La Plaza TeleCommunity

     ... a combination of technology and human interaction providing
     access to local and global information and communications.

     ... The emphasis is on supporting relationships and conversations,
     not on the technological tools that make this possible.

La Plaza TeleCommunity, Box 5277, Taos NM 87571

INTRODUCTION

The Taos Plaza was the original meeting ground for the diverse cultures of the Taos valley. Today it is full of tourists, shops, and galleries. The individuals of this community no longer carry on the day to day activities of building "community" on the plaza.

As a prime example of rural America, Taos is not alone as it looks to the future. Many rural communities face the same dilemmas: poor economies, lack of social interaction, and inadequate planning. There is a new plaza, a new place to meet, and a new place to affirm our local heritage, a place where the mountain and technology come together to form creative answers that will improve local living conditions. It's called La Plaza TeleCommunity Foundation. The implications are broad, the ramifications significant, but what is it?

It is a space where transactions of various sorts are carried out in public. Not unlike letters to the editor, town council meetings, or hanging out with friends in the aisle at Smiths. It belongs to no one and is used by all. As you may have guessed it has something to do with computers. It is a community network. A place where people using computers and modems gain access to each other. It is the plaza of the future. Our future. It includes every segment of our community, it includes the particulars of what the information age means to Taos and the possibilities it brings to enhance the business of living together. A community network is a combination of technology and human interaction providing access to local and global information and communications.

Through a network, towns and regions will gain the ability to shape their environments and achieve community goals such as more democracy, stronger economics, and a richer quality of life. The emphasis is on supporting relationships and conversations, not on the technological tools that make this possible. Through a network towns and regions will gain the ability to shape their environments and achieve community goals such as more democracy, stronger economics, and a richer quality of life. The emphasis is on supporting relationships and conversations, not on the technological tools that make this possible.

LIKE A PUBLIC LIBRARY

TeleCommunity computer-based networks are destined to become as important an institution as the public library. It is hard to imagine a community without a public library, and in the near future, community-based computer systems will become just as commonplace. In fact, these telecommunity networks are modelled on the same principle as public libraries -- they should provide information and other resources to the community at minimal or no cost to the users.

Historically, libraries were privately owned, and access was restricted to special classes of society: the wealthy and elite, scholars, and university students. During this century, there has been a major shift in the role that libraries play in our society. They have become free, open- access facilities, performing a vital service to the community, serving people in all classes of society, and from all walks of life.

In the same way that libraries were once the domain of the rich and elite, use of information technology historically has been confined to certain groups in society. The penetration of computers into the home and office, and increased computer literacy have provided an opportunity for community computer systems to flourish. Computer-based telecommunities bring information technology within the reach of all classes in today's society for little or no charge.

MISSION STATEMENT

La Plaza TeleCommunity Foundation was formed to improve and to ensure public access to information and telecommunication technology via democratic access to telecomputer technology.

La Plaza is a member-supported, public interest, online computer network that gathers and disseminates multi-sector information. La Plaza provides a vehicle where citizens of Taos can gain access to regional, national, and international telecommunications opportunities. Through home, office, school or La Plaza public access computers, any individual, school, or public agency in Taos County is ensured of equal access to the Network's resources.

It is the intention of La Plaza to research, develop, implement, and maintain a telecomputing network for Taos County. A major function will be to educate and support the Taos community in the use and application of this system.

BENEFITS

La Plaza is designed to benefit the widest range of people who live, work, and/or visit the Taos region. La Plaza will create jobs, increase computer literacy, and benefit a variety of organizations and individuals.

WHO WILL BENEFIT

Taos-Area Residents

Taos-area residents will be given access to a wealth of community and worldwide information. By removing economic and social barriers to information, La Plaza will make information more democratically accessible to the public. Internet access will provide worldwide electronic mail and access to the world's information resources.

The Taos Community

Because La Plaza is basically a volunteer effort, it provides new and exciting opportunities for individuals to become more involved in their community by providing information to La Plaza, starting a special interest group, serving on a La Plaza committee, or simply interacting with other La Plaza users.

Clubs and community groups will benefit from La Plaza's electronic messaging facilities, which will expedite communications and make it easier for groups to share information, coordinate their activities, and interact with the public. La Plaza will be designed to draw the multi-cultural Taos community closer together.

Community/Professional Organizations and Government

Clubs and community groups will enhance their public relations by participating on La Plaza as information providers. Community organizations that establish an electronic mailbox on La Plaza will increase their accessibility and visibility to the general public. At any time, day or night, La Plaza users can leave messages for participating organizations and access information on government and community services. La Plaza will provide an innovative and powerful way for community organizations to communicate with the public.

The government will find that La Plaza provides a fast, effective, and efficient way to distribute important information to the community.

Seniors, People with Disabilities

Senior citizens and people with disabilities will be able to access and exchange information easily without leaving their homes.

Teachers and Educators

La Plaza will provide a cost-effective means for public and secondary schools to teach telecomputing to their students. Teachers and students will be able to communicate with their counterparts around the world and around the state using La Plaza's electronic mail system. Many public and secondary schools in the U.S., Canada, and other regions already use these systems. In addition, the University of New Mexico, as well as virtually all colleges and universities in the U.S. and many around the world, are connected to the Internet. "Distance learning" is a term coming more into use because of these computer networks. For example, a professor at UNM in Albuquerque or at MIT in Massachusetts could just as easily teach a for-credit class here in Taos.

Tourists

Visitors in Taos may use one of the public access terminals to explore restaurant menus, museum and gallery listings, skiing or rafting conditions, or anything else that Taos has to offer. Travelers may also use La Plaza to help plan their trip to the Taos region by accessing La Plaza from their own communities.

OTHER BENEFITS

Increased Computer Literacy

Another benefit of La Plaza will be the increase in computer literacy in the community as people learn how to use La Plaza to gain quick and easy access to information resources electronically. Because La Plaza will provide access to modern telecommunications facilities, users will develop an understanding and an appreciation of the role and importance of electronic communications in the information age.

Increased Employment

After its initial startup phase, La Plaza will employ a number of people. Further, La Plaza has the potential to create new employment opportunities in community and government organizations that actively participate on the system. Once organizations realize the benefits of being involved in La Plaza, they may assign personnel to serve as the organization's liaison with La Plaza. In addition, the introduction of state-of-the-art telecommunications capability could provide for considerable, clean, safe, and sensible economic diversification in the Taos region. Local Taoseos could be trained and hired for new tele- communications-related jobs which would help provide the badly needed economic diversification in the region.

FEATURES

Typically, as a telecommunity develops -- like physical communities -- new services spring up, new uses are discovered, and with these systems, there is virtually no limit to the features which can be incorporated. Some of the features planned for La Plaza are discussed below. But remember, if you have an idea for a new feature, let us know. La Plaza will support electronic mail, special interest groups, electronic discussion groups, Internet, and more.

Electronic Mail

Electronic mail is the capability of sending an electronic message or letter to another person or group of persons. It is one of the most popular and fastest-growing uses of computers today. Not only will La Plaza users be able to send electronic messages locally to other members, they will also be able to send electronic messages throughout New Mexico, the United States, and around the world -- to friends, relatives, and business associates who also have electronic mail capability. All registered users will receive a unique electronic mail address (like your post-office box) on La Plaza. With this electronic mail address, La Plaza users will be able to receive messages from anyone who is connected to the Internet.

The concept of electronic mail is simple. Rather than handwriting a message to someone and dropping it in the local U.S. Post Office mail box, the message is keyed into your computer terminal, and the computer will automatically deliver it for you, almost immediately -- providing of course, that your correspondent also has an electronic mail address.

Once the message is typed and ready to be delivered, you select the "send" option from a menu on your computer screen, and the computer will immediately send the message. The delivery process takes place in the background, and is invisible to the user. On La Plaza, you'll be able to communicate with people all over the world as if they were right next door. Of course, you will also be able to send electronic messages to local organizations, local and state government, and other Taos-area residents who are using La Plaza.

If the recipient is a member of La Plaza, the message will be placed in the addressee's electronic mailbox, where it will remain until the recipient connects to La Plaza to read it. All registered users of La Plaza will be notified by the system when they have new mail in their box.

If the recipient is at another location, your electronic message will leave La Plaza and be sent over high-speed telephone lines, and in some cases by way of satellite links. During its journey, your message will travel through one or more computer networks, and once it reaches its destination, it will be placed automatically in the appropriate electronic mail box.

Electronic mail offers many advantages over traditional communication mediums such as the telephone and postal system, and even facsimile (fax machines). Because electronic mail wil you will also be able to send electronic messages to local organizations, local and state government, and other Taos-area residents who are using La Plaza.

Electronic mail has many other benefits-it overcomes differences in time zones, eliminates "telephone tag," and improves global information flow. However, it must be noted that because messages may travel through several sites en route to their destination, privacy cannot be guaranteed.

Electronic Discussion Groups

La Plaza will carry many different electronic discussion groups. These are ongoing topical discussions on hundreds of topics ranging from popular topics like cooking, fishing, music, computers, and hiking, to more esoteric topics such as locksmithing, pyrotechnics, and kite flying. Discussions take place in designated areas on La Plaza called conferences. From one's home or office computer, or public-access terminal, users will have access these groups.

Just as you read your favorite columns in the newspaper, each time you connect to La Plaza, you'll be able to read your favorite discussion groups. For example, if you are an avid fly fisherman or woman, you'll probably want to follow that discussion regularly.

When you want to join a discussion, you type a message and leave it in the appropriate conference for others to see. The message may be a question, a reply to another message, a comment, or an opinion. Anyone who wants to reply to your message can either respond to your private electronic mailbox on La Plaza, or type a public reply in the conference, where it can be viewed by everyone.

Community associations and clubs in the Taos region could establish their own discussion groups to promote their services and activities, and respond to questions from the public.

Individuals could set up discussion groups to discuss topics of personal interest with other users of La Plaza.

Experts in the community could offer their knowledge to the public by hosting "Ask the Expert" discussion groups. These discussion groups would provide an open public forum where La Plaza users could submit questions and have them answered by experts. Possible "Ask the Expert" discussion groups might include:

       - Ask a Veterinarian
       - Ask an Auto Mechanic
       - Ask a Home Repair Expert
       - Ask a Legal Expert
       - Ask a Garden Expert
       - Ask a Ski Expert
       - Ask a Librarian
       - Ask a Language Expert
       - Ask a Travel Agent.

La Plaza is interested in hearing from anyone who would be willing to volunteer their time to host an "Ask the Expert" discussion group.

Usenet

La Plaza will provide access to Usenet, an international computer conferencing system which carries thousands of electronic discussion groups on hundreds of topics. La Plaza users will be able to participate in thousands of electronic discussions with over 2.5-million other people around the world. Imagine being able to submit a question to an electronic discussion group and have answers from all around the world waiting in your electronic mailbox the next day!

The Internet

La Plaza will be linked to the Internet, an international computer network which currently connects approximately 18-million people, in over 50 countries, and all seven continents. Linking over 1.5- million computers worldwide, the Internet is the largest and fastest growing computer network in the world. It has more than doubled in size over the last year. The Internet is often described as a single network, but it is actually a network of over 12,000 networks which literally span the globe. Scientists, researchers, journal-ists, politicians, librarians, business executives, educators, hobbyists, and activists are just some of the people who use the Internet's high-speed data networks to communicate with distant colleagues and friends. Even the White House is now on-line with Internet addresses for President Clinton and Vice-President Gore.

Internet access provides a wide range of benefits including:

- access to the world's library systems

- access to government publications and databases

- access to electronic journals and newspapers

- access to experts in virtually all fields worldwide

- access to distance learning -- providing secondary school through graduate school classes online

- electronic mail worldwide

- information search capability worldwide

TOPICS

La Plaza will be an electronic information resource for the residents of the Taos region. It will feature information on a wide array of topics, including medical, dental, and general health care, education, law, science and technology, social services, government, entertainment, recreation, and the arts. The possibilities are endless.

Here are some examples of the type of information that La Plaza could provide to the public. This list is only a start -- your imagination and needs provide the only limits.

Community Events

Announcements of: public meetings, town council meetings, lectures, workshops, fiestas and other festivals, pow wows, church and religious activities, fund-raising activities, conferences, seminars, speakers, club meetings, gallery openings, and other special events.

Entertainment/Leisure Activities

Providing: movie listings and movie reviews, restaurant listings and reviews, concert and theater listings, new video releases, local television listings (including the Colorado stations), book reviews, local high school and national sports schedules and scores, rodeos, music festivals, local club entertainment schedules, ski reports, rafting reports.

Government

Announcements of: town, county, and state meetings; pending legislation; municipal, state, and federal telephone directories; information on state and federal government agencies and departments; information on municipal, state, and federal government services and programs; directory of members of congress; elections information (polling locations, lists of candidates, etc.); disaster-preparedness information; services for seniors; services for disabled; services for alcohol and other drug abuse; government databases; government documents and publications; tax information; zip codes, etc.

La Plaza will be an electronic information resource for the residents of the Taos region. It will feature information on a wide array of topics, including medical, dental, and general health care, education, law, science and technology, social services, government, entertainment, recreation, and the arts. The possibilities are endless.

Health and Safety

First aid instructions; crime prevention tips; neighborhood watches; fire prevention information; seasonal information to hikers, campers, rafters, and skiers; drug abuse information; AIDS prevention information; medical and health databases.

News and Weather

Providing: local, state, national, and international news headlines; local, New Mexico, and surrounding states weather information and forecasts...

Transportation

Providing: road and travel information and conditions; bus schedules; airport information.

Travel and Tourism

Providing: visitor information; convention information; tourist information; hotel and motel directories; sightseeing information; tourist attractions in Taos and Northern New Mexico; special events; information on the arts in Taos.

Education

Providing: directory of public and private school board members, and administrators; college and university course and program information; alternative education information; continuing education programs; specials arts classes.

Employment

Providing: job listings by those needing employees and those needing jobs; job training information.

Legal

Providing: legal aid services' information; general legal information.

Library Information

La Plaza will provide online access to public library catalogues in the State of New Mexico and worldwide. La Plaza users will be able to search library holdings in all libraries where such access is available. In some cases, books, magazines, journals, government publications, and other library resources may be available online.

Business

Providing: real estate listings, possibly with online photos or videos; art gallery clients, openings, etc., art online; reservation services for hotels/motels, restaurants, etc.

The Media

The local New Mexico media, including broadcast and print may post certain guides to community events, the arts, sports, dining, and entertainment. It may also be possible to submit letters to the editor to the major New Mexico newspapers through La Plaza.

OPERATIONS

The operations of La Plaza cover a broad spectrum of topics. The following section answers some of the most frequently asked questions.

PAID PERSONNEL

While La Plaza will be run largely by volunteers, the size and scope of the system will make it necessary for us to hire some staff. A typical telecommunity system employs a full-time Project Manager or Executive Director, a Systems Manager, a System Administrator, and clerical and technical support staff.

FUNDING

Telecommunity computer-based networks, like La Plaza, depend on a number of different funding sources for start up and for continued operation. For approximately the first two years of start up and operation, La Plaza will be supported by funding from state and federal entities, private foundation funding, corporate funding and equipment donations, and support from private individuals in the Taos community. In addition, La Plaza, like your public broadcasting systems (TV and radio) will be partially supported by its membership, participating organizations, and potential commercial ventures which may utilize the system. Membership in La Plaza will confer voting rights in addition to usual access to the services of La Plaza.

STARTUP

The La Plaza TeleCommunity Foundation has been working on this project since May of 1993. The rate of progress on the construction of La Plaza will be determined by the acquisition of funding and the amount of support we receive from the community in terms of volunteers and donations. By the Fall of 1994, La Plaza should be up and operational.

PARTICIPATION

Everyone in the Taos region is invited to participate. Here is how you can get involved.

EASY TO USE

Our committees are working very hard to develop a system that is truly easy to use. La Plaza plans to provide educational and support services to ensure that people can use the system to its best advantage.

EASY ACCESS

A very important part of La Plaza will be Public-Access Terminals (PATs) to be located in a number of locations in the Taos region. PATs can be established virtually anywhere within a local calling distance of Taos. In addition, we expect that schools, hotels, the visitors center, and other community institutions will want to provide PATs.

True public access is a fundamental goal of La Plaza. You don't have to own a computer or be computer literate to use the system.

INFORMATION PROVIDERS

Because La Plaza is community-based, any individual or group may post information to the general public on the system. Clubs, professional associations, service organizations, government and educational institutions, and others will be encouraged to become "information providers." Individuals will be able to post information and ask questions in a variety of ways: discussion groups, e-mail, and in other special areas provided by the system. Also note that not only will this information be available in Taos, but through the Internet connection, Taos information will be available worldwide.

Information providers and other volunteers are the lifeblood of La Plaza. They work together to keep the information on La Plaza up-to-date, and they ensure that the information keeps pace with the community's informational needs.

MEMBERSHIP

In order to have full use of the facilities on La Plaza, users will be required to complete and mail a registration form. There is no fee to register. The registration form will be available on La Plaza itself and at other locations.

Also, like your public library, we are striving to make access to La Plaza essentially free to most users. To give everyone an opportunity to use the system, all users will be allowed approximately 15 hours per month free access time. If one needs more time in a given month, there will be a nominal charge per hour for additional access time.

Anyone, Taoseo or tourist, will be able to access La Plaza as a guest and look around, but only registered users will be given an account, and allowed to use all the services provided. When you register, you will be assigned a personal account name and password. An account is essential in order to send and receive electronic mail. To become a member of La Plaza, with voting rights, a nominal membership fee is required.

CONTACT

While the La Plaza TeleCommunity Foundation is forming, please contact us by mail at our address to find out how you or your organization can contribute to the development of La Plaza. Soon we will have an office and voice phone contact points, as well as an electronic mail address. We will inform you of these contact points as soon as they become available.

"Computers and community networks will change the way we do business, government, and relate to one another. ...The computer systems we design are meant to facilitate and enhance the business or social relations we have with other people, not to supplant them."

-from Community Computer Networks: Building Electronic Greenbelts

by Steve Cisler, Librarian, Apple Computer, Inc.