Professor Nigel Ford

Professor of Information Science

BA French Studies (Leeds), MA Librarianship (Sheffield)

Nigel Ford obtained a BA (Hons) in French Language and Literature from the University of Leeds in 1970. He then came to the (then) Postgraduate School of Librarianship and Information Science at the University of Sheffield in 1971 and obtained his MA in Librarianship. Following work as a Tutor Librarian at Edge Hill College (now University), he returned to the department as a lecturer in 1981. In 2001 he was appointed Professor of Information Science.

Teaching

Nigel's current teaching contributions are to the Information Resources and Information Literacy, Information Searching and Retrieval and Educational Informatics modules.

Professional standing

• Member of the AHRC Peer Review College
• Editorial Board of the Journal of Documentation

Research interests

Nigel has been active in research linking education, computing and information science for many years, and has published extensively in the leading international refereed journals. He is a member of the Department’s Educational Informatics and Information Retrieval research groups.

Educational Informatics

Nigel has made a significant contribution to the emergence and development of what has come to be known as Educational Informatics – identified as a key research priority within the School. From the late 1970s he has published pioneering work mapping educational psychology research onto information science issues, and mapping the contribution of information science to educational issues, followed by a sustained research effort of empirical work studying information behaviour in educational contexts and developing new models of educational information behaviour.

One of his intentions has been to foster awareness amongst the educational research community of the potential contribution of information science research – an ambition realised to the extent that his research has been cited in educational journals including: British Journal of Educational Technology; Computers and Education; Cyberpsychology & Behavior; Educational & Training Technology International; Educational Research; Innovations in Education and Training International; International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction; Instructional Science; Journal of Chemical Education; Journal of Educational Computing Research; Journal of Higher Education; Journal of Psychology; Medical Education; Personality and Individual Differences; Review of Educational Research.

Information seeking research

He has also contributed significantly to our understanding of information seeking, via a substantial programme of empirical work into cognitive aspects of information seeking and the development of theoretical models.

The impact of this work is to some extent reflected in citations in major information science journals including: Annual Review of Information Science and Technology; Aslib Proceedings; Bulletin of the Medical Library Association; Journal of Academic Librarianship; Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology; Journal of Documentation; Journal of Information Science; Library & Information Science Research; Library Resources & Technical Services; Libri; Library Trends; College & Research Libraries; Journal of Librarianship; Information Processing and Management; International Journal of Information Management; RQ; Electronic Library; Online & CDROM Review; Nachrichten fur Dokumentation; Knowledge Organization.

Adaptive information systems research

From an early interest in modelling cognitive processes using intelligent computation techniques, he has published research relating to the theoretical generation and empirical testing of models of information behaviour for driving intelligent adaptive information systems. This work has been combined with an interest in creativity in recent work investigating the actual and potential role of computers in supporting creativity.

Research methodologies

His interest in the psychology of information processing has also led to the publication in major journals of critical theoretical papers relating to research methodologies and practices from a cognitive psychological perspective.

Key publications

Books

Ford, N. (2012). The essential guide to using the Web for research. London, Sage. 256 pages. ISBN 0857023659, 9780857023650

Ford, N. (2008). Web-based learning through educational informatics: information science meets educational computing. Hershey (PA): IGI Global. 406 pages. ISBN 1599047411, 9781599047416

Ford, N. (1998). Building intelligent Web sites with JavaScript. New York: Wiley. 340 pages. ISBN 0471242748.

Ford, N. (1991). Expert systems and artificial intelligence: an information manager's guide. London: Library Association. 277 pages. ISBN 0853659095.

Ford, N. (1989). A students' guide to programming in PROLOG. Chichester: Wiley. 279 pages. ISBN 0471921416. A French edition was published in 1990.

Ford, N. (1987). How machines think: a general introduction to artificial intelligence, illustrated in PROLOG. Chichester: Wiley. 160 pages. ISBN 0471911399. German and Japanese editions were published in 1988.

Recent papers

Gorrell, G., Ford, N., Madden, A., Holdridge, P. and Eaglestone, B/ (2011). Countering method bias in questionnaire-based user studies. Journal of Documentation, 67(3), 507 – 524.

Ford, N., Eaglestone, E., Madden, A. and Whittle, M. (2009). Web searching by the “general public”: an individual differences perspective. Journal of Documentation, 65(4), 632 – 667.

Gorrell, G., Eaglestone, B., Ford, N., Holdridge, P. and Madden, A. (2009). Towards “metacognitively aware” IR systems: an initial user study", Journal of Documentation, 65(3), 446 – 469.

Eaglestone, B., Ford, N., Holdridge, P. and Carter, J. (2008). Are cognitive styles an important factor in design of electroacoustic music software? Journal of New Music Research, 37(1).

Ford, N. (2008). Educational informatics. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 42(1), 497–544.

Eaglestone, B., Ford, N., Holdridge, P., Carter, J. and Upton, C. (2008). Cognitive styles and computer-based creativity support systems: two linked studies of electro-acoustic music composers. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 4969, 74-97.

Mansourian, Y., Ford, N., Webber, S. and Madden, A. (2008). An integrative model of “information visibility” and “information seeking” on the web. Program: Electronic Library and Information Systems, 42(4), 402 – 417.

Eaglestone, B., Holdridge, P. and Ford, N. (2009). The challenge of standards for cognitive styles adaptable biomedicine learning objects. 9th International Conference on Information Technology and Applications in Biomedicine, Larnaca, 4-7 November 2009. ITAB.

Sen, B. and Ford, N. (2009). Developing reflective practice in LIS education: The SEA-change model of reflection. Education for Information, 27(4), 181-195.

Clough, P., Ford, N. and Stevenson, M. (2011). Personalizing access to cultural heritage collections using pathways. 3rd International Workshop on Personalized Access To Cultural Heritage (PATCH 2011), February 13, Palo Alto, CA.

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