[Telecentres] introducing the new Digital Divide Network

[Andy Carvin]

Hi everyone,

A couple of months ago, you may recall that I posted a message about the 
creation of an online workspace for the telecentres group, to be hosted 
on our new Digital Divide Network website. The website was launched this 
morning, and you are all invited to join.

http://www.digitaldivide.net

I've set up a workspace for our group here:

http://www.digitaldivide.net/community/telecentres

As you'll see, the workspace allows us to share documents, participate 
in bulletin board discussions, post articles, news and events listings, 
even host our own blogs. The site also uses RSS feeds, which allow 
Internet users to receive content from the website through their own 
sites or through news reading software.

Our list has been very quiet for the last month, and I apologize for not 
doing more to facilitate a more active discussion, largely due to all 
the work on the new website. But now that the site is live, I'm hoping 
to pick up where we left off in October.


Below is an announcement about the new website, including instructions 
for signing up. I'd encourage all of you to create a user account so we 
can actively use the online workspace in our caucus work.

thanks,

Andy Carvin

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It is our great pleasure to announce that the Digital Divide Network has 
just launched its new website:

http://www.digitaldivide.net

Five years ago this week, we created the first Digital Divide Network 
website and email discussion group. Since then, DDN has grown into a 
network of over 3,000 people in more than 75 countries.

We invite you to visit the site and try out all the new features we've 
created for you and other DDN members. As a DDN member, you now have 
access to a variety of powerful tools that will allow you to:

- create your own blog

- host your own online community workspace featuring document sharing, 
online publishing and bulletin board discussions

- access DDN content through RSS feeds

- publish your own news headlines, event announcements and articles

- participate in live webcasts hosted by DDN staff

To get started, please visit http://www.digitaldivide.net and click on 
the link that says "join DDN now!" near the top left corner of the page. 
Or simply go to this page: http://www.digitaldivide.net/members/add.php

After you've filled out the form, you'll receive an email asking you to 
confirm your membership. Click on the link provided in the email and 
your membership will be activated. Then return to the DDN homepage and 
log in.

Once you've logged in, click the button that says "Edit My Profile" 
(http://www.digitaldivide.net/members/edit.php), also in the top left 
corner. Be sure to update your name and your password, since the ones 
we've set up for you are temporary. You can then customize your personal 
profile so other DDN members can learn more about you.

DDN Highlights

Once you've logged into DDN, you can take advantage of the website's 
many features, including blogs, bulletin boards and other tools. Here 
are some great places to start.

Browse our articles and headlines:
http://www.digitaldivide.net

On the homepage, you'll see some of the many feature articles and news 
stories published on DDN. As a member of DDN, you are encouraged to post 
your own articles on the website.

Create a blog:
http://www.digitaldivide.net/blogs/add.php

Web logs, or "blogs," are online journals. Post your own thoughts and 
announcements on issues related to the digital divide. Think of it as a 
public diary or your own personal newsletter!

Join a discussion:
http://www.digitaldivide.net/discussion

We've set up bulletin boards for DDN members to discuss a range of 
issues related to the digital divide. In fact, every community within 
DDN has its own discussion board. Feel free to introduce yourself on our 
Welcome Wagon discussion board - it's a great place to break the ice!

Join a community:
http://www.digitaldivide.net/comm/

DDN is more than just a website; it's a collection of online communities 
in which you can discuss the digital divide, Internet literacy, economic 
development and other interesting topics. Each community is like an 
online workspace: you can post news, articles and event announcements, 
upload documents, share favorite Web resources and chat in a bulletin 
board room. You can start by browsing the communities hosted on DDN. 
When you see one that's interesting, go to the community's homepage and 
click the link at the top that says, "Join this community." This will 
allow you to participate in that group.

On behalf of DDN and the Center for Media & Community, we hope you enjoy 
the new website. Please consider it a place where you can share your 
best ideas with colleagues from around the world, so we may work 
together to develop new real-world strategies for bridging the digital 
divide.

Thanks,

Andy Carvin
Director, DDN
(acarvin @ edc . org)

Cedar Pruitt
Editor, DDN
(cpruitt @ edc . org)




-- 
-----------------------------------
Andy Carvin
Program Director
EDC Center for Media & Community
acarvin @ edc . org
http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org
Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com
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