Open Access Week@AIMS

As part of the CIARD Movement, AIMS is organizing a series of webinars on the theme Making Agricultural Research Information Publicly Available and Accessible during Open Access Week 2012 . Seven webinars will be held from Tuesday, October 23 until Friday, October 26 and will include Jean-Claude Guédon and Alma Swan who will focus on the status of Open Access in the agricultural domain and Open Access policy developments. Wouter Gerritsma will talk about value-added services for the Wageningen Institutional Repository and Enrica Porcari will highlight the experience of CGIAR. The event will close with 3 webinars consisting each of 3 short presentations talking about respectively "Promotion of Open Access", "Search Engines for Open Access Web Resources" and "Digital Repository Development Use Cases". You can find the complete scedule at: at the program website. The event is being co-sponsored by FAO, GFAR, IAALD, and IICA.

Dady Demby on CIARD in Africa

Dady Demby (Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa) speaking in Beijing on new directions forward for FARA and CIARD. Structures are in place, but there needs to be a focus on grassroots activity in Africa.

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Marie-Claude Deboin explains CIARD for French-speaking countries

Marie-Claude Deboin, head of the Scientific and Technical Information Delegation at CIRAD, comments on sharing ideas with colleagues in Asia and from around the world at the CIARD Expert Consultation in Beijing, and on making plans to promote the initiative in French speaking countries.

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Dady Demby on CIARD next steps

Dady Demby from FARA talks about CIARD open access initiative and discussions about next steps and actions held at the CIARD Expert Consultation in Beijing. He pointed out that good progress is being made.

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Hugo Besemer discusses new CIARD directions

Hugo Besemer from Wageningen, Netherlands, speaking from Beijing CIARD Expert Consultation outlines CIARD framework and plans to expand beyond open source documents to include data and other resources.


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The CIARD Fair - a new online facility to improve research communication

The latest development of the CIARD (Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development) initiative has been launched on its website – namely the CIARD virtual Fair. For those who are involved in the capture, management and communication of research information and knowledge, the Fair provides a rich environment for discovery, learning and sharing.

The CIARD initiative works to make public domain outputs of agricultural research information and knowledge truly publicly available and accessible to all. The initiative, started in 2008, is led by a group of major international organizations, all with a long-standing role in enhancing the sharing of information and knowledge arising from agricultural research.

The CIARD Fair is an innovative resource that allows visitors to navigate through three routes: the ‘Pathways’ – describing in detail ways to share research outputs more effectively; ‘Services’ – which are standards, tools, systems and training for achieving the Pathways; and ‘Enablers’ - the organizations that provide Services for achieving the Pathways. Visitors can explore the different routes through the Fair according to their specific interests. Each Pathway, Service and Enabler is linked to further more detailed information and shows ways to explore other resources on the Internet. Navigation through the interconnected elements of the Fair is intuitive and is designed to provide an information-rich environment for the visitor.

Organizations can show services and products in the Fair which will be useful to those investigating and learning about the opening up and sharing of research information and knowledge, and there are currently 18 Enablers and 27 Services included in the current Fair. The CIARD partners are eager to develop the Fair by encouraging new enabling organizations and services to get involved.

You can explore the Fair at the CIARD site

Le salon virtuel CIARD : des pratiques et des services innovants pour partager l’information et les connaissances

L’initiative CIARD vient de mettre en ligne un salon virtuel, http://www.ciard.net.

Vous y trouverez des itinéraires de découverte, d’apprentissage et d’échange des connaissances issues de la recherche agricole pour le développement.

L’initiative CIARD a pour objectif de render accessible à tous les informations et les connaissances issues de la recherche agricole. L’initiative qui a été initiée en 2008, est menée par de nombreuses organisations internationales qui ont la vocation le partage des connaissances des savoirs et des savoirs-faire.

Trois parcours sont possibles:
1. les « itinéraires » proposent des méthodes pour partager les résultats de recherche ;
2. les « services » décrivent les normes, les outils, les infrastructures et les supports de formation nécessaires pour diffuser l’information ;
3. les « facilitateurs » présentent les organisations qui fournissent les services associés aux itinéraires.

Les services et produits sont destinés à ceux qui veulent en savoir plus ou qui souhaitent se former à la diffusion et au partage des connaissances issues de la recherche.
Les visiteurs peuvent explorer les parcours selon leurs domaines d’intérêt. Chaque itinéraire, service et facilitateur oriente le visiteur vers des sites d’information détaillés. La navigation est intuitive et offre un environnement riche et varié.

A ce jour, 18 acteurs exposent 27 services. Toutes les institutions sont invitées à y participer.

La feria CIARD : un nuevo servicio en línea para mejorar la comunicación de la investigación

El último desarrollo de la iniciativa CIARD (Coherencia en la información para la investigación agrícola para el desarrollo), ha lanzado la feria virtual CIARD en su sitio web. Para aquellos que involucrados en la captura, gestión y comunicación de la información y el conocimiento en investigación, la feria ofrece un ambiente abundante para el descubrimiento, el aprendizaje y el intercambio.

La iniciativa CIARD trabaja para hacer que los resultados de dominio público del conocimiento y la información sobre investigación agrícola, realmente estén a disposición del público y accesible para todos. La iniciativa, que comenzó en 2008, está dirigido por un grupo de importantes organizaciones internacionales que cuentan con una larga trayectoria en mejorar el intercambio de información y conocimientos derivados de la investigación agraria.

La feria CIARD es un recurso innovador que permite a los visitantes navegar a través de tres rutas: "las rutas" - que describe en detalle los modos de compartir resultados de investigación más eficaz, "los servicios" - que son los estándares, herramientas, sistemas y capacitación para el logro de las rutas; y "los agentes" - las organizaciones que prestan servicios para el logro de las rutas. Los visitantes pueden explorar las diferentes rutas a través de la Feria de acuerdo a sus intereses específicos. Cada ruta, servicio y agente están vinculados a información más detallada y muestra maneras de explorar otros recursos en Internet. La navegación por los elementos interconectados de la feria es intuitivo y está diseñado para proporcionar un ambiente abundante de información para el visitante.

Las organizaciones pueden mostrar en la feria, sus servicios y productos que sean de utilidad para quienes investigan y desean aprender sobre la apertura y el intercambio de información y conocimiento de la investigación. Actualmente la feria dispone de 18 agentes y 25 servicios. Los socios de CIARD están dispuestos a desarrollar la feria, promoviendo la participación de nuevas organizaciones que deseen participar como agentes y mostrar sus servicios.

Explore la feria CIARD

Sharing data and information for agricultural research

This week, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences hosts an International Expert Consultation to build a framework for data and information sharing for agricultural research for development.

The papers for the event are all online - a good first step towards better accessibility. The papers include one prepared by the IAALD past president Barbara Hutchinson.

A large number of papers have been mobilised, including these:

A Framework for Data and Information sharing for ARD - Ajit Maru
Agricultural Information Sharing in the GAINS Experience - Joel Sam
Agricultural Knowledge Sharing in the Philippines - Mila Ramos
Building the CIARD Framework for Data and Information Sharing - Moroccan case - Ottam
Building the CIARD Framework for Data and Information Sharing - Kenya case - Richard Mugata
Building the CIARD Framework for Data and Information sharing - Papua New Guinea case - Seniorl Anzu
CIRAD contribution to scientific dissemination at institutional, national and international level - Marie-Claude Deboin
Co-learning and co-creation within knowledge exchange platform - Myra Wopereis-Pura
Crop Germplasm Resources CGR Information Sharing in China - Fangwei
Expanding Thai Agricultural Boundary of Knowledge - Lessons Learned from Thai AGRIS Centre - Aree Thunkijjanukij
Livestock Research for Rural Development - T. R. Prest
Observations on the aspects of how CABI manages and shares its information - Qiaoqiao Zhang
Persistent identifiers - Comparing schemes for their use in the CIARD Framework - Hugo Besemer
Perspective on Efforts to Share Data and Information in the Central Asia and Caucasus Region - Oleg Shatberashvili
The status of Data and Information Sharing in the Republic of Yemen - Mohamed Noman Sallam
Advanced Resaerch of sharing of basic feed composition data based on China Feed-DataBase Information Center - CFIC - Xiong Benhai
An attempt to integrate huge scientific data with interoperability in Japan - Seishi Ninomiya
Building the CIARD framework for Data and Information Sharing - Mauritius - Krishan Bheenick
CAAS information sharing and Perspectives for the framework development - Pan Shuchun
Communicating Agricultural Science and Technology - Indicators, Lessons Learned - Flaherty
Data Information Sharing in Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development â?? Vietnam - Nguyen Nghi
Knowledge as a Service for Agriculture Domain - Asanee Kawtrakul
Sharing experience in the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific - Simon Wilkinson
Holistic AGRO-ICT solutions considering also the integration of horizontal and vertical stakeholders - Walter H. Mayer
IAALDs Commitment to and Promotion of Agricultural Information Sharing and the CIARD Movement - Barbara Hutchinson
The role of the CIARD RING in the Building of the CIARD Framework for Data and Information Sharing - Valeria Pesce
Vision paper - ITPGRFA
Summary paper of the e-consultation - Tom Baker

Former IAALD vice-president on broad membership base

In this video, Stephen Rudgard, FAO Chief of Knowledge and Capacity for Development and former IAALD Vice-President (2005-2010) reflects on the value of the assosciation and its transformation towards a broad membership base of information and knowledge professionals.

Sus investigaciones son comunicadas efectivamente? Comparta su opinión

Un gran desafío que enfrentan los investigadores actualmente es cómo comunicar sus resultados de investigación de manera más efectiva.

El CGIAR (Grupo Consultivo Internacional para la Investigación Agrícola), la FAO (Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación) y el GFAR (Foro Mundial para la Investigación Agraria) están llevando a cabo un estudio global para reunir evidencia de los investigadores sobre los beneficios potenciales y preocupaciones de una comunicación más amplia de los resultados de sus investigaciones, y promover vías innovadoras para que puedan compartir mejor sus resultados.

Esta breve encuesta está destinada a investigadores y científicos que trabajan en el ámbito de la agricultura, ganadería, silvicultura, pesca, alimentación y nutrición, y otras que estén vinculadas con las anteriores en ámbitos como biología, medio ambiente, economía y disciplinas sociales. Su participación en ésta encuesta es sumamente valiosa, e instamos a compartir nuestra invitación con otros colegas y pares en los ámbitos mencionados.

Comparta su opinión en este breve cuestionario : http://surveymonkey.com/s/ciard-investigador

Esta encuesta es parte de un estudio sobre CIARD (coherencia en la información agrícola para la investigación para el desarrollo).

Les résultats de vos recherches sont-ils communiqués efficacement? Donnez-nous votre avis!

Un des plus grands défis pour les chercheurs aujourd'hui est de communiquer les résultats de leurs recherches plus efficacement.

Le GCRAI (Groupe consultatif pour la recherche agricole internationale), la FAO (Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture) et le GFAR (Forum mondial de la recherche agricole) réalisent une enquête auprès des chercheurs du monde entier sur les avantages et inconvénients potentiels liés à une communication de leurs résultats à plus grande échelle, afin de promouvoir des moyens innovants pour un meilleur partage de ces données.

Cette enquête s’adresse aux chercheurs spécialisés dans l’agriculture, l’élevage, les forêts, la pêche, l’alimentation et la nutrition, et les domaines biologiques, environnementaux, économiques et sociaux apparentés. Votre participation serait très appréciée, et nous vous encourageons à faire suivre cette invitation à vos collègues et pairs qui travaillent dans les disciplines concernées.

Faites-nous connaître votre avis en participant à cette courte enquête: http://surveymonkey.com/s/ciard-chercheur

Cette enquête s’inscrit dans le cadre d’une étude de CIARD (Cohérence de l'information sur la recherche agricole pour le développement).

Is your research being communicated effectively? Share your views

A major challenge faced by researchers today is how to communicate their research outputs more effectively.

The CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research), FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) and GFAR (Global Forum on Agricultural Research) are conducting a global survey to gather evidence from researchers on potential gain and concerns of a wider communication of research results, and promote innovative pathways for better sharing their outputs.

This survey is intended for researchers working in agriculture, livestock, forestry, fisheries, food and nutrition, and related biological, environmental, economic and social fields. Your participation in this survey is very valuable, and we also want to encourage you to extend this invitation to other colleagues and peers working on the disciplines mentioned.

Share your views by taking a short survey: http://surveymonkey.com/s/ciard-researcher

This survey is part of a study on CIARD (Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research in Development).

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

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

Rendez l’information agricole accessible à tous: apprenez les principes élémentaires de l’utilisation des référentiels numériques ouverts

Faciliter l’accès ouvert à l’information scientifique et technique du domaine public est fondamental pour la recherche et l’innovation agricole. Les référentiels et les bibliothèques numériques ouverts offrent aux organisations et aux particuliers des possibilités sans précédent de saisir et de partager les produits de la recherche agricole sous une forme structurée, de promouvoir la transparence et d’améliorer la communication entre les chercheurs et autres groupes intéressés.

Le dernier module d’apprentissage électronique du Kit de ressources pour la gestion de l'information (IMARK) est intitulé : Bibliothèques, archives et documents numériques. Il expose les principes qui permettent de créer et de gérer des bibliothèques et référentiels numériques. Il explique tous les processus utiles à la planification et à la gestion des ressources, et présente les dernières technologies et tendances en matière de gestion et de préservation de données numériques. Les questions pertinentes concernant le cadre juridique du copyright et des droits d’auteurs sont également présentées.

Le module est disponible gratuitement en ligne et sur cédérom. Il est pour le moment disponible uniquement en anglais. La version espagnole sera publiée en juin 2011 et la version française à une date ultérieure. Pour plus d’informations, veuillez consulter le site web d’IMARK: www.imarkgroup.org

Ce module a été développé par la FAO, avec le soutien du Département du développement international du Royaume-Uni (DFID) et de International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP), dans le cadre de l’initiative "Cohérence de l’information sur la recherche agricole pour le développement" (CIARD) (www.ciard.net), qui est un partenariat mondial unique à l’appui de la communication de la recherche dans l’agriculture.

Haga que la información sobre la agricultura sea accesible ampliamente: aprenda lo esencial para establecer repositorios digitales abiertos

Para contribuir a la investigación y la innovación en la agricultura es fundamental facilitar el acceso abierto a la información técnica y científica de dominio público. La creación de repositorios digitales con documentos a texto completo, ofrece posibilidades sin precedentes para que las organizaciones y los individuos puedan capturar y compartir de manera estructurada los resultados de sus investigaciones en la agricultura. Lo anterior aumenta la transparencia y propicia la comunicación entre los investigadores y demás grupos interesados.

El nuevo módulo de e-learning (aprendizaje electrónico) denominado Bibliotecas, repositorios y documentos digitales, brinda los elementos esenciales para aprender a crear repositorios y bibliotecas digitales. Dicho módulo forma parte del Repertorio de Recursos para la Gestión de la Información (IMARK, por sus siglas en inglés), el cual abarca todos los procesos relevantes para la planificación y asignación de recursos, considerando a la vez lo más reciente en tecnologías y tendencias para la gestión de los datos digitales y su conservación. Cubre además los aspectos más relevantes relacionados con el marco jurídico del derecho de autor y sobre la propiedad intelectual.

El módulo se ofrece en línea y en CD-ROM de forma gratuita y actualmente está disponible en idioma inglés. A partir de junio 2011, también se ofrecerá en español. Para obtener más información, visite el sitio web del IMARK: www.imarkgroup.org

Este módulo fue desarrollado por la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (FAO), con el apoyo del Departamento Británico para el Desarrollo Internacional (DFID), la Red Internacional para la Disponibilidad de Publicaciones Científicas (INASP), en el contexto de mejorar "la coherencia en la información para la investigación agraria para el desarrollo" (CIARD) (www.ciard.net), una asociación mundial única que apoya la comunicación de la ciencia y investigación en la agricultura.

Make your agricultural information widely accessible: learn the essentials of open digital repositories

Facilitating open access to public domain scientific and technical information is fundamental for agricultural research and innovation. Open digital repositories and libraries offer unprecedented possibilities for organizations and individuals to capture and share agricultural research outputs in a structured way, to foster transparency and improve communication between researchers and other stakeholder groups.

The newest Information Management Resource Kit (IMARK) e-learning module entitled Digital Libraries, Repositories and Documents, offers learners the essentials for creating and managing their own digital libraries and repositories. It covers all the relevant processes for planning and resourcing, and considers the latest technologies and trends for digital data management and preservation. Relevant issues concerning the legal framework for copyright and intellectual property rights are also covered.

The module is offered online and on CD-ROM free of charge, and is currently available in English only. The Spanish version will be published in June 2011 and the French at a later date. For more information please visit the IMARK website: www.imarkgroup.org This module was developed by FAO, with support from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP), in the context of better "Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development" (CIARD) (www.ciard.net), which is a unique global partnership in support of research communication in agriculture.

CIARD RING - infrastructure for interoperability of agricultural research information services

Creating integrated information services in agriculture giving access and adding value to information residing in distributed sources remains a major challenge. In distributed architectures, value added services by definition interface several information sources / services. Therefore value added services cannot be built without an awareness of what others have done: which sources are available, how to tap into them, how to exploit their semantics.

The Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development (CIARD) Routemap to Information Nodes and Gateways (RING) is a portal offering an interlinked registry of existing information services in agriculture.

This paper describes how the RING provides an infrastructure for enhancing interoperability of information sources and thus paves the way towards better accessibility of information through value-added and better targeted services.

Download the report

See a presentation from the recent IAALD congress:

USAIN 2010: Data curation workshop

Jeanne Pfander from the University of Arizona shares this report on the USAIN 2010 Data Curation Pre-Conference Workshop:

Dr. Melissa Cragin, Center for Informatics Research in Science and Scholarship, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois, provided a broad overview of theoretical and practical problems in the emerging field of data curation.

Cragin defines data curation as the active and on-going management of research data through its lifecycle of interest and usefulness to scholarship, science, and education. Curation activities and policies enable data discovery and retrieval, maintain data quality, and provide for re-use over time.

Workshop participants examined and discussed issues related to research processes and lifecycles, scholarly communication, research data collections, appraisal and selection, use and re-use, cost and service models.

D. Scott Brandt and Jake Carlson, both from Purdue University Libraries, co-presented the afternoon session which focused on the Data Curation Profiles project. The Data Curation Profile provides a standardized framework for gathering information about scientists’ practices, attitudes and requirements related to data management and sharing for specific research projects.

The workshop introduced the Data Curation Profile tool and employed interactive learning activities to demonstrate how the tool can enable librarians and others to make informed decisions when working with data from various research disciplines.

For more info, see: Witt, M., Carlson, J., Brandt, D.S. and Cragin, M.H. (2009) “Developing the Data Curation Profiles” International Journal of Digital Curation, 4(3), 93-103. http://www.ijdc.net/index.php/ijdc/article/view/137

http://datacurationprofiles.org

Story by Jeanne Pfander

More on the 2010 USAIN Congress