Human Services in the Information Age

Human Services in the Information Age offers those working in the human services the opportunity to gain worldwide perspective and insight on information technology and the quality of life and services. In this compilation, writers from several different countries, including India, Israel, Rumania, and the Czech Republic, offer valuable, diverse, and geographically representative information on the development of access to electronic networks throughout the world. Readers will learn how many agencies and people are taking up the challenge to use information technology to improve the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of the services they provide. Human Services in the Information Age asserts that we live in a world of information insiders and information outsiders. It urges human services workers to realize that the success of their work will ultimately depend on the extent to which they have recreated and moulded new, extraordinary technology to serve and meet human needs. Topics covered include:

empowerment and disability through technology--shows ways in which human service workers have to act outside the traditional human service arenas if they are to meet the challenge of ensuring that technology empowers people.
learning and educational technology in social work--details the current state of development of the use of educational technology in social work by presenting different conceptual approaches to the use of educational technology.
broadening communications--discusses assisting and enabling people to communicate via technology to achieve their personal goals or social aims.
the use of computers for assessment and direct provision of human services--confronts a series of tensions, contradictions, and dilemmas for developers and practitioners.
the current, state-of-the-art on client information systems--presents the major issues of organizational influences and integration.
the relationship between social work and new information technology--explains the expected change in information technology in the coming years and its effect on knowledge development within the social work profession.Authors in Human Services in the Information Age presented their work at the Human Service Information Technology Applications (HUSITA) 3 Conference in Maastrict, The Netherlands. Over 400 participants from 56 countries, including Europe, North America, Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia gathered to share experiences, research findings, and information and to discuss important developments in the field. Human Services in the Information Age is concerned with issues of empowerment within and between societies and will help professionals narrow the gap between the information rich and the information poor. Aimed primarily at those already interested in the human services field, this book will be of special value to human service professionals, academics, and students in schools of social work.