What is Effective Use

Researchers and practitioners use a wide range of terms when they discuss community involvement with information and communications technologies (ICTs). Common (English-language) terms include ‘community networks,’ ‘community computing,’ ‘community information networks,’ ‘civic networking,’ ‘community technology,’ ‘community computer networks,’ ‘online neighborhood network,’ ‘virtual community,’ ‘online community,’ ‘community e-business,’ and most recently, ‘community informatics.’ Since the late 1990s, the term ‘community informatics’ has come into use amongst many academic researchers as an overarching label for the academic study of projects and initiatives which deliberately engage community groups and organizations with ICTs. Evidence of the term’s acceptance in academic and research circles is found in the titles of at least one academic journal and the language of its articles (the Journal of Community Informatics), as well as in community informatics conferences and workshops held in a number of countries, university research centres, moves towards an ethics statement, and an entry in Wikipedia developed collaboratively by researchers and practitioners in the field. While many still use the term ‘community technology’ or its variants when referring to practice activity, community informatics has definitely become embedded as an academic reference point.