Institute Showcases Regional Information Network

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo's Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth has compiled a 5,300-page Western New York Regional Information Network (RIN) Web site at http://rin.buffalo.edu.

John B. Sheffer, II, institute director, calls RIN "a resource for the region's citizens and leaders, as well as a richly informative site for users outside the area, and an anchor point for a broader approach to creating online access to Western New York.

"A number of different groups with different approaches are working to enhance the Niagara Region's Web presence. We believe -- and it's a belief that's central to the way the RIN works -- that all of us who are engaged in these efforts can collaborate and network, so that Web visitors see a coherent, user-friendly, sensible region, rather than a fractured public face with several dozen unrelated access points."

The RIN is in part an electronic directory of public services and municipal jurisdictions in the eight-county Niagara Region, providing contact information even for agencies and jurisdictions that are not yet online.

The RIN also links to existing homepages for municipalities and public agencies, as well as some not-for-profit organizations, and offers training for municipal and school officials and public-sector service providers who want to create a Web presence for their organizations and agencies.

In addition, the RIN offers users connections to national and international sites that demonstrate some "best practices" in regional Web approaches to issues such as economic and community development.

"We just keep growing," said Olivia Arditi, the network's webmaster. "With several hundred municipal jurisdictions and public services in the eight counties we serve, there are always new dimensions for the RIN to cover.

"As more and more municipalities and organizations take an interest in going online, the RIN will continue to become a more complex and dynamic tool. That's the exciting nature of the Web -- it evolves constantly, which makes it an ideal informational resource as a region develops."

"The essence of the RIN is collaboration," said Beverly A. Sanford, associate director of the institute. "We depend on municipal offices and community agencies to let us know how they want to be represented on the Web. If they want to create their own Web sites, we help them do it, and then we help RIN users find them.

"Because of this fundamental collaboration, the RIN can provide access to a broader, deeper range of regional information than any one agency could ever maintain on its own."

The RIN has evolved from a 1996 recommendation by the UB Governance Project. The project's report, "Governance in Erie County: A Foundation for Understanding and Action," noted that "Much good information on governance exists within the region; however, much of it is dispersed or inaccessible."

As a result of this finding, the Governance Project team called for a regional information network "for the exchange of information between area residents, governments, businesses, foundations, not-for-profit institutions, schools, and other potential users."

David C. Perry, founding director of the RIN and now Director of the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago, says, "The goal of the RIN remains as simple as its task is complex -- to make Western New Yorkers smarter about the region and its governments and to make the rest of the world smarter and better-informed about Western New York."

Today, says Arditi, over 5,000 users access the RIN each month. While many are local, others come from more than 40 countries -- including primarily Canada, the U.K., Japan, and Germany. Their comments range from inquiries about locating a business in Western New York to questions about where to find the best "Buffalo wings."

"We get great feedback from around the U.S.," Sanford adds. "One user last week emailed us that she had searched several of the Western New York sites for some regional business information. She hadn't yet found the exact information she needed, but as a fairly new user, she said she found the RIN the friendliest of the sites she reviewed, and asked if we'd point her in the right direction. We did.

"That's what regional networking, in the broader sense, is all about."

The May 20 event will showcase the RIN and a range of its activities. Scheduled presentations include the following:

o Opening comments by Sheffer, with additional remarks from New York State Senator Mary Lou Rath, chair of the Senate Committee on Local Government and a key RIN sponsor, and UB President William R. Greiner.

o An overview of the RIN, including a look at its evolution, structure, and current user statistics.

o A "tour" of RIN sections such as economic development, education, and law enforcement, as well as a look at its approach to jurisdictional information.

o A presentation by Mary Lou Pew of the Eden Town Council, who will demonstrate the Town of Eden Web site http://www.edenny.org that she created through the RIN training program.

o A presentation by Professor Suzanne E. Tomkins of the UB Law Family Violence Clinic. Tomkins will showcase Response to Violence http://violence-response.net, a Web site based on RIN pages that allows users to access information about regional and community services for victims of violence, perpetrators of violence, and others concerned about related issues.

o The introduction of a new interactive discussion forum on regional issues, originally proposed in the RIN's early days and now available at the institute homepage http://regional-institute.buffalo.edu

o Comments by Sheffer on new uses of the RIN in economic and community development and on some of the region's future Web needs and possibilities.

No registration or admission fee is required to attend the May 20 event.

Questions can be directed to the institute at 829-3777.