Lisa Nathan is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the First Nations Curriculum Concentration at the University of British Columbia’s iSchool (School of Library, Archival and Information Studies). Through a range of collaborative projects Lisa strives to (re)imagine and (re)design information practices, ways of stewarding information, to address long-term challenges (e.g. social justice, environmental resilience). Lisa lives and works on the traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam).
Research Interests
I started working in the area of collections related to traumatic events in 2008 when I co-founded the Voices from the Rwanda Tribunal project at the University of Washington. We conducted video interviews with personnel from the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, asking them to share their insights related to the ideals of justice and reconciliation. The focus of this work was the design of an information system that would enable multiple generations to engage with the videos in meaningful ways. If you have questions about what ‘meaningful’ means, you may be interested in my work.
Through the lens of information practices, I work with others to (re)imagine and (re)design dominant ways of managing information to address long-term societal challenges (e.g., environmental adaptation, decolonization, social justice). I work with a range of collaborators as part of the Information Practice Research & Design Collective. Our inter-disciplinary, collaborative scholarship joins discussions in the fields of Design, Human Computer Interaction, Archival Studies and Information Science. Contributions include design methods (e.g., The Envisioning Cards, Value Scenarios), design theory (e.g., Values as Hypothesis, Multi-lifespan Information System Design), and approaches for designing transformative information practices (i.e., using information technologies to support social and ecological justice).