Catherine Sheldrick Ross (November 4, 1945 – September 11, 2021) was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

and later dean of the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

. In 2018, she was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Canada judges to have "made remarkable contributions in the arts, the humanities and the sciences, as well as in Canadian public life ...

Personal life

Ross was born to parents Russell and Elsie Sheldrick in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

, although she spent her summers in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. Both her mother and aunt Murielle were teachers.

Education and career

Ross earned her undergraduate and master's degree at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

before completing her PhD at the

. Due to budget cuts, Ross was unable to find a career in teaching until 1981 when she joined the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Western Ontario. In 1995, Ross was awarded the Jesse Shera Award for Research by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

for her article ''“If They Read Nancy Drew, So What? – Readers Talk Back.''" After reading

Paulette Bourgeois Paulette Bourgeois, (born July 20, 1951) is a Canadian writer best known for creating Franklin the Turtle, the character who appears in picture books illustrated by Toronto native Brenda Clark. The books have sold more than 60 million copies wor ...

book series Franklin the Turtle, Ross was inspired to start writing her own children-targeted books. In 1996, her book "Squares: Shapes in Math, Science and Nature" was awarded the Science in Society Book Award by the Canadian Science Writers’ Association. In academia, she was awarded the Reference Service Press Award for her co-authored article in the

Reference and User Services Quarterly ''Reference and User Services Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering library science. It is the official journal of the Reference and User Services Association and is published by the American Library Association. The journal was ...

journal, "Flying a Light Aircraft: Reference Service Evaluation from a User's Viewpoint." That same year, Ross's department merged with the School of Journalism and Part-time and Continuing Education to form the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS). After the retirement of Manjunath Pendakur in 2000, Ross stepped in as dean of FIMS. In 2002, Ross and Kirsti Nilsen were named the winners of the 2002 Reference Service Press Award for their article "Has the Internet Changed Anything in Reference? The Library Visit Study, Phase 2." In 2007, Ross stepped down as dean and was the recipient of the Award for Professional Contribution to Library and Information Science Education in 2008. In 2009, Ross was one of the first inductees into the Special Interest Group on Information Needs, Seeking, and Use Academy of the

Association for Information Science and Technology The Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) is a nonprofit membership organization for information professionals that sponsors an annual conference as well as several serial publications, including the ''Journal of the Associ ...

. She retired from teaching in 2010. In 2013, Ross was the recipient of the NoveList's Margaret E. Munroe Award for her “significant contributions to library adult services.” In 2015, her book "''Shapes in Math, Science and Nature: Squares, Triangles and Circles''" was shortlisted for the Information Book Award by the Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada. In 2018, Ross was elected a

Death

Ross died of biliary cancer in London, Ontario, on September 11, 2021.

Publications

The following is a list of publications: *''Conducting the reference interview: a how-to-do-it manual for librarians'' (2019) *''Reading still matters: what the research reveals about reading, libraries, and community'' (2018) *''Shapes in math, science and nature: squares, triangles and circles'' (2014) *''The pleasures of reading: a booklover's alphabet'' (2014) *''Communicating professionally: a how-to-do-it manual'' (2013) *''Squares'' (1996) *''Triangles: shapes in math, science and nature'' (1994) *''Circles: shapes in math, science and nature'' (1992) *''Alice Munro: a double life'' (1992) *''The amazing milk book'' (1991)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Catherine Sheldrick 1945 births 2021 deaths Canadian women non-fiction writers Canadian women academics Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada University of Toronto alumni Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario Writers from London, Ontario Deaths from cancer in Ontario Deaths from cholangiocarcinoma