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Information & Communications

Postgraduate Study by Research in Information & Communications

The Department has a world-wide reputation for postgraduate teaching and research activity, having achieved international standard and excellence in the Research Assessment Exercise in 2008. The Department runs CERLIM: the Centre for Research in Libraries, Information and Media based within the IHSSR.  Please see the CERLIM pages for details of staff and student research profiles.

In research, priority is given to our three thematic areas in the field of study of information and communications:

Communications and Media: the social study of information and communications media and their policies, frameworks and impacts.

Information Management: the study of information, its use and management in a range of organisational contexts.

Information Access: the study of information seeking and information retrieval systems and their evaluation, design and development.

 

Within these areas we apply both quantitative and qualitative social science research methods , as well as subject specific methodologies to research in the study of topics including:

  • new media and communications technologies,
  • knowledge management techniques in contexts,
  • the use of information and communications in social interactions,
  • information seeking behaviour in learning and everyday contexts,
  • the changing role of libraries in a digital age (including societal contribution and innovation),
  • search and retrieval technologies in the provision of digital resources, and
  • the design of user interfaces for information searching, use and management.

A common feature of research in each of these areas is an emphasis on evaluation of information and media and its impact on its users, uses and transformation environment.

The department also leads initiatives as part of the ‘Learn Higher’ project focusing on issues in the development of information literacy in education and for lifelong learning, and on the use of ICT and digital resources in on-line teaching and learning environments.

CERLIM is led by Professor Jenny Rowley and a team of experienced research active staff work within and across the research themes. An extensive portfolio of funded research projects and personal research has been undertaken by academic staff and our main postgraduate research effort is concentrated in the provision of programmes for the research degrees of Masters, MPhil and PhD. Students are currently working towards research degrees in a range of topics including, amongst others:

  • personal information management
  • public service broadcasting
  • e-book collection management
  • knowledge management strategies
  • multilingual and image information seeking and behaviour
  • online ducational technology
  • e-learning and pedagogy
  • information and resource mapping
  • management of library websites

For further information on CERLIM, the Department of Information & Communications and research degrees, please contact:

Dr Frances Johnson
Research Degrees Coordinator
t.: +44 (0)161 247 6156
e: f.johnson@mmu.ac.uk

Faculty Research Degrees Administrator
e: hlss-research@mmu.ac.uk