My research and teaching area is information behavior (roughly translated as social and cognitive aspects of how individuals need, seek, give and use information in different contexts), and I focus primarily on how information behavior occurs in everyday contexts. I'm interested in how we go about seeking (and not seeking) information for such situations as finding a job or volunteer opportunity, deciding about a medical treatment or childcare option, getting our cars or houses repaired, choosing educational or personal fulfillment paths, learning to become a citizen or avoid paying taxes, becoming a snowboard addict or Great Big Sea fanclub leader, etc.

I want to know where we turn for information, why we go there, how we're helped, how we express our needs for help, how we get stopped, and how we make it against the odds. My studies have ranged from how everyday information is shared at foot clinics in Canada, to how people use the Internet for everyday problem solving, to people's needs for consumer health information, to the information behavior of new immigrants, and to teenagers' use of after school information literacy programs. I'm very keen on discerning the affective and social dimensions of information behavior.

My ultimate goal is to improve people's quality of life by deriving conceptual explanations that can guide the design and improvement of information systems of varied types. Thus, my research addresses (a) the types of situations that prompt people's everyday information needs, (b) characteristics of these needs and how they are communicated or expressed, (c) how individuals go about resolving these needs through seeking (and not seeking) information from different sources, including interpersonal, institutional, and media, and (d) how people are eventually helped (and not helped) by seeking information.

To facilitate my study of information behavior in everyday contexts I also focuses on how information flows within social networks and the roles played by different social types. My other research and teaching areas include community information systems, qualitative research methods, and theoretical growth and activity in information science. To learn more about my research program, please visit IBEC (Information Behavior in Everyday Contexts)

In addition to my current IMLS-funded research (2002-04) "Approaches for understanding community information use: A framework for identifying and applying knowledge of information behavior in public libraries," I collaborated with Joan Durrance on two earlier IMLS-funded projects "How libraries and librarians help: Context-centered methods for evaluating public library efforts at bridging the digital divide and building community" (2000-02), and "Help-seeking in an electronic world: The impact of electronic access to community information on citizens' information behavior and public libraries" (1998-2000).

Honors for my work include the 1999 Association of Library & Information Science Education (ALISE) Research Award for "The use of theory in LIS research" (with L. McKechnie, Western Ontario). My formal collaboration with Joan Durrance began when I joined the University of Michigan School of Information as a Research Fellow and Lecturer (January 1998 - July 1999). My postdoctoral fellowship was awarded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. In 1998 I received my PhD in library and information science from the University of Western Ontario.

My dissertation "The role of community health nurses in providing information and referral to the elderly: A study based on social network theory" was supervised by Patricia Dewdney, Roma Harris, and Catherine Ross. Past lives include Coordinator for the Seniors Information Network (1991-1993) and Information specialist for Honey Hi-tech Solutions (1990-1991) in London, Ontario. My M.L.I.S. (1991) is from the University of Western Ontario and B.A. in English and Russian (1989) was granted from Memorial University of Newfoundland.