Infoshare Online is brought to you by Community Studies of New York, Inc., a non-profit corporation based in New York City.

Development of the Infoshare Community Data System began in 1988, when two of us, Leonard Rodberg and John Seley, faculty members in the Urban Studies Department at Queens College of the City University of New York (CUNY), realized that our students had to begin learning how to use computerized data files on New York City demographics. What they needed was an "access tool" that could be used by a novice in computing and would allow them to use computer-based data to learn about their City. They could then learn how to analyze urban data without struggling to acquire and convert data from main frame computers.

By 1990, Infoshare was being used in the Department of Urban Studies at Queens College and at CUNY's Sophie Davis School for Biomedical Education, where pre-med students learned how to perform community health assessments.

Soon we found that many others needed access to community data, and we created Community Studies of New York, Inc., as a service to other non-profit organizations struggling to meet the needs of their service areas. Within a few years, community health centers, non-profit housing groups, family practice residency programs, and even government agencies were using Infoshare to understand their city. Smaller grassroots organizations were using our consulting services to assess needs in their communities. Rita Manning, the Associate Director of Community Studies of New York, has used Infoshare to assist community-based organizations throughout the City in meeting their data needs.

With the advent of the World Wide Web, we can now make Infoshare available to a much wider and more diverse group of users. We also plan to extend its reach to include data from many other cities and regions. Explore our site and join the other data uses in the Infoshare Community.

The Infoshare Community Data System is dedicated to the memory of Joanne E. Lukomnik, MD, MPH (1946-1998). A life-long advocate for the poor and underserved, she inspired the development of Infoshare and promoted its use in improving the health of America's low-income communities.

The Infoshare Community Data System is dedicated as well to the memory of Pyser Edelsack, MPH (1943-2014). Pyser was an extraordinary educator and visionary at the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education who saw the educational potential of a system that would combine population data with health data to show medical students how they could address the health problems facing the communities they served. He provided initial funding and continued inspiration and encouragement for the maintenance and expansion of Infoshare. It is one exemplary part of his legacy.