Community Computer Networks, Free-Nets and City-Regional Guides

Updated November 26, 2004

This site is maintained by volunteers of the Victoria Telecommunity Network as a free service to the Internet community. Errors or omissions can be brought to their attention by e-mail: office@victoria.tc.ca

Contents

City-Regional Guides | Australia | Canada | Regional Directories/Lists of Canadian Community Networks | Individual Canadian Community Networks | Finland | Germany | Hungary | Israel | Italy | Netherlands | New Zealand | Russia | Singapore | Spain | Sweden | Ukraine | United Kingdom | United States

Organizations | Other Information About Free-Nets and Community Computer Networks | Peter Scott's Freenets and Community Networks Site

If you are interested in joining a non-geographical-based community whose point of presence is the Web itself, check the VTN Web Communities List.

AUSTRALIA

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CANADA

Community Access Canada=Programme d'acchs communautaire (Industry Canada=Industrie Canada)

Vision 2020 "is a dynamic website designed to unite communities across Canada through on-line project participation well into the next millennium."

For individual BC civic/municipal government Internet gateways use the CivicNet(tm) Member Index (Union of BC Municipalities).

Regional Directories/Lists of Canadian Community Networks (West to East)

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Individual Canadian Community Networks and CAP Internet Access Sites

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FINLAND

GERMANY

HUNGARY

ISRAEL

ITALY

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NETHERLANDS

NEW ZEALAND

RUSSIA

SINGAPORE

SPAIN

SWEDEN

UKRAINE

UNITED KINGDOM

Includes England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales

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UNITED STATES

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ORGANIZATIONS

Association For Community Networking (AFCN)
British Columbia Coalition for Information Access (BCCIA)
British Columbia Community Networks
Center for Civic Networking (USA) sponsors the Ars Portalis Project
Centre for Community & Enterprise Networking (C\CEN) (University College of Cape Breton, Sydney, Nova Scotia)
Digital Divide Network contains a searchable database to locate public Internet access terminals in the United States (via a Zip Code)
Digital Opportunity Task Force (DOT Force, United Nations Development Program and World Bank)
Friends and Partners is an information services initiative pioneered by Natasha Bulashova (Russia) and Greg Cole (Tennessee)
Indiana Community Network Association (via Access Indiana Information Network)
National Center for Small Communities (NCSC, Washington, D.C.)
NOTE: The National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN) (Cleveland, OH) filed for bankruptcy in the United States. Efforts are being made in the USA and elsewhere by Free-Nets to restore some of the services formerly offered by the NPTN.
Nova Scotia Federation of Community Networks
Oregon Public Networking promotes community networks throughout Lane County
Organization For Community Networks is being organized by John Kurilec who formerly worked for the NPTN
Russian Civic Networking Program - CIVNET Russia (Friends and Partners) is a pilot project to develop Internet-based community networks in Russia
Saskatchewan Association of Community Networking (SACN)
Telecommunities Canada
Wire Nova Scotia (WiNS) '97 (Centre for Community & Enterprise Networking (C\CEN) and the Nova Scotia Community Access Committee)
World Wide Freenet IRC Network

The Morino Institute (Reston, Virginia) supports community networking activities and maintains a directory of public access networks.

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OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT FREE-NETS AND COMMUNITY COMPUTER NETWORKS

  1. AOL Rural Telecommunications Leadership Awards '00 (United States only) is a partnership between the National Center for Small Communities (NCSC) and the AOL Foundation
  2. Ars Portalis Project: City Gates in CyberSpace: The Art of Civic and Community Networking (Center for Civic Networking, USA)
  3. ASM (Advanced Strategic Management) Consultants Archives and Resources is a digital library of mainly Canadian papers and conferences on community computer networking and economic development as effected by the Internet.
  4. AeRIE (Applied Rural Telecommunications Online Clearinghouse) (Colorado Advanced Technology Institute, CATI)
  5. BC Community Networks Association (BCCNA) Community Network Resource Site
  6. The BC in 2001: The Electronic Highway & the Future of Our Communities Conference, Oct. 25-26, 1996 (Victoria), was sponsored by the Information and Technology Access Office.
  7. Building Learning Communities: A Web Tour at Lone Eagle Consulting includes the online version of The Good Neighbor's Guide to Community Networking
  8. Canadian Community-Net Volunteers Survey by Allan Northcott, Info-Age Passport Project, Canada West Foundation (not available at URL as of 2000.02.15)
  9. Canadian Community Networks Conference, Aug. 18-19, 1993 (Ottawa)
  10. Canadian Community Networks Conference, Aug. 15-17, 1994 (Ottawa)
  11. Canadian Free-Nets (Canadian Almanac & Directory)
  12. Canadian Free-Nets / Libertels canadiens (Interchange Canada)
  13. The Canadian Information Highway Debate and the Experience of Public Access In Rural Communities, 1993-1999 by Leo J. Deveau, Master of Library and Information Studies thesis, Dalhousie University, December 2002 (Adobe Acrobat PDF).
  14. CivicNet: The Spirit of Community Networking (A Virtual Event on the Web, May 22 - June 30, 1997)
  15. "Civil Society Computer Networks: The Perilous Road of Cyber-politics" by Frangois Fortier, Ph.D. dissertation, Political Science, York University, Toronto, Nov. 1996
  16. "Communities On-Line: A Study of Community-Based Community Networks" by Anne Beamish, Thesis, Master in City Planning, MIT, Feb. 1995
  17. Community Access '96 (Nov. 21-23, 1996, Sydney, NS)
  18. Community Computer Network Survey (Doug Schuler, University of Washington)
  19. The Community Connector (Community Networking Initiative, School of Information, University of Michigan) is a comprehensive set of resources supporting community networking and community information systems, and includes a directory, a library, and an online journal. Formerly known as the Community Networking Resource Site which evolved from an original compilation by former student Catherine Kummer.
  20. Community Networking Gets Interesting: A Synthesis of Issues, Findings and Recommendations (Ars Portalis Project, Strategic Planning Retreat, Sept. 17-19, 2000, Whidbey Institute, Langley, WA)
  21. The Community Networking Handbook by Stephen Bajjaly (ALA Editions, 1999; ISBN 0-8389-0745-8) can be purchased online through the American Library Association
  22. Community Networking Movement (Douglas Schuler, Seattle, WA) includes resources based on his book New Community Networks: Wired for Change (Addison-Wesley, 1996)
  23. Community Networks: An On-line Guide to Resources by Paul Baker, Institute of Public Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
  24. "Community Networks: Building Real Communities in a Virtual Space?" by Neil K. Guy, Thesis, Master of Arts, Geography, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, July 1996.
  25. "A Critical Study of Three Free-Net Community Networks" by Ben Stallings, Intel's Robert N. Noyce Technology Summer Internship, 1996.
  26. "A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Community Computer Networks" by Kristin M. Surak, Honors Thesis, College of Social Sciences, Florida State University, April 15, 1998
  27. Cyberspace and the Future of Community presented by Indiana University's Computer Science Dept. on 7 February 1997.
  28. ECN '97: First European Community Networks Conference (July 3 - 5, 1997, Milan, Italy)
  29. ECN '98: Second European Community Networking Conference (July 9 - 11, 1998, Barcelona, Spain); conference title, "Models for Digital Cities: New Roles of Community Networking"
  30. Final Report of the Information Highway Advisory Council (Canada)
  31. Freenets and Community Networks (Compiled by Peter Scott, Northern Lights Internet Solutions, Saskatoon, SK)
  32. Getting Online: Communities on the Internet Conference (June 20-23, 1996, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario)
  33. The Good Neighbor's Guide to Community Networking (Lone Eagle Consulting)
  34. How Libraries and Librarians Help: Context-Centered Methods for Evaluating Public Library Efforts at Bridging the Digital Divide and Building Community (University of Michigan School of Information and University of Washington Information School). Research project established in October 2000.
  35. "New Community Networks: Wired for Change" by Doug Schuler: Excerpts from the book
  36. On-Line Public Consultation On Information Highway Issues presented by Canada's Coalition for Public Information from 23 January to 23 February 1997.
  37. Partnerships & Participation in Telecommunications for Rural Development presented by Don Snowden Program for Development Communication, University of Guelph, Ontario, 26 and 27 October 1998.
  38. "Public Spaces on the Information Highway: The Role of Community Networks" by Andrew Avis, Thesis, Master of Arts, Communication Studies, University of Calgary, Aug. 1995.
  39. The Rural Datafication Project (USA)
  40. Rural Telecommunications Congress (RuralTeleCon) organizes an annual conference on rural telecommunications issues
  41. Saskatchewan Community Networking Conference: Papers (First, 13 April 1996, Saskatoon)
  42. Telecommunities Canada 97: Partnerships (Hosted by Chebucto Community Network, August 15-18, 1997, Halifax, Nova Scotia)
  43. Telecommunities Canada '96 Conference: Telecommunity Spirit (August 16-20, 1996, Edmonton, Alberta)
  44. Telecommunities Canada '95 Conference: Equity on the Internet (University of Victoria, August 19-23, 1995, Victoria, BC, Canada)
  45. Ties That Bind Conference Report May 4-6, 1994, Cupertino, California
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CITY-REGIONAL GUIDES

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