1. OVERVIEW OF BCN

At its core, the Boulder Community Network provides information on topics ranging from weather and ski conditions to city and county government regulations and meetings, lifelong learning opportunities, district school and university information, calendars of events, health services, etc. Library catalogs, listings of corporate facts, medical information, and other repositories are also available in addition to information resources on the Internet. BCN relies on Internet providers throughout Boulder County to supply connectivity to BCN users. These providers also offer additional databases and enhanced services.

BCN provides a "safety net" of public access kiosks, ensuring that all members of the community have the ability to obtain information freely. These kiosks are currently placed in libraries, governmental and educational sites. BCN is working on identifying additional kiosk sites for public use such as shopping malls, coffee shops, and hotels. In addition, dial-up modem access is available to the central server for use by non-profit organizations.

The Boulder Community Network also serves as a living laboratory into key issues of the information age. Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder, principally in the School of Journalism and Department of Computer Science, investigate topics from the organization of popular information to the impact of various interfaces and the adaptation of newspaper tools such as editorials and advertising to electronic delivery. Students in classes at both UCB and in district schools have the opportunity to participate in the production of materials for the BCN and the analysis of its impact. In order to develop a deeper understanding of how the alternative architectures for civic networks may vary among diverse communities, the Boulder effort is aligned with a similar one in the Western-slope community of Gunnison.

The concept of BCN was originally conceived by Ken Klingenstein, Neal McBurnett, and Bruce Kirschner. The BCN project officially began in 1993 with funding through the office of the UCB Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, Dr. Mark Dubin. Once the original project began and sought funding for further development, three principal investigators took over. Dr. Ken Klingenstein (Director of Computing and Network Services), Oliver McBryan (Professor of Computer Science), and Steve Jones (Assistant Dean of the School of Journalism). Madeline Gonzalez was hired as the original BCN Coordinator, and the project was located in the Computing and Network Services Center. In November of 1994, Catherine Weldon became Coordinator.