Part 1.0: INTRODUCTION
Use of La Guia Nueva
Version 5.0 of this guide, Internet Resources for Latin America: La Guia Nueva, provides access
to many sites with brief descriptions of the content and quality of the information. Part 1 of the guide
is mostly an essay on the development of the internet in Latin America and the growth of resources for
Latin American research. Part 1 also includes basic "rules of thumb" for searching the
internet and pointers to internet indexes and/or directories that provide
access to the Latin American "region" of the net.
The number and quality of internet search engines continues to increase, and, these technological
improvements may soon make browsing guides to internet resources (like this one!) obsolete. However, the
promise of "all the information, at your fingertips, for free" remains unfulfilled as the internet becomes
just another vehicle for commercial information providers to sell their products. Many useful,
non-commercial resources are also available, but sifting, evaluating and finding the needed information
amid the glut becomes ever more difficult.
Since the advent of the World Wide Web, the hypertext capabilities of the internet have made it
possible for each person to chart an individual path through the available information, highlighting the
connections that make sense to a particular inquiry. Nevertheless, the web has not lived up to its popular
image as a virtual library. The internet does not (yet?) provide the kind of controlled subject access and
the bibliographic or inventory control that exists in a research library. In the past three years,
however, the combined effect of automated search engines and human-organized subject guides and indexes
have made it much easier to find specific information on the internet. Another recent and significant
development for academic researchers is the availability of bibliographic, statistical and full-text
databases via the web. See Part 2.1: Databases in this Guide.
My selections for this Guide are informed by years of experience as an academic librarian and my own
curiosity about the development of the internet as a research tool. The following are some questions I
consider when choosing internet resources:
- Is it functional? Does it do what it says it does? Do I use it? Does it work for me? Have others
reported successfully using the resource?
- Is it unique? Does it provide information not available elsewhere, or does it compile and present the
information in a way that makes it uniquely useful?
Part 2 of this guide points to specific information products and/or places that
serve as gateways into the Latin American resources on the Net. Part 3 mentions a
few of the hundreds of electronic conferences, email lists and newsgroups devoted to Latin America-related
topics. A few carefully picked list subscriptions can be the best way to obtain information about new
resources when they appear. Part 4 presents links to other resources ABOUT Latin
American networking. I hope to develop this area in the near future, adding more full-text articles
relating to the topic.
The information in this guide is not meant to be comprehensive!!No guide can list all
relevant sites on even very limited topics, much less "everything about Latin America." Each researcher
should be curious and willing to spend some time exploring and critically evaluating what they find on the
net. New resources appear daily. Many are the work of individual scholars and may be buried in the
departmental pages of a university or research center but have extraordinary value to others working in
the same field. Others may be heavily promoted in directories and indexes but offer very superficial
treatment of a topic.
When possible, I've tried to provide a link to the best "directory" sites which will in turn, provide
access to more detailed information in that area. The guide is also somewhat biased toward my own interest
in social sciences, human rights, and indigenous peoples, and has a geographic slant toward Mexico. I've
compiled a separate guide for sites relating to the US-Mexico Border and Latinos in the United States: Andanzas al Web Latino --
http://lib.nmsu.edu/subject/bord/latino.html
The content of information servers changes constantly, with new sources and new links appearing daily.
The mercurial nature of the Net demands that this guide be updated and links checked frequently, however,
accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Updated information, corrections, and comments are welcome.
Exponential growth of the internet in Latin America
I first began to compile lists of Latin American Internet resources in 1993. In the intervening years,
the quantity of information products and modes of access have exploded. Recent surveys suggest that the
number of Internet hosts increases by about 50% per year. See
http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/10323.html
It is tricky to compile valid Internet statistics, but the process of counting "hosts" and estimating
actual numbers of users from this figure, has been going on since the early 1980s, so there is some
consistency to the process. Network Wizards, http://www.nw.com defines
a "host" as a computer
system connected to the
Internet via full or part-time, direct or dialup connections. A single host may provide Internet access to
a large number of individual users. For more information on how Internet
growth is measured, see Network Wizards Internet Domain
Survey, http://www.nw.com/zone/WWW/top.html. A Latin American source for Internet statistics
is Nodos y Servidores WWW de América Latina y el Caribe, compiled by the Costa Rican National Research
Network: http://www.cr/latstat.
It is best to describe Internet growth in terms of trends, rather than absolute numbers. The Internet
in Latin America (as in most of the world), evolved from a restricted academic/research network subsidized
by universities, governments and international agencies, to a broad-based network open to businesses and
to any individual who can pay for access through a commercial provider. The Network Wizards July 1998 Domain Survey,
http://www.nw.com/zone/WWW/report.html (which attempts to discover every host on the Internet by doing
a complete search of the Domain Name System) reports about 36.7 million hosts worldwide; the commercial
sector (the .com domain) outnumbers all others (10.3 million hosts). The next Network Wizards survey
should be available in February 1999.
According to the International Telecommunications Union, the United States and Canada accounted for
about 66% of world Internet users (as of 1997), while Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for about
1 percent. However, Latin America has shown some of the fastest rates of Internet growth since 1994. In
1994, Internet Society statistics showed that Latin America was the fastest growing world region in terms
of internet connectivity. Overall the region posted a 36% increase in the third quarter of 1994 with
several countries showing much more rapid growth: Argentina-419%, Peru-171%, Venezuela-65%, and
Mexico-48%. [These statistics from the Internet Society are quoted in a presentation by Yolanda Rivas,
"The Cyberspace Challenge for Latin America," talk presented at the Henry J. Faulk Conference on the First
Amendment in Cyberspace, Austin, Texas, April 18, 1995.
http://www.actlab.utexas.edu/~seagull/hjfaulk.html] By the end of 1996, nearly all Latin American and
Caribbean countries had established Internet connections.
In 1995, the World Wide Web became the most rapidly growing area of the internet. The popularity of
this flexible and user-friendly interface also contributed to a huge expansion in the number of commercial
sites (the .com domain) as businesses saw a chance to advertise and to sell products and services via the
Web. In just one Latin American country, Mexico, the commercial domain grew by 1000% in just 9 months of
1995. [Reported by the Network Information Center-Mexico, http://www.nic.mx/evol/historia.html] For more updates on the
growth of internet access and service providers in Latin America, see the networking page on the UT-LANIC
web:
http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/networking/.
The tremendous expansion of Internet access in Latin America provides new opportunities for south-north
and south-south information transfer, although it will take time for this new communication potential to
be realized. As researchers in the region overcome technological obstacles to electronic information and
networking, then the human and organizational difficulties of working in a new kind of information culture
become apparent. Internet enthusiasts (especially those from technical and business fields) are often
unaware of the huge gaps in economics and education that must be bridged in order to integrate networking
into peoples' everyday lives. Even in the privileged world of North American academia, many scholars in
the humanities and social sciences have not had access to the equipment, software and specialized training
required to become full participants in "Internet culture." This situation is much more acute in Latin
America due to the economic disparities between public and private educational sectors. Language is also
an important cultural factor that can hinder Internet participation and development in Latin America.
English is by far the dominant language on the Internet and non-English-speaking network users may
question whether the net has anything to offer them. This situation can be changed, but it will require
that Internet users in Latin America create their own unique information resources rather than simply
adopting the commercial products offered by the North American and European companies.
The efforts of national and international organizations continue to influence the development of Latin
American networks. The RedHUCyT,
http://www.redhucyt.oas.org/webing/a project of the Organization of American States has played an
active role in Latin American and Caribbean projects since 1990. The Red Cientifica Peruana (Peruvian
Scientific Network), http://ekeko.rcp.net.pe continues to promote the development of national
not-for-profit networking consortia
within the region that could work to develop regional infrastructure. [For an analysis of the technical,
socio-political and economic factors influencing the development of the internet in Latin America see Jose
Soriano, "Red Troncal para America Latina."
http://ekeko.rcp.net.pe/rcp/_proyect/RCP-BACKBONE]
The importance of telecommunications and information infrastructure
were recognized in the Plan of Action signed by 34 heads of state that
gathered in Miami, FL, USA 9-11 December, 1994 during the Summit of the
Americas. Elaborated in Chapter 13 of the Summit's Plan of Action, this
section reads (in part):
"A country's information infrastructure -- telecommunications, information
technology, and broadcasting -- is an essential component of political
economic, social and cultural development. The information infrastructure
development needs in the Americas are immense. The governments of the
Americas intend to meet these needs by engaging in multiple actions...such
as: encouraging private sector investment...; promoting competition;
implementing flexible regulatory regimes; stimulating diversity of
content, including cultural and linguistic diversity; providing access to
information networks for service and information providers; and ensuring
universal service, so that the benefits of the information infrastructure
will be available to all members of our societies."
The plan goes on to enumerate specific actions to be taken by
governments in cooperation with the OAS. [
http://www.isoc.org/infosvc/international/summit94-plan-eng.html]
An important regional meeting took place in Lima, Peru in April 1996 to discuss recent developments and
establish a strategic plan for the continuing evolution of internetworking in Latin America and the
Caribbean. The V Foro Permanente de Redes de América Latina y el Caribe was a continuation and expansion
of the cooperative efforts of regional non-profit, national and academic networks that began with the I
Foro which met in Rio de Janiero in October 1991. Since then, meetings have been held in Guadalajara
(December 1992), Caracas (October 1993), and Buenos Aires (November 1994). The V Foro focused on
organizational issues that can foster a united Latin American and Caribbean presence in global
internetworking activities and also examine ways that networks can foster positive social, cultural and
economic changes in the region. A strategic planning workshop addressed such topics as: participation in
the Internet Society, the role of national networks, strengthening the ties between national
telecommunications providers and networks, the role of governments, the commercialization of the internet,
information content on the internet, the development of a regional backbone and issues of financial
sustainability. [For information on the V FORO and previous regional meetings see http://ekeko.rcp.net.pe/VFORO/ ] . A VI Foro, held in Santiago in
November 1996 http://www.reuna.cl/vi-foro led to the
formation of the Asociacion Foro de Redes de America Latina y el Caribe: ENRED. The VII Foro,
http://www.ceniai.inf.cu/VIIFORO/VIIforo.html was held in Havana, Cuba in October 1997. Panama hosted
the VIII Foro, http://pannet.pa/viiiforo/ in November 1998.
Many pioneering networking efforts by NGOs and others in the non-profit sectors in Latin America have
been fueled by international development and research funds and some outside expertise. To make access a
reality for significant numbers of people in the region, governments must make major commitments to the
development of their telecommunications infrastructure. This is currently happening through
privatization, not public sector investment, and the benefits of Internet development are thus accruing to
the business classes, not to public education, labor, and other grassroots development efforts. As
commercial use of the Internet expands, it becomes harder to maintain the online space available to
educational, non-profit, local, and independent information providers, especially in less-developed world
regions such as Latin America. The Internet has done little up to now to alleviate basic economic
inequalities in Latin America or elsewhere and this situation will continue into the near future. For an
excellent overview of recent global internet growth and its relationship with development see The Internet and Poverty: Panos Briefing No. 28,
April 1998, http://www.oneworld.org/panos/briefing/interpov.htm. The Panos Institute, http://www.oneworld.org/panos/ website provides
other excellent research documents and position papers on technology, communications and development
issues.
Growing awareness of internet resources in Latin American studies
When I began using the Internet in 1990, I found that it could provide access to information
not readily available from traditional published sources. For Latin Americanists, the Internet now serves
as a welcome tool to access current and detailed information from the region. Since 1995, it has been
possible to read current news from major media in many Latin American countries. Even before traditional
published sources appeared on the Internet, scholars, activists, journalists, and others, were creating
and disseminating unique information from and about the region to the rest of the world. Thus, the primary
value of the Internet has been and is communication. The Internet is a "network of networks" of people
keeping each other aware of events and sharing information to solve problems, to publicize situations
requiring action, to facilitate the creation of new knowledge. The Internet can create communities of
affinity without geographic limitations. The Internet provides the space and the means whereby vast
amounts of information can be accessed and manipulated in the present and across great distances. It can
provide gigabytes of information on the latest hot story, but its value as an archival resource for future
researchers remains more potential than real. The current challenge for librarians and
scholars is to
assist in the evolution of the Internet from a communication tool into a functioning virtual library.
Librarians and other academics have taken the initiative in making sense of the vast array of resources
on the internet through numerous articles in professional journals and books. Since 1993, panels have been
presented
at annual meetings of the Latin American Studies Association
(LASA), http://info.pitt.edu/~lasa/ and the Seminar on the Acquisition of
Latin American Library Materials (SALALM), http://latino.lib.cornell.edu/salalmhome.html
which have highlighted internet resources for academic research as well as socio-political
and economic aspects of the evolution of the internet in Latin America. Training for Latin American
scholars has been provided by LASPAU,
http://www.laspau.harvard.edu/ and the Latin American
Networked Information Center--LANIC, http://www.lanic.utexas.edu.
Current awareness
See the following sites for links to Latin American internet services
providers (ISPs) and Network Information Centers (NICs), as well as
selected articles on Latin American networking:
Finally, to "overgeneralize," we can arrange Internet subject guides and
search engines on a continuum from the most INclusive (the greatest
number of sites included without any evaluative criteria) to the most
EXclusive(fewer sites but with more critical evaluation for quality
and reliability of information). Here are just a few examples (and there
are many more in each category!):
Para "generalizar" demasiado, podemos decir que se pueden colocar los
guias y buscadores en una linea continua de lo mas INclusivo (la
cantidad mas grande de sitios incluidos sin evaluacion) a lo mas
EXclusivo (menor cantidad de sitios pero con mas aplicacion de
criterios evaluativos sobre calidad de informacion). Ejemplos (y hay
muchos mas ejemplos en cada categoria!):
Selected current events links!!![[posada
print]](/subject/bord/laguia/calnews.gif)
![[image]](/subject/bord/laguia/calguit.gif)
![[image]](/subject/bord/laguia/tortilla.gif)
![[Posada print]](/subject/bord/laguia/silla.gif)