UKeiG, the UK e-information Group, is delighted to announce the third in a series of one-hour UKeiG webinars free to all UKeiG and CILIP members.
At 12.30 pm on Wednesday 22nd April 2020, Karen Blakeman will present an "Advanced Commands for Effective Information Retrieval."

The increasing use of AI by the search engines does not always generate better results. This presentation will look at the key commands that are needed to improve relevance, what is still available in the major search tools,  and how to use the commands for more effective information retrieval.

Karen Blakeman is an experienced online researcher and trainer. She provides training and consultancy on how to use the web and social media as research tools, and how to identify and assess the quality of resources. She is a regular speaker at seminars and conferences and also a freelance researcher, providing a range of services including due diligence. Past and present clients include academia, investment and financial services companies, organisations in the food industry, NHS trusts, trade/professional bodies, public libraries, and local and central governments.

The webinar, hosted in collaboration with CILIP as part of its popular Webinar Wednesdays initiative, is also open to non-members for £25 + VAT.

To book your place online please go to:

https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1345147&group=201314

UKeiG would like to inform you that the 5th Tony Kent Strix Annual Memorial Lecture 2019 is to be delivered by Professor Pia Borlund, Department of Archivistics, Library and Information Science at Oslo Metropolitan University and will take place on the afternoon of Friday, 29th November 2019 at The Geological Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London.

This is a free event. Book here.

Professor Borlund was nominated for the award by Diane H. Sonnenwald, Emerita Professor of Library & Information Studies at University College Dublin and received unanimous praise and support from the Strix judging panel. "Similar to the memorable Dr Tony Kent, the work by Borlund is original and innovative, and has had a significant impact on information retrieval (IR) research and applications. Her approaches are analytical and practical, and her devotion and dedication to users and interactive information retrieval (IIR) are outstanding. Within the IR community, Borlund is known for her innovative contributions to IR user studies, evaluations and test design, including strong, novel methodological contributions to IIR evaluation. In particular, she is recognised for the development of her IIR evaluation model which uniquely employs simulated work task situations. Borlund developed the IIR evaluation model as a doctoral student by taking up the challenges of the calls put forward by Professor Stephen Robertson (recipient of the first Tony Kent Strix Award in 1998) and Micheline Hancock-Beaulieu, in their iconic 1992 paper on IR systems evaluation." The Award was presented by Doug Veal (Strix Chair) and David Ball (UKeiG Chair) and accepted by Dr Andrew Macfarlane on Professor Borlund’s behalf on the afternoon of Friday November 23rd, 2018 at the Geological Society, Piccadilly, London. "I’m very pleased and very, very honoured to receive the Tony Kent Strix Award. It’s a privilege to join the past recipients who I have admired and respected since I was a student." For more information about Professor Borlund please refer to: https://www.cilip.org.uk/members/group_content_view.asp?group=201314&id=745466

Her 2019 Strix lecture is entitled: "Evaluation of information searching" Abstract: My Tony Kent Strix Memorial Award 2018 acceptance talk introduces the research area of interactive information retrieval (IIR), which is concerned with how people search for digital information. More specifically, the presentation addresses methodological issues of IIR evaluation in terms of what it entails to study users' use and interaction with IR systems, as well as their satisfaction with retrieved information, by presenting the IIR evaluation model. Central to this model is the employment of simulated work task situations as assigned search tasks, which has become a standard way of testing users’ interaction and satisfaction in IR. Though this approach of assigned search tasks appears simple and easy to employ it is in fact challenging, and wrong use may have implications for evaluation results, therefore strengths and weaknesses will be discussed.

Full programme details:

• 1.30 Registration

• 2.00 Douglas Veal - Chairman's welcome

• 2.10 Introductory presentation – Dr Andrew Macfarlane

Sender vs Recipient Orientated Information Systems Revisited

Abstract: Belkin and Robertson in 1976 reflected on the ethical implications of theoretical research in information science and warned that there was potential for abuse of knowledge gained by undertaking such research. In particular, they identified the domains of advertising and politics that posed particular problems. Recent events in global information systems have demonstrated that their fears were justified. Information science theories have been used in conjunction with empirical evidence gathered from user interactions that have been detrimental to both individuals and society. It is argued in the paper that the IR community should find ways to return control to the user where at all possible, and ways to achieve this are considered. Specifically, we argue that information systems such as search technologies should be designed with the recipient of information in mind, not the sender of that information.

• 2.45 Questions & Discussion

• 3.00 Tea & coffee

• 3.45 The Tony Kent Strix Annual Memorial Lecture

• 4.30 Questions & discussion

• 5.00 Meeting closes

*** This is a FREE event, open to everyone, BUT advance bookings ARE required ***

Please book your ticket online here.

The Tony Kent Strix Award was inaugurated in 1998 by the Institute of Information Scientists. It is now presented by UKeiG in partnership with the International Society for Knowledge Organisation UK (ISKO UK), the Royal Society of Chemistry Chemical Information and Computer Applications Group (RSC CICAG) and the British Computer Society Information Retrieval Specialist Group (BCS IRSG). The Award is given in recognition of an outstanding practical innovation or achievement in the field of information retrieval.

CILIP Special Interest Groups the Knowledge and Information Management Group (K&IM) and the UK e-information Group (UKeiG), are pleased to announce a joint call for nominations for the Information Manager of the Year Award 2019.

Nominations should be received no later than 5 pm on Tuesday 20th August 2019.

The award is given in recognition of an individual who has made a significant contribution to the discipline of knowledge and information management through their work and professionalism by meeting one or more of the following criteria:

• Demonstrating excellence in the use of knowledge and information management techniques in the workplace 
• Raising awareness of the value and impact of knowledge and information management in the workplace and the wider library and information profession 
• Making a major contribution to the theory and practice of knowledge and information management.

Key characteristics that the judging panel will look for in nominations are innovation, initiative, originality and practicality.

Nominations should take the form of a short description (a document of no more than two or three sides of A4) of how the nominee has excelled, together with full contact details of both the nominee and the nominator. Do not forget to include any documentary evidence, references or links to content which may support the nomination.

Nominations for the 2019 Award should be emailed with the documentation to:

John Wickenden – Secretary UKeiG secretary.ukeig@cilip.org.uk 
cc-ed to Gary Horrocks - UKeiG administrator info.ukeig@cilip.org.uk and 
Sue Silcocks – Treasurer UKeiG treasurer.ukeig@cilip.org.uk 
Anne Fraser - Secretary K&IM secretary.kandim@cilip.org.uk

The closing date for nominations is 5 pm on Tuesday 20th August 2019.

The winning trophy and certificate will be presented at an awards ceremony on the evening of Wednesday 13th November 2019. There will be a keynote presentation and wine and nibbles. You can book online at: https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1200307&group=

The winner of the 2018 Information Manager of the Year Award 2018 winner was Virginia Power, BSc. (Hons), MSc., M.Ed. PGCE, FHEA. She is a Lecturer and PhD student in Information Science and Management at UWE Bristol (University of West England). Virginia has been an information specialist for over thirty-five years working in a variety of library and information services settings including schools, FE, HE and the public sector. She has also been an advisor and consultant with Jisc. She has an interest in open educational resources, metadata, digitisation and preservation.

The UK einformation Group is pleased to announce the publication of Volume 15 issue 3 2019 of our journal eLucidate. eLucidate is published three times per volume: around spring, summer and winter. eLucidate features contributions from experts in the field, keeping members up to date with developments and innovations in the digital information industry, considering the impact on information professionals and consumers of e-information. Topics in this issue include: Evolution of UKeiG, Open Access, Rethinking Advanced Search, a reflection of the key themes of the 2018 CILIP Conference in Brighton, Mindful Technology, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things, Ultra Information Management, and the regular Online Resource Update.