Nadia Caidi

• MLIS, PhD
• Professor at University of Toronto

Purpose: The article explores the attractiveness of LIS careers to students and alumni and examines their decision-making process and perceptions of the field with an eye on discerning the best ways to build and develop the recruitment narrative. Design/methodology/approach: The authors reached out to 57 Library & Information Science graduate prog...

In this article, we introduce the concept of diversity by design. This concept is relevant to library and information science (LIS) education, professional environments, and partnership-based community engagements. Building on our experience as educators and researchers, we illustrate this concept in the context of LIS graduate education and invite...

Recent developments in Canada, the United States, and beyond continue to test librarians’ resolve and to redefine how we view ourselves and engage with communities. Drawing on examples from both Canada and the United States and deploying the concept of “border” as an analytical trope, we seek to probe and unsettle the geographic, professional, and...

This article examines how information service providers, particularly libraries, may assist effectively in meeting the information needs of immigrants. In order to understand information practices of immigrants and cater to their needs, a holistic approach is advocated that encompasses a closer examination of theories and principles of social inclu...

Introduction. In this study, we examine the case of Japanese-speaking families in Canada and their experiences with teaching a heritage language at home, along with the uses and perceived usefulness of public library resources, collections, and services in the process. Methods. We interviewed fourteen mothers who speak Japanese to their children. W...

Hajj is the spiritual and religious journey of a lifetime for many Muslims around the world. In June 2022, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah decided to introduce a new travel booking system that mandated pilgrims from Europe, America, Australia, and New Zealand to reserve directly their pilgrimage travels, thus bypassing the local Hajj travel op...

This chapter examines the contours of the religious and spiritual information experiences subfield through a review and content analysis of selected contributions from the past two decades in both information science and related fields. The research question that guides this review is: How have spirituality and religion been conceptualized in infor...

Researchers in information science and related fields have traditionally focused on published research and syntheses of research findings. While these mechanisms are crucial for knowledge dissemination, we advocate for more innovative knowledge translation and mobilization efforts. To illustrate this, we present a unique case study on the employmen...

Purpose This pan-Canadian study examines the information practices of STEM-trained immigrant women to Canada as they navigate workfinding and workplace integration. Our study focuses on a population of highly skilled immigrant women from across Canada and uses an information practice lens to examine their lived experiences of migration and labour m...

This panel centers on presentations that address examples of spiritual and/or religious experiences through an information lens. The panelists will initiate a timely conversation about the ways in which individuals and communities make sense of their information worlds post pandemic and in contexts of high uncertainty (e.g., climate anxiety, increa...

Academics argue that the COVID‐19 pandemic has limited students' ability to learn, with significant digital inequities occurring between students from the global North and the global South. Students and academics from developing nations encountered particular challenges and difficulties with the move toward online styles of learning. Much like thei...

Ramadan is an important and blessed month for Muslims around the world. It is both a time of spiritual contemplation as well as an opportunity for reinvigorating communal bonds. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, disrupted many of the rituals and traditions of Ramadan. In this exploratory study, we present findings from 22 young Muslims' experiences w...

Overview of the Handbook: How do we understand religious spaces? What is their role or function within specific religious traditions or with respect to religious experience? This handbook brings together thirty-three essays addressing these questions using a range of methods and approaches to examine specific spaces or types of spaces around the wo...

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to reimagine how they engage in spiritual and religious activities. This paper presents an analysis of the information practices of young Muslims during Ramadan, with a focus on their social, spiritual and COVID-related needs and strategies. Method. Our qualitative approach entailed semi-struct...

This article explores how the relational context of religious rituals and practices and pandemic-induced stay-at-home orders shape the socio-temporal organization of young Muslims’ everyday social media engagement during Ramadan under COVID-19. We collected semi-structured interviews with 22 self-identified Muslims who observed Ramadan during the p...

This panel features four experts in Library and Information Science (LIS) research who will present findings from major projects conducted during the COVID‐19 pandemic from national and international contexts. These include: a) a mixed‐methods study of virtual reference services in academic libraries during the pandemic's beginning, b) semi‐structu...

Les bibliothèques publiques canadiennes jouent un rôle important dans le soutien des communautés de langue officielle en situation minoritaire, tant sur les plans culturel et socio-économique que linguistique. Pourtant, il existe relativement peu de recherches sur les pratiques et l’impact des bibliothèques en contexte linguistique minoritaire. Cet...

This article explores how the relational context of religious rituals and practices and pandemic-induced stay-at-home orders shape the socio-temporal organization of young Muslims’ everyday social media engagement during Ramadan under COVID-19. We collected semi-structured interviews with 22 self-identified Muslims who observed Ramadan during the p...

How do we understand religious spaces? What is their role or function within specific religious traditions or with respect to religious experience? This handbook brings together thirty-seven authors who address these questions using a range of methods to analyze specific spaces or types of spaces around the world and across time. Their methods are...

This chapter examines the contemporary manifestations of the pilgrimage tradition of Hajj and engages a deeper reflection on how Muslim pilgrims encounter and negotiate space(s)—both physical and virtual—in a globalized, hyperconnected era. The embodied experiences of Hajj pilgrims in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, are examined through the lens of artefacts...

This article presents an information science perspective on Social Work (SW) education based on the results of a comparative policy content evaluation (PCE) of accreditation documents in Canada and the U.S. It investigates to what extent information and technology education is integral to the accreditation documents that guide the SW curriculum in...

Since the start of the pandemic and the related major disruptions introduced to all aspects of university work and life, one invariable focus has been on students and the effects of dislocation, lockdown, illness, and isolation, not only on their academic performance and career advancement but also on their physical well-being and mental health. In...

As a dynamic and interdisciplinary field of study, information science has a diverse set of methods, theoretical frameworks, tools and processes that continue to be developed, adopted, and extended through further research, teaching, and practice. Some of the methods and frameworks have origins in other disciplines. The interdisciplinary nature of...

Abstract at: https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/110954

Résumé. La présente contribution interroge l’existant et le devenir de la formation supérieure en Sciences de l’Information au Maroc. En ce sens, un état des lieux des principaux programmes d’enseignement en matière de SI est dressé à partir de l’analyse du cursus dispensé aux différents cycles de formation à l’Ecole des Sciences de l’Information d...

En tant qu’institutions publiques et engagées au sein de leurs communautés à travers leur marque de confiance et les services qu’elles fournissent, les bibliothèques, musées et archives sont dans une position unique pour promouvoir une plus grande accessibilité et visibilité des contenus francophones. L’argument principal de notre communication est...

This panel examines the interaction between being a transient migrant, using international students as a salient example, and information behaviors in a time of COVID-19. We address issues such as information overload, selection of information sources, and social networking. The aim of this panel is to bring together interested researchers in the a...

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are an inseparable part of scholarship, professional practice, and education of information professionals. Cultivating a diversity mindset is therefore essential. We bring together scholars and practitioners to address how a diversity mindset can foster sustainable change and effective leadership in the areas of sch...

Editorial for the Special Issue of the International Journal of Diversity, Information and Inclusion on Forced Migration: Making Sense of a Complex Ecosystem

Humanizing LIS Education and Practice: Diversity by Design demonstrates that diversity concerns are relevant to all and need to be approached in a systematic way. Developing the Diversity by Design concept articulated by Dali and Caidi in 2017, the book promotes the notion of the diversity mindset. Grouped into three parts, the chapters within thi...

Information phenomena and behaviors underlie every aspect of contemporary life, including spiritual/religious experiences. Pilgrimage as an information context provides insights into the nature of information and knowledge in the lives of individuals undergoing such transformational experiences. Findings based on interviews with twelve Hajj pilgrim...

With the view of scholarly and professional publishing as a staple of educating global information professionals, this interactive engagement session (IES) will bring together an international team of five educators/former and current LIS journal editors to reflect on the highs and lows of engaging Masters students in the process of scholarly commu...

While there is much research on migrant information behavior, the older population tends to be underrepresented in the literature. This article reports on a qualitative study with 16 Chinese older adults (aged 60 and over) who were recent immigrants to Australia and Canada. Migrating late in life presents some unique characteristics and challenges....

We examine the context surrounding the #MeToo movement in China, how hashtags were used to circumvent censorship, and the role that Chinese diasporic communities played in the process. The results demonstrate the practice of disguised collective action, and the choices made by different actors in attempting to circumvent censorship.

Introduction. We examine a particular genre of YouTube videos, those produced by individuals who act as cultural translators and the work that such videos do to enable and facilitate cross-cultural communication and cultural literacy for their viewers. Method. We selected eight videos from two popular YouTube channels dealing with Korean culture an...

Completing a pilgrimage has often been touted as a transformational experience. Yet, pilgrimage as an information context is sorely lacking in our field, despite the valuable insights it could provide into the complex information environments and evolving states of those who undertake pilgrimage. In this article, I examine a specific pilgrimage: th...

This article reflects upon the anomalous rise of irregular migration into Canada through the small town of Lacolle, Quebec and how the government chose to respond. We ask: How do Canadian governmentalities of mobility express themselves in mass media coverage of irregular migration into Lacolle? Much like its European counterparts, the Canadian gov...

This study examines how, in the words of Appadurai, “locality emerges in a global world” (Appadurai, 1996, p.18). Specifically, it articulates the nature of information practices in the lives of 14 newcomers to Canada who have migrated from the Philippines to the medium‐size city of Winnipeg. Using a qualitative and exploratory approach, this study...

In this article, we examine the selfie-taking and sharing practices of Muslim pilgrims in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. We introduce the concept of the “holy selfie” (a selfie taken during either the Hajj or the Umrah pilgrimages) and report on a visual content analysis of a sample of 100 holy selfies publicly available on social networking platforms. We se...

In our increasingly visually oriented world, people's information practices shift and adapt accordingly. In this panel, we bring together an international group of scholars to discuss their insights on information practices related to visual platforms such as YouTube. From the information and communication practices of beauty vloggers garnering int...

Last year, in a guest editorial for the Library Quarterly (LQ) we proposed the concept of diversity by design (DbD) and posited it as a concept relevant to workplace environments, community engagements and graduate LIS education. We invited LQ readers “to contemplate whether this concept ma[de] sense to them and, if yes, how it work[ed] in their re...

Explains the Diversity by Design concept implementation through a series of practice-based case studies.

With the increasing community orientation of LIS practice and scholarship, the debate on the role of diversity education takes center stage. The very idea of community engagement in such complex multicultural societies as the U.S. and Canada is inextricably linked to educating a new generation of professionals who are culturally competent, knowledg...

International medical graduates (IMGs) are medical professionals who have immigrated to the United States (US) or Canada (Ca) in hopes of integrating into the labor market. IMGs can be a very helpful resource supplying a diverse background and expertise to the medical system in the host country [Chen et al., 2010]. However, immigration and integrat...

International medical graduates (IMGs) are medical professionals who have immigrated to the United States (US) or Canada (Ca) in hopes of integrating into the labor market. IMGs can be a very helpful resource supplying a diverse background and expertise to the medical system in the host country [Chen et al., 2010]. However, immigration and integrat...

Purpose: The article explores the attractiveness of LIS careers to students and alumni and examines their decision-making process and perceptions of the field with an eye on discerning the best ways to build and develop the recruitment narrative. Design/methodology/approach: The authors reached out to 57 Library & Information Science graduate prog...

In this paper we describe learning that happens when searchers look for information in a foreign language. A strong disparity exists between the language distribution of Web content and the representation of speakers of different languages among Web users. The proportion of Web content available in English is much larger than the proportion of nat...

We examine the competencies required of information users navigating new and different information landscapes. Building on a case study of International Medical Graduates who have immigrated to North America, we develop a nuanced definition of information literacy and specifically examine the impact of trans-national information practices on the ex...

The leadership mindset and associated skills have become a mainstay in the education and practice of information professionals. Our own policies, pedagogies, and attitudes become part and parcel of the educational environment we foster and serve as role models for students. Guided by the discussion of selected human resources practices at Google, a...

The leadership mindset and associated skills have become a mainstay in the education and practice of information professionals. Our own policies, pedagogies, and attitudes become part and parcel of the educational environment we foster and serve as role models for students. Guided by the discussion of selected human resources practices at Google, a...

We survey 57 ALA-accredited programs in Canada and the U.S. and examine the (un)attractiveness of graduate LIS education to culturally diverse students. We conclude that despite extensive research and recruitment programs related to diverse populations, the problem of cultural homogeneity in LIS academic departments and the practicing field persist...

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the attractiveness of Library and Information Science (LIS) professions and programs to culturally and linguistically diverse individuals. Design/methodology/approach – Between September and December 2014, current students and alumni from 57 North American LIS programs were surveyed regarding their learning exp...

The proposal to abandon Canada's long-form census is one example of an alarming shift to cut production of and public access to authoritative scientific data, undermining formation of good public policy. This is contrary to official pronouncements since 1996 recognizing data and information technology as critical resources necessary to promote inno...

Background. Foreign-trained health professionals arrive in the United States and Canada to find a professional environment that is often unwelcoming and complex. Objectives. We examine the nature of information in foreign-trained health professionals’ lives as they attempt to integrate into the North American labor market. We focus on the role that...

Copyright law grants exclusive rights to authors of original works of authorship, but those rights are subject to numerous exceptions and limitations, including fair use in the United States and fair dealing in Canada. These exceptions have traditionally worked to ensure that the rights of copyright owners are adequately balanced with the interests...

EDITOR'S SUMMARY The proposal to abandon Canada's long-form census is one example of an alarming shift to cut production of and public access to authoritative scientific data, undermining formation of good public policy. This is contrary to official pronouncements since 1996 recognizing data and information technology as critical resources necessar...

EDITOR'S SUMMARY An important aspect of ASIS&T's international outreach is service to indigenous populations, a need that has received greater recognition since Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's public apology in 2008 for past disruption of Native families. The emerging field of indigenous librarianship can contribute significantly to the pr...

Foreign-trained health professionals (doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and others) arrive in the US and Canada every year to find a professional environment that is often unwelcoming and complex. In this work-in-progress poster we explore the experiences and information behavior of these professionals as they search for health- and career-rela...

Background. Foreign-trained health professionals arrive in the United States and Canada to find a professional environment that is often unwelcoming and complex. Objectives. We examine the nature of information in foreign-trained health professionals' lives as they attempt to integrate into the North American labor market. We focus on the role that...

The Mapping Digital Media project, which examines the changes in-depth, aims to build bridges between researchers and policymakers, activists, academics and standard-setters across the world. It also builds policy capacity in countries where this is less developed, encouraging stakeholders to participate in and influence change. At the same time, t...

This research reports on the preliminary findings from the Information Practices of Ethnocultural Communities (IPEC) research project. IPEC examines the everyday information behaviours and social network practices of new immigrants from Chinese, Indian and Iraninan communities in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).Cette recherche présente les résultats...

This study examines the importance of access to information as an enabler of access to health care by newcomers to Canada. Specifically, we focus on the role played by the 2-1-1 Toronto service through a 2005 phone survey and face-to-face qualitative interviews with 2-1-1 Toronto callers in 2006-2007.Cette étude examine l’importance de l’accès à l’...

Few empirical studies in LIS have examined the online information practices of people with vision impairments. Our study of the everyday online information practices of sixty adult residents of Ontario with vision impairments revealed barriers not only to their information access but also to their participation in the online culture. Résumé : Cette...

We investigate the roles that new media play in supporting the relationships of young people in their first-year of university in Toronto. We consider the experiences of domestic and newly emigrated students and their adjustment to life outside their home countries, focusing on the use of social technologies for adjustment.Cette communication exami...

Scholarly communication plays a critical role not only in the dissemination of knowledge, but also in the production of scholarly careers and the reproduction of scholarly communities. In the digital era innovative and diverse forms of scholarship are emerging that present opportunities for leadership and research. How might CAIS/ACSI respond?Les c...

Canada has an aging population with the fastest growing age groups (80 and 45-64 years old) vulnerable to age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Caregiving responsibilities often fall to the family members of the afflicted without much attention and consideration being placed on the information needs of these caregivers. We call for a be...

Technology does not develop independently of its social context. Rather, it is constituted through the linking of people, practices and places. This paper draws from the current work within the social shaping of technology literature to examine the concepts of boundaries and negotiation inherent in the construction of any socio-technical systems. A...

Partnership-based education has traditionally been a staple of graduate professional programs, such as those offered at the iSchool (the Faculty of information). Created both inside and outside of the UofT community, partnerships facilitate the integration of state-of-the-art professional practices into the curriculum and improved communication bet...

The Mapping Digital Media project examines the global opportunities and risks created by the transition from traditional to digital media. Covering 60 countries, the project examines how these changes affect the core democratic service that any media system should provide: news about political, economic, and social affairs. The following is the Can...

In recent decades many countries have leveraged information and communication technologies to facilitate interaction between citizens, businesses and governments. By enhancing government efficiencies and streamlining governance systems, countries expect to strengthen public service deliveries and to improve public and private sector interactions. O...

It seems that every passing week reveals new developments in the ways in which information policies are being implemented throughout society. Tragedies like the Boston Marathon bombings of March 2013, along with the VIA Rail train plots in the Toronto-Montreal corridor remind and compel us to examine the decade that has passed since the events of 9...

Background Although access to information on health services is particularly important for recent immigrants, numerous studies have shown that their use of information and referral services is limited. This study explores the role played by 2-1-1 Toronto in supporting recent immigrants. Purpose The study objectives were to (1) understand whether 2...

In this panel we will discuss the origins of the Special Interest Group for International Information Issues (SIG-III) of the American Society for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) and its early years. In addition to the reflections of the last 30 years, Toni Carbo (one of the co-founders of SIG-III), Nadia Caidi (SIG-III Advisory board mem...

The theme of this year's ASIS&T conference inspires us to examine our past, present, and future as a discipline. This panel adopts a similar lens but focuses specifically on the decade that has passed since the events of 9/11 and the subsequent legislative and policy impacts on information. The aim is to provide information professionals and schola...

The "On-Demand Book Service (ODBS)" is a collaboration between First Nations communities in Northern Ontario and academic researchers from the University of Toronto. The aim of the ODBS is to bridge the gap between physical and digital libraries. The latest workshop (organized in March of 2010) dealt with issues of reading in First Nations communit...

The "On-Demand Book Service (ODBS)" is a collaboration between First Nations communities in Northern Ontario and academic researchers from the University of Toronto. The aim of the ODBS is to bridge the gap between physical and digital libraries. This position paper will provide some history as to how the project began, its use within graduate leve...

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A growing and sizeable area of study within information behavior research focuses on the information needs and behaviors of immigrant populations (see Chu, 1999; Fisher, Durrance & Hinton, 2004; Caidi & Allard 2005; Srinivasan & Pyati, 2007). Some of the unique needs of these populations include information to aid with coping skills and social incl...

This ar ti cle stud ies the dy nam ics in her ent in in ter dis ci-plin ary fields, and more spe cif i cally, whether there ex ists a dis tine tion between “established” in ter disciplinaryfields and emer gent fields that have not yet earned full and sep a rate field sta tus. Sec ondly, it asks whether such a dis tine tion be tween es tab lished an...

This article explores how the post 9/11 climate has impacted Muslim-Canadians' information practices, including their uses of various information sources, and their attitudes and perceptions regarding their information rights in a post 9/11 world. A survey was conducted in 2004-2005 with 120 participants and supplemented by in-depth interviews. The...

Canada, as most high-income countries, is being dramatically reshaped by immigration. The Canadian health care system will have to undergo profound changes to respond to the demands and expectations of newcomers. As it is a publicly funded system providing access to services on the basis of needs, not ability to pay, the challenges it faces represe...

Digital libraries (DLs) must cater not only to the varied needs of its target users but also to their differing abilities, and to the adaptive technologies used by persons whose computing capabilities are restricted due to disabilities. This paper proposes a model for DL design that includes optimization of the usability of the search process and e...

Specialized open access digital collections contain a wealth of valuable resources. However, major academic and research libraries do not always provide access to them, and thus do not benefit from these unique resources. This case study of one such digital collection, Bioline International, surveys 76 academic libraries in Canada and the United St...

Hall (1976) believes that culture is a selective screen through which we see the world and that the basic differences in the way members from different cultures perceive reality are responsible for the mis-communications of the most fundamental kind. Hofstede (1997) notes that cultural orientations are deeply embedded in cultures over hundreds and...

Is technology amoral? Is design value-laden but code neutral? While philosophers, technologists, science and technology studies (STS) scholars, and social critics continue to debate whether or not information technologies are neutral and an autonomous force acting independently of other social processes, these discussions are only marginally addres...

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to examine the changing role and image of libraries and librarians, along with the overall information culture prevalent in four Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries that were undergoing socio‐political changes. The core question investigated in this article is whether libraries as social and cultura...

The changes in the global information landscape, as epitomized by the reaction of governments to the 9/11 attacks, resulted in legislation, policy, and the formation of agencies that have affected many issues related to information and its use. This article examines the recent multiplicity of challenges that affect citizens' control and use of info...

The events of September 11, 2001 were tragic on many levels: they affected almost all facets of society, including the library institution. In many ways, that date acted as a catalyst in the library community, calling into question traditional library values and ethical principles, as a result of the politically charged climate and the post 9/11 le...