Civic Engagement, Community Attachment, and the Limitations of Social Media

Paper presented at the 80th Meeting of the American Society for Public Administration.In the past decade, social media has emerged as a popular tool for promoting volunteerism, giving, and community engagement. Public and nonprofit managers often feel pressure to use social media platforms to engage with the public and frequently seek advice on how to increase reach. However, as with many things, quantity does not always equal quality. Using data from interviews with 40 community leaders in the Upper Midwest, this research seeks to expand the existing literature on the role of social media and community engagement behaviors by providing a critical analysis of its usefulness and limitations.This material is based upon work supported by theNational Science Foundation under Grant No. 1822228.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148325/1/ASPA_Million_Edwards_Hemphill_Final.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148325/2/ASPA_Presentation_Small.pdfDescription of ASPA_Million_Edwards_Hemphill_Final.pdf : Extended AbstractDescription of ASPA_Presentation_Small.pdf : Presentation Slide

Strategic Partnerships in e-Health in Low and Lower Middle-Income Countries in Africa

Strategic partnerships are very important for the successful deployment of e-health as they play a crucial role in achieving common goals and creating an added value for the involved partners. In this paper, we will provide relevant information about strategic partnerships in e-health deployment in four African countries, namely Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, and Tunisia. A Partnership Assessment Tool is developed to analyze different aspects of partnerships and classify them. According to the analysis, 11 partnerships were strategic amongst the 15 identified. Findings analysis also shows that certain aspects, mainly sustainability, have to be enhanced to guarantee the impact of partnerships after the ending of its actions. Increased governmental support is required in addition to international funding resources to the successful deployment of e-health in the participating countries.publishedVersio

Layers of advocacy: How librarians everywhere can make a difference and lessons for LIS education

Lobbying and advocacy are critical to the success of libraries, because they play a key role in communicating to decision-makers and communities why libraries are essential resources in an information-driven society. However, despite the importance of lobbying and advocacy to the profession, it is not always clear how library schools should teach about this aspect of librarianship. Taking an international, comparative approach, this panel discusses the complexities associated with lobbying and advocacy, as well as some challenges faced by LIS educators when teaching about the topic. To make teaching about lobbying and advocacy in LIS easier, six panelists with experience in a range of political, social, and cultural contexts will talk about issues such as: levels of government where lobbying takes place; varying definitions of advocacy, especially across countries with different traditions of librarianship; and the time frame in which lobbying and advocacy efforts take place. Panelist presentations will emphasize “lessons learned” that can be used to teach LIS students how to cultivate support for libraries. Using panelist presentations as a starting point, this panel will include a follow-up discussion about teaching advocacy in LIS. A primary goal of this panel is to identify powerful content for LIS curricula and instructional approaches that can support more effective advocacy. We will conclude by opening the door to audience participation with the purpose of integrating new ideas into the discussion.This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant No. 182222

Bureaucratic organization and innovation: a mixed-methods study of US state department of transportation website adoption

This study explores bureaucratic organization and innovation in US state department of transportation (DOT) websites. To determine if working with third parties fosters change in state DOT websites, it employs a two-part, explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. In phase one, an online survey was disseminated to IT managers and communications officers in all 50 states to collect data regarding agency demographics, bureaucratic models, and Web infrastructure. In total, 45 valid responses (or 90 percent) were received from DOTs indicating that most built, hosted, and managed their websites in-house, but that state-level IT consolidations required many to pool resources with third parties. In research phase two, 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted of a maximum variation sample of survey respondents. These interviews were conducted to explain why DOTs built and operated their websites with the support of third parties. Employing a grounded theoretical approach, analysis revealed 6 themes explaining website adoption and showed that working with third parties can foster innovation; however, not all change is positive. Therefore, a need exists for governments to selectively work with others, ascertain future barriers to change, and ensure that adopted innovations meet desired ends. Finally, five best practices informed by study findings are presented that may help decision-makers and civil servants provide e-government services in a flexible manner