GyomlEnglishIntro

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Published by: Access Space Network Ltd. Access Space, Unit 1, AVEC Building, 3-7 Sidney Street, Sheffield S1 4RG Text by: James Wallbank Pictures by: Michael Tesh Design by: Scott Hawkins ISBN: 978-0-95500-913-6 Version 1.0: 17th June 2008 COPYRIGHT NOTICE This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/uk/legalcode or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 2nd Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. You are free: ● To copy, distribute, display, and perform the work. ● To make derivative works. Under the following conditions: ● Attribution. You must give the original author(s) credit. ● Share Alike. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a licence identical to this one. ● For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the licence terms of this work. ● Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder. ● Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights. Introduction In the year 2000 a Sheffield arts organisation opened an experimental internet lab. It provided a free opportunity for local people to pursue their own creative projects. That lab, Access Space, is now the longest running open access internet learning centre in the UK. It's helped its participants publish thousands of web pages on hundreds of servers and produce scores of exhibitions, workshops and events. Access Space breaks some basic rules of received wisdom about how a community computer project should work. ● To help people learn more, teach them less. ● To use the newest technology, don't buy new technology. ● To develop work skills, invite people to play. ● To get professional support, fix it yourself. These ideas are counter-intuitive - and Access Space has faced an uphill battle to convince strategic agencies that its model works better. Meanwhile, the nationwide network of "UK Online Centres" has faltered and contracted while Access Space has thrived. It's grown while many community internet labs and commercial cybercafes have run out of money, energy or interest. In 2005 the Arts Council (a key long-term supporter) funded a project to work with other community organisations across the UK to investigate how they might adopt some of Access Space's successful tactics. That project was called "Grow Your Own Media Lab". This publication is the final action of that project. It aims to help communities to understand and adopt some of Access Space's approaches. It also aims to inform strategic agencies, and challenges them to re-evaluate their ideas. Is the enduring value of "investment in technology" about hardware and software, or about people and skills? We hope that this publication will encourage funding bodies and grant-givers to value this kind of community action and support similar activities in future. There's also one more key audience for this publication - people who are thinking about starting an open access community technology project. People like us. To you, artists, community activists, educators, hackers, regeneration workers, we say, "Do it!". We can't guarantee success, but whatever happens, the tough process of doing I.T. yourself will make you, and your community, stronger. But beware of the quick and easy path: pay with cash and you end up poorer; pay with time and effort and you end up smarter. Originally, this publication was going to have the character of a "How To" or instruction manual. But "How To" documents quickly become obsolete as new technologies become available. With Google and Wikipedia you can work out "How To" on your own. (You'll note there isn't a glossary with this book.) The key here is not "How", but "What" and, most importantly, "Why".