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- Xref: sparky triangle.freenet:16 triangle.general:489
- Newsgroups: triangle.freenet,triangle.general
- Path: sparky!uunet!concert!samba!usenet
- From: Judy.Hallman@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Judy Hallman)
- Subject: Free-Net organizing meeting (repost to triangle.freenet)
- Message-ID: <1992Aug23.004508.18549@samba.oit.unc.edu>
- Sender: usenet@samba.oit.unc.edu
- Nntp-Posting-Host: lambada.oit.unc.edu
- Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service
- Distribution: triangle
- Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1992 00:45:08 GMT
- Lines: 59
-
- An organizational meeting will be held August 25 at 5:30 p.m. in the
- seminar room of the William & Ida Friday Continuing Education Center in
- Chapel Hill to discuss the possibility of developing a "Free-Net" for the
- Research Triangle area.
-
- Free-Nets provide free, computer/modem-based services connecting local
- people to one another and to local information. They provide access to a
- wide variety of public information about local governments, schools,
- businesses, the arts, the environment, health, and human services. They
- also provide electronic mail, discussion groups, and ask-an-expert
- services. Further, they provide access to electronic information
- worldwide.
-
- There currently are Free-Net systems operating in Cleveland, Youngstown,
- Cincinnati, and Medina County, Ohio, and Peoria, Illinois, and formal
- organizing committees have been established in several cities worldwide.
- These systems are operated by the community (the Cleveland Free-Net has
- more than 300 volunteers operating it.)
-
- At the public meeting, we will show a 15-minute video describing the
- Free-Net in Peoria (which tells better than words what Free-Nets are).
- Following the video we will discuss how the Free-Net concept could be
- applied in the RTP area, and hopefully sign people and organizations to
- become information providers, discussion leaders, and supporters.
-
- A variety of skills would be needed to develop and maintain this service;
- for example:
- -- artistic/verbal skills to develop promotional materials
- -- business skills to develop a business plan
- -- computer skills to plan, implement, and maintain the
- hardware and software
- -- human factors skills to ensure that the local implementation
- is easy to use
- -- legal skills to keep the organization out of trouble
- -- mover/doer skills to obtain valuable information,
- as well as funding
- -- professional skills to lead electronic discussion groups and to
- research answers to questions
- -- secretarial skills to do typing, maintain mailing lists,
- answer the phone
- -- writing and training skills to teach people how to use the
- service and how to maintain it.
-
- If you are interested in the Free-Net but cannot attend the organizing
- meeting, please let me know.
-
- Thanks,
- Judy Hallman (Judy_Hallman@unc.edu)
- 311 Wilson Library, CB# 3460
- Office of Information Technology
- University of North Carolina
- Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3460
- (919) 962-9107 FAX (919) 962-5604
-
- --
- The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
- North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
- Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
- internet: bbs.oit.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
-