The goal of the Global Disability Rights Library (GDRL) is to improve the lives of persons with disabilities in developing countries by using off-line digital libraries to deliver information and educational materials to disabled people’s organizations (DPOs), decision makers, individual advocates, health care institutions, and other organizations and agencies that support the disability civil rights movement and that lack adequate Internet access.
The project funds the deployment of the GDRL to 60 demonstration sites in developing countries by the end of 2012.
To be Considered as a Deployment Site
To be considered as a deployment site, you must complete the on-line application form (link on the left) to provide general information about your organization and must provide at least one professional reference.
The GDRL team will review all online applications and will contact eligible organizations for more details to further measure their capacity to become a deployment site. Sites chosen for further screening will usually be contacted via email or phone. Please inform us if you need to be contacted by other means, such as via fax or via a third party.
We anticipate the number of applicants will far exceed our 60 funded deployment sites. This process will be competitive and we cannot guarantee that everyone applying to become a deployment site will be chosen.
Please read the specific site selection criteria and factors to be addressed in the application process for a successful deployment:
Universal Selection Criteria
A deployment site must meet all of these Organizational Criteria:
- Organizational capacity to host GDRL content and to share this content with others;
- Demonstrated commitment to promoting and/or facilitating disability rights;
- Strong commitment to sharing GDRL content with a broad cross-section of society, especially including people with disabilities. This necessarily requires a commitment to ensuring maximum feasible accessibility for people with a wide range of physical, sensory, and mental disabilities;
- Clear commitment to gender equality in training and service programs;
- Willingness to provide evaluative feedback and usage reports;
- Creativity, resourcefulness, and innovation in addressing both anticipated and unanticipated challenges, and
- Ability to gain endorsement from the local USAID mission to participate in this program.
A deployment site must meet this Technical Criteria:
- Cannot easily obtain digital information via the Web because...
- Have no Internet access, OR
- Internet access is so slow as to make web browsing difficult or impossible, OR
- Internet access is so expensive that offering web browsing to an expanded clientele is unaffordable, OR
- Internet access is available only at limited or unreliable intervals.
- Global Disability Rights Library (GDRL) Milestones
Deployment of the 60 Global Disability Rights Libraries (GDRL’s) will occur between June 2011 and August 2012. Applications will be accepted immediately and will continue to be accepted until September 1, 2011. All applications will be reviewed periodically by the GDRL team. The schedule of application deadlines is as follows:
Application Deadline Forecasted deployment date by
March 1, 2011 June 30, 2011
Sept 1, 2011 December 31, 2011
Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early: Please do not wait for the final deadline.
There will be several selection rounds for Global Disability Rights Library (GDRL) deployment sites. Applicants who are not selected immediately will be automatically rolled over into the next round of selections. Applicants do not need to reapply to be considered in subsequent rounds of selections. However, candidates may update or expand upon their application at any time. When an application is selected for consideration, there may be further follow-up questions. Prompt and thoughtful responses will help in assessing an applicant’s potential as a successful site. If selected, the applicant will need to communicate with us on a regular basis from that time on through October 2012 in order to gather feedback on how the library is being used within the community.
What Do GDRL Deployment Sites Receive?
The 60 selected deployment sites will receive an eGranary Digital Library that contains a massive collection of Web sites, eBooks, Word and PDF documents, videos, and other digital resources. The eGranary also uses an interface that looks and behaves like the Web, but without requiring actual internet connectivity. Deployment sites also will be able to communicate with WiderNet staff for technical advice if they have any difficulty with installing the eGranary in their computer.
Deployment sites do NOT receive any financial assistance. Deployment sites also will NOT receive any additional computer equipment other than the eGranary Digital Library. In developing a plan for how your organization would use an eGranary IF you receive one, please consider what actions would be realistic within the resources you already have now. Deployment sites need to have at least one operating computer so that they can install the eGranary into this computer.
Additional Assistance
For further assistance in filling out your application, please feel free to contact Andrea Shettle at the United States International Council on Disabilities at:
gdrl@usicd.org
We highly recommend completing your application online; however, completed applications can be faxed to 202‑347‑0351 or mailed to the following address:
Andrea Shettle, MSW, MA
Program Manager, Global Disability Rights Library
United States International Council on Disabilities (USICD)
1012-14th Street, NW, Suite 105
Washington, DC 20005
United States of America
Moreinfo: http://www.widernet.org/digitallibrary/gdrlsiteselection
