Town, gown and the Web

Abstract

The World Wide Web (WWW) can be used to help build mutually supportive coalitions between colleges and universities and the larger communities in which they are located. Academic institutions are ideal partners in establishing community information systems, helping foster the use of technology in the primary and secondary schools, and building regional networks of people as well as computers. Members of the larger community, in return, can offer additional breadth and depth of experience and a "real world" perspective on technology.At the same time, these partnerships raise significant management issues, including funding of hardware and network connections; equal access for all citizens; handling concerns about socially unacceptable, unethical, or criminal activity; bandwidth issues; and administering World Wide Web spaces in the community context. We examine these issues and offer suggestions from the point of view of the University of Northern Iowa's involvement with the local metropolitan area and the Iowa Research and Education Network's Rural Datafication and K-12 initiatives.