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Why does the eGranary Digital
Library
copy Web resources? Can't those at the universities you work
with just use
our Web site instead? |
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Many of the universities we work with
have NO Internet connectivity. Those that have connectivity
typically have 128K or less of Internet bandwidth. That's
about the speed of two phone modems being shared by dozens or
hundreds of people. At some universities, staff and students
have to pay for every minute they are on the Internet to cover the
costs of the satellite service. Either way, surfing is too
slow and/or too expensive for scholars to spend a significant amount
of time on the Internet. By placing relevant materials on a
server within their campuses, we provide their campus community access
to hundreds of thousands of documents at blazing speeds with
absolutely no bandwidth cost. For more information comparing the
cost and productivity of the eGranary Digital Library versus an
Internet connection, see
http://www.widernet.org/digitallibrary/eG-InternetCostComparison.pdf. |
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Will the
eGranary Digital Library
sell the materials they ask for
permission to copy? |
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No, we do not sell the donated content included in the eGranary
Digital Library. As well, every subscriber is required to sign
an agreement that they will not sell the donated materials (and not
make it available on the Internet -- only on their own intranets.)
We are a non-profit service organization based at the University of Iowa with the core mission of serving
the world's information poor without making them too much poorer. So we are always looking for ways to sustain our efforts while
keeping the costs of eGranary Digital Library ownership as
affordable as possible.
We DO charge subscribers for equipment and services (like training
and custom portals), but never for the content itself. This
way, if someone wants to install the eGranary Digital Library and
they have the equipment and expertise at hand, they can simply sign
a subscription agreement and make a copy of the closest eGranary
Digital Library. (Of course, our customized proxy and search
software are Open Source and included in the eGranary Digital
Library.) However, for those who want a more complete
solution, we offer everything from external USB drive versions to an
entire lab of refurbished computers with a dedicated eGranary
Digital Library server.
For more information, see
http://www.widernet.org/digitalLibrary/costOfOwningeGranary.htm. |
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How much
do subscribers in the developing world pay to use the eGranary
Digital Library? |
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Subscribers pay
nothing for the donated content.
If someone wants to install the eGranary Digital Library and they
have the equipment and expertise at hand, they can simply sign a
subscription agreement and make a copy of the closest eGranary
Digital Library. (Of course, our customized proxy and search
software are Open Source and included in the eGranary Digital
Library.) However, for those who want a more complete
solution, we offer everything from external USB drive versions to an
entire lab of refurbished computers with a dedicated eGranary
Digital Library server.
For more information, see
http://www.widernet.org/digitalLibrary/costOfOwningeGranary.htm. |
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Who funds
the eGranary Digital Library? |
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The eGranary Digital
Library is largely a volunteer affair. For the first three
years of its existence, the eGranary Digital Library was developed
as a part of other programs being offered by the University of
Iowa's WiderNet Project to assist universities in Africa to develop
strategic ICT plans and build their first networks. Volunteer librarians and
programmers have put in over 1,000 hours, while hundreds of authors
and publishers have donated their content.
In 2003 we received a generous
grant of $236,000 from USAID's Leland Initiative to develop a
protocol for using one-way satellite broadcasts to update the
information stores in the field and increase the number of
participants and subscribers in the eGranary Alliance. We also received a $12,000 grant
from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to
demonstrate how commercial content creators, in this case the World
Book Encyclopedia, can be integrated into the eGranary Digital
Library.
In 2005 we received a $226,000 grant from the
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to focus on Sustainability,
Access and Adoption of the eGranary Digital Library.
We continue to enjoy significant
donations of hardware and software from industry leaders like
Microsoft Inc., Red Hat Inc., and disk drive manufacturers. |
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Will people stop
using my Web site and use yours instead? |
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No, our copy of your Web site will not be on the WWW; it will only
be available on campus intranets. Participating
universities agree to limit access to the distributed materials to
browsers on their campuses. In fact, none of the universities
we are working with have enough bandwidth to serve Web sites without
severely restricting their own Internet access. |
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Will the
eGranary Digital Library
edit or alter my Web site in any
way? |
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No, we do not edit or alter
the content of your Web pages during mirroring. We do,
however, remove links to external advertisement servers and link
counters, since these links won't work in places where there is no
Internet connectivity. We do not "wrap" your content in our
own frames; it appears to the reader as it would on your own Web
site. |
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How does The WiderNet
Project collect my Web site(s)? Is there anything I need to do?
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The WiderNet Project uses an
open source program called HT-Track to mirror websites. More
information about this piece of software can be found at
http://www.httrack.com/. Since HTTRACK is able to mirror
websites through the HTTP protocol, no further action is needed on
your end. If your site uses a dynamic language such as PHP, ASP, or
PERL, HTTRACK will download the site as it appears to users on the
web, converting dynamic content into static HTML pages, since users
of the eGranary Digital Library will not have access to any
scripting or databases that your site may use. |
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What about copyright? |
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No, by granting us
republication permission you do not waive your copyright. Since we alter none of your pages, your copyright notices and
credits are included in the distributed materials. |
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How frequently
is the eGranary Digital Library
updated? |
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We currently manually update our digital library at least two times per year. We are also experimenting with a protocol to update the library
using cheap satellite broadcasts and digital radio. Once
successful, we will be able to update the collection weekly. |
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How long will
The WiderNet Project
continue its eGranary Digital
Library? |
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We plan to continue developing our digital library for as long as it
is needed... until developing world universities have sufficient Internet
capabilities. Until then, of course, we depend on the
generosity of volunteers and donors to keep the program growing. |
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Does
The WiderNet Project provide an
up-to-date list of recipients of
the eGranary Digital Library? |
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Yes, this Web site is updated almost daily. We will be
creating an electronic newsletter
to let donors know to which universities we are giving copies of the
digital library. |
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Does the
eGranary Digital Library use
republication contracts? |
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In the past we have used
republication contracts when publishers have requested them. In
those cases, the publishers had contracts of their own that we
modified to suit the intentions of the WiderNet Project. |
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Can I contribute my resources to the
eGranary for a
limited amount of time, for example one
year? |
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We struggle with the idea of
including a resource in the eGranary for a limited amount of time,
as in granting us a year's usage, because we simply do not have a
way to "recall" our eGranaries after they have been distributed. While we are working on a mechanism to update eGranaries in the
field, not all of our subscribers will use this mechanism, so we
cannot assure contributors that we can honor a year's
subscription.
The eGranary
Digital Library is installed at dozens of institutions in Africa. Some of these have a modicum of Internet access and can update
their eGranary on occasion. Most others have no Internet access
and may only update their eGranaries annually, if at all.
The best we can do is to agree to
DISTRIBUTE your resources site for a set amount of time and stop
distributing your resources when you ask. As long
as all of us recognize that a decade from now there may still be
older copies in use around the developing world.
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I can find
750 GB hard drives cheaper than
those you provide. Can I just buy one myself and copy the
eGranary Digital Library? |
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No. Sorry. Legally, only the
WiderNet Project has permission to make copies of the eGranary
content. The
cost of our drives reflect the cost of purchasing, shipping,
troubleshooting, dealing with failed drives, and spending several
hours loading the contents and testing the drive. They
may not be the least expensive drives, but we believe they still
represent a good bargain. |
The WiderNet Project