The University of Alberta, Faculty of Education, School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) is pleased to announce two tenure-track faculty appointments: Dr. Tami Oliphant and Dr. Michael McNally. Their appointments are effective July 1, 2012.
Dr. Oliphant earned her doctorate from the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS) at the University of Western Ontario and she is a SLIS alumna having earned her MLIS from the University of Alberta in 2001.
Tami previously taught undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Western Ontario and has been teaching at the University of Alberta in a term position the past year. She has taught such courses as 'Publishing, Media, and Librarianship' and 'Research Methods'. She has worked in academic libraries, public libraries, communications and planning, and as a researcher at the University of Alberta and the University of Western Ontario.
Her doctoral research focused on how people use information and discursive strategies to justify, argue, or explain why they did or did not use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to treat depression. Her current research interests include information behaviour, publishing and media, research methods, and user services. She is also currently working with the Public Library Services Branch of Alberta Municipal Affairs in understanding library usage in rural Alberta with the purpose of contributing to the continuous improvement of services.
Dr. McNally also earned his doctorate from the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS) at the University of Western Ontario, where in 2007 he had previously completed his MLIS.
Michael taught in the FIMS program at the graduate level in such courses as 'Information Policy', 'Research Methods and Statistics', and lectured in 'Foundations of Library and Information Science'. He has worked in a corporate library setting, and has been a researcher for the Canadian International Trade Tribunal.
His doctoral research focused on intellectual property and its alternatives, and he has current research interests in the theories of the information society, radio-spectrum management and libraries, user-generated content and the economic and social aspects of innovation.
SLIS welcomes both Tami and Michael. We look forward to their contributions to SLIS as the School delivers on its goal to develop reflective and inquisitive information and library service leaders. In turn, SLIS, the Faculty of Education and the University of Alberta look forward to providing Michael and Tami with a supportive environment to permit them to fulfill their respective academic career aspirations.