The Community Information Organizer program is designed to explore how underserved communities can use computer technology to help build individual and community capacity, and to foster connections among people. The program specifically focuses on helping teenagers both create and become information resources for their whole community.  Though the program emphasizes the role of technology, computer skills are not its goal.  The objective is instead for participants to work together to find productive applications of this technology that serve their own communities.

The program is taking place in two locations. One operates out of a community center in a public housing community in Ann Arbor, Michigan with the support of a local agency called the Student Advocacy Center (SAC). The other is based in the Flint Public Library in Flint, Michigan and receives support from the library staff. The community partners in both locations participated in the program design and contribute to regular activities.

The program will run for one academic year, beginning in September of 1999 and ending in April of 2000. Participants meet twice a week for two or three hours at a time. University of Michigan graduate students facilitate these meetings. These "coaches" emphasize teen leadership whenever possible, encouraging the teens to influence the program direction by their interests.

The program is organized in two phases. In the first phase, the coaches work to create a structured learning environment. Teens participate in a series of project-based computer-skills workshops and team-building activities, and attend talks given by local community leaders. The second phase, which began in January, emphasizes teen project leadership. Teens are challenged to work in small teams to identify projects that have a community audience and that use the skills and resources they acquired in the first phase of the program.  The projects described on this site are the result.

The program was developed jointly by researchers at the University of Michigan's School of Information, the Flint Public Library, and the Student Advocacy Center.  The W. K. Kellogg Foundation provided funding for the program.

Contact Kelly Garrett (garrettk@umich.edu ) for more information.
Last updated: Wednesday, June 07, 2000