The NGS makes use of many new media tools to popularise themselves. Examples are:

• Flash based website
• Social media
• FAQ section
• Videos
• Upcoming Events

History

In 2002, Commuity Addictions Management Programme (CAMP) was launched by the Institute of Mental Health.  CAMP managed to treat 1000 patients per year in its first five years.  The National Addictions Management Service was founded in August 2008 to cope with the growing demand of individuals with addiction problems.

Their Mission

• Provide high quality, accessible and affordable care that is evidence-based and localised to suit our population.
• Educate and engage the public on addiction prevention and treatment.
• Reduce stigma and barriers to seeking treatment.
• Raise standards of care through training and education.
• We will treat patients and their families with respect, dignity and fairness.
• We believe in treating the whole person in recovery, and not just the disease of addiction.
• We believe that any patient who desires to change can change with the appropriate support and resources.

Their Values

What do they do?

NAMS provides services that treat problem gambling and behavioral problems, such as internet and gaming addiction.  They also treat substance addiction, like drugs and alcohol.  The services they provide are:

Assessment and treatment of addictive disorders by a multi-disciplinary team of psychiatrists, counsellors, psychologists, and social workers

• Individual, group and family therapy
• Public education talks
• Training for health care and service staff
• Development of community services and programmes
• Addiction research

Who are their clients?

The NAMS serves a variety of clients, such as:

• Gambling addicts
• Drug addicts
• Computer/Internet addicts
• People who come for detoxification and rehabilitation

Current Situation

Web presence

The NAMS does not have much web presence.  A simple search on Google for help for problem gambling in Singapore yields only one result about the NAMS, and it is not prominently displayed at the top.  Instead, it is somewhere at the bottom.  In addition to not having any Web 2.0 components, like hosted services and web applications, they do not provide any new media tools.  For example, they do not possess a Facebook group, and they do not have any animations on their website.  However, they do allow you to download some educational files, meant to enlighten their possible clients on the symptoms of their problems.

Is their website Effective and practical?

We feel that the website is effective and practical, because it is easy to find the gambling and addiction helplines.  The website also provides a lot of information on the various types of addictions.  It is also possible to download educational materials on gambling and other addictions.

Is the website up to date?

Yes.  They have recently launched a new outpatient clinic in the IMH, and they have uploaded pictures on their website, presumably to show their potential clients the new facilities available.

What’s lacking

In our opinion, there are a few things lacking in this website. For example:

• They lack flash animations
• They do not possess any form of social media.  They have no links to Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• They do not have live chat, where some members of staff communicate with potential clients via instant messaging.
• It is currently impossible to contact them via email, because they do not show it prominently on their website.  They do not even have a “Contact Us” page.
• They do not use good grammar.
• GamCare in the United Kingdom.

Are there Other similar organizations?

• National Council on Problem Gambling in Singapore.

The NAMS offers serivces for both in and out-patients.

Outpatients:

• Regular consultation with staff to help monitor addictions and help to control it.
• Offers help for adolesence, gambling, drugs/alcohol and family issues.

Inpatients:

• Staying in the compound, with medical care, councelling and psychoeducation.
• Offers help for detoxification and rehabilitation for those who have abused drugs and alcohol.

This organisation is good as it helps people who want to control their addictions to actually start with their decisions, and this organisation will also continually monitor their patients to ensure that they are having a healthy recovery from their addictions.

The NAS keeps government records, historical maps, photography and even audio and video media of the past. They are responsible for collecting, managing and preserving these artifacts, of which some dates back to the early 1900s.

There are many services provided by  NAS.

1. Records Management and Preservation – Keeping of government and other important records for future references and use.
2. Provide access of the information to the public – There is a library opened to the public, where people are able to visit and do their reserch.
3. Sharing knowledge through trainings – They conduct trainings to companies, giving seminars on using conserved information. Also, they conduct tours through NAS, showing people the fundimentals of archival conservation.
4. Archives Conservation Services – Professionals of paper and audio visual conservation, it is opened to the public. With a sum of money, the NAS will be able to help preserve personal archives too.

The NAS uses different kinds of media to help promote information conservation and the importance of it to the public. One example of a Web 2.0 technology is their internet exhibition website, located at http://www.a2o.com.sg/a2o/public/html/online_exhibit/index.jsp. The public is able to access these websites at home to learn more about different historical happenings. Also, these online exhibitions are an interactive version of their roadshows and school exhibitions.

The NAS also has the a2o gateway which keeps the subscribers informed about recent activity of NAS, and their exhibitions. There are newsletters, and even online research information avaliable on a2o. This will greatly facilitate people who do constant research at the archive.

• Change of website trends – Due to the advancement of techonology and social networking on the internet, websites nowadays tend to use different ways of advertising themselves than before. Facebook, Twitter
• Coping with a variety of designs from client – Must be creative and at the same time responsible to deliver the projects to the clients on time, and with quality.
• Social media in website – By incoperating social media into websites, it is easier to generate more traffic as these social medias like twitter and facebook helps to attract more people to the website.
• Difference between a freelance website developer and website agency – The difference is that confidence can be placed on the agency for getting the job done by the deadline, while freelancers might not be able to submit projects on time.
• Money and time is needed to bring in traffic – Advertisement is needed to make a website popular. Either by paying others to advertise the website for you, or by doing it yourself, posting in forums which takes up a lot of itme.

Things that inspired me from this lecture:

• The variety of websites created by the speaker inspires me to be more creative
• To have a greater interest in web design and creation
• To have a job that I am interested in so that I’ll be able to enjoy it

It is useful to have a guest speaker who is able to share his experience in the industry of web design as we are able to know more about the industry, and how having a job like this is like.

Fig1.1

In the past, blogs were just used as online journals, where people frequently wrote dated enteries sharing about themselves. Blogs were, and still is a tool to help people connect with each other. By reading a another person’s blog, you will be able to know what are the latest happenings in the author’s life, an effective way of getting updates about someone whom you are not able to meet everyday. Blogs are also a good way of keeping in touch, as one is able to link a blog to another. An example of blog links is shown in brown in Fig 1.1. Tag boxes are also able to be put in blogs to allow blog visitors to comment on the author’s post, or just to drop a message to the author. The tag box is shown surrounded by blue in Fig 1.1.

Fig 1.2

As the popularity of blogs increases over the years, so has the uses of blogs evolve. Now, blogs are used not just for personal online journals, but also for entertainment and information updates. For example, a blog that hosts reviews on computing products “jkkmobile”, having regular updates on new mobile devices and techonology. These blogs also feature pictures and videos in their articles, making it really interactive and comprehensive. Examples of these links are shown in purple in Fig 1.2. To some extent, blogs can be more effective compared to monthly periodicals, since viewers are able to access it the moment it is posted, and it is avaliable globally, free of charge.

Many companies are now making use of blogs for advertisements due to the large market. Since blogs are usually visited by people regularly, these  companies are able ensure that their advertisements are regularly visited, and most probably clicked on. These companies also give a commision to the blog’s owner who hosts their advertisements. Examples of advertisements in blogs can be seen highlighted in red in Fig 1.2.

According to the article “Blogging for cash”, most of the ways of earning money through blogging is by advertising or sponsorship. Thus, one must be good at writing as well as knowledgable about a topic, which is of high interest among people. With these, the blog will be visited by a large amount of people around the world, and will be able to succeed in getting a sponsorship for the blog. Some of these experts have taken up blogging as their main source of income, getting paid by the advertisements they host in their sites. This is an innovative way of ‘working’, since it is their interest, and it is fun for them.

I feel that blogging is a good example of new media, where posts can be made instantly, viewed from anywhere which has an internet access, is interactive, and able to communicate with the author. Since I do not blog often, reading these articles about blogging helped me to broaden my knowledge about blogs, and help me appreciate more about the website that this post is posted in today.

Articles:

http://www.freelancermagazine.com/blogging-for-cash/

http://www.blogherald.com/2005/03/06/a-short-history-of-blogging/

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/05/16/5-emerging-trends-in-blogging/

Pictures:

Fig 1.1, http://designer-iit.blogspot.com

Fig 1.2, http://jkkmobile.blogspot.com

I got to know a few new media terms which i was not familiar with before this lesson. I find that having an activity like this is good as it will also help us to broaden our knowledge about new media.