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A Sense of Control: Virtual Communities for People with Mobility Impairments

Christine M Tilley, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia

 - draws on the author’s wide-ranging experience of ICT and disability
 - provides practical and realistic recommendations to real-world problems

This work develops a theoretical framework for a virtual community for people with long-term, severe mobility disabilities. It proposes strategies for implementing a virtual community model based on user information needs. The central theme to emerge from their narratives is how the use of information and communications technology (ICT) allows them to regain a sense of control. The conclusion is that the technology provides strategies for independence and facilitates self-empowerment.

ISBN 1 84334 521 8
ISBN-13: 978 1 84334 521 3
October 2008
308 pages  234 x 156mm  paperback  
£39.95 / US$70.00 / €50.00

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£59.95 / US$100.00 / €75.00

About the author

Dr Christine Tilley is an Associate of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia. Furthermore, she has served as an advisor and board member on many library, information technology and disability committees. Her research work included (ICT) and disability, information literacy and information use.

Contents

Communication, information and well-being for people with disabilities
 - History
 - What do we need to take the agenda forward?
 - Telecommunications, information, well-being and disabled people
 - Key elements of the well-being model through a virtual community

Virtual communities’ research – the perspective
 - Refining the virtual community definition
 - Characteristics and functions of virtual communities
 - Major virtual community pioneers
 - Different models of virtual communities

Governments’ policies, legislative and telecommunications regulatory frameworks and information policy
 - Types of relevant legislation and government initiatives
 - Telecommunications initiatives and progress
 - Information policies

Information needs research for people with disabilities
 - Information literacy research
 - Overview of the digital divide literature
 - Information needs and the poor
 - A model of social information needs for people with disabilities

Deconstructing the narratives of people with physical disabilities – towards a well-being model for a successful virtual community
 - Emergence and identification of themes and concepts
 - ‘A sense of control’ and its centrality in the emerging well-being model
 - Cornerstones of a virtual community for people with disabilities
 - Barriers
 - Emerging theory or model

Findings from the narratives of the allied health/information/policy professionals – confirming the relevance of the emerging well-being model
 - Emergence and identification of themes and concepts
 - Central theme: ‘a sense of control’
 - Themes and concepts shared by the professional interviewees
 - Infrastructure barriers to participation for people with disabilities
 - Emerging theory or well-being model
 - Methodological evaluation
 - Conclusion

Model construction
 - Potential implications of the results – the consolidation of the emergent well-being model
 - Opportunities and challenges of the six types of e-communities
 - Refining the theory

Future directions for virtual communities for people with physical disabilities
 - How may the investigation outcomes be interpreted?
 - Recommendations
 - How does this investigation measure up against the criteria for assessing grounded theory?
 - Generalisability
 - How does this investigation contribute to understanding virtual communities for people with disabilities?
 - Proposed further studies

Appendices
 - Appendix I: Synopses of participants
 - Appendix II: Data analysis sample
 - Appendix III: Glossary

References, legislation and websites
 - References
 - Legislation
 - Websites