Role of Indian public libraries to increase the awareness of the community on HIV/AIDS

Abstract

Today Indian society is at high risk. AIDS, the most devastating disease humankind has ever faced, has become a conflagration on the Indian subcontinent and nearly 5.134 million people in the country are estimated to be HIV-positive. There is a perceived need for public libraries to provide necessary information to make the community aware of the threat of HIV/AIDS. Today's challenge is to reinvent the public libraries to respond to community needs. This paper explores the avenues created by ICT-enabled networking processes in providing HIV/AIDS information to the unprivileged population in India. It concludes with a number of recommendations that are intended to address the core problems and thereby improve the overall situation.     

HIV/AIDS Information in Public Libraries

Abstract

Despite well-publicized advances in the development of antiretroviral therapies, HIV infection remains an incurable condition. Worldwide, the disease threatens to gravely impact a wide range of developing nations, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia and South America. In the United States, the poor and particularly women of color are at great, and increasing, risk for infection. Public libraries, as trusted public institutions for the dissemination of information, can continue to play an important role in promoting public health information surrounding HIV/AIDS prevention and education. Public libraries are not immune, however, to the political and value-driven public discourse surrounding HIV infection. Through carefully identifying the issues, taking a nonjudgmental service approach, and building collaborations with community based organizations, public libraries can become common ground for providing proactive prevention-focused information services. This article examines the current state of epidemic HIV/AIDS infection, reviews the literature on public library responses, and identifies highly select consumer health and biomedical monographic, serial, audio-visual and Web-based HIV/AIDS information tools.     

HIV/AIDS and Subaltern Autonomous Rationality: A Call to Recenter Health Communication in Marginalized Sex Worker Spaces

Sex workers in India constitute a marginalized population. They are considered at high risk of HIV/AIDS and are stigmatized for “selling sex” in a culture that generally censures sex outside marriage. HIV/AIDS initiatives targeted at this population have mostly adhered to promoting condom use, increasing awareness, and encouraging blood tests to screen for HIV/AIDS. Missing from this discourse are voices of sex workers and their autonomous consciousness. Based on an analysis of interview data from an eight-week field project, this paper seeks to centralize sex worker subaltern rationality in a call to reframe expert-led HIV/AIDS communication efforts that cater to sex worker communities.     

Communication in the management of uncertainty: The case of persons living with HIV or AIDS

Communication is a means of managing uncertainty. In a state of uncertainty: (a) information seeking can reduce uncertainty by allowing for better discrimination between or among alternatives; (b) information seeking can increase uncertainty by increasing the number of alternatives, or by blurring the distinction between or among alternatives; and (c) information avoidance can maintain uncertainty. Individuals living with HIV or AIDS, like many other chronically‐ill or terminally‐ill individuals, must manage high levels of uncertainty about their illness. Participants in a focus group study of persons with HIV or AIDS reported effective uncertainty management, including managing uncertainty that was challenging, managing uncertainty that was essential for maintaining hope, learning to live with chronic uncertainty, and managing information problems. New information can serve uncertainty management even if it fails to reduce the number or ambiguity of alternatives, because new information can invite a reappraisal of uncertainty. A theory of uncertainty management based on these findings is offered.     

Malevolence,stigma, and social distance: Maximizing intergroup differences in HIV/AIDS discourse

This study examined the intergroup language used by young heterosexual Australians in conversations about HIV/AIDS and safe sex. Sixty male and 72 female heterosexuals participated in four‐person facilitated conversations (same‐sex or mixed‐sex) about HIV/AIDS and safe sex, which were recorded and transcribed. We focused on extracts concerning strangers or malevolent individuals who appear to be group members, along with extracts involving foreign national groups. Discourse analysis showed that groups at lower levels of social distance were constructed mainly in terms of individual responsibility. At moderate social distance, stereotypes were more negative, but sub‐typing was common, whereas at the highest levels, people were constructed entirely in intergroup terms. The findings of this study suggest that HTV prevention programs should make reference to all salient outgroups, so as to neutralize communicative strategies that strengthen intergroup boundaries as a means of reducing perceived personal threat of HIV infection.     

Counterpublicity and Corporeality in HIV/AIDS Zines

This essay demonstrates how two U.S. zines produced from 1990 to 1999 by and for gay men with HIV/AIDS—Diseased Pariah News (DPN) and Infected Faggot Perspectives (IFP)—constitute counterpublics. I demonstrate how DPN and IFP constitute counterpublics through thematization of two important forms of difference—blood status (HIV-positive or HIV-negative), and political ideology. I then specify and elaborate primary modes of corporeal expressivity in the zines—the erotic/sexual and the grotesque—to demonstrate the work that each mode does for the counterpublics.     

整合生物医学信息,构建性病艾滋病综合信息网络数据库

作者拟利用互联网信息整合系统 ( Internet Information Integration System,3 I)从 Internet上遴选、下载、收集各种有价值的性病艾滋病信息 ,经过自动分类、过滤、排重和知识网络构建等智能化的处理整合后 ,建立性病艾滋病综合信息资源网络数据库并为用户提供检索服务 ,也可以个性化的形式提供给用户。     

OUT-ing AIDS

Little is known about the relationship between the Irish gay press and the AIDS crisis during the 1980s. This article aims to fill this gap by presenting the findings of a study dealing with the AIDS epidemic in Ireland and how it was confronted through the alternative media platform of OUT magazine. Using issues of OUT, it argues that alternative media in Ireland were pivotal in generating vital public health information for the gay community, particularly when the mainstream press and Irish government were not providing the necessary resources. This article also highlights the activist potential of alternative media such as OUT, as it engaged with public bodies in an attempt to hold them accountable for their response, or lack thereof, to the epidemic. The Irish gay press is thus an important example of how alternative media are critical when mainstream society ignores a particular group’s public health needs.     

Partners in Power

This historical analysis examines the relationship between investigative journalists and official sources through the prism of Pulitzer Prize archive materials from 1917 through 1960. Most prize research has focused on the content of winning stories, but this study provides a fuller picture of the process of newsmaking—and policymaking—through an exploration of deliberative material created by prize juries. While the role of the press in these decades and beyond has been conceptualized alternately as a passive lapdog or an aggressive watchdog, this essay offers a more nuanced view of newspapers that are fully entangled with power in society—sometimes collaborating with a faction of power, sometimes confronting a faction, and, often, both at once. Detailed jury notes on the nominations tell the stories behind the investigations, revealing a press that sometimes leads and other times takes the lead from those in positions of official power. The paper adds to the literature on policy and media agenda building, arguing that through investigative reporting, journalists have often been active rather than passive partners in systems of community standard maintenance.     

HIV/AIDS Outreach: Curriculum Development and Skills Training to Health and Information Professionals

With funding from the National Library of Medicine HIV/AIDS Community Information Outreach Program (ACIOP), librarians at the University of Florida Health Sciences Libraries partnered with university and community groups to facilitate collaboration, develop new information resources, develop information-seeking skills, and raise general awareness surrounding HIV/AIDS risks, prevention, and treatment. This article describes the skills development elements of the project, including development and implementation of an HIV/AIDS information resource curriculum for health care providers, social services professionals, and public librarians within the project’s partner organizations.     

I Got a New Puppy! The Impact of Personal,Opinion, and Objective Tweets on a Journalist’s and a News Organization’s Perceived Credibility

ABSTRACT

This experimental study examined the impact of posting different types of tweets on a journalist’s perceived credibility. Three-hundred-and-eighty-seven participants were randomly assigned into one of three groups. One group saw tweets from a journalist that were about the journalist’s personal life, another group saw tweets from the same journalist that were written objectively about news stories, and the third group saw tweets from the same journalist that contained the journalist’s opinion regarding news stories. Participants who read the personal tweets about the journalist’s life rated the journalist highest in perceived credibility. The perceived credibility of the journalist was ranked significantly lower by participants who read the tweets that only contained the journalist’s opinion. Participants were also asked to rate the credibility of the organization for which the journalist worked. The perceived credibility of the organization was rated significantly higher by those who read the objective tweets. Organizational credibility was rated lowest by those who read the tweets that contained the journalist’s opinion. This study has important implications for journalists who use Twitter and wish to improve their personal and organizational perceived credibility.     

Perceived and experienced stigma among people living with HIV: Examining the role of prior stigmatization on reasons for and against future disclosures

HIV remains a significant health concern entering the fourth decade of the epidemic [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2014. HIV basics. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/index.html], and people living with HIV continue to grapple with stigma. This study uses Leary and Schreindorfer's [1998 Leary, M. R., &; Schreindorfer, L. S. (1998). The stigmatization of HIV and AIDS: Rubbing salt in the wound. In V. J. Derlega &; A. P. Barbee (Eds.), HIV and social interaction (pp. 12–29). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. [Google Scholar]. The stigmatization of HIV and AIDS: Rubbing salt in the wound. In V. J. Derlega &; A. P. Barbee (Eds.), HIV and social interaction (pp. 12 Lekas, H. M., Siegel, K., &; Schrimshaw, E. W. (2006). Continuities and discontinuities in the experiences of felt and enacted stigma among women with HIV/AIDS. Qualitative Health Research, 16, 1165–1190. doi:10.1177/1049732306292284[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]–29 Lekas, H. M., Siegel, K., &; Schrimshaw, E. W. (2006). Continuities and discontinuities in the experiences of felt and enacted stigma among women with HIV/AIDS. Qualitative Health Research, 16, 1165–1190. doi:10.1177/1049732306292284[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage] conceptualization of stigma to explore prior stigmatization on reasons for and against future disclosures. We interviewed HIV+ individuals (N?=?59) and used a combination of deductive and inductive coding to analyze participants’ responses. Deductive codes consisted of four stigma characteristics (pose a threat to others’ health and safety, deviate from group standards, create negative emotional reactions in others, and failure to contribute), experiences of feeling stigmatized due to HIV status (yes or no), and the degree to which HIV stigma was a concern (major, minor, or no concern). Inductive coding identified examples of perceived and experienced stigma and stigma concerns on future disclosure decision-making. Practical implications discuss individual, institutional, and societal stigma-reduction interventions and programs.     

论数字时代图书馆员的信息素养与职业道德

数字时代图书馆员的职业道德建设是关系到民族文化存亡和人类文明进步的关键,数字时代图书馆员的信息素养或信息水平应包括信息技术技能、信息化应用技能、信息化组织能力、信息化创新能力四个层次。本文对数字时代图书馆员的信息素养与职业道德的内容进行了探讨。     

A Communicative Analysis of a Sexual Health Screening Intervention Conducted in a Low-Income Housing Complex

Providing free HIV screening within public housing sites offers the potential for increased participation of at-risk populations. Residential-based screening, however, raises concerns about privacy because of the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS and even to the testing for HIV. This study examined the effectiveness of offering HIV screening within a public housing high-rise in upstate New York. Through interviews with both women who obtained testing and those who did not, this study explored the tension between convenience and privacy concerns. The findings suggest that offering HIV screening where people live could encourage participation in the screenings, as well as lead to a destigmatization of HIV testing over time. Some women chose to eschew the convenience of on-site testing in favor of a more private venue for screening, whereas some women responded positively to the accessibility of on-site testing, using communicative strategies to manage privacy concerns.     

明清晋商的伦理道德教育与晋商的成功

一、前言晋商,明清时期最为显赫的地域商帮。在其五百年的经营史上,他们创造了无数的商业奇迹。勤劳质朴而又极富商业智慧、政治智慧的山西人把握住了明初“开中制”的有利契机,凭借盐粮贸易迅速积累起大量财富,为晋商五百年的繁荣拉开序幕。从“挟轻资牵车走四方”的艰苦创业开始,男人们用辛劳混着思乡的苦楚,女人们用寂寞浸着无奈的闺思,成就了辉煌的晋商。一曲凄怨哀凉的《走西口》也伴着山西商人的日渐成功而日显大气磅礴:他们从最初的盐业贸易为主扩展到丝绸、棉布、木材、矿冶、中药材、茶叶、典当等商业的所有方面;他们把生意从北方…     

Role regulation and normative expectations: the discursive erasure of Middle Eastern forced migrants in U.S. news outlets

ABSTRACT

This thematic analysis of 510 news articles – spanning the leftist-rightist ideological spectrum – examines media rhetoric surrounding President Trump’s 27 January 2017 Executive Order (EO) 13769 barring immigrants and refugees from U.S. resettlement. In this article, I examine how both liberal and conservative news media rhetoric reinforce respectability politics that create a hierarchy of victimhood for those affected by the EO. Interrogating U.S. civil society’s discursive construction of the forced migrant, I expose expectations for appropriate roles for these communities seeking asylum, though these roles are often veiled by normative U.S. mythology. As this analysis illustrates, the news media articles’ discursive erasure of Syrian, Iranian, Sudanese, Iraqi, Libyan, Somali, and Yemeni immigrants and refugees elide forced migrant self-representation and neglect the political/historical reasons for fleeing from their nations of origin.     

Unspeakable PrEP: a qualitative study of sexual communication,problematic integration,and uncertainty management among men who have sex with men in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

This study explored how men who have sex with men (MSM) communicated their use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) on smartphone applications. Informed by the theory of problematic integration and uncertainty management, we asked if revealing ‘HIV negative, on PrEP’ status on smartphone applications might increase one's uncertainty in communicating about safe sex with others. We conducted interviews with 31 Taiwanese MSM currently taking PrEP who participated in a national demonstration project. We identified three types of PrEP-related uncertainty: condition, information, and stigma uncertainty. Applied implications of our findings indicate the importance of the feasibility of medical infrastructure in implementing PrEP, the complication in translating scientific and medical jargon into everyday language, and dynamics of negotiating stigmas associated with HIV and AIDS in the context of HIV prevention.     

The Intellectual Landscape of the Domain of Culture and Ethics in Knowledge Organization: An Analysis of Influential Authors and Works

Abstract

This article aims to examine the intellectual landscape of the domain of culture and ethics in knowledge organization (KO). A domain analysis was conducted on a corpus of 206 relevant papers using bibliometric methods such as author co-citation analysis. The findings revealed a core group of influential authors consisting of Olson, Beghtol, and other influential KO researchers. The most prominent research themes that constitute this scientific community have also been investigated by reviewing some fundamental concepts and influential works in the domain.     

Texts after Community: The Case of Czechs in America

The article discusses the various types of texts produced by the Czech immigrant community in the United States in the nineteenth century. An interesting example is the periodical Hospodá?. The author lists some bibliographies and directories that researchers can consult in order to locate such material, but much of it remains either unknown, difficult to access, or both. Buildings can also be considered texts. He urges librarians, archivists, and scholars of sources to work more with these materials.