Tim Gorichanaz (PhD information science ’18), an assistant teaching professor at Drexel University’s College of Computing and Informatics (CCI), has received two prestigious awards in recognition of his dissertation titled “Understanding Self-Documentation” (supervised by Lorraine L. Richards, PhD).
Gorichanaz’ dissertation is a phenomenology-of-practice study of one form of self-document: the artistic self-portrait. The study is situated within information behavior, document theory and philosophy of information. This work has led to a number of publications in distinguished journals, most recently an article in the Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology (JASIST).
Gorichanaz is the recipient of the 2019 Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Award by ALISE, which recognizes dissertations that deal with substantive issues related to library and information science. As part of the award, Gorichanaz will receive $500, plus conference registration at the ALISE annual conference, and personal membership in ALISE. Gorichanaz will also present a summary of his work at the ALISE annual conference, which will be held in Knoxville, TN, September 24-26, 2019.
He is also the 2019 recipient of the ProQuest Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) for his dissertation. The award’s purpose is to recognize outstanding recent doctoral candidates whose research contributes significantly to an understanding of some aspect of information science. The award is intended to encourage participation of new PhDs in the activities of a professional association by providing a forum for the presentation of their research and assisting them with some travel support.
Dr. Gorichanaz was selected as the winner from among a pool of outstanding candidates who were judged based on these criteria: Importance of the topic to theory development and/or practical applications in information science; soundness of methodology; organization and clarity of the presentation; and quality of data (when applicable).
“I am thrilled to receive this award. And intimidated, too, when I reflect on the list of prior recipients,” he said. “Since my early days as a PhD student, I have been inspired by ASIS&T publications and nurtured by connections made at the annual meeting. I am grateful, now, to have my work recognized in this way, and I look forward to many years of meaningful involvement with ASIS&T to come.”
Dr. Gorichanaz will receive this award at the 2019 meeting of the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T), which will be held in Melbourne, Australia, October 19-23, 2019.
Before coming to Drexel to receive his doctorate, Gorichanaz earned an M.A. from New York University and a B.A. from Marquette University. He works on document theory and information experience, which he explores in domains of personally meaningful activities, such as religious practice and hobbies. His work has appeared in publication such as JASIST and Journal of Documentation. Gorichanaz received the ASIS&T New Leader Award in 2017, served on the SIG Cabinet Steering Committee and as SIG-USE Webmaster from 2017 to 2019, and he is currently Chair-Elect of SIG-HFIS.