iSchool Research Seminars

Evaluating the Intellectual assets of the Scholarship & Collections Directorate at the British Library

Wednesday 30th November at 13:00, Information School lecture room (RC-204)

No need to book.

Alice Schofield
PhD student, Information School
Email: lip10ams@sheffield.ac.uk

Talk:
This presentation will give an overview of the progress made thus far in the evaluation of the intellectual assets in the Scholarship and Collections directorate at the British Library. A summary of the background to the project will be made, including a definition of intellectual assets, key themes from the literature, and an introduction to the British Library. Next, the researcher will explain the methods being used for the data collection and analysis process, and how they were employed during the pilot study earlier in the year. The researcher will then discuss the data which have already been collected, and the conclusions drawn. Finally, the anticipated course of the project will be explained, including the eventual results that the researcher hopes to produce.

A cross-cultural study on individual, team, organisational and institutional factors affecting knowledge sharing willingness in the IT services industry

Thursday 8th December at 13:00, Information School lecture room (RC-204)

No need to book.

Alex Schauer
PhD student, Information School

Talk:
What factors affect knowledge sharing willingness? Prior studies explored individual, team, organisational and institutional factors. However, most research investigated only one or two levels. The presenter argues that none have examined all four levels in a single research setting, which this present study aims to address. Secondly, almost all enquiries focused on one country and a select few on two countries. This study aims to analyse an organisational setting that spans across five countries and across three continents. The presentation on 8 December will introduce knowledge sharing willingness and provide an insight into the research setting, pilot data collection and analysis. Initial results, namely the identification of 98 factors, are discussed. Details of the next phases and anticipated timetable conclude the presentation.

Participatory Models in Networks, Crowds and Communities

Monday 12th December at 15:30, ICOSS Conference Room (see map).

Seminar from 15:30 until 16:30 with refreshments afterwards. No need to book.

Professor Caroline Haythornthwaite
University of British Columbia
Canada

Bio:
Professor Haythornthwaite is Director, School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, University of British Columbia. She joined UBC in 2010 after 14 years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was Professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. In 2009-10, she was Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professor at the Institute of Education, University of Londonpresenting and writing on learning networks; and in summer 2009 she was a visiting researcher lecturing on distributed knowledge, social networks, and e-learning at the Brazilian Institute for Information in Science and Technology (IBICT), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has an international reputation in research on information and knowledge sharing through social networks, and the impact of computer media and the Internet on work, learning and social interaction.

Talk:
This research presents a Social Network perspective on online peer production, identifying "crowds" and "communities" as two ends of acontinuum of contributory behaviour. Peer production, it is argued,seems to operate on two distinct models – a crowdsourcing modelbased on micro-participation from many, unconnected individuals, and a virtual community model, based on strong connections among a set ofstrongly committed members. At one end of the scale, `lightweight´ collaboration is characterized by low interpersonal commitment, yetstrong investment in a common interest or purpose. At the `heavyweight´ end of the scale, strong interpersonal connectionsoperate with strong-ties with other community members and community purpose. Building on the literature and cases of crowds and virtualcommunities, the presentation defines a set of dimensions that distinguish these two forms of organizing, based on such factors ascontribution type and group size, power structures, and recognition/reward systems.