Best Versus Helpful Health Information: Teens’ Assessments of the Answers to Eating Disorders Questions in Yahoo! Answers

This research project investigated teens’ perspectives on the quality and helpfulness of health information about eating disorders found on Yahoo! Answers, a Social Q&A site. A mixed methods approach was applied, using survey methods and semi-structured group interviews to gather data for the project. Eighteen teens completed a web-based questionnaire using sample question/answer sets about eating disorders from Yahoo! Answers. The teen participants were asked to choose one answer as “best” and then rank its credibility, accuracy, reliability, and helpfulness. Open-ended questions allowed teens to explain the rationale for their choice of “best” answer and to discuss why the chosen answer might (or might not) be helpful for teens. Following the questionnaire, six teens participated in a focus group interview using a semi-structured format that asked open-ended “why” questions in order to draw forth comments on criteria for evaluating the quality and and helpfulness of health information in Yahoo! Answers, as well as to reveal aspects of critical thinking. Findings suggest that, 1) teens make a distinction between health information in Social Q&A that is credible versus that which is helpful, 2) they value health information that isn’t from a credible source if it addresses other needs, and, 3) when making judgments about health information on the Web, they apply an array of heuristics related to information quality, opinion, communication style, emotional support and encouragement, guidance, personal experience, and professional expertise

Fuzziness in LGBT non-profit ICT use

This note reports on the use of ICTs by a small nonprofit organization that serves LGBT youth. Our work centers on a reflective evaluation of the use of online communities for LGBT community through qualitative interviews with the organization. Perceived issues around ICT use in the organization were shaped by the blurred lines between professional and personal interactions online, the small size of the community and ubiquity of social media use, and ambivalence of members toward online communication. The project models one way for researchers in ICT4D to work within communities to develop an understanding of self-identified issues in vulnerable populations

Le son dans l'art contemporain canadien = Sound in Contemporary Canadian Art

Stemming from a research residency at Artexte Information Centre, Gingras has assembled this anthology of texts by 18 artists and authors, creating a forum for a discussion of sound in the visual and media arts in Canada from 1980 to the present. Focusing on a specific work or artist, or while discussing their own practice through writing or in interview, the authors reflect on different experiences of listening and hearing, on sound objects and acoustic bodies, broadcasting devices, interdisciplinarity, and the role of silence. Gingras’ essays encompass the artists who inspired this project, as well as issues involved in the creating, dissemination, reception and documentation of works of sound. The accompanying audio CD contains various sound recordings by 16 artists. Gingras’ texts in French and English; other texts in the language of the author. Biographical notes on the authors and on the artists represented on the CD. Circa 75 bibl. ref