LIS Research Coalition » British Library

Research update: Hulya Ceren Anil’s work on Generation Y and conferences

Hazel Hall — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:22:39 +0000

Early in summer 2011 the DREaM project team was approached by Hulya Ceren Anil, a Masters student at the University of Surrey. Hulya asked if it would be possible for her to use the DREaM project launch conference as a site for data collection for her Masters dissertation. We were pleased both to welcome her on the day, and to hear recently that she achieved a distinction for her project, as well as her degree overall. Hulya has sent us an update on her study, the details of which are outlined below.

An introduction to Hulya's work from the opening session at the DREaM launch conference

The aim of Hulya’s research was to explore the need for interactivity in the content design of meetings and conferences. She was interested in the Generation Y perspective, and to compare this to the needs of the previous generations. She wanted to find out what kind of advanced interactive technologies may be needed in conferences and meetings in order to motivate and attract the Generation Y audience. She suspected that members of this group are less responsive to basic PowerPoint presentations. Thus she hoped to find out whether there was potential at conferences for advanced audiovisual technology such as virtual reality, 3D, hologram projections etc.

The DREaM launch conference was an ideal site for data collection because of the delegate demographic in terms of age, and because the delegates were from a profession that has a tradition of conference participation. Apart from these main factors, the length and the date of the conference were ideally suited to the timing of Hulya’s research, and the venue was within easy reach for her to attend in person.

Hulya was grateful for a very warm welcome from the organisers when she arrived at the British Library mid-afternoon on July 19th. The audience had been notified of her research in the conference opening session in the morning and the delegates shown her picture.

Participation in the research was optional. When Hulya arrived she placed her questionnaires and envelopes near the exit of the auditorium so anyone interested could pick up a copy at the end of the conference. During closing remarks the audience was reminded about the questionnaire.

After the conference Hulya also appreciated help with distributing her questionnaires to a wider audience. She followed advice from the DREaM launch conference organising committee members on how to achieve this. This help was invaluable in generating further interest in the study, and in securing a high response rate to the survey.

The research findings highlight that visuals should be used extensively in meetings and conferences in order to aid the learning process of Generation Y delegates, and to keep them focused. To do this, an appropriate combination of these should be used along with other forms of data presentation such as audio, motion pictures (videos), and texts. The main reason for the necessity of high visual content is that Generation Y has been exposed to images and visual learning since early childhood. This generation is used to playing video games and surfing the Internet.

Hulya also found that Generation Y prefers a high level of interactivity (both technological and personal) and prefers that the entertainment element at meetings and conferences is also emphasised. In addition, serious games as well as interactive learning tools such as touch screen tables with a high level of graphics can be utilised for this purpose. Specialised software tailored specifically according to a meeting’s needs will encourage collaboration: Generation Y generally prefers to collaborate and co-operate. If the right design is employed, this can help bring out Generation Y’s true potential as effective collaborators and motivate the achievement of objectives of the conferences and meetings as educational events. At the same time networking and motivation elements are satisfied.

On the basis of her results Hulya advises conference organisers to understand Generation Y well and tailor their conferences and meetings accordingly. The findings have shown that there is no need for extreme changes. However, left to time, a gap will grow between the generations if attention isn’t paid to this issue now. Hulya’s research, and that of others, has shown that Generation Y is a very productive cohort, provided that it is approached the right way and given the right conditions.

DREaM launch conference review, thanks and resources

Hazel Hall — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:44:33 +0000

DREaM project launch conference delegate folders, pens and data sticks

Thanks to everyone for their participation at the DREaM project launch conference last Tuesday 19th July.

We have now had a chance to analyse the conference evaluation forms and – along with feedback received by e-mail and over Twitter over the past few days, as well as conference reviews blogged by delegates – we are pleased to report that it was a successful day.

According to the 46 conference evaluation forms returned, amongst the most popular sessions was Hazel Hall’s introduction, rated by the majority of evaluations as “excellent”. Hazel Hall brought delegates up to date on the progress of the DREaM project with news of the forthcoming workshops, including the full programme for workshop 1 on Tuesday 25th October 2011 in Edinburgh. She also announced the Practitioner Research Excellence Award (details can be found on the Media releases page) to be presented by the LIS Research Coalition at the final DREaM project event on Monday 9th July 2012. She encouraged delegates to take a look at the new online community space that has been set up to encourage electronic networking amongst delegates between events.

Stephanie Kenna and Jenny Gebel at the registration desk

Blaise Cronin’s opening keynote and Dylan Evans’ closing keynote were also were rated by the majority of evaluations as “excellent”. Delegates appreciated Cronin’s main message to look outside the immediate field for opportunities to develop research ideas, to collaborate, research and to influence. They were able to observe such an approach in action in the career trajectory of Evans, who has taken advantage of a number of links and serendipity to build a varied and interesting, if unconventional, career path.

It seemed entirely appropriate that, further to a request made to Hazel Hall by a student from outside the field of LIS, at the end of the day that delegates were invited to contribute to a research project on interactivity in research meeting design. (If you would like to contribute to this project, please complete the survey).

DREaM delegates chat beside the publishers' stands

Most evaluations gave the One Minute Madness session “excellent” and “very good” ratings. Chair of the session Stella Wisdom hardly had an opportunity to blow the horn due to the excellent timing of the presenters. It was quite astonishing how much information was conveyed in the 60 second bursts. The impressed audience members tweeted encouraging and supportive comments on the session, for example: “Loving 1 minute madness. So much brilliant work esp on stories & narratives” (@bikerbid); “One minute madness was great – well done to all who took part” (@BLLizLewis). Check out the 15 minute video of the session to witness the high standard of the presentations.

Discussions in breakout session 2

The four breakout sessions were also mostly evaluated as “excellent” or “very good”. Delegate comments on the breakouts revealed how the session content had given them some useful ideas to follow up after the event. For those who attended breakout session 3 these ideas derived from a discussion of work which is well beyond the usual interests of librarians and information scientists. As one delegate tweeted “They are building a palace made of children’s milk teeth. This is not what I thought I would learn about today!” (@samanthahalf). The short time-frame for reporting back on the breakouts meant that there was no real opportunity for discussion in plenary (rated mostly “good”). Although this had been possible amongst groups and with individuals in the breakouts themselves and over tea, from the analysis of the evaluation forms it can be seen that delegates would have liked there to have been more time for discussion of the breakout outcomes. There is also an indication that the opportunity to attend more than one breakout session would have been appreciated by some delegates.

Paul Allchin lent a hand with the delegate packs as a member of the on-site team at the British Library

The convenience of the British Library Conference Centre (described as “lovely” by one delegate), its facilities and the catering attracted mainly “excellent” ratings, as did conference administration both before and during the event. Hazel Hall, Charles Oppenheim and Jenny Gebel particularly appreciated the positive comments from delegates on the organisation of the event, and would like to highlight here the great help of colleagues in the British Library in the conference preparations. Rossitza Atanassova did a fine job in her liaison role, and recruited a willing team of Paul Allchin, Liz Lewis and Adrian Shindler, who helped Hazel Hall and Jenny Gebel make the delegate packs and load the DREaM USB sticks with all the conference materials on Monday 18th July.

The DREaM project launch conference Twitter wall

Although not specifically asked to comment on networking on the conference evaluation form, this theme attracted a large number of unsolicited positive remarks. One delegate commented that the involvement of delegates before the event was “outstanding”. It is thanks to Bethan Ruddock (@bethanar) that a number of delegates in London on the evening of Monday 18th July were able to meet up before the conference itself the next day. Equally the work of our event amplifier Kirsty Pitkin (@eventamplifier) made it possible for the networking to extend beyond the confines of the British Library. Our remote delegates had access to all the presentations as they were delivered, as well as the CoverItLive session where a commentary on the proceedings and tweets were brought together. Delegates also made favourable comments about the interesting mix of researchers and practitioners who had registered, and the value of new contacts to follow up in the future. 68 people tweeted the #lis_dream1 hashtag over the course of the day. The 615 tweets included contributions from delegates at the British Library and a number of remote participants who offered their views on the conference sessions and the comments of on-site delegates. There is a Twapper Keeper for the #lis_dream1 hashtag where all instances #lis_dream1 are recorded.

Badges for the data geeks and data queens at the DREaM launch conference

When asked to rate the overall value of the conference “excellent” was, once more, the most popular response. Delegates offered congratulations to the DREaM project team, remarking how impressed they were with the day and how much they had enjoyed it, not least for the “incredibly insightful” presentations, “excellent speakers”, “interesting topic areas”, all the new ideas “to take away and develop” and the networking opportunities. One delegate said “[It has been a] really useful day. Let us take steps to assure a network of LIS researchers and practitioners for the future as research and practitioners should ideally feed into each other”. While the rest of the UK was focused on James and Rupert Murdoch testifying at the parliamentary committee, Simon Barron tweeted “Forget the Murdochs. The real talking point today is library science research”! (@SimonXIX)

Events such as this only come together with much effort and support from a variety of sources. Everyone involved in the DREaM project is grateful for the support offered by the AHRC as its main source of funding. We are also grateful to the recruitment firms who sponsored places for five new professional delegates. We were pleased that three publishers Ashgate, Facet and Oxford University Press were able to join us on the day and for their contributions to the delegate packs. The “data geek” and “data queen” badges supplied by Leadership Directories were particularly popular with the delegates (and, we expect, their colleagues and children at home too!)

We have almost finished uploading all the resources from the day to the event 1 presentations page, and these will soon also be added to the DREaM online community site. A further announcement will be made once everything is online. If you are interested in delegate reviews of the event, a number are already available, and some are expected shortly. Please see the DREaM launch conference reviews page to read review blog posts, videos of delegate and session leader perspectives on the day, links to archived social media activity, and photographs from the conference.

Getting set for DREaM project launch conference next Tuesday

Hazel Hall — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:54:42 +0000

Credit: mjsonline

The DREaM project launch conference takes place a week today on Tuesday 19th July. We’re pleased to report that all our plans are now coming together for a great event. If you’re coming along and would like to get to know your fellow delegates on Twitter first, please follow our DREaM participant Twitter list where we have listed everyone who has supplied us with their Twitter details in advance of the conference. We also have a Lanyrd page for the event. Here some – but by no means all – delegates have added their details. If you will be there on 19th July and have not listed yourself on the Lanyrd page, please don’t be shy – everyone would love to see your details here.

Stop press
In order to allow some last minute registrations, we are keeping the DREaM project launch conference booking page live until midday tomorrow (Wednesday 13th July). Thereafter it will no longer be possible to make a booking through our online system. So if you intend to join the conference, please make sure that you let us know by adding your details through the booking page by noon on Wednesday. Thank you!

Congratulations to international award winner Colm Talbot

Jenny Gebel — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 18:01:44 +0000

In May we announced that we were offering a bursary to an international delegate at the DREaM project launch conference in London on Tuesday 19th July 2011 (please see the blog announcement).

We are pleased to announce the name of the winner of this award as:

Colm Talbot
Information/Library Assistant – Richview Architecture Library
University College Dublin
Follow @colmtalbot

Colm is interested in how we can adopt and adapt approaches used in other disciplines to provide greater insight in LIS research. He recently wrote up a dissertation entitled What are MLIS students’ needs, motivations and expectations? Developing MLIS student personas for his Masters degree in Library and Information Studies (MLIS) at University College Dublin (UCD). This research stemmed from an interest in how student goals were being met by the School of Library and Information Studies (SILS) at UCD. Colm is currently developing an article for publication based on this work.

Colm is especially interested in hearing the address by Professor Blaise Cronin at the DREaM project launch conference. He is also looking forward to the one minute madness session. He is keen to meet other LIS researchers from beyond his home country of the Republic of Ireland so that he can develop an international network of contacts who share his interests in LIS research.

The DREaM project launch conference takes place on Tuesday 19th July 2011 at the Conference Centre of the British Library in London. For further information about the DREaM project launch conference and registration, please see the DREaM project launch conference web site.

Registrations for the DREaM launch conference, London 19th July, now open

Hazel Hall — Wed, 04 May 2011 16:27:26 +0000

Registrations are now open for the DREaM project launch conference which takes place at the British Library Conference Centre, London on Tuesday 19th July. To secure a place, please register here. Registration costs £150 inclusive for ordinary delegates. There are 20 places for PhD students at £90 each.

Out of the comfort zone: DREaM project launch conference full programme published

Hazel Hall — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:34:49 +0000

Today we published the full programme for the DREaM project launch conference to be held at the British Library Conference Centre, London on Tuesday 19th July. Taking “Out of the comfort zone” as its main theme, the exciting schedule includes sessions that cover: the DREaM project itself; the trajectory of LIS research; research collaborations across disciplines; research approaches, methods and techniques; research dissemination (including working with the media); public engagement with research; and the building of a research network for LIS researchers in the UK. There will also be an opportunity for delegates to participate as speakers themselves in a One Minute Madness session, following the success of this format at the LIS Research Coalition conference in June 2010.

Registrations will open for the DREaM project launch conference in early May.

Sessions and speakers at DREaM project launch conference announced

Hazel Hall — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:30:03 +0000

We are pleased to announce that almost all the details of sessions and speaker names at the DREaM project launch conference at the British Library Conference Centre, London on Tuesday 19th July have now been confirmed. Speakers include Professor Blaise Cronin, Dr Dylan Evans, Professor Hazel Hall, Dr Philip Hills, Professor Sara Rankin, and Professor Gunilla Widén. Conference delegates will also have the opportunity to take to the stage as one minute madness contributors. For further details please see the DREaM project page. Registrations for this first DREaM event will open in early May.

Professor Blaise Cronin announced as DREaM conference keynote speaker

Hazel Hall — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 15:31:15 +0000

We are pleased to announce that Dr Blaise Cronin, Rudy Professor of Information Science in the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University, US has agreed to give the opening keynote presentation at the DREaM project conference this July. This is the first of five events organised for the AHRC-funded project. The one-day conference takes place at the British Library Conference Centre in London on Tuesday 19th July 2011. For further details of the programme, please see the DREaM project page.

Presentation to Stephanie Kenna at Online 2010

Hazel Hall — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 05:30:42 +0000

Each year the Council of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (one of the founding members of the LIS Research Coalition) awards honorary fellowships to individuals who have have rendered distinguished service in promoting the objects of the Institute.

Stephanie Kenna

In 2010 the awards were announced and presented at the CILIP Members’ Day held in London on 14th October. Amongst those honoured this year was Stephanie Kenna. Stephanie was unable to attend the ceremony on that day so instead her presentation will be made at Online 2010 at London Olympia today. Those attending Online 2010 are welcome to come to the presentation, which will form part of the LIS Research Coalition conference session, and takes place between 12:30 and 13:00 in the Gallery Rooms in the exhibition hall at Olympia. Stephanie’s contributions to library and information science are well known in the UK, as outlined in the citation below, and it is an honour for the LIS Research Coalition to participate in the celebration of her work today.

Stephanie began her career in librarianship when she joined the British Library (BL) in 1975. She performed a variety of roles before joining the Research and Development Department in 1988. Here she developed and managed the humanities and preservation research programmes, and established, as well as served as secretary to, The National Manuscripts Conservation Trust. In addition she was responsible for BL grants for Cataloguing and Preservation.

When the BL Research and Innovation Centre was closed down in 1999, Stephanie moved into different roles, establishing the BL’s fund for supporting co-operative projects and other grant schemes for cataloguing, conservation and supporting public libraries. She also undertook responsibility for the Full Disclosure and Reaching the Regions programmes. Stephanie then moved on to develop the BL’s regional strategy working closely with the public library sector.

In her final years at the BL, Stephanie played critical roles in establishing two national initiatives: first, the UK Research Reserve, and secondly the Library and Information Research Coalition. Although now retired, she maintains an active role with the Coalition.

Throughout her career Stephanie has also played an active role in CILIP, most importantly as a member of its Accreditation Board and Career Development Group. She remains active in CILIP in her retirement, currently serving on the Defining our Professional Future Project Board, and as a mentor to junior colleagues.

Stephanie’s long career in the BL has been an essentially outward-facing one. Both in the Research and Development Department and in her relationships work, she has played key roles in supporting and enabling the development of high quality library and information services across the UK. In doing so she has promoted and enabled professional development and high standards of professional practice. Fostering education, training, research and innovation in the practice of librarianship and information science was, of course, a key part of her work in R&DD, as well as more recently in the establishment of the LIS Research Coalition.

The respect with which Stephanie is regarded by her many colleagues and friends was shown by the large numbers of them who came from afar to attend her retirement party at the BL at the end of 2009. This is clear recognition of how throughout her career she has worked with colleagues in the UK or overseas to promote and support the provision or development of library and information services.

In recognition of that distinguished contribution Stephanie Kenna is presented for Honorary Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.

Conference review, thanks and resources

Hazel Hall — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 09:30:00 +0000

Thank you to everyone for their participation in the LIS Research Coalition conference on Monday.

Conference review

The analysis of the conference evaluation forms (49 returned from 81 participants) shows that the event was very well received as a valuable, stimulating and enjoyable day, particularly for making contact with other LIS researchers, learning about on-going projects, and inspiring individuals’ commitment to pursuing their own research objectives. From the LIS Research Coalition’s perspective, the event provided a great opportunity to address its aims related to bringing together information about LIS research in the UK and encouraging dialogue across the members of the LIS research community. Added to this, discussions during the day – particularly in the breakout sessions – have helped identify priority areas for investment of Coalition resources in the coming months.

The majority of delegates who completed the conference evaluation forms rated the conference as a whole as “excellent” or “very good”. The most popular sessions were Andrew Dillon’s opening keynote speech and the set of one minute madness presentations, both of which were rated “excellent” by the majority. Andrew’s presentation attracted comments such as “great keynote” and “excellent – really interesting and fascinating speaker”. There was much enthusiasm in the comments on the one minute madness session which, in a way, reflected the gusto with which the delegates participated in this activity: “One minute madness worked really well – enjoyed this very much. There should be one at every conference!” “One minute madness was brill. How amazing that it actually worked!” Michael Jubb’s introductory presentation was also well received, with the majority rating this session either “excellent” or “very good”. The most common rating for the breakout sessions was “very good”, and for Charles Oppenheim’s closing keynote, described as a “great finale” in a delegate tweet, it was “excellent”.

The choice of venue was also very popular with the delegates: the majority rated the convenience of the location, its comfort and facilities and the catering as “excellent”: “I was very impressed – plush, great air-con, gorgeous food and handy for King’s Cross. Perfect.”

Those who were involved in the conference administration were pleased that most delegates rated the arrangements as “excellent”, both prior to the conference and on the day itself. Particularly appreciated was the additional “social” information provided in advance of the conference which, it is believed, contributed to the friendly atmosphere of the event.

Feedback from our virtual participants, of which there were at least 29 actively following the conference by watching #lisrc10 on Twitter or interacting with the CoverItLive site, also showed enthusiasm for the proceedings of the day.

Conference thanks

Of course, an enormous amount of effort goes into planning a conference such as this, and we owe thanks to all involved. First we are very grateful to the conference sponsors. A special vote thanks is due to our speakers, facilitators, chairs, student rapporteurs, and the brave one minute madness speakers for their contributions on the day, as well as the hard work devoted to preparing for their roles. We should also recognise that without the commitment of the conference programme committee, we would not have enjoyed a range of sessions that was – as one delegate remarked – so “well-designed from the point of view of the flow of different events/formats and from the point of view of engagement/participation”. There are also two individuals whose work behind the scenes deserves special recognition. Stephanie Kenna, amongst other things, contributed much to the marketing of the event. Stella Wisdom managed communications between Event Logistics and the British Library. Stella also liaised with the AV team to ensure that all the speaker presentations were in order, and prepared the tailored handouts that helped guide us through the process of accessing the British Library’s wireless network.

Conference resources

We have spent the past couple of days writing up the conference sessions and posting materials to the Coalition web site. Our live blogger Kirsty Pitkin of T-Consult Ltd worked at amazing speed to edit the video footage and provide the drafts of session reports for Hazel Hall to edit. Those who have agreed to write their own reports of the event, for example for colleagues or for publication, will be particularly pleased to see the full list of resources now available below (also accessible from the conference web page). We will add links to other conference outputs, for example reviews in the professional press and individual participants’ blogs, as these are published.

All the PowerPoint presentations from the conference are also available from the LIS Research Coalition’s Slideshare site. Video footage from the day, including delegate interviews and the one minute madness session, is available from the LIS Research Coalition’s Vimeo site.