Handbook of research on social software and developing community ontologies by Stylianos Hatzipanagos, Steven Warburton

This might be useful:

Handbook of Research on Social Software and Developing Community Ontologies by Stylianos Hatzipanagos and Steven Warburton. Idea Group Inc (IGI), 2009. ISBN 1605662089, 9781605662084. As all IGI books seem to be very expensive, better ask the library to buy it.

The book on the publisher’s site.

Guardian article about project combatting loneliness

Guardian article:

A remarkable experiment is getting people visiting one another again, and its radical lessons could boost public services.

The article.

The project site.

BBC Memoryshare

My meeting at the BBC on Friday about timelines was useful in various ways. Most relevant to your research was Memoryshare, which enables anyone to note a memory and to see everyone else’s.

When you click on a memory, the window that then opens allows you to see the full text of the person’s reminiscence and a window of related items pulled automatically from a number of sources.

News item about growth in social networking etc.

This news item has one or two useful things about the growth in social networking and users’ difficulty in managing their various sources of connections.

Losing independence is a bigger ageing worry than dying (YouGov poll)

Hardly a surprising result, but apparently losing independence is a bigger ageing worry than dying, according to a YouGov poll.

The survey was done on behalf of the Disabled Living Foundation (DLF), who have a page of key facts with links to the sources of the information.

Visit at MoDA with Ruby

At the weekend (Sunday 6th Dec) I took my 85-year-old friend Ruby to MoDA (Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture). Only recently she started to get a bit confused, asking me several times something she would normally remember. This may also have been because she had a bad cold and still felt the after effects. I took her by car to the museum.

Even though there is only one main exhibition room there was a lot if not too much to take in for her. She was very glad about the sofa at the end of the room where she was able to rest after 15 minutes of arriving. When we entered the room she was very pleased to see a Singer sewing machine. She owned one of those! Memories came back. Then we looked at the drawers with wallpaper designs. The drawers were a bit difficult to open for her and with the light in the room she had trouble reading the labels. She wears glasses. But I also got the impression that her cataract got worse.

Ruby liked the idea of reading comments by other people, but the handwriting and the light in the room made it difficult for her to read it by herself. She quickly lost interest. In front of another display she wanted know which items were what, but didn't find any descriptions. MoDA had an A4 card near the display, which worked like a menu index, but she wasn't able to work it out how to use it.

The kitchenette, an all-in-one kitchen cupboard from the 1930s, was the highlight for her because it was large and tactile – and yes, she immediately touched it and then read out the label "Do not touch!".

Ruby definitely enjoyed herself, but with the soft and dim light in the exhibition room and the differing position of the labels and explanations of the items, it wasn't easy for her to follow the exhibition.

All in all it was a very enjoyable experience! Thanks Ruby for allowing me to write about our day.

Meeting with Garth - 74 years old

Last week I met with Garth (name changed by the editor) to have a chat about how he uses Facebook and any other social networking sites. I also ran my early design concepts (verbally) past him to gather some initial reactions.

Garth was exposed to using a computer in his 50s for work, but then never had to again. His friend inspired him saying it was so easy, so Garth also enrolled in a computer class at the age of 65 years. He had a bit of a fear using the computer and maybe pressing the wrong button, but what really helped him was when one of the computers broke and the teacher had to open up the computer unit. He then realised that all the pieces just slotted in and it was like a simple jigsaw. Proudly he explained how he had fixed the fan of his current computer since.

Now he hasn't got a fear any more, but feels frustration or anger when the computer doesn't do what it's supposed to do. (Note: we all feel that or?!) Garth doesn't mind loosing data. He keeps the most important things on his USB stick, so if ever anything happens he'd be alright.

He's an avid user of ancestry.co.uk. He has 6 grandchildren, by his two daughters who live in Australia. It's his hobby to research about the family and he keeps them uptodate (though his grandchildren don't show any interest in his research to his disappointment).
His friends on facebook are mainly his grandchildren. He sees pictures of them 'having a good time'. He feels close to them because he virtually sees them when they are relaxed and happy. In some ways he thinks it's nicer to get a message from his granddaughter than meeting her face-to-face. (There is a notion that face-to-face is more controlling and this way the grandchildren can just be as they are and they don't hide anything).

When he writes to his grandchildren he only writes 3-4 lines so it doesn't “bore or scare” them. He usually uses the comment box. He always writes back to them as soon as possible when they have written to him. (I noticed that he didn't distinguish between messages and comments and I think he only uses comments and didn't even know about messages or any of the other features).

Overall he disapproves of Facebook and he only does it for his grandchildren. He doesn't like seeing all the pictures of his oldest grandchild drunk at a party. He also wondered why the friends of his grandchildren would invite him. He thinks that it must the cool factor when he accepts it because they'd have a friend from another part of the world.

He doesn't use Skype yet. He plays solitaire or "free cell" quite a bit, well lots!, but he is not interested in multiplayer games - maybe when he's lonely one day, but he doesn't feel that way now.

He wouldn't know what to do without a computer - loves his computer so he can be in contact and research his family history. He uses the message board in ancestry quite a bit, where people you don't know can email you because they found a something of interest in your family tree. But it seemed that he didn't perceive it as anything similar to Facebook where you can connect with people.

I asked him what elements a website should have so he likes to be in contact with his grandchildren and other friends. He said lots of pictures, emails (for letter writing) and comments for 2 line messages and images that you can view in a slideshow. I explained the ‘weather idea’ to him. He wasn't too interested since the weather is always nice where his relatives are in Australia and he has mostly rain. He was more interested in understanding the time differences at a glance.
He very much liked the idea of showing visuals that could trigger memories. He continued telling me about a pressure cooker his sisters used and he will never forget how it looked before and after. He would like to be able to write about his memories and could also imagine expressing them in different ways. (I ran out of time to ask him in which other ways)

Weekly updates of ‘memory reminders’? He wasn't sure about the weekly timing. Garth thinks that he might use it at the beginning but then it might become tedious in the long run. (Here I got the impression that it's really important to allow people to choose the time frame they like to browse in. An idea that I'm already working on).

Useful meeting with Age Concern Barnet

It was good to meet Mark Robinson and Lisa Dubow from Age Concern Barnet.

They are happy to assist me with my research. Firstly, they will send out in their (paper based) newsletter the invitation to take part in the online survey.
In January I will be able to sit in one of their computer classes.
I told them that I plan to run some early concepts past computer users and would like to hold a user workshop latest near April for this. Age Concern Barnet offered that I can use their computer room as a location for the workshop. The computer room is a fairly large room where they have 4 computers.

I asked them about the types of computer classes they offer. They have a beginner class (which means real beginners i.e. questions such as where to switch on the computer are dealt with) and one advanced class, where people usually want things like having images scanned in. The classes are small in numbers (4 people at the time) and "organic" i.e. not structured like normal classes, but responding to individual wishes & needs. When I asked what the motivation is for people to come to the computer classes Lisa explained that there are some people who know from their grandchildren (or other younger people) what is possible on the computer but don't want to have it shown by them because they are too quick in explaining. The main motivation for learning using a computer is to stay in contact and to communicate with relatives.

The people who come to the Barnet day centre events are ‘in very general terms’: female, white and over 75 years. In comparison Age Concern Barnet have for their computer classes more men and people from different ethnic background joining them.

I would like to thank Lisa and Mark for sharing the information with me.

Screen reader user survey results

WebAIM's second screen reader user survey received 665 responses and highlighted many insights into real-world screen reader usage. It explores a range of criteria around screen reader usage and preferences and is a must-read for anyone working in accessibility.

Read survey results