Nadia Caidi

Biography

Nadia Caidi is Associate Professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information (iSchool). Trained in Linguistics and Communication from Lyon and Grenoble (France), she holds a Ph.D. in Information Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Professor Caidi’s research interests focus on human information behaviour and information policy. She has received grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada for research on information control and the public’s right to know in times of crisis and in the context of national security. She has received several research grants for her work on the information practices of vulnerable communities, including newcomers and Aboriginal communities in remote and isolated communities in Ontario. She has published extensively on these topics in top refereed journals. Her current research is situated in the context of global migration and the role that information resources, institutions, and technologies play in the everyday lives of migrant and refugee communities. Professor Caidi was President of the Canadian Association for Information Science from 2010-11 and the 2016 President of the International Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T). Nadia Caidi is Associate Professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information (iSchool). Trained in Linguistics and Communication from Lyon and Grenoble (France), she holds a Ph.D. in Information Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Professor Caidi’s research interests focus on human information behaviour and information policy. She has received grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada for research on information control and the public’s right to know in times of crisis and in the context of national security. She has received several research grants for her work on the information practices of vulnerable communities, including newcomers and Aboriginal communities in remote and isolated communities in Ontario. She has published extensively on these topics in top refereed journals. Her current research is situated in the context of global migration and the role that information resources, institutions, and technologies play in the everyday lives of migrant and refugee communities. Professor Caidi was President of the Canadian Association for Information Science from 2010-11 and the 2016 President of the International Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T).

Research Interest

Professor Caidi’s work is situated in the context of global migration and the role that information resources, institutions, and technologies play in the everyday lives of diasporic communities as well as the host country. She is interested in how the multiple and overlapping local, transnational, and information environments of immigrants are negotiated and comprehended, and in how they come to embody new kinds of knowledge. Within that framework she pursues several lines of research, examining information for social and economic inclusion, digital diasporas, and the relationship between cultural institutions and diverse audiences. Past research has focused on the attractiveness of LIS careers to students and alumni stemming from diverse backgrounds, the diversity of LIS professions, and the significant disconnect that persists in how the goals of LIS education are seen by certain groups of practitioners, students, and faculty members. These strands of research seek to expand on the meanings and values of diversity, with an eye toward reconceptualizing it as a powerful force for advancing and reshaping the information professions. Her recent research examines expressions of spiritual and religious identities within diasporic communities, specifically the contemporary manifestations of the pilgrimage tradition, and how information in its multiple forms (textual, spiritual, corporeal, and others) has mediated and shaped the pilgrim’s spiritual, physical, and informational journey.