BIO (long version also available)

I am a theorist, methodologist, and historian of library and information studies. My work is organized around the question: What is the nature of information in the pleasures of life? I am investigating this matter through the concatenated study of serious leisure realms, which are crossroads of information and enjoyment. My empirical research explores the content, structure, and use of leisure information on personal and social levels. My dissertation is an ethnography of information phenomena in the hobby of gourmet cooking. I practice an interdisciplinary and international approach and maintain close ties with leisure scientists and northern European information scholars. I hope to generate basic knowledge about information in the pleasures of life; challenge existing ideas that have largely emerged from academic problem scenarios; establish positive models of organic, flourishing information environments; enliven classrooms with upbeat topics; and enrich the information experience for leisure enthusiasts.




CURRENT POSITION

Assistant Professor (Appointed July 1, 2008)
Faculty of Information Studies
University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

EDUCATION

Doctorate of Philosophy in Information Studies, 2007 (September)
Department of Information Studies, UCLA.
Dissertation: Information Activities, Resources and Spaces in the Hobby of Gourmet Cooking

Bachelor of Arts in American Studies, 1991
Colby College, Waterville, Maine. Major: American Studies

EXPERIENCE

Teaching Assistant and Reader, Department of Information Studies, UCLA, 2002-2006
Lecturing, class administration, course website management, grading papers.

• Fundamentals of Information Searching and Evaluation (undergraduate)
• Information in Society
• Information Access

Co-editor: InterActions, an online journal of critical research, UCLA, 2004-2005

Director of Knowledge, Upstream, LLC, Portland, Maine, 1998-2000
Managed a six person research department in a marketing consulting firm.

Knowledge Navigator, Holt, Hughes, Stamell, Portland, Maine, 1995-1998
Built and operated a business special library in a communications company.

Researcher and Educator, Children's Museum of Maine, Portland, Maine, 1991-1995
Created educational exhibits and programs for families.

PUBLICATIONS

Talja, S. & Hartel, J. (2007). Revisiting the user-centered turn in information science research:An Intellectual history perspective. Paper accepted at Conceptions of Library and Information Science (CoLIS), Lund, Sweden, August, 2007.

Kari, J. & Hartel, J. (2007). Information and higher things in life: Addressing the pleasurable and the profound in information science. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 58(8), 1131 - 1147.

Hartel, J. (2006). Information activities and resources in an episode of gourmet cooking. Proceedings from Information Seeking in Context (ISIC) , July 2006, Sydney, Australia. Published in Information Research, October 2006.

Hartel, J. (2005). Serious Leisure. In K. Fisher, S. Erdelez, & L. McKechnie (Eds.), Theories of information behavior: A researcher's guide (pp. 313-317). Medford, NJ: Information Today.

Hartel, J. (2004). Review of Music, Libraries and Culture, an Analysis of Discourses. Library Quarterly, 74(3). 393-395.

Hartel, J. (2003). The serious leisure frontier in library and information science: Hobby domains. Knowledge Organization, 30(3/4). 228-238.

Hjørland, B. and Hartel, J. (2003). Introduction to the special issue of Knowledge Organization. Knowledge Organization, 30(3/4). 125-127.

Hjørland, B. and Hartel, J. (2003). Afterword: Ontological, Epistemological and Sociological Dimensions of Domains. Knowledge Organization, 30 (3/4). 239-245.

COMMISSIONED ARTICLE

Hartel, J. Hobby and leisure information and its user. For the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science (ELIS), Third Edition. Edited by Marcia J. Bates and Mary Niles Maack, New York: Taylor & Frances.

FELLOWSHIPS & AWARDS

Dissertation Year Fellowship, Graduate Division, UCLA. $26,500. 2006-2007
To support dissertation writing and the completion of the degree.

University Fellowship, Graduate Division, UCLA. $5,000. 2006
To support dissertation research.

Dialog/ALISE Methodology Paper Competition 2006, Winner. $500. 2006
For the paper Pictures Worth a Thousand Words: A Visual Approach to the Study of Libraries in the Home.

Fulbright Fellowship, The International Institute of Education (USA)/The Fulbright Center (Finland). 2004-2005
$18,000 to study at the Department of Information Studies, University of Tampere, Finland.

Lois Roth Award, The Lois Roth Endowment, Washington, DC. $850. 2004
Rewards cultural and educational diplomacy in Nordic countries.

Summer Research Fellowship, Department of Information Studies, UCLA. $3,600. 2004
Provided an opportunity to develop the dissertation proposal within a peer incubator group.

Academic Year Research Mentorship, Graduate Division, UCLA. $20,000. 2002-2003
Funds to develop advanced research skills in students who show promise for faculty appointments.

Summer Research Mentorship, Graduate Division, UCLA. $5,000. 2002
Enabled a pilot study of information in the hobby of gourmet cooking.

Unrestricted Fellowship, Department of Information Studies, UCLA. $17,000. 2001-2002
Stipend and tuition waiver to support the first year of doctoral studies.

SCHOLARLY ACTIVITIES: INTERNATIONAL

Doctoral Workshop & Poster Session, 2006
Information Seeking in Context (ISIC), Sydney, Australia.

Visiting Researcher and Fulbright Student Fellow, 2004-2005
Department of Information Studies, University of Tampere, Finland.

Everyday Life Information Seeking, Workshop (convener), 2004
The Institute for Extension Studies, University of Tampere, Finland.

An American Passion for the Hobby of Cooking, Conference Presentation, 2004
American Voices Seminar, University of Turku, Finland.

Visiting Researcher, Fall 2003
Department of Information Studies, University of Tampere, Finland.

Visiting Researcher, December 2003
Royal School of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Co-editor (with Birger HjØrland), Special Issue of Knowledge Organization on Domain Analysis. 2003-2004

Hobbies as Subjects for Information Research, Invited Lecture, 2003
Royal School of Library & Information Science, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Appetite for Information: A Research Design, Doctoral Student Workshop, 2002
Information Seeking in Context Conference (ISIC), Lisbon, Portugal.

SCHOLARLY ACTIVITIES: NATIONAL

An Appetizing Start: Information in the Hobby of Gourmet Cooking, Pre-Conference Workshop, October, 2008
ASIST Annual Meeting, Columbus, OH

The Office: Integrating Perspectives Across Information Science, Panel (moderator), October, 2008
ASIST Annual Meeting, Columbus, OH

The Serious Leisure Perspective: Implications for the Public Library, August, 2008
Reference Renaissance Conference, Denver, CO

Enthusiasts and their Documents: A Case Study in the Hobby of Gourmet Cooking, Poster, January, 2008
ALISE Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA

Three Temporal Arcs in the Hobby of Gourmet Cooking: Implications for Information Behavior, Poster, January, 2007
ALISE Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.

Taking Leisure Seriously: Information Realities in Leisure Time, Panel (convener), November, 2006
American Society for Information Science & Technology, Annual Meeting, Austin, Texas.

The Culinary Home Library, in the panel "Cooking the World: Culinary Texts in Context," June 2006
Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Food and Society, Boston, MA.

Snap Happy Research: Conducing a Photographic Inventory of Information Space, Workshop (convener), May 2006
Connections 2006 {A doctoral student conference}, Syracuse University.

Serious Leisure, in the panel "Boundaries of Information Science," May 2006
Connections 2006 {A doctoral student conference}, Syracuse University.

A Recipe for the Study of Everyday Life Information Phenomena: Serious Leisure + Visual Research = The Culinary Home Library
Invited Lecture, February 2006, Information School, University of Michigan.

A Visual Approach to the Study of Home Libraries, Panel Presentation, 2006
ALISE Conference, San Antonio, TX.

Cooking Up a Home Library, Poster, 2006
2006 ALISE Conference, San Antonio, TX.

Castles & Inverted Castles: the Work of Marcia J. Bates, Panel Presentation, 2005
ALISE Conference, Boston, MA.

Metatheoretical Snowmen, Poster, 2005
2005 ALISE Annual Conference, Boston, MA.

Hobbies as Sites for Information Research, Invited Lecture, 2004
School of Library and Information Studies, University of Kentucky, Louisville, KY.

A Serious Leisure Research Program for LIS, Invited Lecture, 2004
Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL.

Program Committee Member, 2003
American Society for Information Science and Technology, Annual Meeting, Long Beach, CA.

Appetite for Information (emerging findings), Poster, 2002
American Society for Information Science and Technology, Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

REFERENCES

Gregory Leazer, (dissertation chair), Associate Professor, Department of Information Studies, UCLA, gleazer@ucla.edu
Leah Lievrouw, Professor, Department of Information Studies, UCLA, lievrouw@ucla.edu
Mary Niles Maack, Professor, Department of Information Studies, UCLA, mnmaack@ucla.edu
Jonathan Furner, Associate Professor, Department of Information Studies, UCLA, jfurner@ucla.edu
Reijo Savolainen, Professor , Department of Information Studies, University of Tampere, Finland, reijo.savolainen@uta.fi
Sanna Talja, Professor, Department of Information Studies, University of Tampere, Finland, sanna.talja@uta.fi