This week I want to look at a “sister” program to HINARI call AGORA which is Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture. AGORA was started in 2003 and then was updated in 2006. After I review the basics about AGORA (using the same format as I did with HINARI), I will discuss some access issues that several developing nations encountered with regards to this initiative and what the status of these issues is today.
AGORA- Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (the information below comes from http://www.aginternetwork.org/en/.)
What organizations have Developing Nations Initiatives?
AGORA was developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) along with various publishing companies such as Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins and Oxford University Press. Currently, approximately forty publishers participate.
Specifically, what type of access is being offered?
It provides access to 1,278 journals. The digital resources are offered to researchers, policy-makers, educators, students, technical workers and extension specialists.
What countries is it being offered to?
The list is available at http://www.aginternetwork.org/en/about_agora/. The list is divided into two bands. Band one countries get free access and band two countries pay $1000 per year. Examples from band one include Afghanistan, Kenya, and Vietnam. Examples from band two include Cuba, Iraq, and Peru. (Same as HINARI)
What criteria are used to determine which countries are eligible?
AGORA uses 2005 data from the World Bank.
Is access free or discounted? What is the discount?
If a country’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita is below $1000, then that country is able to have free access. If a country’s GNI per capita is between $1000 and $3000, then that country pays $1000 per year. Even if your country is not on the list of developing nations, there are still many journals that are available for free.
How is access provided?
Institutions must fill out a registration form and then they will receive a license agreement which must be signed. The institution is then assigned a password.
Can the information be accessed in other languages?
The majority of the information is in English although AGORA is working to add other languages.
What are the goals of these types of initiatives?
AGORA was developed to enhance the scholarship of students, faculty and researchers in agriculture and life sciences in the developing world.
Do developing nations possess the necessary technology to access these digital resources? (i.e. computers, internet connection)
Institutions must have a computer with internet access that is considered high-speed (56k baud rate or higher).
Is there a measurement that shows how much developing nations access these digital resources?
AGORA has institutions registered in 107 countries.
*****
In 2003, when AGORA was first developed, the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank, commissioned a study to determine whether institutions in developing nations were equipped to access online resources. Specifically, they focused on the African nations of Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya. They spoke to various individuals affiliated with institutions that would be using AGORA including librarians, chancellors, researchers, professors, and students. They were mainly interested in learning more about the technology infrastructure. The results showed that most institutions were connecting to the Internet by using dial-up connections, which would be too slow to download many types of files (such as PDF’s) or search online databases. The study also showed that the situation was slowing improving, but technology departments were the first ones receiving updated infrastructure. While this was perhaps rightly so, it meant that the infrastructure in libraries was lagging behind. The study noted that it could take years to put a reliable infrastructure in place for these libraries. In order to accomplish this task, money and skilled human resources were needed.
A follow-up article published in 2006, showed that while there have been improvements in technology infrastructure, developing nations that are taking advantage of these free online resources are still encountering various challenges. Since 2003, the Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa (ITOCA) has scheduled AGORA training workshops in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. The workshops are attended by library and information professionals, researchers, and policymakers. The goal of the workshops is to enhance the quality and effectiveness of research as it relates to agriculture, and therefore, to improve the lives of these countries’ citizens. ITOCA also hopes that the workshop participants will take what they have learned and pass it on to others.
While this certainly represents a step in the right direction, several challenges remain. These include a low level of technological skill, inadequate facilities, a lack of institutional support, and an absence of the skills needed to manage digital information resources. In developing nations where the priority is, often times, simply feeding the population, digital resource initiatives tend to receive less focus and attention.
Next week, I will be looking at another “sister” program to HINARI and AGORA, called OARE (Online Access to Research in the Environment).
REFERENCES
AGORA: Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture. 2009. Food and Agriculture Organization. 25 June 2009. http://www.aginternetwork.org/en/index.jsp.
Chisenga, Justin et al. “FAO’s Capacity-Building Initiatives in Accessing, Documenting, Communicating and Managing Agricultural Information.” Quarterly Bulletin of the International Association of Agricultural Info. V51: 3 / 4 2006, 170-6.
Hesse, Edith. “Assessment of the Readiness of Libraries in Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia to Access Online Scientific Information Resources (particularly AGORA).” Quarterly Bulletin of the International Association of Agricultural Info. V48: 3 / 4 2003, 178-189.
ITOCA: Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa. 2009. ITOCA: Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa. 25 June 2009. http://www.itoca.org/.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
An Introduction and A Look At Our First Initiative
I want to start off by saying that as a Library Specialist in Acquisitions I deal primarily with monographs and have very little experience with the selection and management of digital resources. Having said that, I believe that digital resources are of vital importance to all libraries.
When thinking about what I might blog about for this class, I realized that one of the topics that interests me most about digital resources is the cost involved in acquiring them. Cost is always going to be an issue, especially with library budgets being cut due to the current economic situation. Previously, I worked and studied at a small, private four-year college that couldn’t afford very many digital resources and as an avid library user, I was extremely frustrated and disappointed. As I worked on my assignments for various classes (I was a history major), I knew there were valuable resources out there (such as JSTOR) that I wouldn’t be able to utilize.
With this in mind, as I was browsing the LibLicense website, I came across the Developing Nations Initiatives section. According to this website(http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/develop.shtml) (the link is also provided on the left side of your screen)- “In the year 2001, a number of organizations began to develop or to publicize programs designated to bring high quality, peer-reviewed sciences journals for free or very cheaply to developing nations.” I was unaware that so many of these types of programs exist and I immediately became interested in learning more about them.
My plan is to research the initiatives of several organizations and then compare them. As I investigate this further, these are the questions that I will answer. I plan to use the same format for each organization which will make it visually easier to locate the information.
What organizations have Developing Nations Initiatives?
Specifically, what type of access is being offered?
What countries is it being offered to?
What criteria are used to determine which countries are eligible?
Is access free or discounted? What is the discount?
How is access provided?
Can the information be accessed in other languages?
What are the goals of these types of initiatives?
Do developing nations possess the necessary technology to access these digital resources? (ie..computers, internet connection)
Is there a measurement that shows how much developing nations access these digital resources?
One other important aspect that I hope to discuss later on is this- as employees of libraries in the United States, how do we feel about having to pay for these digital resources while others are getting access to them for free or at heavily discounted prices?
*****
Since I work in a Health Science Library I wanted to start off with the only initiative that I was aware of and that some of you might already know about.
HINARI—Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (the information below comes from http://www.who.int/hinari/about/en/)
What organizations have Developing Nations Initiatives?
HINARI was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in conjunction with numerous publishers such as Blackwell and John Wiley.
Specifically, what type of access is being offered?
It provides access to over 6,200 medical and social science journals. The digital resources are offered to national universities, research institutes, professional schools (such as medical and dental), teaching hospitals, government offices, and national medical libraries.
What countries is it being offered to?
The list is available at http://www.who.int/hinari/eligibility/en/index.html . The list is divided into two bands. Band one countries get free access and band two countries pay $1000 per year. Examples from band one include Afghanistan, Kenya, and Vietnam. Examples from band two include Cuba, Iraq, and Peru.
What criteria are used to determine which countries are eligible?
HINARI uses 2006 data from the World Bank.
Is access free or discounted? What is the discount?
If a country’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita is below $1250, then that country is able to have free access. If a country’s GNI per capita is between $1250 and $3500, then that country pays $1000 per year. Even if your country is not on the list of developing nations, there are still many journals that are available for free.
How is access provided?
Institutions must fill out a registration form and then they will receive a license agreement that must be signed.
Can the information be accessed in other languages?
It depends on each individual publication. Overall, there are articles in 22 languages.
What are the goals of these types of initiatives?
The goal is to contribute to the overall improvement of world health.
Do developing nations possess the necessary technology to access these digital resources? (i.e. computers, internet connection)
Institutions must have a computer with internet access that is considered high-speed (56k baud rate or higher).
Is there a measurement that shows how much developing nations access these digital resources?
HINARI has 3500 institutions registered in 108 countries. For a map of registered countries see http://www.who.int/hinari/eligibility/HINARI_map_0808.jpg .
REFERENCES
HINARI: Access to Research. 2009. World Health Organization.
17 June 2009. http://www.who.int/hinari/en/.
LibLicense: Licensing Digital Information. 24 June 2009. Yale University Library.
17 June 2009. http://library.yale.edu/~llicense/index.shtml.
When thinking about what I might blog about for this class, I realized that one of the topics that interests me most about digital resources is the cost involved in acquiring them. Cost is always going to be an issue, especially with library budgets being cut due to the current economic situation. Previously, I worked and studied at a small, private four-year college that couldn’t afford very many digital resources and as an avid library user, I was extremely frustrated and disappointed. As I worked on my assignments for various classes (I was a history major), I knew there were valuable resources out there (such as JSTOR) that I wouldn’t be able to utilize.
With this in mind, as I was browsing the LibLicense website, I came across the Developing Nations Initiatives section. According to this website(http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/develop.shtml) (the link is also provided on the left side of your screen)- “In the year 2001, a number of organizations began to develop or to publicize programs designated to bring high quality, peer-reviewed sciences journals for free or very cheaply to developing nations.” I was unaware that so many of these types of programs exist and I immediately became interested in learning more about them.
My plan is to research the initiatives of several organizations and then compare them. As I investigate this further, these are the questions that I will answer. I plan to use the same format for each organization which will make it visually easier to locate the information.
What organizations have Developing Nations Initiatives?
Specifically, what type of access is being offered?
What countries is it being offered to?
What criteria are used to determine which countries are eligible?
Is access free or discounted? What is the discount?
How is access provided?
Can the information be accessed in other languages?
What are the goals of these types of initiatives?
Do developing nations possess the necessary technology to access these digital resources? (ie..computers, internet connection)
Is there a measurement that shows how much developing nations access these digital resources?
One other important aspect that I hope to discuss later on is this- as employees of libraries in the United States, how do we feel about having to pay for these digital resources while others are getting access to them for free or at heavily discounted prices?
*****
Since I work in a Health Science Library I wanted to start off with the only initiative that I was aware of and that some of you might already know about.
HINARI—Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (the information below comes from http://www.who.int/hinari/about/en/)
What organizations have Developing Nations Initiatives?
HINARI was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in conjunction with numerous publishers such as Blackwell and John Wiley.
Specifically, what type of access is being offered?
It provides access to over 6,200 medical and social science journals. The digital resources are offered to national universities, research institutes, professional schools (such as medical and dental), teaching hospitals, government offices, and national medical libraries.
What countries is it being offered to?
The list is available at http://www.who.int/hinari/eligibility/en/index.html . The list is divided into two bands. Band one countries get free access and band two countries pay $1000 per year. Examples from band one include Afghanistan, Kenya, and Vietnam. Examples from band two include Cuba, Iraq, and Peru.
What criteria are used to determine which countries are eligible?
HINARI uses 2006 data from the World Bank.
Is access free or discounted? What is the discount?
If a country’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita is below $1250, then that country is able to have free access. If a country’s GNI per capita is between $1250 and $3500, then that country pays $1000 per year. Even if your country is not on the list of developing nations, there are still many journals that are available for free.
How is access provided?
Institutions must fill out a registration form and then they will receive a license agreement that must be signed.
Can the information be accessed in other languages?
It depends on each individual publication. Overall, there are articles in 22 languages.
What are the goals of these types of initiatives?
The goal is to contribute to the overall improvement of world health.
Do developing nations possess the necessary technology to access these digital resources? (i.e. computers, internet connection)
Institutions must have a computer with internet access that is considered high-speed (56k baud rate or higher).
Is there a measurement that shows how much developing nations access these digital resources?
HINARI has 3500 institutions registered in 108 countries. For a map of registered countries see http://www.who.int/hinari/eligibility/HINARI_map_0808.jpg .
REFERENCES
HINARI: Access to Research. 2009. World Health Organization.
17 June 2009. http://www.who.int/hinari/en/.
LibLicense: Licensing Digital Information. 24 June 2009. Yale University Library.
17 June 2009. http://library.yale.edu/~llicense/index.shtml.
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