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In Brief
News and Items of Interest from June and July
Great Resources
The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation fights the use of jargon in the foundation world. The Jargon Files area of its Web site provides a variety of resources to raise awareness of jargon and encourage clear writing and speaking. Useful to a broader audience than foundations, these resources include the Jargon Finder (an alphabetical list of jargon with explanations and suggestions for avoiding reprehensible terms) and two essays, "In Other Words" and "Bad Words for Good," by Tony Proscio. The site and the essays are not only useful but a lot of fun.
More, including links to Tony Proscio's essays (PDFs), at emcf.org >>
Ask a Woman for Directions encourages those that lead and work for philanthropic organizations to place women centrally in their thinking. The Web site offers only a few resources--a grantmaker's guide to incorporating gender issues, a list of the five ways women and girls' funds hold the key to social change, and useful links to other Web sites--but they are provocative.
More at askawoman.org >>
Learning-Org sponsors an Internet dialog, created in 1994, among people interested in the learning organization concept, as described by Peter Senge in The Fifth Discipline. The archives are publicly available and browse-able via the Web. You can also sign up for e-mail notification of new postings (on a per-message basis or as a daily digest). From what we've read, most messages are thoughtful and smart without being didactic.
More at learning-org.com >>
Online Communities
"The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online," written by Howard Rheingold, author of The Virtual Community, is packed with pointers on what an online host should and shouldn't do. Bullet-pointed for ease of reading, the short article offers a great overview of a host's responsibilities.
More rheingold.com >>
Amy Jo Kim, author of Community Building on the Web and founder and creative director of NAIMA, a design studio that develops Web communities, provides a sampler of policies, such terms of use and rules of conduct, used in some well respected, often used communities. Reviewing others' policies can help with structure, language, and content--and prevent you from re-inventing the wheel.
More at naima.com >>
In "Cyberspace Is Not Disneyland," Amy Bruckman, assistant professor at Georgia Tech, argues that the Internet is not about passively gathering information so much as actively engaging in and creating communities and that such an approach to the Web requires an "artistic instigator, someone who inspires other people to be creative by setting a positive example with their own work, and providing others with tools, context, and support."
More at cc.gatech.edu >>
Digital Divide
Launched on June 5, 2002, ContentBank is a Web site dedicated to sharing information, tools, and communication by, between, and for low-income and underserved communities. Its purpose is to reach the poor, people with disabilities, people with limited literacy, and non-English-speaking communities and provide material appropriate for those groups. The section on the barriers limiting low-income communities from using certain Web sites is a valuable resource for nonprofits to consult when creating sites.
More from contentbank.org >>
Launched on May 17, 2002, Digital Opportunity Channel is an online community focusing on the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) for sustainable development. The Web site will place a special emphasis on promoting digital opportunity in developing countries. The challenge, which Digital Opportunity Channel seeks to help tackle, is to ensure that ICT no longer increase the gap between rich and poor but become an opportunity to help bring greater equality and international understanding. The site features news, success stories, opinion pieces by leading commentators, in-depth analysis and research, events listings, a beginner's guide to digital divide issues, funding information, e-mail digests, and more.
More at digitalopportunity.org >>
Digital Empowerment campaigns to educate Americans about the importance of federal leadership in bridging the digital divide, particularly in low-income urban areas, rural areas, and Indian reservations. The organization is specifically focused on securing the continuation of federal funding for two technology programs benefiting low-income and underserved rural and urban communities: the Department of Commerce's Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) and the Department of Education' s Community Technology Center (CTC) initiative. The site offers news and headlines, Web casts, local information, and an events calendar.
More at digitalempowerment.org >>
In his article "Extending the Information Revolution: IT Utilization by Nonprofits and Community Groups," Ryan Turner, nonprofit policy and technology analyst at OMB Watch, urges nonprofits, especially those most underserved or with underserved populations, to become early adopters of new technology. Only by doing so will the third sector be in a position to play a role in shaping future technology innovations to address their needs and those of the populations they serve.
Full article from ombwatch.org >>
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