Chun Wei Choo
Professor
Education:
PhD: Information Studies, University of Toronto
MSc: Information Systems, London School of Economics
MA: Engineering, University of Cambridge (UK)
BA: Engineering, University of Cambridge (UK)
Administrative responsibilities:
- Chair, Programs Committee
Biography:
Chun Wei joined the Faculty of Information in 1993 after completing his Ph.D. there. He has a Bachelor and Masters degree in Engineering from the University of Cambridge (UK), and a Masters in Information Systems from the London School of Economics. His recent books include the The Knowing Organization (2nd ed, Oxford University Press 2006), Strategic Management of Intellectual Capital and Organizational Knowledge (Oxford University Press 2002), Web Work: Information Seeking & Knowledge Work on the WWW (Springer/Kluwer 2000), and Information Management for the Intelligent Organization (3rd ed, Information Today 2002). His articles and papers have appeared in the Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, Financial Times of London, Information Research, Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, Journal of Documentation, Journal of Knowledge Management, National Post of Canada, and Sloan Management Review.
At the Faculty of Information, Chun Wei teaches the following courses:
- INF 1230 Management of Information Organizations
- INF 1325 Online Information Retrieval
- INF 2149 Administrative Decision Making in Information Organizations
- INF 2176 Information Management in Organizations: Models and Platforms
For more information, visit Chun Wei's website at choo.ischool.utoronto.ca.
Research highlight:
Professor Choo conducts research in the areas of knowledge and information management, information seeking behaviour, and organizational learning. A current project looks at organizations as epistemic communities; another examines information seeking and use in early warning systems.
Research description:
Research interests
- Knowledge management
- Information management
- Information seeking
- Environmental scanning
- Organizational learning
- Early warning
Projects
For more about these and earlier projects not shown here, visit Chun Wei's website at choo.ischool.utoronto.ca.
"Information Seeking and Use in Early Warning." Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Standard Research Grant (2009 - 2012). Principal Investigator.
"Information Seeking and Use in Group Knowledge Work." Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Standard Research Grant (2005 - 2008). Principal Investigator.
"Managing knowledge and information in times of major organizational transition." Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Initiative on the New Economy research grant (2003-2006)
Selected publications:
For more publications and to download papers, visit Chun Wei's website at choo.ischool.utoronto.ca.
Articles
Choo, C.W. & Nadarajah, Indrani. 2013, in press. Early Warning Information Seeking in the 2009 Victorian Bushfires. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology.
Marton, Christine & Choo, C.W. 2012. A Review of Theoretical Models of Health Information Seeking on the Web. Journal of Documentation 68(3): 330-352.
Cyr, Sylvio & Choo, C.W. 2010. The Individual and Social Dynamics of Knowledge Sharing - An Exploratory Study. Journal of Documentation 66(6): 824-846.
Alvarenga Neto, Rivadávia & Choo, C.W. 2010. Beyond the Ba: Managing Enabling Contexts in Knowledge Organizations. Journal of Knowledge Management 14(4): 592-610.
Choo, C.W. 2009. Information Use and Early Warning Effectiveness: Perspectives and Prospects. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 60(5): 1071-1082.
Choo, C.W., Pierrette Bergeron, Brian Detlor, Lorna Heaton. 2008. Information Culture and Information Use: An Exploratory Study of 3 Organizations. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 59(5): 792-804.
Choo, C.W. 2007. Information Seeking in Organizations: Epistemic Contexts and Contests. Information Research 12(2).
Choo, C.W., Colin Furness, Scott Paquette, Herman van den Berg, Brian Detlor, Pierrette Bergeron, Lorna Heaton. 2006. Working with Information: Information Management and Culture in a Professional Services Organization. Journal of Information Science 32(6), 491-510.
Choo, Chun Wei. 2005. Information Failures and Organizational Disasters. Sloan Management Review Vol. 46 no. 3: 8-11.
Books
Choo, Chun Wei. 2006. "The Knowing Organization: How Organizations Use Information to Construct Meaning, Create Knowledge, and Make Decisions," 1st edition 1998, 2nd edition 2006. New York: Oxford University Press.
Choo, Chun Wei, and Nick Bontis (eds). 2002. "Strategic Management of Intellectual Capital and Organizational Knowledge," New York: Oxford University Press.
Choo, Chun Wei. 2002. "Information Management for the Intelligent Organization," 1st ed 1995, 2nd ed 1998, 3rd ed 2002. Medford, NJ: Information Today Inc.
Choo, Chun Wei, Brian Detlor and Don Turnbull. 2000. "Web Work: Information Seeking and Knowledge Management on the World Wide Web." Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Conference papers
Evans, Max, Wensley Anthony, & Choo, C.W. 2012. How Shared Language and Shared Vision Motivate Effective Knowledge Sharing Behaviour. Paper presented and published at 13th European Conference on Knowledge Management, Sep 6-7, 2012, Cartagena, Spain.
Alvarenga-Neto, Rivadavia, & Choo, C.W. 2010. The Post Nonaka Concept Of Ba: Eclectic Roots, Evolutionary Paths and Future Advancements. Paper presented at 2010 ASIS&T Annual Meeting, Oct 22-27, 2010, Pittsburgh, PA.
Choo, CW. 2009. Information Culture in Organizations. Presentation in panel on Information Seeking and Use in Diverse Organizational Contexts. 2009 ASIS&T Annual Meeting, Nov 6-11, 2009, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Presentation.
Choo, CW. 2008. Sensemaking and Knowledge Creation in Early Warning Detection: A Perspective Using the Brunswik Lens Model. 8th International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organizations, Aug 5-8, 2008, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. Presentation.
Carvalho, R.B., Ferreira, M., Choo, C.W., da Silva, R.V., Joia, L.A. 2008.Analysis of the Effects of Technological and Organizational Features on Intranet and Portal Usage. Proceedings of the 14th Americas Conference on Information Systems. Aug 14-17, 2008, Toronto
Detlor, B., Choo, CW, Bergeron, P., Heaton, L. 2006. Information Behavior Realities in Organizations. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, Austin, TX, Nov 3-9, 2006.
In books
Choo, C.W. 2007. The Social Use of Information in Organizational Groups (preprint). In Information Management: Setting the Scene (Vol. 1), p. 111-125, A. Huizing & E.J. de Vries (Eds.), Oxford, UK: Elsevier Science.
MacIntosh-Murray, Anu, and Chun Wei Choo. 2006. Information Failures in Health Care. In Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, vol. 40, edited by B. Cronin. Medford, NJ: Information Today Inc.
In collection
Choo, C.W. 2005. Environmental scanning as information seeking and organizational learning. In Introducing Information Management: An Information Research Reader. eds. E. Maceviciute and T. Wilson. London, UK: Facet Publishing.
Misc
Choo, Chun Wei. 1999. Closing the Cognitive Gaps: How People Process Information. Financial Times of London, March 22, 1999: 7-10. Also in the National Post of Canada, Aug 21, 2001, 11-13.
Master thesis
“Three Case Studies in Expert Systems Research: The DENDRAL, MYCIN and PROSPECTOR systems”
PhD thesis
Supervision:
Doctoral
Current PhD students:
Joel Alleyne: Expertise sharing in interprofessional (clinical) care settings
Michael Jones: Information behaviour and knowledge management in Project-based Learning Engineering Teams: A Cultural-Historical Activity Theory approach
Steven Chuang: Pre-candidacy. Environmental scanning in the real estate sector
Natasha Ali: Pre-candidacy. Information seeking behaviour of investment analysts
Completed PhDs:
Max Evans (2012, co-supervision with Prof. Anthony Wensley): "Knowledge sharing: An empirical study of the role of trust in an organizational setting"
Christine Marton (2011): “Understanding how women seek heath information on the Web”
Colin Furness (2010): “Group information behavioural norms and the effective use of a collaborative information system: A case study"
Mary Cavanagh (2008, co-supervision with Prof. Lynne Howarth), “Making the invisible visible: public library reference service as epistemic practice”
Scott Paquette (2008): “Knowledge management systems and customer knowledge use in organizations”
Herman van den Berg (2008, co-supervision with Prof. Brian Silverman): "Knowledge-based vertical integration: The nature of knowledge and economic firm boundary location"
Anu MacIntosh-Murray (2003): Information Behaviour of Health Care Providers for Improving Patient Safety
Don Turnbull (2002): Knowledge Discovery in Databases of Web Use: Data Mining for Informetric and Behavioral Models of Information Seeking on the World Wide Web
Brian Detlor (2000): Facilitating Organizational Knowledge Work Through Web Information Systems : An Investigation of the Information Ecology and Information Behaviours of Users in a Telecommunications Company
Masters (thesis option):
Natasha Ali "Information and Decision Making Processes Leading to Corporate Failure: Enron and Red Flags"
Sylvio Cyr "The Effect Of Personality Differences, Knowledge Types, And Sharing Targets On The Psychological Costs And Benefits Perceived In Knowledge Sharing Decision Situations"
Mark Schrutt "Bringing IT Back: An analysis and explanation of the causes of IT outsourcing contract terminations"
Joel Alleyne “Knowledge Networks”
Ann Rockley “The Impact of Multimedia on Online Documentation— An Experimental Study”
Stefan Powell “Prototyping of a Web Authoring and Mounting System for the Faculty of Information Studies”
Antonio Wisniowski “An Assessment of the Effectiveness of a Natural Language Interface for Information Retrieval”
Rene Sandino “Business Process Re-engineering: A Case Study”
Brian Detlor “An Integrative Approach to Determining Information Needs and Uses: A Case Study of A Natural Gas Marketing Firm”
