DEPARTMENTS OF PSYCHOLOGY AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
An infamous past acting in theatre and film led to years of work experience in Market Research. My reputation as a researcher was then saved by a degree in Psychology with IT. It was here that I realised computers can do quite useful things as long as they were designed for mere mortals to use them. I continued with this notion by studying an MSc in HCI (human computer interaction) at the UCL interaction center [formerly known as the ergonomics group]. I furthered my knowledge with a PhD at UCL, CS & psychology department. After a research fellow post at Middlesex University my quest to make computers work for people has now returned me UCLIC.
Collaborations: I enjoy collaborating with others and have worked and written with: Angela Sasse (CS, UCL), Ann Blandford (UCLIC) Peter Lunt (Psychology, UCL), Patty Kostakova (City University), Simon Attfield (UCLIC), Bob Fields (Middlesex University), Jeanette Murphy (CHIME, UCL).
Students I have also written with are: Maria Nilsson, Catherine Broome.
I have a wide range of research interests varying from the social impacts of technology & medical informatics & digital libraries to security and HCI, CSCW and Qualitative methods in HCI.
As a member of 'UCLIC' a visiting senior lecturer at Middlesex University 'IDC' and an external examiner at Bath University my research has has sought to identify relationships between social structures and technological developments to aid user-centred digital library introduction and development in both Academic and Medical Domains. Over the past 6 years I have researched various aspects of medical informatics from medical digital libararies to new technology implementation and usability issues.
This year I have been invited to present my research at the 'Royal Society of Medicine' and 'GOOGLE' (Palo Alto).
The current project I am working on 'co-evolving roles and technologies in the NHS: barriers and forces for change' is funded by the ESRC e-Society programme (RES-335-25-0032). The focus of the proposed research is on understanding the forces for, barriers against, and effects of change, as information systems such as digital libraries are introduced in clinical settings. This project has strong collaborative links with the Whittington and Milton Keynes hospitals, NHS Direct and the Middlesex and Archway healthcare library. This project follows on from an earlier one (funded by Middlesex University) on social and organisational aspects of digital library use.
I have also co-organised the Health Digital Library workshop at ECDL for HDL'03 at 'ECDL'03', HDL'04 at 'ECDL'04'. With a current workshop coming up this year in VIENNA: HDL'05 at 'ECDL'05'
My interests in the social impacts of technology started when I was a student representative for the British HCI group. My research has delved into the social structures of a variety of organisations from industry (BT, the BRE) to the NHS and academia. My research interests extend from the effect of social structures on technology introduction to the impacts technology have on society. I am also interested in the HCI implications of computer supported collaborative work and in particular 'communities of practice'. My previous research has concentrated specifically within the field of Multimedia communications (Video Conferencing, Virtual Reality, Multicasting, Web-based applications etc.). However, current research has delved into organisational awareness applications.
My initial research into this field reviewed the usability and social impacts of authentication mechanisms, specifically passwords. Further research has delved into the field of privacy specifically users' perceptions of privacy within multimedia communications. I am also a founding member of the ‘hcisec group’ (hcisec-owner@yahoogroups.com) . A group of internationally respected HCI and security experts who review the usability and user aspects of security technology.
My interests in qualitative methods for HCI have resulted in various seminars for UCL and Middlesex University undergraduate and graduate students in Grounded Theory, focus groups, in-depth interviews, Questionnaire design and application.
| Adams, A. (1999a) "Users' perception of privacy in multimedia communication" in Proceedings (Extended Abstracts) of CHI' 99, Pittsburgh |
| Adams, A. (1999b) "The Implications of Users' Privacy Perception on Communication and Information Privacy Policies" in Proceedings of Telecommunications Policy Research Conference, Washington DC. |
| Adams, A (2000) "Multimedia information changes the whole privacy ballgame" in proceedings of computers freedom and privacy 2000: challenging the assumptions. pp.25 - 32 ACM Press |
| Adams, A (2002) "Grounded Theory a theoretical perspective in HCI" Workshop on understanding user experience : Literary analysis meets HCI . HCI'02. London |
| Adams, A. Attfield, S & Blandford, A (2004) "Have digital libraries taken a wrong turn on the health information journey" Health Digital Library workshop HDL'04 at ECDL'04 (European Conference of Digital Libraries). p. 2-3 |
| Adams, A. & Blandford, A (2001a) "Social issues can impede the provision of even innocuous information provision" in proceedings of the 1st Dependability in healthcare informatics IRC workshop. pp. 51-58 |
| Adams, A. & Blandford, A (2001b) "Digital libraries in a clinical setting: friend or foe" in proceedings of ECDL'2001. Springer, pp. 231-224 |
| Adams, A. & Blandford, A (2001c) "Managing or reciprocating with digital library information in a clinical setting" in proceedings of IMH HCI'2001. Springer, pp. 139-143 |
| Adams, A. & Blandford, A (2002) "Digital Libraries in Academia: challenges and changes" in proceedings of ICADL'02 (Internation Conference of Asian Digital Libraries). Singapore Springer, pp. 392-403 |
| Adams, A. & Blandford, A (2003) "An outreach librarian project's impact upon successful digital library uptake" Health Digital Library workshop HDL'03 at ECDL'03 (European Conference of Digital Libraries). p. 2-3 |
| Adams, A. & Blandford, A (2005) "Digital libraries support for the users 'information journey'" in proceedings of IEEE and ACM Joint conference of digital libraries JCDL'05. |
| Adams, A. & Blandford, A & Attfield, S(2005) "Implementing digital resources for clinicians varying needs" in proceedings of BCS Healthcare Computer Conference'05. pp.226 - 233 |
| Adams, A., Sasse, M. A. & Lunt, P. (1997) "Making passwords secure and usable" in "People & Computers XII" in proceedings of HCI'97 Springer, pp. 1-19. |
| Adams, A. & Sasse, M. A (1999a) "Privacy issues in ubiquitous multimedia environments: Wake sleeping dogs, or let them lie?" in Proceedings of INTERACT' 99, Edinburgh. pp. 214-221 |
| Adams, A. & Sasse, M. A (1999b) "Taming the wolf in sheep's clothing: privacy in multimedia communications" in Proceedings of ACM multimedia' 99, Orlando. pp. 101-107 |
| Adams, A. & Sasse, M. A (2001) "Privacy in multimedia communications: protecting users not just data" in Proceedings of IMH HCI'01. pp. 49-64 |
| Attfield, S. Adams, A & Blandford, A (2004) "Effective ways to use non-personal information in healthcare: a report from a workshop held at University College London. " Healthcare libraries group newsletter 21 (3) September 2004 p. 16-17 |
| Brooks, C. & Adams, A (2005) "Out with the old in with the new: What gets missed when deploying new technologies in A&Es" in proceedings of BCS Healthcare Computer Conference'05. pp.34 - 40 |
| Nilsson, M. Adams, A & Herd, S. (2005) "Building security, trust and situational awareness in online banking" in proceedings of CHI'05. |
| Adams, A. (2003) "A whole picture is worth a thousand words" Social issues column of the ACM SigChi Bulletin - a supplement to Interactions (2). May - June '03. ACM Press pp. 12 |
| Adams, A. & Blandford, A (2002) "Acceptability of medical digital libraries" in Health informatics Journal. Sheffield Academic Press. Vol 8 (2) pp. 58-66 |
| Adams, A. & Blandford, A (2003) "Security and Online Learning: To Protect or Prohibit" in Ghaoui, C. (eds.) 'Usability evaluation of online learning programs'. Ideal publishing. Chpt 18 pp. 331-359 |
| Adams, A. & Blandford, A (2004) "The unseen and unacceptable face of digital libraries" in Journal of Digital Libraries. Springer-Verlag. Vol 4 (2) pp. 71-81 |
| Adams, A. & Blandford, A (2005) "Organisational communication and awareness: a novel solution" in Health Informatics Journal. Sage Press. [In Press] |
| Adams, A. Blandford, A & Lunt, P. (2005) " Social empowerment and exclusion: a case study on digital libraries" ACM transactions of computer human interaction. (TOCHI) ACM Press. [In Press] |
| Adams, A. & Kostokova, P. (2004) " Healthcare digital libraries workshop- HDL2004" Dlib Magazine. (October 2004) Vol10 (10) ISSN 1082-9873 |
| Adams, A. & Sasse, M. A (1999c) "The user is not the enemy" in Communications of ACM. pp. 40-46 (Dec. 1999) |
| Fields, B. Adams, A. & Kostokova, P. (2003) " Healthcare digital libraries workshop- HDL2003" Dlib Magazine. (September 2003) |
| Murphy, J. & Adams, A. (2005) " Demonstrating the benefits of user education: the case for IT skills and information literacy" Healthcare Information Library Journal. Special Issue (October 2005) [In Press] |
Sailing, Skiing, Gardening, Lace-making, Cross-stitching, Travelling and my Family.
UCL Interaction Centre
- MPEB 8th floor
- University College London
- Gower Street
- London
- WC1E 6BT
- UK
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+44 (0) 20 7679 0686
