Biography

Stuart Ferguson is a Senior Lecturer, Information Studies, at University of Canberra, where he leads development of the Librarianship specialisation in the Master of Information Studies. His main teaching responsibilities include information organisation, information service management and information sources and services. Research interests include information politics, information ethics and knowledge management.

He has been an academic since 1990, when he began leading development of an Information Management specialisation within Charles Sturt University’s Librarianship programs. Before that he was a librarian for more than twelve years in Scotland, South Africa and Queensland. He has published in the areas of information technology in libraries, knowledge management, information ethics, librarianship, information organisation and Marxist aesthetics (the subject of his doctorate). He does not publish in the field of German literature. That is a different Stuart Ferguson.

Academic qualifications

PhD, Charles Sturt University, 2003: “Lukacs, Scott and The Historical Novel: A Study in Marxist Literary Criticism and Historical Fiction”.

M.Phil. (History of Political Thought), University of Glasgow, 1979: "The Divergent Nationalisms of J.G. Herder and J.G.Fichte".

Postgraduate Diploma in Librarianship, Robert Gordon Institute of Technology, 1976.

M.A.(Hons) in Politics, Class 2, Division 1, University of Edinburgh, 1975.

Teaching

Principal subject responsibilities include “Information Organisation and Description”, “Information Service Management”, “Connecting People and Information”, “Professional Practice in the Information Sector” and (from 2010) “Information Management in Organisations”.

Higher Degree Supervision

Recent topics of higher degree research students include: “Australian University Libraries Online Information Resources and Services to Offshore Students in P.R. China: An Analysis”, “The Australian Web Domain as Public Sphere”, “The Library of the Supreme Court Of Victoria, 1854-2004: Influences and Development - Past, Present and Future”, “Preservation and Management of Electronic Records: A Case Study of the National Archives of Australia”, “The Screensound Syndrome: Repositioning a Cultural Icon” and “Taking a Positive Approach to Change Management in LIM organizations: The Role of Appreciative Inquiry”.

Professional engagement

Stuart Ferguson has been an Associate (professional) member of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) since 1988 and before that was a professional member of the equivalent organisations in Britain (1980) and South Africa (1982). He has been an active member for most of that time: for instance, Convenor of ALIA Riverina, 2002-2004, and Treasurer of ALIA Riverina, 2001-2008. He has also contributed to the community: for example, representing the Friends of the Wagga City Library on the Wagga Wagga City Library Advisory Committee (later Community Committee), 2004 until 2008.

Research

Fields of research include:

Information ethics
The most recent project is the analysis of the use of case studies by the Australian Computer Society (developed by CAPPE) and its relevance to the Library and Information Management sector.  This began as part of a successful "Community of Scholars" application at Charles Sturt University, which provided research funding for 2003.

Information politics
This is an evolving area, encompassing related topics such as media studies, the myths of post-industrialism and "post-capitalist knowledge society", the philosophy of information and human aspects of developments in information and communication technologies.  It was the main focus of study leave in the second half of 2005.  Another related topic of interest is the impact of organisational politics on knowledge management interventions.

Information systems in libraries
The most recent contribution was to a successful "Community of Scholars" application at Charles Sturt University, which provided research funding for 2004.

Knowledge management
The field of knowledge management is of great interest to the library and information profession.  Papers on knowledge management and knowledge management sustems demonstrate engagement in the topic, as is participation in a "Community of Scholars" application (Charles Sturt University), which resulted in renewed funding, in 2005, for a KM group.

Literary theory and literary history
The doctoral study, "Lukacs, Scott and The Historical Novel: A Study in Marxist Literary Criticism and Historical Fiction", drew on previous research and research background in political theory and history of political thought.  It was a theoretical study and was very much humanities-based research, as is a significant proportion of library and information management research.  It produced several papers, including one in the highly-ranked Studies in Romanticism.

Publications

Publications cover a wide range, including information and knowledge management, librarianship, Marxist aesthetics, literary and political theory and creative writing. Selected publications in information and knowledge management and librarianship are listed here:

Refereed journal articles

Hider, P, Burford, S & Ferguson, S 2008, ‘The use of information architecture design methods and guidelines by Australian libraries’. Journal of Web Librarianship (forthcoming).

Ferguson, S, Hider, P & Lloyd, A 2008, ‘Are librarians the ultimate knowledge managers? A study of knowledge, skills, practice and mindset’, Australian Library Journal, vol. 57, no. 1.

Ferguson, S, 2007, ‘Value-added processes in publishing and the impact of ICTs, the democratization of publishing and globalization’, The International Journal of the Book, vol. 4, no. 2, pp.35-40.

Ferguson, S 2006, ‘AS 5037-2005: Knowledge management blueprint for Australian organisations?’ Australian Library Journal, vol. 55, no. 3, pp.196-209.

Ferguson, S, Salmond, R, Al-Saggaf, Y, Bowern, M & Weckert, J 2005, 'The Use of Case Studies in Professional Codes of Ethics: The Relevance of the ACS Experience to ALIA's Code of Ethics', Australian Library Journal, vol.54, no.3, pp.299-308.

Ferguson, S, Hider, P & Kelly, T 2005, 'Information systems research and the measurement of success: Lessons for library and information management research', Australian Library Journal, vol.54, no.3, pp.245-256.

Ferguson, S & Ferguson, A 2005, 'The remote library and point-of-need user education: An Australian library perspective', Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserve, vol. 15, no. 3, pp.43-60.

Books

Ferguson, S & Hebels, R 2003, Computers for Librarians: An introduction to the electronic library, Centre for Information Studies, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 332 pp.

Book chapters

Jones, C., Calvert, P. & Ferguson, S 2008/9, ‘Public libraries’. In I. Abdullahi (ed.), Global library and information science. IFLA publications. Munich: Saur.

Ferguson, S & Lloyd, A 2007, ‘Information literacy and the leveraging of corporate knowledge’. In S. Ferguson (ed.), Libraries in the twenty-first century: Charting new directions in information services (pp. 221-239). Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Information Studies.

Ferguson, S & Hider, P 2006, ‘Knowledge management education in Australia’. In P Hider & R Pymm (eds.), Education for library and information services: A festschrift to celebrate thirty years of library education at Charles Sturt University (pp.89-106). Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Information Studies. Available at http://www.csu.edu.au/faculty/educat/sis/CIS/epubs/LISEduc.htm

Ferguson, S & Salmond, R 2005, 'Kodeksy etiki dlya bibliotechno-informatsionnyh spectialistov: rukovodstvo k deistviyu ili osnovy moraly?' Sovremennyie problemy bibliotechnoi i informatsioonoy etiki, sostaviteli Yu.P. Melentieva & I.A. Trushina, nauchnii redaktor V. R.Firsov. Izdatelstvo "Rossiiskaya natsionalnaya biblioteka", Saint-Petersburg. ('Codes of ethics for the library and information professions: Guidelines for the workplace or motherhood statements?', In Modern problems of library and information ethics, editors Yu.P.Melentieva & I.A.Trushina, academic editor V.R.Firsov. National Library of Russia Publishing House, Saint-Petersburg.

Refereed conference papers

Hider, P & Ferguson, S 2007, ‘Information management courses in Australia: What do they teach?’ 18th Australasian Conference on Information Systems, held at University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, 5-7 December 2007. Published on CD-ROM in ACIS2007: Proceedings of the 18th Australasian Conference on Information Systems, ed. M. Toleman, A. Cater-Steel and D. Roberts. Toowoomba, Australia: The University of Southern Queensland, 2007. ISBN: 9780909756963. Available online at http://www.acis2007.usq.edu.au/assets/papers/54.pdf.

Ferguson, S, Sarrafzadeh, M & Hazeri, A 2007, ‘Migrating LIS professionals into knowledge management roles: What are the major barriers?’ In proceedings of Educause Australasia 2007, held at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, 29 Apr-2 May 2007, http://www.caudit.edu.au/educauseaustralasia07/authors_papers/Sarrafzadeh-114.pdf.

Ferguson, S, Hider, P, Lloyd, A & Kelly, P 2006, ‘The state of knowledge. Conceptualising knowledge management for LIS practitioners and educators’. In A Lloyd & R Pymm (Eds.). RAILS2: Proceedings of the Research Applications in Information and Library Studies seminar, held at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, 16-17 September, 2005. Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Information Studies. Available at http://www.csu.edu.au/faculty/sciagr/sis/CIS/epubs/RAILS2/RAILS2_State_of_knowledge.pdf

Hider, P & Ferguson, S 2006, An evaluation of the information architectural qualities of Australian library websites. Click06: ALIA 2006 Biennial Conference, held at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, 19-22 September 2006. Available at http://conferences.alia.org.au/alia2006/Papers/Philip_Hider.pdf

Ferguson, S 2004, 'The knowledge management myth: Will the real knowledge managers please step forward?' Challenging Ideas: ALIA 2004 Biennial Conference, held at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, 22-24 September 2004. Available online at http://conferences.alia.org.au/alia2004/pdfs/ferguson.s.paper.pdf

Scholarship

Scholarship is often looked down on by research managers as a poor substitute for research (defined in terms of the generation of new knowledge) but scholarship is important in academic and professional environments, and some "scholarly" activities are detailed here.

Regional editor: ‘Australia and New Zealand’, in I. Abdullahi (ed.), Global library and information science, IFLA publications. Munich: Saur, 2008/9.

Series editorship for the Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University: Occasional Monographs, 1992-2003; Topics in Australasian Library and Information Studies, 1996-2008; Literature and Literacy for Young People, 2003-2008 – some twenty titles in the period 1996 to 2008, including: Harvey, R & Hider, P 2003, Organising knowledge in the global society: Principles and practice in libraries and information centres; Williamson, K (ed.) 2000, Research methods for students and professionals: Information management and systems; and Middleton, M 2002, Information management: A consolidation of operations, analysis and strategy.

Book reviews: Library Review (UK), 2003-; Australian Library Review, 1990-1996.

Refereeing activities include: Australian Academic and Research Libraries (2006); Rural Society (2002); and the ALIA Biennial Conference, 2004.