Information Systems in Agricultural Science and Technology. Final Report 2005-2010
This report covers the work completed for this project GCP/INT/997/UK under 3 components
Abstract
This report covers the work completed for this project under 3 components:
- Access to International Sources of Scientific Information;
- Disseminating the Outputs of Agricultural Research in Africa;
- Coherence in Agricultural Information Management Standards.
Key outcomes achieved are:
Component 1: A range of interventions designed to address constraints identified by the users of the international literature available through the AGORA programme (www.aginternetwork.org) and its sister Research4Life programmes in health and the environment, achieved continuing increases in the amount of uptake and use of the R4L programmes. More publisher partners are contributing content, many more institutions are now registered, and usage of the resources has increased by more than 400% in the five years of the programme. A study of the world’s literature conducted in 2010 has shown that researchers in R4L countries now publish more than they used to in 2005 and that they are citing journals available in R4L programmes.
Component 2: Two pilot national networks of publicly accessible institutional repositories of agricultural research outputs in Ghana and Kenya have been established, with enabling institutional policies formulated through participatory approaches and significant quantities of full text content now accessible in digital format through those repositories (www.gains.org.gh and www.kainet.or.ke). Lessons learned through these pilots have been captured in partnership with GFAR, FARA, and other relevant bodies, and shared for the benefit of other countries through the CIARD initiatives tools and through other mechanisms.
Component 3: The Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research and Development (CIARD) (www.ciard.net) initiative has been established as a unique global partnership in support of research communication in agriculture, comprising the 20 most important international and regional agricultural research agencies and organizations. Following its inception in 2008, the initiative was consolidated and strengthened through the participatory development of the detailed framework for policy (Manifesto) and practice (Checklist and Pathways), and shared through global and regional research policy-setting events to be held in 2010. The CIARD community platform was launched, and a set of training resources developed through the IMARK initiative (www.imarkgroup.org) to support capacity building. Significant advances were made in open technical standards and public domain tools for interoperability in agricultural information systems, with the outcomes reflected through the global community of practice facilitated by FAO (http://aims.fao.org), and a global registry (CIARD-RING) of open repositories and services for research outputs was launched and the significant amounts of content registered. A series of essential elements have combined to provide a positive image for the sustainability of the CIARD initiative.
Citation
44 pp.
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