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This collection of health information is focused on pamphlets and fliers promoting primary prevention measures to the general public and, to a lesser degree, Health Professionals. The drop-down pages are organized as series level finding aids.

Most artifacts are in English and were produced in Canada or the United States of America. Also there are several artifacts in multiple versions by year, the changes in information between editions is both interesting and instructive.

Although primarily of interest for health researchers this collection may also be of interest to a variety of researchers; for example those interested in depictions of minorities including First Nations / Native Americans, Africans, Asians and sexual minorities. The collection may also be of interest to the following disciplines: Art (graphic design & illustration), Education, Counselling, Gender studies, Graphic novels, History, Linguistics (especially slang), Multiculturalism, Public Health policy, Social work, and Sociology.

The 'General Audience' subcategories represent the largest portion of the collection. They were created to provide information to the general public and as such are diverse in form and depth of coverage.

There are various sets of editions or versions of the same brochure or booklet which provide insights into the evolution of popular myths and medical misconceptions, these items also provide examples of how language used to describe HIV /AIDS changed as the medical community gained more detailed understanding of the mechanism of the virus.

Typical titles for the items include: "What you should know" "Get the Facts!" and "How to Not get AIDS." Atypical and more provocative titles include: "AIDS Kills Women Men and Babies" and "What you think you know about AIDS could be dead wrong."

Many of the comic books and graphic brochures feature "superheroes" with names like 'King Kondom' and 'Grand Master Blaster.'

The 'Specific Audience' subcategories are items that were created to address the information needs of specific group, for example 'Caregivers' includes, friends, and parents, but does not include counsellors or health care professionals.

This subseries contains general information on AIDS for a general audience. The geographical locations represented include several states and provinces, with two versions of a large format booklet from Sweden. The related health concerns sub-series provides the most detailed descriptions of other sexually transmitted infections and opportunistic diseases. This sub-series also contain specific information for intravenous drug users. The debunking myths sub-series provides insights in to the prejudices and assumptions about HIV /AIDS many people held in the 1980's and even into the early 1990's.

Information that addresses the specific information needs of Persons Living with HIV / AIDS. Most of this collection are brochures with advice on improving health through diet, drugs, and vitamin supplements. One of these includes an easy reference chart for what foods to eat to alleviate specific symptoms. A comprehensive booklet from 1993 provides fairly detailed information regarding dental health and AIDS related health concerns. there are two booklets from Hazelden publishers one applies the "12 Steps" program to AIDS and the other is a very comprehensive guide to HIV / AIDS prevention and the importance of hope. There are two full page single staple booklets from AIDS Network of Edmonton, one of which is 55 pages long and includes excellent index, glossary and listing of service providers.

Information for people of specific sexualities, or who engage in specific sexual practices.

Although the sub-series for sexual minority women is relatively small with only four items, they were published between 1986 and 1993. The single Spanish bilingual issue of 'LAP Notes' provides comprehensive information on rights, symptoms specific to women, problems accessing medical care and a snapshot of the attitudes and challenges lesbians faced at the time. It includes a letter from a lesbian living with AIDS in prison. NOTE the term 'Bisexual Woman' rarely appears in this entire series.

Within the sub-series for sexual minority men there are several brochures with erotic photographs or illustrations of naked men engaged in various sexual activities. This is worth noting as such images are mostly absent from any other series. One wallet sized fold out contains statistics on 'young men and HIV.' Most items have lists of safe versus unsafe sexual practices.

The heterosexual sub-series is dominated by items targeting specific ethnic groups with titles like "You don't have to be white of gay to get AIDS.' One of the Native American brochures connects AIDS to previous diseases the were imported with European colonizers like smallpox. In terms of risk of transmission some of the brochures list 'French-kissing' as unknown.

The sub-series specific to heterosexual women contains a wide variety of items most of which contain some information on pregnancy or mother to child transmission; some are specific to this concern. Many items exist in more than one version or are bilingual. There is a single photocopy brochure on symptoms specific to women. There are a few comprehensive booklets that include preventative measures for sex with other women but the majority of the information in them assumes the reader is a heterosexual woman. There is a single brochure that focuses on Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI's) which does not mention HIV /AIDS. Includes one bookmark and one business card information item.