Developing a Research Culture and Scholarship Plan in Information Studies

Information research may take many forms. When the researchers are situated within an information technology faculty, there is a natural orientation towards the technology and the systems that make possible the use of the technology. Despite this, a focus on information itself and its effective utilisation can be achieved in an environment that may otherwise be more concerned with the technology than the information that the technology carries. This focus can contribute to research that has a systems orientation, as well as both foster and be fostered by interdisciplinary work in areas such as education, management and psychology. Here we explain the development of a research program in ‘information use’ within the Socio-technical systems theme of the School of Information Systems at QUT. Our emphasis is on the processes – research supervision, industry linkage, consultancy, grant development, conference contribution and publication - that have advanced the development of the research group. We also provide a summary of research projects in the form of models that are being developed to help illuminate the research frameworks

Trans-Pacific doctoral success – A collaborative cohort model

The San Jose Gateway PhD program is a doctoral partnership between the School of Information at San Jose State University (SJSU) in the USA, and the Information Systems School at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia. Because of Californian legislation, SJSU has not been able to offer PhD degrees. The Gateway Program therefore provides a research pathway for SJSU’s coursework students. It also helps the School to grow the research capacity of academic staff. For QUT, the Program provides the opportunity to advance research agendas and to build strong international connections and partnerships. The Program began in 2008. It is a distance-delivered cohort-based scheme with new students commencing in August of each year. All students are enrolled as part-time students in QUT’s Doctor of Philosophy. Each student is assigned supervisors from both universities. In addition to individual and group supervisory meetings, all students and supervisors meet in a virtual meeting space once a month. The online monthly meetings are supplemented by two residential events each year: (i) a one week face to face residential in August at San Jose State University, and (ii) an online residential in March. This paper will critically reflect upon this unique Program, which has led to high quality research outcomes, rapid completions, and noteworthy graduate employments. Critical consideration of the challenges and future proofing of the approach will also be explored

Raman spectroscopic analysis of an early 20th century English painted organ case by Temple Moore

An organ case from Lincoln, England, designed by the architect Temple Moore in 1907 was examined during conservation work using Raman spectroscopy in order to analyze the decorative paint composition. Samples from the six principal colours were extracted and examined using a Bruker Senterra R200-L spectrometer. The results are the first known formal analysis of a painted scheme by this architect, and they reveal a mixture of commonly used pigments for the period and the unexpected use of simpler, earth pigments, along with an unusual admixture in the red, along with an organic additive. The findings are of importance to both the conservation of Temple Moore’s artwork, in understanding the experimentation used in early twentieth-century England, and in furthering our knowledge of ecclesiastical decorative artwork of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

Spatial microsimulation of osteoarthritis prevalence at the small area level in England – Constraint selection for a 2-stage microsimulation process

The presence of identical benchmark/constraint variables in both geographic and survey datasets is a principal requirement for static spatial microsimulation models, particularly in the field of medicine and health sciences. This is also a as key limitation of static spatial models because geographical datasets rarely contain all variables required to realistically simulate an outcome. We believe this challenge can be overcome by a multilevel approach to spatial microsimulation using a case study of estimating the small area level prevalence of knee osteoarthritis in England. In the paper, we describe constraint selection and demonstrate a novel two-stage spatial microsimulation procedure using SimObesity, a static deterministic combinatorial spatial microsimulation model. We also present the validation parameters of our synthetic data, important areas for consideration and avenues for future research. Our findings demonstrate that important benchmark variables absent from the geographical dataset can be incorporated into spatial microsimulation models without compromising model robustness

Towards a National Housing Strategy for Homeless Youth

This policy brief, "Towards a National Housing Strategy for Homeless Youth", is part of a series developed by the Hollywood Homeless Youth Partnership (HHYP) to advance policy and practice recommendations focused on preventing and ending youth homelessness. This brief emerges from "No Way Home: Understanding the Needs and Experiences of Homeless Youth in Hollywood", a report released by the HHYP in November 2010 presenting findings from a multi-method needs assessment conducted with 389 homeless youth ages 12 to 25 in the Hollywood community.The purpose of this brief is to address the inadequacies of prioritizing permanent housing as the only solution for homeless youth, identify the major limitations of our existing housing programs, and advocate for developing a national housing strategy and funding a full housing continuum for homeless young people that is responsive to their unique needs and circumstances. This brief is being released at a time of unprecedented interest in the issue of youth homelessness -- we hope it will inform federal and local planning and decision-making and help advance our national agenda of preventing and ending youth homelessness

Nature-based solution to eliminate cyanotoxins in water using biologically enhanced biochar.

Climate change and high eutrophication levels of freshwater sources are increasing the occurrence and intensity of toxic cyanobacterial blooms in drinking water supplies. Conventional water treatment struggles to eliminate cyanobacteria/cyanotoxins and expensive tertiary treatments are needed. To address this, we have designed a sustainable, nature-based solution using biochar derived from waste coconut shells. This biochar provides a low-cost porous support for immobilising microbial communities forming biologically enhanced biochar (BEB). Highly toxic microcystin-LR (MC-LR) was used to influence microbial colonization of the biochar by natural lake water microbiome. Over 11 months, BEBs were exposed to microcystins, cyanobacterial extracts and live cyanobacterial cells, always resulting in rapid elimination of toxins and even a 1.6-1.9 log reduction in cyanobacterial cell numbers. After 48 hours incubation with our BEBs, the MC-LR concentrations dropped below the detection limit of 0.1 ng/ml. The accelerated degradation of cyanotoxins was attributed to enhanced species diversity and microcystin-degrading microbes colonising the biochar. To ensure scalability, we evaluated BEBs produced through batch-scale and continuous-scale pyrolysis, while also guaranteeing safety by maintaining toxic impurities in biochar within acceptable limits and monitoring degradation by-products. This study serves as a proof-of-concept for a sustainable, scalable and safe nature-based solution for combatting toxic algal blooms

The crisis in ICT education: an academic perspective

A national Discipline-Based Initiative project for ICT, funded by the ALTC, has sought to identify the issues and challenges facing the sector. The crisis in ICT education spans high schools, universities and industry. The demand for skilled ICT graduates is increasing yet enrolments are declining. Several factors contribute to this decline including the perceived quality of teaching and a poor perception of the ICT profession amongst the general public. This paper reports on a consultation process with the academic community. Academic concerns include the capacity of the sector to survive the downturn, and improving relationships with industry which should benefit students, academics and industry. An outcome of the consultation process has been the formation of the Australian Council of Deans of ICT (ACDICT) which will have broad responsibility for addressing the issues affecting ICT higher education

The practitioner’s experience and conception of evidence based library and information practice: an exploratory analysis

This paper presents a study that explores the way in which library and information science (LIS) practitioner’s experience and conceive evidence based library and information practice (EBLIP). Design: Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. The interviews were designed and conducted using the phenomenographic approach. Phenomenography is an interpretive research approach that looks at the different ways people experience or conceive a range of phenomenon. The intent of phenomenographic research is to understand variation in the collective experience of a group or community in regards a particular phenomenon. Six participants took part in a 30-60 minute audio recorded interview. The goal of each interview was to understand the variation in each participant’s experience of EBLIP. Findings: The results suggest that LIS professionals have four different ways of experiencing evidence based practice. The four different ways or categories are (i) EBLIP is not relevant; (ii) EBLIP is learning from experience; (ii) EBLIP is service improvement; and (iv) EBLIP is all consuming. It should be noted that this framework is fluid and will evolve as the research project continues. Value: The study is significant because it provides the first model or rich description of EBLIP as understood by the library and information practitioner. This model can assist library educators, associations and others involved in supporting and preparing current and future evidence based professionals, so that an evidence based culture can be firmly established within the profession