Control of Community Information: An Analysis of Roles

Many formal and informal sources within a community disseminate community information. People seek information from their peer-kin network, directly from service providers, and from intermediaries, such as libraries and information and referral (I&R) agencies. I&R agencies specialize in community information by maintaining an inventory of the area's human services and disseminating that information to the public. Another recently developed vehicle for this information is the online community network, an electronic environment where service providers can post information about their services and members of the public can then access that information using a computer and modem. But the respective roles of I&R agencies and community networks are unclear: are they, in part or in whole, providing the same service or product? What are the implications for funding and data collection if they are? If not, what relationship, if any, should they have with each other? This study explores the differences between I&R agencies and community networks from an information policy perspective and uses a framework proposed by Wilkinson (1992) to analyze the positioning of control within the two intermediaries under six facets: agency ownership and governance, funding, information flow, access, information ownership, and quality control. Existing community networks and I&R agencies are used as examples to illustrate the arguments.