Workforce development organizations often find it challenging to assess how former program participants are faring in the labor market, since they need to rely on participants' willingness to report and verify their job placements after they either leave or complete their programs. The 2013 Unemployment Insurance Data Sharing Bill (S5773A) amended…

Nearly 50 years after the landmark legislation aimed to open higher education to all Americans, colleges and students face a new set of threats. The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) was signed into law on Nov. 8, 1965 to strengthen the educational resources of colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in…

Digital inclusion is the ability of individuals and groups to access and use information and communication technologies. Not all members of a community benefit equally, and some communities have been left out altogether. This paper is a guide for fostering digital inclusion throughout the United States so that everyone can take advantage of…

Describes the use of a service learning framework to guide faculty and students who engage in community development and capacity-building activities. A case study describes projects regarding access to information for environmental problem solving in a Cleveland neighborhood. (Contains 35 references.) (Author/JOW)

Created to fill a need for low-cost Internet access in rural Washington County, Ohio, the nonprofit Information Technology Group teamed up with a local college to provide technical assistance and free seminars on basic computing and technology use for local residents. The group regards residents' technological literacy as a building block of…

This paper discusses building smart communities (i.e., communities that provide an advanced communication and information infrastructure and that enable residents and organizations to make good and independent use of these technologies) that benefit blind and visually impaired persons. The first section summarizes ways that the potential of smart…

Investigates ways communities can assess their needs and plan ways to use telecommunications technologies to address those needs. Experiences from four urban communities are examined, as are barriers to access and issues regarding telephone service access. (GR)

American rural communities are decaying, the underlying causes being chronic unemployment and inadequate infrastructure. The information age can cause the ultimate demise of rural America by further eroding local institutions or it can be its savior by revitalizing the sense of community. The link between community development and the information…

In rural coastal communities, trade-offs between conserving and developing environmentally sensitive resources are acute. At the community level, part-time volunteers and citizen officials are asked to make complex decisions based on ambiguous and frequently contradictory "scientific" evidence of economic and environmental relationships.…

In this article the authors discuss recent developments in the decolonization of Australian archaeology. From the viewpoint of Indigenous Australians, much archaeological and anthropological research has been nothing more than a tool of colonial exploitation. For the last twenty years, many have argued for greater control over research and for a…

The purpose of the Community Learning and Information Center (CLIC) project was "to accelerate economic, social and political growth by providing residents in twelve underserved Malian communities with access to easily accessible development information and affordable access to information and communication technology (ICT), high-value…

Describes the general situation of information services in rural public libraries in the context of the changing nature of rural America. Highlights include the development of rural communities and libraries; public expectations and information needs; barriers to information access; and examples of successful rural reference services. (Contains 31…

Discusses how libraries contribute to a community's quality of life. Topics include economic impacts; equal access to information resources; children's introductions to libraries; the future role of libraries; the impact of physical development on the sense of community; life skills, including accountability and responsibility; and career paths…

The Department of Commerce's Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) is designed to address technology needs in the public and nonprofit sectors of the United States. This report is one of many ways that TIIAP is sharing the stories and the lessons that are being learned by recipients of TIIAP awards. The case…

Social capital helps communities respond positively to change. Research into managing change through learning in communities and in small businesses, particularly farm businesses, has highlighted the importance of relationships between people and the formal and informal structure of communities to the quality of outcomes experienced by…