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Professor Pam McKenzie wins 2025 ASIS&T Research in Information Science Award
June 2025
Congratulations to FIMS Professor Pam McKenzie, recently announced as the recipient of the 2025 Research in Information Science Award by the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T). The award recognizes a researcher for a “systematic ‘program of research’ in a single area at a level beyond the single study, but not at the level of a lifetime’s work.” The Association of Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) is the largest research organization in the library and information science field, with thousands of members from 50 countries.
“It’s such an honour to have my research colleagues nominate and support me for this award. I’ve had the amazing good fortune to work with a wonderful network of scholars, students, and ideas throughout my career. These interactions have inspired my most fruitful partnerships and research directions,” said Professor McKenzie.
Professor McKenzie has published prolifically, collaborating internationally with other scholars and practitioners to produce articles focused on the foundations of human information practices, exploring how information seeking, sharing, creation, management and use are situated within communities and everyday life contexts. She is also currently studying the value and purpose of the public library historically and where it might best fit in a modern society undergoing transformation. Most recently, McKenzie has been examining equity-focused professional learning for teacher educators.
“Pam McKenzie is a scholar’s scholar and a teacher’s teacher,” said FIMS Dean Lisa Henderson. “She has long been a leading light in studying what information is to us, how we find it, how we use it, how we integrate it in our everyday lives and our systems and institutions. Pam has guided so many graduate students and so many young colleagues at Western and beyond. The ASIS&T award is brilliant and well-earned.”
Professor McKenzie joined the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS) in 1998 to teach for the Library and Information Science program and has since served in a number of teaching, research, and academic leadership roles within the Faculty and at Western. She held a Western Faculty Scholar Award from 2020-2022, and has been a Western Teaching Fellow since 2024, developing guidance and best practices for teaching blended and online courses. McKenzie also served as Assistant Dean, Research, Associate Dean, and Associate Dean Graduate and Postdoctoral between 2009 and 2023.
Professor McKenzie was nominated for the Research in Information Science Award by colleague Alison Hicks, Associate Professor at University College London.
McKenzie wasn’t the only FIMS-connected scholar to be awarded by ASIS&T this year. The 2025 Award of Merit, the highest honour offered by the association, was given to Heidi Julien, currently a Professor at the University of Buffalo. Julien is a FIMS alumna who graduated from Western’s LIS PhD program in 1997 and has since taught at Dalhousie University and the University of Alberta.
The Award of Merit recognizes and individual “who has made particularly noteworthy and sustained contributions to the information science field. The award is based on 3 criteria: impact on theory, scholarship, and practice; exemplary leadership and sustained involvement; and education and mentoring.”
Read more about Heidi Julien's accomplishments in the ASIS&T news release covering her award win.
