by Maria Porta, University of Illinois
by Maria Porta, University of Illinois
Lillian Mesner distributed a list of trade publications which she compiled as an aftermath of the previous meeting. The group discussedthe importance of such publications for extension personnel and students.
The discussions then shifted to the Extension publications and their importance for the agricultural community. Highlights included:
NAL is preparing a survey asking the land-grants what they are doing with their agricultural experiment station and extension publications. It was suggested that the survey also appear on the USAIN listserv so it can be open to comments from other sectors interested inagricultural information.
The attendees reaffirmed the importance of AGRICOLA as the database of first choice for the agricultural community in the US. They voiced tothe NAL representatives at the meeting their satisfaction with the assignment of descriptors.
Some questions raised:
--Should the focus of AGRICOLA be just research or should it include more popular
materials?
--Could USAIN support indexing activities of such publications at the land grants? Could this be related to institutional memberships?
Actions:
Convener:
Maria Porta Agriculture Library University of Illinois 1301 W. Gregory Urbana, IL
61801 USA
Phone: +1-217-333-7687
Fax: +1-217-333-0598
E-mail: mporta@uiuc.edu
The new Changing Information Environment Interest Group convened for the first time at USAIN/IAALD '97 with a combination panel presentation and discussion entitled, "Rewriting the Rules: Coping with Change in the Information Chain." The panel consisted of representatives from different sectors of the information industry: Pat Craumer (Head of Partner Publishing, Silver Platter Information, Inc.),Ann McKee (Subscription Agent, B. H. Blackwell), and Michael Somers (Librarian, Kansas State University). The session was moderated by Interest Group co-convener Andrea Powell (CAB International), who also doubled as the primary publisher representative.
The panelists were asked to consider the following issues:
Most of these themes had already been addressed elsewhere during the conference, but in a more formal setting. This discussion was informal and audience participation was encouraged. During the nearly two-hour discussion, no real solutions were uncovered, but ideas and opinions were shared in a lively dialogue that we hope will set thetone for future meetings of this new group.
Among the significant points made by the panelists and others were:
--there's still room for all the usual players, but they're not going to be able to do
things in the same way; they will have to adapt inorder to survive.
--the more information we get, the more we think we need, but it's really too much of a
feast to consume; how do we move from information to knowledge?
--we need to understand and appreciate the other players' roles and be aware of the
challenges faced by each sector of the information industry; while we are all struggling
with rapid change, certain challenges are particular to each sector.
--partner-publishing is an example of the different sectors workingtogether.
--we are seeing a paradigm shift from publication to communication, at least for S-T-M;
authors will control process and product.
--for electronic journals, the big question is how will they be viewed in terms of
promotion and tenure; publishers are taking a "wait andsee" approach.
--we need to be proactive, not reactive.
--we must remember that there is a user at the end of the information chain.
--for libraries, costs continue to rise, but can't be passed on to the consumer.
--is the gulf between the information rich and the information poor insurmountable?
--we need to think in terms of the "integration" of access and ownership rather
than access "versus" ownership.
--publishers are trapped in a limbo where subscribers want electronic access, but don't
want to part with print access yet.
--the subscription model will survive, but we also need a transaction-based model.
--we are being presented with new resourcing opportunities, such as advertising on search
engines. --it would be better to have a non-profit third party archiving electronic
journals, rather than publishers or subscription agents.
The depth and breadth of the discussion was very encouraging. Based upon this rousing beginning, co-conveners Debbie Currie and Andrea Powell have great expectations for the future of this new group. If you would like to join in the fun, please contact one of us and let us know (e-mail addresses below).
Many thanks to our panelists for their stimulating comments and tothose who attended the session. We hope to see you again soon!
Co-conveners:
Debra Currie
Middleton Reference Services
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803-3300
Phone: +1-504-388-8538
Fax: +1-504-388-6992
E-mail: notdlc@lsuvm.sncc.lsu.edu
Andrea Powell
Publishing Division
CAB International
Wallingford, Oxon OX10 8DE
United Kingdom
Phone: +44-1491-832111
Fax: +44-1491-826090
E-mail: a.powell@cabi.org
The Collection Management and Rural Information Interest Groups joined forces to
present a panel at the 1997 USAIN/IAALD Conference titled"Agricultural Grey
Literature, Alternative Literature, and State and Local Documents: Problems and Solutions
for Information Management." The room was full with approximately 50 participants.
The panel conveners were Tim McKimmie and Jodee Kawasaki. The panelists were:
Patricia Rodkewich (focus: improving access to academic working papers) Peggy Johnson
(removing barriers to remote electronic access)
Diana Farmer (preservation of experiment station and extension pubs)
Karl Schneider (social aspects of grey literature/technological interfaces)
Carol Warriner (The ATTRA sustainable agriculture services)
It became apparent that even a definition of grey literature (in fact even the spelling, "grey" or "gray") could be elusive. There are many problems in dealing with grey literature and each panelist provided aspecific focus. Participants from the audience during the second hour of discussion brought forward additional definitions as well as problems of identification and access.
Agricultural literature in particular, has a lot of grey literature that needs to be identified, collected, indexed (and bibliographically described), and preserved. A great deal of agricultural "literature"is alternative literature; is known only to indigenous cultures (as oneof the keynote speakers noted), or is distributed as reports that never make it to the mainstream. An enormous amount of valuable information remains grey. A cooperative plan of action is needed to begin making these materials accessible.
Some questions and ideas posed were:
--How does the WWW fit in with the topic of grey literature? Is ithelping solve grey
literature problems or creating even more greyliterature?
--What ways can we work together to divide up the duties of providing greater access? For
example, AGNIC now provides a good model for division of labor and providing subject
access. Should there be a "grey literature" section on AGNIC or could grey
literature be dealt with on selected subject pages within AGNIC?
--Can we use unanswerable reference questions (such as on sustainable agriculture) to
provide direction to grey literature or even to neededresearch?
One of the things lacking from the discussions were concrete examples of grey literature. Nor was consensus on how to go about attacking the problems achieved. However, the idea for "GREY LITERATURE II: Examples, Difficulties, Solutions" as a possible panel session for USAIN 1999 was born. Perhaps we can get a start on this by beginning now to develop lists of areas of difficulty regarding gray literature.
Convener: Collection Management:
Tim McKimmie
Library
New Mexico State University
Box 30006, Dept. 3475
Las Curces, MN 88003-0006
Phone: +1-505-646-7483
Fax: +1-505-646-7477
E-mail: tmckimmi@lib.nmsu.edu
Convener: Rural Information:
Jodee Kawasaki
Library
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717-0332
Phone: +1-406-994-6549
Fax: +1-406-994-2851
E-mail:
alijk@gemini.oscs.montana.edu
Speakers and their topics included:
Biddanda Ponnappa (University of Tennessee)--"Document Delivery for a Global
Clientele: Prospects for the 21st Century;"
Victor Desroches (Director, Canadian Agricultural Library and Information Management
Services of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)--"CAL-CISTI Partnership for Document
Delivery;"
Mary McCarthy (Head of Access Services, Arizona Health SciencesLibrary, University of
Arizona)--"Docline;"
John Eilts (Ariel Product Manager, Research Libraries Group)--"ArielSoftware for
Document Delivery."
Important issues for the future include business perspectives of document delivery; cost and speed of document delivery; copyright concerns; bibliographic description and indexing of literature; and,agreement on which libraries will purchase or obtain copies of the literature so that other institutions may borrow this material.
Convener:
B.P. Ponnappa
Head, Agri-Vet Med. Library
University of Tennessee
A-113 Veterinary Teaching Hospital
Knoxville, TN 37996-4500
Phone: +1-423-974-4546
Fax: +1-423-974-4732
E-mail: ponnappa@utk.edu
The Social Issues interest group sponsored a discussion of the topic,"Bridging Traditional Knowledge of Place with Technical Environmental Knowledge."
Speakers Gary Paul Nabhan and Kimberly Buck, from the Arizona SonoranDesert Museum, discussed a project they are working on to collect and make available cultural knowledge of traditional peoples in Mexico. Their research revealed that institutions need to maintain a cultural sense of place and that individuals have to be encouraged to share information across generations and protect the knowledge that is most in danger of being lost. The project involved many hours of oral interviews with long time residents of the area to gain information about how changes in life styles have effected the community. Nabhan and Buck also described their seed saver project among Native Americans in the Southwest. Some of the discussion focused on the loss of native varieties of plants and the effects and benefits of biotechnology and selective breeding on local varieties. Seed saver projects have been launched to protect native varieties that have become adapted to regional conditions. The speakers highlighted the following as a resource: Valuing Local Knowledge : Indigenous People and Intellectual Property Rights, edited by Stephen B. Brushand Doreen Stabinsky, published by Island Press in Washington, DC, in1996.
Convener:
Irwin Weintraub
Agriculture Resource Librarian
Stephen & Lucy Chang Science Library
Rutgers University, Foran Hall
P.O. Box 231
New Brunswick, NJ 08903-0231
Phone: +1-908-932-0305
Fax: +1-908-932-0311
E-mail: iweintra@rci.rutgers.edu