October 2, 2012
Coinciding with the first Beyond Access event, Local Alternatives for Global Development: Rediscovering Libraries, on October 3, 2012, TASCHA has released the results of its study, Beyond Access: Perceptions of Libraries as Development Partners, in the forms of a brief and full report.
September 28, 2012
Beyond Access, an initiative that believes that libraries power development, is holding its first conference on October 3, 2012 in Washington, DC. The event, Local Alternatives for Global Development: Rediscovering Libraries, will bring together library representatives, government officials, and international development professionals from all over the world to spark ideas and dialogue about how libraries contribute to global development.
September 20, 2012
TASCHA Research Assistant Professor Maria Garrido leaves today to participate in a five-week research residency at the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) in Seville, Spain. Maria will be working with researchers at the Information Society Unit designing a study to better understand the role of eInclusion intermediaries, such as telecenters and libraries, in advancing social and economic policy goals.
September 13, 2012
Global Impact Study’s Melody Clark had the opportunity to present some of the study’s findings at the International Federation of Library Association’s (IFLA) annual conference in Helsinki, Finland on August 16, 2012. The presentation, part of the Policy, Strategy, and Advocacy track, focused on results from the Global Impact Study, particularly findings about libraries, based on the study’s user survey data.
September 10, 2012
The Global Impact Study has updated the user survey dataset on the Global Impact Study web library. Most of the data remains the same – the only change to the dataset was to fix the above and below poverty line variables due to a syntax error in the previous dataset.
September 7, 2012
TASCHA Talk: Chris Coward September 27, 2012 To kick off the new academic year, this session was an introduction and overview of the Technology & Social Change Group and the US Impact Study. We covered the fields we operate in, our mission, research projects, and other activities, and we introduced our audience to the fabulous…
August 30, 2012
The Global Impact Study has recently updated the public access venue inventory web database. Access to the inventory database is easy and free – just sign up and sign in below to explore the different types of venues, number of venues, location of venues, and much more in six countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Ghana, Lithuania, and the Philippines.
August 27, 2012
I have all these great conversations with Silvia Caicedo. We debate, help each other, work out ideas. She’s amazing. Finally I decided to record one of our talks and make it into the first Facilitating Change Podcast (yipeee!!!!!!!). There’s a too-long intro about innovation spaces. Sorry. Trying to set the context. The good stuff (i.e., […]
August 14, 2012
OK so here’s my latest attempt to come up with a practical definition of innovation spaces and why they matter for development. Innovation spaces are environments that foster community, creativity, and production. They provide a physical place to explore, experiment, and engage with new people, ideas, and technologies — promoting economic growth, social cohesion, and democratic […]
August 9, 2012
I’m writing a brief for Beyond Access: Libraries Powering Development — on innovation spaces. In it, I start by defining a range of innovation spaces: telecentre, hackerspace, coworking, fablab. (I’m working open: see and comment on messy work process.) The definition of a telecentre wasn’t working for me. It missed some crucial aspects: Access to support: people (formal […]
