In order to provide world-wide computer access
to information relevant to Latin America, the Program
in Comparative and International Development in the
Department of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University
is setting up the LATIN AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT ARCHIVE
(LADARK). This computer archive will contain data sets
based on empirical studies conducted by researchers at
Johns Hopkins University and their colleagues elsewhere.
The archive will continually expand as researchers from
different countries submit their own data sets, working
papers, etc. All of this information will be freely
available to scholars from all countries through the
Internet. However, in the course of setting up the
archive we have been posed with the following question:
*LADARK will definitely have its own gopher hole within
the Johns Hopkins University computer system, which
means that all researchers who have access to gopher
or telnet software will be able retrieve data from
the archive.
*However, we are concerned that some researchers may
not have easy access to gopher or telnet. They might,
for instance, only have the capacity to use ftp or
e-mail to retrieve documents. We could, therefore,
set up duplicate servers, one for gopher/Internet
and the other for ftp/email users, if it seems that
this would significantly improve accessibility to the
archive.
We need advise from Latin Americanists who are
familiar with the current nature of computer network
access throughout Latin America, in order to determine
whether it would be worthwhile for us to invest the time
and effort in setting up duplicate directories for LADARK.
Any other observations regarding access issues are also
welcome.
So, if you have some general idea of how widespread
access to gopher and telnet is throughout Latin America,
please let us know. And, most importantly, please notify
us if you believe that many Latin Americanists only have
ftp capabilities and would therefore need a separate access
system.
Please direct your comments to:
Bruce Podobnik (Assistant, LADARK Development Committee)
Department of Sociology
Johns Hopkins University
34th and Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218 USA
email: podobnik@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu