eLucidate (Journal)
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Alphabet Soup
Get PDFGoogle asserts that they are never going to be a ‘conventional company’, nor have any intention of becoming one.
Karen Blakeman offers her take on the all-singing, all-dancing, all-embracing Alphabet, pondering over the impact it may or may not have on the quality of search technologies going forwards. She follows up with practical outcomes from recent UKeiG workshops, articulating recommended Google search tips, but also jettisoning the omnipresent search tool for a moment to consider alternative research resources and techniques. If you want to kick the Google habit, your rehab starts here
The Open Access Surge
Get PDFThis article follows the development of Open Access and adumbrates the importance of mandates from funders and others in increasing the number and proportion of Open Access materials. Two current supporting European FP7 projects, PASTEUR4OA and FOSTER, are discussed.
The initiatives discussed above, both national and transnational, concentrate on:
Maximising the effectiveness of policies in terms of increasing the number and proportion of OA scholarly communications;
Harmonising policies where possible, in order to avoid the perceived burden of multiplicity of requirements;
Practical support for all involved in the stages of the research process.
It seems clear that these initiatives have the potential to move OA forward, and signal another five years of development
Could your Digital Profile Damage your Career?
Get PDF“Digital Professionalism is the competence or values expected of a professional when engaged in social and digital communication.” In an online world where private personas are merging with professional and public, it is fast becoming an essential digital literacy for the contemporary workplace and a key skills set for organisations facing up to the challenges and transformational benefits that social media has to offer. Employees need training and support in how to create, protect and even spring clean their online profiles. No continuing professional development portfolio can afford to ignore it, argues Bernadette John. But, with ever evolving smart applications, platforms and functionality, and a ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) culture in the workplace, it is a demanding challenge.
“DP has become an essential skill, underpinning online literacy, and requiring technical fluency, regular training, relevant updates and clear policy and guidelines. It is no longer a level of behaviour an organisation can simply expect from its staff or students by parking a social media policy on an intranet or issuing a stern warning regarding what is said on social channels.
New Google, New Challenges
Get PDFJust when you think you\u27ve worked out how Google works it all changes, not just the commands but the whole way Google searches and displays results. Semantic search, artificial intelligence, extreme personalisation and quick answers that save you the bother of having to read any further are just the beginning. Add a dash of EU legislation and things can start to go very wrong...
Keywords: Search, Information Retrieva
How Good is your Content Quality?
Get PDFIn no particular order there are four key principles of information quality.
a. PurposeEvery piece of information on an intranet should be there for a purpose. Before publishing, the content owner (who may not be the publisher) should consider the potential value of the content they are publishing and write it in a way that will help an individual employee or a group of employees to use and share the content.
b. DiscoveryIntranet users will find the information they need by browsing through the site navigation, by carrying out a search or by setting up a profile to alert them to information as soon as it is published. The role of a content publisher is not just to create information but also to ensure that the people who will benefit from it can find it.c. TrustEvery piece of information on the intranet will be used in some way to make a decision that could affect the reputation of the firm. Every user of information has to be able to trust it implicitly or if they have any doubts they are able to check with the content owner.
d. OwnershipIt is the responsibility of all employees to ensure that content that they own is maintained in a way that it meets the purpose for which it was published, that it is findable and that staff can trust that it is accurate and valid
Networking in Sheffield: Social Media 2015
Get PDFIn July 2015 UKeiG collaborated with the CILIP Yorkshire and Humberside Member Network (YHMN) to bring together like-minded people with an interest in using social media tools to support and deliver great information services
Who Should You Follow on Twitter?
Get PDFThis issue features a web and social media contribution from Martin De Saulles focusing on Twitter analytics with a useful resource that utilises the benchmark of ‘social authority’ to enable you to pan for gold when it comes to seeking out valuable contacts. By identifying high quality people to follow you will, in turn, transform the quality of your tweeps overnight.
Keywords: Metrics, Analytic
Kicking the Google Habit
Get PDFAlthough Google gives “good enough” results most of the time, there are occasions when it is the worst possible tool for researching a project. There really are alternative tools and strategies that can give better results. The recent UKeiG essential non-Google search tools workshop, hosted by Manchester University Library on the 9th September 2015, looked at the options for carrying out research. As well as alternatives to Google for general web search the delegates tested specialist tools for subject areas and different types of information. They came from a wide variety of backgrounds and during the practical sessions were asked to think about what they would include in their list of Top Tips for conducting research
Social media for fun & profit
No full textBack in July, UKeiG and CILIP Yorkshire and Humberside invited me to speak at a members\u27 day about social media. It was a pretty broad brief, so I decided I\u27d share a few lessons about how I\u27ve used social media in my work and personal life, and share some tips I\u27ve picked up along the way. I called it “social media for fun and profit”; reflecting how social media can benefit both your personal and professional life
Editor’s Note
Get PDFEditorial overview of this issue\u27s content with comments, news and observations.
This issue is both reflective and forward thinking, reviewing some of the developments and themes of 2015, but also identifying emerging disciplines and trends that are impacting on the e-information profession. Editing this excellent selection of contributions certainly provided food for thought, and I have suggested a few areas that I think may define eLucidate content and the UKeiG training portfolio over the coming years.
Effective, thorough and systematically applied metadata continues to be key to breaking down information silos within and without organisations by enriching and structuring content, providing semantic context and integrating and linking disparate external and internal information resources. It underpins effective data management, information management and enterprise search.
Open source solutions are challenging the BIG corporate players in information systems delivery allowing for greater flexibility, collaboration and interoperability.
Maker Labs or Maker Spaces - “nomadic and shared learning environments” - are increasingly redefining the nature of library services as physical and virtual centres for collaborative, portable and inspirational learningUnderstanding and managing complex “Big Data” is an ongoing challenge offering numerous opportunities for the information profession around analysis, curation, discovery and dissemination.
The rise of knowledge sharing online communities and social media networks is challenging the BIG search engines as the first port of call in the research and discovery process. A proliferation of electronic research support tools and services is redefining digital scholarly communication, with hundreds of new resources to choose from. The impact that this is having on researchers and information professionals is addressed in this issue.
Data and information visualisation, the presentation of data and information in a digestible, contextual and transparent pictorial or graphical format, is a major developing paradigm for the information profession and a great opportunity, impacting on all of the areas featured in this issue