Virtual Field
Trip: Exploring Community Networks
Network 1
1. Name of Network
Southwest
Colorado Access Network (SCAN)
2. The Web Address (make this a hyperlink)
3. Place it serves (This may be defined in
terms of a region, a county, a city or town, or some other designation.
Colorado “Region
9” (Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, San Juan and Montezuma counties.)
4. What is its Mission?
It’s “mission is
to be a regional leader, working cooperatively with the private and public
sectors to enhance the economic conditions in the area, and improve the
region's economic prosperity.”
5. Who sponsors it?
A “board of
directors comprised of 26 directors, 17 members from local government agencies
throughout the region and nine members that represent the private sector in our
five county area.”
6. Is it volunteer run? Does it have paid
staff? Or both?
It has a paid
staff, but they are a non-profit organization.
7. What services does it offer and do these
services cost anything? Some examples of services that you might find are
e-mail, access to newsgroups, web discussion forums, Internet and web access,
hosting web sites for non-profit organizations, businesses, individuals, e-mail
lists. Many other services might be provided so be sure to note these as well.
(You can make an unordered list of services to answer this question if you'd
like, or you can answer it in paragraph form.)
It collects
regional data and has loans for small businesses. “Region 9’s micro loan
program assists small businesses with short-term (up to 5 years) capital needs
of less than $100,000.”
8. If the network provides local
information, what categories of information does it provide? (A short narrative
in paragraph form along with a list of categories would be appropriate for this
answer.)
“Region 9 EDD
provides detailed socio-economic data and trends which can be accessed online,”
and publishes The Region 9 report, which “is a summary of the latest
population, employment, income top employers and housing data for Archuleta,
Dolores, La Plata, San Juan and Montezuma counties.” It also publishes a
business line newsletter and the Southwest Colorado Index, which “provides
information about the overall health of our communities and whether the region
is headed forward or backward, improving or deteriorating.”
9. Does the network convey a "sense of
place"? That is do you get a sense of some of the unique qualitites of the place and the people it serves? If so
how? Provide an example page. If not, provide an example of a
"placeless" page.
Yes, this site
represents Southwest Colorado very well. I get a sense that those 5 counties
are developing rapidly and lots of small businesses are springing up around
major corporations. Here is a page to one of the communities: http://co.laplata.co.us/
10. Is there anything that you find
particularly interesting about this network? If so what is it? Provide a link.
I think the loans
that the site is able to offer are fantastic. http://www.scan.org/business_financing.html
11. Provide a credit for yourself. This
information collected by:
Chris Castellanet!
Network 2
1. Name of Network
Austin Free Net
2. The Web Address (make this a hyperlink)
3. Place it serves (This may be defined in
terms of a region, a county, a city or town, or some other designation.
Austin, Texas
4. What is its Mission?
To “provided
technology training and access for the community,” and “foster skills that
enable people to succeed in a digital age.”
5. Who sponsors it?
A
board of directors and volunteer donations.
6. Is it volunteer run? Does it have paid
staff? Or both?
It has a paid
staff, but it has volunteers too. It even has a volunteer link on the homepage.
7. What services does it offer and do these
services cost anything? Some examples of services that you might find are
e-mail, access to newsgroups, web discussion forums, Internet and web access,
hosting web sites for non-profit organizations, businesses, individuals, e-mail
lists. Many other services might be provided so be sure to note these as well.
(You can make an unordered list of services to answer this question if you'd
like, or you can answer it in paragraph form.)
It provides free computer
labs and computer classes to underserved communities in Austin.
8. If the network provides local
information, what categories of information does it provide? (A short narrative
in paragraph form along with a list of categories would be appropriate for this
answer.)
It doesn’t
provide much local information. It is more designed to make information
available to locals who should already be in the know. It does however provide
a map to its public computer lab locations.
9. Does the network convey a "sense of
place"? That is do you get a sense of some of the unique qualities of the
place and the people it serves? If so how? Provide an example page. If not,
provide an example of a "placeless" page.
The locations in
Austin that the website has listed labs definitely have a structure that
conveys a sense of place. These are supposedly underserved communities, and
they are distinct from the major business district of Austin. Check the map to
see:
http://www.communitywalk.com/afnlabs
10. Is there anything that you find
particularly interesting about this network? If so what is it? Provide a link.
I think it is
really cool that they can offer free computer classes for the public, and in
fairly regular time intervals. They seem to offer classes on average every
other day!
http://www.austinfree.net/?page_id=17
11. Provide a credit for yourself. This
information collected by:
Chris Castellanet!