Dr Paul Laughton

Senior lecturer

 
Office: IT Building 6-, Hatfield Campus
Tel: +27 12 420 2961
 
Qualifications
BA Information Science, BA (Hons) Information Science (Cum Laude), MA Information Science (Cum Laude), PhD Information Management (University of Johannesburg)
 
Research
Research interest:
  • Information management
  • Knowledge management
  • Competitive intelligence
  • Research data
  • Data management
  • Data ethics
  • Innovation
  • User-centered design
Researcher ID profile:
Modules offered
Coordinator and Lecturer
  • INL 260 – Information Science: Economics and politics of Information
  • INL 310 – Information Science: Information organisation
  • MIT 890 – Data, information and knowledge Management
Lecturer
  • INL 130 – Information Science: Personal information management
  • INL 340 – Information Science: Digital repositories
  • INL 380 – Information Science: Competitive Intelligence
Postgraduate supervisor
  • Doctoral theses
  • Master’s dissertations
  • Coursework master’s dissertations
  • Honours research reports
 
EXECUTIVE SUMMURY
As an open thinker I’m always on the look-out for pragmatic positive solutions to tomorrows opportunities.
 
As an academic I have the advantage of gaining invaluable industry experience which have helped me forge useful networks. My experience gives a unique perspective to data, information and knowledge. I have a love for people, which has driven me to better understand myself and others. I hold a PhD in Information Management, with special focus on research data and the management of data.
 
As a lecturer I have taught Business Intelligence at the Department of Information and Knowledge Management (UJ) for 7 years at an honours level and worked on a number of very interesting and ground breaking postgraduate research projects at the University of Johannesburg. I was the Chair of the South African Committee for Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) (2014-2018), which got me involved in a number of international engagements to promote access to research data. I also consult and offer workshops on data management, information management and knowledge management.
 
 
EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG
 
PhD Information Management (2012)
Thesis entitled: Open Archival Information System (OAIS) as a data standard in the World Data Centre.
This research looks in the adoption of the OAIS functional model for data curation. Data curation is vital for the future use of data and special care and attention is necessary to ensure this. The empirical research has been designed to test compliance to OAIS data principles and identify common practices among World Data Centers.
 
MA Information Science (Cum Laude) (2007)
Thesis entitled: Controlling Access to online pornography at the University of Johannesburg.
This research dealt with the underlying issues around content filtering in an online environment at the University of Johannesburg. The pros and cons of content filtering were identified and addressed. The second part of the research consisted of a quantitative study of the content filtering software employed at the different campuses of the University of Johannesburg.
 
RAND AFRIKAANS UNIVERSITY
 
BA Honours in Information Science (Cum Laude) (2004)
  • Knowledge Economy (distinction)
  • Information Management Strategy (distinction)
  • Information Issues in Business (distinction)
  • Internet Infrastructures (distinction)
B A (Information Science) (2003)
Majors
  • Information Science
  • Political Science
University Subjects Passed
  • Business Management: IA, IB, IIA & IIB
  • Sociology: IA, 1B, IIA &IIB
  • Communications: IA &IB
CTI TRAINING INSTITUTE
  • A+ (Basic Computer Hardware) (2002)
  • N+ (Basic Networking) (2000)
BRYANSTON HIGH SCHOOL
Matriculated from Bryanston High School, Gauteng (1999)
with University exemption.
  • Mathematics (SG)
  • Science (HG)
  • History (HG)
  • Geography (HG)
  • English (HG)
  • Afrikaans (HG)
 
WORK EXPERIENCE
2021 to present: Senior Lecturer at the Department of Information Science (University of Pretoria). Duties involve lecturing of under-graduate and post-graduate courses, supervision of dissertations and thesis's, as well as research.
 
2019 to 2021: Knowledge Manager at the manufacturing, engineering and related services SETA (merSETA): run a small team that overlooked knowledge management and related activities in a cutting edge SETA. Manage research projects with respectable budgets, that look to the enhancement of our SETA and industries they serve.
 
2018 to 2021: Research Fellow at the Department of Information and Knowledge Management (University of Johannesburg). Conducting research and supervision of postgraduate students.
 
2018 to 2019: Business owner and business coach, owner of Netcribs, online student accommodation portal and business coach (life coach at Living Life Coaching). As a business owner of a small company I am heavily involved in marketing and relations (working on bringing new clients to our platform). As a business coach I specialise in people, getting the most out a company’s employees.
 
2017 to 2018: Lwazi Information Management Consultancy (contract consultant): working for Lwazi clients on ad-hoc projects on information and knowledge management. Implementation of processes and software to improve, generation, storage, distribution, retention of key information and knowledge assets. Worked on two projects for state owned enterprises.
 
2011 to 2017: Senior Lecturer at the Department of Information and Knowledge Management. Shift of focus from undergraduate studies to postgraduate studies with a strong focus on research and supervision of dissertations.
 
2008 to 2011: Lecturer at the Department of Information and Knowledge Management. Same responsibility and focus as with previous title of junior lecturer, but more responsibility has been added to my role with the inclusion of Master student's dissertation supervision.
 
2006 to 2008: Junior lecturer at the Department of Information and Knowledge Management. I was responsible for teaching and assessment of various undergraduate and post graduate fields with special focus on:
  • Web site design for knowledge management
  • Fee based information retrieval
  • Information entrepreneurship
  • Business intelligence.
 
2005: Head the Centre for Information and Knowledge Management at the University of Johannesburg in the newly formed department of Information and Knowledge Management. With this position I assisted the department with research for Industry.
 
2004: Student Assistant for Department of Information Science (RAU).
 
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE
  • Work experience as a KM Manager at the manufacturing, engineering and related services SETA (merSETA);
  • Well-read and continuously learning more about knowledge management through post graduate research,
  • Involved in a number of cutting edge KM studies in the private sector;
  • Consulted with the Human Rights Commission on KM strategy;
  • Regular contributor to the Knowledge Management South Africa Forum
  • Run a number of KM workshops with focus on KM strategy.
 
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE EXPERIENCE
  • Lecturer of a BI course at UJ at Honours level (4th year, NQF 7)
  • Industry engagement with BI professionals on a regular basis (stay abreast of the trends)
  • Worked on a number BI optimisation projects with small businesses
 
RECORDS MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE
  • Involved in a number of research projects with small businesses and records management
  • Good understanding of records lifecycle and planning processes
 
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
  • 2016: Re-elected onto the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) Executive Committee
  • 2014: Elected onto the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) Executive Committee
  • 2014: Appointed as a South African National Chair for the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) Committee
  • 2013: Received a nomination for the University of Johannesburg, Faculty of Management emerging researcher
  • 2012:  Appointed as a capacity building delegate for the South African National Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) Committee (Taipei)
  • 2012: Selected to attend the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) training workshop for International Training Workshop for Developing Countries on Scientific Data Management and Sustainable Development (Beijing)
  • 2010: Appointed as a capacity building delegate for the South African National Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) Committee (Stellenbosch)
  • 2008:  Recipient of an NRF grant for a capacity building candidate to attend the 21st International Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) Young Scientist Forum in the Ukraine
  • 2008:  Elected as Africa’s representative on the Young Scientists Forum Team of the UN GAID Community of Expertise on Enhancing Access to and Application of Scientific Data in Developing Countries (eSDDC)
  • 2007: Received the degree Magister Artuim in Information Science (Cum Laude)
  • 2006: Fist prize for “Best Academic Poster” awarded at World Wide Web 2006 Conference for a poster titled: “A Study on the Exposure to Online Pornography at the University of Johannesburg”
  • 2005:  Represented South Africa in Germany for EMEA IBM Top Student Initiative.
  • 2005:  Awarded IBM Merit Award for paper titled “Regulation of Internet in an Organisation to Create a Productive Working Environment”, as part of the IBM EMEA Top Student Initiative
  • 2004:  Received the degree Baccalaureus Artuim Honoribus in Information Science (Cum Laude)
 
POST GRADUATE STUDENT SUPERVISION
  • 2021. (Currently under examination) Terry Ramabulana (Black, Male) (PhD Information Management): Information management as a strategy for performance improvement in local government (supervisor).
  • 2020. Suwilo Simwanza (Black, Female) (MPhil Information Management): Knowledge sharing and collaboration in agile software development teams (co-supervisor).
  • 2018. Heike Ann Kirstein (White, Female) (MPhil Information Management): Needs analysis of university knowledge management education (supervisor).
  • 2015. Jakobina Mwiiyale (Black, Female) (MPhil Information Management): Developing information literacy skills within a virtual reference system (supervisor).
  • 2013. Oupa Mamabolo (Black, Male) (M Com Information Management): Intellectual capital as leverage for creating competitive advantage (co-supervisor).
 
ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS & CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Journal Publications
  • 2013: LAUGHTON, P., DU PLESSIS, T. 2013. “Data curation in the World Data System: proposed framework”. Data Science Journal 12:56-70.
  • 2012: LAUGHTON, P. 2012. “Data centres operating in the knowledge economy”. Journal of Information and Knowledge Management 11(04).
  • 2012: LAUGHTON, P. 2012. “OAIS functional model conformance test: a proposed measurement”. Program: Electronic Library and Information Systems 46(3).
  • 2011: LAUGHTON, P. 2011. “The use of wikis as alternatives to learning content management systems”. The Electronic Library 29(2):225-235.
  • 2009: LAUGHTON, P. 2009. "The effectiveness of WIPE as an image filter for the identification of online pornographic images". The International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society 5(5):179-188.
  • 2008: LAUGHTON, P. A. 2008. “Hierarchical analysis of acceptable use policies. South African Journal of Information Management”, 10(4). Available from http://www.sajim.co.za.
  • 2007: LAUGHTON, P., RENSLEIGH, C. 2007. "Managing Exposure to Online Pornography at UJ". South African Journal of Information Management 9(4). [Online]. Available WWW: www.sajim.co.za.
  • 2007: LAUGHTON, P. RENSLEIGH, C. 2007. "Exposure to online pornography at the University of Johannesburg, Second phase empirical results". The International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society 3(4):37-44.
 
Conference and other Presentations
  • 2021: What Covid has taught us about research data management. National Research Data Management Workshop, on the 12th of October 2021.
  • 2017: Information overload and perceived productivity amongst tertiary students. 34th Pan Pacific Conference. Lima, Peru (Speaker, 4th Author) (Accredited Proceedings).
  • 2017: Web 2.0 Tools for Virtual Reference Services in a University Library. 34th Pan Pacific Conference. Lima, Peru (Speaker, 2nd Author) (Accredited Proceedings).
  • 2016: Preservation of corporate memory; through electronic records and document           retention at the National Research Foundation. 33rd Pan    Pacific Conference.       Miri, Malaysia (Speaker, Second Author)    (Accredited       Proceedings).
  • 2016: Investigating records management in a small Johannesburg law firm. 33rd Pan          Pacific Conference. Miri, Malaysia (Speaker, Third Author) (Accredited             Proceedings).
  • 2015: Creating synergy in the South African data landscape. CHCP National Conference. Pretoria (Speaker, First Authour).
  • 2015: Social media: effects on small business communication and information sharing.     32nd Pan-Pacific Conference: Hanoi, Vietnam (Speaker, Second Author)      (Accredited Proceedings).
  • 2015: The use of Web 2.0 amongst subject librarians at the University of Namibia. 9th        International Conference on Education and Information Management: Tetouan, Morocco (Speaker, Second Author) (Accredited Proceedings).
  • 2015: Usage of mobile devices by students to access and manage academic       information. 9th International Conference on Education and Information             Management: Tetouan, Morocco (Speaker, Second Author) (Accredited          Proceedings).
  • 2014: Big data in a statistical service organization: a case study. 31st Pan-Pacific Conference. Osaka, Japan (Speaker, Second Author) (Accredited Proceedings).
  • 2014: Using peer instruction and clickers to teach information management: a       preliminary study. 5th International Conference on Education and Information      Management. Durban University of Technology, Durban (Speaker, First Author)     (Accredited Proceedings).
  • 2014: South Africa’s data sharing strategy. Open Data for Science and Sustainability in     Developing Countries Workshop. University of Jomo Kenyatta University of       Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya (Speaker, First Author).
  • 2014: Information Management in a clothing retail outlet. 14th Annual Information and         Knowledge Management Conference. University of Johannesburg,      Johannesburg (Second Author) (Accredited Proceedings).
  • 2013: Data management and curation. 5th African Digital Scholarship and Curation Conference. Durban, UKZN Howard College Campus (Workshop presented).
  • 2013: Investigating the use of knowledge management amongst the city of Johannesburg museums. 12th Annual Information and Knowledge Management Conference. University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park (Second Author) (Accredited proceedings).
  • 2012: Best practices amongst World Data Centres. Data Centre Optimisation Forum, Johannesburg, OR Tambo Sun International (Speaker, First Author).
  • 2012: Data Centres Operating in the Knowledge Economy. International Conference on the Knowledge Management. FNB Training Centre, Sandton (Speaker, First Author).
  • 2012: e-Science in South Africa: research to design a roadmap. 23rd International CODATA conference: Data and information for a changing planet. Taipei, Taiwan (Speaker, single presentation).
  • 2011: The World Data System: a system for open access repositories. 4th African Scholarship and Digital Curation Conference. Pretoria, CSIR (Poster presentation, First Author).
  • 2011: World data centre hurdles in improving access to scientific data. 10th Annual Information and Knowledge Management Conference, Sandton (Speaker, First Author). (Accredited Proceedings)
  • 2011: Proposed framework for the curation of data in the WDS. 1st ICSU WDS Conference. Kyoto, Japan (Speaker, First Author).
  • 2010: World Data Centres in e-science. 12th Annual Conference on World Wide Web application. University of KZN, Durban (Speaker, single presentation). (Accredited Proceedings)
  • 2010: Data curation practices amongst World Data Centres. 22nd International CODATA Conference: Data and sustainable development. Stellenbosch, Cape Town (Speaker, single presentation).
  • 2009: Wikis as alternative Learning Content Management Systems. African Digital Scholarship and Curation Conference. CSIR, Pretoria (Speaker, single presentation).
  • 2009: Will your information be available forever? 9th Annual Information and Knowledge Management Conference. FNB Training Center, Sandton (Speaker, single presentation).
  • 2008: 1st African Digital Curation Conference, Pretoria, CSIR (During conference nominated as Africa’s representative on the Young Scientists Forum Team of the UN GAID Community of Expertise on Enhancing Access to and Application of Scientific Data in Developing Countries (eSDDC)).
  • 2008: The Regulation of South Africa's Mobile Internet. Forbidden Fruit Conference, Southport, UK (Speaker, single presentation).
  • 2007: Information Management: using information to manage institutions. The Department of Health and Social Development: Information and Records Management Inbaba (Invited keynote speaker, single presentation).
  • 2007: Exposure to online pornography at the University of Johannesburg: Second phase empirical results. 3rd International Conference on Technology, Knowledge and Society, Cambridge, University of Cambridge (Speaker, single presentation).
 
 
 
 
 
 

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