CIARD and the Interoperability of Agricultural Information

The current issue of AgInfo Worldwide - the journal of IAALD, is sponsored by CIARD and dedicated to making agricultural research information publicly available and accessible to all.

Contents include:

From the Editor's Desk: CIARD and the Interoperability of Agricultural Information

DataStaR: A Data Sharing and Publication Infrastructure to Support Research

Trends of the Institutional Repositories on Agricultural Universities in Japan

Study on the National Agricultural Digital Library Information Integrated Service in China

Enhancing Communication of Agricultural Research Outputs Using Information and Communication Technologies

Disseminating the Outputs of Agricultural Research in Africa

The CIARD RING, an Infrastructure for Interoperability of Agricultural Research Information Services

A tribute to Anton Mangstl

At the end of March 2011, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) says goodbye to one of its leaders in information management, Dr. Anton Mangstl, Director of the Office of Knowledge Exchange, Research and Extension (OEhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifK) and past IAALD Board member.

Dr. Mangstl moved FAO’s information function from one of a traditional library and indexing services to one of information management and document availability. He has moved information management beyond libraries with labor intensive processes to providing access to housed documents by taking FAO's documents directly to the user while reducing the labor required to provide the access and service.

Read the tribute in AgInfo Worldwide

Kenya farmers telephone helpline

The Kenya Farmers' Helpline, recently rebranded M-Kilimo, has given agricultural advice to around 25,000 farmers during an 18 month pilot phase. Farmers can phone its team of agricultural experts, at the Nairobi-based KenCall centre, and get free, impartial and up-to-date advice on anything from land preparation and livestock health, to agro-chemical usage and marketing strategies.

Three audio interviews on Agfax give different perspectives on this service:

• the farmer
• the farming adviser
• the funder

International Expert Consultation on Building a CIARD Framework for Data and Information Sharing

Over the last decade a series of international workshops and consultations have been organised by FAO, GFAR and the CGIAR to enhance the contribution to agriculture science by information and communication and associated technologies.

These global efforts also led to the launching in 2008 of an international multi-stakeholder initiative on Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development (CIARD).

In 2011, the CIARD partners are organizing a series of International Consultations (through electronic and face to face events) to build a framework for action in making outputs of agricultural research truly accessible through coherent management, sharing and exchange of knowledge, information, and data.

Join the e-Consultation from 4 to 15 April 2011

The face to face meeting will be held in Beijing, China from 20-23 June, 2011

Download a report of the e-consultation