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GRANT WILL EVALUATE WEB SITE DESIGNED TO BRING YOUNGER AND OLDER GENERATIONS TOGETHER

(Sarasota, FL, June 7, 2005) – Dr. Elizabeth Larkin, associate professor in the College of Education at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, received a $23,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation on behalf of Generations United. The grant is for evaluating the development of an online resource center on Generations United’s Web site allowing access to training, research and expertise.

According to Generations United literature, it is a one-of-a-kind membership organization whose focus is on improving the lives of children, youth and older people through intergenerational strategies, programs, and public policies. Larkin’s grant funds a two-year project based on a proposal she submitted. She will work with a Web site designer developing the site in an effort to draw more visits to it and increase Generations United’s membership base. Larkin designed a data collection process and will evaluate the effectiveness of the online resource center.

The online resource center was developed based on information gathered through an initial survey, and benefits for online resources are nationwide. Information such as grandparents raising children, online chats with experts, research articles and publications, and training opportunities are good resources for intergenerational groups like Big Brothers and Big Sisters, for example. One year into her program, Larkin plans a follow-up survey.

“Generations United is a pioneer,” said Larkin. “They had the first and only online research site for intergenerational studies, with links to other existing programs like the Penn State network of extension services. Through the extension of services Dr. Matt Kaplan at Penn State has posted a curriculum booklet that can be downloaded for free, as well as research articles and recommended Web sites.” The Web site acts as a hub for people, places and activities throughout the United States.

Intergenerational Studies is an emerging area of research and scholarship. Fifteen years ago, Foster Grandparents was one of a few organizations addressing the issues that people readily recognized. Larkin, who has received awards for her intergenerational research from the National Intergenerational Caucus of Early Childhood Professionals and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Suncoast, recently edited “Intergenerational Relationships: Conversations and Practices Across Cultures.” The book has become an important text for educators and students of intergenerational studies, and it illustrates intergenerational perspectives from Europe, Africa and Asia, while providing tools for coping with the complexity of today’s global society. The book discusses two intergenerational categories: relationships in families and relationships in communities.

“Cultures value connections among people of different ages differently, and these relationships are used to address crucial social problems,” Larkin said.

For further information on Generations United, visit www.gu.org. Larkin’s book was published simultaneously as the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, Vol. 2, Nos. 3 and 4, and by The Haworth Press Inc. Copies are available at orders@HaworthPress.com.

USF Sarasota-Manatee is an upper-level campus for those with an associate’s or bachelor’s degree interested in pursuing a baccalaureate or master’s degree, professional certification, or continuing education credit. The campus offers the prestige of a national Research 1 university with the convenience of a hometown campus, including classes in south Sarasota County at Manatee Community College Venice.