1	The Digital Library Project Employing satellite data broadcasting to deliver up-to-date information to African educational institutions.
2	Delivering Digital Information The Internet contains over one billion documents, many containing data and information relevant to academics. It has become the premier repository for human knowledge in the 21^st century. Today, much new research is available only on the Web, while fewer connected scholars are willing to collaborate with cohorts who do not have Internet access. It has been estimated that .23% of all the content on the Web originates from Africa. More often than not, African scholars must look to Western sources for information and research on Africa.
3	Delivering Digital Information On the other hand… The Internet poses a historic opportunity for African universities to catapult to a functional plane much closer to that of their Western counterparts. Digital communication technologies promise to eradicate barriers based on distance and provide African scholars with up-to-the-minute access to the world’s largest library. If they could only afford it…
4	Delivering Digital Information Increasing access to Internet documents Promoting broader participation and information dissemination Encouraging universities to build low-cost local area networks Training African librarians in the art of digitizing their materials Making African research readily available to others at African universities
5	The Bandwidth Conundrum “Bandwidth” is our term for measuring how much information can traverse the network from one point to another in a given time The amount of bandwidth between point A and point B determines the amount of information that can be transferred in a given amount of time the types of communication to be employed how many can participate effectively
6	The Bandwidth Conundrum However, the size of the network “pipe” to is not the only limitation…
7	The Bandwidth Conundrum … the cost of bandwidth also determines who can participate and how.
8	The Bandwidth Conundrum With neither a fiber backbone nor a reliable national copper infrastructure, universities are left to rely upon costly satellite bandwidth…
9	A Bandwidth Comparison
10	Building Local Area Networks Local Area Networks (LANs) are the basic building block of the Internet. With Local Area Networks, one owns the network devices and the network’s bandwidth is essentially free. It’s possible to build a 50-computer network for the cost of a satellite dish installation: $60,000
11	Replacing Bandwidth with Storewidth 120+ GB information store inside LAN Millions of documents Collection created and maintained by librarians worldwide Multimedia, audio, video at full network speeds No bandwidth costs Augments conventional Internet connection
12	The system starts with a Master Server in Iowa which stores a collection that is edited by librarians around the world with full (even occasional) IP connections…
13	Changes made to the master server are then broadcast to all field information stores
14	Using inexpensive receive-only satellite dishes, the university stores the updated material on a server inside the LAN…
15	… giving every networked computer high-speed access to hundreds of thousands of documents and multimedia files.
16	Delivering Digital Information Create customize open source proxy server software that updates its operating system software as well as its data Develop replication strategies for unreliable receiving equipment Train technicians in field maintenance and server replication techniques Collaborate with other content providers to deliver their materials to the African university Provide both incentive and coaching for African librarians interested in digitizing their materials
17	Demonstrating Data Broadcast Primary schools Government offices Health care Remote village communications NGOs Extension agents Etc.
18	The Digital Library Project Employing satellite data broadcasting to deliver up-to-date information to African educational institutions.