Research with real-world impact

An interview with Matt Ratto, Associate Dean, Research 

As a professional faculty founded almost a century ago to train librarians, the Faculty of Information has long engaged in research inspired by the practical needs of people using libraries to access information. This orientation has persisted as the Faculty has expanded to include, first, archival and museum studies and, more recently, disciplines such as data and computer science. 

Associate Dean, Research Matt Ratto sees this “service sensibility” as a distinguishing feature of both the Faculty’s research and teaching. “We are often focused on addressing social issues through a ‘use-inspired basic research’ approach,” he says. 

Ratto points out that Faculty of Information professors with computing and data science backgrounds tend to be more oriented to researching public sector problems and innovations than colleagues in, for example, a computer science department. “The people who come to us have a service orientation. They’re interested in serving the world in some way and that often leads them to use-inspired basic research,” he says. 

The term use-inspired basic research comes from the 1997 book, Pasteur’s Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation. Author and political scientist Donald Stokes challenged the traditional linear model of research (Basic to applied to innovation) and proposed a new model recognizing the interconnectedness of basic and applied research. He used Louis Pasteur’s work, which was driven by both the need to understand scientific principles and the need to solve practical problems, as a prime example. 

Ratto sees this type of situation play out regularly at the Faculty of Information. “Often there’s a social problem, but then there’s this very deliberate, non-solutionist engagement with that problem space.” 

Ratto offers three examples of faculty members taking what he calls a use-inspired approach to their research. Their projects demonstrate how the Faculty of Information’s diverse expertise positions it well to make significant contributions to addressing complex social problems. 

• Assistant Professor Michel Mersereau investigates internet affordability in marginalized communities. While his research responds to hot-button issues like connectivity needs and gaps in urban areas and public Wi-Fi on Toronto’s subways, Mersereau doesn’t simply advocate for public Wi-Fi as a right. Instead, he rigorously investigates the value of Wi-Fi, the populations it serves, its intended purposes, and its connections to public service requirements. This nuanced approach allows him to make evidence-based arguments to stakeholders and policymakers. 

• Assistant Professor Rohan Alexander leverages his data science expertise to address transparency, accountability, and ethics in politics. His work with, among others, the Investigative Journalism Foundation involves developing accessible databases for lobbying and other political data so that potentially problematic political fundraising practices and conflicts of interest can be exposed.  

• Professor Cara Krmpotich, together with the Great Lakes Research Alliance (GRASAC), researches the reunification of cultural artefacts with people, knowledge systems and languages using innovative in-person and virtual interactions. The digital methods, developed partly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, allow for broader engagement with Indigenous communities. Live Zoom sessions enable community members to request specific views of items held in museums overseas, fostering a more collaborative, relational and respectful process. This project exemplifies how faculty research adapts to societal changes and prioritizes community needs. 

As for Ratto, his current research work examines the epistemic threats posed by AI, particularly the dominance of what he calls “a very particular computer science-driven, rationalist approach” to knowledge. He is focused on developing library AI systems that embrace diverse epistemological commitments, promoting a “re-wilding” of AI – a term he borrows from faculty member and Associate Professor Beth Coleman – that aligns with the values of the humanities and interpretive scholarship. 

Alongside the work of individual faculty members, Ratto noted that the Faculty of Information is also about to relaunch its iSchool Institute as a platform to translate between academic research and applied practice. The newly invigorated  iSchool Institute will deliver leading continuing professional development programs, engage industry partnerships, and mount projects that apply Faculty of Information research to relevant private and public sector contexts. 

“While we are a resolutely interdisciplinary group of researchers, we all share a deep interest in the ongoing development and maintenance of more open and equitable information cultures,” said Ratto. “This focus is what unites us.”