Last updated by Hazel Hall, 7th December 2009

Profile

Dr Hazel Hall is Director of the Centre for Social Informatics in the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University. In 2009/10 she is also leading the implementation of the UK Library and Information Science Research Coalition.

Hazel's main research expertise and teaching interests lie in information sharing in online environments within the context of knowledge management. Other themes in which she maintains an active interest include social computing, online communities and collaboration, the education and training of information professionals, and online information services provision. She has published and presented widely in these areas for international refereed journals and conferences (including as keynote presentations), with further publication activity including professional press and monograph contributions. Her doctoral thesis considered the role of the intranet in knowledge sharing. As well as holding a doctorate awarded by the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier and a Masters degree in Library and Information Studies, Hazel studied has qualifications in French and Italian language and literature from the Universities of Birmingham, Nantes and Paris Sorbonne.

Hazel has an extensive contact network that comprises information/knowledge management and social computing practitioners and researchers across academia and industry. She has completed research and consultancy with companies such as KPMG, Sun Microsystems, TFPL and Scottish Enterprise. She has much experience of conference organisation, is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the annual international Online conference, is a trustee of the John Campbell Trust, and conducts refereeing duties for a number of international academic journals and research bodies. External duties completed in the past have included serving on the British Library Advisory Committee for Research and Innovation, and committees of the Institute of Information Scientists and UKOLUG (now UKeIG). Hazel has performed several roles at various examination boards and validations in both in the UK and internationally, examining work to PhD level in both English and French. She serves on the editorial boards of Library and Information Science Research and the Journal of Information Science. From 2005 to 2009 she was a member of the Peer Review College for the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Hazel is an Associate at TFPL. She was seconded to the firm in 2006, supported by the award of an Industrial Secondment Grant offered by the Royal Academy of Engineering. On-going work with the firm includes contribution to the planning and delivery of the European Business Information Conference (EBIC), and joint research into opportunities and risks that the adoption of social computing tools present to businesses.

Hazel's most active international links are with the US, Canada and Finland. In 2007 she was granted an International Exchange Programme Award by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, as well as a John Campbell Trust bursary, to support collaborative projects with colleagues in the École de Bibliothéconomie et des Sciences de l'Information at the Université de Montréal in Quebec, Canada. In the same year she was also awarded a grant by the Carnegie Trust towards research in Finland in the Department of Information Studies of the Åbo Akademi University to develop work on information sharing, social exchange theory and social capital. In Spring 2009 she made an extended visit to Eastern Canada, during which she gave presentations at the Université de Montréal, McGill University, the University of Toronto, and McMaster University.

From August 2009 until July 2010 Hazel is seconded two days a week to lead the implementation of the plans of the newly-formed Library and Information Science Research Coalition, the remit of which is to facilitate a co-ordinated and strategic approach to Library and Information Science (LIS) Research across the UK. Further information about the Coalition, including Hazel's secondment contact details, are available from the Coalition web site at http://lisresearch.org. Hazel's work with the Research Coalition was recognised in the award of IWR Information Professional of the Year 2009 at the Online Conference at London Olympia in December 2009.

Hazel's Edinburgh Napier contact details

Dr Hazel Hall
Director of the Centre for Social Informatics
School of Computing
Edinburgh Napier University
10 Colinton Road
Edinburgh EH10 5DT
UK

E-mail: h.hall@napier.ac.uk
Twitter: @hazelh
Telephone: +44 (0)131 455 2760
Fax: +44 (0)131 455 2727

Links to Hazel's resources

Hazel Hall's teaching and resources page (includes links to full text lectures and presentations delivered to undergraduate and postgraduate students covering the themes of business intelligence, information auditing, innovation, intranets, knowledge management and online information services provision).
Hazel's publications
Hazel's CV
Hazel's School of Computing pages