Student Research

Thesis titles from past LIS PhD students

The following doctoral theses have been completed by students in the PhD in LIS program to date.

( Note: hyperlinks are included for theses that were submitted to Scholarship@Western and are now available through Western's Electronic Theses & Dissertation Repository. Those without hyperlinks are not currently available through the e-repository).

Olu-Omotayo, Martins. Discourse, Power Dynamics, and Risk Amplification in Disaster Risk Management in Canada.: Phd in Library and Information Science, December 2022; Supervisor: Anabel Quan-Haase

Ridley, Michael. Folk Theories, Recommender Systems, and Human-Centered Explainable Artificial Intelligence (HCXAI).: Phd in Library and Information Science, December 2022; Supervisors: Jacquie Burkell and Paulette Rothbauer

Chen, Yimin. Recreational nastiness or playful mischief? Contrasting perspectives on internet trolling between news media and avid internet users.: Phd in Library and Information Science, August 2022; Supervisor: Victoria L. Rubin

Asubiaro, Tolu. Exploiting Semantic Similarity Between Citation Contexts For Direct Citation Weighting And Residual Citation.: Phd in Library and Information Science, August 2021; Supervisor: Isola Ajiferuke

Lee, Liz. The Use of Intimate Partner Violence Websites: Website Awareness, Visibility, Information Quality, Perceived Usefulness, and Frequency of Use.: Phd in Library and Information Science, July 2021; Supervisor: Isola Ajiferuke

Nightingale, Greg. The Public Library as Past Become Space.: Phd in Library and Information Science, December 2020; Supervisors: Melissa Adler and Paulette Rothbauer

Ninkov, Anton. Making Sense of Online Public Health Debates with Visual Analytics Systems.: Phd in Library and Information Science, November 2020; Supervisor: Kamran Sedig

Shuva, Nafiz Zaman. Information, Employment, and Settlement of Immigrants: Exploring the Role of Information Behaviour in the Settlement of Bangladesh Immigrants in Canada.: Phd in Library and Information Science, April 2020; Supervisor: Paulette Rothbauer

Diab, Ramon. The General Artificial Intellect.: Phd in Library and Information Science, February 2020; Supervisors: Nick Dyer-Witheford and Pam McKenzie

Helkenberg, Davin. Narratives of Sexuality in the Lives of Young Women Readers.: Phd in Library and Information Science, August 2019; Supervisor: Paulette Rothbauer

Williams, Sherilyn. Strategic and Subversive: The Case of the Disappearing Diaphragm and Women’s Information Practices.: Phd in Library and Information Science, August 2019; Supervisor: Pam McKenzie

Chabot (Kelsang Legden), Roger. The Information Practices of New Kadampa Buddhists: From "Dharma of Scripture" to "Dharma of Insight".: Phd in Library and Information Science, April 2019; Supervisor: Ajit Pyati

Burrows, Claire. Accessibility And Academic Libraries: A Comparative Case Study.: Phd in Library and Information Science, March 2019; Supervisor: Heather Hill

Nicholson, Karen. Academic Librarians and the Space/Time of Information Literacy, the Neoliberal University, and the Global Knowledge Economy.: Phd in Library and Information Science, December 2018; Supervisor: Pam McKenzie

Dalmer, Nicole K. Informing Care: Mapping the Social Organization of Families’ Information Work in an Aging in Place Climate.: Phd in Library and Information Science, November 2018; Supervisor: Pam McKenzie

Frayne, Alison. A Study of Six Nations Public Library: Rights and Access to Information.: Phd in Library and Information Science, November 2018; Supervisor: Kate Johnson

Melis, Rachel. Information Freedoms and the Case for Anonymous Community.: Phd in Library and Information Science, July 2018; Supervisor: Pam McKenzie

Berg, Selinda. Expertise, Mediation, and Technological Surrogacy: A Mixed Method Critical Analysis of a Point of Care Evidence Resource.: Phd in Library and Information Science, November 2017; Supervisors: Roma M. Harris and Nadine Wathen

Schreurs, Kathleen. The E-Writing Experiences of Literary Authors.: Phd in Library and Information Science, September 2017; Supervisor: Lynne McKechnie

Di Valentino, Lisa. Laying the Foundation for Copyright Policy and Practice in Canadian Universities.: Phd in Library and Information Science, November 2016; Supervisor: Samuel E. Trosow

Elueze, Isioma. Towards Evidence-Informed Agriculture Policy Making: Investigating the Knowledge Translation Practices of Researchers in the National Agriculture Research Institutes in Nigeria.: Phd in Library and Information Science, November 2016; Supervisor: Isola Ajiferuke

Onaifo, Daniel. Alternate Academy: Investigating the Use of Open Educational Resources by Students at the University of Lagos in Nigeria.: Phd in Library and Information Science, July 2016; Supervisor: Anabel Quan-Haase

Conroy, Nadia. Understanding Collaborative Sensemaking for System Design - An Investigation of Musicians' Practice.: Phd in Library and Information Science, June 2016; Supervisor: Victoria L. Rubin

Fortier, Alexandre. Different Approaches for Different Folks.: Phd in Library and Information Science, June 2016; Supervisor: Jacquie Burkell

Martin, Kim. Creating Context from Curiosity: The Role of Serendipity in the Research Process of Historians in Physical and Digital Environments.: Phd in Library and Information Science, May 2016; Supervisor: Anabel Quan-Haase

Ripley, James. Watching Storytelling: Visual Information in Oral Narratives.: Phd in Library and Information Science, October 2015; Supervisor: Lynne McKechnie

Mumba, Daniel. Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in Africa: Investigating Information Access and the Use of ICTs by Women-Owned Enterprises in Zambia.: Phd in Library and Information Science, September 2015; Supervisor: Kate Johnson

Nzomo, Peggy. Multilingual Information Access: Practices and Perceptions of Bi/multilingual Academic Users.: Phd in Library and Information Science, May 2015; Supervisor: Isola Ajiferuke

Kamal, Ahmad M. Contentious information: Accounts of knowledge production, circulation and consumption in transitional Egypt.: Phd in Library and Information Science, April 2015; Supervisor: Ajit Pyati

Pollak, Angela. Words to Live By: How Experience Shapes our Information World at Work, Play and in Everyday Life.: Phd in Library and Information Science, April 2015; Supervisor: Lynne McKechnie

Cedeira Serantes, Lucia. Young adults reflect on the experience of reading comics in contemporary society: Overcoming the commonplace and recognizing complexity.: Phd in Library and Information Science, May 2014; Supervisors: Lynne McKechnie and Paulette Rothbauer

McTavish, Jill. Knowledge Organization Practices in Everyday Life: Divergent Constructions of Healthy Eating.: Phd in Library and Information Science, December 2013; Supervisor: Roma M. Harris

Zhang, Karl. Semantics-based Automatic Quality Assessment of Depression Treatment Web Documents.: Phd in Library and Information Science, February 2013; Supervisors: Jacquie Burkell and Robert Mercer

Griffis, Matthew. Space, Power and The Public Library: A Multicase Examination Of The Public Library As Organization Space.: Phd in Library and Information Science, January 2013; Supervisor: Gloria J. Leckie

Buchel, Olha. Making Sense of Document Collections With Map-Based Visualizations.: Phd in Library and Information Science, April 2012; Supervisor: Kamran Sedig

D'Alton, Louis. A Critical Historical Analysis of the Public Performance Right.: Phd in Library and Information Science, April 2012; Supervisor: Samuel E. Trosow

McNally, Michael. Intellectual Property and Its Alternatives: Incentives, Innovation and Ideology.: Phd in Library and Information Science, April 2012; Supervisors: Ajit Pyati and Samuel E. Trosow

Oliphant, Tami. The Information Practices of People Living with Depression: Constructing Credibility and Authority.: Phd in Library and Information Science, November 2010; Supervisor: Catherine L. Ross

Kosciejew, Marc. Documenting Race and Ethnicity: The Documentary Construction of Racial and Ethnic Identities in Apartheid South Africa.: Phd in Library and Information Science, August 2010; Supervisor: Bernd Frohmann

Fast, Karl. Human-Information Interaction for Digital Libraries: From Document Repositories to Knowledge Environments.: Phd in Library and Information Science, February 2010; Supervisor: Kamran Sedig

Gao, Yijun. Gauging Public Interest from Server Logs, Surveys and Inlinks: A Multi-Method Approach to Analyze News Websites.: Phd in Library and Information Science, December 2009; Supervisor: Liwen Vaughan

Pecoskie, Jen. The Solitary, Social, and 'Grafted Spaces' of Pleasure Reading: Exploring Reading Practices from the Experiences of Adult, Self-identified Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Readers and Book Club Members.: Phd in Library and Information Science, November 2009; Supervisor: Catherine L. Ross

Gerolami, Natasha. The Architecture of a Virtual Library: A Deleuzian Approach to Library and Information Studies.: Phd in Library and Information Science, August 2009; Supervisor: Nick Dyer-Witheford

Kipp, Margaret. Information Organisation Practices on the Web: Tagging and the Social Organisation of Information.: Phd in Library and Information Science, July 2009; Supervisor: Grant Campbell

Maina, Charles Kamau. The Traditional Knowledge Protection Debate: Identifying and Listening to the Voices of Traditional Knowledge Holders.: Phd in Library and Information Science, July 2009; Supervisor: Margaret Ann Wilkinson

Veinot, Tiffany. Social Capital and HIV/AIDS Information/ Help Exchange Networks in Rural Canada.: Phd in Library and Information Science, February 2009; Supervisor: Roma M. Harris

Peekhaus, Wilhelm. Canada's Biotechnology Strategy: Struggles on the Knowledge Commons.: Phd in Library and Information Science, July 2008; Supervisor: Nick Dyer-Witheford

Lambert, Frank. Rewriting the "Rules" of Online Networked Community Information Services: A Case Study of the mycommunityinfo.ca Model.: Phd in Library and Information Science, February 2008; Supervisor: Liwen Vaughan

Davies, Elisabeth. Epistemic Practices of Theatre Production Professionals: An Activity Theory Approach.: Phd in Library and Information Science, April 2007; Supervisor: Gloria J. Leckie

Maskell, Catherine A. Consortia Activity in Academic Libraries: Anti-competitive or in the Public Good?.: Phd in Library and Information Science, March 2006; Supervisor: Margaret Ann Wilkinson

Stevenson, Siobhan. The Post-Fordist Public Library: From Carnegie to Gates.: Phd in Library and Information Science, August 2005; Supervisors: Nick Dyer-Witheford and Catherine L. Ross

Luyt, Brendan. Political Legitimacy and the Idea of an Emerging Information Society in the South: A Case Study of the Philippines.: Phd in Library and Information Science, December 2004; Supervisor: Bernd Frohmann

Rothbauer, Paulette. Finding and Creating Possibility: Reading in the Lives of Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer Young Women.: Phd in Library and Information Science, June 2004; Supervisor: Lynne McKechnie

Wathen, Nadine. The Pause in Menopause? What Informs Women’s Decisions to Discontinue Hormone Replacement Therapy.: Phd in Library and Information Science, January 2004; Supervisor: Roma M. Harris

Joyce, Steven. The Discursive Construction of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Identity: How Symbolic Violence and Information Capital Mediate the Coming Out Process.: Phd in Library and Information Science, December 2003; Supervisor: Gloria J. Leckie

Carey, Robert. Narrative and Information: An Ethnography of a Lupus Support Group.: Phd in Library and Information Science, May 2003; Supervisor: Catherine L. Ross

Holmes, Boyd. The Domain of Information Science, with an Emphasis on Contributing Disciplines: 1973-1998.: Phd in Library and Information Science, June 2002; Supervisors: Michael J. Nelson and Margaret Ann Wilkinson

Kofmel, Kim. Adult Readers of Science Fiction and Fantasy: A Qualitative Study of Reading Preference and Genre Perception.: Phd in Library and Information Science, April 2002; Supervisor: Catherine L. Ross

McKenzie, Pam. Negotiating Authoritative Knowledge: Information Practices Across a Life Transition.: Phd in Library and Information Science, April 2001; Supervisor: Catherine L. Ross

Given, Lisa. The Social Construction of the 'Mature Student' Identity: Effects and Implications for Academic Information Behaviours.: Phd in Library and Information Science, December 2000; Supervisor: Gloria J. Leckie

Dorner, Daniel. Determining Essential Services on the Canadian Information Highway: An Exploratory Study of the Public Policy Process.: Phd in Library and Information Science, January 2000; Supervisor: Margaret Ann Wilkinson

Downie, Stephen. Evaluating a Simple Approach to Music Information Retrieval: Conceiving Melodic N-Grams as Text.: Phd in Library and Information Science, September 1999; Supervisor: Michael J. Nelson

Fulton, Crystal. Telework: Change in Information Professionals' Work Through Alternate Work Design.: Phd in Library and Information Science, March 1999; Supervisor: Roma M. Harris

Brown, Christine. The Role of Computer-Mediated Communication in the Research Process of Music Scholars: An Exploratory Investigation.: Phd in Library and Information Science, December 1998; Supervisor: Patricia H. Dewdney

Dilevko, Juris. As the Library Turns: Women, Technology, and Advertisements in the Wired World.: Phd in Library and Information Science, December 1998; Supervisor: Roma M. Harris

Pettigrew, Karen. The Role of Community Health Nurses in Providing Information and Referral to the Elderly: A Study Based on Social Network Theory.: Phd in Library and Information Science, December 1997; Supervisor: Patricia H. Dewdney

Julien, Heidi. How Does Information Help? The Search for Career-Related Information by Adolescents.: Phd in Library and Information Science, September 1997; Supervisor: B. Gillian Michell

Toms, Elaine. Browsing Digital Information: Examining the 'Affordances' in the Interaction of User and Text.: Phd in Library and Information Science, March 1997; Supervisors: Mark T. Kinnucan and Jean M. Tague-Sutcliffe

Wicks, Don A. The Information-Seeking Behaviour of Pastoral Clergy: A Study of the Interaction of Their Work Worlds and Work Roles.: Phd in Library and Information Science, November 1996; Supervisor: Roma M. Harris

McKechnie, Lynne. Opening the "Preschoolers' Door to Learning": An Ethnographic Study of the Use of Public Libraries by Preschool Girls.: Phd in Library and Information Science, July 1996; Supervisor: Catherine L. Ross

Baker, Lynda. The Information Needs and Information-Seeking Patterns of Women Coping With and Adjusting To Multiple Sclerosis.: Phd in Library and Information Science, March 1994; Supervisor: Roma M. Harris

Baron, Lisa. The Effectiveness of Labelled, Typed Links as Cues in Hypertext Systems.: Phd in Library and Information Science, March 1994; Supervisors: Mark T. Kinnucan and Jean M. Tague-Sutcliffe

Wilkinson, Margaret Ann. Impact of the Ontario Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 1987 Upon Affected Organizations.: Phd in Library and Information Science, August 1992; Supervisors: Mark T. Kinnucan and David Flaherty

Chu, Clara. The Scholarly Process and the Nature of the Information Needs of the Literary Critic: A Descriptive Model.: Phd in Library and Information Science, July 1992; Supervisor: Roma M. Harris

Connor, Jennifer. To Advocate, To Diffuse, and To Elevate: The Culture and Context of Medical Publishing in Canada, 1630 to 1920.: Phd in Library and Information Science, July 1992; Supervisor: Catherine L. Ross

Austin, Jill. Influence of Cost Consciousness and Heuristic Approach on Online Search Performance.: Phd in Library and Information Science, July 1991; Supervisor: Roma M. Harris

Vaughan, Liwen. Probabilistic Models of Search State and Path Patterns in Hypertext Information Retrieval Systems.: Phd in Library and Information Science, June 1991; Supervisor: Jean M. Tague-Sutcliffe

Luneberge, Norma J. The Social Organization of Birth Control Information in Public Libraries.: Phd in Library and Information Science, December 1990; Supervisor: B. Gillian Michell

Lu, Xin. An Application of Case Relations to Document Retrieval.: Phd in Library and Information Science, October 1990; Supervisor: Jean M. Tague-Sutcliffe

MacDonald, Bertrum. Public Knowledge': The Dissemination of Scientific Literature in Victorian Canada as Illustrated From the Geological and Agricultural Sciences.: Phd in Library and Information Science, August 1990; Supervisor: Janet H. Fyfe

Wolfram, Dietmar. The Application of Informetrics to Information Retrieval Systems Design: A Simulation Study.: Phd in Library and Information Science, August 1990; Supervisor: Michael J. Nelson

Cano, Virginia. Citation Life Cycle: Use of Citations Through Time.: Phd in Library and Information Science, June 1990; Supervisor: Jean M. Tague-Sutcliffe

Tiamiyu, Mutawakilu. Factors Underlying the Use of Information Sources in Government Institutions in Nigeria.: Phd in Library and Information Science, December 1989; Supervisor: Roma M. Harris

Ajiferuke, Isola. A Probabilistic Model for the Distribution of Authorships and a Measure of the Degree of Research Collaboration.: Phd in Library and Information Science, November 1988; Supervisor: Jean M. Tague-Sutcliffe

Allen, Bryce. Bibliographic and Text-Linguistic Schemata in the User-Intermediary Interaction.: Phd in Library and Information Science, June 1988; Supervisor: B. Gillian Michell

Beheshti, Jamshid. Beyond Circulation Statistics: Patterns of Book Use by Undergraduate Students in an Academic Library.: Phd in Library and Information Science, March 1987; Supervisor: Jean M. Tague-Sutcliffe

Rees, Potter Lorna Katheri. A Bibliometric Analysis of Terminological and Conceptual Change in Sociology and Economics: With Application to the Design of Dynamic Thesaural Systems.: Phd in Library and Information Science, February 1987; Supervisor: Jean M. Tague-Sutcliffe

Nicholls, Paul T.. The Lotka Hypothesis and Bibliographic Methodology.: Phd in Library and Information Science, January 1987; Supervisor: Jean M. Tague-Sutcliffe

Dewdney, Patricia H.. The Effects of Training Reference Librarians in Interview Skills: A Field Experiment.: Phd in Library and Information Science, August 1986; Supervisor: Catherine L. Ross

Cummings, Stephen. Angus McGill Mowat and the Development of Ontario Public Libraries, 1920-1960..: Phd in Library and Information Science, July 1986; Supervisor: Janet H. Fyfe

Lewis, Dee. Case Grammar and Functional Relations in Aboutness Recognition and Relevance Decision-Making in the Bibliographic Retrieval Environment.: Phd in Library and Information Science, July 1984; Supervisor: Jean M. Tague-Sutcliffe

Nwagha, Georgiana. Bibliographic Control in the Field of Agriculture in Nigeria - A Study of Demand and Availability.: Phd in Library and Information Science, April 1983; Supervisor: William J. Cameron

Deschatelets, Gilles. Towards an Optimal Level of Participation of the Intermediary in the user-System Interface of Bibliographic Online Search Services (Volumes 1 and 2).: Phd in Library and Information Science, August 1982; Supervisor: Jean M. Tague-Sutcliffe

Nelson, Michael J.. Probabilistic Models for the Simulation of Bibliographic Retrieval Systems.: Phd in Library and Information Science, November 1981; Supervisor: Jean M. Tague-Sutcliffe

Rao, Ravichandra Inna Keda. Document and User Distribution in Transaction Records of Canadian University Libraries.: Phd in Library and Information Science, February 1981; Supervisor: Jean M. Tague-Sutcliffe

Shepherd, Mike. The Colon Classification As a Basis for Automatic Full Text Retrieval.: Phd in Library and Information Science, June 1978; Supervisor: Jean M. Tague-Sutcliffe

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Student Research

Thesis titles from past LIS PhD students

Programs