Civiblog links Canadian and other global civil society workers
Project Overview:
The Civiblog seeks to build an online community of and for global civil society workers around the world through the use of weblogs or 'blogs'. Blogs allow individuals a place to express themselves - a place to post thoughts and stories, pictures, audio and video without any required technical knowledge. Through the use of RSS (Really Simple Syndication), bloggers can easily share content between themselves, allowing the community to stay connected and grow.
Although bloggers are widespread on the Internet today, the distinct feature of Civiblog is its targeting of and provision of information services for global civil society, including student interns, activists, aid workers, and human rights advocates. The Civiblog is growing rapidly. We have participants across six continents that are all working on a diverse array of civil society issues. Civiblog members now have a place to share the hardships and joys of their work, and a community who listens and understands those challenges. It is also proving to be a great way for young people working in distance parts to keep their friends and family informed of their daily lives.
Platform:
The Civiblog partnered with Tucows Inc. to establish our blogging platform. The use of their blogware suite provides the ability to easily create and monitor weblogs from a centralized location, and allows updates from anywhere there is Internet access. For those without regular web access, blogware includes the ability for users to post via email or SMS (cellphone) messaging.
Key Civiblog Components:
Civiblog Home - http://www.civiblog.org
This is the homepage where visitors can see the latest posts within the community, apply for their own blog via a simple form, and learn about the project as a whole.
Central - http://central.civiblog.org
Civiblog Central is the heart of the project where the collective knowledge and experience of Civiblog members is compiled and recorded. As well as a list of all active members and their latest posts, Civiblog Central is a resource centre providing information on job postings, travel advisories and other information useful to our participants. It includes weekly 'podcasts' (a form of weblog radio), updates on world news, as well as helpful tutorials on how to make the most of your weblog.
Global Community - http://www.civiblog.org/community.php
The Civiblog is growing, and as our bloggers begin to post we add them to our interactive map located at: http://www.civiblog.org/community.php. This page displays a list of our most active bloggers and their diverse locations across the globe. It is a graphical representation of the richness of our community.
About The Citizen Lab
The Citizen Lab (http://www.citizenlab.org) is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada focusing on advanced research and development at the intersection of digital media and world civic politics. A "hothouse" that brings together social scientists, filmmakers, computer scientists, activists, and artists, The Citizen Lab sponsors projects that explore the cutting-edge of hypermedia technologies and grassroots social movements, civic activism, and democratic change within an emerging planetary polity.
About Tucows
Toronto-based Internet services company Tucows (http://www.tucows.com) supports the Citizen Lab and has made Civiblog possible through both resources and expertise. Tucows provides back office solutions and wholesale Internet services to a global network of more than 6,000 web hosting companies, Internet Services Providers (ISPs) and other service providers worldwide. As the largest ICANN accredited wholesale domain registrar, Tucows offers a suite of complementary Internet services, including domain name registration and management; digital certificates; email services; and website publishing tools.