Cooperatives

RESEARCH RESOURCES

Arthur Capper Cooperative Center (Kansas State)
www.agecon.ksu.edu/accc
The Arthur Capper Cooperative Center (ACCC) at Kansas State provides research-based information, education and assistance to people interested in cooperative-based businesses. Check out the link to the NCR-194 Research to Cooperatives, which has a number of research reports on different co-op sectors including agriculture, forestry, and consumer food co-ops.

Communities Directory
http://directory.ic.org
The Communities Directory is a listing of intentional communities — people who live together or share land for a common purpose. Different types of intentional communities are eco-villages, co-housing (private housing with shared common facilities) community land trusts, and housing cooperatives. The Communities Directory lists more than 1,200 groups throughout Canada and the United States.

Co-op 100 (courtesy of the National Cooperative Bank)
www.ncb.coop/default.aspx?id=1250
The Co-op 100 lists the 100 largest cooperatives (in terms of revenue). In 2003, the 100 largest co-ops alone had a combined $117 billion in sales and controlled $284 billion in assets.

Co-op Month website (courtesy of the National Cooperative Business Association)
www.coopmonth.coop
This website, developed in 2004, includes a directory of over 14,000 co-ops in the United States, a number of studies on the economic impact of cooperatives, cases studies of dozens of cooperatives in different sectors, and links to leading national co-op sector organizations.

Cooperative Grocer
www.cooperativegrocer.coop
Cooperative Grocer is the leading publication of the food cooperative industry. The web site has articles of back issues for the past 20 years.

Cooperative Grocers' Information Network
www.cgin.coop
The Cooperative Grocers' Information Network is the leading site for information exchange among food cooperatives.

Cultivate.Coop
www.cultivate.coop/wiki/Main_Page
Cultive.Coop is as an online hub for pooling knowledge and resources on cooperatives. It provides a free forum for those interested in cooperatives and serves as a place where people can build educational tools for the co-op community.

Data Commons Project
http://dcp.usworker.coop
The Data Commons Project is a collaborative effort among a diverse array of organizations in the U.S. and Canada who share a mission of building and supporting the development of a cooperative economy. The group aims to develop an accurate, comprehensive, public database of cooperative economic initiatives in North America.

Discussion Course on Cooperatives
www.discussioncourse.coop
The Discussion Course on Cooperatives is a group-education tool for people who would like to become familiar with cooperative economics, history and philosophy. The discussion format is centered around carefully selected readings made accessible through a concisely planned anthology. Short readings and lively interpersonal discussions make it an ideal learning environment for busy people who would like to maximize their educational experience.

Filene Research Institute
www.filene.org
The Filene Research Institute is a leading research institute of the credit union industry that publishes many studies and has been a leader in encouraging credit unions to address the needs of low-income people who lack bank accounts. While its studies are pricey for non-members, abstracts of these studies are available in the Institute's newsletter, which can be downloaded from the site for free.

Go Co-op
www.go.coop
Whether the goal is understanding what a co-op is, searching for one nearby or starting a new co-op, Go Coop is a resource for much of what one needs to know about co-ops. This user-friendly resource is invaluable for anyone exploring or venturing into the world of co-ops.

Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives (North Dakota State)
www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/qbcc
This web site makes available a large number of studies on agricultural cooperatives, as well as the text of speeches from leading agricultural cooperative leaders.

University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives
www.wisc.edu/uwcc
The Center for Cooperatives at the University of Wisconsin conducts research, training, and education on cooperatives. Its web site includes an extensive clearinghouse of information on nearly all sectors of the cooperative movement.