The Social Worker's Internet Handbook

by Grant, Gary B.; Grobman, Linda May

• ISBN13: 9780965365352
• ISBN10: 0965365352
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-08-01
• Publisher: White Hat Communications

Author Biography

Gary B. Grant is Associate Dean for External Affairs at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. Linda May Grobman, ACSW, LSW, is editor and publisher of The New Social Worker, the national magazine for social work students and recent graduates.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Introduction to the Internet
Why Should Social Workers Care About the Internet?	p. 1
The Internet	p. 5
What is the Internet	p. 5
How it All Started	p. 5
How the Internet Works	p. 6
Who Runs the Internet	p. 7
Internet Demographics	p. 7
Internet Applications	p. 8
Getting Connected	p. 11
Computer and Monitor	p. 11
Modem/ISDN Line	p. 12
Telephone Line	p. 13
Internet Service Provider	p. 13
Communications and Other Software	p. 13
Internet Telephone	p. 15
E-Mail	p. 17
How E-Mail Works	p. 17
Benefits of Using E-Mail	p. 18
Deciphering an E-Mail Address	p. 19
Finding an E-Mail Address	p. 20
Signatures	p. 20
Emoticons	p. 20
Security and Confidentiality	p. 21
Mailing Lists and Usenet Newsgroups	p. 23
Mailing Lists	p. 23
Usenet Newsgroups	p. 25
How to Participate in a Newsgroup	p. 26
How New Newsgroups Are Started	p. 26
The World Wide Web	p. 27
Anatomy of a URL	p. 29
How to Open, Bookmark, and Print Web Pages	p. 30
Frames	p. 31
The Cache File	p. 31
Savvy Searching	p. 31
Search Engine or Directory?	p. 33
Web Rings	p. 36
Ethical, Legal, and Personal Issues	p. 37
Netiquette	p. 38
Legal Issues	p. 39
Personal Issues	p. 41
That's It?	p. 45
Specific Social Work Uses of the Internet
Introduction to Social Work on the Internet	p. 49
Professional Development and Connecting to an Internet Social Work Community	p. 53
Online Conferences and Continuing Education	p. 53
Online Professional Communities and Professional Organizations	p. 54
Networking	p. 58
Online Journals	p. 61
Networking and Finding Resources Through Online Services	p. 65
America Online	p. 65
Prodigy	p. 68
CompuServe	p. 68
Making a Decision	p. 69
Staying Linked, Online	p. 71
Using the Internet With and On Behalf of Clients	p. 73
Learning About One's Condition or Needs	p. 74
Life Skill Resources Online	p. 76
Client Networking	p. 77
Examples	p. 80
Finding Referral Resources	p. 81
Clinical Social Work, Computers, and Cyberspace	p. 83
Keeping in Touch	p. 83
Making Difficult Communication Less Painful	p. 83
A New Medium	p. 84
Referrals	p. 85
Support Groups	p. 85
Online Promotion	p. 85
Finding Information	p. 86
Convenience	p. 86
Novelty	p. 86
Caveats	p. 87
Ethics and Other Problems of Social Work Online	p. 89
Do Social Work and the Internet Mix?	p. 89
Competence	p. 90
Confidentiality	p. 90
Informed Consent	p. 92
Online Therapy	p. 94
Online Group Concerns	p. 95
Plagiarism and Copyright Violation	p. 96
Codes of Ethics Online	p. 96
Ethics Under Construction	p. 97
Fund-Raising Online	p. 99
Educating Yourself About Fund-Raising	p. 99
Creative Fund-Raising Ideas	p. 100
Prospect Research	p. 100
Finding Funding Sources	p. 101
News, Articles, and Publications On Fund-Raising and Philanthropy	p. 101
Using E-Mail to Attract and Solicit Support	p. 101
Using a Web Site to Attract and Solicit Support	p. 104
Social Policy and Advocacy Online	p. 105
Getting the Word Out About Your Advocacy Efforts	p. 108
Conclusion	p. 112
Job Search on the Internet	p. 113
Where to Start	p. 114
Making Contact	p. 114
Employment Search Sites	p. 116
Finding Internships	p. 117
The Long-Distance Approach	p. 117
Publishing Resumes on the WWW	p. 117
Social Work Education and Research	p. 121
Exploring Social Work Schools Through the Internet	p. 121
Using the Internet in Your Social Work Studies	p. 124
Social Work Student Interactions	p. 130
For Faculty: Using the Internet for Teaching, Scholarship, and Breaching the Ivory Towers	p. 131
The Social Work School Administrator: Connectivity to Colleagues	p. 135
The Social Work Graduate	p. 135
Publishing on the Web	p. 137
Advantages of Publishing on the Web	p. 139
Potential Uses of Web Publishing	p. 139
Disadvantages of Web Publishing	p. 139
HTML? What's That?	p. 140
If You Build It, Will They Come?	p. 140
Once They Come, Will They Come Again?	p. 140
Going Online	p. 141
Domain Names	p. 144
Obtaining a Domain Name	p. 145
Web Publishing in Action	p. 146
Some Final Considerations	p. 147
Web Publishing Resources	p. 147
More Web Page Design Tips	p. 148
A Simple, Sample Web Page	p. 149
Human Behavior in the Cyber Environment	p. 153
What Barriers Are There to Objectively Evaluating the Risks of the Internet?	p. 153
So What is the Internet Community Really Like?	p. 154
How Do People "Meet" or Encounter One Another Online?	p. 155
Do People Take On Different Online Personas?	p. 156
Overuse of the Internet	p. 157
Pornography and Other Controversial Content Available Online	p. 158
Privacy Online	p. 159
Conclusion	p. 160
Afterword: Where Do We Go From Here?	p. 161
Reviews of Web Sites of Interest to Social Workers	p. 165
Adoption	p. 165
Aging	p. 165
AIDS	p. 167
Books/Bookstores Online	p. 167
Children and Youth	p. 168
Community	p. 171
Corrections	p. 171
Death and Dying	p. 172
Disabilities	p. 172
Disaster/Humanitarian Relief	p. 173
Disease-Specific Organizations	p. 174
Employment	p. 175
Families	p. 176
Funding	p. 178
Gay/Lesbian	p. 178
Government Sites	p. 179
Health Care	p. 182
Higher Education	p. 184
Homelessness/Housing	p. 185
Hunger	p. 185
Internet Search Engines and Directories	p. 186
Men's Issues	p. 187
Mental Health	p. 187
Non-Profit/Association Management	p. 190
Personal Web Pages	p. 191
Publications	p. 191
Race/Ethnicity	p. 195
Religion-Sponsored	p. 196
Research--General	p. 197
Research--Professional	p. 199
Social Justice/Activism	p. 200
Social Work--General	p. 203
Social Work Licensing/Credentials	p. 205
Social Work Organizations	p. 205
Substance Abuse	p. 208
Support/Self-Help	p. 209
Technology	p. 209
Veterans/Military	p. 210
Violence	p. 211
Volunteerism	p. 212
Women	p. 213
State Home Pages on the World Wide Web	p. 215
My Internet Bookmarks	p. 217
My Internet Projects	p. 219
Glossary	p. 221
Additional Reading Resources	p. 227
Index	p. 229
Alphabetical Index of Reviews	p. 232
About the Authors/About the Contributors	p. 236
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