Research Interests
Research in information studies is an exciting prospect for me because it goes beyond disciplinary boundaries. As arbitrary as the academic divisions on university campuses might be, they have a strong influence on how ideas circulate across disciplines and out of the academic arena eventually. Research in information studies that focuses on information phenomena in higher education can present a compelling and insightful meta analysis of the exchange of ideas. My personal interest has to do with bridging some of the gaps in understanding and attitudes across disciplines.
More formally, I am interested in scholarly communication, the research process, and the role of digital technologies in facilitating and helping shape both. Academic libraries have a crucial role in developing information services and offering access to information technologies that facilitate academic research and discourse. As new instructional technologies and more references tools are developed, academic libraries need to forge an understanding of how those technologies participate in the research process and in the discourse of various epistemic cultures in academe. I want to participate in research that furthers our understanding of the influence of instructional technologies on the research process, of the use of technologies by networks of scholars, and of the adaptability of reference tools and services to scholarly networks. I envision my research interests to encompass studies of users and of the technologies they interact with, as well as studies of phenomena and processes comprising scholarly research and communication.