Chapter 11: Bibliography of Community Networking Resources

This short bibliography of community networking resources focuses on the top tier of resources, from which you’ll find pointers to all the rest. Watch for the names of the early pioneers in community networking which will show up repeatedly in the following resources. This short listing below is taken from the master listing at the Community Networking Clearinghouse http://lone-eagles.com/community.html

Community Network Briefing Book
from the Blacksburg Electronic Village
http://www.bev.net/form/bev_book_request.html
Printed copies sent free, on request!

CTCNET Startup Guide
http://www.ctcnet.org/toc.htm
A guide to starting a community technology center, from the
national organization of over 450 CTC members.

Smart Communities Online Guides
http://www.smartcommunities.org
Two thick guides and many resources

Getting Online – A guide to the Internet for Small Town
Leaders http://natat.org/ncsc
A very basic guide from the National Center for Small
Communities

University of Kansas Community Tool Box
http://ctb.lsi.ukans.edu/tools/tb-toc1.html
Includes a "troubleshooting guide" to improve effectiveness in community action:
http://ctb.lsi.ukans.edu/assistance/MegaTools/Trouble

Computer Lab Guidelines from the RECA Foundation
http://www.tcfn.org/labguide/index.htm

Heartland Center for Leadership Development
www.4w.com/heartland
From the heartland in Lincoln, Nebraska. Many resources,
programs, and studies related to rural communities.

MIRA Trainers Roster
http://www.4w.com/heartland/mira.ihtml
The Kellogg Foundation’s innovative MIRA (Managing
Information For Rural America) program, in association with the
Heartland Center, has assembled a roster of the best community
trainers, by topic, with evaluations and biographies.

Virtual Power – Technology Education and Community
http://psrtec.clmer.csulb.edu
Select "Virtual Power" to download as a PDF file. Multicultural
community emphasis, global learning networks, training strategies.

"Electronic Collaboration: A Practical Guide for Educators"
http://www.lab.brown.edu/public/ocsc/collaboration.guide
A good guide from the U.S. Dept. of Education

Association for Community Networking
http://www.afcn.net
A national organization created by many of the original pioneers.

CTCnet http://ctcnet.org
National organization supporting CTC’s. Includes a guide for creating CTCs

Texas Community Networking Initiative
http://www.txtele.com
Associated with the Texas Telecom. Infrastructure Fund

Community Networking Directories

Community Networking Resources and Studies

Canadian Community Learning Networks Program
http://olt-bta.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/CLN/clninit_e.html
Very likely the largest community networking program ever
conducted, complete with research and case studies.

Community Technology Review
http://www.comtechreview.org Exceptional.

Building Online Communities: Transforming Assumptions Into Success
http://www.benton.org/Practice/Community/assumptions.html

Report on Community Networks and Community Technology Centers
http://www.si.umich.edu/community/connections/findingsreport.html

The Organization of Learning in Community Technology Centers:
Learning with Technology in Six Communities
http://www.sri.com/policy/ctl/html/context6b.html

Network Services Research, National Capital Freenet, Canada
http://debra.dgbt.doc.ca/services-research
Exceptional articles evaluating new online services and researching
network services. See "Lessons from the National Capital Freenet."

"Using Email lists and more: The Power of Virtual Communities on the Net"
http://www.makingthenetwork.org/ngflchannel/help/hlists.htm   From Scotland and UK

Community Networking Models

La Plaza Telecommunity
http://www.laplaza.org
A successful model for a rural small town! "Bringing People Together" from educational, government, business, publishing, technology, library, and health care arenas, Taos, NM. Wireless innovations, a Community Wellness database and much more.

The Blacksburg Electronic Village
http://www.bev.net
Student activities, online newspaper and essays from Montgomery County, VA. Very high bandwidth to many home and reportedly 86% community participation make this a one-of-a-kind testbed model!

Boulder Community Network
http://bcn.boulder.co.us/
Boulder has years of development experience. 

Prairienet
http://www.prairienet.org
700 local businesses and organizations have web sites posted.
Includes text-based conferencing in a web-accessible format.
Source of many innovations, such as their new asset mapping project led by Ann P. Bishop: http://www.prairienet.org/membercenter/ipservices/cl/assets

Metropolitan Austin Information Network (MAIN)
http://www.main.org
A successful large urban community network.