The NSF national science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education digital library program

Internet in 1998, the figures for Latin America and the Caribbean were 0.8%, Sub-Saharan Africa 0.1%, and South Asia 0.04% [3]. Schools and hospitals are poorly connected. Even in relatively wealthier South Africa, many hospitals and most schools have no telephone line. Universities are better equipped, but even there 1,000 people can depend on just one terminal. The Internet is failing the developing world [2]. While global satellite communication networks will eventually bring relief, this takes time and money. Distribution media for digital libraries should be separated from their structure and organization. Physical distribution of information on recordable devices can provide an attractive alternative to networks. While easily disparaged, the ubiquitous CD-ROM is a practical format for areas with little Internet access, and can hold a useful volume of information, particularly in text form. Computers in developing countries tend to be low-end, often with poorly installed software. The computing environment is outside the control of system developers, and may lack network access. browser software, adequate disk storage, and main memory. The Greenstone software (see the article in this special section) works standalone on platforms appropriate to developing countries—all varieties of Windows from 3.1 up, and Linux. Supporting primitive platforms poses subkantial challenges: for example, Microsoft compilers no longer support Windows 3.1 and it is necessary to use obsolete versions. Even standalone users interact through a Web browser: Netscape is supplied on each CD-ROM. Creenstone runs locally but incorporates a Web server so that if the system happens to be connected to an intranet—say jin a hospital or school—information is available to other machines. This happens automatically: no special configuration is necessary. Another engineering challenge is checking unobtrusively for the existence of a network, especially in situations where network software is poorly installed.