Hazel Hall (information scientist)

Hazel Jane Read Hall FRSE FCLIP FHEA (born 24 March 1963) is a British Information scientist and academic. She is Emeritus Professor in the School of Computing, Engineering, and Built Environment at Edinburgh Napier University,[1] Scotland and Docent in Information Studies in the School of Business and Economics at Åbo Akademi University, Finland.

Hazel Jane Read Hall
Born24 March 1963
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
NationalityBritish
EducationSorbonne, the Université de Nantes and University of Birmingham
OccupationInformation Scientist

Early life and education edit

Hall was born in Edinburgh in 1963, the daughter of veterinary surgeon Paul Guy Hall (1938-2018[2]) and school teacher Marianne Hall (née Toulmin, through whom she is related to economist Camilla Toulmin, Olympian Nick Toulmin, and philosopher Stephen Toulmin). Much of her childhood was spent in the north of England. She studied French language and literature at the Sorbonne, the Université de Nantes and the University of Birmingham,[3] from where she graduated with a BA (Special Honours) in 1986.[4] After working in the libraries of both the University of Birmingham and Birmingham Polytechnic during the late 1980s, she was awarded her MA in Library and Information Studies from the University of Central England in 1993.

Teaching and research edit

In 1989, Hall took up a post as lecturer within the Department of Communication and Information Studies at Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh.[1] During this time, as well as completing her master's degree, she also contributed to a number of journals and conferences, with subjects reflecting her interest in the increasing importance of computers and internet technologies, the gender gap within computing and the role of information science within the workplace amongst others.

Hall joined the teaching staff of the School of Computing at Napier University in 1999,[1] becoming a Senior Lecturer in 2000. Continuing her earlier research, in 2004 she was awarded a PhD by Napier University for her thesis “The knowledge trap: an intranet implementation in a corporate environment” which had been sponsored by KPMG.[5][6]

A Royal Academy of Engineering grant allowed Hall to undertake a six-month industrial placement with TFPL Limited, before being made Reader in Social Informatics in 2007, and Director of the Centre for Social Informatics in 2009.

Between 2009 and 2012, Hall led the work of the Library and Information Science Research Coalition,[7] a UK-wide project to facilitate a co-ordinated and strategic approach to research in the field, becoming Professor of Social Informatics at the renamed Edinburgh Napier University in 2010.

A particular focus of the coalition was to develop librarians as practitioner-researchers, and Hall led the creation of a UK-wide formal UK-wide network of Library and information science (LIS) researchers called DREaM (Developing Research Excellence and Methods) receiving funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to launch the network during 2011 and 2012.[8][9] At the same time, Hall led two pieces of work looking at how the influence on practice of funded research in the LIS field might be enhanced. The first of the RiLIES projects (Research in Librarianship - Impact Evaluation Study) formed part of Hall's keynote presentation at the 6th International Evidence Based Library and Information Practice Conference held at the University of Salford in 2011.[10]

Hall was appointed as Docent in Information Studies within the Faculty of Social Sciences, Business and Economics, at Åbo Akademi University, Finland in 2017.[11]

In 2014, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) and Archives and Records Association (ARA) commissioned Hall and a team from Edinburgh Napier University to assist the sector they represent by conducting a study into the nature of the Information workforce in the United Kingdom. On the release of the full report in 2018, CILIP/ARA described the work as "the most extensive study of its kind anywhere in the world to date."[12][13]

Hall's research has been acknowledged within a review of worldwide social informatics research published in the Journal of Information Science in 2016; her main research contributions relate to information sharing in online environments.[14] These have led to the development of knowledge and understanding across a range of themes including: power relations in knowledge management; the agency of non-human actors in technology implementations; co-operation and collaboration in online communities; knowledge creation processes and innovation; and knowledge management as management innovation.[citation needed]

Hall was made Emeritus Professor in 2022.

Recognition edit

Hall has been recognised by a number of awards and fellowships including:

Personal life edit

Hall is married to Tim Read, a UK computer scientist.[26]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Hazel Hall". Edinburgh Napier University. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  2. ^ Hall, Hazel (16 March 2019). "Paul Guy Hall". Veterinary Record. 184 (11): 357. doi:10.1136/vr.l1193. ISSN 0042-4900. PMID 30872449.
  3. ^ a b "About Hazel Hall". Hazel Hall. 5 November 2012. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Professor Hazel Hall - Professor, School of Computing". Edinburgh Napier Connect. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  5. ^ "The knowledge trap an intranet implementation in a corporate environment". Napier. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  6. ^ "PhD – The knowledge trap: an intranet implementation in a corporate environment". Hazel Hall. 4 January 2013. Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  7. ^ "Library and Information Science Research Coalition". Napier. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  8. ^ Luo, Lili; Brancolini, Kristine; Kennedy, Marie R (2017). Enhancing library and information research skills : a guide for academic librarians. Brancolini, Kristine,, Kennedy, Marie R. Santa Barbara, California: Libraries Unlimited. p. 171. ISBN 9781440841729. OCLC 973920792.
  9. ^ "Developing Research Excellence and Methods DREaM". Napier. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  10. ^ Eldredge, Jonathan; Kaalvik, Hilde; Lewis, Suzanne; Gardois, Paolo; Dalziel, Katrina; Fraser, Katie; Grant, Maria; Brettle, Alison (15 December 2011). "The 6th International Evidence Based Library and Information Practice Conference (EBLIP6): Conference Report and Reflections". Evidence Based Library and Information Practice. 6 (4): 30–40. doi:10.18438/B8JW3T. hdl:1854/LU-8564633. ISSN 1715-720X.
  11. ^ "Professor Hazel Hall appointed Docent at Åbo Akademi University". Edinburgh Napier University. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  12. ^ "UK-based Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) and the Archives and Records Association (UK & Ireland) (ARA) have today released the full report on the 2015 UK information workforce survey". CILIP website. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  13. ^ "Workforce". ARA UK & Ireland. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  14. ^ Smutny, Zdenek (October 2016). "Social informatics as a concept: Widening the discourse". Journal of Information Science. 42 (5): 681–710. doi:10.1177/0165551515608731. S2CID 9355999.
  15. ^ Middleton, Lydia (12 July 2019). "Hall to Receive Clarivate Analytics Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award". Association for Information Science and Technology | ASIS&T. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Elsevier/LIRG Research Award and LIRG Postgraduate Prize" (PDF). ELucidate. 2 (4): 37–38. Summer 2005.
  17. ^ "Hazel Hall named Information Professional of the Year 2009". LIS Research Coalition. 3 December 2009. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  18. ^ "IWR Awards | Infotoday Blog Archive". Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  19. ^ Infield, Neil. "Hazel Hall wins Information World Review Information Professional of the Year 2009". In through the outfield (the blog of Neil Infield of the British Library). Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  20. ^ "Information Professional Award 2011 – winner announced". SLA Europe. 12 April 2011. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  21. ^ "Jason Farradane Award 2016 Winner". CILIP The library and information association. 28 September 2016. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  22. ^ "Professor Hazel Jane Read Hall FRSE". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. 19 May 2017. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017.
  23. ^ "Digital Economy Programme Advisory Board meeting June 2015 – EPSRC website". epsrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  24. ^ "Digital Economy Programme Advisory Board meeting November 2017 – EPSRC website". epsrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  25. ^ "REF 2021 Panel Members" (PDF). www.ref.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  26. ^ "READ | InformIT". www.informit.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.