Danielle Allard, PhD, MISt

Email

allard@ualberta.ca

Phone

(780) 492-2605

Danielle Allard is an Assistant Professor at the School of Library and Information Studies in the Faculty of Education. She received her PhD and Masters of Information Studies (MISt) from the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto.

My research falls at the intersection of culture and community, information (its usages, representations, and institutions), and the role that information and information institutions might play in feminist, decolonizing, and anti-violence efforts. My research interests include: the information practices of newcomer and migrant communities; Indigenous, community, and activist archives; sexual violence and sexual harassment in libraries; critical information studies; and the inclusion of marginalized communities, cultural heritage, and knowledge domains in digital and real-world information institutions.

My previous research on the SSHRC funded (2013-2017) Digital Archives and Marginalized Communities project examined how digital information systems and archival platforms can be used to create participatory activist archives that challenge violent, colonizing, and stigmatizing representations of Indigenous peoples - especially women and girls - and of sex work activists. Building on this work, and in partnership with Sex Professionals of Canada's Executive Director Amy Lebovitch and Dr. Shawna Ferris, my present SSHRC funded research (2018-2022) on the Sex Work Activist Histories Project (SWAHP) engages in an exploration of sex work activism in Canada and the production of related histories and representations.

In collaboration with Dr. Tami Oliphant and former SLIS student Angela Lieu, my most recent research draws from feminist anti-violence frameworks to examine patron-perpetrated sexual harassment in libraries.