This week (March 10-11, 1997) Florida International University is
sponsoring a meeting in Miami of "Webmasters of key Latin America and
Caribbean websites in the US... to explore the issues revolving around
Internet in the Western Hemisphere."
Such a gathering poses a number of questions. Why does a gathering of Internet
webmasters need to occur in a physical place at all? And second, why
wasn't the local community more actively involved in the preparation?
The following is a response crafted by Molly Molloy, host of the Internet
Resources for Latin America online guide
[http://lib.nmsu.edu/subject/bord/laguia] and Ron Mader, host of the Eco
Travels in Latin America website [http://www.planeta.com/].
We both became interested in the net as a way to find information not
readily available from more traditional sources. For Latin Americanists,
the Internet now serves as a welcome tool to access current and detailed
information. And, perhaps more importantly, the net has empowered
scholars, activists, journalists and others, to create and disseminate
unique information from and about the region to the rest of the world.
Thus, the primary value of the Internet is communication: networks of
people keeping each other aware of events and activities; creating
communities of affinity without geographic limitations.
We hope that this week's meeting in Miami will illuminate ongoing
communication efforts, rather than create new labyrinths that hinder
interamerican dialogue. Duplication of efforts is a poor use of limited
resources. Will these concerns be raised at the Miami meeting? And, can
others express their opinions through online proceedings accessible on the
web?
Molly Molloy writes:
As Latin American internetworking grows more sophisticated, I wonder if
any attempt to organize it into a "confederation or consortium" (one of the
aims of the meeting) will be necessary or useful.
I'm more interested in reports from a local human rights organization in
San Cristobal or Lima, for instance, than in the ability to get a United
Nations document or a New York Times article on the web. Mainstream
information providers have and will always have the venues and resources
to sell or distribute their information. However, the internet has
provided a new and unique communication space for the NGOs, non-profits,
and individual creators and publishers to get information out to the
world.
As an extension of the ubiquitous "superhighway" vision of the internet, I'd
like to propose that we focus on the "blue highways" -- a metaphor from the
1982 best-seller by William Least Heat Moon, [Blue Highways: A Journey into
America. New York: Ballantine, 1982]. The sectors of the net I'm most
interested in correspond to these backroads that do not travel to fancy
shopping malls and fast food outlets, but provide a slower trip with more
interesting shops, tastier food, and most importantly, access to unique people
and places.
I see an important role today for internet activists to work to maintain the
shrinking space on the net for local, independent, individual information
creators/providers. In the process of proposing any new "organization" relating
to the internet, we should ask ourselves if such an entity will help or hinder
the independent sectors on the net.
As far as the task of "organizing" what's already on the web-- this is a
quixotic task. But, the combination of human-designed net guides and
automated searching tools has vastly improved our ability to find things
in just the last few years. As the quantity of information grows, we will
rely more on automated search and discovery. Can we do anything to ensure
that information produced by local communities in Latin America and other
world regions, non-English language sources, and other non-mainstream
information remains "findable," as search technologies become
mega-commodities, bought and sold by the richest technology corporations
in the world?
Ron Mader writes:
While FIU's AmericasNet website ostensibly focuses on a given region, it
is also unabashedly Florida-centric. Perhaps the university is posturing
to both its funders and international colleagues that FIU actually is
interested in inter-hemispheric exchange. AmericasNet played a pioneering
role during the 1994 Summit of the Americas, but the website has since
floundered. I sense that the upcoming meeting will be nothing more than a
photo shoot.
I don't mean to single out this particular university. Institutions have
notoriously information-poor websites. If you're looking for more than a
snazzy home page, it's hard to find details or updates within university
or government sites. (World Bank, United Nations Environmental Program,
the OAS - with the exception of the trade related pages) I would argue
that the taxpayer-funded reports and meetings should have full disclosure
on the Internet. It seems absurd that when another Miami university
co-sponsored a meeting on "Strengthening Public Participation in
Environment and Sustainable Development Policy-Making in the Americas," a
few weeks ago, it was by invitation only. And while the session was
publicized via email and Internet, the notes from the conference have yet
to appear online.
Frankly, I'm more concerned about the availability of official
documentation *and* the meeting notes than grassroots reports. When NGOs
and government officials met behind closed doors in preparation for the
recent Bolivia Summit, they were in fact shutting the doors on public
awareness, and consequently, participation. How can Latin American
webmasters work together to ensure that official documentation is posted
and archived on the Internet immediately and regularly?
Informal networking among webmasters has improved a number of fine
websites, that take full advantage of the interactivity of the Internet.
The University of Texas' Latin American Network and Information Center
(LANIC) depends on submissions and suggestions. Likewise, LATCO - the best
trade-related website on the Internet, offers its users a comprehensive
and frequently-updated page of links as well as new information. It's
interesting to note that LATCO is based out of Oregon, and its subscribers
are found throughout the world. Perhaps the distance is a blessing as the
members actually use and contribute to the website.
Internetworking activities related to the indigenous Zapatista rebellion
and other political events in Mexico beginning in 1994 embody a new model
of communication and activism made possible by the internet. Scholars and
activists created new lists and newsgroups that quickly developed into a
decentralized, cooperative, global network of websites that provide
current news and archival information about the EZLN and other popular
movements in Mexico. Formal institutions or alliances have yet to be as
creative or as powerful in terms of information sharing.
Finally, we'd like to pose the following questions:
1) Does the world want or need another "clearinghouse" or "supersite" of Latin
American information when search engines and customized guides already perform
this service?
2) Will institutions commit time and money to step up their efforts in
producing reliable and regular information feeds on the Internet?
3) And finally, how can we make it easier for individual efforts to receive the
necessary funding and support for expansion?
Molly Molloy New Mexico State University Library Las Cruces, NM 88003
505-646-6931 mmolloy@lib.nmsu.edu http://lib.nmsu.edu/staff/mmolloy
Ron Mader Eco Travels in Latin America Miami FL 33175
305-221-5205 ron@greenbuilder.com http://www.planeta.com
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