GAINESVILLE, Florida, March 19 /PRNewswire/ --

The Institute for Public Relations today introduced the Essential
Knowledge Project, an online guide to the best research into how
organizations build and manage relationships with customers, communities,
employees and other stakeholders.

"There is science beneath the art of public relations -- a tremendous
amount of research conducted over the years on all aspects of creating and
sustaining public opinion, attitudes and relationships," said Frank Ovaitt,
Institute president and CEO. "Our goal is to make that knowledge more
accessible not only to public relations professionals, but also to the
stakeholders they serve."

The free online service, accessible through the Institute's website
(www.instituteforpr.org), offers authoritative summaries of relevant research
with links to the original sources for those who wish to dig deeper. Three
topics are already available: "Trust and PR Practice" by Brad L. Rawlins,
associate department chair, Brigham Young University; "Ethics and Public
Relations" by Shannon A. Bowen, assistant professor, University of Maryland;
and "Crisis Management and Communications" by W. Timothy Coombs, associate
professor, Eastern Illinois University.

Other topics under development include employee communications, investor
relations, corporate social responsibility, corporate identity and branding,
and measurement and evaluation of public relations. The guides will be
supplemented by case studies to demonstrate the science in practice plus
online commentary from users.

A team of communications and business school professors helped conceive
the project, including: Paul Argenti, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth;
Stephen Greyser, Harvard Business School; Don W. Stacks, University of Miami;
and Donald K. Wright, Boston University. The website development was provided
pro bono by Wieck Media, online technology partner of the Institute.
Restricted donations to fund the pilot project were received from Harold
Burson, founding chairman, Burson-Marsteller; W. Ward White, managing
director, Marcus Foundation; and Ovaitt.

Public relations agencies and corporate communications departments will
be encouraged to integrate the Essential Knowledge Project into their
in-house knowledge management and professional development programs.

"We believe this new undertaking represents an innovation as important as
when our predecessor organization published its first bibliography of public
relations knowledge in 1964," said Peter Debreceny and Matt Gonring,
co-chairs of the Institute Board. "We are helping outstanding scholars share
their knowledge to build greater appreciation of the research underlying
organizational communications and relationships."

The Institute for Public Relations is an independent nonprofit dedicated
to the science beneath the art of public relations, bridging the academy and
the profession, supporting PR research and mainstreaming this knowledge into
practice through PR education.

Web site: http://www.instituteforpr.org