Students

• Past Students
  • Rhonda McEwen, Ph.D.
  • Sambhavi Chandrashekar, Ph.D.
  • Elise Chien, MISt
  • Pia Russell, MISt
• Current Doctoral Students
  • Danielle Allard
  • Melissa Fritz
  • Susan MacDonald
  • Diane Dechief
  • Lisa Quirke
• Research Assistants and Collaborators

Past Students

• Rhonda McEwen (Ph.D., University of Toronto; MBA IT, City Univ. London; MSc Univ. of Colorado Boulder; BSc, Univ. West Indies)
  Rhonda is an Assistant Professor at the iSchool, University of Toronto. Her primary research interests include the emergence of pervasive mobile communication networks and the resultant consequences for social networks, communication law and policy, and peer-to-peer cultural production. She graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a Masters in Telecommunications and a minor in Telecom Law and Policy. She also holds an MBA in Information Technology from Cass Business School (London, UK), and an undergraduate degree in Sociology and Management from the University of the West Indies. For her dissertation research, Rhonda examined the use of mobile phones for information exchange and social networking within a youth community in Toronto. She has been awarded a Doctoral Canada Graduate Scholarship (SSHRC, 2006-2009). Previous awards include the Ontario Government Scholarship, the Association of American University Women Fellowship, the Chevening Award, and the Silver Guild Medal (UWI)..
  
  
• Sambhavi Chandrashekar (Ph.D., University of Toronto; M.Sc. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai, India; M.Sc. University College London, UK)
  Sambhavi is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto. Her research on "Privateye: electronic navigational aids for individuals with vision impairments" is funded by a MITACS Elevate Fellowship. Sambhavi returned to school 27 years after her first M.Sc. in Theoretical Chemistry from IIT Madras. She has two decades of work experience in IT projects and corporate IT training with the Reserve Bank of India. She completed an M.Sc thesis in Human Computer Interaction with Ergonomics at UCL. Her thesis work on "Accessibility and Usability - where is the dividing line?" was presented at the Ergonomics Society Annual Conference (ESAC 2006) in Cambridge, UK. She also presented some of her current work in various venues, including "Using Think Aloud Protocol with Blind Users: A Case for Inclusive Usability Evaluation Methods" at the ACM SIGACCESS conference (ASSETS 2006) in Portland, Oregon; "Serving Library Patrons with Developmental Disabilities" at the Ontario Library Association's Super Conference, 2007; and "A model for inclusive design of digital libraries" at the ACM-IEEE Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL), Vancouver, BC.
  Sambhavi's ambition is to help improve access to information for persons with disabilities through information and communication technologies (ICTs). Her dissertation research examined the differences between visual and auditory perception of information and its impact on the evaluation of information credibility on the Web by persons with vision impairments using screen reading software. Sambhavi also works as a Research Assistant with the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, which is engaged in projects involving adaptive technologies and people with disabilities.
  
  
• Elise Chien(MISt, 2003-2005)
  Thesis Topic: Informing and Involving Newcomers Online: A Study of Settlement.Org.
  Elise is a graduate of the MISt at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Information Studies, and the Collaborative Program in Knowledge Media Design. She was interested in assessing how community networking can be useful for new immigrants to Canada. Particularly, her research involved the role of Web-based information for new immigrants and their settlement needs, and whether, in the pursuit of information, they establish a sense of community. Elise was involved in the CRACIN sub-project on Community Networking and Libraries, led by Prof. Nadia Caidi. This research involved the examination of the role of libraries in society and how they can contribute to the community networking movement. The research will help to uncover the mission and values, strategies and services, and outcomes of libraries' efforts in enhancing the social, political and cultural aspects of community. It is hoped that through this study, libraries can be seen as a knowledgeable and useful partner in driving forward the community networking agenda.
  
  
• Pia Russell(MISt, 2002-2004)
  Thesis Topic: Information Literacy and Education Policy: An Instrumental Case Study of the Ontario Public School Curriculum.
  Pia Liv Russell is a graduate of the Faculty of Information Studies' Master of Information Studies program at the University of Toronto and has a BA in interdisciplinary studies from the University of British Columbia. Her research interests include information literacy and education praxis, information policy, literacy theory and student development theory in higher education. Pia has held previous positions as a librarian at the University of Toronto at Mississauga where she assisted with reference, instruction and outreach; as well as at the UBC Library; the Globe and Mail editorial reference library; and the Data, Map and Government Information Services department at Robarts Library and the Business Information Centre at the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto.
  

Current Doctoral Students

• Danielle Allard (BA Hons York Univ; MISt, Univ. of Toronto)
  Danielle graduated in 2001 with a BA Hons in Women's Studies and Philosophy and received an MISt from the Faculty of Information Studies in 2004. Her current research examines the everyday information behaviour of new immigrants to Toronto. Her research focuses on the relationship between immigrant information behaviour,transnational and local social networks, civic identity, and civic participation. Danielle is also a Research Assistant on the Information Practices of Ethno-Cultural Communities (IPEC) project co-funded by the Center of Excellence on Research on Immigration and Settlement (CERIS) and the Faculty of Information Studies. Danielle has co-authored with Nadia Caidi an article on "Social Inclusion of Newcomers to Canada: An Information Problem?" that appeared in Library & Information Science Research, 27(3), 302-324. In her other life, Danielle is the coordinator of the Dr. Chun Resource Library at the University of Toronto Women's Centre and engages in research on women's health issues. She has recently been contracted by the Women and Health Protection (WHP) Working Group to produce a report on women and cholesterol lowering drugs.
  
  
• Melissa Fritz (BA Hons, Carleton Univ.; MA, Carleton Univ.)
  Melissa graduated in 2000 with a BA Hons joint degree in Political Science and Mass Communication, and received an MA in Mass Communication in 2004. Her MA dissertation examined the the relationship between Canadian Internet policy processes, Statistics Canada survey design and analyses, and the issue of gender divide in Canada. Melissa's current area of interest draws from Dorothy Smith's concept of the Standard North American Family to examine how the recent Canadian Federal Child Care policies work to normalize certain types of family structures while excluding others. The research will include a detailed policy analysis, as well as in depth interviews with Canadian mothers. Melissa was awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2007-2008) to support this research.
  
  
• Susan MacDonald (BA, Trent Univ.; MISt, University of Toronto)
  Susan's doctoral dissertation research explores the history of service provision to new immigrants in Ontario through a case study of the Library Settlement Partnerships (LSP). The research asks: Through LSP, how is public library service to new immigrants newly situated at the intersection of immigration policy, the administration of settlement programs by various levels of government, and their implementation by organizations in the not-for-profit sector in the province of Ontario? What are the implications for libraries in the future? Susan was awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2009-2010) and a CERIS (Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration & Settlement) Graduate Student Research Award (2009- 2010) to support this research.
  Susan holds an undergraduate degree in Cultural Studies and Politics from Trent University (1990) and is a graduate of the Masters in Information Studies (2005) program in the Library Science stream at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Information. For more than a decade she worked at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and this experience now informs her interest in information policy.
  Her recent publications include:
  • MacDonald, SL., Winter, T., & Luke, R. (2010). "Roles for information professionals in patient education: Librarians' perspective." Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice & Research, 5(1).
    
  • Caidi, N. & MacDonald, S. (2008). "Information Practices of Canadian Muslims Post 9/11." Government Information Quarterly, 25(3), 348-378.
    
    
• Diane Dechief (BA English/Psychology, University of Alberta; MA Media Studies, Concordia University)
  Diane's research focuses on experiences of immigration and settlement for people who migrate to Canada, particularly interactions with state-led programs and institutions, and uses of state-supported information infrastructures. With the support of a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship (2007-2010), Diane is examining motivators of immigration-influenced personal name changes in Canada. Further support for this project has been provided by CERIS - The Ontario Metropolis Centre, and the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. Presentations of her dissertation research have been given at recent international and national conferences (International Communication Association 2010, 2009; International Council of Onomastic Sciences 2008; Metropolis Canada 2010; Canadian Communication Association 2010, 2009, 2008; Canadian Society for the Study of Names 2010).
  Diane is co-author of another name-related project led by Dr. Philip Oreopoulos (Department of Economics, University of Toronto) which analyses the motivations for name-based discrimination found during a resume audit study made in major Canadian cities. In 2010, Diane led a research project analyzing Human Resources and Skills Development Canada’s Working in Canada Portal. She has also co-authored studies for Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Strategic Policy Research Directorate (HRSDC). Diane’s affiliation with the SSHRC INE "Canadian Research Alliance for Community Innovation and Networking" (CRACIN) from 2004-2007, allowed her to gain community-based research skills while completing her MA thesis, "Recent Immigrants as an 'Alternate Civic Core': Providing Internet Services, Gaining Canadian Experiences" (Concordia University 2006), an examination of volunteerism amongst recent immigrants as a means of integration.
  
  
• Lisa Quirke (BA, McGill University; MA Immigration and Settlement Studies, Ryerson University)
  Lisa's dissertation research explores the information practices and leisure of Afghan immigrant and refugee youth in Toronto. She holds a Masters degree in Immigration and Settlement Studies (2006) and is interested in contributing to a better understanding of how information and leisure affect the transition of newcomers to Canada. Lisa's work explores how Afghan youth use, seek and share information after arriving in Canada, how leisure pursuits can play a role in their information practices, and how youth's leisure has changed with migration. She co-authored a chapter entitled "Information practices of immigrants", which appeared in 2010 in the Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST). Lisa received an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2010-2011) to support her research.
  
  

Research Assistants and Collaborators

• Margaret Lam (MISt, 2008-2011 anticipated)
  Since taking the "Information in the Global Context" course with Prof. Caidi in January 2009, Margaret has been involved with the On-Demand Book Service project as a systems team member, and later as a research assistant for the "Reading in First Nations" event held on March 29, 2010. She had the opportunity to travel up to Keewaywin First Nations along with fellow ischoolers Mark Gelsomino, Marta Chudolinska, as well as guest participant Daniel Reetz to facilitate the sites in Thunder Bay and Sioux Lookout. She will be presenting a co-submission with Prof. Caidi at the BooksOnline'10 workshop as part of the International Conference for Information and Knowledge Management in Toronto.
  With the support of a scholarship through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, she is currently pursuing a thesis entitled "Online Music Knowledge: The Case of the Non-Musician" under the supervision of Prof. Matt Ratto. She has presented her research at the British Forum of Ethnomusicology, and will be exhibiting "Musicianship as Citizenship: The Shakuhachi Phenomenon" in the DIY Citizenship conference's in collaboration with jinashi shakuhachi player, Kiku Day.
  
  
• Vava Kolinski (MISt candidate)
  Vava holds an undergraduate degree in History from McGill University, Montreal, and an Honours Diploma in Audio Engineering from the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology, London. Currently pursing a Masters Degree in Information Studies, Vava’s research interests include information policy, access to information, privacy and the surveillance society. Vava was involved in the SSHRC-funded project on "Framing Information and Access Post 9/11" with Nadia Caidi in 2006. At present he is Information Management and Privacy Specialist at the Freedom of Information and Privacy Office of the Ontario Ministry of Labour.
  
  
• Anthony Ross (MISt, 2002-2004)
  Anthony holds undergraduate degrees in Biology and Classical Studies from Queen's University (Kingston), and is a recent graduate of the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto. His interests include the study of information policy and legislation, and how they affect issues such as privacy, intellectual freedom and the relationship between government and civil society. He worked as a reference librarian and had been involved in the SSHRC-funded project on "Framing Information and Access Post 9/11" with Nadia Caidi. Anthony has co-authored several papers with Professor Caidi and currently works as an information management and privacy specialist with the government of Ontario.
  
  
• Stuart Bailey (MISt, 2003-2006)
  Stuart Bailey is a full time dad. In his spare time, he is an Information Management Policy Advisor with the Office of the Chief Information and Privacy Officer, Ministry of Government Services, Government of Ontario. Stuart co-authored "How Much Is Too Little: Privacy and Smart Cards in Hong Kong and Ontario" with Nadia Caidi in October 2005, which appeared in the Journal of Information Science. Stuart holds an undergraduate degree in Cultural Studies/Philosophy from Trent ('97) and an MISt from the Faculty of Information Studies, U of T ('06). .