Letters Archive | The News Archive | Oncom websites
When I founded Online Communities (Oncom) in 1997 it was one of the first community resources, if not the first, to use the emerging internet for the purpose of bringing people together and rekindling community spirit. We referred to it as the local web as opposed to the world wide web.
Oncom was a social experiment with a constitution to encourage community cohesion and provide free online resources for community groups and campaigns, whilst fully supporting the democratic process and all elected representatives. It allowed people across the community to share their knowledge, experiences and expertise.
It was essential that Oncom should be independent of political and commercial influence and, as we failed to get grant funding for this unique project, it was eventually funded entirely by voluntary donations from members of the community. It was generally accepted by the 200 or so volunteers who have worked behind the scenes on the Oncom websites that this was a very worthwhile form of community service.
Unlike many so called "community" websites which have followed there was no commercial aspect to the Oncom sites. This was not an attempt to run a web based business or commercial directory but a charitable enterprise where the aim was to encourage the use of the web to increase public interest in local issues and the democratic process.
In 1997 Oncom started with a small very simple website, Hampton Online, made in conjunction with the Voluntary Care Group in Hampton Hill. By 2000 Oncom had expanded to include many portals, or doorways, providing access to most online resources in the various local areas of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Each of the portals expanded to become complex link sites.
Since 2000 the portals have grown organically, along with the increasing popularity of the web, becoming larger and more difficult to manage than had ever been anticipated in the early years.
This web archive contains much of the material published by Oncom over the period 1997-2008. It contains over 6000 local news stories created by Oncom citizen reporters between 2000 and 2008. These are provided in a fully searchable format and also in monthly sheets where possible. The archive also contains over 11,000 "letters to the editor" published in Oncom's Vox Pop forum by registered users. In addition there is a collection of some of the hundreds of pro bono websites made and maintained by Oncom volunteers for the community since 1997, including those for the Police, the Council, the Health Authority, charities, campaigns and the extensive local election coverage.
Oncom was clearly far ahead of its time. In the early years there was great suspicion about the internet particularly from those who probably had the most to gain from participation, but things move on and in 2008 the web has become far more a part of everyday life. Eleven years of providing this service has been a challenge and it is time now for a different type of local web service.
Now with the help of a grant from Hampton Fuel Allotment Charity we are preserving, hopefully for a very long time, a decade of community activity across the London borough of Richmond upon Thames. This archive contains the combined work of many community-spirited individuals, given voluntarily, and all deserve our thanks.
John Inglis
December 2008
All material on this website is copyright ©2008 Online Communities unless otherwise stated
and may not be reproduced for any purpose without written permission.
This archive website was funded by John Inglis and Hampton Fuel Allotment Charity