Folks, I'm pleased that some AOIR-niks have referred to my work on community, For a starter on this, please read the first "Network Community" chapter of Barry Wellman, ed., Networks in the Global Village (Westview Press, 1999). The rest of the book is good too, with Wellman & Gulia, "Net Surfers Don't Ride Alone: Virtual Community as Community" being especially appropriate for AOIR-niks. Really soon, I shall mount a report I did for the Law Commission of Canada just now, which synthesizes my work on community AND virtual community. Barry ___________________________________________________________________ Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director wellman@chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 ___________________________________________________________________