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Oregon Public Networking: "Lane County's Bike Lane for the Information Superhighway..."

by Meredith Bauch and Linda Williams
University of Michigan School of Information

OPN has over 10,000 registered users! It estimates that 6,500 of these users are active. These numbers are impressive and participation is strong among the OPN community. OPN provides free services to those that are in need and makes available a list of public access sites where people may check their email accounts. OPN works with local businesses and organizations to set up public terminals in centralized locations.

OPN has over 350 non-profit organizations online. This demonstrates their commitment to providing support to the community. By being at the center of activity OPN is in a unique position to provide the community with information. It accomplishes this goal, not by high bandwidth java applets, but through a text-based site, that allows those without a fast connection and people with disabilities the power to gain access to the internet.

Mission Statement
The mission statement of the OPN is: "Citizens using advanced technology to build an informed, democratic community." Their purpose is reflected not just in the mission statement but in every page of the website. They promote Internet access for everyone by providing free or low-cost basic services such as e-mail, newsgroups and telnet - eschewing the graphical noise of Web browsing. "What good is owning a car if you don't know how to drive," is the driving theme behind their follow-through. They offer not just the connection, but the training to use it. Their purpose is to "foster a Community of Ideas."¹

A second purpose is to "give voice to the Charitable Non-profits." Their efforts are focused on being sure that the "social amplifier" that is the Internet is used to provide awareness of charitable missions. The list that they provide and the information available on non-profit organizations is extensive.

The philosophy of the OPN is based on the true notion that our communities need help to survive the information revolution. The need is both for access and training in order to sift through massive amounts of information and claim a part in the forum. As OPN founder Clif Cox says, "Everyone should have their place in cyberspace."² This is especially true for both the economically disadvantaged and for charitable non-profit organizations.

OPN began in 1990 in Clif Cox's "closet," grew into LaneOnLine and was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in December of 1992, and then became Oregon Public Networking. The Governing Council is made up of members of the public, representatives of community organizations are particularly welcome. The council elects the Board of Directors that develops plans for the future of OPN.

Coverage
Geographically, OPN covers Eugene, Lane County, and Southern Oregon. They have plans to place donated computers in public libraries and community centers in Cottage Grove, Fernridge, Junction City, and Florence, and are looking into partnerships which extend outside of Lane County, consistently providing local call access. Currently there are public access computers in Eugene in libraries and community centers.

The main focus of the OPN is provision of free or low-cost Internet access coupled with providing a "NonProfit Resource Center for Eugene."³ They are working to compile a "comprehensive information and referral database" that will contain things useful for nonprofit organizations. As part of the compilation they are developing a community-wide volunteer database.

The combination of information support for nonprofit organizations with the goal of getting the whole community connected (including those who would otherwise be information have-nots) provides powerful movement towards real democratic community.

Emphasis
OPN content emphasizes local information first, but also links to the rest of the Web. The Eugene Free Community Network (a service of OPN) Community Pages list the following categories:

Children and Families	Health and Medicine
Culture, Arts, Humanities	Human Rights, Minorities, Peace
Economics, Business, Labor	Media, News, Communications
Education & Libraries	Recreation, Sports, Entertainment
Environment	Science and Technology
Essential Resources	Seniors
Fellowship & Community Service	Spirituality & Religion
Government, Politics, Law	Women

Each of the categories is subdivided further after following the link, and then resources are listed with description, always giving the local resources first. Some like the Essential Resources Page, Employment Section, are searchable by job and location.

Part of the support offered both to the nonprofit organizations and to users is training. OPN provides classes and WebPages for instruction in HTML, CGI scripts and forms, GIF images, and Java scripting. They also coordinate and train volunteers to staff (in three hour shifts) libraries and community centers to assist new users.

Communication
OPN does a good job of keeping the community involved through its web site. One feature that is impressive is the ability for visitors and members alike to see the people who are signed onto the network. There are volunteers on the network to answer user questions about technical difficulties. The benefit of seeing who is logged onto the network goes beyond its initial purpose of utility, and lets visitors see the active membership of the OPN community.

An example of enriched communication to the community is the town hall meetings through Screen Porch, a web conferencing system.⁴ They offer Usenet newsgroups, mailing lists, and forums. With interactive communication easily available, OPN is encouraging anyone with an interest and an opinion to be part of the community dialogue.

In the larger scope, there is a plea for support from community networks throughout the country. OPN's controversy with the IRS is revealed on the front page of the website allowing all people to become involved in the community network cause. The potential threat of the IRS involves not only the OPN, but all community networks operating under a 501 (c)(3) charity. By letting people know the issues, and who to contact, OPN is reaching out to all people who believe that it is appropriate for community networks to act as internet service providers.

OPN really invites the community to be involved. They look for feedback from the community to inform their decisions. The list of their accomplishments in 1997 include

• Working to establish a nonprofit resource center for Lane County
• Helping County Agencies to build an integrated Community Resource Information & Referral System.
• Helping to develop an online Volunteer Database system.
• Working to increase the number of Public Access sites countywide.
• Developing new ways to enhance the democratic process.⁵

There is a section devoted to volunteering, as well as educational opportunities for those who wish to learn about technology or want to become involved in the community network.

Apart from initial startup donations, the partners of this network are the members of the community. The donors' page expresses thanks to those who provided the initial support to OPN including "Symantec, TCI, US Bank, Dynamix, Chambers Communications, Eben Dobson, Clif Cox, our hard-working staff and volunteers, and Thank You for visiting and supporting OPN. Special thanks goes out to the Lane County Commission on Children and Families, The Lane Electric Coop, and the Willamette National Forest for helping to get the city of Oakridge online!"⁶

Through local support of the system the OPN is able to sustain itself and continue its educational programs as well as buy new equipment. From the material provided on the website, OPN does a tremendous job of getting the community involved in its services. This for the large part means relying on volunteers to donate their time and skills to the OPN. There was no other mention of support as such from the outside, but OPN has a growing network of people who pay for the services offered. Through the number of subscribers to the services, it appears the revenue generated would sustain OPN and its programs, as well as its small support staff.

It is crucial when relying upon volunteers to maintain and update information that attention is given to the organization of that information. OPN does a good job for the most part, but with so many pages available a good site map may be in order for the future or a change in the navigational system. Although OPN provides extensive links to resources and encourages participation, there were places on the website that had not been updated for quite some time. This is a minor criticism. On the whole, OPN is truly working hard to provide the community with a resource promoting their primary mission to inform and empower citizens. To achieve their goals they strive to provide, as stated in their initiatives: public access terminals, free and low-cost dial up services, access technology alternatives, equipment lending library, and net literacy projects.

¹ http://www.opn.org/
² http://www.efn.org/
³ http://www.efn.org/
⁴ http://www.efn.org/
⁵ http://db.efn.org/community/intro.html
⁶ http://db.efn.org/donors.html

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