Message-ID: <Pine.WNT.3.94.980811174119.-83029G-100000@pppuser.uoguelph.ca> Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 17:41:31 -0400 From: Susan Rimkus <mailto:srimkus@UOGUELPH.CA> Subject: Official Launch - Devmedia Website (fwd) To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
FYI---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 16:26:01 -0400 From: Don Richardson <mailto:drichard@uoguelph.ca> To: mailto:DEVMEDIA@LISTSERV.UOGUELPH.CA Subject: Official Launch - Devmedia Website
Guelph, Canada - August 6, 1998. News release - for immediate release & please circulate
**Official Launch - DevMedia Web Site for communication efforts that promote development and democracy around the world**
People interested in participatory and community uses of media now have access to a dynamic database of information and resources: the DevMedia Web Site - http://www.devmedia.org
If you are involved in radio, video, TV, Internet, or telecommunications work that promotes development and democracy, you now have a central clearinghouse site on the web to let others know about your work.
The new DevMedia site includes features that allow you to easily: * access resources related to communication for development and democracy * contribute documents, reports and web addresses * browse and add events to a calendar * subscribe to DevMedia Digest to receive a monthly update and review of new information on the site
"We have tried to make DevMedia as user-friendly as possible to encourage people to take the initiative to add information and keep the site fresh," says Don Richardson, Director of the Don Snowden Program at the School of Rural Extension Studies, University of Guelph, Canada - the organization responsible for creating Devmedia. "DevMedia is a global resource and will grow and develop because it is ultimately maintained by its community of users, all of whom are active 'information sharers'."
The site is functional in English, Spanish and French and the organizers are taking steps to acquire the resources necessary to translate as much of the site as possible. Richardson notes that, "we are keen to establish an informal network of people to help us keep the site up-to-date, especially people in developing countries, women working with media for development and democracy, and people fluent in Spanish and French. To get involved, all you have to do is add relevant information to the website, and you can do that from virtually anywhere in the world."
DevMedia began at the University of Guelph as an e-mail listserv in 1994 to help exchange information on "Media for Development and Democracy." The DevMedia listserv currently has 400 subscribers around the world. Now, with the DevMedia web site there are a variety of new ways to stay informed and share information. For people who do not subscribe to the DevMedia listserv, the web site automatically "mirrors" and archives all of the messages posted to the DevMedia listserv, as well as its sister listserv, "rural-ict-dev" for discussions of information and communication technologies related to rural development.
DevMedia database categories include: Development Communication Organizations; Radio Links; Video & Film Links; Internet Resources with a Devmedia Slant; Grassroots Media Producers and Collectives; Women Working with Media for Development & Democracy; Telecommunications for Rural Development; Reports; Events; and Listservs. New categories can be added according to user demand. The site was created by the TeleCommons Development Group (http://www.telecommons.com), an international Internet and telecommunications consulting firm specializing in results-oriented telecommunication solutions for rural areas, agriculture, health, education and community development.
"DevMedia is a flagship project of the Don Snowden Program for Development Communication," says Richardson. "The purpose of the Don Snowden Program for Development Communication is to promote, through training, research, and advisory activities, communication for community development and the mobilization of human resources in developing regions of Canada and in Developing Countries. DevMedia is a key tool in these efforts, and will help us to continue to promote the participatory communication for development vision of the late Don Snowden who pioneered participatory communication approaches in Canada and the developing world."
Other current Don Snowden Program for Development Communication activities include:
- a forthcoming conference on ""Partnerships and Participation in Telecommunications for Rural Development: Exploring What Works and Why" at the University of Guelph on October 26 & 27, 1998 - http://www.snowden.org
- the September launch of the new Don Snowden Program web site at http://www.snowden.org which will include resources, papers and background information related to the history of communication for development initiatives with Canadian roots and global impact. The site will include information about Canada's innovative National Farm Radio Forum that helped start radio listening groups around the world; Don Snowden's innovative work with participatory video in Newfoundland & Labrador (the famous "Fogo Island" initiative), the Arctic and India; and the National Film Board of Canada's community-based film and video "Challenge for Change" program. From October 1 to October 21, 1998, the site will also host the "on-line pre-conference" for the Telecommunications for Rural Development conference noted above.
- working with a diverse group of rural stakeholders to design a long-term research and learning strategy for rural telecommunications and ICTs related to Sustainable Rural Communities research program in the Province of Ontario, Canada.
For more information on the DevMedia website or other Don Snowden Program for Development Communication activities, please contact: Don Richardson Director Don Snowden Program for Development Communication School of Rural Extension Studies University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1 Tel: 519-824-4120 ext. 3811 Fax: 519-836-9941 Email: mailto:drichard@uoguelph.ca Web: http://www.oac.uoguelph.ca/res -or- http://www.snowden.org
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