I am Steven Chabot, a 26-year old master’s student in Information Studies at the University of Toronto. My research interests fit broadly in the area of the social history of knowledge, with current focus on the evolution of scholarly communication and the nature of academic disciplines as communities of discourse.

In the field of communications and media ecology, I am particularly focused on the changing nature of literacy, the development of multiple literacies, and the effects of the post-literate information society on rational and democratic discourse.

I have a specialist BA in philosophy from the University of Toronto, where I specialized in the Continental tradition. I am still concerned with the nature of knowledge and information, but I came to the Faculty with a desire for a more empirical grounding in Information Studies and related fields.

As a future academic librarian, these research interests inform my professional practice, which is focused on Information Literacy instruction and the study of the information behaviour of students and researchers.

I think that much of my interest in things like media revolutions stems from a love for communication technologies, and when not writing with a typewriter or here on this website I like to do nerdy things like typeset my work in a Renaissance inspired font like Garamond or Bembo. This writing is usually accompanied by some McLuhan-labelled “hot” Thelonious Monk, but that may vary. Sometimes it is done with my cat Simone on my lap.