KooteNet's Photo Album - part 5

How does a community pull this off ? ( continued )

Fall / Winter - 1997

Tony Pajas and newly hired help desk ace, DJ Savage, begin work on equipment upgrades and replacement.

Digital Access Servers arrive and the staff and volunteer team works to convert the system from analog to digital modems...plus installing all the new equipment in an organized manner so as not to disrupt the busy KooteNet users.

While hardware changes are proceeding, a remodel of the library basement begins and a drop ceiling replaces the open pipes and beams which adds much needed overhead lighting.

Once the ceiling is in place, stud walls are erected to further define some office area that will  house the public and private sections for the KooteNet equipment and staff.  Then comes the wall board.

Then add some paneling, doors and trim ...all the while, the staff is keeping the system up and running! Finally carpet is added to the concrete floors.

Here's that same area near the closet after the remodel..now an actual office with doors
that can secure the area and offer privacy.

Spring - 1998: over 1400 families now on-line; our help-desk is now manned full time with it's own separate office for the public.

Regular hours and full time help desk coverage make the job of getting on-line for new computer-users, a very pleasant experience.

 

Tony stands by the new access servers which don't quite fit into the "cage" but they're doing the job.  Notice the lantern emergency light (needed during the occasional power outages here in Northwest Montana).   We've come a long way together.  Who knows where we'll be in the future?

Looking Back: Our mission was to fill the local pothole in the information superhighway! We seem to have accomplished that by taking one day at a time and asking for help from all sources. We have been able to share what we've learned with other communities, have awakened new local hope for the future and are heartened to see the spirit of community come alive to tackle things that "couldn't otherwise be done".

Looking Ahead: Many new challenges await us and each day brings more adventures and opportunities for our community members to volunteer their unique life skills to the joint effort of making a place in Northwestern Montana where economic development can take place in a passive, non-polluting way while preserving the beauty and blessings of living in this area.

For more on-line information about the Project, see below:

The Summer, 1997 Article about KooteNet/Lincoln County from Montana Magazine
and KooteNet: the Short Story
or ... for the Archive of Project History, see Public & Private Partnerships: the Internetting of Lincoln County

 

KooteNet's Home Page