The document discusses the eGranary Digital Library Project, which stores educational resources on hard drives and distributes them to institutions lacking adequate internet access. It is run by the Widernet Project and provides millions of internet resources through a fully searchable digital library. Some key points: - The eGranary now has installations at over 350 institutions worldwide, delivering educational materials like videos, books and journals. - Content is identified from websites and publishers are requested for permission to copy materials. It covers many subject areas. - Users have provided positive feedback on accessing information otherwise not available due to limited bandwidth. - The Sparkman Center has expanded health resources and supported installations across Zambia to increase access to materials.

1. The eGranary:
Storing the Seeds of
Knowledge
Heather Lee, MPH
UAB Sparkman Center for Global Health
February 6, 2012

2. OBJECTIVES
 What is the Widernet Project?
 What is the eGranary Digital Library Project?
 What are some of the accomplishments of the
eGranary Project?
 Role and vision of the Sparkman Center
 How were the portals developed, including the
Zambia Knowledge Centre?
 Finally, the eGranary will be revealed!

3. WHAT IS THE
WIDERNET
PROJECT?

4. WHAT IS WIDERNET?
 TheWiderNet Project is based at the
University of Iowa in the United States

5. WHAT IS THE MISSION OF
WIDERNET?
 To improve digital communication to all
communities and individuals around the
world in need of educational resources,
knowledge, and training
 Widernet serves many people who lack
internet connectivity and information
resources, but their work focuses
especially on the needs in developing
countries

6. WHAT DOES WIDERNET OFFER?
A holistic approach: computers, needed
appliances and educational material
 Also offer resources and training
 Training is important because enables
people to be self-sufficient with using
Information and Communication
Technology (ICT)

7. WHY IS THERE A NEED FOR THEIR
SERVICES?
 Only one out of seven people have
adequate access to the Internet
 In many developing countries, universities
may have a direct connection to the
Internet, but not enough bandwidth to
adequately serve their users
 Only a fraction of professors and students
have access to email and basic computer
programs
 What is your internet experience like at
your job?

8. WHY DOES WIDERNET ADDRESS
THESE PROBLEMS?
 Belief that ICT can empower people,
giving them better access to information,
knowledge and communication and in that
way improve their overall quality of life
 Strive to make educational resources and
training opportunities available to
everyone to bridge the digital divide

9. WIDERNET HISTORY
 Founded in 2000 by Prof. Cliff
Missen and Dr. Michael
McNulty
 After visiting the University
of Jos in Nigeria as a
Fulbright Scholar, Cliff
experienced first hand the
frustration of trying to teach
with a lack of internet access

10. WIDERNET ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 Has donated more than 1,200 computers
for use at universities in Africa
 Has provided training opportunities to
thousands of university staff and
administrators in programs customized to
suit their institutions' specific needs
 Installed the eGranary Digital Library
at more than 350 partner institutions
around the world

11. WHAT IS THE
eGRANARY DIGITAL
LIBRARY?

12. THE eGRANARY DIGITAL LIBRARY
PROJECT
 While at the University of Jos, Cliff created the
first version of an off-line digital library after
requesting that a UI graduate student send him
some Web sites on a CD-ROM
 Eventually started placing educational materials
onto a hard drive

13. STORING THE SEEDS OF
KNOWLEDGE

14. WHAT IS THE eGRANARY DIGITAL
LIBRARY?
 Delivers millions of Internet resources to
institutions lacking adequate Internet
access
 Provides lightening fast access to
educational materials including video,
audio, books, journals and Web sites, even
where no Internet access exists

15. WHERE ARE THE eGRANARIES?
Blue dot= 1 eG, yellow= 2-5 eGs,
red=10+ eGs

16. WHAT KIND OF PLACES HAVE
eGRANARIES?
 Primary and secondary schools
 Colleges and universities
 Medical schools
 Engineering schools
 Hospitals and medical clinics
 U.S. embassies
 Churches
 Prisons
 Businesses

17. HOW IS CONTENT IDENTIFIED AND
OBTAINED?
 The eG project looks for Web sites with
pertinent digitized academic information
(often guided by requests of its
subscribers) to add to its ‘wish list.’
 Requests the authors’ or publishers’
permission to copy their materials
through email communication. If
permission is given, materials are copied
 Creative commons
 More to come later on the technical details
of this!

18. WHAT’S INSIDE THE eGRANARY?
 Library that is fully indexed and
searchable using built-in search engine
 Websites, journals, videos, textbooks,
audio files, articles, instructional manuals
and much more
 The tools to allow you to add local content

19. WHAT TYPES OF INFORMATION
CAN BE FOUND IN THE eGRANARY?
 The information stored inside the eGranary
covers dozens of topics, including:
 Math and science
 Engineering
 Medical, nursing and public health resources
 ICT resources
 Atlases, almanacs and other reference materials
 Education and teaching materials
 History, sociology, psychology, economics, religion
and other social sciences
 Agriculture and horticulture
 Literature, art and music

20. EXAMPLES OF MAJOR
CONTRIBUTORS TO THE eGRANARY
DIGITAL LIBRARY
 Wikipedia
 Columbia University
 Hesperian Foundation
 World Health Organization
 Khan Academy
 OER Africa

21. WHAT HAVE eGRANARY USERS HAD
TO SAY THUS FAR?
 “The eGranary Digital Library concept is the solution
for creation and distributing online content
challenges currently facing most African countries.”
--Mr. Jacob Mtui, Research and Development, University of Dar Es
Salaam, Tanzania
 “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

22. MORE COMMENTS FROM eGRANARY
SUBSCRIBERS
 “It was a fantastic success; both the students and
faculty were amazed and delighted by even a
small taste of the eGranary content.”
--John Frediani, eGranary Donor, Jos, Nigeria
 “The idea is simply GREAT! We are trying to
promote it in Bangladesh, especially educational
institutions providing higher studies in remote
areas.”
--Mr. Mizanur Munna, Positive Bangladesh Initiatives

23. COMMENTS FROM eGRANARY
SUBSCRIBERS IN ZAMBIA
 “The eGranary can help or can easy the job of a
librarian by giving direct subjects and topics to
the information seeker. It gives access of
information to the users. The eGranary does not
consume much time as compared to the internet.”
--Workshop Participant, University of Zambia
 “I think the eGranary digital library should be
introduced to all the libraries, even in public
libraries for the users to access information as
quickly as possible.”
--Workshop Participant, University of Zambia

24. ROLE AND VISION
OF THE SPARKMAN
CENTER

25. WHAT IS THE SPARKMAN CENTER?
 Founded in 1979 by the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID)
 Based at the University of Alabama at
Birmingham (UAB)

26. WHAT IS THE OVERALL VISION AND
MISSION OF THE SPARKMAN
CENTER?
 Alleviation of health problems in less
developed countries by building capacity
 We work collaboratively with academic
institutions, international agencies and
health ministries within host countries
 We also work to enhance the capacity of
the UAB community to engage, prepare
and support current and future
professionals

27. WHAT KINDS OF THINGS DOES THE
SPARKMAN CENTER DO?
 Distance education
 Support international internships and
other educational activities for UAB
students
 Work with partner institutions in other
countries to enhance medical, nursing and
public health education

28. WHAT IS THE SPARKMAN CENTER’S
ROLE IN THE eGRANARY PROJECT?
 Sparkman Center Director, Craig Wilson,
heard about the eGranary at a conference
in Lusaka in 2007
 Previously had been carrying over heavy
textbooks each visit
 Was particularly interested in adding
health related materials
 And that’s where I came along…

29. EVOLUTION OF THE PROJECT
 Significantly expanded health science
resources
 Have seen eGranary increase from 750GB
capacity to 4TB
 Formed a partnership with VVOB
 Will be hiring an in country eGranary
support person

30. SPARKMAN SUPPORTED
INSTALLATIONS IN ZAMBIA
 The University of Zambia School of Medicine
 Chainama Hills College of Health Sciences
 Lusaka School of Nursing
 Copperbelt University School of Medicine
 Chikankata Mission Hospital
 Lewanika General Hospital
 Lusaka Apex Medical University (LAMU)
 Cavendish School of Medicine
 Zambian Forum for Health Research
(ZAMFOHR)
 Supported the purchase of 4 eGranaries for the
Colleges of Education in Zambia

31. WHAT IS THE SPARKMAN CENTER’S
VISION FOR THE eGRANARY?
 To see the eGranary used widely in
Zambia, particularly in remote areas with
no or very limited internet access
 For every training institution in Zambia
have an eGranary
 To continue to work with our partners to
enhance the eGranary Digital Library

32. PORTAL
DEVELOPMENT

33. WHAT IS A PORTAL?
 Custom portals highlight resources in
certain topic areas
 Portals are built by consulting with
teachers, librarians and government
ministries to create portals that best
match their information needs
 Portals enable teachers and students to
quickly access information identified by
experts in the subject

34. ZAMBIA HEALTH INFO PORTALS
 The long journey of creating the first portal
 And then two more…

35. THE GLOBAL DISABILITIES RIGHTS
PORTAL (GDRL)
 The purpose of the GDRL is to help users
find resources they can put into action to
improve the lives of people with
disabilities around the world
 United States International Council on
Disability (USICD) developed the portal
with funding support from the US Agency
for International Development (USAID)

36. HOW THE GDRL WAS DEVELOPED
 During its first year in 2010, the GDRL
Project focused on identifying partners as
well as gathering and cataloging resources
for the library
 Librarians at USICD and Widernet
particularly emphasized practical toolkits
and training manuals as well as reports
on the status of disability rights and “best
practice” examples around the world

37. GDRL DISSEMINATION
 Inmid 2011, four organizations received a
“pilot” version of the GDRL to test the
library and made recommendations for
improvements
 ZAMISE was one of the sites chosen to pilot
the GDRL
 This year, the project will continue to
expand the library to include local content
from end users
 A total of 60 locations will receive a free
eGranary via the project

38. THE ZAMBIA KNOWLEDGE CENTRE
PORTAL
 Idea initially developed at Zambia Knowledge
Centre think tank meeting in April 2011
 Participants agreed eGranary was the perfect
tool for the ZKC
 Team of Zambian educators was formed to
identify resources for the portal

39. A SNEAK PREVIEW OF THE
CONTENT ON THE ZKC
 Khan Academy
 Flexbooks
 Free High School Textbook Project (FHST)
 TESSA
 Instructional guides for Microsoft Office
applications
 We will look at these tomorrow in more
detail!

40. Questions or
comments?

41. AND NOW THE
MOMENT YOU
HAVE ALL
BEEN WAITING
FOR…