Contributed Papers

Sunday, April 22, 2001

Libraries and Extension: Engaging in Partnerships

Author: Angi Faiks

Affiliation: Mann Library, Cornell University

Contact Address: Public Services, Mann Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853

Email address: ajf9@cornell.edu

 

Abstract: There has never been a time like the present to forge a stronger partnership between academic libraries and Cooperative Extension. From proxy servers and distance education technologies, to the proliferation of full-text resources available via the web, to electronic document delivery, libraries have more exciting reasons than ever to knock on the doors of extension and to re-introduce ourselves.

 

The Kellogg Commission on the Future of State & Land-Grant Universities challenges academic institutions to become "engaged" and to be more productively involved in their communities. In an engaged institution, there is a sense that "we can and must do better." (Kellogg, p.i.) The Kellogg Commission asserts that academic institutions are confusing to outsiders. So, too, are their libraries. Making institutions accessible and more responsive is key to the process of engagement. In this presentation, I would like to highlight some of the ways in which libraries can make our services more responsive and our collections more accessible to Cooperative Extension.

 

For the Cooperative Extension staff scattered throughout New York state, Mann Library developed an aggressive outreach program in an effort to integrate library resources and services with the work and needs of extension employees. Library programmers worked with campus technology specialists to install a proxy server that allowed extension educators to connect to licensed library resources. We began offering classes as part of extension's in-service, orientation and professional development programs on campus. Close work with campus extension has led to invitations to participate in regional and statewide conferences held in rural outposts in the Adirondacks and bustling offices in urban centers. In these classes extension educators are taught how to connect online to the library to find full-text journals, search databases, and navigate the complex information landscape. With so much of the collection now available electronically, educators throughout the state can gain access to much of the same material as their campus counterparts.

 

Integrating the library's services into the extension culture has also led extension staff to a better understanding of the variety of expertise available in the library. After seeing examples of several library-created information systems, extension staff asked the library to provide insight into how to organize, describe, and deliver Cooperative Extension information. Librarians served as consultants and partners to those working through information organization and access issues with digital material. Library staff have also been invited to participate in hosting social events, including a celebration of a key historical figure in agriculture, Liberty Hyde Bailey. During the event, individuals shared excerpts from his books and looked at materials from the library archives. The library and extension also plan to co-sponsor an internship for a student to consider means to ensure that extension staff around the state are aware of library resources and of their potential relevance to extension work. In sum, our efforts are bringing us closer extension and leading to unique interactions that we had not considered.

 

Examples of interaction between the library and Cooperative Extension can be found around the country. It is important that librarians who are attempting to foster partnerships with their state's extension organization also consider partnerships with each other. In a recent post to USAIN-L, SLA-FAN-L and STS-L, I inquired whether there was interest in starting an online discussion among librarians who have a responsibility for, or an interest in, extension. Thus far, 25 individuals from over 20 institutions responded that they would be excited to join a discussion group that focuses on extension services and to share ideas with each other. I can envision such a group conducting projects or research addressing unique needs of extension. The prospects are promising.

 

If invited to present at USAIN 2001, I will be delighted to bring to light a sampling of extension outreach and partnership efforts happening in libraries around the country, many of which could be gleaned from the online discussion group, with permission. I will also offer creative ideas and methods of initiating and bolstering relationships with extension. Finally, I will encourage participation in this presently-forming group that will consider cooperative effort in pursuit of working together towards our extension support goals and missions.

 

Reaching Out: Land Grant Library Service to Cooperative Extension Offices, Experiment Stations, and Agricultural Science Centers

Author: Tim McKimmie

Affiliation: New Mexico State University Library

Contact Address: University Library Dept. 3475, New Mexico State University Library, Las Cruces, NM 88003-0006

Email address: tmckimmi@lib.nmsu.edu

 

Abstract: Land grant institutions (often called Ag Colleges) occur in all 50 states and provide education, research, and extension. Most land grants have an agriculture librarian who traditionally serves on-campus personnel in the education and research components of the Agriculture College. Off-campus extension and experiment station personnel, who are often located miles from campus, often are not served or even aware of services provided by the land grant libraries. This is probably due to the logistics of serving distant offices. The recent proliferation of networked and web-based information improves access, creates greater quantities of available information, and removes barriers to service to distant clients. States average 5-10 Agriculture research centers (more than 420 such centers nationwide) and have extension offices in every county. Therefore, there may be 50 or more land grant affiliated off-campus offices within each state that could utilize library services.

 

Several colleagues from other land grant institutions expressed interest in the level of library services to off-campus personnel. In the summer of 1999 the USAIN listserv (usain-l) was used to discuss this question with the land grant librarian community. This listserv is a major form of communication for USAIN members and is used for sharing thoughts and questions. Although there were only 13 respondents, not all land grant librarians participate in usain-l. Comments revealed large differences in services offered to off-campus personnel. Some of the services offered (and numbers of respondents) include; presentations/training for extension personnel (5); email reference (5); interlibrary loan or document delivery (6); access to periodical databases (6); visits to off campus offices or research centers (6).

 

For the past year I have begun to work more closely with off-campus personnel to bring to their attention the many services and information tools that the NMSU library provides for research and extension needs. The first step was a visit to the local county extension office to see their web access capabilities. The speed of their internet connections was much slower and more awkward than from the main campus just a mile away. They were unaware of this and now plan to upgrade this service. Training with several extension agents then took place. Most agents had not been using the library catalog or library databases (such as AGRICOLA) at all. They were quite receptive to assistance and surprised at the quantity of information available. Meetings with the State Directors of the Extension Service and Experiment Station were held to discuss outreach efforts. These were followed by a meeting with the State Extension training director. He was also unfamiliar with library services and was impressed with the quality of information available and the potential for timesaving. We subsequently provided training sessions to extension personnel at the annual campus meeting as well as a separate session held for new extension workers.

 

Outreach efforts to both county extension and Ag science center personnel have also begun. This will be a long-range project as there are 33 county extension offices and 9 off-campus research centers in New Mexico. These visits begin with meeting the personnel, discussing their research projects or extension needs, and often a tour of the farm or research facilities. Observation of their connections to the web, particularly to the library on the main campus, often reveals the extent of their use or nonuse of library services. There are large differences in their familiarity with internet access and use. Training is usually begun by reviewing the library catalog and interlibrary loan services, followed by use of periodical databases such as AGRICOLA. Off-campus users must access library databases through a proxy server, so the protocol for connection to the proxy server is completed at this time, ie., setting up a password and configuring a web browser. The sessions usually end with a review of other agriculture information tools available on the web. Here, I use my own agriculture web page which is accessible from the library home page and has links to all agriculture subject areas. Reference service via Email is also offered. These are the means through which library information tools and research assistance are being brought to the attention of off-campus university personnel. Technical support as well as training in information seeking are part of the equation. These personnel are then in the position to use library services for extension to the larger community as well as for research purposes.

 

Monday, April 23, 2001

Group 1

Building Information Bridges Between Pacific Islands.

Contact Author: Eileen Herring

Affiliation: University of Hawaii at Manoa Library

Contact Address: Science & Technology Reference Department, 2550 The Mall, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822

Email address: eherring@hawaii.edu

Co-author: James Hollyer (Project Manager, Agricultural Development in the American Pacific)

 

Abstract: In 1988, the directors of the five Land Grant institutions in the American-affiliated Pacific formally organized the Agricultural Development in the American Pacific (ADAP) Project. ADAP has been primarily funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The participating institutions are American Samoa Community College, the College of Micronesia, Northern Marianas College, the University of Guam, and the University of Hawai'i. The College of Micronesia includes 4 campuses in the Federated States of Micronesia (on the islands of Yap, Korsae, Pohnpei, Chuuk), the College of the Marshall Islands, and Palau Community College. The purpose of ADAP is to strengthen existing Land Grant programs by sharing and focusing resources on priority areas of common concern and interest. Scientists and educators at these institutions are separated by ocean and spread out over a distance almost 2 and a half times the width of the U.S. mainland. The ADAP Project provides a mechanism for them to work together as a team. ADAP also bridges the gap between the "American Pacific" and the other numerous countries of the Pacific, who are either independent or affiliated with France, New Zealand, Australia or other nations through their international partnerships.

 

The professionals of the ADAP institutions and their many regional cooperators perform interregional research and develop collaborative outreach mechanisms to help the people of the Pacific region live healthier and more productive lives. Priority areas are often unique to the Pacific region, having to do with tropical and subtropical island agriculture and cultural practices. Because of the special natural and human resource base of the Pacific island agro-ecosystems, it is often not possible to simply transfer results from temperate zone agricultural research, and materials for extension and teaching used by U.S. mainland Land Grant programs are often culturally inappropriate for the region. Applied research must be conducted in the region, and effective extension and teaching materials must be created that are culturally relevant.

 

During the past 12 years, ADAP has funded a wide variety of agricultural research and capacity-building projects. However, except for the University of Hawaii, the Pacific land grant institutions have very limited information resources to support this work. The University of Hawaii at Manoa Library has the largest research collections in the Pacific, with nearly 3 million volumes, and is the only major university library in the state of Hawaii. In 1995, the Library began a cooperative project with ADAP to provide information services to support agricultural research in the American-affiliated Pacific. Through this program, the library provides literature search and document delivery services to faculty, staff, and extension personnel at Land Grant institutions in the Pacific region. The objective of these services is to facilitate information transfer within the Pacific agriculture community to help meet the unique information needs of the area. In the first year, the information services were provided via fax and mail. During the past few years, the infrastructure in the Pacific rapidly improved and services are now provided by email, Ariel, and the Internet as well. In addition, services have expanded to include book interlibrary loans directly to researchers and faculty. During 1999, this project provided literature searches and documents to over 20 researchers and faculty from 11 Pacific islands.

 

In addition to the library services project, ADAP also supports information exchange in the Pacific through its publications and Web site. ADAP has supported the development of University of Guam's Portable Extension Office for Program Literature Exchange (PEOPLE) Web site of publications for the Pacific and is participating in the development of the Secretariat of the Pacific Communities' Experts Database, which is also available on the Web. ADAP, with their partner, Pan-Pacific Education and Communication Experiments by Satellite (PEACESAT), provides high-speed videoconferencing capability to American Samoa and Guam and will be expanding this service to the other Land Grants in the coming years. It also provides funding for a University of Hawaii librarian to travel to participating institutions to provide bibliographic database and Internet training to faculty, researchers, and librarians. As part of it's efforts to reach out beyond the American-affiliated Pacific, ADAP put together the Pacific Agriculture Communicators Workshop in which participants from 11 Pacific countries obtained training in software for publication and Web page design. Currently, ADAP is exploring a partnership with the 1890 historically black Land Grant institutions.

 

ADAP seeks to address common Pacific Island-based agriculture and community issues through cooperative research, extension, and instruction programs that are culturally appropriate, socially acceptable, economically viable, and environmentally compatible. ADAP partners with other institutions throughout the Pacific and elsewhere to help bring the best resources available to these common efforts.

 

Partnership Between China and CAB International in Information Access, Management and Dissemination: Past, Present and Future

Author: Dr. Qiaoqiao Zhang

Affiliation: CAB International

Contact Address: Wallingford, Oxon, OX10 8DE, United Kingdom

Email address: Q.Zhang@cabi.org

 

Abstract: China is of strategic importance to CABI being its largest member country, with good prospects for collaboration in publishing/information and bioscience areas. China has a large professional and technical workforce involved in agricultural research, education and extension, with extensive information support services.

 

The partnership between CABI and China began to grow in 1980 when the Scientech Documentation and Information Centre (SDIC) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) invited a CABI delegation to China. This led to a long-term programme under which abstracts of Chinese agricultural literature are supplied to CABI by SDIC for input to CAB ABSTRACTS in exchange for CABI information products and services.

 

This partnership reached a major milestone with agreement to collaborate on a national information project financed by a grant from the Asian Development Bank. After an intensive period of high-level visits and contacts, and through many years' joint efforts by CAAS, in particular SDIC and CABI, China became a Member Country of CABI in 1995. This opened the way to further co-operation and collaboration, and gave Chinese organisations the opportunity to purchase CABI's publications at discounted prices and to benefit more from CABI's scientific and information services. China's joining CABI was a major boost to full internationalisation of CABI and led to a considerable expansion of CABI's interests and activities throughout Asia.

 

Past and On-going Collaboration

 

In the past two decades, CABI and China have been co-operating in a range of information and publishing areas. The following are some examples.

 

ADB-China Information Project

From July 1992 to July 1995 a project, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Chinese Government and CABI, was conducted with the aim of upgrading Chinese agricultural information services. CABI CD-ROM databases were installed at the national centre in Beijing (SDIC) and 34 major agricultural research and training institutions throughout the country. Both SDIC and CABI were involved in managing and organising training programmes in Beijing and at CABI and the final evaluation of the project. The results of the final evaluation showed that the introduction of modern information technology and provision of readily access to international information had a great impact on the development of Chinese agricultural information systems and services, and on agricultural research and education in China. When ADB's funding ceased in late 1995, the sustainability was the major concern. Thanks to the efforts by SDIC, CABI and individual institutions, the CD-ROM information services have been sustained at the majority of project sites by bulk purchases through consortium at substantially discounted prices, which were agreed by CABI and SDIC.The Memorandum of Agreement for this arrangement has now been renewed for further three years (1999-2001).

 

ARIS (Agricultural Research Information System): Development of A Strategy

At the invitation of the Scientech Documentation and Information Centre (SDIC) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, CABI has been involved in a Chinese initiative on the development of a nation-wide agricultural research information system (ARIS).

 

The first activity was a planning mission to China in May 1998, led by CABI and conducted jointly with the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR). The mission produced an outline of the ARIS and a work plan for the further phases of the strategy-setting and design of ARIS.

 

The strategy development mission was carried out in May 2000 for three weeks, with CABI being the co-ordinator for the international partners including CABI, FAO, ISNAR, IRRI and KIT. Before developing the strategy and writing up of the full report, the Mission Team conducted an extensive assessment of Chinese agricultural library and information services and states of the development ICTs in China. The strategy has now been completed with an initial design of the ARIS and recommendations as well as financial projections and implementation plan.

 

Future Plan and Prospects

To fulfil CABI's ambitions in China has pointed to the need of establishing a physical presence in China, which will strengthen the partnership, facilitate collaboration and co-operation with China, and consolidate its work in China.

 

The emphasis for future collaboration will be on capacity building of library and information services, and networks, improved information access, management and dissemination (both within China and to the rest of the world), resource-sharing within Chinese agricultural systems, improved exposure of Chinese library and information centres to the international information community and international co-operation. Particular attention should also be paid to the information and technology transfer from the research community to extension, and to working farmers.

 

The following is some examples of future plan:

The well-structured and extensive Chinese agricultural research and information systems combined with CABI's expertise and resources would form a strong alliance to contribute to Chinese agriculture and to the transfer of information between China and the rest of the world. World agriculture will no doubt benefit from such an alliance.

 

Partnering for Better Management of Western Rangelands: Using Web Technologies to get the Word out.

Author: Barbara Hutchinson

Affiliation: Arid Lands Information Center

Contact Address: University of Arizona, 1955 E. Sixth Street, Tucson, AZ 85719

Email address: barbarah@ag.arizona.edu

 

Abstract: This paper describes the efforts of an interdisciplinary team at the University of Arizona (UA) involved in the development of a series of Web sites and Web applications on the ecology and management of Western rangelands. Each of the Web resources to be described have been made available through the combined efforts of a variety of institutions and organizations including various units and faculty members on the UA campus, a number of government agencies, and a local, non-governmental organization (NGO). Partners, funding, objectives, and user applications will be outlined.

 

Examples include three user tools made available through the Agriculture Network Information Center (AgNIC) Managing Rangelands Web site and another related site dealing with the management of public land grazing allotments. The first example application provides precise access to the information included in the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Ecological Site Guides for Arizona. These guides are documents that describe the vegetation production potential for major land resource areas. The prototype interface developed for the Guides includes both a geographic information system (GIS)/map-based interface as well as a text- or attribute-based interface. Both of the interfaces were collaboratively developed by faculty and staff from the UA's Office of Arid Lands Studies and the Rangeland and Forest Resources Program, while the Ecological Site Guide database was created by the Arizona Office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Funding for the project was provided through Cooperative Extension at the UA.

 

A second project developed by the UA team in cooperation with a grassroots group, the Arizona Common Ground Round Table, resulted in a "Toolkit for Profitable Conservation Ranching". This Web resource is designed to provide information to working ranchers on methods they can use to preserve the economic value, biological diversity, and open space of productive ranches. The Toolkit contains information on long-term protection and stewardship of private lands, tax and estate information, alternative sources of ranch income, outside funding for conservation ranching, and partnerships with public and private organizations. Original content and extensive links to related resources are included.

 

The third category of special resources from the Managing Rangelands Web site covers information on various environmental regulatory measures that directly impact the management of Western rangelands. An extensive section on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was funded by the International Arid Lands Consortium and involved a major effort by a graduate student from the UA Rangeland and Forest Resources Program and a NEPA Specialist from the U.S. Forest Service. It includes a summary of the Act, a description of Federal regulations promulgated by the Council on Environmental Quality, a review of the Act's public participation requirements, various government agency implementation procedures, and the legal interpretation and enforcement of NEPA. In addition, a special section on the Clean Water Act, its implementation, and related information was compiled and funded through the Arizona Extension Water Quality Program.

 

The final project described is a collaboration between the UA and the U.S. Forest Service. It involves providing access to a representative set of public lands information and data via the Web and CD-ROM as well as through a model database, user interface, and database template. These resources are being developed to provide the public and government land managers with an application package that will promote learning, analysis, interpretation, and planning related to public lands issues. Fifty years of data collected on the Walker Basin Allotment located on the Coconino National Forest near Arizona's Verde Valley is providing the basis for the project. The variety of delivery mechanisms ensure that clientele served will include a broad constituency ranging from public and private land managers, Extension specialists, environmental and other interested groups, to students and faculty in colleges and universities.

 

Group 2

Creating a Distributed Gateway for Invasive Species Information

Author: Susan McCarthy

Affiliation: USDA, ARS, National Agricultural Library

Contact Address: National Agricultural Library, Abraham Lincoln Building, Room 203, 10301 Baltimore Ave, Beltsville, MD 20705-2351

Email address: smccarth@nal.usda.gov

 

Abstract: "Survival of the fittest" is the basic law of nature. Each species carries natural genetic variability, individual differences within the species can make any one individual more or less fit for their habitat. Fitness is tested through competition for food, shelter and mates. Until recently, biological change tended to occur in geologic time frames over tens of thousands of years. With a gentle rate of change whole groups of organisms co-evolved as an ecosystem. In other words, there was a balance to the evolutionary change, prey evolved mechanisms to survive their predators and likewise predators would adapt to changes in their prey. It is this balance which helps to keep populations from exploding beyond the carrying capacity of the ecosystem.

 

Today this picture has changed dramatically, human beings can circle the globe in hours and carry along with them organisms from one ecosystem and deposit these alien species in new ecosystems. This transfer of species is unbalancing ecosystems everywhere. In 1997 more than 500 scientists, land and resource managers wrote to the Vice-President expressing their concern over the lack of coordinated efforts between the different Federal departments and agencies, duplication of effort, and a resulting failure to address major ecological threats. This led to the enactment of Executive Order 13112 signed by President Clinton on February 3, 1999.

 

The Executive Order established a National Invasive Species Council with representation from eight Departments and Agencies. The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior are co-chairs of the Council. The Executive Order directed the Council to develop an "up-to-date information-sharing system that utilizes, to the greatest extent practicable, the Internet; this system shall facilitate access to and exchange of information concerning invasive species . . . " To serve this requirement the National Agricultural Library (NAL) and the U.S. Geological Survey's, National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) are working together with the National Invasive Species Council (NISC) to build an effective Web-site for Invasive Species (http://www.invasivespecies.gov).

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a large role in the arena of invasive species from border control and quarantine by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, to research on monitoring and control of emerging and established invasions by the Agricultural Research Service. In all, five agencies within USDA are directly involved with invasive species. The initial Web-site design was conducted within the Department of the Interior. Extention and modification of the design will be faciliated through enlarging the partnership base in the coming months to better represent the agricultural community as well as the broader Federal community.

 

The National Biological Information Infrastructure is attempting to serve as a uniform gateway to biological information on the Internet. The Invasive Species Web-site project is one of their first efforts to jointly develop and operate a distributed system. The NBII site has been designed with a uniform navigation and banner scheme under which individual topical nodes are displayed. In the case of the Invasive Species Web-site the files are being developed and maintained on NAL's servers with links back to the main NBII servers in Denver. Synchronization between the two servers and communication between the partners will be a significant challenge to building a successful Web-site.

 

The initial Web design set out 13 top-level information categories with 52 second level categories and thousands of third and fourth level categories. It is now the work of the partnership to add content in these categories. A small "Discovery Team" of experienced information specialists has been assembled at NAL to help identify key information resources to build the Web-site. An NBII Information Specialist will be joining the NAL team on a regular basis via teleconference. Topical areas within the Web-site have been assigned to each Team member. Coordination of effort between team members is facilitated through Email correspondence. Additionally, weekly email updates written by the Project Director are sent to the broader group of partners at the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and to the National Council. These communication pathways help to keep the partnership informed of program activities and help provide an opportunity for review and comment.

 

Invasive species have enormous impact on our environment and on our food production systems. David Pimentel, Cornell University has recently put a price tag on this impact. He estimates the cost to total $137 billion each year in the United States alone. Nearly all endangered species are endangered as a result of competition with alien and non-indigenous organisms. The Brown Tree Snake on Guam has caused the extinction of at least 10 of 13 native bird species. These facts underline the importance of building successful partnerships in order to leverage resources and expertise in providing the information tools needed in the field to combat these threats to the health of planet Earth.

 

Pest Management Information Partnerships and the NSF Center for IPM

Author: Ron Stinner

Affiliation: NSF Center for Integrated Pest Management, North Carolina State University

Contact Address: 1017 Main Campus Drive, Suite 1100, NCSU Centennial Campus, Raleigh, NC 27606

Email address: cipm@ncsu.edu

Co-authors: S. Toth, J.E. Bacheler, E. Zurek, and P. Rotstein (NSF Center for IPM and Dept. of Entomology, North Carolina State University)

 

Abstract: The need for public access to pest management information has never been greater. Demands for regulatory decision process transparency have focused on public accountability and data access. Pesticide and pest management information is of particular interest because the USDA/land grant university partnership has unique knowledge of work in progress on alternatives to presently registered pesticides and pest management research and extension results.

 

The Food Quality Protection Act requires EPA to review presently registered pesticides in view of human and environmental health risks. For those products whose risk is deemed too great, there will be cancellation of some or all uses. Part of this decision process entails consideration of available (or potentially available) alternatives that include traditional chemistries, new chemistries, and biopesticides. Regional Pest Management Centers are in a unique position to not only fund much of the needed alternatives research, but also to provide current and historical information on the availability and status of this alternatives research. The cost of making this information available without automating the process would be prohibitive and would negatively impact the ability of these centers to support the necessary research and reporting.

 

The need for, and utility of, the information potentially developed by pest management specialists is further emphasized by the development of pest management strategies which are and will be developed to move agricultural production away from reliance on older chemistries and their inherent higher risks.

 

Although virtually all land-grant universities now have experience with internet publishing, most have developed systems that "look inward" and few have the capability and experience to develop and maintain multi-state and agency web information networks.

 

This paper details some of the efforts by the NSF Center for Integrated Pest Management to develop cooperative, web-based information systems that partner federal, private, and university resources to provide pest management information and data to all stakeholders.

 

The NSF Center for Integrated Pest Management has over 6 years experience in website development and online database connectivity. A list of major sites maintained by the Center can be found at http://ipmwww.ncsu.edu/cipm/center_sites.html. We have worked cooperatively with both the public and private sectors. As program management for the National IPM Network (http://www.reeusda.gov/nipmn) we maintain the national site. The main page consists of information delivered seamlessly from four separate servers, but only after a client's first visit. (The first visit provides a brief definition of IPM and the National IPM Network).

 

The Center has leveraged funds and expertise from industry, non-profits, government, and numerous state universities to develop partnerships for the provision of pest management information at the local, regional, national and international scale.

 

The Center provided the technology for, and development of, a web-based system for searching and providing online access to the USDA's Crop Profiles as part of their response to FQPA mandates (http://cipm.ncsu.edu/CropProfiles/). Individual state groups prepare the actual information for the Crop Profiles (detailed information on crop production practices including pest control tactics) and the Center converts the information into a database with web access. Based on these profiles and commodity-oriented workshops, new Pest Management Strategy Plans are being developed on state and regional bases. The Center is now providing seachable online access to these detailed plans for transition away from targeted pesticides being removed by EPA (http://cipm.ncsu.edu/pmsp).

 

We maintain the Cotton Pickin' Web (http://www.cottoninc.com/CottonPickin), funded by Cotton Incorporated, and involving subcontracts to Universities in most of the cotton growing states. This is a totally database-driven website, with remote administration features.

 

We have developed sites and online database access for the IR-4 Program (http://pestdata.ncsu.edu/IR-4), NAICC (http://www.naicc.org), OPMP (a secure document sharing site), an APHIS PPQ review site (http://www.SafeGuarding.org), as examples. All of these sites have interactive databases, secure areas (some with multiple levels of security), and differing levels of remote administration.

 

CIPM has worked with the Consortium for International Crop Protection, (http://www.IPMnet.org) the Insecticide and Herbicide Resistance Action Committees, the WWW Virtual Library (http://ipmwww.ncsu.edu/cernag),and the International Association of Plant Protection Sciences (http://PlantProtection.org) to provide pest management and agricultural information on a global scale.

 

Since the first public release of web software, the Center has provided much of the online production information for the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service (http://ipmwww.ncsu.edu). Most recently CIPM has begun to develop wireless web applications for WAP phones and wireless PDA's for access to critical time-sensitive information. These applications include wireless reporting of, and access to, "pest alerts" and NCSU POP email.

 

AgMaps: A Partnership between Cornell University's Mann Library, New York County Extension Offices and the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the USDA

Author: Nancy Hyland

Affiliation: Cornell University

Contact Address: Public Services, Mann Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853

Email address: nch9@cornell.edu

 

Abstract: An understanding of complex data is key to making agricultural and environmental decisions. Since most agricultural and environmental data have a geographic component, greater understanding is possible if users are able to look at a map of the data and spatial patterns are made obvious. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) assist in the analysis and understanding of complex environmental and agricultural issues. Many state and local governments make planning and environmental decisions based upon analyses that include the use of geographic information systems. One might, for example, relate information about the water run-off of an area near wetlands boundaries and be able to tell which areas need stricter pesticide regulations. Governing bodies often encourage citizens to get involved through participation in town hearings and meetings with GIS analysts. These analysts create maps using GIS based upon the variables unique to the particular planning decision. Maps provide a powerful way for users to understand complex sets of data quickly.

 

In October of 2000, Mann Library will unveil a new prototype system called AgMaps. It is being developed as a pilot project to explore the technologies needed to deliver agricultural statistics as thematic maps over the web. We will use the pilot system to assess demand for an expanded system among the potential user community. AgMaps will give more people the ability to use and understand the wealth of agricultural and environmental data by means of a new analytical tool that will:

 

(1) Allow users to extract, subset, and aggregate data as needed and to download data from the USDA Economics and Statistics System in any of several commonly used file formats (Excel, SAS, comma-delimited text, etc.). The data will be available for immediate use in spreadsheet, database, and GIS programs.

 

(2) Implement a Web-based system that permits interactive mapping and analysis of geospatially-referenced data. In its initial implementation, this system will allow users, on-campus or elsewhere, to map and evaluate USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) data, specifically, the crops county reports, at the state and county level.

 

While the data needed for GIS are becoming widely available, until recently end-users needed to use specialized expensive software in order to view and manipulate this data. The need for intensive technology and training hindered public participation in making agricultural and environmental decisions. This situation is changing. Web-based interactive mapping systems have recently been developed. They allow a user with only fundamental computer skills to manipulate, view and print thematic maps without specialized software.

 

AgMaps uses a layered data architecture. A generalized data format, in the form of relational database tables, enables the AgMaps system to visualize data from many different resources. The data in the NASS format will have been converted and loaded into the database. Rather than doing the conversion and loading manually, AgMaps employs a Data Conversion Subsystem. It will be used both for the initial conversion and loading of the current data and will be designed so that updates can be converted with a minimum of staff involvement. If the system is expanded, future additions will have their own data formats.

 

The general goal of AgMaps is to encourage and enhance the use of geographic data in agriculture by providing customized data-extraction and basic GIS capabilities to County Extension Educators and ultimately the general public. Mann Library is actively engaging in intellectual and financial collaboration with three New York County Extension offices, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cornell faculty, as and the National Agricultural Statistical Service of the USDA. This paper will focus on the roles each agency brought to the process of creating AgMaps, highlights of the user study employed for its interface design, and assess impact the project has on the participating County Extension Offices.

 

Group 3

Growing an E-Journal: The University of Arizona Experience in Starting an Online Journal for Insect Science

Author: Jeanne Pfander

Affiliation: University of Arizona Library

Contact Address: Science-Engineering Library, Rm. 209, University of Arizona , P.O. Box 210054, Tucson AZ 85721-0054

Email address: pfanderj@u.library.arizona.edu

 

Abstract: The UA Library has begun an exciting collaborative project with Dr. Henry Hagedorn of the UA College of Agriculture's Department of Entomology, to create a new "online-only" journal.

 

The Journal of Insect Science, scheduled to debut in January 2001, will publish peer-reviewed papers in all aspects of insect biology - from the molecular to the ecological. The journal will be edited by an internationally renowned editorial board and published on the World Wide Web by the University of Arizona.

 

The mission statement of the journal states

"Our guiding principle is that academic institutions, such as universities, should be involved in publishing scholarly work. The journal is supported by the Library of the University of Arizona and will be freely available to individuals and institutions. Our goal is to create a journal with as few impediments as possible to free access to information. The Journal of Insect Science has an international scope with a broad constituency of scientists interested in the biology of insects and their agricultural and medical impact. We hope that the journal will provide an alternative to excessively priced commercial publications in insect biology and will be the destination of choice for these scientists."

This paper will describe the origins of the project, the processes for planning and implementation, and the journal itself.

 

Information Skills - Web Based Instruction: A Collaborative Project Between University Librarians and the Biological Science Initiative's Instructional System Developers

Author: Margaret C. Merrill

Affiliation: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Contact Address: University Libraries, Virginia Tech University, P.O. Box 90001, Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001

Email address: mmerrill@vt.edu

 

Abstract: Partnerships are everywhere. Identify a need or a problem and ideal partners will often appear "on your doorstep." This certainly happened to me.

 

Two years ago I took a faculty development workshop on instructional design in order to find more effective ways to teach students how to use information resources and to help students convert the information skills they were learning as undergraduates into skills they would use for the rest of their lives. During the workshop I learned that as the Agriculture and Life Sciences librarian I had access to the skills and expertise of the co-coordinators of the Biological Sciences Initiative's Instructional Systems Development Program.

 

The Biological Sciences Initiative (BSI) is a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University initiative. Its goal is to enhance undergraduate teaching and learning, through cross-college cooperation and collaboration that takes advantage of the great expertise in the biological sciences in five colleges in the university: Agriculture and Life Sciences, Natural Resources, Human Resources and Education, the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, and Arts and Sciences.

 

The Instructional Systems Development Program (ISD) of BSI provides an rganizational framework for course and curricular development and transformation by providing the resources required to take an instructional idea from inception through implementation and evaluation. In essence ISD is the process of solving instructional problems by the systematic analysis of the conditions affecting learning. It encompasses the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of an instructional environment or situation.

 

The opportunity to work with skilled instructional and interface designers was exactly what was needed. Our initial conversation led to the Information Skills - web based instruction project. The goal of this project was and is to teach individuals the conceptual and intellectual skills needed to use a wide variety of resources to efficiently find and acquire information appropriate to their needs throughout their lives.

 

The Information Skills - web based instruction are a set of interactive web modules that teach a person how to think their way through the process of finding useful and valid information. The first set of modules has been developed and tested and are currently being used. The next set of modules will be pilot tested and evaluated during Spring semester 2001.

 

The Information Skills - web based instruction modules are designed to provide:

This project has now received a significant grant from the Virginia Tech Center for Innovations in Learning for the development of additional modules. These are being added in incremental steps based on a logical framework of needed skills.

 

One very real benefit of collaborating with experts from a different discipline is that each person in the partnership can concentrate on their own area of expertise knowing that the other aspects will be well taken care of. It was a novel experience to find myself referred to as the project's "subject matter expert (SME)" by the instructional designers.

 

During the initial analysis phase of the project, I asked the Business and First-Year and Outreach Services librarians to join me in working on the project. What was being planned needed more than one librarian involved. After obtaining the approval of the Dean of Libraries, development and construction of the first set of modules began.

 

This paper will describe the partnership that developed between the University Libraries and the Biological Sciences Initiative's Instructional Systems Development Program. It will also outline the development of the Information Skills - web based instruction modules. The pedagogical processes involved in identifying learning goals and designing the actual modules will be touched on, as will the results of the pilot testing, evaluation process, and the various uses we have found for the modules. If web access is available a brief look at these modules will conclude the presentation.

 

The AgNIC ROADS Project: Impact on Partner Institutions.

Author: Elaine Nowick

Affiliation: University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Contact Address: 201 C.Y. Thompson Library, University of Nebraska, Lincoln NE 68583-0717

Email address: enowick@unlnotes.unl.edu

 

Abstract: The ROADS software greatly increases the usability of the AgNIC web site and creates an opportunity for better coordination and cooperation among the AgNIC partners. ROADS also represents a challenge to AgNIC partners and requires major rethinking in the technological aspects of the AgNIC project, in subject responsibilities, and in setting standards for indexing. These changes affect not only the relationships among partners, but also the way that partners deal with AgNIC at an institutional level. This paper will summarize the ways that the University of Nebraska is dealing with these changes and how the ROADS software has affected the UNL AgNIC project.

 

Group 4

AgNIC Dairy Partners: A consortium of librarians, extension workers and dairy researchers helping each other provide the latest in dairy information

Contact Author: Alesia McManus

Affiliation: University of Maryland, College Park

Contact Address: 3118 McKeldin Library, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-7011

Email address: am245@umail.umd.edu

Co-authors: Jean Gilbertson (University of Wisconsin) and Mark Varner (Professor, Animal Science, University of Maryland)

 

Abstract: This paper gives an overview of a partnership formed by dairy science experts and librarians at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Maryland, College Park to develop an AgNIC site for dairy information. The site will feature content reviewed for accuracy and usability, a distributed question/answer service, and unique materials made available in digitized format.

 

The overall purpose of AgNIC Dairy Partners is to provide access to high-quality dairy-related content on the Internet. Potential users will include dairy producers, researchers, educators, students of all age levels and members of the general public. We will actively recruit additional partners and we hope to have all dairy regions of the country represented. Proposed minimum requirements for becoming a Partner are at least one dairy-related expert and one reference librarian per institution.

 

The AgNIC Diary Partners will provide facilitated access to this content through a well-developed browsing design and search tool that utilizes the AgNIC search engine and metadata structure. Two types of expert content reviews are proposed including accuracy (similar to existing peer-review systems) and a "usability" award for sites featuring a one to five rating system. Another component of AgNIC Dairy Partners is the question/answer area. Questions will be directed to a multi-institutional panel of dairy science experts and librarians. A human screener, serving on a rotating basis, will direct questions to the appropriate expert or librarian. A unique aspect of this service is that varying levels of response are proposed depending on the category of the user. Proposed categories of users include faculty and staff of AgNIC Dairy Partners, students of the Partner institutions, citizens of states with an AgNIC Dairy Partner, and the general public. Lastly, we will undertake efforts to digitize materials from the National Dairy Shrine in Fort Atkinson, WI, the Maryland Dairy Shrine and key Experiment Station Bulletins

 

Reaching Out to Extension Personnel Through Off-Campus Library Instruction

Author: Valerie Perry

Affiliation: University of Kentucky Agricultural Information Center

Contact Address: Agricultural Information Center, N-24 Agricultural Science Center North, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546-0091

Email address: vperry@pop.uky.edu

 

Abstract: Libraries and librarians often become so focussed on on-campus activities that it is easy to lose sight of the many valuable employees who work off-campus. At the University of Kentucky (UK), we have 883 cooperative extension employees working throughout the state, but only 175 of these employees work on campus. The UK Agricultural Information Center (AIC) has had a history of partnering with extension personnel through workshops, referrals, and other library services. This presentation will concentrate on recent developments in our training program for extension employees, especially those off-campus. Developments include an increase in the number of workshop sessions offered, an increase in the number of training sites, and important collaborations with subject specialists who teach some of our workshops.

 

To serve the information needs of the county extension offices, the AIC formally joined with the UK College of Agriculture Extension Office to participate in the statewide In-Service Training program offered throughout the year. Our portion of the program has expanded in direct response to the comments we received on our workshop evaluations. After each half-day workshop, we distributed an evaluation form. We used the data collected to make adjustments in the current year programming when possible and made decisions about workshops for the next fiscal year. Since 1998, we have increased our annual number of workshop sessions from six to thirty-six. The locations have ranged from the western tip of Kentucky to the eastern Appalachian region. This year we are offering training at six different sites and plan to begin rotating through more sites on a two-year cycle so we can reach more regions throughout the state.

 

Respondents to the evaluations wanted to learn how to access agricultural information efficiently, but also wanted general computer technology training. This ranged from basic skills such as copying and pasting to more intermediate skills such as configuring operating systems. Given our successful collaboration with a UK Education Librarian, who taught a previous workshop for us, we decided to expand our collaborators to include someone with computer technology expertise. The natural relationship that developed was with the Regional Extension Technology Coordinators (RETCs) within our college. This year the RETCs will be teaching a set of three workshops at six different sites throughout the state. The topics were based on the personal experience of the RETCs and suggestions mentioned in the previous workshop evaluations.

 

We have learned a great deal from our experiences with these in-service workshops, especially those off-campus. Tips and strategies for other agriculture librarians wishing to start such a program will be discussed, from planning to implementation to evaluation. In the planning phase, both the target audience and their information needs should be determined. Other planning considerations include the number of workshops, locations, advertising, registration procedures and funding. In the implementation phase, technology considerations are especially important for off-campus training sites as well as understanding the workshop participants' work sites. Not only does the classroom need to have the appropriate software programs, but it is also important to know what software and versions the workshop participants are using in their county offices. The evaluation phase is critical since this provides the necessary feedback for future planning.

 

Future plans include adding workshops for public librarians in rural areas with an emphasis on agricultural information available, particularly free sources on the internet. We also plan to encourage more collaboration between these rural librarians and their county extension agents. We are excited about the current and future growth of our training program and the strong network of agricultural information professionals that is forming within our state.

Poster Sessions

Preservation Management Issues in an Agriculture Library: Balancing Best Practices with Practical Considerations

Contact Presenter: Margaret Mellinger, Reference Librarian for Agriculture and Natural Resources

Affiliation: University of Tennessee

Contact Address: Webster Pendergrass Agriculture Veterinary Medicine Library, A113 Veterinary Teaching Hospital, 2407 River Drive, University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN 37996-4500

Email address: mellinge@aztec.lib.utk.edu

Co-presenter: Mary Ellen Weber, Preservation Librarian, Hodges Library

 

Abstract: How can a small agriculture library develop a quality preservation program within funding constraints? What steps should a library take to stabilize collections? The age and condition of our agricultural materials indicate the need for a comprehensive preservation management program. Two goals in developing such a program for the University of Tennessee's Agriculture Veterinary Medicine Library are to use best practices to conserve materials and stabilize conditions, and to develop an economically feasible, ongoing preservation program.

 

Information System for the Progress of Research into Desertification and Sustainable Development of the Natural Resources

Presenter: Imad-eldin Ahmed Ali

Affiliation: Agricultural Research Corporation, Sudan

Contact Address: PO Box 3850, Khartoum, Postal Cod 11111, Sudan

Email address: imadaa@hotmail.com

 

Abstract: Environmental degradation might be regarded as the quantitative and qualitative changes into the biological and non-biological components of the ecosystem, when the system not capable to accommodated them without affecting its balance. Where in the arid and semiarid areas of the Sudan, the environmental problems limiting the quantity and quality of the natural resources, and hence its sustainable production capabilities. The presentation propose information system for the progress of research and sustainable development of the natural resources using the ecosystem approach.

Technology Expo Demonstrations

Tomato Juice--USAIN's Communications Committee's Fortifying Index of Agricultural Web Journals

Contact Presenter: Carla Long Casler

Affiliation: Arid Lands Information Center, University of Arizona

Contact Address: 1955 E. Sixth St., Tucson, AZ 85719

Email address: ccasler@ag.arizona.edu

Co-presenters: Eric Lease Morgan (North Carolina State University Libraries), Kathleen (Katie) Clark (Purdue University)

 

Abstract: An interactive opportunity to try out and evaluate Tomato Juice will be presented. Tomato Juice is a full-text index of agriculture-related, Web-based serials, which the Communications Committee has compiled. Using Harvest as the search engine, most of the titles listed can be searched with one search statement. A demonstration will be given, then USAIN members will have hands-on time to experiment and make suggestions for additions.

 

The Use of eXtensible Markup Language (XML) in Communication Technology

Presenter: Eva Zurek

Affiliation: Center for IPM, NC State University

Contact Address: 1017 Main Campus Drive, Partners I, Suite 1100 NCSU Centennial Campus, Raleigh, NC 27606

Email address: eva_zurek@ncsu.edu

 

Abstract: One of the latest trends is the use of the Internet environment is XML. Some of the areas where XML is and will be useful in the near-term include enhanced capabilities in exchanging information between organizations and delivery of information to handheld devices.

 

With XML, data can be properly tagged and stored in text files, and later manipulated by applications to suit organization's needs. While this approach adds a high degree of uniformity in the management of information, it is currently difficult to transfer the existing, and highly variable formats of data storage into one streamlined approach.

 

Various agricultural organizations have developed uniquely designed internal databases of their pesticide information. Although with similar information, the data sources are often quite different, resulting in a number of sites, each with different databases and field (variable) names. Often sites will provide only some of the needed information or types of information. Navigating each of these sources individually is a slow,inefficient and frustrating process.

 

One of the objectives of CIPM has been to develop a working model which would utilize the current data formats, and allow shared data to be gathered and manipulated while minimizing needs for extraneous programming and software. We will demonstrate various ways to extract pesticide information from 4 different remote servers, and transfer the data to a user's browser via XML. Cold Fusion applications can be used to further process the output.

 

Another advance in the use of XML has been the development of Wireless Markup Language (WML) for handheld internet-ready devices. The Center has written database-driven applications in WML for the wireless web such as NC Pest Alert and NC Pest News. Additionally key personnel can enter new pest warnings and news into the system securely from the field.

 

Ventures in a Cooperative Partnership: The Noble Foundation Plant Image Gallery

Contact Presenter: Mike Haddock

Affiliation: Kansas State University

Contact Address: Mike Haddock, Agriculture Librarian, Room 124, Hale Library, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506

Email address: haddock@ksu.edu

Co-presenters: Chuck Coffey and Russell Stevens (The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ardmore, Oklahoma)

 

Abstract: The Noble Foundation Plant Image Gallery http://www.noble.org/imagegallery/ is a web resource designed to assist botanists, ecologists, and natural resource managers with the identification of plants. It is also used by classroom educators, students who are required to learn plants as a part of their studies, and by individuals in the general public with an affinity for plants, hobby or otherwise. The Plant Image Gallery is an ongoing project which currently includes some 630 species of vascular plants native to the southern Great Plains. Though the focus is on Oklahoma and northern Texas, many of the plants occur as far south as the Gulf Coast, as far north as Nebraska, as far west as New Mexico and Colorado, and as far east as Arkansas and Missouri. This web site contains more than 2600 color photographs, as well as detailed textual information about each grass, tree, and forb species that is presented. The Plant Image Gallery developed as a collaborative partnership between scientific specialists in the Ag Division of the Noble Foundation and the agriculture librarian at Kansas State University. This cooperative partnership between academia and a private research foundation has permitted the dissemination of plant identification information to an audience that literally encompasses the entire world. The Noble Foundation Plant Image Gallery was the recipient of the Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society 1999 "Best Popular Information / Extension Award".

 

The Core Historical Literature of Agriculture

Presenters: Joy Paulson and Michael Cook

Affiliation: Mann Library, Cornell University

Contact Address: Collection Management and Preservation, Mann Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853

Email address: jp243@cornell.edu

 

Abstract: The Core Historical Literature of Agriculture (CHLA) is a digital library of core agricultural texts published from the early 19th century through the mid-20th century developed at Mann Library, Cornell University. CHLA represents a major endeavor to preserve and make accessible through digital technology a significant body of primary source materials related to the history of agriculture. Materials cover agricultural economics, agricultural engineering, animal science, crops and their protection, food science, forestry, human nutrition, rural sociology, and social sciences. Titles included in this collection were among the 4,500 texts selected by scholars for their historical importance from this time period.

 

Brittle paper originals were converted to electronic images with funding from the Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Humanities during two projects several years ago. Recently, work has been done to stabilize the online systems and ensure long-term access to the image files; to OCR the files, allowing searching across the entire corpus of materials; and to redesign the website, including the addition of a new search engine. The new site will be available in late September 2000 (http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/chla/index1.html). The materials converted during the initial two projects were all monographs. Currently, we are working on adding a selection of serial titles, which will be available in early 2001. Over the next few years, we plan to continue adding materials until all 4,500 titles selected as core are available.

 

CHLA will be available to anyone with internet access at no cost. We anticipate the material to have broad interest beyond scholars of the history of agriculture, such as social historians and women's studies specialists. The collection could be used for university undergraduate classes, as well as appealing to amateur historians. The processes used to create and make available this collection are applicable to a wide range of institutions interested in creating digital collections and are scaleable. A demonstration of CHLA would provide information about the materials in the collection for collection managers and technical information about the development and maintenance of the system for preservation and information technology specialists.

 

Ohio State University's Article Express Service

Presenters: Susan J. Logan and Constance Britton

Affiliation: The Ohio State University

Contact Address: Agriculture Library, 045 Agricultural Administration Building, 2120 Fyffe Road, Columbus OH 43210-1066

Email address: logan.2@osu.edu

 

Abstract: The faculty, staff, and students of The Ohio State University's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences are served by three separate libraries located 90 miles apart, each with a unique mission, a specific clientele, and a separate administration. In addition, the Extension faculty and staff of the College are located in the 88 counties of Ohio and are served by all libraries. For many years, the libraries have faxed copies of articles between the libraries in order to increase the resources available to the users of these libraries, irrespective of the users' geographic location.

 

Customers of OSU libraries have enjoyed the ability to place requests and receive delivery of books to their offices via campus mail. However, delivery of articles between campuses and to users was mediated by the libraries. With the implementation of Article Express, the Agriculture Library, located on the Columbus campus, began electronic delivery of journal articles owned by the Library directly to faculty, staff and graduate students affiliated with the College.

 

Testing of the Article Express service by the Agriculture Library began in the Summer 2000. Article Express uses client and server freeware called Prospero, developed and supported by The Ohio State University's Prior Health Sciences Library. Using a web-based form, a faculty member, graduate student or staff of the College may submit a request for an article held by the Library. Within 48 hours, the requestor will receive an email message providing the URL and PIN number necessary to retrieve the article in PDF format from a web server. The messaging and management of the files on the server are handled by Prospero. Plans are to extend this service to include resources located in any of the agriculture libraries.

 

We will demonstrate the Article Express service to USAIN Technology Expo participants and will share what we have learned about the issues and challenges of electronic document delivery directly to library customers.

 

TEEAL (The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library)

Presenter: Mary Ochs

Affiliation: Mann Library, Cornell University

Contact Address: Collection Development, Mann Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4301

Email address: mao4@cornell.edu

 

Abstract: Mann Library at Cornell University has partnered with the Rockefeller Foundation, major scientific publishers and database producers to create TEEAL (The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library). TEEAL is a CD-ROM library of the world's most important journal literature in the field of agriculture. It was designed to provide libraries in the developing countries with access to the research literature. TEEAL has been called a "Library in a Box" providing access to indexing and full-text of over 130 important agricultural journals.

 

This Technology Expo presentation will demonstrate the TEEAL system, which has now been placed in over 30 libraries throughout the world. More information about TEEAL can be found at http://teeal.cornell.edu.

 

The impact of TEEAL in the developing world is in its infancy, but there have been "grand openings" and "launchings" in libraries throughout the world. Dr. Theophilous Mlaki of the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology had this to say about TEEAL. "Can you imagine a modern library of agriculture and related science being available for use by a researcher in an institute located in a remote corner of Tanzania? Without TEEAL there was no chance that this world have been possible. With TEEAL, it is now a reality. A reality of accessing information and knowledge, and mastering the new era of information and communication technology."

 

I will send brochures describing TEEAL via regular mail. FYI-- The TEEAL system is being sold below cost to developing countries. It is only available for purchase by institutions in 115 food-deficit countries, so TEEAL cannot be sold to conference attendees.

 

Agriculture Network Information Center (AgNIC) Demonstration

Presenter: Melanie Gardner

Affiliation: National Agricultural Library

Contact Address: National Agricultural Library, 10301 Baltimore Ave., Rm. 013, Beltsville, MD 20705

Email address: mgardner@nal.usda.gov

Co-Presenter: Denyse Struges

Affiliation: American Farmland Trust

 

Abstract: Several of the Agriculture Network Information Center (AgNIC) partners spent the better part of a year working to apply a new software to AgNIC. This collaborative effort has produced a system that meets the goals of the partners to create a truly "distributed" system. This demonstration will provide a look at new features and components of AgNIC such as use of the Dublin Core format, applying thesaurus terms, creating a system that is inter-operable with other systems, and much more.

 

Integrated Pest Management Expertise Database, Southern Region

Contact Presenter: Margaret J. Rotstein

Affiliation: North Carolina State University, NSF Center of Integrated Pest Management

Contact Address: 1017 Main Campus Drive/Suite 1100, NCSU Centennial Campus Box 7553, Raleigh, NC 27606-7553

Email address: peg_rotstein@ncsu.edu

Co-presenter: Ron Stinner (Director, NSF Center for IPM)

 

Abstract: EPA's implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) has created a need for rapid and accurate access to information on alternate pest control strategies. Federal and state agricultural officials, as well as pubic stakeholders, have a very limited time in which to respond to EPA proposals for cancellation of presently labeled pesticides. The implementation of a dynamic, searchable online database of experts in Integrated Pest Management will provide a valuable resource by creating partnerships between IPM experts and individuals seeking accurate, up-to-date, IPM information.

 

At present there are very few searchable expertise databases related to Integrate Pest Management (IPM). There are online searchable databases of Extension Entomologists, PIAP/PAT/IR-4 and international experts. However, these databases represent only a small number of the total IPM experts in the Southern Region.

 

As a response to this need, the NSF Center for Integrated Pest Management has developed a database of IPM experts located in the Southern region of the US. This database is populated with IPM experts representing research and extension personnel, land grant institutions, grower organizations, NGO's and environmental institutes. Rather than a static, unmoderated database, the Expertise IPM Database is checked and kept up-to-date. The database will provide the ability for anyone to search for an IPM expert based on name, location, discipline and expertise. In addition, the database is accessible by experts to enter and keep their information up-to-date.

 

The NSF Center for Integrated Pest Management is a National Science Foundation sponsored, Industry / University Cooperative Research Center. We have a unique ability to promote agricultural information over the Internet by creating partnerships through the evaluation of emerging technologies, information management and dissemination, and integration of disciplinary expertise. Currently, we maintain several web sites devoted to partnershiping, disseminating information, and developing new outreach technologies.

 

Federal/University/Industry Partnership for Dissemination of Special Collections -- an example

Presenter: Susan H. Fugate

Affiliation: National Agricultural Library/ Special Collections

Contact Address: Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, 10301 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705-2351

Email address: sfugate@nal.usda.gov

 

Abstract: Charged with the responsibility to document the history of one of the great successes of American agriculture, the National Agricultural Library (NAL) Special Collections chose a partnership approach to identify, collect, preserve, and disseminate the historic information. NAL built a sizable collection of documents that illustrate the story of the successful eradication of the Screwworm, a devastating livestock parasite of significant economic importance. Teamed with the University of Maryland and Systems Integration Group, NAL Special Collections developed a multi-media CD-ROM to disseminate information about the collection and to publicize their efforts.

 

The Technology Behind AgNIC: Understanding the System Developed by Librarians

Presenter: Tim Lynch

Affiliation: Cornell University

Contact Address: Albert Mann Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4301

Email address: tjl3@cornell.edu

 

Abstract: This "not-so-technical" -- technical presentation will discuss briefly the importance of metadata and the use of the Dublin Core format and controlled vocabulary, and how those are important to the Agriculture Network Information Center (AgNIC) database development (centroids). The presentation will focus on the technical underpinnings of the AgNIC system. We will cover the software behind the AgNIC web site, ROADS (Resource Organization And Discovery in Subject-based services); the whois++ resource discovery protocol and its application to ROADS; and the use of centroids as a technique for linking multiple AgNIC alliance member sites into a distributed, searchable fabric.

 

Finally, we will review how centroids might be effectively employed by alliance members to support local portals and databases for subject-specific domains and conclude with how we will package the AgNIC software for distribution to alliance members and others who might be interested in the system.

 

Conference Page

Original conference site design by Karen Stanley Grigg adapted by Carla Casler

Updated August 21, 2006