Webguide manual for community groups

19 March 2007

Webguide manual for community groups

A do-it-yourself manual on how community groups, not-for-profit organisations and iwi groups can use the internet more effectively is now being distributed across New Zealand, thanks to a research project based in the University of Waikato Management School.

Professor Ted Zorn, who leads the project, says the idea for the manual emerged from his research on the impacts of information and communication technologies on workplaces and communities, a five-year, $225,000 per year project funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

The manual itself came out of a partnership with government and community groups that initially created a website www.webguide.net.nz. In his role as chair of the Waikato Regional 2020 Communications Trust, Professor Zorn sought and received funding from the government’s digital strategy fund for a printed version of the webguide.

Prof Zorn says his research shows that some of the most positive impacts of ICTs can be in the not-for-profit sector. “That’s simply because groups and organisations in this sector tend to work on small budgets and put their resources into surviving and providing direct services for members,” he says. “So, they tend to be quite ‘low tech’, although they’re starting to see that they can in some cases deliver services more effectively by using the internet.

“This manual will help them learn the basics—how to get started, how to get the benefits, and how to avoid some of the pitfalls.”

Three thousand copies of the manual, Connect Your Community: The New Zealand Webguide, have now been printed and are available free of charge to interested community groups. It is being distributed through Citizens’ Advice Bureaux and regional Te Puni Kokiri offices, and will also be available at public libraries.

ENDS

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