In the industrial area adjacent to the Stock Yards of Chicago, a community council was formed which included the two basic institutions of the area — (1) organized religion and (2) organized labor — as well as all of the other interest and action groups in that community. "Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council" is an experimental demonstration of a community organizational procedure predicated...

Howard Rheingold’s (1993) book The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier was the first to bring virtual communities to the attention of researchers and practitioners. Although virtual groups have been examined previously, Rheingold’s descriptions of participating in the WELL, an Internet-based bulletin board, vividly portrayed the potential of online social groupings. Rhein...

Community-based organizations are important health system stakeholders as they provide numerous, often highly valued programs and services to the members of their community. However, community-based organizations are described using diverse terminology and concepts from across a range of disciplines. To better understand the literature related to community-based organizations in the health sect...