About me

Since 2013 I have been Professor of Web Science at the ZBW Leibniz Information Centre for Economics and CAU Kiel University. The joint affiliation enables research closely related to applied areas of Library and Information Science as well as basic research in Web Science. My research group is located at the Department for Computer Science (Business Information Systems) at Kiel University.

In my research I am mostly concerned with user-generated content produced in, user-driven processes carried out in social media environments, and how they can be leveraged for different purposes. For example I study how social media content affects scholarly communication and whether user-generated descriptions of web content are useful in library contexts. These topics are also covered in my lectures and courses at Kiel University.

I received my PhD in Information Science in 2009 at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany, and I was a visiting scholar at the École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information at Université de Montréal and at the Department of Information and Library Science at Indiana University Bloomington. Before that I studied German Linguistics, German Literature and Information Science in Düsseldorf.

Curriculum Vitae

• 2002-2007: Studies of German Linguistics, German Literature, and Information Science at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany (Magister Artium)
• 2009: PhD Information Science at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
• 2007-2013: Researcher at Department of Information Science, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
• 2013: Visiting Scholar at École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information, Université de Montréal, and Department of Information and Library Science, Indiana University Bloomington
• Since 2013: Professor of Web Science at ZBW Leibniz Information Centre for Economics and CAU Kiel University