Prairienet is an online, interactive part of the Community Informatics Initiative (CII) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. While the CII website offers information to students, staff and faculty involved in community informatics at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, the Prairienet website is intended for current and future community partners to share experiences and reflections about community-based technology. Think of Prairienet as the place to start if you are off campus, and CII as the place to start if you are on campus. Of course, there are links between the two, so feel free to explore.
Founded in 1993, Prairienet originally was a community information network for Champaign-Urbana and the surrounding East-Central Illinois region. The staff, students and faculty who established and sustained Prairienet until 2008 contributed in these ways:
- Strengthen community organizations by helping them provide and retrieve networked information.
- Empower individuals by providing access to networked information and by teaching the skills necessary to access and use this information.
- Facilitate information and resource sharing in support of community development efforts.
- Promote equity of access to computer resources for everyone in the community.
There is much to be proud of in Prairienet’s history and we respectfully build on that legacy.
The Prairienet server was shut down in 2008 and every effort was made to help users find substitutes for their email and webhosting needs. If you have thoughts to share about Prairienet’s past, present or future, please send them to:
Sharon Irish, slirish@illinois.edu
Thanks!