What distinguishes the commbox from a Google search or other databases?

• The commbox is a curated collection of publications.
• A detailed thematic breakdown and ten filter options allow for a precise selection of materials.
• The commbox highlights particularly recommended key guides and publications with in-depth insights.
• It focuses on practice-oriented grey literature, but also includes academic materials.
• The commbox offers a wide range of materials not only in English, but also in Spanish, German, French and Portuguese.
• It has a high proportion of materials originating from the Global South.
• It makes publications from defunct organisations available again.

What are the main subject areas covered by the commbox?

• Approximately 50% of all materials focus on Media Development, especially on journalism, information ecosystems & media landscapes, press freedom, the role of media in conflicts & peace, international media assistance and community media.
• About 15% address Development Communication, including climate communication, disaster & humanitarian crisis communication, educational media, health communication, participatory video and others.
• Approximately 15% of all publications focus on Audiences & Users, especially children, migrants & diasporas, women and youth.
• About 10% cover Digital Transformation, especially artificial intelligence, digital access & inclusion, social media use, digital literacy and digital privacy & safety.
• Approximately 10% focus on Religion & Communication, especially on the Catholic Church and digital religion.

How to search the commbox?

• The easiest way is to put your search terms in the "Search" field at the top, which is a full-text search on titles, authors, publishers, contents and abstracts or comments. Please use complete words.
• Once you have started a search query, various filter options appear in the results display on the left. Refine the results by choosing your preferred topics, the  language of publication, document type, countries and regions covered, authors and publishers and other filter options.
• The full-text search may not always be as accurate as the topic or country tags assigned to each document. Open the 'Document Details' view and click on the most appropriate tag to display all documents  assigned to this topic or country.
• If you are looking for materials on a broader range of topics, you can use the subject areas at the top of the homepage or at the sitemap. Here is an example: if you select the subject area 'Health Communication' - a sub-item of the Development Communication section - you will get all documents in this area, including Covid-19 communication, HIV / AIDS communication, health disinformation, emergency health communication, etc.

Which publications are freely available?

• All free access publications are marked with an open key symbol. Once you have started a search query, various filter options will appear in the results display on the left. The top filter option allows you to select free access materials.
• Creative Commons publications can be directly downloaded from the commbox, while other freely available materials are linked to their creators' websites. However, external links may stop working if the websites are restructured or no longer exist.
• The commbox also includes print and digital publications which cannot be downloaded or borrowed but may be available at libraries participating in the WorldCat global library catalogue.

Why does the commbox feature Key Guides and Deep Insights?

• The commbox includes over 4,000 guides, toolboxes and training materials, so it may sometimes be difficult to determine which publications will help you to get started. Therefore commbox has tagged a selection of particularly recommended, field-tested, self-explanatory and easy-to-use Key Guides.
• Which materials are particularly suitable for delving deeper into a topic? The commbox recommends a selection of thematic handbooks, experience reports and empirical research considered to provide Deep Insights.
• Key Guides and Deep Insights can be easily identified by the orange tags, and they can also be selected from the 'Featured' section at the top of the filter bar.

Who contributes to the contents of the commbox?

• The commbox builds on the expertise of the CAMECO team with its profound regional knowledge and partner networks in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Central & Eastern Europe.
• Partner institutions such as the Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM) at Sheffield University, the Centre for Development Communication (C4DC) at Leipzig University or the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) curate Special Collections.
• Newsletters and websites such as GFMD Impact, UNESDOC, IAMCR Announcements, commlist, Ijnet, fome, DOAB, Routledge, Springer, and many others are regularly screened.
• Individuals and institutions can suggest new resources. To do so, you must first register.
• We are grateful to Manfred Oepen, Reinold Thiel and Jan Keulen who donated their personal media development holdings to the commbox.

What are the advantages of registering with the commbox?

• You can create your own favourites in an individualised folder structure.
• You can suggest new resources to be included in the commbox.
• You can subscribe to the commbox newsletter.
• Registration is free of charge and confidential in accordance with German data protection law.

What is the history of the commbox, and where are we going?

• Since its foundation in 1969, the media consultancy Catholic Media Council (CAMECO) in Aachen, Germany, has compiled materials on communication in the Global South.
• Since 1993, the library has been systematically expanded by Christoph Dietz and several part-time or student assistants. With the inclusion of online materials, the collection has grown from 1,000 to 18,000 documents.
• In 2022, medmissio and CAMECO signed an agreement for the joint development of the MEDBOX and commbox database software. The development costs are sponsored by Porticus and BEGECA. With the establishment of partnerships with other institutions working in the field of international media development,  holdings comprise 30,000 titles by the time the commbox is launched in early 2026.
• In the long term, integration with online libraries from the Global South is being pursued, starting with a shared interface with the online library of the Latin American Centre for Advanced Communication Studies CIESPAL in Quito, Ecuador.

How is the commbox funded?

• The commbox relies on financial support for the maintenance, quality assurance and further development of the database.
• Funding is comprised of development cooperation grants, sponsorships for toolboxes and special collections, and in-kind contributions from volunteers.

How can you, as an institution or individual, contribute to the commbox?

• We would be delighted to welcome you as a volunteer in your area of expertise.
• As an institution you can develop your own Special Collection.
• You can propose and sponsor new Toolboxes or financially support the further development of already existing toolboxes or other sections.
• We would like to explore further cooperation opportunities with online communication libraries in Africa, Asia & Pacific, Latin America & the Carribean.
• Plase do not hesitate to contact Christoph Dietz.