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IgboNet: Innovations in Igbo Scholarship, Education, and Discourse!
On the first anniversary of IgboNet, we at Igbo Heritage Foundation would like to thank all those who made IgboNet the largest web-based scholarly resource dedicated to using new media for scholarship and the dissemination of crucial information about Nd'Igbo. In an era when the Igbo Language itself is in danger of extinction, IgboNet has served both the academic and the broader world in making the Igbo Language and culture accessible. Using modern resources, and working with the academic and broader community, we have connected new audiences, new disciplines, new content, and expanded the means to deliver education in the Igbo Language across the globe.
Many of us have met a new colleague, learned of a new book, heard of a new discipline, reached a new student or audience through IgboNet. Because of IgboNet, many of us have announced or organised a conference and connected to a new group of scholars and practitioners, and speakers. Many of us have taken ideas, learned of linguistic turnstiles, syllabi, book recommendations, teaching strategies, and more through IgboNet. Many scholars and general audiences have been taken deep into the Igbo universe through IgboNet's online publishing of the Ahiajoku Lecture Series, which is on the verge of completion and will be followed, by the publishing of the Odenigbo Lecture Series. The Igbo Language Centre and our acclaimed Igbo Language Course have received positive citation from the African studies programs at US universities, including the Columbia University.
Through IgboNet, many have discovered a world of intellectually stimulating discourse about life and letters far beyond the confines of their own experiences, training, fields of education, or countries of origin. The aggregate figures on the number of visitors to the IgboNet discussion network, which comprises Igbo Forum, the Igbo Language Forum, and Igbo Excalibur, indicate that millions of people have realised such benefits at IgboNet.
IgboNet has unleashed the brand power of the word "Igbo" in a most unabashed fashion. Over 1.4 million viewers visit IgboNet sites each month. The IgboNet discussion network stands at 160. IgboNet hosts and will publish the Igbo Book Review. Our Announcements system reaches more of the intended audience than any other.
These benefits come at no cost to readers and consumers of our services. IgboNet caters to both the scholarly and general communities and we do not charge for access to the content that you have come to expect from us. We do not erase material from our sites once they are published, nor do we hide them. We have worked hard to invite, cultivate, and introduce new scholars, teachers, students, and writers to participate in IgboNet. IgboNet has become vital for scholarly communication; a system linking scholars, teachers, students, and speakers across disciplines.
Igbo Heritage has invested in powerful tools and services for subscribers and researchers. These tools include interactive databases for storage and retrieval of dynamic, complex multimedia objects, which are the foundation of a new content management system. The great Igbo town of Nnewi, the Okonko Research group, the Biafra Nationalist Union are at the forefront of Igbo groups taking advantage of our high quality sub domain and web hosting services. The IgboNet portal has the capacity and memory resources to sustain the Internet requirements of all the Igbo towns, villages, clans and communities. The Heritage will continue to invest in technologies that will enable us to serve e-prints, images, sound, and text.
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