Meet the Faculty

Helena Merriam, Professor

Helena Merriam is a Professor and Coordinator of the Library and Information Technician Program at Algonquin College, and is responsible for curriculum development, teaching and day-to-day operations of the program. She has been a full time professor at Algonquin College since August 2006.

Prior to teaching at Algonquin, Helena has developed courses and taught at Seneca College and Mohawk College (1999-2006). Her previous work experience includes a solo librarian position at Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario (1998-2000) where she was hired to set up a new library from scratch and operate it. Helena also has experience working at The Globe and Mail (1995-1998) conducting research for clients, designing and conducting training courses, and creating online clipping profiles for federal government clients. In addition, Helena worked as a consultant at the National Judicial Institute (2007-2009) to research and evaluate the online and physical library collection.

Helena Merriam has a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from the University of Western Ontario and a BA (hons) in English from the University of Manitoba. Helena is the recipient of two, Excellence in Teaching Awards, from the Algonquin College Student Association, awarded in 2008 and 2011, the Capital Educator’s Award in 2011, the 2012 NISOD Excellence Award and the President’s Star Award in 2015.

Erika Fyfe

Erika has a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from the University of Alberta.

As a former graduate of the Library and Information Technician Diploma from Algonquin College, Erika has over a decade of experience working for a number of federal government departments, a law firm, and a non-profit library vendor. While her work experience has focused on cataloguing, she also has experience in collection development and ILS systems administration.