Virtual Volunteering Research Articles

OPERATING IN A COVID-19 ENVIRONMENT FROM SHUT DOWN TO REOPENING: INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

OPERATING IN A COVID-19 ENVIRONMENT FROM SHUT DOWN TO REOPENING: INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Virtual volunteers: the importance of restructuring medical volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic

Healthcare systems have postponed medical volunteering services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, much of the aid provided by these volunteers is crucial to patient care and hospital functioning...

COVID-19 and its Impact on Volunteering: Moving Towards Virtual Volunteering

These unprecedented times due to the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted the everyday lives of individuals. A particular activity impacted by this pandemic is leisure. Within leisure, an important activity to enhance social outcomes (e.g., civic participation) and the survival of organizations and events is volunteering. However, and given social distancing measures and the combination of postponements or cancelations of organizational or event operations, the traditional form of in-person volunteering is threatened. The purpose of this essay is to discuss opportunities and challenges for organizations and events to apply virtual volunteering as a strategy during the pandemic and beyond. Both opportunities (i.e., creating accessibility) and challenges (i.e., management process) are discussed according to pertinent literature. From this, an understanding of virtual volunteering’s value to create leisure opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond is presented to advance its implementation in organization and events by leisure practitioners.

An Exploration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Volunteerism in North American Social Service Organizations

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) volunteers engage in service to social service organizations as a form of sociopolitical involvement, activism, and connection to the LGBTQ and broader communities. This study explored LGBTQ motivations for volunteerism, assessed using the Volunteer Functions Inventory, which measures the reason why people volunteer, including improving social ties, enhancing altruistic values, and gaining greater understanding of the needs of the community served by the social service organization. Using an exploratory design with an American and Canadian convenience sample of LGBTQ-identified volunteers (N = 179), findings of the study showed the desire for socialization and a better understanding of the target community were the strongest predictors of attrition for these volunteers. Future research recruiting LGBTQ volunteers of more diverse social, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds and emerging forms of volunteering, such as virtual volunteering, will help strengthen understanding of LGBTQ volunteerism as a means of community engagement.

Harnessing crowdsourcing for scholarly and GLAM purposes

AbstractFull text search is vital to research of many kinds, but automatically creating transcriptions of most handwritten materials and ornate print is not yet technologically achievable. Even companies that have invested heavily in Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and search optimization, such as Alphabet (Google's parent company), have yet to make (or make widely available) technology for parsing handwritten or ornate text. Crowdsourcing conducted by scholars and cultural heritage practitioners offers an opportunity for us to engage with a diverse public who are interested in transcribing historical, literary, and other documents, in order to advance human knowledge. Crowdsourcing is a great vehicle for engaging students of all walks of life, with primary sources. Virtual volunteers all around the world are eager to learn and contribute to the vast project of making the world's textual records more widely accessible, not only for search, but for those, such as blind and partially sighted people, who use screen readers.

Online Volunteering, A Way to Reduce Health Inequalities: A review study

Introduction: Volunteering is a way for community participation and involving local social capital. Volunteering has potential to enhance wellbeing and reducing health inequalities. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of online volunteering on people well-being and reducing inequalities. Methods: In this narrative review, using related keywords 326 studies found in the initial search in PubMed, Sage, Springer, Google Scholar, Elsevier, PsycINFO and finally 57 studies selected for review. Results: The study found that virtual volunteering in organizations is a combination of offline and online volunteering, and fewer volunteers are online volunteering. One of the main features of online volunteering is the maximum use of time, and reduces travel time; this type of volunteering can be done 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Online volunteering can involve all people, including young people, the elderly, people with disabilities and disadvantaged groups and minorities, and one of the main benefits of this type of volunteering is that many people who cannot attend the organization can participate this way, volunteer services will be provided, as well as racial and ethnic discrimination in this type of volunteering can be reduced. Conclusion: Although online volunteering is developing globally, volunteer-based organizations have not yet adopted their strategies, rules and procedures for new volunteers. It seems online volunteering will also enable different groups to participate in activities and promote the health of different groups. Keywords: Online Volunteering, Volunteer Organizations, Online advocacy, Health Inequality

Prepare Your Organization for Virtual Volunteers

Prepare Your Organization for Virtual Volunteers

Encourage Onsite Visits for Virtual Volunteers

The Volunteer Management ReportVolume 21, Issue 12 p. 4-4 Nurture Your Volunteers Encourage Onsite Visits for Virtual Volunteers First published: 21 November 2016 https://doi.org/10.1002/vmr.30532Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume21, Issue12December 2016Pages 4-4 RelatedInformation

Digital Humanitarians

Eyewitness user-generated content has dominated the study of citizen journalism in crisis and conflict zones. However, the convergence of online networked technologies, like social media, collaborative mapping and real-time information management, gives ordinary people the capacity to commit acts of journalism from afar. Networks of virtual volunteers act as digital humanitarians who rapidly assemble situational awareness at the onset of natural and human-caused disasters through crowdsourcing, data analysis and crisis mapping to aid on-the-ground emergency response. While they have been studied through the multi-disciplinary lens of information science, computation, geography and emergency management, digital humanitarians have received little attention in the journalism literature. This exploratory study contends that the knowledge-based content produced by these groups is citizen journalism akin to data-driven investigative news. Two case studies and a cross-case analysis consider this argument through digital humanitarian work of the Standby Task Force on the 2015 European refugee crisis and the 2016 earthquake in Ecuador. These and other emerging crisis/conflict zone examples suggest a broader perspective is needed on citizen journalism not bounded by eyewitness user-generated content. Future research directions to explore digital humanitarianism as a form of citizen journalism are also offered.

Take Ten to Tag! Smithsonian Gardens Public Tagging Initiative

Over the past few years, the Smithsonian Institution Collections Search Center has made significant strides in engaging online users through crowdsourcing initiatives. In this article the author will examine a month-long project in which the Smithsonian Gardens, a unit within the Smithsonian, focused on promoting the Archives of American Garden's digitized images in the attempts to encourage Smithsonian Garden's stakeholders to apply user generated metadata or public tags to catalog records metadata. In just one month, the Smithsonian Gardens demonstrated how much can be accomplished when resources are focused on outreach efforts. The challenge remains in trying to sustain contributions from virtual volunteers.

From Seva to Cyberspace: The Many Faces of Volunteering in India

From Seva to Cyberspace: The Many Faces of Volunteering in India. By Femida Handy, Meenaz Kassam, Sharjah Jillian Ingold, & Bhagyashree Ranade. New Delhi, India: SAGE Publications India, 2011. 251 pp. ISBN 9788132106982.From Seva to Cyberspace: The Many Faces of Volunteering in India by Femida Handy, Meenaz Kassam, Sharjah Jillian Ingold, and Bhagyashree Ranade is a useful addition to the literature on local volunteerism in different countries. The text is authored by scholars who have a deep understanding of volunteering in countries around the world, including the U.S., Canada, and India. They provide a deep analysis of the religious basis of volunteering in India, report on surveys about volunteering conducted across multiple countries (including India), and discuss case studies that highlight the theories and analysis presented in different chapters.The book's main strength is the way it coherently combines a review of the literature on volunteering, case studies, and an analysis of theories about volunteering in the Indian context. The book is well organized. It begins with a historical overview of volunteering in India, followed by a chapter on defining volunteering in the contemporary context. The subsequent chapters describe volunteers, including youth, corporate employees, and mature adults. It concludes with chapters on religious volunteering, the value of volunteering, and virtual volunteering. The book is well designed, allowing researchers to quickly orient themselves with volunteering in India.The examination of religious influence on volunteering in India is one of the highlights of the book, which provides both a historical and a contemporary analysis of the major role of religion in the country. Religion has a stronger influence on society in India than in countries such as Canada, where a significant percentage of citizens report no religious affiliation. Handy et al. start by explaining the origins of volunteering in India and its basis in religious beliefs, including Hinduism and the practice of charity, Islam and obligatory social duties, and Buddhism and ethical behaviour. In Chapter 6, the authors give a deeper analysis of religious volunteering and its inherent limitations, which include serving only one's own religious community and restricted involvement in more politically charged issues.The volunteering case studies provided at the end of each chapter are also extremely valuable, as they enhance the analysis with a personalized illustration of theory grounded in practice. One example that stands out is the Non Resident Indian Parents Association, a uniquely Indian organization, in Chapter 5. Moreover, the explanatory notes at the end of many of the case studies reconnect the cases to the preceding analysis, effectively providing further subjective rationale in the form of personal stories the chapter's conclusions for the reader.The primary limitation of the book is the small sample size of the surveys and the demographics of the surveyed population, which do not necessarily represent the broad and diverse Indian population. Notwithstanding the limitations of the sample size, the book does include surveys of volunteers, which contribute insight and knowledge to an area where additional empirical research is decidedly required. At the same time, as reported by the authors, a sample size of over 500 adults limits the ability to generalize for all of India, a country with a population of over one billion people. …

Digital detectives and virtual volunteers: Integrating emergent online communities into disaster response operations

The demonstration of altruistic behaviours by disaster survivors, and even those observing emergencies from afar, is well documented. Over the past few decades, government-sponsored crisis planning has evolved to include affiliated volunteer agencies, with a general acknowledgment of the need to plan for unaffiliated or spontaneous volunteers. Just as the understanding of the need for volunteers has grown, so too have the ways in which volunteers are able to donate their time and skills. The popularity of social media networks and online communities provide new ways for the public to get involved in disaster response. Public service agencies should be proactive in investigating these emerging platforms and understanding their impacts during crises. Established methods of integrating on-scene volunteers into post-disaster response operations can be used as templates for creating virtual volunteer programmes.

Virtual Volunteerism: Review of LibriVox and VolunteerMatch (review)

Reviewed by: Virtual Volunteerism: Review of LibriVox and VolunteerMatch Ashley J. Holmes (bio) Virtual Volunteerism: Review of LibriVox and VolunteerMatch As a writing teacher who values service-learning pedagogies and digital literacy, I have often wondered about the possibility of combining the two. On the one hand, the prospect of assigning virtual service-learning eliminates the complications of organizing transportation and finding a time for service that fits the students’ and community partners’ schedules—practical concerns that have been explored in early scholarship on service-learning (Adler-Kassner, Crooks, and Watters; Cushman; Deans; Mathieu). On the other hand, oftentimes the most transformative aspects of service-learning are powerful because students serve local communities in person (Bacon; Goldblatt; Flower; Higgins, Long, and Flower; Long; Parks). However, as Jeffrey T. Grabill claims, community literacy practitioners interested in writing for community action and change “must understand the technologically mediated places where people invent new knowledge” (7). As we consider the ways in which technologies may intersect with our own and our students’ volunteer projects, we must acknowledge the complexities of digital and online spaces—the places where citizens must be able to “access, assemble, and analyze” information to be able to participate in “decision-making processes that affect their lives and communities” (Grabill 8).1 The following review examines two websites that complicate the local and face-to-face components of community literacy work by presenting online service opportunities that are not necessarily connected to physical communities. LibriVox and VolunteerMatch have the potential to enhance and redefine community literacy in a virtual environment, but they also call us to critique the rhetoric surrounding virtual volunteering and to be mindful of the quality of online community experiences. LibriVox (http://librivox.org/) LibriVox is a nonprofit, noncommercial site that seeks to make books in the public domain (e.g., those published prior to 1923) available for free audio download on the Internet. Following the discourse of nonprofit organizations, the site frames its work in terms of “volunteering” and [End Page 91] “donating.” Specifically, LibriVox’s mission involves two efforts: (1) recruiting readers to volunteer their time, technology, and literacy skills to read aloud and audio record books in the public domain, and (2) donating these recorded readings to online listeners in a searchable and downloadable format. With readers of Community Literacy Journal in mind, I review how the site works and how its two purposes—as a site for listeners and a site for volunteer readers—might be of interest for faculty, student, and/or community volunteer projects. As a site for listeners, LibriVox’s catalog of online readings offers a valuable resource for use in the community. Listeners can choose from a range of genres and types of texts; some popular downloads from the site include Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Brazilian Cat,” Albert Einstein’s Relativity: The Special and General Theory, and Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The catalog provides basic options to search texts by title and author, as well as more advanced options to search by language or reader’s name or to simply browse “new releases.” Texts available for download on LibriVox could be used in a number of capacities within community literacy projects, including working with children learning to read, adults studying for their GED, or immigrants learning English. Additionally, some texts are offered in multiple languages, providing yet another alternative for use in the community. In my own experiences with the Literacy Volunteers of Tucson, I could imagine using LibriVox to help speakers of other languages learn English by asking them to listen and then respond to poems or short stories as a means of honing their comprehension skills. However, community literacy projects such as this would require users—volunteers and/or the populations served—to have computer literacy skills and access to technology. Many community literacy projects face challenges with access to and usability of technologies (Grabill). Because of this, LibriVox may be problematic for volunteers and community users alike. Users wishing to listen to readings must be able to subscribe to weekly podcasts, download a zip file of a text, or download a text using the...

Participation of Older Adults in Virtual Volunteering: A Qualitative Analysis

Virtual volunteering can be defined as a type of civic engagement where the volunteers perform their tasks using the Internet either from their home or other offsite locations. Although a comprehensive body of literature can be found concerning older adults’ involvement in traditional face-to-face volunteering, few studies exist on Internet-based volunteering. This study takes the initiative to generate new knowledge on how the Internet can play an active role in facilitating volunteerism among older people. It explores the demographic characteristics, motivation, and types of tasks performed by older adults while volunteering in a virtual environment. Given the emerging support infrastructure to facilitate virtual volunteering among older adults, this study sought to better comprehend the profiles and motivations of older virtual volunteers. In particular, the study wishes to understand if parallels could be drawn between on-site volunteering and online volunteering among older adults. Correspondingly, the study also explores whether participation in virtual volunteering by older adults increased their sense of belonging. A qualitative inquiry is performed to address these issues. This study is an attempt to gather baseline empirical descriptions of these phenomena so that future research has the scope to refine the relevant theories in this field.

An Exploratory Study of Older Adults' Engagement with Virtual Volunteerism

Virtual volunteering refers to the use of the Internet for volunteer services. It is an emerging phenomenon among every age group; however, the current study examines if it is a viable option for older people. Older adults are the fastest growing Internet users. They are also more civic minded than younger generations, thus the purpose of this study is to explore this relatively new area research. Data for this study have been collected using qualitative tools such as semistructured, partly open-ended interviews with older virtual volunteers affiliated with SeniorNet, an organization that facilitates virtual volunteering exclusively for older people. The study ends with suggestions for future research directions. Implications of this study include reconceptualization of virtual volunteering as a strategic tool to recruit older adults and greater usage of information communication technologies to promote civic engagement among older people and, thus, positively influence their health and well-being.

Table of Contents

Abstract Make a Good First Impression Check Out Our Newly Launched Online Jobs Center Placement Procedures Use Open‐ended Questions for Volunteer Interviews Offer Volunteers Options Flexible Volunteer Opportunities Maximize Volunteer Talent Bereavement Volunteers Need Special Care Nurturing Acts Set Aside Correspondence Time Volunteer Training/Education Tailor Volunteer Training to Unique Volunteer Posts Targeted Recruitment Target Boomers With Posters Youth Recognition Opportunities Honor Youth Volunteers for Outstanding Acts of Volunteerism About the Awards Program… Honoring Exceptional Volunteers Scholarship Program Celebrates Young Volunteers Personalize Post‐event Volunteer Notes of Thanks Presentation Tips Premiere Movie Event Offers Red‐carpet Recognition Recruiting Cleanup Teams Find Volunteers to ‘Do the Dirty Work’ Creativity Helps Draw Trashbusting Volunteers Aplenty Volunteer Training, Support Assign Service Partners to Effectively Manage Volunteers Multi‐layered Recognition Recognize Volunteers Every Step of the Way Job Hunting? Fill in the Gaps Keep Virtual Volunteers Close One‐time Opportunities Draw Volunteers Tracking Contacts, Follow‐ups Form Helps Expedite Contact With Prospective Volunteers Organizational Tools Binder Organizes, Simplifies Volunteer Management Communications Tools E‐news and Hot Sheets Take Place of Lengthy Newsletter Seek Free Promo Materials From Local Retailers Lead By Example Offer to Help With Fund Development Efforts Another Way to Help Skill Improvement Challenge Yourself to Improve Your Tour Skills Move From Good to Great Communicate With Staff

Second Life: A Tool for Reference and International Understanding

ABSTRACT The challenges that virtual reference staff volunteers in Second Life (SL) are facing are opportunities at the same time. There are a lot of differences between doing reference work in Real Life (RL) and in SL, but for the most part reference work in-world is quite the same as in the daily life of any reference specialist. In essence, that is. Of course new skills are needed, but this is just for now. In the end, working at a virtual reference desk, especially as one member on a team of international pioneers, is as exciting as it is new!

Student volunteers: why hospitals must invest in their futures

As the current volunteer work force ages, hospitals are faced with the challenge of evolving their student volunteers into active adult volunteers. Engaged student volunteers may be nurtured by the hospital to become future employees, links to the community or potential donors. Currently, retention rates among student volunteers indicate that once the majority of students begin post secondary education, they discontinue their association with the hospital. Using a scientific marketing research approach, this paper addresses three questions aimed at producing a model to increase long‐term retention among student volunteers. Why do seemingly committed volunteers discontinue their association with the hospital? How does the hospital develop a system that allows and encourages students to maintain contact with the hospital? How can a hospital integrate a virtual volunteering model into its traditional volunteering model? The conclusions lead the reader to reassess the way they view student volunteers and strongly encourage the reader to view the students not just as volunteers, but also as long‐term potential active members of the hospital community.

Virtual Volunteering: Online Volunteers Providing Assistance to Human Service Agencies

SUMMARY A growing number of agencies involve volunteers via home or work computers and the Internet. The Virtual Volunteering Project [http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/] has researched and worked with more than 100 organizations involving online volunteers to document the benefits of online service for agencies, volunteers and audiences served, and to disseminate ways agencies can incorporate virtual volunteering into their organizations. This paper describes the Virtual Volunteering Project and summarizes data from a variety of sources that highlight the activities of agencies and volunteers engaged in virtual volunteering and the factors associated with success in virtual volunteering programs.