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Michiana Free-Net:

by Katie Bell

Community networking is on the move at the fast-growing Michiana Free-Net, serving St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties in northern Indiana plus parts of lower Michigan. Only 3 1/2 years old, this network was one of the first of its type in the state of Indiana, and today serves about 2,000 subscribers. Its users include a large group of senior citizens, private schools, churches, social service organizations, clubs and governmental units. In all it provides access to over 70 non-profit organizations.

Mission

The FreeNet aims to link area residents with a broad array of information resources, ranging from local to international sources. At the same time, its organizers are working hard to maintain a feeling of friendly, cohesive community. These goals are evident both in the content of the site and in its mission:

"The Michiana Free-Net is a community-based computer network linking people and organizations in an exchange of information and ideas. It will be an important resource to the Michiana community to benefit its people with links as broad as national and international information services...and as narrow as their local friends and neighbors."

Collaborative Partners

The Michiana Free-Net is a true collaborative entity, combining the efforts of staff, volunteers, and community partners. The St. Joseph County Public Library, MCI, Notre Dame University, the Elkhart Truth and the Elkhart Public Schools have all been instrumental in the development and ongoing support of this project. The network hired Executive Director Steve Ross in 1996, a move made necessary by the rapid growth of the system. Michiana Free-Net has a support staff of five individuals composed of 2 paid staff and 3 volunteers. In addition, a board of directors comprised of citizens from all sectors of the community oversees the network's activities.

Access

Michiana Free-Net operates on a subscription basis. Current rates are $12 per month for a full connection including e-mail, FTP, Telnet, Internet, and 2 Megs of disk space on their server. In order to keep their costs under control, the Free-Net requires these fees to be paid in advance, either quarterly, semi-annually, or yearly. Subscribers are limited to three hours per session and a total of 150 hours online per month. The Free-Net also offers free web space to all non-profit organizations located within our community for their websites. In keeping with the spirit of equal access for all members of the community, there are public Free-Net terminals in area libraries and schools. As the network continues to grow, public access will hopefully be increased even more. The network is served by 134 phone lines, and has recently begun to offer 56 kps digital lines for high speed access.

Content

Subscribers to the Free-Net can find information on a wide variety of subjects. The major content categories include Personal Web Pages, Libraries, Government, Health, Local Information, Education, Business/Employment, Business Web Pages, Social Services, Culture/Travel, Family Life, Internet Services, Science/Technology, Recreation/Sports , and Clubs. Libraries, government, social services, local information, and business are the strongest of these subject areas. The library section includes links to the St. Joseph County Public Library, as well as to academic libraries at Notre Dame, Indiana University-South Bend, and other area college libraries. It also links to the Indiana State Library, the Library of Congress, and the Internet Public Library. The government category includes local government offices, Indiana General Assembly legislative and voting records, and the Thomas federal information site. Social services links to the Community Connection, a database of over 1200 records about area agencies and organizations, maintained by the St. Joseph County Public Library. The local information and business sections have comprehensive demographic figures, including census information, local and national employment resources, county business patterns, and St. Joseph County Public Library's newspaper index.

Training

Free-Net users can also find training and technical assistance through the network. The St. Joseph County Public Library holds free monthly Internet classes, and there are also numerous links within the site to support resources. Although the Free-Net does not maintain a paid technical support staff, it does rely upon the efforts of its volunteers to provide assistance. Interested users may also learn about other community networks throughout the state and across the country by following links on the site.

Funding

As with many community networks, funding is an important issue for the Michiana Free-Net. One approach that Free-Net organizers have adopted is corporate sponsorship. The network actively seeks this source of funding, and prominently displays the names of corporate sponsors on the main page of the site. At this point, there are six corporate sponsors of the Michiana Free-Net.

Clearly, the Michiana Free-Net is a community network worth watching as it continues to serve the local information needs of the greater St. Joseph County area.