Open AccessImplementing Low Cost Digital Libraries for Rural Communities by Re-functioning Obsolescent Television Sets
Author(s) -
Sergio Minniti,
Joshua M. Salazar,
Jorge Edmundo Morán Vega
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
view
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2213-0969
DOI - 10.18146/2213-0969.2019.jethc169
Subject(s) - obsolescence , digital broadcasting , broadcasting (networking) , computer science , digital television , multimedia , world wide web , point (geometry) , telecommunications , business , computer security , marketing , geometry , mathematics
The article addresses the issue of the digital divide in Ecuador and illustrates how artefacts from television material heritage might be transformed into digital libraries to provide marginalized communities with access to digital information. It describes an ongoing socio-technical project which aims at providing Ecuadorian rural communities with access to digital information through the re-functioning of analogue TV sets and other complementary technologies that will become obsolete due to Ecuador’s switch from an analogue to digital broadcasting signal. On one hand, the project is discussed with reference to the contemporary debate in the fields of Media and Television Studies on the obsolescence and renewal of technology; And on the other, it is discussed on the background of earlier projects focusing on the design of digital libraries to circulate information and improve digital literacy in rural contexts. Finally, the prototype created is discussed from a technical and conceptual point of view.