| News & Updates... I'm told that it is good webmaster netiquette to include a "News & Updates" page. However, I can guess that my audience assumes a different meaning to these terms than a computer specialist. So I am going to mix the two cultures, into the newsletter style that many social workers see each quarter at their agencies. To view a list of updated pages please read the "Site Map" page. *Please note that this page is written solely by myself, Tobi A. Pace, and will not include any submitted material from SWC members. |
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| Copyright 1996-2008 Tobi A. Pace, MA, LSW - Webmaster Last updated on August 29, 2007 |
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| The Social Work Cafe 2007 Newsletter
Vol. 1, Issue 1, August 2007 Author: Tobi A. Pace, MA, LSW Success...Membership has been Steadily Increasing in Breadth and Depth, since re-opening in May 2007. The Social Work Cafe 2007 re-opened its doors this past May 2007, after I had taken a five-year hiatus. It was an arduous task going through 3,000+ listings to see which members were still active. The effort bared the fruit of 50 names on the Global E-mail List (http://www.socialworkcafe.net/email.html) as of August 28th. These members represent 14 countries and a variety of social services venues and educational institutions. As the Webmaster, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all submitted descriptions and linking individuals who have similar interests. My favorite activity, while on the Internet each evening, is reading the websites of others. (See Member Sites page at http://www.socialworkcafe.net/homepage.html). I am awed by the hard work shown by private individuals who have compiled extensive lists of social work links and authored some of the most emotional editorials I have read in a long time. For example, just look at Prins Links for Social Work Students (at http://prinslinks.blogspot.com). She and I have also developed a friendship supporting each other's ventures through the maze of web builder tools and information on the Internet Super Highway. I have also enjoyed building professional relationships with webmasters from the educational realm such as with Andrew Cicchetti, a PhD student in NYC and author of the Mutual Aid Based Group Work.com website (at http://mutualaidbasedgroupwork.blogspot.com/). I hope that the Social Work Cafe 2007 is starting to be seen as a gateway to other social work web pages with a personal touch, and a pulse. The philosophy followed is that a website can be dynamic in its content and act as a showcase for member ideas. Just imagine, as the membership grows and includes listings from more and more social workers, social service organizations, students, and educational institutions, how many different countries and cultures we will be able to explore together! New Features Throughout the months of July and August, users at the Social Work Cafe 2007 may have noticed the navigation table becoming bigger and bigger. New features include the following web pages: I Remember at http://www.socialworkcafe.net/remember.html - A page for writing about those clients/patients who we did not have a chance to say goodbye to before their death. SWC Chat Room at http://www.socialworkcafe.net/chat.html - General chat discussions to be held every Thursday at 7pm-9pm (Chicago Time) and every Saturday at 2pm-4pm (Chicago Time). Special featured moderators to come! Please have Java enabled on your browser application to run the chat room program. User Feedback at http://www.socialworkcafe.net/feedback.html - I always appreciate hearing if the resources at the Social Work Cafe 2007 have been helpful. Suggestions for improving communication between members are always welcome! Sign the SWC Guestbook! Awards Received at http://www.socialworkcafe.net/awards.html - All Social Work Cafe 2007 members can feel proud of the recognition received for contributing their professional descriptions, announcements, and message board writings (http://www.freepowerboards.com/socialworkcafe/). That’s what makes the SWC an interesting place to visit on the web. Thank You at http://www.socialworkcafe.net/thankyou.html - This page showcases the online utilities that have been used in the construction of the Social Work Cafe 2007. All icons link to websites that have free and for-fee services for the novice and expert webmaster! Mentor Match Campaign Soon To Launch in College Venues The Mentor Match program (http://www.socialworkcafe.net/mentors.html) has welcomed 18 online volunteer Mentors to its ranks over the past two months. These volunteers symbolize a diversity of cultures and social work job experiences. All volunteers have at least 2 years experience in the field and in some cases 20 or more. Areas of field work include but are not limited to: individual, couple, family & group therapy; substance abuse; gay/lesbian/transgendered issues; medical social work; social work research & publication; EMDR; community case management; homelessness; end of life care; child abuse/neglect; domestic violence; international social work charities; stress-management; criminal justice; and corporate employee assistance programs. This program is designed to stimulate discussions amongst the Social Work Cafe 2007 users. Communications between the volunteer Mentor and Mentee can take place in a public forum of the SWC2007 Message Board (http://www.freepowerboards.com/socialworkcafe/), SWC Chat (http://www.socialworkcafe.net/chat.html), or in the privacy of weekly e-mail exchanges. As the school year begins, I am planning to do a mass mailing to social work departments advertising the goals of the program. Many of the departments to be solicited already acknowledge the Social Work Cafe as a valued online resource, as shown by its inclusion on their web pages link list. Hopefully, these sites will share our group enthusiasm, and the Cafe will start buzzing with all the chatter of a real life coffee house! As of August 28th, two matches have been made! The SWC Adopts the Principles of the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) As part of the revitalization of The Social Work Cafe 2007, the decision was made to adopt the principles of the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI). Simply stated, FOSIs mission is to protect children from witnessing/participating in Adult Rated content on the Internet. The classification of Adult Rated materials can be given out to web sites that have explicit instances of nudity, profanity, violence, and drug use. There are also ratings given to news or educational websites that talk about such subjects. The Social Work Cafe rating falls under a label of no nudity, no profanity, no violence, and no drug use, and (moderated) user content. This label can be likened to the age group of teenagers and older. You can see this rating at the bottom of every page within the Social Work Cafe 2007, just click on the gray and blue ICRA icon. FOSI has also created a voluntary database of self-labeled websites, which was developed in hopes of creating a safe environment for children to explore the Internet (at http://checked.icra.org/search/). Here is a brief explanation of how it works. By placing FOSIs pre-written HTML code in a web page header, a program is triggered within the Microsoft Windows environment that then requires a security password of the user to continue surfing that particular site. The FOSI rating system (updated after 2006) interfaces with the Content Advisor module found in Windows Internet Properties dialog box. The Administrator of the computer, usually a parent or teacher, can control the tolerance of which rated pages are allowed to load without a password. This system in theory is the same that locks out certain channels on your television set at home. A step-by-step procedure is found on the FOSI website (at http://www.icra.org/support/contentadvisor/) There are many helpful programs advertised to parents that help safeguard children from viewing inappropriate content on the Internet. I believe the unique thing about FOSIs program is that it gives the Webmaster the responsibility to rate his/her own website page-by-page. And who knows the content of a website better than its Webmaster! Have you labeled your website lately? Remember, rated labels need to be updated if your website content or its pop-up ads change dramatically. Awards Given to the Social Work Cafe 2007 I am in the process of submitting the Social Work Cafe 2007 to various rated awards sites across the Web. These acknowledgements not only feel good, but come with grade sheets that tell me where I can make improvements. Most suggestions are of a technical nature, and that is where I truly need the most help, since I am a social worker first and foremost. Please take the time to look at the Social Work Cafe 2007 Awards Received page, because I could not have won anything without the submissions from SWC2007 users! Hurray for us! (http://www.socialworkcafe.net/awards.html). |
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