Scavengers who sifted through the refuse to unearth broadcast artifacts were generally wired into a collectors' word-of-mouth underground network that clued them in to the next film or tape dumping.

The model can be what jam bands have done: hitting the road to bypass commercial media and win fans onstage, while creating a word-of-mouth network that extends to the Internet.

And the word-of-mouth network has quickly spread the message across the country, bringing in donations ranging from $5 to $50,000.

Nonetheless, the black bookstores served as a word-of-mouth network that greatly helped awaken the sleeping giant that was the mass of black middle-class women waiting for good books to read.

Through internet marketing and a strong word-of-mouth network, Bennett Alliance has successfully released albums for The Kode, JK & the Servomatics, and the Daniel Bennett Group.

Because there is no national association of clairvoyants, the Tabatnecks weed out the fortunetellers through a word-of-mouth network.

Fans are allowed to tape concerts and are encouraged to trade the music freely, building a word-of-mouth network that has grown exponentially with the Internet.

A word-of-mouth network keeps those in Vietnam aware of the pirate attacks and hostile reception they face if they are lucky enough to reach shore in Hong Kong, Malaysia or Thailand.

"There's a fairly tight word-of-mouth network in the community," he said.

And many of the best places - houses over the bridge and down dirt driveways on Snead Island, or sweet little Craftsman bungalows in the historic district - are never listed beyond the word-of-mouth network.