PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION & ICTs PHASE II REPORT Nepal
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Authors
South Asia Partnership (SAP International)
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Technology & Social Change Group, University of Washington Information School
Abstract
As per the research objective, effort has been laid to examine different aspects of information
and communication venues that are prominent in Nepal including the physical infrastructure and
human resources, information contents and service usage patterns, communication & knowledge
production, as well as environmental factors such as governmental policies, geography, ethnic
and linguistic differences etc. Venues have been selected on the basis of consultation with
different experts and discussion with the University of Washington team. The venues that were
studied for the purpose of the research include public libraries, community libraries, telecenters
and cybercafés. In addition to the comprehensive consultations and assessment of these venues, a
general assessment was also performed for other venues that were seen as relevant information
dissemination venues for the underserved and disadvantaged groups in Nepal. These venues are
University libraries, Information centers, Multimedia centers and Community radios.
Description
This research focuses on public access to information and communication landscapes in 24
countries, with a special focus on public libraries to understand the information needs of the
underserved communities, public access to information and communication venues, and the role
that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can play.
Through field research in 24 countries conducted by local research partners, and cross-country
comparative analyses based on common research design elements (see list of countries and
research design overview in Appendix), the project aims to contribute to the knowledge in the
field of information and ICT for development. Of particular interest and value are: the
comparative look at key venues (libraries and other), and the depth of in-country knowledge with
breadth of global comparison to elicit success factors and scenarios to understand how diverse
populations can and do access and use ICT to improve their lives. All outputs of this research
will be broadly disseminated to interested stakeholders and placed in the public domain.
Citation
South Asia Partnership (SAP International) (2008). Public access to information & ICTs: Nepal. Public Access Landscape Study final report, presented to University of Washington Center for Information & Society (CIS), Seattle.