This website was created for a class at the UCLA Department of Library and Information Studies. The class, IS 289: Information Services in Culturally Diverse Communities, had five purposes:
1. To explore the challenges of providing information services in a multicultural and multiracial society,
2. To understand the ethnic, linguistic, and racial factors which create those challenges,
3. To determine the cultural diversity and information needs of user communities,
4. To develop strategies for providing appropriate services, and
5. To chart the role of information institutions in promoting cultural diversity and preserving ethnic heritage.
One of the assignments for the class was to "produce a tool or program that will address the information needs of your target community. It may address any aspect of information services or professional training."
I chose not to focus on one specific community, choosing instead the multicultural community as a whole for this assignment. I am fully aware that there are cultural groups that have not been included in this website--due to time constraints and lack of available information resources, I could not include everything that I wanted. To fulfill this assignment, I decided to create a website that would address two aspects of culture and health:
1. Health information geared towards specific races, ethnicities, and cultures.If you are aware of any sites that should be included, or any sites that should be removed, please feel free to e-mail me or go to my feedback page.
2. Cultural information geared towards health professionals that would address specific cultural practices and beliefs that health care workers should be aware when helping people from those cultures.
-Rebecca Smallwood