iSchool faculty & students in the news
Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, professors, instructors, and students are often asked to comment on breaking news, trends, and industry developments.
They are interviewed for newspaper stories, appear on television shows, and can be heard on radio shows, providing expert opinion and research-based information on a wide range of daily issues important to Canadians.
Senior Fellow Wendy Newman and Professor Sara
Grimes being interviewed at CIUT 89.5 FM
Below are examples of recent media coverage that faculty and students have received for their innovative scholarship.
Recent media stories
Is Personal Branding Necessary For Millennials?
The Huffington Post
June 6, 2013
Featuring: Professor Leslie Shade
A 2010 Microsoft study revealed that 79 per cent of hiring managers and job recruiters in the U.S. surveyed reviewed online information about job applicants. Prof. Leslie Shade agrees privacy is critical to job hunt, saying your digital footprint ultimately builds and directs your personal brand.
3D Printing: A Killer AppT
The Agenda with Steve Paikin:
June 5, 2013
Featuring: Professor Matt Ratto
Can gun control and other prohibitions against certain objects even exist in a world in which every home is a micro-factory? Matt Ratto of the University of Toronto's Critical Making Lab discusses the impact that 3D printing is having on civil liberties.
Minecraft game being hailed as teaching tool
Toronto Star
May 31, 2013
Featuring: Professor Sara Grimes
The online game Minecraft has baffled many gaming gurus despite its popularity with children. Sara Grimes, an expert in children’s media culture at the University of Toronto, says the game is providing kids a space to create their own game space and to share those game spaces with each other.
Dad hacks video game to give daughter female character
Metro News
March 12, 2013
Featuring: Professor Sara Grimes
Prof. Grimes says hacks to video games, making the male hero a heroine, is a response to decades of under-representation of women in video games. “I think, because they’re answering a need for more equal gender representation in games.”
End of a (Common) Era: Museum of Civilization reverts to Christian ‘BC’ and ‘AD’ for dates
Ottawa Citizen and National Post
February 27, 2013
Featuring Professor Cara Krmpotich and Dr. Matthew Brower, Instructor
The Canadian Museum of Civilization is going back to the traditional ways of listing dates in history as BC or AD, raising the question: Is this making history religious? Prof. Krmpotich says while she suspects that it causes some confusion for museum-goers, Dr. Brower says you have to reach audiences where they’re at.
Students embrace social media but school guidelines absent
Redding.com
February 16, 2013
Featuring: Professor Sara Grimes
Prof. Grimes attributes the increase in social media activity to the various contexts in which it can be used. She said that as the world embraces social media, it could become an everyday habit like brushing your teeth or taking a shower.
Why we are so fond of felines online
The Toronto Star
February 12, 2013
Featuring: Matt Brower, Lecturer
The appeal of cats may be more than just cuteness, says Matt Brower, a University of Toronto professor who specializes in the history and theory of wildlife photography.
How much data privacy can you expect to have?
CBC News
February 5, 2013
Featuring: Andrew Clement, Professor, and Leslie Regan Shade, Associate Professor
Staying away from social media such as Facebook and Twitter and deliberately limiting the amount of personal information you disclose online may not be enough to protect yourself from having your private data exposed.
$100 reward offered for finding a surveillance camera that respects privacy rights
The Toronto Star
February 4, 2013
Featuring: Professor Andrew Clement
University of Toronto professor Andrew Clement offers a reward for any video surveillance camera in Canada on private property that complies with privacy guidelines.
Kids online: Social media sites can help develop identity, study says
Christian Science Monitor
January 31, 2013
Featuring: Study by Professors Debbie Fields and Sara Grimes about social networking forums
One social-media venue profiled by a study from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop in New York says there is still so little we know about preteens’ use of social media, but thanks to this report – which both pulls together the research we do have and catalogs what we still need to know – we have some rich new insights.
How exactly does 3D printing work?
CBC News
January 28, 2013
Featuring: Prof. Matt Ratto, Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto and Director of the Faculty of Information’s Critical Making Lab.
Dutch architect Janjapp Ruijssenaars has proposed building a house using 3D printed materials. To do so, he plans to use a large machine that deposits sand and a binding agent in layers roughly five to 10 millimetres thick to create six-by-nine-metre sections of a stone-like material.“It’s been in use for industrial contexts for at least 20 years,” says Matt Ratto.
Prof offers $100 to any Canadian who can find a ‘privacy-compliant’ surveillance camera
Metro News
January 24, 2013
Featuring: Professor Andrew Clement, IPSI, and Faculty of Information, U of T
Prof. Clement's research with students shows surveillance cameras at Canadian businesses fail to comply with the Privacy Commission's requirements of privacy laws.
3D Printing Revolution
CBC Quirks & Quarks
January 5, 2013
Featuring: Professor Matt Ratto
Listener Ron Roy from Ottawa is a tool-and-die maker, but he sees the future making his work obsolete. Mr Roy thinks that 3-D Printing will transform our future, making it possible to fabricate anything at home - toys, drugs, even weapons and organs. Dr. Matt Ratto, the director of the Critical Making Lab, in the Faculty of Information, at the University of Toronto, couldn't agree more.
Listen now: 12:48 minutes
Store video cameras failing to comply with privacy law
CBC News (Technology & Science)
December 28, 2012
Featuring: Professor Andrew Clement
A study shows few retailers are complying with privacy laws that demand signs be posted outside stores alerting people to the use of video surveillance, for what reason and who they can contact to access the images that are recorded.
Toronto entrepreneur finds a unique trade in animal skulls
Toronto Star
December 14, 2012
Featuring: Matt Brower, Lecturer, Museum Studies
Brower comments on Torontonian who has animal skulls on display in his home. There is a zoological history of collecting skulls, in addition to private collections, Brower says, noting the skulls can serve as a reminder of the fleetingness of life.
Absolutely fabricated
TMC Net (Online)
December 13, 2012
Featuring: Professor Matt Ratto
More people will be able and willing to learn about 3D design, says Matt Ratto.
Sex charges against Brampton teacher dropped
Toronto Star
December 5, 2012
Featuring: Professor Leslie Shade
Leslie Shade, a media professor at the University of Toronto, discusses “cyber vigilantism,” where websites and electronic news sharing are impossible to control, especially in cases where people are charged with a crime for which they are found ultimately found innocent.
The Toronto Women’s Bookstore closure is a comment on the book industry, but also on the changing face of the feminist community
The National Post
November 24, 2012
Featuring: Professor Leslie Shade
In recent years, competition from big-box bookstores, bargain-friendly online retailers and the increased popularity of e-books have made for particularly perilous times. But feminist bookstores have suffered the most from this sea change.
Chips and apps: How emerging tech will change education
The Globe and Mail
October 22, 2012
Featuring: Professors Matt Ratto and Rhonda McEwen (U of T Mississauga, ICCIT & Faculty of Information)
Asked what the technological tools in university classrooms will look and feel like by 2020, Matt Ratto admits he’s no futurist. But the assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information is helping shape the future – by changing students’ relationship with technology. Prof. McEwen discusses ICCIT student mobile app projects and courses.
Taking Off
CBC's The National
October 21, 2012
Featuring: Professor Matt Ratto
3D printing may change the way you live, and the University of Toronto's Critical Making Lab is at the forefront of this emerging trend for consumers to use 3D printers to make things themselves.
The story starts at 35:39
First Words
60 Minutes Australia
October 21, 2012
Featuring: Professor Rhonda McEwen (U of T Mississauga, ICCIT & Faculty of Information)
A documentary report on the Autism and iPad project Prof. McEwen ran at Beverley School in Toronto.
Teens and the Internet
CBC Fresh Air
October 20, 2012
Featuring: Professor Rhonda McEwen (U of T Mississauga, ICCIT & Faculty of Information)
The recent suicide of a BC teen has raised many questions about on-line bullying. Rhonda McEwen is an assistant professor of New Media at the University of Toronto - Mississauga's Institute of Communication, Culture and IT. She specializes in new media and she joined Karen to talk about the internet's appeal for young people and why they may post material that they may later regret.
Listen audio (runs 13:48)
TV star under fire for tweet about Canadian killers
Global News Toronto:
October 17, 2012
Featuring: Professor Leslie Shade
The creator of the TV series Girls is under fire after suggesting that two of her famous friends dress up on Halloween as Canadian serial killers Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. Mark Carcasole reports.
Read it on Global News: TV star under fire for tweet about Canadian killers - News Hour - Videos | Global Toronto
Watchful eyes
U of T Magazine
October 10, 2012
Featuring: Andrew Clement, Professor, Faculty of Information
Security cameras are everywhere. A new app invites Torontonians to help map them.
Name-and-shame websites run libel risk
Ottawa Sun
September 22, 2012
Featuring: Andrew Clement, Professor, Faculty of Information
Shaming someone online could land the poster in hot water, although experts such as Prof. Clement say privacy laws are lax when it comes to the public.
Rituals, Reality, Reading
CBC Spark Radio
September 23, 2012
Featuring: Andrew Clement, Professor, Faculty of Information
Professor Clement discusses whether or not Canada is in fact, an internet backwater.
Why Wikipedia does belong in the classroom
ReadWriteWeb Blog plus Huffington Post
September 20, 2012
Featuring: Jonathan Obar, Post Doc, working with Prof. Andrew Clement
Wikipedia remains misunderstood because many educators have yet to recognize the distinction between Wikipedia as a tool for teaching and Wikipedia as a tool for research. Dr. Obar says fear of the latter has blinded most to the possibilities of the former.
Olympic coverage tweet puts Twitter at centre of scandal
CBC News
July 31, 2012
Featuring: Andrew Clement, Professor, Faculty of Information
Professor Clement commented on the growing chorus of frustrated Americans complaining on Twitter about NBC's delayed Olympics television coverage. One journalist took it one step further, posting the work email address for NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel and encouraged others to contact him. Clement says the issue is symptomatic of how popular social media can serve as "robust fora for free expression" but also how business interests can override the platform's principles.
Family Caregivers Unite!
America Voice (Internet Radio Show)
July 24, 2012
Featuring: Wendy Newman, Senior Fellow, Faculty of Information
The topics are the information needs and information-seeking behaviours of family caregivers. The Newman sisters are the principal caregivers to their 95 year old parents.
William Gibson book: Who will crack the Agrippa code?
As it Happens, CBC Radio
July 12, 2012
Featuring: Quinn Dupont, PhD student, Faculty of Information
Who will crack the Agrippa code? "Agrippa" is a 1992 poem written by American-Canadian novelist William Gibson. It was issued on computer disks 20 years ago, and it would disappear after one reading. How that happened is a coding mystery that has never been solved. So, University of Toronto PhD student Quinn Dupont issued a challenge to anyone who can crack the code.
Listen to the interview [00:06:45]
DIY Economics Series: Moved to making
TVO, The Agenda
June 26, 2012
Featuring: Marie-Eve Belanger, Master of Information student and Co-ordinator of the ThingTank Lab, run by Professor Matt Ratto, Faculty of Information
Marie-Eve sat on a panel to discuss workshops and hackerspaces around the world, and a movement of "Makers" that are re-purposing things and reinvigorating innovation at the grassroots level.
Inside old-school books, every scribble tells a story
Globe and Mail
March 31, 2012
Featuring: Scott Schofield, INKE Postdoctoral Fellow, Book History and Print Culture, Faculty of Information
At the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library, anyone can access the collection's 700,000 rare items, showing patrons the library has no problem with e-books and digital culture. Indeed, as digital files replace printed books as the storehouse of the world's texts, printed books are rapidly becoming more valuable as “material objects of print culture,” making books the newest form of history.
The Hunger Games premieres across Canada
CBC News
March 19, 2012
Featuring: Sara Grimes, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information
Grimes comments on young adults being interested in the book series and movie that is full of violence, saying she believes it is an avenue to talk with teens about relevant issues.
Listen to the interview [story starts at 21:05, and Grimes appears at 21:17]
Hunger Games: School librarians weigh in on whether the books are too violent for children
Toronto Star
March 17, 2012
Featuring: Sara Grimes, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information
The movie made of The Hunger Games book series opens tonight. Meant for an older audience, the books — and now the movie — has younger kids wanting to read the books and see the movie too. Grimes comments on the young adult target market.
Sharing a collection of 15th and 16th century books
CBC Radio, Island News, PEI
March 14, 2012
Featuring: Dr. Scott Schofield, INKE Postdoctoral Fellow in the History and Future of the Book, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
A UPEI history class has had the opportunity to share some fifteenth and sixteenth century books. The class connected by video link to the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies at the University of Toronto. The CBC’s Denis Calnan dropped by to watch the unique tour.
Listen to the interview [04:14 minutes]
Matt Ratto on critical making
CBC Spark Radio
March 7, 2012
Featuring: Matt Ratto, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information
Host Nora Young interviews Ratto on the ThingTank lab, a community-based place for people to explore and experiment with technology by making things, and in particular, by exploring what the growing world of the Internet of Things might be like.
Listen to the interview [22:53 minutes]
Watch the video tour of the ThingTank lab [02:45 minutes]
Canadians lead in time spent online, says report
CBC News Business
March 2, 2012
Featuring: Sara Grimes, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information
Grimes (pictured at right) was quoted in article on how Canadians are leading the way in time spent on social media use. She says women have traditionally assumed more responsibility for maintaining social ties with family and friends so it's no wonder they are the most frequent users.
Geography of Twitter
National Public Radio
February 21, 2012
Featuring: Yuri Takhteyev, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information
Twitter is supposed to have turned the world into a global village. But new research shows that our Twitter ties are considerably more parochial than most of us imagine. People no longer define their communities by where they live but by common interests.
On SOPA, social media, and 'breaking' the Internet
The Inside Agenda blog – The Agenda, TV Ontario, with host Steve Paikin
January 27, 2012
Featuring: Michael Dick, PhD student, Faculty of Information
A guest blog post by Dick, who is pursuing doctoral studies in the area of information and communication technology (ICT) history and policy. He discusses the impact of proposed legislation meant to control technology infrastructure in name of copyright law violations.
Science museum pressured by corporate sponsor over oilsands exhibit
Ottawa Citizen
January 24, 2012
Featuring: Lynne Teather, Associate Professor, Faculty of Information
Teather offers commentary on the tensions between museums trying to "find a balance between the need for private money, and the donors’ wishes to influence an exhibit." She believes that "government funding cuts cause a corporatization of museums.”
Uniform project: Librarians
Toronto Standard
January 21, 2012
Featuring: Kathleen Scheaffer, Academic Librarian, Faculty of Information
What are savvy librarians wearing these days? Scheaffer breaks it down, along with fellow fashion-plate librarians from Robarts Library & U of T, Ryerson University Library, and the Toronto Public Library system.
Mobile manners
Metro Morning, CBC Radio, with host Matt Galloway
January 10, 2012
Featuring: Rhonda McEwen, Assistant Professor, ICCIT & Faculty of Information
Matt Galloway interviews McEwen about the constant communication now possible because of smartphones, and the expectations that come with this.
Listen to the show [5.20 minutes].
Is the physical library still relevant in the electronic era?
Global TV
January 10, 2012
Featuring: Wendy Newman, Senior Fellow, Faculty of Information
Newman discusses proposed library cuts to the city of Toronto, and talks about the changing roles of libraries in the digital age.
Social media developments in 2011
Fresh Air, CBC Radio, with host Mary Ito
December 17, 2011
Featuring: Rhonda McEwen, Assistant Professor, ICCIT & Faculty of Information
McEwen joins Mary Ito to talk about what caught her eye in 2011, social media-wise, and what we might expect in 2012.
Listen to the show [13.22 minutes].
Estetica e tecnologia nel mondo di Paolo Granata: Partnership tra U of T e Universita di Bologna
Corriere Canadese [Canadian-Italian Daily News]
December 6, 2011
Featuring: Dr. Paolo Granata, McLuhan Centenary Visiting Fellow, Faculty of Information / University of Bologna
An interview about McLuhan scholarship, and the work of the Dr. Granata during his time at the iSchool. Dr. Granata has recently appeared twice on Omni TV, for an Italo Calvino lecture on McLuhan, and a talk about the digital world, at the Italian Cultural Institute.
Less than six degrees of separation
CTV News
November 22, 2011
Featuring: Yuri Takhteyev, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information.
A recent study suggesting that Facebook degrees of separation is down to 4.74. Watch for Takhteyev's paper on the same topic, coming out later this year.
How Marshall McLuhan's legacy lives on at UofT
OpenFile.ca
November 3, 2011
Featuring: Dr. Seamus Ross, iSchool Dean; Professor Dominique Scheffel-Dunand, Director of the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology; and, Dr. Daniel Robinson, McLuhan Fellow
Discussion about the influence of Marshall McLuhan, in his centenary year.
Marshall McLuhan Photo Gallery
U of T News
October 28, 2011
A gallery of photographs showcasing Marshall McLuhan and his connection to the University of Toronto and Faculty of Information.
Studying autism and iPads
60 Minutes, CBS News
October 23, 2011
Featuring: Rhonda McEwen, Assistant Professor, ICCIT & Faculty of Information
Professor Rhonda McEwen studies the use of iPads by children with autism in Toronto's Beverley School. She tells Lesley Stahl that progress is slow, but learning to "play with language" is the first step.
Listen to the interview [2:08 minutes]
Libraries evolve to meet community needs
Ontario Morning, CBC Radio, with host Wei Chen
October 17, 2011
Featuring: Wendy Newman, Senior Fellow, Faculty of Information
Discusses how libraries are evolving to meet the changing needs of their communities.
Children, electronics, and learning ability
Fresh Air, CBC Radio, with host Mary Ito
October 16, 2011
Featuring: Rhonda McEwen, Assistant Professo, ICCIT & Faculty of Information
Discusses kids’ increasing reliance on electronics and what that may be doing to their ability to learn.
Listen to the show [8:00 am, 11:16 minutes]
What’s in a name? A job, maybe
Globe & Mail
October 14, 2011
Featuring: Diane Dechief, PhD student, Faculty of Information
A co-authored study that found people with English-sounding names were 47% more likely to receive call backs for jobs.
