ORIGINS: A Valuable Web-Based Resource for Community Economic Development

This article describes a successful partnership among Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. Together they maintain an electronic database containing a wide range of Oklahoma-specific data. The Internet has made this bulletin board, called ORIGINS, incredibly easy for the average person to use. Recently, the biggest complaint regarding ORIGINS is that it almost has too much data. Educators at the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service at OSU have taken their wireless computer lab on the road to try to teach community leaders about the Internet, about ORIGINS, and about other tools available to help develop local economies.