Mission Statement
To help social service professionals throughout the world conveniently maintain an awareness of news regarding the profession and emerging scholarship.
Goals
- identify and deliver a selection of the highest quality available in each category
- regularly deliver an interesting mix of new information
- create a more global sense of the profession for users from all locales
- serve as an introductory socialization force for students
The new Information for Practice (IP) will help us to better meet those goals by incorporating a continuously upgraded site at:
IP is an extension of one of our previous community service projects with the same name. The new IP will continue to be a monthly digest (like the old IP). You can subscribe by sending a blank email message to:
information-for-practice+subscribe@nyu.eduYou will receive an email notice each month when a month’s archives are complete and available on the IP web site.
Content
There will be virtually no editorial material in either version of IP. Headlines and titles of entries will rarely be changed from the original source (only in instances where it better clarifies content) and the text you see describing an entry will almost always be a direct quote from the actual news item/article (APA style of quotation will not be followed here as it would make the text less readable).
Finally, IP provides a selection of news and new scholarship. IP is not intended as a complete index of any of these materials.
History
My colleagues and I have been involved in Internet based scholarship dissemination since 1993. Our initial focus was on Gopher space. See for instance:
Holden, G., Rosenberg, G. & Weissman, A. (1994). Social workers in cyberspace: Gopher-accessible resources. Society for Social Work & Research News, 1, 8-12.
Holden, G., & Rosenberg, G. (1994, November). Gopher accessible resources for social workers in cyberspace, 1.1 [350 lines]. SocWork [socwork@umab.bitnet], 10/26/94.
Holden, G., Rosenberg, G. & Weissman, A. (1995). Gopher accessible resources related to research on social work practice. Research on Social Work Practice, 5, 235-45.
By 1995 we had begun to emphasize WWW based resources. The main intervention produced along with these works was WWWRSW which was consistently the largest and most comprehensive index of WWW based resources for social workers. At the time of its demise this site contained over 99,700 links, was used by individuals from around the world receiving over 1000 visits per day and was consistently ranked #2 in Google searches for the phrase “social work”. WWWRSW is described in the following:
Holden, G., Rosenberg, G. & Weissman, A. (1996). World Wide Web accessible resources related to research on social work practice. Research on Social Work Practice, 6, 236-62.
Holden, G. (1997). Wandering in the digital dark. Society for Social Work & Research News, 4, 12.
Holden, G. & Donahue, A. (1999). Web resources for social workers. Connect: Information Technology at NYU, 10, 18.
Holden, G. (1999). Social policy on the World Wide Web. In B. S. Jansson & S. J. Dodd (Eds.) Innovative Ways to Teach Policy Practice and Policy Advocacy, [Instructors Manual], [p 10-12]. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks Cole.
Holden, G., Rosenberg, G. & Meenaghan, T. (2000). Information for social work practice: Observations regarding the role of the World Wide Web. Social Work in Health Care,32, 1-8.
Holden, G. (2002). Delivering knowledge for practice: A World Wide Web based example. Journal of Social Work Education, 38, 1, 167-72.
Fratt, L. (2003, January 13). Social work and the Web. Social Work Today, 3, 1,16-18.
Some of our work has been more general, focusing on issues beyond our particular interventions in this area. See for instance:
Holden, G. (1998). The WWW search: A comment on Lawrence & Giles. Society for Social Work & Research News, 5, 14.
Rippen, H. [Chair], Guard, R., Byrns, P., Silberr, D. & Cleland, R. [Leads] + Abbott, P. A., Ambre, J., Anderson, S., Arcari, R., Basler, T. G., Buckovich, S., Carnerio, J. T. M.,, Chang, B., Decker, W., Deering, M. J., Dragovich, C., Eng, T., Fitzmaurice, J. M., Fourcroy, J., J. M., Frydman, G. J., Golodner, L., Hay, G., Hoey, D., Holden, G., Hudgings, Johnson, M., Kerlin, B. D., Kimbrough, C. A., Lazar, A., Linden, T., Lloyd, D. S., Mark, D., Mazzaschi, A., Molloy-Hubbard, S., Morgan, R. E., Perveiler, F. M., Probyn, S., Renner, J., Rodbard, D., Rozen, M. J., Rucker, N. L., Ruggiero, L., Saba, V., Savage, M., Scolamiero, S. J., Shannon, T., Siemers, L., Silberg, W., Talley, C. R., Thurn, A., Tierny, J., Valentino, J. G. [Contributors] (1998). Criteria for assessing the quality of health information on the Internet. A Health Summit Group policy paper.
Finn, J. & Holden, G. (2000). Human services online: A new arena for service delivery. Special triple issue of the Journal of Technology in Human Services, 17, 1-3. Co-published as edited volume by Haworth Press.
Holden, G. & Rosenberg, G. (2003). The Deep Web, dark matter, metabundles, and the broadband elite: Do you need an informaticist? Social Work in Health Care, 36, 4, 1-18.
Holden, G., Tuchman, E., Barker, K., Rosenberg, G., Thazin, M., Kuppens, S., & Watson, M. (2012). A few thoughts on evidence in social work. Social Work in Health Care, 51, 483-505.
Holden, G., Barker, K., Rosenberg, G., & Cohen, J. (2012). Information for clinical social work practice: A potential solution. Clinical Social Work Journal, 40, 166-174.
If you do not have access to these publications, reprints are available from Dr. Holden.
Accolades
- IP nominated for NASW Media Award [Best Website category] in 2013
- Disruptive Social Care Podcast 12 – FF recommendations note @Info4Practice as important international resource – 2012
- IP listed as a ‘most relevant/most frequently read’ website in the 2012 UK Higher Education Academy report: How social work academics are using social media to support student learning
- @Info4Practice chosen as one of the top 60 social care tweeters for 2012: Community Care
- IP selected as an ALISS (Association of Librarians and Information Professionals in the Social Sciences) recommended social science site of the week) on Sage’s Socialsciencespace – 2012
- 2010 IP selected as a Featured Resource by the Simmons College Social Work Library
- 2010 IP selected for Scottish Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services’ Evidence-Informed Practice portal
- IP selected as one of the top four non-Canadian sources for connected social policy wonks by the Social Policy Café in 2010
- IP was profiled in the May ’09 New York Nonprofit Press
- IP was featured in the Wales Association of Directors of Social Services Cymru (ADSS Cymru): Current Sector News
- The Intute Consortium (University of Birmingham; University of Bristol; Heriot-Watt University; The University of Manchester; Manchester Metropolitan University; University of Nottingham; University of Oxford) made IP an Editor’s Choice
- IP selected for inclusion in the final version of the Internet Resources Newsletter [from the Heriot-Watt University Library in the UK] – 2009
- IP was covered in the Evidence Network Newsletter, December 2009
- Xmarks ranked IP #4 in Social Work Resources, #5 in Social Work (10/10/09)
- IP chosen from the group of GreySource Index members as the 2008 GreySource Frontrunner
- IP selected for inclusion as a best practice example in grey literature in the GreySource Index
Support
The resources that are generously donated for the support of IP are:
- server space
- clerical, programming & research assistant support
- a small percentage of Dr. Holden’s time
These resources and operating funds are provided by the New York University Silver School of Social Work and the Division of Social Work & Behavioral Science, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and the New York University’s Information Technology Services. None of these institutions control the content of this site or are in any way responsible for the views or opinions expressed on it. The creation and maintenance of this site as community service to the world of social work. Any views expressed here represent ours alone and not those of our respective institutions. We are not selling any product on or in connection with this site.
General Disclaimer
This site is designed and intended for educational purposes only. It does not engage in the provision of professional social work services. The information provided here should not be used for the diagnosis or treatment of a psychosocial problem. It is not a substitute for professional care. If you have or if you suspect that you may have a psychosocial problem, you should consult a social work professional.
Profiling
We only collect general data on use of the site and the minimal data needed to maintain a email subscription (your email address). This general information is used for ongoing site development and may be used in our general research program, which might include eventual publications. Regardless, information about individual users will not be used in any publication or sold or given to any other entity.
Staff
Editor
Dr. Gary Holden
Professor
New York University: Silver School of Social Work
One Washington Square North
New York, NY 10003 US
Founding Editors
Dr. Kathleen Barker
Professor of Psychology, Medgar Evers College of The City University of New York
Dr. Gary Rosenberg
Edith J. Baerwald Professor, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Consulting Editors
Dr. Kathleen Barker
Professor of Psychology, Medgar Evers College of The City University of New York
Dr. Daniel B. Herman
Associate Dean for Scholarship & Research, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College
Dr. Robert Schilling
Professor of Social Work, University of California: Los Angeles
Programming & Design
Administrative Web Support
Jodi Goldberg
New York University, Information Technology Services
Former Contributors
Dr. Jeane Anastas
Dr. David E. Biegel
Dr. Craig Boitel
Dr. Kevin J. Corcoran
Dr. Suzanne England
Dr. Jerry Finn
Dr. Leonard Gibbs
Dr. Wallace Gingerich
Dr. Thomas Meenaghan
Dr. Paul Montgomery
Dr. Catherine W. Striley
Dr. Peter Maramaldi
Dr. John McNutt
Dr. William Spitzer
Dr. Lynn Videka
Prof. Scott Migdole
Prof. Jackie Rafferty
Chijioke Jeffrey Aba-Onu
Disha Agrawal
Denise Baker
Philip Bienenfeld
Nicole Blanda
Michael Brekelmans
Carla Caggiano
Alyssa Cantin
Brian Chu
Joe Cohen
Stephanie Cohen
Emily Collins
Lucinda Covert-Vail
Adam Donahue
Sean Douglas
Lena Faber
Laura W. Ferrell
Renata Figueiredo
Donna Dornbusch Filanovsky
Molly Gibeau
Gianna Gifford
Lauren Goodkind
Kathryn S. Gurland
Drew Hahn
Tal Halpern
Shiang-Harn Huang
Sharlene Isaac
Beth Jandron
Warner W. Johnston, Jr.
Marie-Laure Léger
Justin Lioi
Julie Maxson
Matt McGuirk
Gregory Mendoza
Melinda Morrill
Kate Monahan
Nicola Monat-Jacobs
Yumi Nam
Terry Park
Jeremy Parker
Davinesa Reed
Sandi Salerno
Rayhane S. Sanders
Basheer Shabazz
Nikkia T. Stanton
Eva Szmutko
Doris Tam
Puja Telikicherla
May Thazin
Yuet Lam Tong
Joy Y. Wang
Mary (Kate) Watson
Mitch Wood
Matthew Wright
Karen Zgoda
Lisa Zheng
Copyright Notice
Copyright © 1993- Dr. Gary Holden. All rights reserved.
Any editorial views expressed on this site are Dr. Holden’s alone and do not represent the views or opinions of New York University.