Mashup for HIV/AIDS Awareness

Part of the AIDS.gov KnowledgeSite

What is a Mashup? Mashups occur when information from multiple sources such as videos, blog posts and other content are combined in a new way. Forrester Research has reported that mashups are becoming increasingly popular. People use online software such as ZeeMaps and Dapper to quickly create mash-ups. For those interested in learning exactly how to develop a mashup, ProgrammableWeb offers tutorials on the topic.

AIDS.gov has identified mashups as an effective means of helping people searching for services and information find help. The agency suggests that mashups can be used to:

Connect HIV positive people to services
Post HIV-related employment news
Host candlelight memorials
Illustrate the impact of HIV communities of color
Track disease outbreak information

Following are a few mashups focusing on HIV/AIDS and other public health issues that AIDS.gov views as especially instructive:

AIDSportal – Global HIV/AIDS knowledge sharing and networking site
International AIDS Candlelight Memorial – Global Health Council mobilization campaign
Health Care That Works – highlights impact of recent hospital closures on communities
Healthmap – combines various data sources for complete look at global health state
New York City Coalition Against Hunger -- interactive maps of food resources in New York City
Who is Sick? – shows sickness information in various geographic areas

Additional Resources:

What are mashups? AIDS.gov blog. December, 2008. http://blog.aids.gov/downloads/toolkit_mashups.pdf
Forrester Research article by G. Oliver Young. May 6, 2008. http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,44213,00.html

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