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About the INCORE Internet Country Guides

Contents Index


Criteria for inclusion in the INCORE Internet Country Guides


Each guide lists sources which have unique, relevant and preferably substantive content relating to ethnicity and/or conflict in the country/region concerned.

Unique

The guides do not list sources whose material is available at other web sites. Thus, large numbers of users put together sites which provide, in slightly modified form, statistics available through the CIA World Factbook, to take one example. Such sites are not included.

Relevant

There is a large quantity of information available about countries where conflict is taking place which is not directly relevant to the conflict - tourist information for example. This is not included. Information should be concerned as closely as possible with ethnicity and/or conflict.

Substantive

We prefer sources with substantive information, that is sources that provide actual information rather than information about information, however the latter are not always excluded. Our list of prime sources are essentially lists of sources with the greatest substantive content.

These are the criteria for inclusion in this guide. Our current policy is that items will not be assessed for political 'acceptability' but only according to the criteria above. If an anti government group involved in a conflict has put up material about their organisation we consider that to be relevant, however biased. If a government involved in a conflict has put up material about that government we consider that to be relevant, however biased. This means that the guides include links to sites which many find offensive but which are included because they provide unique, substantive, relevant content. For further information on this please read our warning about information included in these guides.

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Warning About Information Included In These Guides

We include items in our guides, to put it shortly, if they contain unique, relevant, and preferably substantive content. For further information on this please read our Criteria For Inclusion in the internet country guides.

Balance

We do not seek to achieve a balance between groups. INCORE does not adjudicate on the relative merits and strengths of different parties to conflict and does not act as an internet conflict referee. Users should be aware that in many conflicts certain parties to the conflict are more powerful, wealthier, and better able to spread their message than the other side or sides. This is expressed in the relative presence on the internet, but perhaps more so, in the media beyond the internet. We do not seek to achieve a balance between competing viewpoints and INCORE will not be attempting to redress the world wide imbalance in the quantity of information provided by different parties to conflicts.

Objectivity

We do not vouch for the accuracy or objectivity of the sources we include in this guide - many of the sources are neither, but users must assess that for themselves. We suggest that, at the very least, users exercise the judgement and follow the guidelines that they would use when assessing a printed document. We do not exclude items because of their political affiliations.

Offensive Material

INCORE provides links to material which many will find offensive. These links are included because these sites have unique, relevant and preferably substantive content relating to ethnicity and/or conflict in the country concerned. For more information on this see the Criteria For Inclusion in the internet country guides.

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Updating And Additions

These guides are being produced at a time when not only the content available on the internet, but the internet itself, is changing rapidly.

Updating

These guides are not 'constantly updated'. It is in the nature of the internet that these guides begin to go out of date within days of their production. Rather than pursue the mirage of 'constantly updating' we have decided to give each guide a version number and date. When they first appear they are comprehensive. As time passes their value depreciates.

We are currently expanding the number of regions covered while producing 'version 2'of the earlier guides. As we begin to broaden our coverage we will then be able to devote more of our efforts to producing regular new versions of the existing guides. When that point is reached any-one using the guides should be able to find a reasonable up-to-date guide on the country or region they are interested in. At that point also INCORE hope to be in a position to rapidly produce and publicise new versions of existing guides in response to crises in particular countries or regions.

Additions

When a new guide is produced it is given a simple version number, version 2/97, for example, means the second edition of the guide. The 97 is to remind you of the year it was created in. When a new guide is produced and publicised to those who are interested, we will allow a 10 day addition period. We guarantee to look at and consider for inclusion any sites that we are notified of during that time. We do not guarantee that these sites will be included in the guide - we will use our usual criteria for selection. We may have already seen the site and judged it inappropriate. We will then produce an updated version of the guide, a version 2a. Information received after the ten days will be taken into account only for inclusion in the next full edition of the relevant guide, which is likely to be several months later. If you wish to be informed of new editions just E-mail INCORE and let us know, naming the country or countries you are interested in.

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Archiving Policy

New guides replace the old guides, supercede them. That is, if you have a hyperlink or bookmark for the guide, that bookmark or link will automatically bring you the new version of the guide when the new version becomes available. If you've heard there's a new version and only find the old one try clicking reload on your web browser. All guides which have been superceded are kept by us. We plan to develop an archiving policy. However, we do not make old guides publicly available. Because of their nature they are virtually of no value.

We welcome your comments or advice on the guides. Just E-mail INCORE.

Liam O'Hagan
November 2000



Disclaimer: © INCORE 2010 Last Updated on Friday, 19-Mar-2010 15:50
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