North Carolina Libraries for Virtual Education offers the citizens of North Carolina online access to complete articles from over 5,500 newspapers, journals, magazines, and encyclopedias, indexing for over 15,000 periodical titles, and access to over 13,000 electronic books. NC LIVE is available free of charge for library patrons, researchers, and educators from four communities of interest -- public libraries, community colleges, the state's university system, and members of the North Carolina Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. NC LIVE can be accessed from within an affiliated library or from home.

Rural Internet Access Authority e-communities program is a $6.3 million community outreach effort to galvanize community support for and involvement in bringing high-speed Internet access and training to all areas of the state.

Mountain Area Information Network Lists is a listing of all the public mailing lists on main.nc.us.

The online version of Howard Rheingold's The Virtual Community.

Virtual Communities: Abort, Retry, Failure? by Jan Fernback & Brad Thompson.  A version of this paper, entitled "Computer-Mediated Communication and the American Collectivity: The Dimensions of Community Within Cyberspace," was presented at the annual convention of the International Communication Association, Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 1995

Computer Mediated Communication is just one area of research being explored by the Centre for Advanced Learning Technologies (CALT) through electronic communications and community-building.

Explores the psychological dimensions of environments created by computers and online networks. This document is intended as an evolving conceptual framework for understanding the various psychological components of cyberspace and how people react to and behave within it.

Communities.com is a fun new online community where people from all over the world (now with members from 133 countries!) meet, chat and interact with their friends everyday. It's also a great place to make new friends. Best of all, it's FREE to become a member.

In "Seven Steps to Building Electronic Communities," Philippa Gamse and Terry Grunwald This provide a set of guidelines to aid managers in assessing your organization's current readiness to network: identifying activities which are most appropriate for the telecommunications environment, evaluating existing systems, or deciding to develop an independent network.

Making the Net Work is a joint UK-US initiative led by David Wilcox, Drew Mackie and Terry Grunwald.  The aim is to develop 'how to' guidance for those aiming to get their organization or neighborhood online, or to create community technology or learning access centers.

VZones, formerlay WorldsAway, is a vibrant virtual society with its own economy (you can earn virtual tokens, buy from vending machines and even rent your own apartment). Also while in VZones you can join group games including bingo, and engage plenty of other social antics. Avatar costuming is a favorite with people sporting wilder heads than seen at New Orleans Mardi Gras. Citizen organizations, such as the Duckolytes are always there to help and may even elect you to office. With plenty of props like confetti and balloons, martinis and exotic gifts, and much jumping and stomping, the avatars of VZones know how to party! You can even attend their real world gatherings, held at cities on regular intervals. So come and join the VZones community, and remember, don't get too excited and lose your head!

One of the world's largest online communities.

You must understand the dynamics of online communities before you can start focusing your community-building actions.

Online Community Report is a free twice-monthly e-mail newsletter covering news and best ideas in online group collaboration. Articles and features address many venues in which users interact with other users online: online communities, web conferencing, distance learning, knowledge management systems, online auctions, and other topics. The Report should be of interest to anyone building or managing online communities, or interested in successful online group collaboration.

"Creating a successful online community is one of the most sought after and elusive goals in a Web strategy. Companies budget huge sums to perfect online community strategies as they seek to build customer relationships that create loyal consumers. In a nonprofit context, the "customer" takes the form of a constituent, advocate, grantee, funder, member, board member, or citizen. And the stakes are higher because usually the nonprofit's goal is to sell not a product, but a mission. In this context, an online community can be a powerful tool to bring constituents together to share their concern for an issue."

Download "Online Communities: Networks that nurture long-distance relationships and local ties."

"Building Communities With Software," by Joel Spolsky, is an excellent analysis of variances in online community site-relevance, software facilitation, and appropriateness of use for software to achieve goals and objectives.

Group Jazz supports the work of groups, whether they meet face-to-face, online, or both. They bring together the best tools, technologies, media, and PEOPLE to produce great group experiences with powerful results.

The Center for Civic Networking (CCN) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to putting information infrastructure to work for community economic development and civic participation.

TechSoup's Non-profit Online Communities listservs and e-newsletters that focus on issues relating to nonprofits and technology.

The African Connection is "communication for the African Renaissance."

The Pew Hispanic Center is a non-partisan research organization supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Its mission is to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos’ growing impact on the entire nation. Timeliness, relevance and scientific rigor characterize the Center’s work. The Center does not advocate for or take positions on policy issues.

Google Web Directory of Asian Online Communities