Assessing Community Information Needs: A Practical Guide is a practical guide developed by the Aspen Institute to help individuals and groups to assess and build what they refer to as "a healthy community information environment."

The Solutions in our Midst – This paper, a summary of Peter’s presentation to the ALIA Summer Institute in June 2010, shares news about an emerging global platform he’s working on, called the Academy for Systemic Change, whose aim is to connect, amplify, and illuminate stories of transformation.

The Good News About CAP - Since 1995, volunteers and non-profits have leveraged Community Access Program grants to make community internet integral to the development of towns and neighbourhoods across Canada. Learn more here. [Source: CEDworks!]

Global Knowledge Partnership - Formed through a worldwide partnership that includes the United Nations and a host of other international organizations, the Global Knowledge Partnership was created to apply knowledge and technology to address development issues in areas like poverty reduction and access to knowledge. To facilitate the exchange of ideas in these areas, the Partnership has created an Online Interactions site. Visit the website here. [Source: CSRL-News]

Real Money Ventures into Virtual World - The MacArthur foundation, one of the largest foundations in the U.S., is venturing into virtual worlds to play host to activities and discussions and explore the role that philanthropy might play there. The goals are to gain insight into how virtual worlds are used by young people, to introduce the foundation to an audience that may have little exposure to institutional philanthropy and to take part in and stimulate discussions about the real-world issues that it seeks to address. Learn more here. [Source: HandsNEt WebClipper]

Online Technology for Social Change - dotOrganize has released a new study that compiles insights from more than 400 social change groups, technology providers and non-profit technology capacity builders who are using new technologies for social change initiatives. Online Technology for Social Change: From Struggle to Strategy shows that groups are still struggling in their effort to make use of new and emerging technologies and that, regardless of size and financial situation, organizations feel strapped for time, money and know-how. Learn more here. [Source: Charity Village]

Inexpensive Windup Laptop to Help Poor Countries - A windup laptop computer that would sell for about $116 Cdn is among a new category of gadgets being developed that could help stretch funding for impoverished countries, according to an MIT professor. Read the story here. [Source: CBC Online]

access@home - Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and its subsidiary the National Equity Fund (NEF) are partnering with One Economy to launch "access@home," a $1 billion initiative that will build more than 15,000 affordable homes with high-speed digital Internet connectivity and provide low-income families personal access to computers and technology services. The initiative expects to connect nearly 100,000 people to the vast advantage of the Internet. Learn more about this initiative here. [Source: HandsNet WebClipper]

Community Tech Centers Catalysts for Change - A report prepared with support from the Ford Foundation presents the findings from exploratory research into how community technology centers could function more effectively as public spaces and as forces for positive social change at the community level. In understanding the dynamics of their work at present, it hopes to inform community technology researchers, practitioners, and funders as to the ways in which the movement can leverage its accomplishments of the past in order to serve communities more broadly as it looks toward the future. Read the report here. [Source: HandsNet WebClipper]

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