The best place to start your search for online resources for and about organizing is COMM-ORG. Maintained by Randy Stoecker, associate professor of sociology and research associate in Urban Affairs at the University of Toledo (and guest editor of this issue of Shelterforce), COMM-ORG includes an extensive collection of working papers about community organizing issues written by academics and practitioners. The site also includes an extensive list of links to other resources online.

Stoecker also moderates the COMM-ORG listserv, an electronic mailing list which features ongoing discussions about organizing principles, as well as conference announcements, job listings, and resource suggestions. Directions on how to subscribe are available on the web site.

If you're thinking of using the web as a tool for your own organizing campaign, check out "A Training Course for the Virtual Activist" at <www.netaction.org/training>. It provides a good step-by-step primer on the uses of different technologies – e-mail, the web, Usenet, etc. – for activism. Also see the Institute for Global Communications <www.igc.org>. They're home to lots of sites focused on organizing and activism in a wide range of social justice issues, and can help your organization get online.

For an example of how a group can use the Internet for organizing purposes, see TenantNet: The Online Resource for Residential Tenants, at <http://tenant.net>. Resources focus mostly on New York issues, but the site does contain information about tenant rights and rent laws in 26 other states. For New Yorkers, there's an extensive collection of articles featuring news and analysis about laws, policies, and elections that affect tenants in the state. There's also a bulletin board for users to share ideas and find assistance.

Computer mapping technology can also be a valuable organizing tool. See the East St. Louis Action Research Project site at <http://www.eslarp.uiuc.edu/egrets/> for an example of how maps can help your organization present information in ways that will help you organize and advocate for your community's needs.

Publications

Housing Policy Debate, Vol. 9, Issue 1, focuses on the importance of social capital to housing and community development. Quarterly publication of Fannie Mae Foundation, 4000 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC. 20016-2804; www.fanniemaefoundation.org

Round Up, "New Perspectives and Ideas for Healthy Communities," No. 184, August 1998, a quarterly publication of the National Low Income Housing Coalition/LIHIS. 1012 14th St., NW, #610, Washington, DC 20005; 202-662-1530; info@nlihc.org; www.nlihc.org

The 1998 Affordable Housing Directory & Factbook. $75; $60 non-profits. 657 Mission St., #502, San Francisco, CA 94105-4118; 800-989-7255; ahf@housingfinance.com

Maxwell Awards of Sustained Excellence Program for the Production of Low-Income Housing. Profiles of the ten 1998 award winners. Fannie Mae Foundation, 4000 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC. 20016-2804; www.fanniemaefoundation.org

Economic Development Digest, July/Aug.98. A directory of the 1998 Innovation Award winners. National Association of Development Organization Research Foundation, 202-624-7806; nado@sso.org; www.nado.org

Democratizing Labor, Number 219, Sept./Oct. 98. of Dollars and Sense with GEO, Grassroots Economic Organizing Newsletter. $3.95. Economic Affairs Bureau, 617-628-8411; dollars@igc.apc.org; www.dollarsandsense.org

CRA Commitments 1977-1998. National Community Reinvestment Coalition, 733 15th St. NW, # 540, Washington, DC 20005; 202-628-8866.

New Avenues Into Jobs: Early Lessons from Nonprofit Temp Agencies and Employment Brokers. Center for Community Change, 1000 Washington Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20007; 202-342-0567.

1997 Report of the Low-Income Housing and Community Development Activities of the Federal Home Loan Bank System, Federal Housing Finance Board; 202-408-2500; www.fhfb.gov

Disclosure Guidelines for Local Housing Finance Agencies. $37.75 (members), $42.75 (non-members), bulk discounts. Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies, Lockbox 3052, Washington, DC 20042; 202-857-1197; www.nalhfa.org

Financial Markets Center's Citizen's Toolkit for Reserve Bank boards and regional director candidate identification. Available free. PO Box 334, Philmont, VA 20131; 540-338-7754; finmkctr@aol.com

Striking a Balance! Revitalization/Displacement (the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde of a Healthy Community). Legal Aid of Central Texas, 205 W. 9th St., #200, Austin, TX 78701; 512-476-7244 x 311.