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WiderNet
Project & eGranary Digital Library |
201
Communications Center|
FACT SHEET The eGranary Digital Library provides millions of
Internet resources to institutions lacking adequate Internet access. Through a process of copying Web sites and
delivering them to intranet Web servers inside partner institutions in
developing countries, this digital library delivers educational materials for
instant access over local area networks (LANs). Seven out of eight people in the world don't have access
to the Internet and neither do most schools in the developing world.
Those schools that do have Internet access are spending enormous amounts
of money for their slow and unreliable connections. For
those without an Internet connection, this library is a phenomenon. Web pages open 5,000 times faster from the eGranary
Digital Library and schools can save tens of thousands of dollars in bandwidth costs every
year. With installations in more than 70 educational
institutions in Africa, Bangladesh and Haiti, the eGranary Digital Library
provides lightening fast access to educational materials including video,
audio, books, journals, and Web sites, even where no Internet access exists. The eGranary Digital Library represents the collective
efforts of hundreds of authors, publishers, programmers, librarians,
instructors and students around the globe.
Some of the many authors and publishers who have granted permission to
distribute their works via the eGranary include: U.S. Centers for Disease
Control, Columbia University, Cornell University, MIT Press, UNESCO, World Bank and WHO. Developed in 2001, the eGranary Digital Library was
created out of the WiderNet Project, a non-profit organization based at
the University of Iowa. The eGranary needs more authors and publishers
to help grow its collection to 10 million documents, volunteers to help
collect and categorize new materials and librarians and teachers to help get
the library installed in thousands of schools, hospital and universities. How It Works Here’s how
the eGranary Digital Library works: 1. Web sites with
rich educational content are identified.
Since the beginning of the World Wide Web, millions of individuals and
organizations have digitized their information to share with the general
public over the Internet. Capitalizing
on this phenomenon, the eGranary Digital Library looks for Web sites with
pertinent digitized academic information (often guided by requests of its
African partners) to add to its ‘wish list.’ 2. Securing the
author’s or publisher’s permission to copy their materials is done by
email. The request is to replicate
materials for educational institutions in developing countries with
inadequate Internet connectivity.
Depending on the content area, 50-90% usually agree.
3. The permitted
materials are copied to a hard drive. Website “scraping” software is used to
make a duplicate of the permitted materials on the eGranary Digital Library
server. Sometimes an entire Web site
is copied; sometimes just the portions containing the most useful
information. 4. Copies of the
collection are made and distributed to subscriber universities. Using large hard disks, copies of the
eGranary Digital Library are delivered to subscriber universities, most of
which already have servers and local area networks in place, so they simply
add the eGranary hard drive to their existing server. 5. The WiderNet
Project is currently developing a way to use various technologies, like
satellite digital radio, to update the collection on an ongoing basis. Endorsements of the eGranary Digital Library "The WiderNet Project and the eGranary Digital Library are two of the best things to happen to Nigeria."
--Digital
Library Issues workshop participant, Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria
“The eGranary Digital Library has helped our students and lecturers in accessing academic materials which were not easily accessible due to limited bandwidth. The concept is very good for those with limited or no bandwidth and should be supported. It has become part and parcel of our e-learning platform.” --Nyaga Gacheru, Network Administrator, Jomo Kenyatta University of
Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
"...we have been having difficulties due to the dearth of reference materials in many subject areas. Since the installation of the [eGranary], our lecturers and students have been exposed to a variety of reference sources. Recently our institution played host to a team of resource inspectors from the national board of Technical Education, NBTE, who came to accredit our programmes. the materials that were accessed form the [eGranary] formed a major plank in the accreditation requirements, which made us achieve the 98% success level at that accreditation exercise." --Report on the eGranary Digital Library at the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
“The eGranary Digital Library concept is the solution for creation and distributing online content challenges currently facing most African countries.”
--Mr. Jacod Mtui, Research and
Development,
“The
idea is simply GREAT! We are trying to
promote it in --Mr. Mizanur Munna, Positive Bangladesh Initiatives
“eGranary Digital Library has been a great bridge in the
digital divide for us in the --Dr. Stephen Akintunde, Deputy University Librarian, University of Jos, Nigeria
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