSc in Electronic Information Management.

The effect of postings information on searching behaviour

How postings information is used for inverted file searching was investigated by comparing searches, made by postgraduate students at the Department of Information Studies, of the LISA (Library and Information Science Abstracts) database on CD-ROM with and without postings information.

Conceptions of library and information science. Historical, empirical and theoretical perspectives. Proceedings of the International Conference held for the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Department of Information Studies, University of Tampere, Finland 26–28 August 1991 (P. Vakkari and B. Cronin, eds.)

Conceptions of library and information science. Historical, empirical and theoretical perspectives. Proceedings of the International Conference held for the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Department of Information Studies, University of Tampere, Finland 26–28 August 1991 (P. Vakkari and B. Cronin, eds.)

A publication and citation analysis of the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, 1980-1990

This paper discusses the citations to, and publica tions by, 10 members of the full-time academic staff of the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield. during the period 1980-1990. It is shown that departmental publications are cited by a very wide range of organisations and in many countries, with more citations in the social-sci ence literature than in the science literature. The journals in which publications or citations occur are in fair agreement with a previous study that considered UK information studies professors. The overlap in the citations to pairs of members of staff is not very large, providing some support for the idea that information studies should not be regarded as an inte grated discipline.

Dimensions of competence: interpersonal skills development within the LIS curriculum

Discusses a recent curriculum innovation in the Department of Information Studies at Sheffield University, England. Over the last two academic years, a new course in interpersonal skills development for library and information work has been taken as an option by both MA and MSC students. Designed as a series of experiential workshops, the course aims to build on issues raised within the core management curriculum by offering students a practical opportunity to focus on the human relations and facilitation skills associated with supervisory and staff development/training resonsibility.

The use and value of MSc Information Studies dissertations

This study of the use and value of 158 MSC in Information Studies dissertations produced in the ten years 1978-79 to 1987-88 at the Unversity of Sheffield, Department of Information Studies, is based mainly on questionnaire surveys of the former taught course students who wrote the dissertations, the academic staff who supervised them and the staff of external organisations who suggested topics and/or participated in other ways. Searches of SCISEARCH® and Social Scisearch® were undertaken for references which cited publica tions based on the dissertations All except one of the 82 former students surveyed by questionnaire (68% response rate) had found the research pro cess useful, whilst 52% had made use of their dissertations in ,ome way since graduating The dissertation supervisors had made use of 80%, others in the Department of 38% and the staff in external organisations of 72% of the dissertations. Thirty-seven percent of the dissertations had resulted in pub lications in the professional literature. A search of SCISEARCH® and Social Scrsearch® showed that of 30 such publications, 20 had been cited. producing a total of 143 citations. Authors from over 54 other organisations, including those in us, USSR. Canada. Switzerland, Italy and Belgium, had cited these papers Thirteen of the publications were cited in reviews.

A new course in systems analysis and design

In October 1988 the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield introduced an MSc programme in information management incorporating a course in systems analysis and design. This paper outlines the content of that course now that it is entering its third year. The course encourages a contingency approach to systems development based on the techniques of soft systems methodology (SSM) and structured systems analysis and design method (SSADM) supported by the computer assisted systems engineering (CASE) tool Excelerator (marketed by Index Technology Inc.) and the relational database management system R:Base (marketed by Microrim). These tools and techniques are introduced in the first half of the course; the second half gives students a chance to put the methods to work in the context of a real-world systems development project.