Black Hills Knowledge Network Lights Up Local Information

Photo courtesy of Tom Warner

Maybe it happens at dinner one night. Someone asks a question. No one knows for sure. Someone else tries Google. Maybe you have your answer in seconds. Or maybe not. If it’s a question about your neighborhood or your community, you might not find anything at all. In the age of Google, the most elusive information is local.

So we got together a team of librarians to create the Knowledge Network, an online resource for everything local in the Black Hills. Here you can find heroes from your community, information for your neighborhood, graduation rates for your local high school and much more. We have information on how to start a business, train for a new career or get involved with volunteers doing good work in your community.

Our team is organizing links to local news stories, data from area non-profits, and information published by government. You can easily trace the history of an issue. You can search by keyword, topic or community. Find out what’s happening and why today. Or navigate the past to discover little known stories from Black Hills history.

The Knowledge Network represents a broad collaboration. With the Black Hills Area Community Foundation acting as lead sponsor and the Rapid City Public Library serving as developer, the Knowledge Network has received major support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Our partner libraries and local governments in Spearfish, Whitewood, Sturgis, Deadwood, Summerset, Rapid City and Custer help aggregate and organize information published by a host of local organizations, governments and media companies. All of this effort aims to help you find what you want to know.

You are the Knowledge Network’s most valuable partner. Tell us what you think. Tell us what you want to know about your Black Hills community. We hope this resource helps you be successful. We hope it helps you and your neighbors build a stronger and more prosperous community. That’s your goal. It’s ours as well.