DREaM workshops

Building the skills to build the evidence base

The three DREaM workshops are now fully booked and registrations are closed. Registrations for the conference on July 9 2012 will open in the spring. If you would like to pre-register for the conference, please contact Hazel Hall by e-mail.

Workshop format

The DREaM project aims to establish a sustainable network of LIS researchers. To meet this aim the second, third and fourth DREaM events (of five in total, with the fifth being the concluding conference on in London on 9 July 2012) are three linked DREaM project workshops. Each of these includes a session on:

1. a broad research approach;
2. a specific quantitative research technique;
3. a specific qualitative research technique;
4. a research “practicality” (e.g. ethics, improving research impact, influencing policy).

In addition there is an “unconference half hour” during which participants have the opportunity to update the other members of the group on their research (e.g. an on-going project or ideas for a proposal). Each event also includes a game or task that is set in the morning and concluded in the afternoon tea break.

This format has been designed for a set of participants who attend all three events and develop their skills together as a “cadre”, i.e. a set of individuals committed to LIS research who will form the backbone of a network that lasts beyond the duration of the DREaM project. With this priority in mind, those who have registered have committed to full participation at all the workshops:

• in Edinburgh at Edinburgh Napier University Craighouse campus on Tuesday 25th October 2011 (programme details; reviews of the event; lanyrd page);
• in London at the British Library Conference Centre on Monday 30th January 2012 (programme details; reviews of the event; lanyrd page);
• in Edinburgh at Edinburgh Napier University Craighouse campus on Wednesday 25th April 2012 (programme details; lanyrd page)

(As well as the individual lanyrd pages for each workshop, there is one for the full workshop series.)

The financial support from the AHRC has allowed us to run the workshops without charging a registration fee for the set of three. This helps make them more accessible to those who participate. In addition, travel bursaries of £150 were awarded to six new professionals and PhD students in October 2011 to support workshop participation.

Workshop themes and speakers

Themes and speakers at the workshops include:

• User involvement in research: Professor Peter Beresford, Brunel University;
• Data mining: Professor Kevin Swingler, Stirling University;
• Discourse analysis: Professor Andy McKinlay, University of Edinburgh;
• Ethnography: Dr Paul Lynch, Strathclyde University;
• Horizon scanning: Dr Harry Woodroof, Defence Science & Technology Laboratory;
• Increasing research impact: Professor Hazel Hall, Edinburgh Napier University
• Research ethics and legal issues: Professor Charles Oppenheim, DREaM project
• Repertory grids: Dr Phil Turner, Edinburgh Napier University;
• Research and policy: Professor Nick Moore, Acumen;
• Research techniques from history: Dr Thomas Haigh, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee;
• Social network analysis: Dr Louise Cooke, Loughborough University;
• Webometrics: Professor Mike Thelwall, Wolverhampton University;

Workshop participants

The workshop participants are listed on the DREaM workshop cadre page.

Programme committee

The workshop programme has been developed by the DREaM project Principal and Co-investigators Professor Hazel Hall and Professor Charles Oppenheim. They have been supported by members of the DREaM project advisory board: Dr Susie Andretta (London Metropolitan University), Silvia Anton (formerly of MLA), Dr Rossitza Atanassova (British Library), Dr Michael Jubb (Research Information Network), Stephanie Kenna (LIS Research Coalition) and Professor Gunilla Widén (Åbo Akademi School of Business and Economics, Finland). Christine Irving is also contributing to the project as a volunteer by helping with arrangements for the three workshops.

Conference Secretariat

Edinburgh Napier University, which holds the AHRC grant for the DREaM project, provides the secretariat for the DREaM project events.