February, 2010

Finding Information at MASSWMI.ORG

Webmaster's Note: To help people navigate the Michigan Association of School Social Workers’ website (masswmi.org), I will periodically be sending out an article on website tips. Today's article explores the search feature and the new index. Please note that any items in blue are direct links to the pages being discussed. It is important that you log in first before you click on these links.

Article
Not sure of where to find something on the MASSW Website?  Y'know you saw something once, but now you're frustrated because you can't find it?  

Today, we're going to explore two features on MASSWMI.ORG, the search feature and the new index feature.  We'll also talk briefly about the Meeting Place Discussion Forum.

Index

The new INDEX can be found at this button:

While you will see it when you first go on to the website, you will need to first log in to use it. 

You may also access the Index on the left side in the Member's Menu (once you have logged in).

Once you are in the index, you will see an alphabet at the top of the page.  Click on the first letter of your search topic.  For example, if you were looking for resources about Positive Behavior Support, then click on the letter P.  The screen will scroll-down to the P section and you will see three different links to Positive Behavior Support page.  One is a resource page, the next is the state manual, and the third is the state policy.  Simply click on the one that is of interest to you.

Search Site Feature:

The SEARCH SITE FEATURE can be found in the upper right hand corner of the page.  To have the most benefit of the feature, make sure you have logged in first.

Once you have logged in, type in the term that best describes what you are looking for.  Let's take Positive Behavior Support. (You'll notice it will stop at 20 characters.  So it will search for Positive Behavior.) Once you've typed it in, then click on SEARCH SITE.  The search feature will look for any article or title that contains the words Positive and Behavior.  You should see that about 11 pages will show up. Scroll down until you see the page that you think will meet your needs.  Then click on that link.

Note that if you wanted, you could have tried to search for PBS.  The search would have narrowed the choices slightly.  When you don't find what you're looking for, try to come up with another term.

MEETING PLACE Discussion Forum:

The Meeting Place Discussion Forum is a place for members to ask/answer questions and post resources.  You will find the link on the left side of your screen (once you have logged in).

This area of our website can be very overwhelming, but there are two tools that will help you. The first is the categories link at the top of the page.  It features a table of contents. Simply click on an area of interest, and you should go to that page.  

The other feature is the SEARCH FORUM.  It works similar to the website search.  Simply type in your term and click on GO. 

OTHER MEETING PLACE Features:

Three basic commands will allow you to post on the Discussion Forum. Click on NEW THREAD to start a new topic or idea.  Click on REPLY to answer someone else's comment or question. Click on SUBSCRIBE to be notified by e-mail if someone replied to your message.

New topics will be added each month. 

We are in need of Moderators.  Moderators are people who run a discussion board.  They check their forum a few times a week to see if someone has posted.  If someone has posted, they do what they can to have someone reply. For example, suppose you were the Autism Board Moderator because you felt you knew a lot about Autism. Let's say someone posted a question about social stories.  You could answer the question yourself, or e-mail some people that you felt could help and ask them to reply.  It is very simple and requires a time commitment of 15-30 minutes a week.

If you are interested, please e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We'll, that's all for this month.  What are you doing next month to celebrate Social Work Month?  Post your answers at: http://masswmi.org/meeting-place/10-questions/102-how-are-you-celebrating-sw-month.html

As always, thank you for your continued support of the MASSW.

Sincerely,

Steve Whitmore

PS . Problems logging in?  Remember that all user name account passwords were reset to "welcome" on Thanksgiving weekend.  If you have not logged in since then, please try your user name with your password as "welcome"  If you still have problems, don't worry. Just e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .