Title / Titre :
THE EMERGING DIGITAL MEDIA PROJECT

Author(s) / Auteur(s) :
Dr. John Schoneboom

Address / Adresse :
Senior Program Associate
Africa Program, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
1200 New York Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20005 USA
E-mail : jschoneb@aaas.org

Key words / Mots clés :

Abstract / Résumé : The promise of the Internet in Africa has only been partially fulfilled. Even ignoring the lingering technical difficulties and bandwidth limitations, access to scientific and scholarly literature is still hampered by the high costs of many journal subscriptions. For many scientists, the Internet has made these resources tantalizingly visible, but financial constraints keep them out of reach. However, the Internet also enables creative solutions by making new alternative approaches possible, e.g., highly customizable contents and abstract services, free websites and news feeds, the ability to purchase a single article rather than a full subscription, and, perhaps most importantly, the power of community itself in the form of electronic conferences and mailing lists. This presentation discusses the Emerging Digital Media initiative of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which brings together some of these alternative options as an exploration of the extent to which they can satisfy Africa's need to access and to disseminate information.