Village knowledge centre toolkit
Content is the core of the VKC and potentially the most labour intensive component. The techniques used for creating it are effective but they do require constant expert input, which is not a problem in the current and historic Indian economic climate, but may not be so applicable in other countries or in the future if India's economic growth continues at its current rate.
Content is defined in three categories:
· generic content such as government employment schemes, health and health service information, local news, etc.
· dynamic content such as real time market prices, examination results, weather forecasts
· timely content such as offshore wave height predictions and potential fishing zones for coastal communities
The latter two categories are really both examples of dynamic content, the difference being that timely content is used to make serious, immediate economic decisions, i.e. is it safe to go to sea now or where is it worthwhile to go fishing today?
Provision, maintenance and dissemination of content is at the core of the VKC model as these require a two way dynamic between the villagers at each VKC and the enabling agency managing the hubs. This means that the villagers must be trained and educated in both using the system and understanding what can be done.
Delivery of content uses many media, with the computer screen being only one output, and not necessarily the most used. Many of the end users are at best semi-literate and any printed or written output will be of limited use to them. Local languages vary widely throughout India, so final delivery must be in the appropriate language for that village.
Tamil Virtual University (source of some cultural content, opens in new window)
Sample video file used in Tamil cultural studies (Real Player file)