A case study on the community initiative of www.brookmans.com.

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Community Informatics;                Katie Warren

LM267

A case study on the community initiative of www.brookmans.com.

All communities have a need for Information Communication Technologies and “technology can play a significant role in Promoting community building by facilitating information, communication, and resource exchange” (Turner-Lee & Pinkett: 3). The village of Brookmans Park is the perfect example of a community working with initiatives, but lacking certain necessities. This case study will explore where community informatics help to promote a community but also to highlight where the existing initiatives need improving or developing.

 Brookmans Park is a small village situated twenty miles north of London in the county of Hertfordshire. In 1998, the population of Brookmans Park and the close surrounding area was 6,400 which reflects the size of this small community. The majority of people in Brookmans Park are aged between 16 and 59 and the population could be said to be a growing one with ten births to seven deaths per thousand residents. It could be said to be a fairly well off commuter village with only 2% of the resident population claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance. The majority of people in Brookmans Park would be able to afford Information Communitcation Technologies of one kind or another. After carrying out research, it has been establsihed that although the majority of the population is over 16, it is the youth of Brookmans Park that would need targetting and bringing into the community more. Many residents have begun to complain about the increasing number that are ‘hanging around’ the village green. Therefore, the existing initiatives are obviously do not appeal to everyone.

The community have a variety of different Information Communication Technology initiatives varying from a newspaper to an internet site. This case study will focus on the Internet based initiative, . This ICT is a communication technology who’s aim is “to serve the local geographic community” (Turner-Lee & Pinkett: 3).

“Information and communication technology offers enormous potential for civic society for education, health, arts and culture, social services, social activism, deliberation, agenda setting, discussion, and democratic governance”  (Shuler: 2). The site  offers links to other areas of public interest within Brookmans Park including the primary and secondary schools as well as the village’s dentist practice and nearest doctor. It fulfils the needs of an information and communication technology as well as going beyond this to provide a contact list of businesses, feature writing, history of the area, a photo gallery, recent news and events, interactivity and train times.

This initiative was set up in 1998 as an experiment to see whether “content created for the community by the community” (Brewer: 2003) could become a reality. David Brewer, a member of the community conducted this experiment single handily to bring about this successful, popular initiative. It meets it’s aims through three groups; the North Mymms Local History Society, the Gobians Woodland Trust and the local community forum members. These groups have provided the majority of the content although David Brewer, maintains the site and offers news items on local issues that might be of interests.

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It could be assumed, that by the existing communities contributions, Brookmans Park has sufficient social capital  with “trust and cooperation between individuals and within groups” (Simpson: 121). It seems as though the internet site has provided an increase in the social capital. Social capital is a crucial factor within a community and the more that there is, the more likely it will be that communication techologies will be used. Ultimately, it is the members of a geographic location who are responsible for ensuring and contributing to the well being of their community and their social capital. The members of Brookmans ...

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