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Prairienet Email and Dialup Services Discontinued as of 12/31/08
As of 12/31/08, the following services provided by Prairienet will be
discontinued:
- Email
- Mailing lists (listservs)
- Modem dialup service (dialup Internet access)
Organizational Web hosting (a.k.a. Information Provider) accounts, which
provide space and support for organizational websites, will continue but
will no longer offer email services. More information is available on the
Prairienet site at http://www.prairienet.org/faq/.
Prairienet was founded in 1993 by the Graduate School of Library and
Information Science (GSLIS) as a community information network for
Champaign-Urbana and the surrounding East-Central Illinois region. Its
services reflected the following mission:
- To strengthen community organizations by helping them provide and
retrieve networked information.
- To empower individuals by providing access to networked information
and by teaching the skills necessary to access and use this information.
- To facilitate information and resource sharing in support of community
development efforts.
- To promote equity of access to computer resources for everyone in the
community.
The changes in Prairienet's services are a response to changes in the
world since Prairienet was founded, including increased access to low-cost
and free e-mail providers. The proliferation of spam -- which accounts for
99% of all email and grows in volume by 50% every year -- generates
millions
of pernicious messages each day. In order to operate efficiently in this
environment, Prairienet would be required to implement cost-prohibitive
spam filters. Likewise, the cost of offering dialup Internet access is no
longer financially feasible.
GSLIS's Community Informatics
Initiative or CII
now is responsible for Prairienet and its original mission of
strengthening communities through information access. Through funding from
GSLIS, the Office of the Provost, and other sources, CII works with people
to develop information and communication technologies to achieve their
goals.
Paul Adams will continue his long and valued tenure through CII as will
Karen Fletcher until her retirement on January 1, 2009 after 14 years with
Prairienet.
CII is working locally to expand Prairienet's good work in establishing
direct partnerships and support for community organizations and efforts.
Examples include the HelpSource
Consortium, partnerships with youth
programs, the creation of community technology centers, and coursework
through which students provide community-based support such as:
- Helping Cunningham Children's Home create a digital archive.
- Supporting the WILL Youth Media Workshop by performing program
evaluation.
- Helping CII create a University of Illinois Website portal for the
Latino community.
According to GSLIS Professor Ann Bishop, co-director of CII, "As we embark
on a new era of serving communities through innovative technology systems
and solutions, we look forward to retaining the Prairienet community as a
valuable network of partners."
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