A Televillage is a virtual community of people, businesses, government agencies, schools, libraries, health care providers, and others that have common goals or needs and are linked through telecommunications, information resources, and shared services. A Televillage can develop a strategic focus for community and regional development; organize,…

This keynote address suggests that the rural sector of Australia is, and will remain, absolutely essential to the well-being of the entire nation. There are misconceptions that the rural economy is no longer important to the nation as a whole and that rural people and communities are marginal to society. Australia's entire economy is heavily…

The lower Mississippi River delta region comprises 214 counties in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Illinois. The region is heavily dependent on agriculture and contains unusually high proportions of small farms, poor farmers, and black farmers. A conference planned by the region's 13 land-grant institutions and…

This report addresses current economic conditions in rural America and offers recommendations about the role the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) can play in providing rural development. The Task Force identifies issues for rural policy in the 1990's focusing on economic development. Current rural programs are described and…

The author encountered many obstacles to Papua New Guinea's transformation from a subsistence to a cash economy during two months' field work: the people's conservatism, lack of confidence, indifference to cash, and deep commitment to tradition. These, and "subsistence affluence," warn against hastily exposing the people to inflation's…

Various approaches for making functional literacy programs available and for making information available to the illiterate are briefly presented. (AG)

The author describes an Indonesian program for village development: graduate students in any discipline at State universities must spend six months working at community development in a village in order to receive their master's degrees. Results have been varied; the author raises several questions and warns against unexpected negative results.…

Reviewing the activities of the Literacy Corps in Iran, the article examines the national service organization which has done much to combat illiteracy in rural areas and lower the national rate of illiteracy. (MW)

A discussion of regional community development through self-help programs in rural developing areas presents the need for a diversified system of institutions to ensure a developmental process based on qualitative rather than quantitative criteria. Available from: Editorial and Business Offices, Piazza Cavalieri di Malta, 2, 00153 Rome, Italy. (EA)

This volume, fourth in a series, is devoted to a study of the depression years of the 1930s, a crucial period in the history of the Hispanic land-grant-villages. It places northern New Mexico in a broad regional and national context, examining the major currents of social and political thought in American society that influenced Hispanic New Deal…

The case description of an adult education program in Tanzania contained in this document is part of a set that reflects a cooperative effort by adult educators to increase international understanding of various educational programs for adults in their societal context. A face sheet provides this information: name, organization, and address of the…

This manual describes an educational program for helping rural, small community leaders, decision-makers, and residents analyze their communities, think about alternatives, and plan economic development action strategies. The program is an effort to help communities explore short- and long-term development strategies, gain a vision of their…

Emergence of a dual agricultural system, need for sophisticated knowledge and equipment, declining importance of labor, and geographic and organizational concentration of the production and processing of certain commodities are creating changes in rural communities. While some changes will have negative social/economic impacts, the importance of…

Data from a 1986 modified Delphi survey of adult education professionals in a 13-state region is used to determine what public policies were regarded as important and feasible for providing adequate opportunities for rural adults. The document focuses on 89 proposed policies to determine differences in perceptions among three subregions (Mountain,…