Joan Cherry

Contact Information
Email: 
joan [dot] cherryatutoronto [dot] ca
Phone: 
416-978-4663
Room: 
BL 633
Prof. Joan Cherry
Professor Emeritus
Administrative responsibilities: 
 

Faculty of Information:

  • Associate Dean (Academic) - Until June 30, 2011
  • Committee on Standing
  • Programs Committee
Past responsibilities: 
 

University of Toronto:

  • Graduate Education Governance Processes. Review Panel. Chair. 2008
  • Provost’s Advisory Committee to Recommend the Appointment of a New Dean of the Faculty of Information Studies. Member. September 2007
  • Graduate Education Coordinating Committee.  Member.  September 2005-May 2006.
  • Committee on Human Subjects in Research.  Member.  2003-2007.
  • Committee on Human Subjects in Research. Executive Committee Member. 2003-2007.
  • School of Graduate Studies. Associate Dean - Social Sciences.  Sept 1, 2002 - Dec 31, 2003

Faculty of Information:

  • Vice-Dean, March 2004 - June 30, 2006
  • Associate Dean, January 1999 - June 2002
  • Faculty Council Executive Committee. Service beginning 1987; most recently 2008-09
  • Admissions Committee (MISt). Chair, 2008-09; Member, 2004-2006
  • Master's Studies Committee. Service beginning 1988, most recently Jan-June 2004
  • Academic Appeals Committee. Chair:  2008-09; 2007-08; 1992-93
  • Appointments
    • Museum Studies Search Committee, 2007-2008
    • Health Informatics Search Committee, Chair, 2006-2007
  • Assistant Dean Search Committee.  2004.
  • Colloquia Series.  Chair. 2007-08.
  • Master of Information Studies Curriculum Task Force.  2007-08
Biography: 
 
Joan Cherry is Professor at the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto.  She holds a doctorate in information science from the University of Pittsburgh.  Her research interests are in the area of human computer interaction.  Her recent work has included evaluation of web design guidelines (with Paul Muter & Steve Szigiti), usability studies of the Text Analysis Portal for Research (TAPoR) (with Wendy Duff), and the development of instruments for user evaluation of virtual archives (with Wendy Duff).  She is also conducting a longitudinal study of students’ perceptions of the quality of master’s programs in information studies (with Wendy Duff and Nalini Singh).  Earlier work included user studies studies of Early Canadiana Online (with Wendy Duff), evaluation of displays for web-based library catalogues (with Joe Cox), user satisfaction studies of online public access catalogues (with Marshall Clinton), and design and evaluation of online help systems (with So-Ryang Jackson).

Professor Cherry is active in research ethics.  She has chaired the university’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Ethics Board and has been a member of the Committee on Human Subjects in Research which advises the Vice-President (Research) on policy and procedures with respect to the use of human subjects in research. She is a member of the National Council on Ethics in Human Research (NCEHR).  Her current teaching interests include research methods and the design of electronic text.  

Research highlight: 

Professor Cherry conducted a web-based survey of students in master’s degree programs in six information schools across Canada to investigate satisfaction rates for students in their respective programs. Her interests include human-computer interaction, usability, and research methodology and research ethics.

Research description: 


Research interests

  • Human-computer interaction
  • Usability
  • Research methodology
  • Research ethics

Teaching interests

  • Research methods
  • Design of electronic text

Projects

“Learning from our students: Assessing student perceptions of information studies programs and the information professions.” With Wendy Duff, and Luanne Freund.  Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Research Grant.  January 2008.

Career Tracking System for Library and Information Science.  Principal Investigator: Joanne Marshall, University of North Carolina.  Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. (IMLS), July 2007 – .  Advisory Committee Member; Survey Working Group Member.

Selected publications: 
 

Articles

Duff, W.M., Cherry, J.M., Sheffield, R. "'Creating a Better Understanding of Who We Are': A Survey of Graduates of a Museum Studies Program". Museum Management and Curatorship, 25(4), 2010, 361-381.

Duff, W.M., Yakel, E., Tibbo, H., Cherry, J.M., & McKay, A.  “The Development, Testing, and Evaluation of the Archival Metrics Toolkits”. American Archivist, 73(2), 2010, 569-599.

Duff, W. M., & Cherry, J.M.  “Archival orientation for undergraduate students: An exploratory study of impact”.  American Archivist, 71(2), 2008, 499-529.

Duff, W. M., Dryden, J., Limkilde, C., Cherry, J.  & Bogomazova, E.  “Archivists’ views of user-based evaluation: Benefits, barriers and requirements”.  American Archivist.  71(1), 2008, 141-163.

Duff, W., Cherry, J., & Singh, N.  “Perceptions of the information professions: a study of students in the Master of Information Studies program at a Canadian university”.  Archival Science, 6(2), 2006, 171-192.

Cherry, J.M., Muter, P., & Szigeti, S.  "Bibliographic displays in web catalogues: Does conformity to design guidelines correlate with user performance?”  Information Technology and Libraries, 25(3), 2006, pp. 154-162.

Conference presentations

Cherry, J., Duff, W.M., & Singh, N.  “Students’ perceptions of their graduate programs in information studies and the information professions: A longitudinal study.”   OLA Super Conference, February 3, 2006.

Poster Sessions

Cherry, J.M., Duff, W.M., Singh, N., & Freund, L.   “One degree, three streams: three populations?” Poster.   ASIST 2008 Annual Meeting. October 2008, Columbus, OH.

Yakel, E., Duff, W., Cherry, J., Tibbo, H., & McKay, A. “The Archival Metrics Toolkit: Development and Implementation”  Poster.  ASIST 2008 Annual Meeting.  October 2008,  Columbus, OH.

Cherry, J.M., Duff, W., & Freund, L.  Usability beyond the interface: designing a portal for text analysis. Poster.   ASIST 2007 Annual Meeting, October 2007, Milwaukee, WI.

Thesis

PhD Thesis

  • “Command Languages: Effects of Word Order on User Performance”
Supervision: 
 

Doctoral

Supervisor
  • Steve Szigeti.  The challenge of web design guidelines: Investigating issues of interpretation, efficacy and awareness.   In Progress.
  • Catherine Johnson.  Information networks: Investigating the information behaviour of Mongolia's urban residents. 2003.
  • Richard Kopak.  A taxonomy of link types for use in hypertext.  2000.

Master’s

Supervisor  - MISt theses/MIS/MLS Research Projects

  • Piercy, Jocelyn.  Declining Participation of female students in Computer Studies Program at an Ontario College: What Stands in their Way? 2007.
  • Colin Furness. Paper versus computer screen presentation: quality and credibility judgements of text documents. 1999.