Lynne C. Howarth

Contact Information
Email: 
lynne [dot] howarthatutoronto [dot] ca
Phone: 
416-978-4666
Room: 
BL 647
Prof. Lynne C. Howarth
Professor
Administrative responsibilities: 
 
  • Associate Dean, Research
  • Chair, PhD Program
  • Faculty Liason: Aging, Palliative and Supportive Care Across the Life Course
Past responsibilities: 
 

Faculty of Information

  • Dean, 1995-2003
  • Acting Director, Museum Studies, 2008-2009

Faculty Council positions

  • Masters Studies Committee (various terms, 1989-2006)
  • Program Committee (2008/09)   
  • Executive Committee (various terms 1986-2008)
  • Awards Committee (1995/96- 2002/03;  2004/05-2007/08)
  • Digital Office Committee (2004/05  (Co-chair)

Other Faculty of Information committees

  • Curriculum review committees – Core (2008/2009); Museum Studies (2008/2009)
  • FIS ALA Accreditation Program Presentation Steering Committee, Chair, June 2002/2003; 2008/2009
  • FIS Self-Study Steering Committee (Chair, August 2002-October 2002)
  • OCGS Review Steering Committee (Chair, November 2000-July 2001)
  • FIS Academic Planning Steering Committee (Chair, January, 1999-June 2000)
  • Promotions Committee  (various terms 1995-2003; 2008)
  • Decanal Search Committee (May, 1995)
  • Appointments Committee (various terms 1992-2003; 2006-2009)
  • Museum Studies Search Committee (2006/07; 2008/09)
  • LIS Search Committee (2007/08)
Biography: 
 
Lynne Howarth completed her Ph.D. in library and information science, was appointed to the Faculty in 1990, and served as Dean from 1995-2003. Prior to that she worked as cataloguing manager, and systems librarian at North York Public Library. She has taught cataloguing and classification at McGill University, "Principles of Information Management" at Ryerson University, and "Knowledge Access Management" at the OCLC Institute.

Recent publications include a series of articles on RDA: Resource Description and Access (with J. Weihs) in Cataloging & Classification Quarterly (2007-2009), “Creating Pathways to Memory: Enhancing Life Histories through Category Clusters” (paper for the 10th ISKO conference in 2008),  “Visualizing Search Results from Metadata-Enabled Repositories in Cultural Domains” (with T. Miller; Springer-Verlag, 2006), "Guidelines for OPAC Displays" (2005), “Metadata and Bibliographic Control: Soul-mates or Two Solitudes?” (Cataloguing and Classification Quarterly 40, no. 3/4), “Designing a Language-Independent Search Prototype for Accessing Multilingual Resources from Metadata-Enabled Repositories” (paper for the Canadian Association for Information Science 2005 conference, with T. Miller), “Enabling Metadata: Creating Core Records for Resource Discovery” (paper for the World Library and Information Congress: 70th IFLA General Conference and Council, 2005), and “A Metadata Framework for Designing Subject Gateways” (2004).

SSHRCC-funded research has supported "Modelling Technical Services in Libraries" (1993-1997), "Towards More Useful Bibliographic Displays" (with J. Cherry, 1994-1998), "Modelling a Metalevel Ontology" (1999-2003), "Connecting Metadata-enabled Multilingual Resources" (2003-2007)., and a current project, “Creating Pathways to Memory” (2008-2011).

She is a member of the Canadian Committee on Cataloguing, the IFLA Classification and Indexing Section, the IFLA Working Group on Metadata Schemes, and the ISBD Review Group (IFLA).

She holds an affiliation as Distinguished Researcher in Information Organization at the School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

Research highlight: 

Professor Howarth is working with the Alzheimer Society of Toronto on an SSHRC-funded project to study how individuals with mild cognitive impairment associated with early-stage Alzheimer/Dementia may utilize multi-modal expressions of information such as music, photographs, etc., as memory cues for finding, organizing, and using information.

Research description: 


Research interests

  • Information categorization strategies and mild cognitive impairment
  • Knowledge organization
  • Metadata schemas and standards
  • Multilingual repositories and user interfaces
  • Information management in public and private-sector organizations
  • Collaboration and knowledge management

Teaching interests

  • Knowledge organization
  • Metadata standards and applications
  • Cataloguing and classification
  • Research methods
  • Technical services management

Projects

"Enhancing Pathways to Memory.” Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC).  Research Grants Program.  (2008-2011) $104,682.

“Connecting Metadata-Enabled Multilingual Resources Across Cultural Domains.” Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC).  Research Grants
Program. (2003-2007) $120,711.

"Modelling a ‘Human-Understandable’ Metalevel Ontology for Enhancing Information Seeking on the World Wide Web.” Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC).  Research Grants Program. (1999-2003) $85,000

"Towards More Useful Bibliographic Displays."  With J. Cherry.  Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC).  Research Grants Program. (1994-1997) $ 91,000 awarded

Selected publications: 
 

Articles

Howarth, L.C., Moor, L., and Sze E. 2010. "Mountains to Molehills: The Past, Present, and Future of Cataloging Backlogs." Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 48 (5): 423-444.

Weihs, J., and Howarth, L.C. 2008. “Uniform Titles from AACR to RDA.” Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 46 (4): 362-384.

Howarth, L.C. and Weihs, J. 2008.  “Enigma Variations: Parsing the Riddle of Main Entry and the ‘Rule of Three’ from AACR to RDA.”  Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 46 (2): 19-39.

Weihs, J., and Howarth, L.C.  2008.  “Designating Materials: from ‘Germane Terms’ to Element Types.”  Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 45 (4): 3-24.

Howarth, L.C. and Weihs, J. 2007.  “Making the Link: AACR to RDA.” Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 45 (2) (November 2007): 3-18. 

Howarth, L.C. 2005. “Enabling Metadata: Creating Core Records for Resource Discovery."  International Cataloguing and Bibliographic Control 34 (1) (January 2005): 14-17. 

Howarth, L.C.  2004.  “A Metadata Framework for Designing Subject Gateways.” International Cataloguing and Bibliographic Control 33 (1) (January 2004): 34-46.

Howarth, L.C. 2003.  “Designing a Common Namespace for Searching Metadata-enabled Knowledge Repositories Domains: an International Perspective.”  Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 37 (1/2): 19-38.

 Books

International Federation of Library Association and Institutions.  Cataloguing Section. 2007. International Standard Bibliographic Description.  Preliminary Consolidated edition.  Munich: K.G. Saur.   251 p.  [Howarth responsible for compiling and editing content for Chapters 0 and 8]

Fasick, A., Gagnon, A., Howarth, L.C., and Setterington, K. 2005.  Opening Doors to Children: Reading, Media, and Public Library Use by Children in Six Canadian Cities.  Regina: Regina Public Library.  228 p. 

Standing Committee of the IFLA Cataloguing Section. Task Force on Guidelines for OPAC Displays.  2005.  Guidelines for Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) Displays: Final Report.  Műnchen: K.G. Saur.  [Howarth chaired Task Force and compiled final report].  61 p.

In books

Howarth, L.C., and Miller, T.  2006.  “Visualizing Search Results from Metadata-Enabled Repositories in Cultural Domains.”  In Charting the Topic Map Research and Applications Landscape: First International Workshop on Topic Map Research and Applications, TMRA 2005, Leipzig, Germany, October 6-7, 2005, Revised Selected Papers.  Luta Maicher and Jack Park, eds.  Berlin: Springer-Verlag.  Series:  Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence; 3873 (Subseries of Lecture Notes in Computer Science):  pp. 262-270.

“Metadata and Bibliographic Control: Soul-mates or Two Solitudes?” 2005.  In Smiraglia, Richard, editor.  Metadata: A Cataloger’s Primer.  New York: Haworth Press.  Pp. 37-56.  Also published as Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 40 (3/4), 2005: 37-56.

In proceedings

Howarth, L.C. 2008.  “Creating Pathways to Memory: Enhancing Life Histories through Category Clusters.”  In Culture and Identity in Knowledge Organization: Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference of the International Society of Knowledge Organization. Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada, August 5-8, 2008, pp. 326-332.
 
Howarth, L.C., and Miller, T.  2006.  “Visualizing Search Results from Metadata-Enabled Repositories in Cultural Domains.”  In Charting the Topic Map Research and Applications Landscape: First International Workshop on Topic Map Research and Applications, TMRA 2005, Leipzig, Germany, October 6-7, 2005, Revised Selected Papers.  Luta Maicher and Jack Park, eds.  Berlin: Springer-Verlag.  Series:  Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence; 3873 (Subseries of Lecture Notes in Computer Science):  pp. 262-270.
 
Howarth, L.C. 2004.  “Modelling a Natural Language Gateway to Metadata-enabled Resources.” In Knowledge Organisation and the Global Information Society: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference of the International Society of Knowledge Organization, University College London, London, England, UK, 13-16 July, 2004.  Edited by I. McIlwaine and K. Lottman.  Würzburg: Ergon Verlag.  Pp. 61-66
 
Howarth, L.C., and Miller, T.  2006. “Assessing Metadata Categories and Visual Displays
for Retrieving Digital Cultural Resources.”  In Proceedings of the 34th  Conference of the Canadian Association for Information Science/Association canadienne des sciences de l'information – held with the Congress for the Social Sciences and Humanities of Canada, York University, Toronto, Ontario. 1-3 June, 2006.
 
Howarth, L.C.  2005.  “The Design, Testing, and Application of a Multilingual Cross-Repository Search Prototype.”  Panel Session: Multilingual Digital Libraries: Research and Practice.  In Sparking Synergies: Bringing Research and Practice Together at ASIS&T 2005: Proceedings of the 68th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, Charlotte, North Carolina, October 28 - November 2, 2005.  Edited by A. Grove. (Volume 42 of ASIS&T Annual Proceedings).  CD-ROM.
 
Howarth, L.C., and Miller, T.  2005. “Designing a Language-independent Search Prototype for Accessing Multilingual Resource from Metadata-enabled Repositories.”  In Proceedings of the 33rd Conference of the Canadian Association for Information Science/Association canadienne des sciences de l'information – held with the Congress for the Social Sciences and Humanities of Canada, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario. 2-4 June, 2005. 
 
Howarth, L.C., and Hannaford, J.  2003.  “Deriving a Multilingual Gateway to Cultural Repositories.” In Bridging the Digital Divide: Equalizing Access to Information andCommunication Technologies: Proceedings of the 31st Conference of the Canadian Association for Information Science/Association canadienne des sciences de l'information – held with the Congress for the Social Sciences and Humanities of Canada, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 30 May-1 June, 2003.  Edited by L.Spiteri and W. Peekhaus.  Toronto: CAIS. Pp. 196-209.
 
Howarth, L.C., Cronin, C., and Hannaford, J.  2002.  “Designing a Metadata-Enabled Namespace for Accessing Resources Across Domains.” In Advancing Knowledge: Expanding Horizons for Information Science: Proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Information Science/Association canadienne des sciences de l’information – held with the Congress for the Social Sciences and Humanities of Canada, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, 30 May-1 June, 2002.  Edited by L.C. Howarth, A. Slawek, and C. Arsenault.  Toronto: CAIS.  Pp. 223-232.
 
Howarth, L.C. 2001.  “Designing a Metadata-Enabled Namespace for Enhancing Resource Discovery in Knowledge Bases.” In International Conference on Electronic Resources: Definition, Selection, and Cataloguing, Rome, Italy, 24-29 November, 2001. Hard copy edition, August, 2002, English and Italian.
 
Howarth, L.C.  2000.  “Designing a ‘Human-Understandable’ Metalevel Ontology for Enhancing Resource Discovery in Knowledge Bases.”  In Dynamism and Stability in Knowledge Organization: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference of the      International Society of Knowledge Organization, University of Toronto, Toronto. Canada, 10-13 July, 2000. Edited by N.J. Williamson, C. Beghtol, and L.C. Howarth. Würzburg: Ergon Verlag. Pp. 391-397.
 

Misc

Howarth, L.C.  2007.  “A Metadata Primer.”  Invited article for Statistical Society of Canada, SSC Liaison 21(4) (October 2007):  5 p. 

Howarth, L.C.  2004.  “Enabling Metadata: Creating Core Records for Resource Discovery.” Invited paper for the IFLA 2004 Conference, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

Howarth, L.C. 2003.  “Metadata Schemas for Subject Gateways.”  Invited paper for the IFLA 2003 Conference, Berlin, Germany.

"Putting the ISBDs in Metadata: Towards a Common Core for Bibliographic Control".  Invited paper for the American Library Association, ALCTS Networked Resources and Metadata Committee (NRMC) Conference program, The ISBDs: International Standard Bibliographic Descriptions--Do We Still Need Them? Toronto. Ontario, June 22, 2003. 

Proceedings

Advancing Knowledge: Expanding Horizons for Information Science: Proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Information Science/Association canadienne des sciences de l’information – held with the Congress for the Social Sciences and Humanities of Canada, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, 30 May-1 June, 2002.  Edited by L.C. Howarth, A. Slawek, and C. Arsenault.  Toronto: CAIS.

Dynamism and Stability in Knowledge Organization: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference of the International Society of Knowledge Organization, University of Toronto, Toronto. Canada, 10-13 July, 2000.  Edited by N.J. Williamson, C. Beghtol, and L.C. Howarth. Würzburg: Ergon Verlag.

Reports

Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (Ontario).“Creating Effecting Knowledge Management/Knowledge Sharing (KM/KS) Strategies.” October 2004 - January 2005.

Council of Federal Libraries Consortium
“Enabling Information to the Desktop of the Public Services.”  Co-investigator with D. Wallace. September - November, 2005.

International Development Research Centre
“Effective Collaboration at IDRC: Building on Experience.”  Co-investigator with D. Wallace. November 2004 - February 2005

International Development Research Centre
“Building a Model for Effective Collaboration at IDRC.”  Co-investigator with D. Wallace. June – August 2004.

Council of Federal Libraries Consortium
“Surveying the Need – Identifying a Foundation on which to Build: a Strategic Management Framework.”  Co-investigator with D. Wallace. January - April, 2004.

Canada.  Canadian Centre for Management Development and Training and Development Canada. “Information Audit: Developing an Information Strategy for the Proposed ‘Canada School for Public Service (CSPS)’.” Co-investigator with D. Wallace. May - November, 2003.

Canada.  Library and Archives Canada. 
“The Library and Archives of Canada Information Audit” and “Library and Archives Canada: Information Strategy.” Co-investigator with D. Wallace. March - September, 2003.

Human Resources Development Canada.  Manitoba Region.
“Working with Knowledge: Creating a Knowledge Management Strategy to Facilitate the Work of the ‘Services for Persons with Disabilities Cluster’ of the Government Online (GOL) Project.”  Contract research.  With C.W. Choo, and D. Wallace.  December 2001 -    June 2002. 

Human Resources Development Canada.  Ontario Region.
“Developing a Community-Centred Knowledge Audit Model.”  Contract research.  With C.W. Choo, and D. Wallace.  January - November, 2000.

Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 
“Proposed Framework for an Information Management Strategic Plan.”  Contract research.  With C.W. Choo.  October, 1999 - April, 2000

 

Supervision: 
 

Doctoral

Current
 

Leslie Moor, 2007-   
Rumi Graham, 2002-

Completed
 

Mary Cavanagh, 2008 (co-supervision with Prof. C.W. Choo) “Making the invisible visible: public library reference service as epistemic practice”

Asim Qayyum, 2005. “Analysing and Making Sense of the Markings Placed on Electronic Documents During Private and Shared Readings”

Jean Dryden, 2004 (co-supervision with Prof. W. Duff ). “Copyright in the Real World : Making Archival Material Available on the Internet”

Dana Sensuse, 2004 (co-supervision with Prof. C. Beghtol).  “A Comparison of Manual Indexing and Automatic Indexing in the Humanities”

Anabel Quan-Haase, 2004. “Information Brokers and Technology Use : A Case Study of a High-Tech Company”

Clement Arsenault, 2000. “Word Division in the Transcription of Chinese Script in the Titles Fields of Bibliographic Records”

Master's

(MISt) Research Stream, FIS
 
Penka Stoyanova, 1998. “Content of Bibliographic Records for Serials: the Users’ Point of View.”
 
Anna Slawek, 1996. "Investigation and Analysis of the Content of Bibliographic Records for Videorecordings in Selected Canadian Public Libraries."
 
(MIS) Research Projects, FIS – 1990-1996
 
8 students supervised