Karen E. Fisher
Professor, P.I.
fisher@uw.edu Mary Gates Hall 330Q Phone: 206-543-6238 | Fax: 206-616-3152
AFFILIATE POSITIONS
- Adjunct Professor, University of Washington Department of Communication
- Visiting Professor, School of Media and Information (iSchool), University of Siegen, Germany
- Adjunct Professor, Informationsvetenskap, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
- Visiting Professor, The Open Lab, Newcastle University, UK
SPECIALIZATIONS
- Forced Migration
- Information in Everyday Life
- Digital Youth
RESEARCH AREAS
BIOGRAPHY
Karen E. Fisher is a Professor at the Information School, and Adjunct Professor in the Communication Department at the University of Washington. She is also a Consultant for UNHCR Jordan, Adjunct Professor, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland, and Visiting Professor at the Open Lab, Newcastle University, U.K., and Information School, Siegen University, DE.
An advocate of humanitarian research, her passion is how HCI-industry-NGO collaborations can help people displaced by conflict and build futures. Karen’s focus is the Syrian war and she works in the Levant, using design ethnography and other methods to increase literacy and education, livelihoods and social connectedness. Much of her work is at UNHCR Za’atari Camp in Jordan. Major missions include youth as ICT wayfarers, the Za’atari Camp Life Project—a 5 year co-design project with over 2000 Syrians about resilience through food, culture and community; and Za’atari Camp Libraries—the world’s first, refugee-run, camp-wide library system.
Parallel fieldwork focuses on Arab refugees in Europe, understanding their information behavior and the economic impacts of migration. With a mantra of “Youth First,” Karen’s InfoMe group conducts in situ, co-design workshops with teens around the world and across the U.S., on themes of social justice and community, how they help families, friends and institutions as ICT wayfarers, and are redefining information and the nature of information work through visual media.
Dr. Fisher is renowned for her development and use of theory and methods for understanding information problems, specifically on how people experience information as part of everyday life, with emphasis on the interpersonal aspects and the role of informal social settings or “Information Grounds.” With colleagues Karen has spearheaded several landmark projects, including the U.S. Impact Study (with Crandall and Becker) of how people use technology in public libraries across the U.S. Her Theories of Information Behavior (2005, with S. Erdelez & L. McKechnie) remains the top-selling monograph at www.ASIST.org, with numerous papers in most cited lists about how people engage with information. With a PhD in Information Science from the University of Western Ontario and Post Doc from the University of Michigan, supporters of Karen’s work include the UNHCR, Facebook, Google, the National Science Foundation, Amazon, the LEGO Foundation, Microsoft, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Way, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
EDUCATION
- Post Doc, Information Science, University of Michigan, 1999
- Ph D, Library & Information Science, University of Western Ontario, 1997
- MLIS, University of Western Ontario, 1991
- BA, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1989
AWARDS
- ASIS&T SIG USE Outstanding Contribution Award – ASIS&T, 2016
CONSULTING AND OTHER PROJECTS
- UNHCR, Jordan, 2015
MEMBERSHIPS
- American Library Association
- American Society for Information Science & Technology
- Association for Computing Machinery
- International Association for Studies of Forced Migration
Phoebe Brand
Researcher and MLIS Student at University of Washington iSchool
pbrand@uw.edu, Website
BIOGRAPHY
Phoebe Brand is a current Library and Information Science graduate student at the University of Washington. As a researcher for the Trauma in the Library Study, she has had the unparalleled experience of interviewing librarians across the country, and the privilege of sharing their stories through this research. Her primary research areas include outreach librarianship, social services in libraries, staff resources and support, and the intersection of public health and librarianship. As an MLIS student, she is passionate about providing training for librarians entering the field that reflects the reality of libraries today.
EDUCATION
- Graduating with an MLIS in June 2025, University of Washington iSchool, Seattle WA
- BA, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, 2020
MEMBERSHIPS
- American Library Association
- Washington Library Association
- Association for Rural and Small Libraries