Info Bank for Immigrants Multicultural Alliance in Internet

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Info Bank for Immigrants Multicultural
Alliance in Internet

• Co-operation project with the International
  Cultural Centre Caisa and the Helsinki City
  Library
• Funded by the European Social Fund and the City
  of Helsinki
• Server and maintenance from the City Library
• Technical realisation by Blue Meteorite Ltd
• Content from authorities and organisations
  carrying out immigration and multicultural work

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MCL MultiCultural Library

• Since 1996, originally Nordic joint venture
• Financial aid from the Ministry of Education
  until 1999
• Today edited by the Cable Book Library
• Organised information for immigrants

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• How to find, decode and act?

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The Info Bank for Immigrants

• Immigrants as editors
• In co-operation with authorities
• Information can be found even if you would not
  know what to search
• The same information via many different routes
• Chronologically arranged topics
• Technique and the contents were created
  simultaneously
• Exact guidelines for translation work

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• Based on questions in customer service

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• Now in eleven different languages, 14 in future

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• Information analysed, re-organized and edited

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• Difficult words explained by means of word
  descriptions.

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• Shortcuts to documents of authorities

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Implemented at .NET framework
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• Classification, key words and Dublin Core

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• Editor as MS World or Open Office

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• With help of Statistics, e.g., the use of
  different languages
• can be followed.

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• All the information content is in Unicode form

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Content in XML form can be published in various
services and locations and in many different
formats
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• Distributed update, persons who update have
  personal
• desktops

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Current Situation

• Project finished, work will continue
• Aim to expand to national service
• Negotiations with authorities and ministries
• Guiding group consists of representatives from
  different ministries and authorities
• Aim to form a permanently funded editorial board

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• Editorial staff redirects questions to the right
  institutions
• Questions and answers are stored in a database
• Frequently asked questions will automatically be
  found in the database
• The service will evolve into a database of
  knowledge

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• Contact Information
• Infobank http//www.caisa.hel.fi/
• Edmon Dolaian / International Culture Center
  Caisaedmon.dolaian_at_hel.fi
• Kari Lämsä / Helsinki City Librarykari.lamsa_at_hel.
  fi
• Technology http//www.meteoriitti.com
• Aki Antman / Blue Meteorite Ltdaki.antman_at_meteori
  itti.com