The impact of the UK FoI Act on records management in the public sector

UCL are advertising the following job vacancy:

Research Assistant post at UCL on an AHRC-funded project

This new and significant research project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to investigate what the impact of the UK Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 has been on records management services in public authorities. More specifically, the project will examine how well records management services prepared for and coped with the first three years of FOI implementation; what contribution records management services make to the ability of public authorities to comply with the FOI Act; how the user experience of FOI is affected by the management of records and what the implications are of FOI so far for good practice in records management. The research is led by Elizabeth Shepherd and Andrew Flinn in the School of Library, Archive and Information Studies at UCL.

Applications are invited for the position of Research Assistant. We are looking for an experienced and highly competent research assistant who will either be a qualified archivist/records manager, with an MA in archives and records management and professional experience in records or information management, or a graduate or post doctoral candidate with experience in humanities or social science research and/or knowledge of public sector governance and the access to information environment. Working as part of a collaborative team, you will undertake a variety of qualitative research techniques including semi-structured face-to-face interviews and focus groups with a range of subjects including records management experts from local authorities, senior FOI policy managers, and FOI user communities. You will also help locate and analyse existing literature, maintain a project website and be responsible for the initial analysis of data and the reporting of results. You will be encouraged to contribute fully to all aspects of the project including the analysis and dissemination of the findings. For further details of the project please see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slais/research/icarus/foi-impact/

The post is available full-time for twelve months (1 May 2008 to 30 April 2009) on grade 6 of the UCL scale with a starting salary of £23,692 p.a. plus £2,649 p.a. London Allowance.

Please download a job pack from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slais/research/icarus/foi-impact/. Applications (e-mail or hard copy) including a letter of application and CV, plus contact details of three referees, should be sent to Kerstin Michaels, Departmental Administrator, School of Library, Archive and Information Studies, UCL, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, k.michaels@ucl.ac.uk

Interested candidates can also contact Dr Elizabeth Shepherd (e.shepherd@ucl.ac.uk, 0207 679 2945) for more details.

The closing date for applications is: Friday 14 March 2008.