Fall 2007 Project

Health Info (for non-literate populations): This semester I will be working with SLIS Professor Padmini Srinivasan on a project that will provide a variety of users with health information.  We will be creating what Professor Srinivasan has called "a living document" by making the information in one work customizable for a variety of audiences.  We will use XML markup on health books (made freely available from the Hesperian Foundation) to make this possible.

The final product might include:

•     Text (in a variety of languages) marked-up with DocBook
•     Audio, read by native-speakers
•     Images customized for particular cultures or generalized for all audiences
  
•     Video clips
•     An output method which will allow a user to choose not only the format (paper, audio only, computer...) but also the content (by section, chapter, difficulty level, or topic) which they want to include.

The plan for the first semester of the project includes:

• Create a prototype consisting of two chapters in Spanish and English with audio (I will be working on this).
  
• Create a prototype for the output and distribution procedures (another student, Jared Price, is working on this part).
• Connect with partners who are also interested in working on the project.
• Apply for funding for the project.
• We are thinking about submitting a paper about our experiences for a conference next March.