Sheffield Information Studies
Encyclopedia
The Information School or iSchool of the University of Sheffield
, in Sheffield
, South Yorkshire
, England
, was founded in 1963 as the University's Postgraduate School of Librarianship and became in 2010 the first UK iSchool
. Other names were the Postgraduate School of Librarianship and Information Science (PGSLIS, 1967-81) and Department of Information Studies (1981-2011). , it employs 19 academic staff, 8 administrative/support staff, 13 affiliated research staff, and has about 40 research students. The current head of department is Professor Philippa Levy.
The department opened in 1964 as a library school, becoming only the seconnd University based department in the UK. Since then, like many information science
departments it has grown to encompass teaching and research in cheminformatics
, educational informatics, health informatics, information retrieval
, information systems
, knowledge and information management, as well as libraries and information society. Such is the status of the school, that it has twice been honored with a special issue of the Journal of Information Science
devoted entirely to the department, its staff and its research outputs.
since the running of the first exercise in 1986. In this UK-government sponsored assessment of research outputs, no other department in its subject field (or its University
) achieved this consistency; few departments of any subject area in UK universities managed such a high level of continuous research output (see the following links to the 1992, 1996, 2001 RAE results). In 2008, rankings of departments was left to news organizations, the Times Higher Education placed Sheffield at No. 1 again.
In 2008, an analysis of citations showed four of the ten most cited UK information studies academics were working in the Sheffield department. It is also the first UK-based (and 2nd European) department to be become an iSchool
.
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
, in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, was founded in 1963 as the University's Postgraduate School of Librarianship and became in 2010 the first UK iSchool
ISchool
An information school, I-School or iSchool is an emergent label of university departments or independent institutions committed to understanding the role of information in nature and human endeavors...
. Other names were the Postgraduate School of Librarianship and Information Science (PGSLIS, 1967-81) and Department of Information Studies (1981-2011). , it employs 19 academic staff, 8 administrative/support staff, 13 affiliated research staff, and has about 40 research students. The current head of department is Professor Philippa Levy.
The department opened in 1964 as a library school, becoming only the seconnd University based department in the UK. Since then, like many information science
Information science
-Introduction:Information science is an interdisciplinary science primarily concerned with the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information...
departments it has grown to encompass teaching and research in cheminformatics
Cheminformatics
Cheminformatics is the use of computer and informational techniques, applied to a range of problems in the field of chemistry. These in silico techniques are used in pharmaceutical companies in the process of drug discovery...
, educational informatics, health informatics, information retrieval
Information retrieval
Information retrieval is the area of study concerned with searching for documents, for information within documents, and for metadata about documents, as well as that of searching structured storage, relational databases, and the World Wide Web...
, information systems
Information systems
Information Systems is an academic/professional discipline bridging the business field and the well-defined computer science field that is evolving toward a new scientific area of study...
, knowledge and information management, as well as libraries and information society. Such is the status of the school, that it has twice been honored with a special issue of the Journal of Information Science
Journal of Information Science
The Journal of Information Science is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on information science, information management and some aspects of knowledge management.- Publication history :...
devoted entirely to the department, its staff and its research outputs.
Research achievements
The school has ranked highest or joint highest in its subject rating in every Research Assessment ExerciseResearch Assessment Exercise
The Research Assessment Exercise is an exercise undertaken approximately every 5 years on behalf of the four UK higher education funding councils to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British higher education institutions...
since the running of the first exercise in 1986. In this UK-government sponsored assessment of research outputs, no other department in its subject field (or its University
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
) achieved this consistency; few departments of any subject area in UK universities managed such a high level of continuous research output (see the following links to the 1992, 1996, 2001 RAE results). In 2008, rankings of departments was left to news organizations, the Times Higher Education placed Sheffield at No. 1 again.
In 2008, an analysis of citations showed four of the ten most cited UK information studies academics were working in the Sheffield department. It is also the first UK-based (and 2nd European) department to be become an iSchool
I-school
An information school, I-School or iSchool is an emergent label of university departments or independent institutions committed to understanding the role of information in nature and human endeavors. It is a more restricted term than just "school of information" because I-schools join together in...
.
Notable staff, past and present
- Micheline Beaulieu - Chair of the Computing and Informatics Panel of the European Research CouncilEuropean Research CouncilThe European Research Council is the independent body that funds investigator-driven frontier research in the European Union . It is part of the Seventh Research Framework Programme ....
(2008-2011) - Sheila Corrall - First President of CILIP: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.
- Michael LynchMichael Lynch (researcher)Michael Felix Lynch BSc, PhD, RChem, FInstInfSc, MBCS is a Professor Emeritus in the Information School of the University of Sheffield, England, his main research having been in chemoinformatics. Michael Lynch obtained B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry from University College, Dublin in 1954...
- Bob Usherwood - President of the Library Association, 1998; fellow of the Royal Society of ArtsRoyal Society of ArtsThe Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...
. - Steve WhittakerSteve WhittakerSteve Whittaker is a professor in Human-Computer Interaction. He currently works at University of California at Santa Cruz. He was previously a Professor in information retrieval at the Information Studies department at the University of Sheffield. He earned an MA at the University of Cambridge...
- inducted into the SIGCHISIGCHISIGCHI is the Special Interest Group on Computer–Human Interaction, one of the Association for Computing Machinery's special interest groups....
academy in 2008. - Peter WillettPeter WillettPeter Willett obtained an Honors degree in Chemistry from Exeter College, Oxford in 1975 and then went to the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield where he obtained an MSc in Information Studies....
- Leading researcher in cheminformaticsCheminformaticsCheminformatics is the use of computer and informational techniques, applied to a range of problems in the field of chemistry. These in silico techniques are used in pharmaceutical companies in the process of drug discovery...
. - Tom WilsonThomas D. WilsonDr. Thomas D. Wilson has been an active contributor to the world of information science since 1961, when he received his Fellowship from the British Library Association. His research has focused on information management and information seeking behaviour....
- Recipient of the ASIS&T SIG USE award for "outstanding contributions to information behavior"
Notable alumni
- Michael BucklandMichael BucklandMichael Keeble Buckland is an Emeritus Professor at the UC Berkeley School of Information and Co-Director of the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative....
- Emeritus Professor at the UC Berkeley School of Information and Co-Director of the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative - John McTernanJohn McTernanJohn McTernan is a British Labour member, political strategist and commentator. He is currently a columnist for The Scotsman and blogs for the Daily Telegraph.-Career:...
- Director of Political Operations at 10 Downing Street under Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
. - Alasdair Paterson - Poet, winner of the 1975 Eric Gregory AwardEric Gregory AwardThe Eric Gregory Award is given by the Society of Authors to British poets under 30 on submission. The awards are up to a sum value of £24000 annually....
for poetry.