MULTI-MEDIA CANCER PREVENTION DATABASE

THIS GRANT SEEKS TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF PROVIDING AN INTERACTIVE MULTI-MEDIA PRESENTATION METHODOLOGY FOR CANCER PREVENTION INFORMATION THAT CAN INFLUENCE CHANGES IN BEHAVIOR. WE PLAN TO EMPLOY NEWLY DEVELOPED TECHNOLOGIES TO ENHANCE THE PRESENTATION OF INFORMATION FROM SOMETHING CONVENTIONAL TO SOMETHING EXCITING, FROM SOMETHING HUMDRUM TO SOMETHING THAT CAPTURES THE IMAGINATION OF A GENERATION ACCUSTOMED TO VISUAL, PARTICIPATIVE ACTIVITY. POWERFUL COMPUTERS, REGARDED AS RECENTLY AS TWO DECADES AGO WITH SOME DEGREE OF AWE AND ACCESSIBLE ONLY BY A FEW HIGHLY TRAINED PEOPLE WITH SPECIFIC MISSIONS ARE NOW COMMONPLACE AND INEXPENSIVE ENOUGH TO PUT IN THE FIRST-GRADE CLASSROOM. CD-ROM TECHNOLOGY, WHICH PROVIDES STORAGE OF VAST AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION AT A COST THAT IS AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE LESS THAN THAT OF PAPER, PERMITS THE CAPACITY TO STORE THE AUDIO TRACKS, GRAPHICS, ANIMATION AND FULL-MOTION VIDEO THAT MAKE INTERACTIVE HYPERMEDIA PRODUCTS POSSIBLE. AN IDEAL APPLICATION OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES IS IN THE REALM OF INFORMATION PROVISION, SPECIFICALLY INFORMATION RELATED TO CANCER PREVENTION. THE GOAL OF PROVIDING THIS INFORMATION IS DISSIMILAR TO MANY OTHER INFORMATION DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES; RATHER THAN DELIVERING THE DATA FOR WHICH SOMEONE IS ACTIVELY SEEKING BECAUSE OF AN ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED PERSONAL OR BUSINESS NEED, SUCH A SYSTEM MUST PROVIDE DATA THAT CAN INDUCE THE RECIPIENT TO CHANGE BEHAVIOR MODES, OFTEN ANTITHETICALLY TO PERCEIVED NEEDS/DESIRES.