Year Three - May 2008 to April 2009

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Year Two - May 2007 to April 2008

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Recipient: Alliance Library System, Pekin, IL
Project Director: Lori Bell
Project Title: Share the Health: Training People with Disabilities and Chronic Medical Conditions on How to Locate Quality Health Information
Amount: $35,000
Start/End Date: April 2008 to April 2009
Phone: 309-694-9230

Description: Alliance Library System proposes to work with other groups in Second Life to build a customized health information orientation center for individuals with disabilities or chronic diseases who join the virtual world. In addition to customized orientation activities about Second Life, the orientation center will have a teaching and training center where new virtual world residents will learn how to search for and locate quality health information.

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Recipient: Gunderson Lutheran Medical Center, LaCrosse, WI
Project Director: Melinda Orebaugh
Project Title:: Great Rivers Partners for Health-E People
Amount: $34,995
Start/End Date: January 2008 to June 2009
Phone: 608-775-5406

Description: The goal of the following proposal is to raise awareness of health literacy in our communities. To reach our health practitioners, we will design a brief online course that will give them strategies for quickly assessing the level of health literacy in their patients. It will also provide them with some methods for determining patient understanding. It will incorporate a brief evaluation for each person taking the course. To reach our consumer population, we will develop a DVD based on the AskMe3 principles. The DVD will be available online, from the same website as the practitioner online course, but we will also take it to various locations and present it to consumer groups. We will also use it to train information providers (public librarians, Great Rivers 2-1-1 staff, literacy instructors, etc.) so they will be able to make the proper referrals and so they will be knowledgeable in communicating in plain language about health issues. We will also develop a small booklet for patients to take with them anytime they visit with a health practitioner: doctor, nurse, dentist, pharmacist, therapist, etc. It will contain the AskMe3 questions, allow for medication information, and personal medical information. It will be distributed by practitioners, libraries, pharmacies, senior centers, nursing homes, etc.

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Recipient: University of Michigan, Health Sciences Library, Ann Arbor, MI
Project Director: Jane Blumenthal
Project Title: Creating Health Information Connections for Persons with Disabilities
Amount: $11,983
Start/End Date: November 2007 to October 2008
Phone: 734-936-1403

Description: Creating Health Information Connections for Persons with Disabilities is a collaborative project between the University of Michigan Health Sciences Libraries and the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living. This project covers three primary components: staff sensitivity training, a health-information needs assessment, and customized instructional sessions. The staff sensitivity training, conducted by members of the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living, will give the Health Sciences Libraries staff a foundation for improved communication and appropriate instructional practice for working with the local population with disabilities. A series of customized, in-person instructional sessions will be developed to address the assessed health information needs of the population. These sessions will seek to increase awareness and improve access to vital health information, while considering the unique needs of the population with disabilities. This project will also indirectly support the Ann Arbor Commission for Disability Issues and their goal for obtaining the national designation of a disability friendly community.

Year One - May 2006 to April 2007

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Recipient: Alliance Library System, Pekin, IL
Project Director: Lori Bell
Project Title: Providing Consumer Health Outreach and Library Programs to Virtual World Residents
Amount: $40,000
Start/End Date: November 2006 to April 2008
Phone: 800-426-0709

Description: In April 2006, Alliance Library System began to establish a full-service library in Second Life, a three-dimension virtual reality world with more than 300,000 global participants. In this virtual world, an individual can participate in almost everything they can in real life: buy land, purchase homes, start a business, make friends, and more. In creating a library for these citizens we have quickly discovered that consumer health information is one of the most important services we could provide. As more and more people of all ages use the Internet and spend increasing amounts of time online, we want to reach users where they are. Through "Providing Consumer Health Outreach and Library Services to Virtual World Residents" the Alliance Second Life Library will provide training programs, outreach to virtual medical communities, important consumer health resources, and one-on-one support to Second Life residents.

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Recipient: Royal Oak Public Library, Royal Oak, MI
Project Director: Metta Lansdale
Project Title: Royal Oak Health Information Portal
Amount: $12,000
Start/End Date: May 2007 to April 2008
Phone: 248-246-3700

Description: The Royal Oak Health Information Portal is designed to provide quality health information services provided by the public library and a venue for health information delivery provided by clinical and research specialists within the Royal Oak community. The project positions the public library as a reliable source of personal health information for the citizens of Royal Oak Michigan through partnership with the acclaimed William Beaumont Hospital, headquartered in Royal Oak. A health information portal from the public library web pages, a community health lecture series for larger audiences, a "curriculum" of focused workshops that will outline best practices for finding information on the internet for specified health conditions, resource talks for smaller groups, and facilitation of smaller self help groups initiated by health providers and supported by the facility and resources of the public library are the deliverables planned for this project.

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Recipient: Alliance Library System, Pekin, IL
Project Director: Lori Bell
Project Title: Libraries MUVE (Multi-User Environment) Consumers Into Accessibility Awareness
Amount: $12,000
Start/End Date: May 2007 to April 2008
Phone: 800-426-0709

Description: Alliance Library System proposes to build upon the consumer health outreach already occurring in the 3D virtual world of Second Life with a subcontract from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine Greater Midwest Region with an examination, exhibits, programs, and awareness about accessibility and assistive technology for Second Life residents. Through "Libraries MUVE (Mulit-User Environment) Consumers Into Accessibility Awareness." The Alliance Library System and its project partners will develop and host an exhibit, program, and create awareness through the Metaverse Messenger, the Second Life newspaper, about virtual world and game accessibility and assistive technology. Sets of exhibits/programs, and awareness activities will center on the use of gaming and virtual worlds for the following groups of underserved users: mobility or dexterity challenges; visual impairments; blindness; deaf and hearing impaired; and those with learning disabilities.