Proboscis has created an online application which enables people to create their own DIFFUSION eBooks without needing graphic design skills or access to professional DTP software. The service is currently in ‘beta’ testing by invitation only. However, if you would like to participate please write to us describing what you would like to use it for.

OUR VISION
DIFFUSION offers exciting possibilties for sharing of knowledge and information, especially in developing countries where lack of physical infrastructure means shipping bulky objects (like books) is difficult and expensive, but where internet communications are beginning to proliferate and low cost paper publications are still easier for most people to access and read than computer screens. For instance, DIFFUSION could be used to provide low-cost, easily updateable manuals for intermediate technologies; for promoting health awareness; for creating teching and learning resources or as a publishing platform for citizen journalism. DIFFUSION provides an alternative to traditional print and online publishing – bridging analogue and digital media. The eBooks can be shared electronically (as PDF files), by photocopy or as hand-made paper books – samizdat for the digital age.

WHAT COULD I USE THE GENERATOR FOR?
The DIFFUSION format is extremely flexible and can be used in many ways, such as for:

• publishing essays, short stories or poems
• creating simple, easy to distribute manuals and instructions
• distributing lecture notes to students
• creating lesson plans and learning diaries for students
• creating a portable family picture album
• creating a visual record of a journey
• makinga personal diary or journal
• creating a mini-portfolio for artists
• notebooks & diaries for fieldwork (e.g. for anthropology or ethnography)
• local newsletters or pamphlets
• an iterative tool for brainstorming & innovation workshops

Please note that at present the Generator is only available for testing by invitation

Development Team:
Giles Lane, Phil Ayres & Karen Martin