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New Community Networks: Wired for Change

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Date: Tue, 13 Feb 96 12:07:35 -0800 From: Douglas Schuler

New Community Networks

Wired for Change

(ISBN: 0-201-59553-2)

"Doug Schuler has been a crusading pioneer in the community network arena and it will help the cause to have a significant book available that presents his views. His breadth of knowledge, personal experience, and the numerous examples he presents are the strong parts of this project. His enthusiasm shows and there are many appealing anecdotes. This has the potential to be an important book that gains national attention."

-- Ben Shneiderman, University of Maryland, Author of Designing the User Interface

In an era when many communities are declining, activists at the grassroots all over the world are building community networks that are designed to reinvigorate communities be encouraging dialogue and providing a vehicle for voices that too often go unheard. Via the new computer networking technology, new communities are now able to connect electronically to pursue various activities including: community and public health projects, economic development, long-distance learning, performances and "virtual spaces."

New Community Networks, to be published in early 1996, is a unique contribution to the literature on social uses of technology. While the book provides practical how-to advice, it also discusses the rationale, concerns, and directions of the technology. The first section of the book is devoted to a discussion of the six core values of the new community -- conviviality and culture, democratic participation, education, social health and well-being, economic opportunity and equity, and communication and information -- and discusses some of the reasons why society needs to develop community networks. This section is followed by a discussion on the social and political milieu in communities and the technology that can support these systems. The steps that developers should undertake, and the issues that they need to face in the future are the subjects of the last two chapters.

New Community Networks should be read by government officials, librarians, policy analysts, educators, social service administrators, students, social and political activists, and in fact, by anybody concerned about our communities and the uses of technology in our society.

Thanks to the support of the Morino Institute much of this supplemental information will also be available online in early 1996.

Highlights:- Shows how to open doors to the online community. Empowers groups to embrace the new technology.- Details the issues critical for the success of a community- based network. Case studies include those of the Santa Monica PEN project, Community Memory in Berkeley, the Cleveland Free-Net, and the Big Sky Telegraph system in rural Montana.- Explains short-term and long-term issues about community networks.- Includes an extensive reference section and numerous appendices designed to help people start and sustain community networks on the Information Superhighway.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Doug Schuler is currently the chair of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and is one of the founding members of the Seattle Community Network. Doug has edited several books and articles including an article in "Communications of the ACM" that Apple librarian Steve Cisler called "the definitive article on community networks." He has been working on social issues of computing for nearly 15 years.

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Wired for Change

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