UBC iSchool Opens the Roberta F. Greig Research Laboratory

 

The School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, the iSchool at The University of British Columbia, is very pleased to announce the official opening of a new research space for students and faculty, the Roberta F. Greig Research Laboratory. This new space within the UBC iSchool includes a 300-square-foot research studio and an office for research assistants. At the grand opening of the laboratory on Thursday, November 15, iSchool Director Dr. Caroline Haythornthwaite noted the new space is in support of the School’s goal to foster a research perspective in its students and graduates, and underscores the importance of research thinking as necessary skills for management of future needs, growth and change in information, and to guide institutional practice.

 

Construction of this new research laboratory space was funded by a bequest from Roberta Ferguson Greig, a long-time supporter of public libraries who retired in 1991 as branch manager for a small community public library on Vancouver Island. She passed away in 2009.

 

 

George Buchanan Addresses Effects of Collaboration and Place on Finding Information

 

The iSchool at UBC is very pleased to welcome George Buchanan of City University London for a lunch-hour Colloquium, co-sponsored with the UBC Media and Graphics interdisciplinary Centre (MAGIC). Dr. Buchanan will discuss “Finding Information: The Effects of Collaboration and Place” on Wednesday, November 21, 12 noon-1 p.m. in the Dodson Room, on the third floor of UBC’s Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.

 

When seeking information, either within a document or in a large collection of materials, the contexts of collaboration and place have a strong influence on user performance. While those studying human behaviour have noted these factors, there is at present only a limited understanding of how to provide features that exploit these contexts in computer-based information discovery systems. In this one-hour seminar, Dr. Buchanan will report on a series of projects that have uncovered how each factor can be leveraged in new interactions between people and technology, and indicate how the interplay between social and location contexts can provide opportunities neither can on their own.
 
George Buchanan is a Reader in the Centre for Human-Computer Interaction Design at City University London. His main areas of research encompass information seeking and mobile technologies. His work has received a series of best-paper awards, and he is currently Research Chair of the British Computer Society Special Interest Group (SIG) on Interaction.

 

 

--

Michelle Mallette MLIS

Student Services Coordinator | School of Library, Archival & Information Studies

The iSchool at The University of British Columbia | Irving K. Barber Learning Centre

470 – 1961 East Mall, Vancouver BC Canada V6T 1Z1

e: [log in to unmask]  | t: 604.822.2461 (direct) | skype: mmallette.ubc

www.slais.ubc.ca  | www.facebook.com/UBC.iSchool | @ubcischool

Applying to SLAIS? Join our virtual admissions open house.