Towards a National Policy to provide access to scientific information and data in a developing country Anna María Prat CONICYT-Chile

Open Access Policy In a developing country open access is a different issue  We do not have an editorial industry  We cannot afford access to the world information Our approach to open access is one of extreme necessity:  To make available our research results  To be able to access the world knowledge We invest in science.  We need to assure the availability of the results to everyone  Information is an input to scientific research that has to be paid for

Some Highlights Establishment of the National Research Council, CONICYT. Among its duties:  To ensure access to the scientific and technological information needed to support research  Promote accessibility to the scientific information produced in Chile  Compile the necessary information and data on the national R&D system needed to support science policy decisions.

Some Highlights 1968 Beginning of a program for the compilation and analysis of information and data on the R&D System.  Production of data bases with basic information on researchers, institutions, research projects and publications.  Production of Science and Technology indicators To-day all the information is openly available. An integration program of all the data bases is in progress. A program for the application of new technologies to analyze the data has been undertaken.

Some Highlights Creation of the National Fund for Research and Development  By law, the results of the research projects financed through the Fund have to be available and accessible to all interested persons  Since then, the same applies to the research results produced through other national research funds A data base has been produced, the documents are available and a special service provided This year a National Repository will be open with all the existing information and documents

Some Highlights 1997 Establishment of a program for the electronic edition of selected national research journals.  Conversion of selected existing scientific journals into electronic format through the creation of SciELO Chile adopting the SciELO platform of FAPESP/BIREME The program was the result of a long policy to strengthen national scientific journals, through a National Fund for Scientific Edition, Seminars for editors, and a permanent evaluation process of scientific journals, among others.

Some Highlights 2001 Establishment of a National Consortia, CINCEL, to acquire scientific information for all research institutions in the country.  Participation of the 25 universities receiving governmental financial support and CONICYT  To-day all research institutions, public and private, are welcome to participate  Since 2006, CONICYT finances 50% of the cost of the subscriptions purchased and the participating institutions the other 50%

The panorama To-day SciELO-Chile includes 63 full text journals, in all areas of knowledge, many since  Commitment to Open Access. Many journals have a CC License  More than visits per month.  Considered as Chilean mainstream. Is used as an evaluation instrument. CINCEL. All participating institutions contribute towards the purchase of information according to their potential use capacity. All have access to the same information and data. National repository of research results to be opened by the second semester this year.

Programs outside CONICYT Cybertesis. Open Access to Doctoral, Master and Professional thesis. Developed by the University of Chile and accepted and used by almost all governmental supported universities.  Full text thesis available through University libraries websites  Fully searchable

Programs outside CONICYT Since 2000, by law, all information produced by governmental institutions must be publicly available. Scientific data is usually available through the institutional Web sites The environmental, biodiversity and sustainable development data, are available through SINIA of CONAMA (Nat Commission for the Environment)  Health information through MINSAL (M. of Health) 

Programs outside CONICYT SIGEO. Provides geological information, generated by SERNAGEOMMIN, the National Institute for Geological and Mining Studies.  Contains almost 100 maps (since 1996) of diverse geosciences topics (basic geology, mineral resources, hydric resources, geophysics, geological hazards and environmental geology) and topography,  Databases (radiometric data, chemical analysis, ore deposits, wells),  Processed Satellite images and full-text documents that refer to spatial data. 

Programs outside CONICYT SNIT. The National System for the Coordination of Territorial Information.  Intended to coordinate and integrate all territorial information and data held by Chilean governmental institutions at all levels and in all areas.  Already a metadata catalog of information held by national institutions is on-line and territorial information of different institutions is available SIIT. The Integrated system of Territorial Information of the Library of Congress Integrates data from different national institutions

As a conclusion The legal instruments exist to ensure the public availability of scientific information and data Many efforts have been initiated. Some very successful In general, The information is spread, available but not always accessible An integrating program is needed to allow:  Interoperability of all the information available  Agreement on common standards and protocols  Use of new technologies to assure better access

Still a long way to go !Thank you¡