This paper examines the power and energy needs of a small-to-medium sized (35,000), one industry, midwestern community and how that community overcame the communication obstacles which prevented fulfillment of its energy needs. The paper outlines the background on the communication situation being described, then provides a chronology of the key…

Recent developments in the social policy literature suggest a growing overlap in community and social policy interests and methods. This combination of community and policy interests is illustrated by tracing successive steps of the Illinois Residential Life Survey in order to support programming decisions about community mental health in a…

Jacksonville, Oregon, a mining town founded in a little-known and sparsely settled part of Oregon during the early 1850s, was the focus of a study of the way in which information was distributed and processed in an emerging frontier community. News appeared to be part of the community's institutional structure and to be carried and consumed on two…

Reproductions of 19 photographs that document some of the families and history of the African-American community in Bloomington, Indiana, from about 1870 to 1920, are contained in this paper. The paper discusses the use of photographs in historical inquiry, and posits that the photographic image carries the power of witness to past peoples and…

Although individuals preparing for careers in educational administration have recognized the importance of the community for schools and school districts, they have often lacked a complex understanding of "community." This paper describes a community-study research project that was developed and implemented in a graduate educational administration…

Precipitation data for Macomb (Illinois) for the period 1912-1981 were the bases for developing classroom exercises that offered college students experience in collecting such data. After students collected the data, they reduced them to manageable proportions, and then examined average long-term relations which may have emerged among yearly,…

Described are two approaches for using newspapers to teach local, regional, or state geography courses to college students. In the first approach, the instructor developed a manual to supplement an introductory geography course which examined spatial patterns of various phenomena as they are found in the Cincinnati (Ohio) metropolitan area. He…

In this paper, a college economics professor shares his ideas and experiences related to teaching a regional economics course for seniors at Bucknell University. In an attempt to depart from the traditional content and the passive teaching procedures prevalent in such courses, the professor implemented a course in a regional, political, economic…

Intended to engage students in a comparative look at local history in two upper Mississippi river towns (Winona, Minnesota and Dubuque, Iowa), this paper describes the computer-assisted component of an upper-level American Studies course. With emphasis on the 19th century, students examine the transition made by the United States from a…