[Asis-l] University of Alberta SLIS Faculty Awarded SSHRC Grants

[- slis]

*Dr. Ali Shiri and Dr. Dinesh Rathi Awarded SSHRC Insight Grant*

University of Alberta School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS)
faculty members Dr. Ali Shiri (Principal Investigator) and Dr. Dinesh Rathi
(Co- Principal Investigator) have been awarded $295,817 by the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)'s Insight Grant for
2014-2017 for their research project titled: *Digital Library
North: Creating a Path for Information Access in Canada's North. * The goal
of the project is to develop and evaluate a digital library infrastructure
for the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) in Canada’s North to serve as a
model for the digital delivery of scholarly and cultural heritage
information in northern and remote regions. This goal will be achieved
through: a) identifying the information needs and information-seeking
behaviour of community members in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the
Northwest Territories; b) developing an evidence-based and community-led
digital library of resources, c) creating a culturally appropriate metadata
framework; d) designing specifications for multilingual user interfaces
that support the dominant languages used; e) and conducting a user-centred
evaluation of the digital library platform. The award notification can be
found on the SSHRC website here:
http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/results-resultats/recipients-recipiendaires/2013/insight-savoir-eng.aspx



*Dr. Michael B. McNally and Dr. Dinesh Rathi Awarded SSHRC Insight
Development Grant*

In addition to Dr. Shiri and Dr. Rathi’s SSHRC Insight Grant, SLIS faculty
members Dr. Michael B. McNally (Principal Investigator) and Dr. Dinesh
Rathi (Co- Principal Investigator) have been awarded $73,777 by SSHRC’s
Insight Development Grant for 2014-15 for their project titled: *Implications
of Broadband Policy on the Digital Divide between Communities*.  The
project aims to identify which policies are most effective for increasing
broadband penetration rates in rural and remote communities, with the aim
of developing policy recommendations for reducing the digital divide in
Canada.  Facets of the project include: a) analyzing past, present and
proposed Canadian federal and provincial broadband policies aimed at
connecting rural and remote Canadians; b) comparative policy analysis with
a purposively selected group of countries (Australia, Argentina, India,
South Korean and the United States); and, c) interviews with rural internet
service providers to gain understanding of what policy mechanisms are most
effective for encouraging rural broadband service delivery.  A notification
of the award can be found on the SSHRC website at:
http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/results-resultats/recipients-recipiendaires/2013/idg-sds-eng.aspx



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