Sue Childs

BSc, MSc

Research Fellow

General
I joined Northumbria University in 2000, after a career in information studies research, working in the health and higher education sectors and as a independent consultant. I also have experience as a practising librarian and information officer, particularly in special libraries. I am currently a Research Fellow in the Information Management Innovation Research Group.

Teaching
My teaching responsibility lies principally in research methods and dissertation supervision. I mainly teach distance learning masters students, particularly those working for information and records management qualifications. I am interested in the nexus between research and teaching. My research experience naturally fits with the modules I teach. Additionally, I look for ways to feed back my research activities into teaching.

Research
I conduct externally funded research projects in a range of subject areas within the domain of information and communication studies. Currently, I am working with Prof Julie McLeod on records management research. I also have a long association with staff in the School of Health, Education and Communication Studies. I use mainly qualitative research methods and have a particular interest in carrying out systematic literature reviews. Projects I have been involved with include:

• DATUM for Health, Research data management training for health studies, funded by JISC, October 2010 to July 2011
• Accelerating positive change in e-records management, funded by the AHRC, January 2007 to March 2010
• Investigation into the use of Microsoft SharePoint in HEIs, funded by Eduserv, 2009
• A critical assessment of records management capacity and compliance toolkits, funded by the AHRC, 2005-6
• Assessment of impact of ISO 15489, funded by the AHRB, 2003-5
• Use of mobile technologies by health students on placement, funded by NHS University and Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authority, 2004-5
• Surmounting the barriers to NHS e-learning (HeXL), funded by Northern England NHS Workforce Development Confederation, 2003-4
• Managing primary research data and records for research in HEIs, funded by JISC, 2003
• JUDGE guidelines and website, funded by Health Foundation, 2002-3
• Info @ UK, funded by British Council, 2001-6

Activity/Outputs
I have published many articles and research reports, as well as conference papers and book chapters. A full list of publications is available at Northumbria Research Link. Here are some selected publications:

• McLeod J, Childs S, Hardiman R (2011). Accelerating positive change in electronic records management, Archives and Manuscripts, 39(2):66-94
• McLeod J, Childs S, Lappin J, Siggers G (2010) ‘Investigation into the use of Microsoft SharePoint in UK higher education institutions’, ENTERprise Information Systems, CENTERIS 2010, Portugal, 20-22 Oct. Communications in Computer and Information Science, 110(2). Berlin, Springer Verlag, pp.335-344
• McLeod J, Childs S (2007). Consulting records management oracles – a Delphi in practice. Archival Science, 7(2): 147-166