​I am eager to work with graduate students of Library and Information Science. Especially, I am available to supervise studies related to information behaviour (otherwise known as  information seeking and use, or information practice) within everyday life and leisure settings. I also welcome advisees interested in applying qualitative, exploratory, ethnographic, visual, and/or creative methods.

current and former phD advisees at toronto

  • ​Brian Griffin (2020).  Brian's doctoral thesis is entitled, Information Practices in Amateur Classical Musicianship and is based upon ethnographic research in the social world of classical music within greater Toronto; it has an innovative focus on embodied information phenomena. (Doctoral thesis supervisor).
  • Rebecca Noone (2020).  Rebecca began doctoral studies at the iSchool in fall 2014. She has been active in the iSquare research program and is developing ideas the crossroads of information studies and participatory art. Her dissertation is entitled From Here To: Everyday Wayfinding in the Age of Digital Maps and involved fieldwork in the streets of Toronto, New York, London, and Amsterdam. (Doctoral thesis supervisor). 
  • Eva Jansen Hourihan (2018). Eva's dissertation, Let’s Talk About the NOC: an Ethnography of Classification is a ground-breaking ethnographic study of a classification system. (Doctoral thesis supervisor).
  • Elysia Guzik  (2017). Elysia entered the Faculty of Information doctoral program in Fall 2012 and conducted research on the information practices associated with religious experience, specifically conversion to Islam. (Doctoral thesis supervisor).
  • Danielle Allard (2015). Danielle's dissertation was entitled  Living here and there: Exploring the transnational information practices of newcomers from the Philippines to Winnipeg. (Dissertation committee member).
  • Lisa Quirke (2014 at the Faculty of Information, Toronto).  Lisa's dissertation was entitled Leisure Information Practices of Afghani Newcomer Youth in Toronto. (Dissertation committee member).

Current and former PhD advisees at other universities

  • Judith H. Van Alstyne (in progress, University of Rochester, USA). Judith is exploring the personal information management (PIM) of youth, in the digital context.
  • Tim Gorichanaz (2018, Drexel University, USA). Tim has qualitative research interests in human experiences of information – in linguistic expression, religious practice and craft – approached phenomenologically through document work and document experience. He is the author of Information on the run: experiencing information during an ultramarathon. (External committee member).
  • Peta Ifould (2019, Curtin University, Australia).  Peta is pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Media, Culture and Creative Arts at Curtin University. Her thesis explores the role of the record-keeper in law enforcement environments of Western Australia; she is using visual methods and the draw-and-write technique. (Project advisor to the supervisor, Dr. Pauline Joseph, Curtin University). 
  • Angela Pollak (2015, University of Western Ontario).  Angela's thesis is a ground-breaking study of information experience in the village of Whitby, Ontario; it looks simultaneously across everyday life, work, and leisure contexts. The study was supervised by Dr. Lynne McKechnie. (External reviewer).

Current and former Master's Thesis advisees at Toronto

  • Katie Czajkowski (in progress). Katie's thesis is entitled "Patients’ information uses in an Online Health Community" and will be defended in late August 2021. (Master's thesis committee member).
  • Hugh Samson (2021). Hugh has conducted an ethnography of the iRelax space within the Inforum at the Faculty of Information. (Master's thesis supervisor).
  • Sam Rowlandson-O'Hara (2020). Sam's research explores the "creative insight" that plays a role in musical composition among amateur composers. (Master's thesis supervisor).
  • Jess Whyte (2017). Jess is interested in library and information science and is conducting an ethnographic study of academic makerspaces. (Master's thesis supervisor).
  • Ben (Robert) Walsh (2014). In September 2014, Ben completed our MI program and the superb thesis, Information Out in the Cold: Exploring the Information Practices of Homeless, Queer, Trans, and Two-spirit Youth in Toronto. He is continuing this line of research at the doctoral level. (Master's thesis supervisor).
  • Hailey Siracky (2013). Hailey conducted an ethnographic study of journals (the hand-written kind) and their role in the spiritual lives of Catholic young adults. (Master's thesis supervisor and advisor).
  • Danielle Cooper (2011). Danielle wrote "Big Gay Library:" An Ethnographic Study of the Pride Library and the University of Western Ontario, master’s thesis. (Master's thesis supervisor and advisor); she is now a doctoral student at York University. 
  • Leslie Thomson (2010). Leslie conducted an exploratory ethnography entitled Information in the Home Office: An Ethnographic Study of Space, Content, Management and Use, while an MI student. She will soon apply to doctoral programs in information studies. (Master's thesis supervisor and advisor).  In March of 2013, Leslie was accepted for doctoral studies in information at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill and was granted a prestigious Royster Fellowship (congratulations, Leslie!); as of 2020 she is now Dr. Thomson and has a postdoc at UNC.