Final Report
Submitted to the Indiana Department of Education
Center for School Improvement and Performance
| Howard Rosenbaum | Kim Gregson | |
|---|---|---|
| hrosenba@indiana.edu | kgregson@indiana.edu |
Table of Contents
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This document reports the findings of a study of state-funded community networks (CNs) in Indiana, funded by the Indiana Department of Education. Beginning with a brief background of state-funded community networking in Indiana, it describes the research, presents the findings, and concludes with recommendations that provide a framework for a set of best practices for successful CN development. The methodology, researchersÕ backgrounds, and the budget are described and the instruments used in data collection are attached as appendices.
Using a survey of CN Board members, site visits, and a content analysis of CN web sites, the study found that state-funded CNs are at a critical point in their histories as their Access Indiana (AI) funding runs out. Almost all have used their AI grants to create technical infrastructures that can support useful web-based community information systems; this has led to two tiers of CNs - those that have become Internet Service Providers (ISP) in their regions and those that have had to purchase their connectivity. Successful CNs have established themselves as competitive ISPs in their regions or have worked out good cooperative relationships with their service providers. They have also begun to "sink roots" in their communities, a time consuming, tremendously important, and often thankless effort. Other CNs, however, find themselves in a difficult period as they struggle to transform themselves from dependency on state funding to a new status as independent, revenue generating, community information providers. An important and related goal for these CNs is to become institutionalized into their communities.
Although the degree to which they have accomplished this institutionalization varies, the general impression is that, with a few notable exceptions, CNs are not yet well integrated into their communities. Interviews and site visits showed that some CNs are working hard to overcome this challenge. For example, analysis of the survey data, the content analysis of the web sites, and site visits show that there are not many instances where CNs have established relationships and partnerships with schools and public libraries beyond listing location information, although some CNs are thinking of ways to create these relationships. In addition, it is not clear, either to the researchers or to many CN board members, who is using these networks. Only a few CN Boards have been able to gather good data about their users, allowing them to understand what their users are doing when they log in.
The design and layout of the CN websites are well done. They are, for the most part, very usable and have reasonable navigation strategies in place. For the most part, the content of CN web sites follows the requirements set out in Section 7.0 of the ICNA Board Policy Manual (1.17.97), although, as will be explained below, compliance appears superficial. The general design and structure of these web sites are created by Board members, paid designers, or, sometimes, community volunteers. Maintenance and updating are handled largely by the first two groups. One interesting exception is in those sites with interactive community calendars; here CN members can submit updates and calendar items.
With technical development proceeding apace, CNs now have to concentrate on economic and social development. To take the next step in their development, they also have to begin the transition to sustainability, or self-sufficiency. Board members recognize that they must develop viable strategies for attaining self-sufficiency through the generation of ongoing revenue streams. A troubling trend is that there does not seem to be much movement among the CNs to develop strategies for pursuing sustainability although many Board members describe this issue as the most significant challenge they face. There are some discussions about pursuing grants from state government and foundations, seeking revenue from advertising and sponsorships, and providing fee-based design work and page hosting. These, however, seem to be local initiatives and there is little evidence of information sharing among the CNs. Concurrently, they have to create the kinds of social and cultural content and services that will enable them to integrate their systems into the routine lives of their communities. This will involve the development of deep and meaningful local content, another significant challenge mentioned by many Board members. There was, however, less mention of the equally i mportant interactive services that could be used to encourage ongoing and regular social interaction among CN members. CNs have to learn more about their communities and user populations to accomplish this.
The authors wish to acknowledge and thank the Indiana Department of Education for their financial support of this research. We also thank the Indiana Community Network Association (ICNA) for its support, and all the CN Board members and volunteers who graciously donated their time and provided the rich information needed to conduct this research. Finally, we would like to thank Mark Whitman and Mike Ney for their careful reading and constructive criticisms of early drafts of the report. Of course, text herein remains the sole responsibility of the authors.
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This report describes the findings of a research project that assessed the current state of state-funded community networking and telecomputing in Indiana between August and November 1997. Using multiple data collection methods, including a content analysis of community network (CN) web sites, site visits to a sample of eight CNs, and a survey of CN Board members, information was collected about 24 of the 28 state funded CNs in Indiana (four sites were not online at the time of data collection in fall 1997).
One main objective of this research was to provide Access Indiana (AI) and the Indiana Department of Education with a detailed description of the current state of state-funded CNs. A second objective was to aid ICNAÕs planning process for the future. This research supports ICNA's mission, which is to "facilitate the establishment, enhancement and cooperation of community telecomputing networks across Indiana" (ICNA, 1997a). It critically examined he range of uses of resources and support provided by AI to state-funded CNs, the structure and content of their web sites, and the public education and public library components of community networking. This research also explored some core design principles and services that have been most useful in the development of these CNs. The authors hope that the findings of this research will encourage an efficiency of effort so that network developers will not have to reinvent the wheel.
The report is divided into six sections. Following this introduction, section 2 presents the findings of the research in great detail. Section 3 contains recommendations and a set of best practices for CNs and section 4 describes the methodology used in the research. Section 5 describes the background of the researchers and section 6 contains a budget report. There are three appendices that contain the instruments used in data collection and a list of participating CNs.
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What is a community network? According to ICNA (1997b), a CN is is a web site that is:
A common gateway to information about the community served. Representative of the entire community served. Supported and administered by a board, panel, or committee of recognized community leaders (e.g. officials of local public schools, public libraries, government, higher education, business and/or service organizations). Economically self-supporting, with good prospects for its long-term maintenance and upkeep. Accessible via local dial-in to all residents of the community served. In compliance with ICNA standards
A CN has four main foci. There is a local geographic connection and an emphasis on intra-community communication. In addition, there are goals of providing access and voice to previously underserved members of the community, and becoming a catalyst for positive social change in the community. A CN is based in a geographically bounded community and is owned, operated, staffed, and used by members of the community -- a county or counties, a city, a neighborhood, or a town. CNs emphasize providing tools and forums for community members to communicate with each other (Beamish, 1995; Schuler, 1996; Jones, 1995, Odasz, 1996, Graham, ND).
According to Beamish (1995) if, "by definition, a community network is a reflection of the community, then all members of the community must be able to participate in the technology and the system." This concern with equitable access distinguishes the CN from commercial ISPs, which do not have as their main concern providing free space or opportunities for public communication and interaction. Access to the CN may be limited by the cost of connectivity, language barriers, and physical disabilities among community members. There may also be a lack of training in the basic use of computers, and a lack of understanding about how networked computers can be used effectively to motivate community action. CNs can be the agents for positive social change in the community. This is evident in the mission statements of many CNs, which set goals such as positive social change, an improved sense of community, increased political participation, enhanced local economic development, improved educational achievement, increased computer knowledge, and equitable access for underserved portions of the community (Schuler, 1996a).
What then, is the current state of community networking in Indiana?
In a 1997 press release, Indiana Rural Development Council (IRDC) Director John Reimke announced that the IRCD, through its Telecommunications Task Force, had additional funding available for the establishment of CNs in Indiana and said that "this funding support is one of Indiana's best kept secrets and we need to wake up rural Indiana to the possibilities...We are talking about a whole new level of infrastructure that is going to be essential for future community growth and development..." (IRDC, 1997a). This announcement marked the latest stage in the State's involvement in community networking, which had begun several years ago.
The AI program has as one of its goals the development of "electronic community networks that build and enrich community life" (Access Indiana, 1997a). In 1995, AI put out an RFP for "Community Network Start Up GrantsÓ (Access Indiana, 1995). In all, AI has distributed more than $1.4 million to 28 Indiana CNs and ICNA. Approximately $900,000 was initially granted in 1996 to the first 19 CNs, with the awards ranging from $30,000 to $150,000. The remainder was committed to ICNA and nine additional CNs in 1997 (IRDC, 1997b). As a condition of receiving these grants, CNs had to be members of ICNA, which held its first meeting in February 1996, taking as its main charge the task of assisting in the development of CNs. One strong emphasis of the AI program has been for CNs to become self-sustaining over time. According to the ICNA (1997a),
The mission of ICNA is to facilitate the establishment, enhancement and cooperation of community telecomputing networks across Indiana. Goals established to accomplish this mission include:
Provide resources and support to emerging networks
Develop cooperative strategies for existing community networks
Educate potential users and content providers to the value of
community networking
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Now that most of these CNs have had time to establish themselves in their regions, there is a need to gather data about their operations. These data are important for at least two reasons. First, there is a need to set benchmarks for performance, so that CNs, ICNA, and AI can have a common understanding of how the networks are progressing; second, these data can provide the basis for the development of a model that can be used by new networks.
The research was motivated by four questions:
2a What types of challenges have network organizers faced and how have they been resolved?
2b. What are these networks doing to move toward economic self-sufficiency?
3a. Who is creating and maintaining this content?
4a What types of interactions and relationships have developed between CNs and K-12 schools and public libraries
4b. How are these relationships affecting public education and public libraries?
4c. Who is using these networks? How often and for what purposes?
By answering these questions, the research provides:
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This study gathered empirical evidence using a variety of data collection techniques to answer the research questions mentioned above (summary answers are provided):
AI grants have been used to fund connectivity and purchase hardware and software. CNs have acquired their own servers and peripheral equipment (becoming regional ISPs) or have purchased connectivity from a commercial ISP. Grant money has been used to purchase design services for the development of their web sites, and pay for the development of content. A small number of CNs have used some grant money for marketing and promotions.
Almost all of the CN Boards of Directors are composed of
volunteers with good representation from their communities,
including local schools and public libraries. Some Board members
have very sophisticated technical skills, which is a tremendous
advantage for their CNs. Decisions about the CN are voted upon
by the Boards, often with much online discussion between meetings.
Board members reported that they are pressed for time and typically
divide the labor of maintaining their CNs among themselves; a
few were experimenting with paid staff (as of November 1997,
one CN had hired a paid Director and two others had hired part
time staff), and a few are delegating some content development
and maintenance tasks to volunteers from the community.
The two main challenges are economic and social. The overwhelming
challenge faced by these CNs is the development of viable
strategies for attaining self-sufficiency through the generation
of revenue streams. A second challenge is for CNs to better
integrate themselves into their communities; several have
begun to make some progress in this direction. To take this
next step in their development, CNs have to create the kinds
of social and cultural content and services that will enable
them to integrate their systems into the routine lives of their
communities. This will involve the development of deep and
meaningful local content; there was, however, less mention of
the equally important interactive services that will encourage
ongoing and regular social interaction among CN members.
This initiative may also involve innovative strategies such
as the creation of closer ties to local government, libraries,
schools, and social service agencies. CNs have to learn more
about their communities and user populations to accomplish
this. At the time of data collection, some CN Board members
reported that they were having difficulties competing as ISPs
and others were having problems with the ISPs that were providing
them with connectivity.
2b. What are these networks doing to move toward economic
self-sufficiency?
For the purposes of this research the terms "sustainability"
and "self-sufficiency" are considered synonymous. Since the state
funded CNs operate as not-for-profit organizations, "sustainability"
was operationalized as the ability of the CN to generate a
sufficient revenue stream to meet its fixed and variable overhead
costs, including the costs of operation and maintenance.
Revenue generation could come from activities such as the
collection of membership dues, the sale of advertising
and/or sponsorship, web site design work, site hosting for
businesses and the successful pursuit of additional grants.
A troubling trend is that there does not seem to be much
movement among the CNs to develop strategies for sustainability
although many Board members recognize this issue as the most
significant challenge they face. There are some discussions
about pursuing grants from state government and foundations,
seeking revenue from advertising and sponsorships, and
providing design work and page hosting for a fee. Some
CNs are experimenting with fee-based services including
advertising, personalized email services, and web-page
design. However, these are local initiatives and there
is little evidence of regular information sharing among
the CNs about strategies for sustainability.
For the most part, CN web sites follow the requirements
set out in Section 7.0 of the ICNA Board Policy Manual
1.17.97), although, as is explained below, compliance seems
to be superficial for the majority of CNs.
The overall design and structure of these web sites is
either created by Board members or by paid designers.
Maintenance and updating is handled largely by these
two groups. One interesting exception is those few
sites with interactive community calendars; here CN
members can submit updates and calendar items.
Although the degree of integration varies among these CNs,
the general impression is that, with a few notable exceptions,
they are not yet well integrated into their communities.
Interviews and site visits indicated that some CNs are
working hard to overcome this challenge.
Analysis of the survey data, the content analysis of the
web sites, and site visits show that there are not many
instances where CNs have established relationships and
partnerships with schools and public libraries beyond
a relatively superficial provision of location information.
The significance of this finding is mitigated by two
important intervening factors, neither of which was
apparent when the AI program was getting underway and
both of which combined to make the establishment of
good working relationships between CNs and public
schools and libraries more difficult. First, there has
been the rapid and pervasive rise of the ISP industry
and second is the appearance of state and federal
initiatives to provide direct connectivity to public
schools and libraries. CNs had been expected to be
the main point of physical access to the internet in
their communities, offering dial up access to individuals,
schools, libraries, and businesses. As ISPs moved
into regions across the state, many CNs could not
compete and lost the opportunity to establish relationships
with public schools and libraries based on the provision
of connectivity. As public schools and libraries seek
state and federal monies for connectivity, the conditions
of the funding programs provide them with incentives to
bypass CNs as points of connection.
4b. How are these relationships affecting public education
and public libraries?
The lack of significant relationships seems to show that
these CNs are not having much effect on schools and
libraries. As explained above, there is little incentive
for public schools and libraries to use their local CNs
as physical points of connection, and therefore as
gateways, to the internet. This situation forces CNs
to search for new ways to establish relationships with
schools and libraries in order to have an effect on
public education and libraries. These relations will
be more likely to take the form of social interactions,
perhaps based around collaborative projects, such as
resource and content development, or training opportunities
4c. Who is using these networks? How often and for what
purposes?
Based on this research, these questions could not be
answered. Only a few CN Boards have good data about their
users and some understanding of what these people are
doing when they log on. Copies of access, transaction,
and other server logs were not collected for this study,
in part because many CNs did not have access to this
information. One of the information gaps uncovered in
this research has to do with the demographics and online
behaviors of individual and corporate CN members.
2a What types of challenges have network organizers faced
and how have they been resolved?
3a. Who is creating and maintaining this content?
4a. What types of interactions and relationships have
developed between CNs and K-12 schools and public libraries?
These findings are discussed in much greater detail below, followed by a set of recommendations.
2.1 The CN Boards and management
At the time the research was conducted, CN Boards ranged in size from seven to 21 with representatives from the local school districts, public libraries, local universities, local governments, local businesses, the Chamber of Commerce, and members of the community. The most common types of Board members are the two required by ICNA and AI regulations: representatives from the school districts and local public libraries.
Board members responding to the survey considered themselves intermediate to expert in computer skills and equally skilled in using the internet. There was more variety among Board members interviewed in person. Some had very little computer experience before becoming involved with their Boards. Others reported not having had a computer at home. Many agreed that their involvement in the development and maintenance of their CN provided them with the impetus they needed to become much more proficient in their digital skills and aware of the range of issues surrounding the presence of the internet in their communities. Some Boards are fortunate enough to have members (or members' children) with sufficient technical skills to maintain and troubleshoot their CNs. Some members reported that their Boards lacked some necessary skills, including marketing and non-profit management and, sometimes, technical skills.
Most CN Boards have worked to have their members represent a broad spectrum of the community and this seems to be a strength. Board members have been recruited through a variety of means. At the CNs visited by the researchers, recruitment through personal contact with a current Board member was a most common pattern. In one county, members saw an ad in the paper about an organizing meeting, volunteered to help at the meeting, and later joined the Board. One motivation for many people was having the opportunity to bring the internet to their towns; they saw the provision of net connectivity and access to the wealth of networked information as ways to give their children an advantage in an increasingly digital world. In another step in their transition to self-sufficiency, many Boards plan to have elections in the future to bring in new members.
Volunteerism is both a strength and weakness for these Boards. Many original Board members were either early adopters of internet technologies or willing to learn about them. They had the enthusiasm and the will go through the grant process to obtain the start-up funding and the early and difficult stage of building the technical infrastructure for their CNs. Working on their own time, they have carried their networks through the start up period and have successfully met many challenges. However, volunteerism has also led to difficulties in management particularly in resolving thorny issues and in reaching rapid decisions. Board members reported that they attempt to reach consensus on issues before voting. They have discussions at Board meetings and exchange email between meetings. If the Board does not have a quorum, decisions are put off until future meetings. This sometimes results in important decisions not being made in a timely fashion. For example, several Board members from different CNs reported that decisions about membership levels and dues collection were put off for four or five months. Several Boards have set up committees but they are not always effective because of time constraints. No one reported any dissension about important issues or votes that were not unanimous when they were finally taken.
2.2 Achievements and Challenges
Many respondents reported that they were proudest of their technical achievements. Examples included selecting and/or partnering with an ISP, getting their server up and running, and establishing good working relations with their ISPs. Some believed that they had achieved a moral victory just to have gotten started at all; competing for and receiving the AI grant was seen as an achievement.
Social achievements included building a strong diverse board, having annual meetings or open houses with large attendance, and attracting many new members. One CN has had "WebFests," gatherings intended to show off the CN to local businesses and "Get to Know the Web" sessions where interested novices could talk with more experienced users. This CN has been able to charge for these well attended workshops. Many respondents commented that placing community content in their webs was a goal that they were successfully meeting (although the content analysis described below revealed that most CNs had not yet overcome this challenge). At least three have hired coordinators or directors.
Respondents said that they were not satisfied with the state of the relationship between the CN and the community. Many believed that people in their communities did not know about them yet or did not understand what the CN was doing and found that they had to make an effort to are explain the benefits of community networking to their communities. In several cases, Board members reported that the public perception of the CN associated it with internet access and it was seen as another ISP; overcoming this perception was an important goal for several CNs. Some CN Boards have begun to explore strategies for marketing themselves, developing brochures promoting the CN and describing the range of services they offer. One brochure even had a touch of humor with a Top 10 list of reasons to join the network. Board members offered two ways for CNs to strengthen their links to the community - they could provide more information about the community to the community and include more groups in the network. Some respondents said that their communities have shown some support, indicated by the number of individual memberships and by local nonprofits seeking them out to host their pages. Others said that there was a general disinterest in the CN among non-members in their communities.
An important step in the integration of the CN into the community is the establishment of an ongoing working relationship between the CN and local public libraries and schools. Board members did not describe any large scale projects with either community institution; this finding was supported by the analysis of CN web sites. This is understandable, given the significance of two important intervening factors, neither of which had manifested itself when the AI program was getting underway. Both factors have combined to make the establishment of good working relationships between CNs and public schools and libraries less likely to happen. First, there has been a rapid and pervasive growth of the ISP industry throughout Indiana. Second, there have been several state and federal initiatives the goals of which have been to provide direct connectivity to public schools and libraries. CNs had been expected to be the main point of physical access to the internet in their communities, offering dial up access to individuals, schools, libraries, and businesses. As ISPs moved into regions across the state, many CNs could not compete and lost the opportunity to establish relationships with public schools and libraries based on the provision of connectivity. As public schools and libraries seek state and federal monies for connectivity, the conditions of the funding programs provide them with incentives to bypass CNs as points of connection.
In most of the counties, public libraries did have computers and internet connections, some paid for with grant money obtained by the library and some by the CN. This was a basis for some Board members to claim that their CN had a good relationship with the library. One member said that the public library was aware of the CN's existence and hoped that librarians would educate library patrons about using it. Board members of several CNs did report that they were planning some training sessions in the future that would involve working with public librarians; one reported having volunteers conduct internet workshops at the library twice a month and another CN co-sponsored word processing and introductory internet classes with the public library. These instances were the exception rather than the rule.
A good relationship with the schools often meant that the school district let the CN have Board meetings in a school building or someone from the school district was on the board; in response to questions about how they would rate their relationship with the schools, a commonly expressed sentiment was that relations were excellent because the schools "donate space for CN operations." One Board member reported that the CN and the school had a superficial relationship because the schools had representation on the Board but there was little communication with school administration about the workings of the CN. Another respondent reported that the school representative had been trying to get off the CN Board for for approximately four months and could not find a replacement from the school district. In some communities CNs are attempting to work with students, who are helping to create web pages for the CN. In one case they are paid a monthly wage by the CN; another pays students a flat rate for their web work. Few teachers have been trained in the use of the CN or have been approached by Board members for partnerships or collaborative projects, although several respondents reported that they were planning training workshops for educators and were seeking closer ties with the students. Some CNs have made efforts to put school related content online. However, the analysis shows that many times this amounts to location information.
Other successes mentioned included incorporating, having set of by laws, speaking to organization in the community about the CN, and gathering content and placing it online. Goals for the coming year, in many cases, arose from having met the challenges from the past year. Many Board members plan to do more marketing of the CN locally and intend to search for other revenue sources. However, the goal that was mentioned most often was the development of more content; when asked what their three goals for next year are, one respondent responded "content, content, content."
The following is a list of challenges that Board members believed would be important in 1998:
Many respondents saw achieving self-sufficiency, specifically generating a steady stream of revenue, as the main challenge for the upcoming year. It was a major topic of discussion on the ICNA mailing list over the summer of 1997 with many complaints but few workable suggestions. There has also been little information sharing by the few CNs that have been successful in generating revenues; these CNs have tended to be ISPs or have been collecting rebates from their ISPs. One CN did offer to host a workshop on self sufficiency, but it has not occurred nor have details been discussed on the list. Many Board members described their long-term financial future as "somewhat" to "very unstable." Several Board members blamed AI's and the Intelenet commission's "changing of the rules" for their plight. One indicated that all revenue streams except individual memberships seemed to have been eliminated as possibilities by the terms of their AI grant. Board members from several different CNs reported that they had received different information when they inquired about their abilities to charge for different services and were left with uncertainties about whether, for example, they could sell advertisements or work with the for-profit businesses in their community while receiving funds from AI.
Board members of CNs that were not ISPs reported that they did not have any regular revenue flows established. Several said that they were faced with very bad contracts with the ISPs in their communities. One Board member reported that his/her CN had a contract where they paid their ISP over $40,000 a year for access and support, including the cost of a systems administrator. In exchange, the ISP would let people pay $5 per month to the CN if they so desired. This meant, according to one Board member, that the CN would need over 900 paying members a month to break even. One talked about disbanding because of the problems the Board had with their ISP and their inability to attract another ISP for many months. Another Board member reported having serious problems collecting the rebates due from their ISP. To generate revenues, some CNs were starting to set up membership plans with different levels for profit and non-profit organizations, individuals, and families.
Many respondents indicated that they were worried about the financial stability of the CN and recognized the need to become self-sustaining, but reported that their Boards had not really begun to develop any plans or take any actions to move in that direction. Board members said that they would like more information about marketing, pricing, grant availability and grant writing, but claimed not to know where to obtain it. Many mentioned that they would like to know what types of revenue-generating initiatives other CN Boards were pursuing. Possible sources of revenues mentioned by respondents included sponsorships from both local businesses and nonprofit organizations, the sale of advertisements, and charging for training seminars, digital services, and web design. CNs that are their own ISPs were able to offer a wider variety of benefits for membership including virtual site hosting and vanity email. Only one Board member reported that her/his CN had successfully competed for another grant.
Board members discussed other challenges they have to meet. Many believed that they had been slow to gather content, a sentiment supported by the content analysis of their web sites. They realized that they were not making effective use of volunteers. Some members reported that their Boards were not working together as effectively as they would have liked. Not all of the members were working as hard as they could have been and some respondents thought these members should be putting more effort into the development of the CN. Some problems that the respondents experienced came about, they believed, because they did not have the technical, business or legal experience that they needed and did not have easy access to advice and assistance.
One interesting challenge mentioned by several Board members had to do with a scenario they thought was waiting to happen to CNs hosting member web pages - the posting of controversial material on their web sites by CN members. Many CNs did not have a policy in place to handle this scenario although one had faced and resolved the problem by asking the owner of the page to remove the material found offensive by other members. Fortunately, the situation was resolved without incident. Some respondents stated flatly t hat they had serious reservations about interactivity, particularly chat areas and mailing lists, because of the potential problems raised by the posting of offensive material. They wanted to be very clear about the CN's liability in the event that this scenario arose.
None of the CNs seemed to have plans in place for evaluating their progress. Many had not thought about the value of setting performance benchmarks and collecting data about their operations. Respondents thought that they could use participation rates for evaluation - membership, page and hit counts, and the number of nonprofits with content available online. Some reported that they wanted to make use of server log statistics, although these were difficult to obtain. Several respondents indicated that their CNs had feedback forms online for users to give suggestions, although they also said that the forms were not being heavily used. Many stated that it was too early to think about conducting any evaluations.
The respondents seemed to have a limited idea of who their typical users were and what these people were doing online; most respondents did not have a sense of what their users wanted from the CN. Some Board members saw themselves as typical users and believed that other people did the same kinds of things online that they did, such as searching for information and web pages about their hobbies or travel information. One respondent thought the people were using the system to search for information about the community when it was convenient for them. Several respondents mentioned that people use the system for email, which is a service provided by their ISP rather than the CN.
Boards communicate with their users through messages on the CN home page, newsletters, and announcements in the local media. One CN used inserts in membership bills. Several mentioned emailing announcements to their users. One Board member said that the CN's users called or emailed the webmaster when they had problems with the system. This network has volunteers who periodically dial in to the modem bank as a way of checking that the CN is providing reliable service.
In the CNs that are not ISPs, there is much less of a direct connection to users because the CNs do not have membership programs; there is no easy way for community members to develop a sense of ownership of or participation in the CN since the interface appears to be that of the ISP. These Boards have few mechanisms to contact their users except for posting announcements on the CN home page. Consequently, these CNs do not have a clear idea of how many people use their system from month to month, how many new users they have, or why people stop using the network. These Boards seem to be operating in a vacuum, putting up the content that they think is important. Since they have no evaluation or feedback system in place, they do not know if the content they are providing is what the people really want to see online.
This analysis reflects the state of 24 of the 28 AI-funded CN web sites as of November, 1997 (see Appendix C for the list of sites used in this analysis). At the time of the initial drafting of this report (February, 1998), some of these ites had been redesigned and had improved their offerings, both in their breadth and depth. These changes, however, were not sufficient to cause a change in the findings and recommendations in this report.
Content on many sites is developed and maintained by members of the Board. Some respondents indicated that they do use their AI grant money to help fund content development. One CN has obtained grant money from a local foundation that they disburse for small local content development grants. On at least two CNs there are active webmasters who have "crews" of volunteers who help develop content. Having Board members volunteer to develop and mount web pages has been one way to keep any controversial materials from being posted. However, since many CNs have as a main goal for the next year the development of more content, having Board members do it all may become a bottle neck.
There is a mix in the types of services that CNs offer through their web sites. Some host personal web pages; others do not, either because they believe that they would be responsible for regulating the content of these pages or because they choose not to compete with local ISPs, which offer that service. Most CNs hosting member pages offer server space to local non-profit organizations. A few host business pages, but this typically occurs on the CNs that are the community's ISP so there is no competition. Because of direction from AI and ICNA to focus on content, most respondents reported that they have devoted most of their attention and time to this task. A Board member of a second round CN reported that his/her Board was told on several occasions by an AI representative that "the development of local content (local information) is necessary to drive a successful community network. (i.e. minutes of the school board meeting)." The Board member said that the CN decided that "our role as the community network partner is to help develop current and news worthy information about the communities serviced by the network." This is a theme that cut across many Boards, which are thinking about how to increase community involvement in their CNs. One feature that is becoming more popular is the community calendar set up so that community groups can enter their own events. One CN found good calendar software and customized it; now other CNs are beginning to use it as well. A few CNs are beginning to develop community focused listservs and discussion forums. Because they do not have easy ways to communicate with their users and do not do any evaluations, they were not able to say how satisfied their customers were with these features.
Almost all of the CNs have developed their web sites to the point at which they can serve as the infrastructure for digital community information systems. Since the analysis reported in this section was completed in November, 1997, many CNs have incorporated new design and operational features, adding new layers off interactivity onto their sites. Some CNs are experimenting with CGI and Perl scripting, Javascript, frames, and multimedia. As a consequence, the analysis, which examined 24 CN web sites, is three to five months behind the curve; this means that there will have been some advances in structural and design features not reported below. However, a reexamination of these sites in February, 1998, reveals that the findings about the development of content still hold.
On their home pages, all 24 CN web sites displayed the AI
logo and linked the image to
The web sites make use of second generation design features
including tables, frames, imagemaps and some basic interactivity,
including scripting (javascript) and forms-based submission of
information. They range from three to nine levels in depth with
seven using frames and, in November, 1997, contained between 20
and ~75 pages; the average site had five levels, no frames, and
~40 pages. All incorporate color and graphic elements, but have
limited interactivity. Background colors were used on 20 sites,
15 used background image, and all used .jpg and .gif images on
their pages. Various forms of multimedia were used in nine sites,
but this typically meant animated .gifs, although two sites included
sound files. All of the sites used a
Forms were used on eight sites, the content of which ranged
from the provision of demographic information for a 911 database,
a registration form for the CN, a library feedback form, and a
form through which members could submit items for an online
community calendar. Links to web search engines were found
on eight sites and seven had local search engines. Links to
locally sponsored discussion groups and listservs were found
on seven sites; six included instructions for subscribing to
these services and three provided links to other discussion
forums sponsored by other CNs, AIIN, or ICNA. Counters were
used on five sites, four were running CGI or Perl scripting
with their forms and two site used Javascript, one to animate
a banner and the other for an interactive table of contents.
Five sites had other interactive links including a resume
database, a job bank, an email directory, and a site index.
One CN had a password protected area for members, and none
were experimenting with chat rooms or other web-based conferencing.
See Table 1: Structure on the CN home pages and websites (for all
tables, n=24).
Table 1: Structure on the CN home pages and websites
The content analysis of the CN web sites indicates that there
is a range among the web sites from a small number that have
breadth and depth of content, far surpassing the requirements
specified in the ICNA (1997), a small number of sites that barely
meet the most general of these requirements, and a larger number
that have at least superficial coverage of these standards with
pockets of content development on their sites that display depth
and complexity. For example, Table 2: Required CN links and information
about the CN lists the requirements listed in 7.03 and shows the extent
of compliance.
Table 2: Required CN links and information about the CN
A pattern was found among the CNs with superficially developed
or underdeveloped sites that is illustrated by the treatment
of links to local schools and school districts, a suggested
guideline for the development of these web sites. There is a
top-level link that satisfies the guidelines for local content
and then the content development tails off dramatically. In
many pages that appear at lower levels of these web sites, content
is typically lists of location information categorized by subject
(e.g.: businesses; places of worship; government offices), some
of which is linked to pages not hosted on the server. Often,
there is little information added to these entries, leaving the
list looking like pages from a telephone book. This pattern can
be seen in Table 3: CN links to Schools and School Districts.
Table 3: CN links to Schools and School Districts
This pattern was repeated for many major components of the
guidelines. For example, it can be seen in the treatments of
links to local public libraries, which were found on 20 sites.
After the initial listing, the content about the library dropped
off quickly. A list of hours of operation was provided on nine
sites and a calendar of events on eight. Links to local
libraries' OPACs were found in six sites and six provided
location information for their libraries. Local library board
meeting dates appeared on two sites and none had meeting agendas
or minutes of past meetings. On four sites a variety of links
could be found to off site genealogy, children's services, reference
service, inter-library loan, census information, and Friends of
the Library pages. Two sites provided schedules for their libraries'
meeting rooms. See Table 4: CN links to local Public Libraries.
Table 4: CN links to local Public Libraries
Almost all of the CNs had the required links to local
content about the CN, although they varied in the depth
of coverage. Eighteen had information about themselves
and 17 had a mission statement online, but only 13 included
their bylaws. The Boards of Directors were identified on
17 sites and 16 had pages detailing their histories. Acceptable
Use Policies appeared on 12 sites. Current financial statements
were provided on 10 sites and six had past statements. Meeting
schedules and minutes of past meetings were posted on 11 sites.
A "What's New" link to a page of announcements was used by nine
sites. Each of the following was found on two sites: articles of
incorporation, business plans, FAQ pages about the CN, and
information for parents about keeping the net safe for their kids.
Individual membership information was provided on 15 sites and 12
had information about corporate membership. Information about
the costs of individual membership was posted on 11 sites; Nine
described the benefits of becoming a member while 10 did the
same for corporate membership. Three sites had information
about hosting web pages and about their ISPs. A range of other
services were offered on eight sites, ranging from computer
and internet/ web training, to web page design, to locations
of local public access terminals. See Table 5: Links to content
about the CN.
Table 5: Links to content about the CN
Links to local community information appeared on 20
sites. Seventeen sites had a community map, 16 had
pages about local history, ten provided demographic
information, and nine had photographic images of community
landmarks. Links to pages with sightseeing information,
announcements of festivals and events, and business
information were found on three sites. At least one
link to pages about local government was found on 19
sites. Directories of elected officials were found on
15 sites with varying degrees of completeness, for
example, nine sites had a calendar of government events,
eight had announcements of upcoming meetings of government
bodies and seven had at least some address information
for some local elected officials. Pages about local
election information appeared on five sites, voter registration
information on three, the location of polling places on three,
and background information about local political issues was
found on two sites. On five sites, a range of pages were
found with the tax code, a link to a sex offender repository,
a most wanted list, and a listing of fire districts. Only
three sites had links to local military pages, but this
is probably an artifact of geography. See Table 6: Local
community and government information.
Table 6: Local community and government information
Most sites had extensive top level links to local
cultural, service, religious, and health care organizations.
All sites had links to or information about local cultural
and recreational organizations; five sites had information
for organizations without web sites. Information about or
links to the local parks and recreation office was found
on five sites. Pages describing special projects and events
appeared on ten sites, eight sites listed the hours of operation
of local facilities, seven had schedules, and five had reservation
information. Among the other links found on six sites were links
to local clubs, museums, and historical societies, and information
for seniors, pet owners, and gardeners. All sites provided some
links to local service organizations; five sites provided
location and contact information for organizations without a
web site and on five sites, the links were not accompanied by
any explanatory information. There were links and information
about local volunteer opportunities on seven sites, four had
information about special projects and how members could contribute
to them, and three provided local events calendars. Linked to
local extension services were found on nine sites, although
little further information about these services was
provided. See Table 7: Links to local cultural and
recreational organizations.
Table 7: Links to local cultural and recreational organizations
Links to or information about local places of
worship appeared on 21 sites, with ten listing
times and dates of services. Three sites had
images of these places and among the other types
of links found on eight sites were listings of
revivals, descriptions of church social programs,
links to religion sites elsewhere, and a directory
of the local clergy. Links to or information about
local health care facilities and providers were found
on 19 sites, with local hosting of pages on two sites
and off-site links on five sites, however, some off-site
links were dead. Four sites had pages containing information
about local providers' medical specialties. Among the
links found on five sites were lists of medical staff at
different facilities, hospital menus, flu vaccination
information, psychiatric services, and a directory of
local physicians.
There were links to or information about local businesses
on 21 sites, with 13 linking to their local chambers
of commerce, eight linking to the local Economic Development
Council, and three linking to local Rural Development Councils.;
six hosted pages for these chambers on their sites and
five listed the members. Location information about the
chambers that had no web presence was provided on three sites.
There were links to local businesses' pages or banner ads
and logos for these businesses on five sites. Links to
local realtors were found on nine sites with three linking
to local Boards of Realtors. Links to local media were
found on 22 sites. There were links to or pages about
newspapers on five sites, eleven had links to radio stations,
and eight to television stations; typically there was no
further information about media outlets that did not
have web pages. Links to local and/or regional weather
were found on 14 sites. See Table 8: Links to local business.
Table 8: Links to local business
Two common community services that appeared on many
sites were a community calendar and a page with links
to or information about local employment opportunities.
Community calendars were found on 18 sites; five included
direct, password-protected entry options for members.
Searchable calendars were found on four sites, four
had older calendars archived, and three contained links
to other relevant calendars. Links to or pages listing
local employment opportunities were found on ten sites,
however only one site had a page of current employment
listings.
There were a range of links to regional, state, and
national web sites. There were links to federal government
web pages on 17 sites; ten linked to federal agencies and
departments, eight had linked to the homepages of national
politicians, and six linked to national military web sites.
There were links to state government website on 16 sites,
with 11 having links to the homepages of elected officials.
Links to other prominent and relevant state information available
through AIIN appeared on eight sites with six linking to
regional and state Workforce Development pages and five linking
to the Indiana Department of Education, or IDEANet. Links
to state library and education pages were fund on 12 sites; nine
had links to some university and college homepages in Indiana,
eight linked to some university libraries in Indiana, seven
had links to the Indiana State Library homepage, and four
linked to the Indiana Higher Education Commission.
There were links to state and national media web pages on
12 sites. Links to other CNs were found on 12 sites; five
had the AI list of CNs in Indiana, and two sites had links
facilities were found on eight sites and three linked to
national parks and facilities pages. Links to businesses
outside the CN's region were found on five sites; on four
sites, there were links to national business organizations
and on three, there were links to regional and state boards
of Realtors. Other types of links found on four sites included
stock, relocation, and statistical information, business
article abstracts, and links to FedEx, UPS, the Post Office,
and auto companies. See Table 9: Regional and national links.
Table 9: Regional and national links
Return to contents
The analysis of state-funded CNs indicates that they
have reached a stage in their development where their
technical infrastructures (for those running their
own servers) or web sites are sufficiently well-developed
to support useful network-based community information
systems. There are two critical challenges that must
be faced to make this transition - one is social and
cultural and the second is economic. To remain successful
once the state-funding runs out, CNs have to create the
kinds of social and cultural content and services that
will enable them to integrate their systems into the
routine lives of their communities. This will involve
the development of deep and meaningful local content and
interactive services that will encourage ongoing and
regular social interaction among CN members. CN Boards
have to learn more about their communities and user
populations in order to accomplish this. They also have
to begin the transition to self-sustainability. Board
members recognize that they must develop viable strategies
for attaining self-sufficiency through the generation of
ongoing revenue streams.
These challenges have been anticipated by AI; according
to Whitman (1997):
There are five basic recommendations that have come
from this research. The first is technical and the
remaining four are social and economic.
1. There have emerged two
tiers of CNs, ones that are acting as ISPs in their
regions, providing dial-in access to members and
hosting pages on their own servers and ones that
have worked out relationships with ISPs that free
them from the day to day technical concerns of running
a network. Some CNs have become the major sellers
of internet connectivity in their regions and, if
they have developed a technical support staff among
the Board or have the capital to hire technical staff,
they should be applauded. They have carved out a
viable niche for themselves that should allow them
to generate revenues to cover their costs.
However those CNs that have been not successful
at being ISPs or who see the arrival of local or
regional competition should get out of the server
business. They should transform themselves into
a digital community information center and not
an ISP. CNs should concentrate on developing a
good relationship with an ISP, pursuing, for
example, the possibility of "finder's fees" from
the ISP when individual and organizational CN
members are encouraged to have their pages hosted
on the ISP's server. This also allows Board members
to take advantage of developments in networking;
they should be able to request, for example,
that their ISP assist in the development of CGI
or Perl scripting or Javascript to add interactivity
to their pages without them having to learn a
new programming language themselves (unless they
want to). In addition, not having to maintain
the technical infrastructure should free up both
time and money for CNs to concentrate on developing
content and increasing membership through marketing
and promotions.
2. CN Boards have to
learn from each other. Development in isolation
greatly increases the risk of failure and duplicated
effort. Information sharing can save time and effort,
both of which, according to many Board members,
are scarce. Board members throughout the state
have to develop efficient channels for information
exchange, perhaps through ICNA, perhaps through
private mailing lists. A good example of the way
in which information sharing can assist development
efforts is the development and spread of the interactive
community calendar.
What are the best practices that have been successful
in the ICNA CNs?
What are some features that appear in various CNs t
hat are worth the attention of Board members? A short
and selective list might include (note - many CNs also
have similar features and including a feature attributed to
one CN is in no way intended to slight another) :
Access Laporte County: Business and Technology Plans
Access Perry County: Annual Report
Boone County Community Network: Information about BCC
Communinet: Acceptable Uses Policy
Crawford County Community Network: Help Pages for New Users
Dekalb County Community Network: Child Safety Tips
East Central Indiana Community Net: Resume Database and
Job Bank
Falls Cities Community Network: Tiered Annual Sponsorship
levels
Fort Wayne Infonet: How to Submit Pages
Greenet Public Opinion Poll
HoosierNet: Local Community Calendar (interactive)
Huntington County Community Network: Key services of
our network
Indianapolis Online: FAQ and Comment Center
Michiana FreeNet: User Home Pages and FAQ
Midwest PrarieNet: Community calendar and How to
get your business a page
NobleCan: Community Calendar Festivals and Events
South Central Indiana Community Access Network: Tax
Center and Troubleshooting page and
Community Information Development Grant Application
WCICnet: Virtual Community Mailing List
3. CNs must develop
strategies for integrating themselves into
their communities. By demonstrating the
value of the CN to current and potential
individual and organizational members, Board
members can begin the process of institutionalizing
the CN. Community members have to learn to
view the CN as a routine and useful component
of their daily information behaviors, much like
listening to the radio, watching television,
or reading the newspaper. The digital
environment that now seems to be commonplace
for Board members is still foreign territory
for many members of their communities. These
people may have computers, modems, and
connectivity, but they do not have a good
understanding of what this technology would
let them access and use. CN Boards must
develop strategies to educate their communities
about the functionalities of the CN for different
user populations. This is where the development
of deep and meaningful content and the provision
of a range of interactive services is critically
important. The problem is to get the community
into the CN web and keep them there. Remember
that digital interactivity is a new type of
social interaction and people have to be taught
how to "live" in this world. Some important
activities include:
Having clear explanations of the benefits of CN
membership for individuals, families, businesses,
and non- profits available both on and offline.
Many CNs have included membership information on
their sites, but this typically includes the costs
and simple descriptions of services. There should
be much more detailed information explaining why
people and organizations should join and/or sponsor
their CN. Conducting or sponsoring more training
and public appearances: there is a need to raise
he levels or technical expertise and, sometimes,
the level of comfort with networking technologies
in many communities. People have to be taught that
it is not difficult to use computer and communications
technologies to go online and that being able to
interact in the CN environment is not beyond their
capabilities.
Getting more people involved in the CN: Boards
should think about ways to draw people in by encouraging
them to participate in such activities as creating
content and suggesting services (such as subject
specific discussions that run on the CN for a
specific amount of time), assisting in training,
and helping out in public appearances. The CN has
to become viewed as "valuable community property"
instead of technology that belongs to the Board.
Getting the CN more involved in the routines of
major community institutions. An important step
in the institutionalization of a CN is the recognition
of its importance by other community institutions
such as local government, schools, public libraries,
and the not-for-profit and private sectors. If, for
example, the CN hosted, managed, and provided access
to local governmental and social service information
for the community, it could become a digital community
information center and "quasi-governmental agency."
Community members might then view the CN as a gateway
to vital local information, and local governments,
schools, and libraries might be more interested in
having representatives on CN Boards and underwriting
some operational costs.
4.CNs should make a concerted
effort to find out what their members and communities
want in their CN and begin developing appropriate
local content and services. CNs should be looking
to do more than provide pages and pages of lists of
links; CNs must redefine themselves as digital community
information centers, online places where community
members can regularly and routinely interact with
each other. Networks are composed of people: content
draws them in - communication makes them stay. A CN
that resembles an online yellow pages is not useful
to community members.
To learn more about their communities, CNs should consider:
Developing an ongoing evaluation strategy as a way of
setting benchmarks and measuring progress. This would
allow CNs to monitor their progress on an ongoing basis.
Some of these data can be gathered easily with server
transaction logs, others can be gathered by periodic
focus groups (perhaps at membership meetings) and informal
conversations
Continually improving the design, layout, and usability
of their web sites. An interesting exercise is to have
different types of people try to navigate through the
web site, perhaps in response to questions (what are the
hours of the library?). Is the site easily handled by
children? Senior citizens? Developing more extensive
reciprocal partnerships with schools and libraries (and,
where possible, local colleges and universities).
There are many interactive projects that can be initiated
between schools, libraries, and the CN. For example,
the library could sponsor a young adult book review page
where high school students post reviews on the CN that
they have written in school classes while the CN
provides a chat area where students can discuss the
books and the reviews. There are many collaborative
projects that are being conducted in primary schools
around the world (such as environmental studies of
water and pollution) that could be hosted by the CN.
Developing relationships with local businesses and
non-profit organizations. There are collaborative
possibilities that could involve the creation of an
electronic commerce incubator, where the CN could
assist local businesses interested in establishing
a web storefront. Real estate, tourism, and digital
product (software, reservations etc.) companies are
good candidates for such activities. However, this
would require the CN working out arrangements with
their ISPs to offer secure transaction processing.
Developing community-based interactive forums and
databases that can be regional, neighborhood, or
village specific. CNs should have job banks and
resume databases for their members. Local clubs
and organizations should have discussion areas or
lists that they can use to communicate. There is
a range of political information that can be made
available to the community; there should be a wealth
of local and regional government information that
can be made available to members. The CN could
sponsor electronic town meetings, chats with
candidates, or discussions of relevant issues.
5. Finally, there
must be a state-wide and concerted effort to develop
viable strategies for self sufficiency and generating
a revenue stream. All of the Board members who
either responded to the survey or were interviewed
mentioned that their CNs had to begin generating
enough revenue to at least break even. Some suggestions
and possibilities that emerged from the research
include:
Hosting ecommerce. Many businesses are beginning to
think about the potential of the web as a business
opportunity. At the very least, the advertising value
is clear for certain types of businesses; CNs should
explore the possibility of acting as a "virtual incubator"
for transaction-based storefronts.
Collecting linkage fees paid by organizational members
to subsidize the cost of connection to ISPs
Soliciting business for design and build projects,
although this depends on the Board having the necessary
expertise in-house, unless they work a "finder's fee"
deal with a local web design firm. Taking on special
web development projects for government, nonprofits,
and local clubs and organizations.
Hosting of and provision of access to government and
real estate information for a fee.
Seeking grants from local governments, foundations,
large employers, not-for-profits in the service area.
Developing and carrying out successful projects with
these potential partners (participation in global
K12 science projects; access to government information,
electronic town meetings; training for employees, job
and resume databases) increases the strength of the
argument that they should have budget lines for supporting
the community network.
Providing fee-based interactive services, such as special
aliased e-mail, e-mail accounts, and private mailing
lists or chat areas. If the CN is not an ISP, these
services would have to be hosted by the ISP with some
of the fees handed back to the CN.
Training for corporations and nonprofit organizations
Return to contents
The study used three methods to gather data :
Content analysis
Content analysis was used because it is an
effective method for discerning patterns and
themes in textual and graphic data. There were
two objectives for this phase of the project,
the evaluation of each site against a standard
and the evaluation of the structure, depth,
quality, design (text, graphics, CGI/Javascript/Java)
and utility of each site's existing content.
To develop the coding scheme, an AI document
outlining the required features of CN web sites
was used as a starting point. Next, three randomly
selected web sites were examined and exhaustively
described in terms of their content and structures.
This produced a list of features and structural
elements used as the basis for the first version
of the coding scheme.
A trained coder then began to examine systematically
each CN's web site, modifying the coding scheme as
needed. By the third iteration, the scheme had
stabilized into the final version (see Appendix A:
Web Site Coding Scheme). The coding scheme was
checked for reliability by one of the researchers,
who recoded three web sites and compared the results
to the work of the coder; the result of this exercise
was intercoder reliability of 94%.
To get a sense of the structure of these CNs, site
maps were drawn for each network.
Surveys
Based on the research questions and a set of interviews
with a sample of CN Board members, a survey instrument
was developed. The instrument went through several
iterations during a pretesting phase, where it was
examined by two CN Board members and two researchers
not connected with this project. Based on their
observations and criticisms, the instrument was modified
into the final version (see Appendix B: Interview and
Survey Instrument).
The survey was administered to every CN board and
technical staff member at all CNs that were not visited
by the researchers. Its purpose was to gather data
about the demographics of CNs, including the types
of hardware and software used to develop content
and maintain the network. It was also be used to
develop an inventory of the resources and services
made available through the networks and to collect
management information, including statements of
local goals, planning, and methods of evaluation.
Finally, the surveys were used to collect information
about the successes, failures and challenges faced
by these networks.
During the first week of September, 1997, 194 surveys
were mailed to CN Board members and technical staff.
By the end of November, 1997, 43 surveys had been
returned, of which 38 contained usable data, for a
response rate of about 22%.
Case studies
In order to gather more detailed information about
CNs, seven sites were selected for case study analyses
and visited by the researchers. These case study sites
reflected geographic distribution (they were located
across the state), and population size (large and small)
and type (rural and urban). During these site visits,
more extensive data were collected through interviews,
observation, and document collection (budget documents,
operations and training manuals, policy and mission
statements). Questions were asked about the range of
information resources and services which were being
offered to the public, how they were being used and how
they could be improved. Also, data were gathered about
the management and daily operation of these networks.
In addition, the researchers set up an unmoderated CN
listserv in August, 1997, with membership restricted
to CN board members and technical staff to provide a
"private forum" for them to discuss issues raised
during the research. The hope was that this communication
channel would be used by the CN members and would
provide additional longitudinal data; unfortunately,
after a flurry of introductions, list traffic dropped
off and eventually ceased.
Utility of this methodology:
One goal of this research was to develop a portable
methodology for the evaluation of CNs that can be used
in other settings and the data collection strategies
described below can serve as a basis for such a
methodology. The combination of data collection
techniques proved to be very useful in gathering a
wide range of information about CNs. Content analysis
is a powerful and non-intrusive technique for discerning
patterns in a sample of data instances, particularly
when they are textual in nature. The coding scheme
allowed both the description of the "typical" CN web
site and a means by which the individual web sites
could be compared and contrasted. This scheme can
easily be used as a template for analyses of other CN
sites, although some modifications are to be expected
to adapt the instrument to local conditions.
Surveys and interviews are useful techniques for
gathering data from a large number and wide range
of people. The interview schedule was an effective
tool for opening and carrying out in depth conversations
with CN Board members; the questions were on target
and the language was easily understood. The survey
instrument developed for this study generated rich
data from those who took the time to fill it out.
However, there was a low response rate. This may
indicate that the instrument requires further
modification; it may also indicate that the researchers
did not handle the promotion and distribution of
the instrument in as effective a way as could have
been done.
The site visits were very useful because they
allowed the researchers to observe the routine
workings of CN Boards; most of the visits coincided
with Board meetings. Conversations with Board members
before and after these meetings proved to be rich
sources of data, allowing the researchers to follow
up on matters raised in the meetings and probe
further about issues covered in the interviews.
Return to contents
Howard Rosenbaum joined the faculty of the School of Library and
Information Science in 1993. His research interests
include the history and development of electronic networking,
with a focus on the emerging National Information Infrastructure
and its implications for the information professions, the
"public digital library," electronic commerce, electronic
publishing and copyright, community networking, computer
mediated communication, the study of managers and
information, and organizations, and the intersection of
theoretical approaches in library and information science
and sociology. Rosenbaum has been a co-author on two
national research studies, Managing Information
Technologies: Transforming County Governments in the
1990s (1992), and The National Research and
Education Network: Research and Policy and Perspectives
(1991). He has presented his work at American Society
for Information Science midyear and national meetings,
the International Communications Association, the
Canadian Association for Information Science, and
the American Sociological Association.
He has had extensive experience using qualitative
methods in a variety of settings to investigate a range
of research problems in library and information science.
Rosenbaum teaches in the areas of information networking,
electronic commerce, intellectual freedom, information
organizations, and social science information and
offers continuing education workshops for librarians
and information professionals in HTML, web page design,
and the use of the internet.
Kim Gregson is a doctoral student in School of Library
and Information Science. She has an extensive background
in computers and information networking and has worked
as a web programmer and programmer. Her research
interests include community networking and political
participation, and she has presenting work on this
topic at the National Meetings of the American Society
for Information Science in fall 1997. She has compiled
an online bibliography on the topic of community
networking and teledemocracy and will be co-teaching
a course on community networks this fall.
Return to contents
Return to contents
Return to contents
Community Network Website Codesheet 3.0
Structure
10 Home Page:
Content
30 Local CN Content
40 Local links
Return to contents
A Study of State-Funded Community Networks in Indiana
School of Library and Information Science
Funded by the Indiana Department of Education
August 1997
Dr. Howard Rosenbaum
Ms. Kim Gregson
Purpose: The main objective of this survey is to gather
data about the current state of state-funded community
networks (CNs) in Indiana. The survey will be used to
develop an inventory of the resources and services made
available through the CNs and to collect management information,
including statements of local goals, planning, and methods
of evaluation. Information will be collected about the successes,
challenges, and failures faced by CNs in the last year.
This information will also enable the researchers to assess
the cooperative strategies currently used by existing CNs,
critically examine the means by which potential users and
content providers can be made aware of the value of
community networking, and focus on the public education
and public library components of community networking.
Your cooperation is essential in this study. We hope that
you will take the time to fill out and use the enclosed
envelope to return this survey; you may also fax the
survey to 812.855.6166 if this is more convenient. The data
collected in this survey will be aggregated for reporting
purposes, so individual responses will be anonymous and
will remain confidential.
We would appreciate the return of the completed survey
by Friday, October 4, 1997.
Questions regarding this survey should be addressed to:
Dr. Howard Rosenbaum
A. The Community Network Board of Directors:
1. How many Board members do you have? ____
b. How are candidates recruited for the Board?
c. How many Board meetings were held last year? _____
How many did you attend? _____
3.In your opinion, what are the three most important
decisions the Board made in the last year?
B. The CN and the community
4.How satisfied are you with the current relationship
between the CN and the community (Circle one)?
b. How does the CN strengthen the "sense of community"?
c. What has the community done to support the CN?
d. What are the measures that you look for to indicate
the impact the CN is having on the community?
5.How many users do you have?
a. Briefly describe your typical individual users
b. Why are they using the system?
c. How many users do you gain from month to month? ____
d. How many users do you lose from month to month? ____
f. Which of the following describe your typical
communications with your users (Check all that apply)?
__ Feedback about current and proposed content
6. Who develops content for the CN? (Check all
that apply)
a. Have you funded content development? Yes ___ No ___
2. What limitations did funders place on you
(in the AI money for example) in the type of content
that you could pay to have developed?
7. Do you have any paying advertisers or
sponsors on your site? Yes ___ No ___
a. How did you set your rates?
b. What are your rates for different sized
businesses?
c. What are your rates for profit/non-profit
organizations?
d. What are your rates for companies in your
area vs. outside of the area?
e. Do you have any restrictions about who may
advertise on or sponsor your CN? Yes ___ No ___
f. Do you have any restrictions about advertising
or sponsorship content? Yes ___ No ___
2. Do you provide statistics to the businesses
about users or about usage, such as the number
of hits on their page each month? Yes ___ No ___
g. Have any businesses stopped running their
advertising or sponsorship? Yes ___ No ___
8. How are you promoting and marketing the CN?
(Check all that apply)?
a. In your opinion, how successful are these efforts (Circle one)?
9. Please describe the relationship between the
CN and the local schools (in the space below)
b. How many teachers have been trained how to use
the features of the CN? ___
c. How many students have been trained? ___
10. Please describe the relationship between the
CN and the local public libraries (in the space below)
b. How many librarians have been trained how to use
the features of the CN? ___
c. How many library patrons have been trained? ___
11. What other organizations/companies/groups in the
community work with the CN? (Please list)
12. Do you use volunteers? Yes ___ No __
a. How many? ___
b. What are their main tasks?
c. How do you recruit them?
d. Please explain why you do not use volunteers
C.Your CN (Goals, resources and services, costs)
13.In your opinion, what were the three most important
challenges the CN faced in the last year? (List below)
b. In your opinion, what is the CN's biggest challenge
in the next 12 months?
14.In your opinion, what are the three most important
successes accomplished by the CN in the last year
15.In your opinion, what has been the CN's biggest
failure?
b. How did you deal with it?
16. In your opinion, what should be the main goal
of the CN for the next year?
17. Please assess the long term financial stability
of the network (Circle one)
a. What strategies is the Board pursuing to achieve
sustainability? (List below)
2. What other revenue streams is the CN investigating?
3. What information would you need to help you investigate
sustainability issues?
4. Who have you talked to in the community about
sustainability for the CN?
b. When would you estimate that the network will
achieve self-sufficiency?
c. Who have you approached about grants, matching funds,
donations
18. What are the CN's revenues? Monthly ____
Quarterly ____
b. When do your contracts for T1 or modem pool
access need to be renegotiated? _________
2. Do you have plans to change who manages your
server in the future? Yes __ No __
19.What do you charge for membership?
20. Which of the following do you host on your CN
(Check all that apply; if none apply, please skip
to (d))?
a. In your opinion, how satisfied are your users with
these services?
b. Do you mention these services in your
advertising? Yes ___ No ___
c.What are the most heavily used resources/
services/pages of your CN?
d. If you have none of these services, why did you
decide not to host them?
f. What new features/content would you like to see
on the CN?
21. Have there been any discussions about a policy
regarding the issue of censorship? Yes ___ No ___
2. If yes, have you censored any messages/postings/pages?
Yes ___ No ___
3. Please describe your censorship policy if it is
not available on your web site.
ICNA
22. How satisfied are you with ICNA? (Circle one)
22. Of ICNA's various activities, which ones do
you support?
23. Of ICNA's various activities, which ones do
you object to?
24. What would you like to see ICNA do for your CN
in the next year?
25. What services would you like the ICNA to offer
as benefits of membership?
E. Personal Information
26. How long have you been a Board member? ___
27. Gender M __ F __ Age ____
28. What is your occupation? _________________________
29. How would you assess your computer experience?
30. How would you assess your internet experience?
Howard Rosenbaum
Howard Rosenbaum
Return to contents
Return to contents
Display Access Indiana logo
24
Levels of the site (5 average)
3 - 9
Display ICNA logo
15
Number of pages (~40 average)
20 - ~75
Display graphic logos for CN
12
Background colors
20
Image representing community
9
Background images
15
Link to map of state-funded CNs
4
Multimedia
9
Link to ICNA's list of Cns
3
Forms
8
Link to ICNA's accessibility guidelines
2
Links to web search engines
8
Link to the CN sites' designers
21
Local search engines
7
Table of contents
24
Counters
5
Imagemap TOC
4
CGI Perl Javascript
6
Frames
7
Link to a site map
4
Display AI logo
24
Information about Board
17
Display ICNA logo
15
Acceptable Use Policy
13
Links to disability guidelines
2
Schedule of upcoming meetings
11
Access to bylaws
13
Minutes/notes
12
Links to K12/school corps.
24
Links to local schools
9
Street addresses for corps
12
School calendars
9
School Board information
7
Teachers' web pages
2
School Board meeting dates
4
Current lunch menus
2
Agendas for upcoming mtgs.
0
Link to IDEANet/ISTEP
2
Links to local public libraries
20
Archives of Board minutes
0
Street addresses for libraries
6
Library calendars
8
Library Board information
2
Copy of policy manuals
0
Links to library's OPAC
6
Copy of budget
0
Agendas for upcoming mtgs.
0
Link to State Library page
1
Info about the CN
18
Past financial statements
6
Mission statement
17
Costs of individual membership
15
Current Bylaws
13
Benefits of individual membership
9
Board of Directors info
17
Costs of corporate membership
11
History of the CN
16
Benefits of corp. membership
10
Acceptable Use Policies
12
Business plan
2
Current financial statement
10
FAQ about the CN
2
"What's New"
9
Info for parents
2
Meeting schedules and minutes
11
Articles of incorporation
2
Links to local community info.
20
Calendar of government events
9
Community map
17
Announcements of meetings
8
Local community history
17
Addresses for some local elected officials
7
Demographic information
10
Local election information
5
Photographs of local landmarks
9
Voter registration information
3
Links to sightseeing info.
1
Location of polling places
3
Announcements of festivals and events
1
Background about local political issues
2
Link to local government info
19
Links to local military pages
3
Directories of elected officials
15
Community calendar
19
Links to local cult./ rec. Organizations
24
Schedules
7
Links to local service organizations
24
Reservation information
5
Info. for organizations without web sites
5
5 Info. about local volunteer opportunities
7
Links to local parks/rec offices
5
Info. about special projects
4
Info about special projects/ events
10
Local events calendars
3
Hours of local facilities
8
Links to local extension services
9
Links to local places of worship
21
Links to/info. about local health care
facilities/providers
19
Lists of times/dates of services
10
Info. about local medical specialties
4
Images of these places
3
Links to or pages about local business
24
Links to local media
22
Links to local Chamber of Commerce
13
Links to local newspapers
5
Banner ads for local business
5
Links to local radio stations
11
Links to Rural Development Councils
3
Links to local television stations
8
Links to local realtors
9
Links to local weather
14
Links to local Boards of Realtors
3
Links to local television stations
8
Links to Federal government pages
17
Links to State Department of Education
5
Links to federal agencies and departments
10
Links to State library and education pages
12
Links to national politicians' pages
8
Links to State universities and colleges
9
Links to national military sites
6
Links to university/college libraries
8
Links to State government pages
16
Links to Higher Education Commission
4
Links to state politicians' pages
11
Links to state and national media
12
Links to other CNs
12
Links to state recreation facilities
8
Link to the Access Indiana list of CNs
5
Links to national parks and facilities
3
Links to state and national businesses
5
Links to state/national Boards of Realtors
4
3. Recommendations
The ACCESS INDIANA community network model has been based
on achieving self-sufficiency within the first two years
of operation. Content has been the cornerstone of [AI]-
supported community networks...
http://www.lc-link.org/orgs/alco/bizplan.html
http://www.lc-link.org/orgs/alco/techplan.html
http://www.perrycounty.org/APC/information.html
http://www.bccn.boone.in.us/admin/About_BCCN.html
http://www.communinet.org/About/acceptable_use.htm
http://www.cccn.net/help.htm
http://www.dekalbnet.org/childsafety.htm
http://www.ecicnet.org/workdb/index.html
http://www.ecicnet.org/jobbank/
http://fccn.venus.net/fccnhtbm.htm
http://www.ft-wayne.in.us/infonet/content/fwai_submission.html
http://www.greenet.net/opinion/default.htm
http://www.bloomington.in.us/calendar/index.msql
http://www.huntington.in.us/services.html
http://www.indianapolis.in.us/home/faqs-net.htm
http://www.bit-wise.com/indyforum/forum.htm
http://users.michiana.org/userpages.shtml
http://michiana.org/MFNetAdm/MFNetInfo.html
http://www.mwprairienet.lib.in.us/Calendar/calendar.html
http://www.mwprairienet.lib.in.us/special.html#bus
http://www.noblecan.org/calendar/calendar.cgi
http://www.noblecan.org/~super/events/
http://scican.net/taxes/taxes.htm
http://scican.net/scican/trouble.html
http://www.scican.net/scican/grant.html
http://www.wcic.org/maillist.html
Promoting and advertising the CN: there is a
need to evangelize about the CN in the community.
Board members should consider spending some money
to target advertising to specific groups of
individuals, not-for-profit organizations, and
businesses. They should also look for all of the
free and low cost opportunities to advertise the
CN (press releases to the media).
Conducting community needs assessments through mail,
phone, media based surveys (perhaps in the local
newspaper) or meetings. The point of this exercise is
to give community members a chance to tell the Boards
what they want.
The suggestion that ICNA and/or AI host a conference
on sustainability and self sufficiency for member CNs.
Such a conference could bring in people from CNs who
have implemented activities and services that have
led to revenue generation or who have successfully
pursued grants and other funding opportunities.
4. Methodology
5. Background
of the researchers
6. Budget
Activity
Rate
Requested
Actual
Consulting
Principal Investigator
20 days @ 187.50/day
3750.00
3255.45
University contribution to FICA
261.37
Data collection
Survey
Copying
300 copies (6 pgs)@ .8/page
150.00
Mailing
300 surveys@ .64
192.00
342.00
48.00
Telephone
Interviews and arrangements (and follow-up as needed)
200.00
Taping of interviews
60 microcassette tapes@ 1.50
90.00
Supplies
200.00
490.00
298.53
Data analysis
Data entry
40 hrs.@ 8.00
320.00
Content analysis
60 hrs@ 8.00
480.00
Interview transcription
180 hrs@ 8.00
1440.00
2240.00
1200.00
University contribution to FICA
231.14
Travel
Mileage
1000 miles@.25/mile
250.00
Hotel
12 nights@80.00/night
960.00
Food
12 days @24.00/day
288.00
1498.00
581.74
Total
8320.00
5,878,23
7. Bibliography
Appendix A. Web Site
Coding Scheme
Site URL: http://
Site name:
Date:
Coder:
__100 Display the ACCESS INDIANA logo with a direct link
to www.ai.org
20 Design features
__1000 Display the ICNA logos with a direct link to
www.icna.ai.org
__101 Textual identification of the community the CN represents
__1001 Provide a direct link to the current ICNA-recommended
guidelines for website accessibility by persons with disabilities
at www.icna.ai.org
__1002 Link to the AIIN map
__10020 ICNA list of Cns
__1003 CN logo
__102 Graphical identification of the community the CN represents
__103 Link to the design company/authors
__104 Table of contents
__ 1040 TOC Image map
__105 Link to site map
__106 Other:
__200 Graphics
__2000 Background colors
__201 Multimedia
__2001 Background graphics
__2002 Still images (.jpg, .gif)
__2010 Animated graphics (.gif)
__202 Frames
__2011 Sound
__2012 Quicktime or other animation formats
__2011 Video
__203 Interactive features
__2030 Locally sponsored discussion groups and listservs
__204 Local search engine
__20300 Instructions for subscribing
__2031 Web based text conferencing
__20301 Access to discussion groups/listservs of interest
sponsored by other community nets, AIIN or ICNA
__20310 Chat rooms
__2032 Forms
__20320 Demographic
__2033 Cookies How many? ___
__20321 Comments/Feedback
__20322 Ecommerce order form
__2034 Counter
__2035 Java
__2036 Javascript
__2037 Perl/CGI
__2038 <mailto> link for user to send mail to the CN
__2039 Other:
__2040 Web search engine
__205 Other:
__300 Info about the CN
__3000 By-Laws
__302 Acceptable use Policy
__3001 History of the CN
__3002 Information about the Board of Directors
__3003 Mission statement
__3004 What's new
__3005 Other:
__3020 Information for parents about keeping kids safe on the internet
__303 Financial Statement
__3021 Other:
__3030 Previous financial statements
__304 A schedule of upcoming meetings
__3040 Minutes/notes of past meetings
__305 Individual membership information
__3050 Info on how to join
__306 Corporate membership information
__3051 Benefits of being a member
__3052 Costs of being online
__3053 Other:
__3060 Info on how to join
__307 Other services
__3061 Benefits of being member
__3062 Costs of being online
__3063 Other:
__3070 Computer training
__308 Other:
__3071 General internet training
__3072 Using the web
__3073 Creating web pages
__3074 Location of public access terminals
__30740 Hours of availability
__3075 Other:
__30741 Policies for use
__400 Links to Community information
50 Regional, State & National Links
__4000 History
__ 401 Local government
__4001 Demographics/population/census information
__4002 Map(s)
__4003 Photos of landmarks
__4004 Other:
__4010 A directory of all elected officials
__402 Links to local K-12 schools and school corporations
__40100 Street addresses, mailing addresses,
telephone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail
addresses for all city and county offices
__4011 Calendar
__40101 Photos of all city and county office
buildings
__40102 Other:
__40110 Notice of upcoming meetings
__4012 Election Information
__40111 Agenda for all upcoming meetings
__40112 Minutes from all past meetings
__40113 Other:
__40120 Dates of upcoming elections
__4013 Background information on political issues
__40121 Information about voting, registration
__40122 Location of polling places
__40123 Candidate information from past/upcoming
elections
__40124 Past election results - by candidate,
by voter demographic
__40125 Other:
__40130 Online Opinion Polls/Past Poll Results
__4014 Local govt information (reports)
__40131 Other:
__4015 Other:
__4020 A map, with boundaries, of all schools
and their school corporations
__403 Links to local public libraries (website, if available)
__40200 The street address, mailing address,
telephone number, fax number and email address
for each school corporation
__4021 School Board information
__40201 Copy of each school corporation's budget
__40210 Local school board meeting dates
__4022 Individual Schools
__40211 Agendas for upcoming school board
meetings
__40212 Archive of minutes from past school
board meetings
__40213 Copy of school board policy manuals
__40214 Photos and biographies of members of
the local school boards
__40215 Other:
__40220 Current school lunch menus
__4023 Info on educational alternatives - home school contacts,
trade schools, correspondence courses
__40221 Archived copies of school newspapers
__40222 Copies of student handbooks
__40223 A calendar of events for each school
__40224 The street address, mailing address,
telephone number, fax number and e-mail address for
each school
__40225 Photos of every school, principal and superintendent
__40226 Web pages for individual classes/students/teachers
at the school
__40227 Other:
__4030 If a separate website is not available, the street
address, mailing address, telephone number, fax number
and e-mail address for each library with photos of each
library and its director
__404 Links to local service organizations (website, if available)
__4031 Links to each library's to each library's on-line
catalog
__4032 A map showing each library's location
__4033 Hours of operation
__4034 A calendar of events
__40340 Local library board meeting dates
__4035 Photos and biographies of members of the local
library boards
__40341 Agendas for upcoming library board meetings
__40342 Archive of minutes from past library board
meetings
__40343 Other:
__4036 Copy of library board policy manuals
__4037 Copy of each library's budget
__4038 Other:
__4040 If a website is not available, the logo, street
address, mailing address, telephone number, fax number
and e-mail address for each organization and its director
__405 Links to local businesses and professional services
(website, if available)
__4041 A calendar of events and activities
__4042 Information about special projects and how to contribute
__4043 Photos and biographies of members of the local boards
__4044 Local volunteer opportunities
__4045 Other:
__4050 If a website is not available, the street address,
mailing address, telephone number, fax number and e-mail
address
__406 Links to local places of worship (website, if available)
__4051 Presence of advertisers/sponsors
__40510 Banner ads
__4052 Link to local Chamber of Commerce
__40511 Smaller logos
__40512 Link to company site, company name
__40513 Other:
__40520 If a website is not available, the street
address, mailing address, telephone number, fax
number, and e-mail address
__4053 Link to local Economic Development Council
__40521 Names and photos of the director, Board
members
__40522 Other:
__40530 If a website is not available, the street
address, mailing address, telephone number, fax number,
and e-mail address
__4054 Link to local Rural Development Council
__40531 Names and photos of the director, Board members
__40532 Other:
__40540 If a website is not available, the street
address, mailing address, telephone number, fax number,
and e-mail address
__40541 Names and photos of the director, Board members
__40542 Other:
__4060 If a website is not available, the street address,
mailing address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail
address
__407 Links to local health care facilities (website, if
available)
__4061 Photo and map location for each site
__4062 Service dates and times
__4063 Other:
__4070 If a website is not available, the logo, street
address, mailing address, telephone number, fax number,
e-mail address
__408 Links to local public and utility service/organizations
(arts/cultural, parks, recreational facilities, transportation
providers, trash services, etc.)
__40700 Photo and map location for each facility
__4071 A calendar of events and activities
__40701 Photos and biographies of members of the
local boards
__4072 Information about special projects and how to
contribute
__4073 Descriptions of specialties, if there any
__4074 Local health care pamphlets and information
__4075 Other:
__4080 If a website is not available, the logo, street
address, mailing address, telephone number, fax number,
e-mail address
__409 Links to local media
__40800 Photo, address, and map location for each
facility
__4081 The street address, mailing address, telephone number,
fax number, e-mail of the local parks/recreation office
__40800 Name, photo of the Director
__4082 Hours of operation
__40801 Photos and biographies of members of the local
board
__4083 Schedules
__4084 Reservation information
__4085 Information about special projects and events
__4086 Other:
__4090 Links to local TV stations
__410 Links to Local Realtors (website, if available)
__40900 <mailto> to the station
__4091 Links to local radio stations
__40901 If a website is not available, the logo, street
address, mailing address, telephone number, fax number,
e-mail address
__40902 Other:
__40910 <mailto> to the station
__4092 Links to local newspapers
__40911 If a website is not available, the logo, street
address, mailing address, telephone number, fax number,
e-mail address
__40912 Other:
__40920 <mailto> to the editor
__4093 Online Local news
__40921 If a website is not available, the logo, street
address, mailing address, telephone number, fax number,
e-mail address
__40922 Other:
__4094 Community bulletin board
__40940 An archive of all court reports
__4095 A link to local/regional weather
__40941 An archive of all police reports
__40942 An archive of all state and Federal tax liens
__40943 Postings from community members
__40944 An archive of all public announcements and
legal statements from tax-supportedinstitutions
__40945 Other:
__4096 Other:
__4100 If a website is not available, street address,
mailing address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail
address and map location for each Realtor
__411 Links to local extension services (website, if available)
__4101 A link to the local Board of Realtors
__4102 Other:
__4110 If a website is not available, the street address,
mailing address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address,
and map location for the service office, with photos of the
extension educators
__412 Links to local military (website, if available)
__41100 Photos of the extension educators
__4111 A calendar of events and activities
__4112 Information about special projects and programs
__4113 Local service pamphlets and information
__4114 Other:
__4120 If a website is not available, the street address,
mailing address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address
__413 Links to local job/employment opportunities (website, if available)
__41200 Photo and map location for the National Guard Armory
__4121 A calendar of events and activities
__41201 Photo of the local commanding officer
__4122 Information about special projects and programs
__4123 Local service pamphlets and information
__4124 Other:
__4130 If a website is not available, the street address,
mailing address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address
__414 A current community calendar
__41300 Photo and map location for the local Office
of Workforce Development
__4131 A listing of current employment opportunities
__4132 Local service pamphlets and information
__4133 Other:
__4140 Last year's calendar, this year's calendar and next
year's calendar
__415 Other:
__41400 Searchable by date, event type and/or applicable
age group
__4141 Direct entry option for passworded users
__4142 Links to other relevant on-line calendars
__4143 Other:
__501 Other CNs
6.0 Other
__5010 The AI list of community networks in Indiana
__502 State government
__5011 Other:
__5020 Homepages of elected officials
__503 Business
__5021 Other prominent and relevant state information available via AIIN
__5022 Links to regional and state Workforce Development websites
__5023 A link to the Indiana Department of Education IDEANet homepage
__5024 Links to regional, state military websites
__5025 A link to the Purdue University Extension Service website
__5026 Other:
__5030 Links to regional, state Boards of Realtors
__504 Media
__5031 Links to national Boards of Realtors
__5032 Links to regional Economic Development Councils
__5033 Links to national business organizations
__5034 Other:
__5040 Links to regional, state news sources
__505 Health care
__5041 Links to national news sources
__5042 Other:
__5050 Links to the Indiana Department of Health and national health care websites
__506 Recreation
__5051 Other:
__5060 Links to state parks and facilities
__507 Libraries and education
__5061 Links to national parks and facilities
__5062 Other:
__5070 A link to the Indiana State Library homepage
__508 National government
__5071 Links to all university libraries in Indiana
__5072 Links to all Indiana college and university websites
__50720 A map indicating the location of local colleges and universities
__5073 A link to the Indiana Higher Education Commission
__5074 Links to state service organizations
__5075 Other:
__5080 Homepages of elected officials
__509 Other:
__5081 Federal government departments/agencies
__5082 Links to national military websites
__5083 Links to national political parties
__5084 Other:
Appendix B. Interview and
Survey Instrument
Indiana University
<hrosenba@indiana.edu>
Main Library 011
School of Library and Information Science
10th and Jordan
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-1801
821.855.3250 (Voice)
812.855.6166 (Fax)
a. What sectors of the community are represented
on the board?
2. Which of the following best describes the Board's
decision making process?
__ K-12
__ Private citizen
__ Public library
__ Local business
__ Local government
__ Local university/college
__ Other
(please describe):
__ Robert's Rules of Order
__ Consensus building
__ Majority voting
__ Other (please describe):
Very unsatisfied
MoveMoveMoveMove!!!
Neutral
Very satisfied
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
a. Briefly describe the relationship between the CN and the
community
Individual _____
K-12 (teachers, staff) _____
Business _____
Public library (librarians) _____
Govt/non-profits _____
Total number (if you can't
break them out into categories) _____
1. Why do they leave the CN?
e. How do you communicate with your users (Check all that apply)?
__ Email
__ Newsletter
__ Web page announcements
__ Local media
__ Bill insert
__ Other (please specify)
__ Soliciting information about what the resources and
services they want
__ Feedback about how they think the CN is doing
__ Information about power outages, downtime and
maintenance
__ Other (please describe):
__ Board Members
__ Subcontractors
__ CN members
__ Non-members
1. If yes, briefly describe the process (competitive
grants...)
If no, skip to Question 8
1. If yes, who may not advertise or provide sponsorship?
1. If yes, what are they?
1. If yes, why?
__Word of mouth
__ Press releases
__ Newspaper advertising
__ Radio advertising
__ Organizational newsletters
__ Direct mail
__ Appearance at public
events (fairs, festivals, demos)
__ Other (please describe):
Very unsuccessful
MoveMoveMoveMove!!!
No Effect
Very successful
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
a. What types of programs is the CN running with
the schools?
a. What types of programs is the CN running with
the libraries?
a. How do these organizations/companies/groups use the CN
If yes, please answer (a) to (c); if no, skip to (d)
a. How did you resolve them?
a. Why do think this happened?
Very Unstable
Unstable
Stable
Very Stable
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1. In your opinion, what are the three greatest obstacles
that the CN has to overcome to achieve sustainability?
1. Was the effort successful? Yes __ No __
a. What are the sources of these revenues?
1. Do you expect the cost to increase or decrease?
a. Why?
Individual
members ________
Commercial
members________
Non-profit
members________
a. What do you get rebated back from the ISP
per user?
__ Personal webpages for users
__ Chat rooms/groups
__ Pages for commercial or
organizational members
__ Threaded discussions
__ Local USENET newsgroups
__ Listservs
__ Other USENET
newsgroups
Very Dissatisfied
Neutral
Very satisfied
Personal
pages
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Commercial
Org. Pages
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Local USENET
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Other USENET
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Chat
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Threaded
Discussions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Listservs
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
__ Communication
__ Community/organizational
information
__ Community calendar
__ Directory information
__ Local school information
__ User home pages
__ Other
(please describe:)
1. If yes, have you censored any personal or organizational
pages? Yes ___ No ___
Very unsatisfied
MoveMoveMoveMove!!!
Neutral
Very satisfied
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Novice
MoveMoveMoveMove
MoveMoveMove!!!Intermediate
Expert
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Novice
MoveMoveMoveMove
MoveMoveMove!!!Intermediate
Expert
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Thank you very much
for participating in this survey
Use the enclosed envelope
to return the survey to:
Mail Library 011
School of Library and Information Science
Bloomington, IN 47405-1801You can fax the completed survey
to:
812.855.8166
Appendix C: State-funded
Community Networks in Indiana
This page prepared by Howard Rosenbaum
Last update: 12.1.98
hrosenba@indiana.edu
You are here:
http://memex.lib.indiana.edu/hrosenba/www/research/commnet/commnetpr.html