GETTING ONLINE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Foreword

This resource is the result of three years of experience with a wide range of human rights professionals at various levels of expertise in using the Internet. During this time, I was consistently asked a standard set of questions relating to the Internet and human rights work. In addition, I was introducing new and advanced users to Internet-based human rights resources, demonstrating techniques for information retrieval, and keeping track of new technologies which often were going unused in the human rights world. This resource represents an attempt to bring these experiences together, in order to answer some of the more important questions and to share what I have learned in using the Internet for human rights work.

I wish to express my appreciation to all those who contributed to this resource. They include organizations I have helped to get online, those who asked the difficult questions, and those who presented new challenges for using the Internet in human rights work.

This resource would not have been possible without the assistance of my colleagues in the AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, who dedicated much time to reading and commenting on earlier drafts. In addition, I would like to thank especially Richard Pierre Claude, Professor Emeritus, School of Government, University of Maryland; Chivy Sok, Center for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University, whose comments on the final draft were invaluable; Susan Peacock of the National Security Archive, who offered advice and comments on an ongoing basis; and Gretchen Richter in the AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, who did the copy editing and layout.