Our research is as diverse and eclectic as we are. Every LIS faculty member is a member of multiple research communities, and we build on traditional LIS research areas while extending them in new ways. We enjoy involving students in our research, and helping students craft their own projects. If our research interests you, feel free to contact any of us directly.
Faculty Research Profiles
Noriko Asato, Publications | ORCID | ResearchGate | Google Scholar | Scopus Author ID
Noriko Asato’s research interests centers on the roles and impacts of information professionals within social institutions as well as society at large. Her recent research areas include intellectual freedom and human rights of librarians, digital archives and libraries, and e-Government, and comparative analysis on ICT and society in Asian countries and North America. Dr. Asato’s research projects include:
- Principal Investigator, “Research on Librarianship in Japan and North America.” Fellowship. Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, 2014.
- Principal Investigator, “Examination of Archival Documents: A Professional Organization’s Fight Against Federal Infringement of First Amendment Rights.”” UH Endowment for Humanities Grant Summer Research, 2011
- Principal Investigator, “Farrington v. Tokushige: The Hawaii Nikkei Struggle for the Right to Learn Heritage Language.” Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities, Research Grant, 2005-2006.
Dr. Asato is on the editorial board of International Information & Library Review, and editorial advisory board of De Gruyter’s Open book series, Library & Information Science, Media Studies.
Rich Gazan, Publications | ORCID | ResearchGate | Google Scholar | Scopus Author ID
Rich Gazan’s research focuses on how people integrate information from diverse sources, in professional environments such as interdisciplinary scientific collaborations, and in informal environments such as online social Q&A communities. Both threads of his research address the question of how people without a shared context, be they scientists from different disciplines or strangers on the web, evaluate, reconcile, share and perpetuate often-conflicting information. Dr. Gazan’s research projects include:
- Co-Principal Investigator on a $488K grant with the Institute of Museum and Library Services for study “Reaching Those Who Served” (2017-2020)
- Co-Principal Investigator on a $491K grant with the Institute of Museum and Library Services to study online Q&A in STEM education (2016-2019).
- Visiting Researcher at NASA Ames Research Center, to analyze and visualize changes to the astrobiology research literature over time (2016).
- Principal Investigator on a $30K NASA Astrobiology Institute grant to explore how document analysis methods can suggest appropriate metrics of interdisciplinary research (2013).
- Co-Investigator on a $7M grant with the NASA Astrobiology Institute, to identify and catalyze interdisciplinary research via document analysis in a research team studying water and habitable worlds (2009-2014).
Vanessa Irvin, Publications | ORCID | ResearchGate | Google Scholar | Scopus Author ID
Vanessa Irvin’s research explores public libraries as collaborative communities of literacy practices and platforms for literacy justice for diverse and local/indigenous communities. She is equally interested in print culture of ethnic literatures (particularly reader response to resistance literature/transgressive texts), social informatics of informal learning (i.e. critical theory as applied to social interactions in real life and online), and librarian professional development. Her teaching areas are: reference services, public library services, youth services, and technology. Dr. Irvin’s current research project is:
- Hui ‘Ekolu: A Public Librarian Professional and Cultural Development Program in Hawai’i – Principal Investigator: funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Laura Bush 21st Century Grant Program ($249,330)
- The Librarians’ Inquiry Forum (LINQ) – Principal Investigator: Public Librarians Researching Practice from the Front Lines (pilot professional development program with the Hawaiʻi State Public Library System)
Tonia Sutherland (Coming Soon!)
Andrew Wertheimer, Publications | ORCID | Google Scholar | Scopus Author ID
Andrew Wertheimer’s research explores several interdisciplinary streams within the area of historical and social aspects of ethnic print cultures, libraries, and professional education and ethics for the information professions with an emphasis on libraries and archives. He also is conducting studies on Asian American and Pacific Islanders in LIS, the history of intellectual freedom education, Japanese Print Culture, and a number of other projects. He also is working on a book on the history of libraries and archives in Hawaiʻi.
- Dr. Wertheimer is on the Editorial Board of Library Quarterly, and previously on the ALA Publications Committee, and the Editorial Board of Library History (UK).
Recent Student Master’s Theses
- Valerie Shaindlin (2018). Ruth Horie: An Oral History Biography and Feminist Analysis. (Link not yet available).
- Laila Brown (2018). Enacting Critical Feminist Librarianship: Examining LIS Book Clubs as a Means of Collaborative Inquiry and Professional Value Formation. (Link not yet available).
- Amy Trimble (2017). Exploring Personal Connections in a Digital Reading Environment.
- Shavonn Matsuda (2015). Toward a Hawaiian Knowledge Organization System: A Survey on Access to Hawaiian Knowledge in Libraries and Archives.
- Valancy Rasmussen (2014). The Manuscripts of Timbuktu: Armed Conflict and Preservation of Memory.
- Matthew C. da Silva (2014). Censorship Glossarchive Project: Phase One: Developing Metadata Scheme for Cryptic Circumlocutions in Chinese Social Media.
- Nicolita Garces (2013). Meeting the Information Needs of Students in the Ilokano Language and Literature Program: Assessing Hamilton Library’s Philippine Collection at the University of Hawai‘i-Mānoa.
- Sarah Vornholt (2013). Visualizing the Article: An Exploratory Study of Undergraduates’ Educational Reactions to Images in Scholarly Articles.
- Michael-Brian Ogawa (2012). The Role of School Librarians in Establishing and Facilitating Professional Learning Communities.
- Joshua Mika (2012). Discriminating Tastes: Editing Siam’s Patrimony and the Birth of the ‘National Library,’ 1905-1925.
- Matthew Yim (2007). A Discourse on Shadows: Archive Ideals and Ideal Archives. How Access and Preservation Shape the Performance of Archival Discourse.
LIS Student Posters
Student posters for conferences and other events are available in the UHM institutional repository.
Research Colloquia
Each semester, the LIS Program sponsors a weekly Research Colloquium that is designed to spotlight various research projects and efforts at UH Mānoa. They are a great opportunity for those interested in learning about the various types of research conducted in the LIS field and their methodologies.
Note: Research Colloquia is currently on hiatus.