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                   Community Computing and the
             National Public Telecomputing Network




Background

NPTN has its origins in a series of research projects conducted at
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio in the
mid-1980's.

The first project began in the fall of 1984 when Dr. Tom Grundner,
then of CWRU's Department of Family Medicine, set up a single
phone line, computerized "Bulletin Board" system called "St.
Silicon's Hospital and Information Dispensary" to test the
effectiveness of telecomputing as a means of delivering general
health information to the public.

The heart of the system was an interactive area where lay people
could call in using their home, school, or business computers,
leave medically-related questions, and have them answered by a
board-certified family physician within 24 hours.  The experiment
proved so successful that it attracted the attention of the
Information Systems Division of AT&T, the Ohio Bell Telephone
Company, and University Hospitals of Cleveland, who supported a
larger project to expand and develop this interactive concept.

Based on these donations, Dr. Grundner began work on a full-scale
"community computer system" on an AT&T 3B2/400 computer with ten
incoming phone lines. The initial system was designed to serve as
a community information resource in areas as diverse as law,
medicine, education, arts, sciences, and government--including
free electronic mail services for the people of northeast Ohio.
On July 16, 1986, this system, called the Cleveland Free-Net was
opened by Ohio Governor Richard Celeste and then Cleveland Mayor
George Voinovich and the project was officially underway.

Version I of the Cleveland Free-Net gathered over 7000 registered
users from throughout the Cleveland metropolitan area and handled
between 500-600 calls per day.  In 1989, however, it moved into a
second phase of development in a big way.

A new system was designed around a series of computers which were
linked together so that, from the user's standpoint, they would
appear as one big machine.  This new system, called Free-Net II,
provided the Cleveland Free-Net with 96 megabytes of RAM (96
million characters of Random Access Memory), 2.3 gigabytes of hard
disk storage (2.3 billion characters of hard disk), and would be
easily capable of supporting several hundred simultaneous users.
In August, 1989 the Cleveland super-system opened and very quickly
was averaging well over 2000 logins a day... which later grew to
4000... then 8000, then 10,000 and is still growing with over
35,000 registered users having direct access to its services.

From the very beginning one of the central tenets of the project
was that, if it was successful, we would attempt to give the
software and our methodology the widest possible dissemination.
With that goal in mind, in September 1989, the National Public
Telecomputing Network (NPTN) was formed.

NPTN is based around a concept similar to that of public TV or
radio.  It's intent is to help develop further community computer
systems, and to help support them once they come on-line.

As mentioned, the first Free-Net went into operation in Cleveland
in 1986.  In July, 1987, the Youngstown Free-Net began operation.
In the first four months of 1990 three more systems were brought
into the network: TriState Online in Cincinnati, Ohio; The
Heartland Free-Net in Peoria, Illinois; and the Medina County
Free-Net in Medina, Ohio--our first rural system.  Since then, we
have grown to a network of 14 systems, with Organizing Committees
in 60 more locations .

It is from these beginnings that NPTN continues to grow.


The Concept of Community Computing

Free, open access, community computer systems represent, in
effect,  a new application in computing.  They work like this.

A multi-user computer is established at a central location in a
given area and the machine is connected to the telephone system
through a series of devices called modems.  Running on the machine
is a computer program that provides its users with everything from
electronic mail services to information about health care,
education, technology, government, recreation, or just about
anything else the host operators would like to place on the
machine.

Anyone in the community with access to a home, office, or school
computer and a modem can contact the system 24 hours a day.  They
simply dial a central phone number, make connection, and a series
of menus appear on the screen which allows them to select the
information or communication services they would like.  All of it
is free and all of it can easily be accomplished by a first-time
user.

The key to the economics of operating a community computer system
is the fact that the system is literally run by the community
itself.  Almost everything that appears on one of these machines
is there because there are individuals or organizations in the
community who are prepared to contribute their time, effort, and
expertise to place it there and operate it over time.  This, of
course, is in contrast to the commercial services which have very
high personnel and information-acquisition costs and must pass
those costs on to the consumer.

Couple this volunteerism with the rapidly-dropping costs of
computing power and the use of inexpensive transmission
technology, and public access computing becomes an economically-
viable entity.


A Civic Utility:  Potential Impact on the Community

Who, exactly, benefits from community computing?  To cite just a
few examples:

* The Citizens:  First and foremost, these community computer
systems open up information services to very large populations
that would otherwise not be able to afford it.  The cost of
utilizing a Free-Net community computer consists of the cost of
having standard telephone service in the home or business, plus
the price of the equipment needed to get on-line.  Minimum
equipment is now well under $250 virtually anywhere, and that is
assuming the person purchases new.  If a person wishes to attend a
few garage sales, flea markets, or computer fairs, it could be
considerably less.  With the addition of public access terminals
in a city, anyone would be able to utilize one of these systems.

* Public and Private Schools:  Via community computers, school
systems finally have a cost-effective way to teach telecomputing
to their students, thereby sending a new generation of
information-literate citizens into the work force.  In addition,
these systems allow students, teachers, parents, and
administrators to communicate with each other and have access to
information bases of interest and importance.

* Government:  Community computers provide citizens with an
inexpensive and rapid way to make contact with their elected
representatives at the city, county, state, and national levels--
contacts which include everything from obtaining information on
governmental services to providing access to tax-payer supported,
governmentally-produced databases.  It should also be pointed out
that these communications are not one way.  Elected
representatives and other officials also have the ability to
electronically communicate with their constituents.

* Small- and Medium-sized Businesses:  Most major corporations
have electronic mail and other computer-driven information
services at their disposal.  Most small- and medium-sized
businesses do not.  With a Free-Net system in place, these smaller
enterprises are finally able to afford to link their operations
together via Free-Net electronic mail services and have access to
a variety of useful business databases--something that cannot help
but improve the business infrastructure of any city.

* The Agricultural Community:  Among the segments in our society
that were the first to embrace computing were our farmers.  The
reason was obvious.  Farmers are business people too, but they
have the disadvantage of, in general, being dispersed over wide
geographic areas.  A Free-Net system in a central location in a
county allows the agricultural community to access common
information bases, share solutions to farm-related problems,
access up-to-date crop and price information, and make electronic
connection with the County Agent and each other--all without ever
leaving home.

* The Telecommunications and Videotex Industry:  For years the
commercial videotex industry has been dividing, sub-dividing, and
sub-sub-dividing essentially the same "up-scale" demographic
group: $60,000+ yearly household incomes, very well educated,
overwhelmingly white, and overwhelmingly male.  If the industry is
to survive and flourish, however, it is going to have to find a
way to penetrate the middle class with its services.  Free-Net
community computers do exactly that.  On the Cleveland system, for
example, we draw as many users from the demographically blue
collar areas of the city as we do out of the wealthier sections.
Demographic penetration such as this, on a nationwide basis, is
vital if the telecomputing and videotex industry is to survive
into the 21st century.

* Community Organizations and Institutions: Each Free-Net is set
up using an "Electronic City" motif.  That motif was not selected
by accident.  To one degree or another, virtually every
institution in society has an information dissemination function
of some kind--a need to tell others about itself and share its
knowledge.  The Free-Net makes it possible for any and all of them
to utilize a new medium to accomplish that goal.  From artistic
and cultural organizations to medical institutions to hobbyists of
all kinds, all can find a place on a community computer.

The Greening of a Medium

As a result of our experience in working with and developing these
systems, we have learned several very important things.

First, it is clear that these community computers represent the
leading edge of what can only be described as a new
telecommunications medium.  Telecomputing is not radio, not
television, not print, but has characteristics of all three plus
additional characteristics all its own.  This fact alone will
inevitably lead to developments and uses that we cannot now even
begin to imagine.

Second, it is clear that a critical mass of people now exist who
are prepared to utilize this new medium.  As more and more modem-
equipped microcomputers penetrate the home and especially the work
environment, the utility of public-access computerized information
services goes up.

And third, there is a certain sense of inevitability to the
development of community computing.  Simply stated, we find
ourselves unable to imagine a 21st century in which we do NOT have
community computer systems, just as this century had the free
public library.  Moreover, we believe that the community computer,
as a resource, will have at least as much impact on the next
century as the public library has had on ours.

Most people do not realize that in the latter part of the last
century there was no such thing as the free public library, at
least not as we know it today.  Eventually the literacy rate
became high enough (and the cost of books became cheap enough)
that the public library became feasible.  People in cities and
towns all across the country banded together to make free public
access to the printed word a reality.  The result was a legacy
from which virtually every person reading this document has, at
one point or another, benefited.

In this century, we believe we have reached the point where
computer "literacy" has gotten high enough (and the cost of
equipment low enough) that a similar demand has formed for free,
public-access, computerized information systems.  Indeed, we
believe we have reached a point where the question is no longer
whether it will happen; the question is "who" and "when."  Who
will do it and when will it happen?

The National Public Telecomputing Network exists to make free
public access to computerized communications and information
services a reality--to hand down a legacy to our children's
children as great as the one handed to us.


 NPTN Mission and Structure


Mission

The concept behind NPTN is not new.  You are probably familiar
with National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting on TV.  To
understand NPTN simply substitute community computer systems for
radio and television stations, and you have the core of what we
hope to accomplish  We are a non-profit organization dedicated to
establishing and developing free, public access, computerized
information and communication services for the general public.

To that end, NPTN has three major objectives:

   1. To help people in cities throughout the U.S. and the world
to establish free, open access, community computer systems.

   2. To link those systems together into a common network similar
to National Public Radio or PBS on TV.

   3. To help supplement what the local systems are able to
produce with high quality network-wide services and features
called "cybercasts."


Organizational Status

The National Public Telecomputing Network is an Ohio nonprofit
corporation, and has received 501(c)(3) tax exemption status from
the Federal Government.  While NPTN has its origins at Case
Western Reserve University, the two are separate and distinct
entities.


Governance

NPTN is governed by a seven member Board of Directors and by an
Affiliate Council which consists of one delegate from each NPTN
system.  The Affiliate Council advises the corporation on matters
of policy and procedure and, each year, elects people to the Board
of Directors.  The current President and Chairman of the Board of
NPTN is its founder, Dr. Tom Grundner.


System Affiliation

There are several types of affiliate membership in NPTN:

Full Affiliate:  The Full Affiliate members are operational
community computer systems.  They are allowed to take advantage of
the complete range of cybercasting services offered by NPTN and
have standing in NPTN's Affiliate Council.

Educational Affiliate:  Same as a full Affiliate, only access is
limited to members of the K-12 educational community. Educational
Affiliates, however, do not have a vote on the Affiliate Council.

Organizing Committees:  These are groups of people who have
formally committed themselves to bringing an NPTN community
computer system to their area.  They have indicated their ability
to build and sustain such a system, and in return, NPTN has given
them exclusive rights to start a Free-Net system in their area.


How to Start an NPTN Community Computer System

   Building a community computer might initially seem like an
overwhelming task.  To be sure, it is NOT a simple hobbyists
bulletin board; it is a large, sophisticated, multi-user, computer
system.  To bring it on-line and operate it over time will require
a lot of work and dedication on the part of many people.

   While building a system is a significant task, is not an
impossible one--IF you plan well and do it correctly.  Helping you
to "do it correctly" is the first service you will receive from
NPTN.

In general, you should follow these steps...


STEP ONE: Form an Organizing Committee

   No community computer has ever been put up by one person.  It
is a team effort and your first step will be to organize that
team.

   We recommend that you form an organizing committee composed of
people with a broad range of skills, significant contacts in the
community, and who have a track record of being able to get things
done.  Key skills might include such things as computer hardware
and software, computerized communications and networking
(especially with regard to the Internet), project organization and
management, fund-raising, public relations, and so forth.  You
might also want to make sure that you have adequate representation
from the community.  Included in this list should perhaps be
representatives from the K-12 education community, city
government, possibly the local public library, the medical
community, legal community, and so forth.  If you are planning to
connect your Free-Net to the Internet via a local college or
university, it is vital that you have a representative from that
college on your committee very early on.


STEP TWO: File an Organizing Application with NPTN

   The next step after getting at least your initial committee
together, is to file notice with NPTN that you have begun such a
group.  If you look solid and assuming we don't already have a
committee operating in your area (something you might want to
check even before you pull a committee together)--we will send you
an organizing agreement.

This agreement does several things.

   First of all, it states that you will make a good faith effort
to bring a system on-line within one year, and the resulting
system will be an NPTN affiliate for at least two years after you
go on-line.

   Second, NPTN will make a good faith effort to help you bring
the system on-line, and we will not put another NPTN community
computer within the local telephone calling radius of your system.

   Three, when you have signed this agreement we will send you
more detailed information on establishing your system--tips on
organizing your committee, specific equipment recommenda-tions,
specific cost estimates, publicity and fund-raising suggestions,
etc.

   Fourth, as a organizing committee chairperson, your electronic
mail address (and that of whoever else you choose) will be placed
in a private "listserv" used by all the current affiliates, as
well as all the other organizing committees.  The listserv works
like this:

   When you send a piece of e.mail to that listserv address, it
will automatically be forwarded to all of the people on a special
list.  If you are replying to a message, your reply also gets sent
to everyone.  For example, if you have a question or a problem you
can post it to the listserv where everyone can see it (including
people from the established systems), and someone will answer it.
Other people seeing that response might then post suggestions of
their own, and so on.  Rolling discussions can be held on whatever
problems you are facing because, chances are, someone has already
faced it before you.

   This organizing agreement is a very important document.  In
effect, it makes you a member of the "family" and allows us to
actively work with you.  Without it, there isn't much more we can
do then send you this booklet.


STEP THREE: Beginning the Process

   After becoming a formal NPTN Organizing Committee, it's time to
start building your system; and high on your probable list of
things to do will be to raise some money.

   The cost of establishing and operating a community computer
will depend (obviously) on the size of your system. You will first
need to estimate how many simultaneous users you plan to carry, to
properly service your estimated initial userbase.  This, in turn,
will determine what size machine you will need to purchase, how
many telephone lines, how many modems, etc.

   Next, unless you are planning on a very small system, you will
need to think about personnel costs.  As mentioned above, Free-Net
community computers are not bulletin boards.  They are large
sophisticated systems which must be professionally run, and that
implies paid professional staff to run them.  The bulk of your
costs will be tied up in salaries.

   When you receive the more detailed information sheets from NPTN
you will be able to start planning a budget for your system.  This
is a very important document.  You can't raise money unless you
know how much you need and where it will be spent.

In general, for a medium-sized system, you will probably be
looking at an annual budget of $125,000 to $150,000 a year.  This
figure assumes a worst case scenario--that is, that nothing is
donated, that you must pay for your own office space, pay full
retail prices on all your equipment, etc.  Each budget will be
different and you will need to work it out based on your
particular situation.

For people seeking to start a Free-Net community computer in a
more rural area (4-12 line systems), please contact us concerning
our "Rural Outreach Program."  By late Fall, 1993 we expect to be
able to offer a mini Free-Net, based upon Macintosh technology,
which will require no Unix expertise, will run at a very low cost,
yet will still be a true Free-Net.


STEP FOUR: Joining the Network

   Once you get close to going on-line, NPTN will send you a copy
of an Affiliate Agreement.  This is the formal document which
makes your system a member of NPTN and allows you to receive our
Cybercasting services and other NPTN features.

   There are two ways of joining NPTN, as a "Plan A" member, or a
"Plan B" member.

   PLAN A:  Plan A is similar to the way funding is done with
public radio and television.  It involves your paying a yearly
"network fee" to NPTN which gets you the complete list of NPTN
services.  The fee is set each year at NPTN's annual meeting.  The
1993-1994 yearly fee is $1200.

   PLAN B:  Under Plan B, instead of paying cash you become a
member of NPTN's Information Cooperative.  Within six months of
going online you must develop a network quality information
service which: a) meets NPTN quality standards; and b) at least
three affiliates are willing to run on their systems.

   The Affiliate Council:  No matter which plan you choose, once
you come on-line you will be asked to provide a delegate to the
Affiliate Council.  This person may be selected or elected in
whatever way you wish.

   The Affiliate Council consists of one voting member from each
system which is currently on-line.  It serves a number of
functions such as recommending policy and procedures to the
organization, suggesting new services and so forth.  One of its
main responsibilities each year, however, is to elect NPTN's Board
of Directors.

   Affiliate Council meetings are held as part of NPTN's annual
meeting in June of each year.


STEP FIVE: Going Online

   The process of actually going on-line is more then just
flipping a switch.  It needs to be carefully planned.

   By this point you should have identified a group of people who
will serve as your initial group of "sysops."  Several weeks prior
to the opening you should bring them together for a training
session on the new software and to go over the rules and
regulations of the system.

   Following this, the sysops should have a week or two to get
settled on the system, become familiar with it, load their areas
with initial information resources, and so on.  While this is
occurring, your committee should be making final arrangements for
the publicity surrounding the grand opening.  Publicity is
something that should not be neglected as it will lay the
foundation both for attracting the userbase you want, and for
future fund-raising efforts.

   In these final weeks also, your technical people will be
working closely with ours to establish the initial set of
Cybercasting services and features you will want available on
opening day.

   Finally, don't forget to notify NPTN as to your exact opening
date and provide us with your modem number and your machine's
Internet address so we can assist your PR efforts with some of our
own.


NPTN Affiliates and Organizing Committees

As of the date of this writing (9/3/93), here are your peers in
the development and operation of NPTN community computer systems.

Community  Computer Systems                          Modem Numbers

Big Sky Telegraph           Dillon, Montana           406-683-7680
Buffalo Free-Net            Buffalo, New York         716-645-6128
Cleveland Free-Net          Cleveland, Ohio           216-368-3888
COIN                        Columbia, Missouri        314-884-7000
Denver Free-Net             Denver, Colorado          303-270-4865
Heartland Free-Net          Peoria, Illinois          309-674-1100
Lorain County Free-Net      Elyria, Ohio              216-366-9721
Medina County Free-Net      Medina, Ohio              216-723-6732
National Capital Free-Net   Ottawa, Canada            613-780-3733
Tallahassee Free-Net        Tallahassee, Florida      904-576-6330
Tristate Online             Cincinnati, Ohio          513-579-1990
Victoria Free-Net           Victoria, British
                              Columbia, Canada        604-595-2300
Wellington Citynet          Wellington, New Zealand  64-4-801-3060
Youngstown Free-Net         Youngstown, Ohio          216-742-3072


Educational  Affiliates

CORE - Seal Beach, CA
SENDIT - Fargo, ND
PEN - Richmond, VA


Organizing  Committees

Abilene, TX            Ft. Lauderdale, FL           Providence, RI
Akron, OH              Granger, IN             St. Catharines, Ont
Anchorage, AK          Greenville, SC                Sandpoint, ID
Washtenaw Co., MI      Helsinki, Finland              San Jose, CA
Atlanta, GA            Honolulu, HI            San Luis Obispo, CA
Battle Creek, MI       Houston, TX               Santa Barbara, CA
Bayreuth, Germany      Huntsville, AL              Saskatoon, Sask
Bremerton, WA          Lafayette, LA                   Seattle, WA
Carbondale, IL         Los Angeles (Central), CA     Tampa Bay, FL
Champaign-Urbana, IL   Los Angeles (Valley), CA          Tempe, AZ
Chapel Hill, NC        Manchester, NH                   Toledo, OH
Charlotte, NC          Mount Pleasant, MI             Toronto, Ont
Dallas, TX             Mountain View, CA                 Trail, BC
Dayton, OH             New Orleans, LA           Traverse City, MI
Detroit, MI            Oklahoma City, OK            Tuscaloosa, AL
Eau Claire, WI         Orange County, CA             Vancouver, BC
Edmonton, Alberta      Palm Beach, FL                 Victoria, TX
El Paso, TX            Philadelphia, PA             Washington, DC
Elliot Lake, Ontario   Pittsburgh, PA             West Chester, PA
Erlangen, Germany      Prince George, BC         Winston-Salem, NC



For More Information Contact:

National Public Telecomputing Network          voice: 216-247-5800
P.O. Box 1987                                    fax: [phone]
Cleveland, Ohio  44106                       e.mail: [e-mail]