Scenarios in the Afya project as a participatory action research (PAR) tool for studying information seeking and use across the "digital divide"

Authors:
Bharat Mehra;Ann Peterson Bishop;Imani Bazzell;Cynthia Smith
Affiliations:
Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 501 E. Daniel St., Champaign, IL;Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 501 E. Daniel St., Champaign, IL;Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Parkland College, D115, 2400 W. Bradley Ave., Champaign, IL;School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1207 W. Oregon, Urbana, IL
Venue:
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology
Year:
2002

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Abstract

This article explores the role of scenarios (or use-oriented design representations) in the Afya project as a participatory action research (PAR) tool for studying information seeking and use across the "digital divide." With the aim of improving access to health information and services for Black women, the Afya project has involved forging community-level partnerships with SisterNet, a local grassroots group of Black women devoted to improving their physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual health. In the context of community health care, scenarios in the Afya project as a socially grounded planning and design methodology have taken the form of personal narratives of Black women that capture their social experiences and typical problematic health situations. Scenarios of Black women point towards the need to foster social justice by nurturing equitable and participative social activities around technological development and use associated with health information services. Scenarios also suggest specific action-oriented strategies for empowering Black women to build social and digital technologies that we hope will make the provision of health care in our community more just.