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Distributed for Athabasca University Press

Connecting Canadians

Investigations in Community Informatics

Distributed for Athabasca University Press

Connecting Canadians

Investigations in Community Informatics

Connecting Canadians examines the role of community informatics, or community-based ICT initiatives, in this process of transition. The Community Research Alliance for Community Innovation and Networking (CRACIN) set out to study how civil society groups—in locations ranging from Vancouver to Labrador and from remote Northern communities to Toronto and Montréal—sought to enable local communities to develop on their own terms within the broader context of federal and provincial policies and programs. Drawing on diverse theoretical perspectives, from sociology to library and information sciences to women’s studies, the essays not only document specific local initiatives but analyze the overall trajectory of the government’s vision of a digitally inclusive Canada.

520 pages | © 2012

Computer Science


Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

1 Connecting Canadians? Community Informatics Perspectives on Community Networking Initiatives / Graham Longford, Andrew Clement, Michael Gurstein, Leslie Regan Shade

Part I Context

2 Toward a Conceptual Framework for a Community Informatics  / Michael Gurstein

3 Keeping in Touch: A Snapshot of Canadian Community Networks and Their Users — Report on the CRACIN Survey of Community Network Users / Marita Moll, Melissa Fritz

4 Canadian and US Broadband Policies: A Comparative Analysis / Heather E. Hudson

Part II Conceptual Frameworks

5 Information Technology as Political Catalyst: From Technological Innovation to the Promotion of Social Change / Serge Proulx

6 “The Researcher Is a Girl”: Tales of Bringing Feminist Labour Perspectives into Community Informatics Practice and Evaluation / Katrina Peddle, Alison Powell, Leslie Regan Shade

7 What Are Community Networks an Example Of? A Response I / Christian Sandvig

Part III Community Innovation I: Participation and Inclusion

8 Systems Development in a Community-Based Organization: Lessons from the St. Christopher House Community Learning Network / Susan MacDonald, Andrew Clement

9 Vancouver Community Network as a Site of Digital and Social Inclusion / Diane Dechief

Part IV Community Innovation II: Wireless Networking

10 Community and Municipal Wi-Fi Initiatives in Canada: Evolutions in Community Participat

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