Monday, October 07, 2002

Wilmington, NC – A new and unique database hosted by www.SpinNC.org is the most comprehensive location where citizens of Southeastern North Carolina can go to access information on area services and resources.

At a news conference Oct. 7, Chancellor James R. Leutze launched the community resource directory of the Southeast Public Interest Network of North Carolina (SpinNC), the university’s community-based public interest network.

Whether it’s finding child care, locating home health providers for an aging parent, or using electronic language translation, SpinNC provides a variety of information and referral services in collaboration with more than 450 agencies in a free and easily accessible manner to anyone with an Internet connection. This powerful database is the only one of its kind in the country and has the potential to be a national model for other universities interested in serving their regions.

In his demonstration of SpinNC, Leutze showcased the community resource directory, business directory, nonprofit tools, and three localized editions for the greater Wilmington, Jacksonville, and Fayetteville areas, as well as the regional edition for Southeastern North Carolina. Each of these editions features a calendar of events tailored to each area.

“This year more than 45,000 citizens will access one or more of the information services on SpinNC,” commented H. E. “Hunter” Thompson, director of UNCW’s Community Outreach Services in the Division for Public Service and Continuing Studies. “We are very excited about the growth and development because we can see how access to information services is making a difference in people’s lives.”

The community resource directory is tied to the Alliance for Information and Referral Services taxonomy, a national coding system for health and human service agencies, and is designed to help citizens quickly locate nonprofit and health and human services. Agencies can search for resources for clients, or citizens can search for the programs and services they need through the continuously updated listing of programs and agencies.

“SpinNC is an excellent model of community outreach,” said Michelle R. Howard-Vital, vice chancellor for public service and continuing studies and associate provost at UNC Wilmington. “It exemplifies the important role universities have when working both with and within their communities. Through a series of collaborations, SpinNC is providing services to the region that are vital for community and economic development.”

SpinNC is a community networking effort that originated from public/private collaboration among the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, a regional Internet provider, and a number of educational and non-profit organizations. Funding for SpinNC has been provided by the Governor’s Crime Commission ($46,949), the Cape Fear Memorial Foundation ($45,000), and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation ($35,000).

UNCW, in a community-driven effort, has facilitated and mentored SpinNC's progress by supplying basic organizational support and providing staff to work with SpinNC. SpinNC works in affiliation with the Division for Public Services and Continuing Studies at UNCW to help improve access to information technology in the region.

Check out the site at www.spinnc.org.

Note to media: For more information on the Southeast Public Interest Network of North Carolina, please contact Hunter Thompson at 910/962-3138 or thompsonh@uncw.edu.