Geographic Information Systems for Seniors at Public Libraries

Presenters: Yijun Gao, Amanda Herrmann, and Faliang Zhang

Abstract:

The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been widely adopted by government agencies, researchers, and real estate businesses. These GIS applications have effectively visualized a vast amount of public data and then improved the accessibility of information services.

However, there are few successful GIS applications developed by/for the public libraries in the Chicago Area. The most popular ones are still those displaying branch locations on a Google Map. More importantly, there is no public health-oriented GIS application for the growing senior population, who are desperately in need of these accessible information services.

Therefore, our proposed study will try to address the following research questions:

1. With the help of GIS, how can the public libraries help to improve seniors’ preparedness for the seasonal Flu and unexpected cases like the outbreaks of Coronavirus?
2. Will the GIS services improve the accessibility of the Library websites?

First, we will discuss the availability of Flu and Coronavirus outbreak-related information provided by public libraries in the Chicago Area. Then, we will examine public data sets on these issues from the same region. Finally, we will explore strategies for libraries to utilize public data and create useful GIS applications for seniors.

The proposed research in progress poster is a pilot study of our research on improving senior services in public libraries before, during and after public health related or other emergency events. It will also help public libraries improve the accessibility of their services.

Poster in MS PowerPoint format

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