Teaching

My overall goals as a teacher are to train students to think critically, and to instill a passion for the study of information and the information professions. Students in my courses are encouraged to examine the link between theory and social change, while strengthening their research skills, engaging in experiental learning, and wrestling with a range of literature outside of the information disciplines.

Recent Courses taught:

  • INF1322: Communities and Values (Core, Winter 2022; Fall 2020)
  • INF2010: Analyse et Conception de Services en Langue Francaise (Directed, Winter 2019)
  • INF2332: Information Behaviour (Elective, Summer 2022; 2019)
  • INF2300: Les Bibliotheques et leurs Publics en Milieu Francophone (Elective, Fall 2018)

Experiential Learning: Examples of Course Outcomes and Student-led Initiatives

  • Copyright Matters: LAMs and Copyright Exemptions (12 students travelled to Geneva, Switzerland as CFLA delegates to attend meetings at the World Intellectual Property Organization; as part of INF1322 – Communities and Values, Winter 2019)
  • “Pour une Communaute Francophone Vibrante et Innovante” (as part of a reading course on Analyse et Conception de Services en Langue Francaise, the class designed and organized a roundtable with key francophone community partners).
  • Podcasts (students engaged in knowledge translation and mobilization work in the form of a 12-min podcast on a topic of interest, for INF1322 – Communities and Values, Winter 2019)
  • The On Demand Book Service (ODBS) for Nothern Ontario communities (an action research initiative that strived to address the joy of reading. Students co-designed with community partners a solution for delivering services in remote First Nations communities in Ontario’s North). See news coverage here and a paper here.
  • Symposium on “Reading in First Nations: Infrastructure, Access, Imagination”: As part of INF2126 in Winter 2010, the class participated in co-designing and running this symposium. In addition to the Toronto event, a team of eight iSchool students travelled North to our community partners’ sites to meet and facilitate the “Reading In First Nations” event across multiple sites (and platforms). See news coverage below:

ReadingFirstNations

Other courses I have taught at the iSchool:

CCT 218: Introduction to Information Studies (Undergraduate)

This course provides an opportunity for students to develop an understanding as to how information is transforming society and shaping a fluid culture. It provides students with the ability to understand the way information technologies are reconfiguring conceptions of representation, community, gender, identity, location, space, and social and cultural narrative and meaning making. The process by which information technology creates new relationships, communities, and identities is explored. During the course students acquire the ability to examine the cultural and social contexts of information and gain an awareness of the different critical methods for studying information systems.

INF 2332: Information Behaviour (Masters)

Information behaviour is the currently preferred term used to describe the many ways in which human beings interact with information, in particular the ways in which people seek and utilize information (Bates, 2010). An understanding of information behaviour is central to work in the information professions and knowledge-based industries. For more than 75 years information behaviour research has been conducted in the field of library and information studies.

INF 1322: Community and Values (Masters – LIS)

Librarianship is a service profession that conceives of knowledge, in all its aspects, as fundamental to the human condition. People and communities exist at the heart of the discipline and at the heart of professional practices. They are the focus of our research and the clients of our practitioners. They come to us as unique individuals at any point along the life course seeking knowledge, and in communities (both large and small, formal and informal) working to achieve a common end. These social interactions bear the imprint of the professional values, core assumptions and principles upon which our discipline is founded. Some of these values include intellectual freedom, diversity, a respect for privacy, human rights, social justice, equal and open access without barriers, compassion, and empathy. Further, a commitment to these values demands knowledge of and participation in the public policy arena where decisions around the social, economic, cultural, and political implications of innovating information and communications technologies and their distribution are debated. Then there are the information professionals whom we work with and for; they are the communities of practice of which we are a part.

INF 2300: Les Bibliotheques et leurs Publics en Milieu Francophone

L’objectif de ce cours est de se familiariser avec l’histoire et le developpement des bibliotheques en milieu minoritaire (francophone) en Ontario et au Canada, et d’etudier les innovations qu’on y trouve en matiere de technologies et de services. Ce cours permettra de vous apporter un vocabulaire professionnel precis, une comparaison des pratiques de travail dans le domaine de la bibliotheconomie au carrefour de diverses traditions (nord-americaine, francaise, et autres milieux francophones), ainsi qu’un regard theorique et critique sur le developpement de notre profession dans le cadre actuel. Des thematiques variees seront examinees telles que les pratiques informationnelles, sociales, et langagieres de la francophonie en Ontario et au Canada ; les phenomenes de minorisation au sein des communautes linguistiques ; la mediation culturelle ; et les innovations sociales dans le contexte du developpement des bibliotheques, de leurs professionnels et de leurs publics.

INF2181: Information Policy, Regulation and the Law (Masters – CIPS)

Introduction to policymaking and the players and stakes involved in information creation, access and use. Emphasis on the political, economic, legal and social issues affecting information and its institutions, including relevant social theory and analytical methods. The focal policy issues considered in depth will vary from year to year: e.g. government information, intellectual property, intellectual freedom, (universal) access, cultural content, community networking, and privacy.

INF2126: Public Library Services to Culturally-Diverse Communities

The purpose of this course is to study the impact of cultural diversity on the development of the public library as an information and cultural resources institution. It covers issues affecting the planning, organization and delivery mechanisms of multicultural resources, services and programs, including demographics and their relation to multicultural policies and planning; approaches to service delivery; collection development practices; impact of technology on information and access; staff competencies and user education programs; and communicating with and engaging the multicultural community.

INF1300: Foundations of LIS

The objectives of this course are to (1) provide students with an overview of the information professions and the disciplines of library and information science; (2) present and critically reflect on the core assumptions, principles and values that inform the library and information science professions; and (3) introduce the students to the major current issues in library and information science and provide them with tools to make informed choices regarding current and emerging practices.