Elaine G. Toms

School of Business Administration

Associate Professor

Director, Centre for Management Informatics
Cross-appointment: Computer Science

Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Management Informatics

Education

PhD (Western Ontario), MLS (Dalhousie), BEd, BA (Memorial)

Current Teaching

INFO 6630   Designing Interaction with Information Systems

BUSI 6525   Human Computer Interaction

Research Interests

Understanding why information systems fail users and designing systems for optimum human use is the focus of my research, which spans the boundary of the computer interface. This involves understanding how people work and use information and how people use existing systems to accomplish their work, and evaluating novel tools to facilitate access to and use of information. I have studied, among other things, how people browse in digital newspapers, the use of metaphors in textual menus, the integration of user and work context into search engines for more precise search results. Current research includes understanding the effect of workplace interruptions on knowledge work, re-inventing a webcasting interface, understanding collaborative information use, and measuring reputation, experience, engagement and relevance.

Elaine.Toms@dal.ca
(T) 902-494-8374
(F) 902-494-1503