1. Agricultural Information Initiatives: Implications for Developing Country Services
Barbara Hutchinson
World Ag Info Workshop 1:
Knowledge Systems
Cornell University
October 2, 2007

2. Background the WEB In the beginning… Then… AGRICOLA CAB Abstracts
AGRIS
Then…
the WEB

3. The Result Proliferation of… Opportunities for… Challenges to…
- isolated websites
- gateways and portals
- integrated, interactive information systems
Opportunities for…
- targeted content for specific stakeholders
Challenges to…
- digitize collections/build repositories
- agree to common standards
- provide open access

4. The Response International Context Coherence Initiatives
Millennium Development Goals
World Summit on the Information Society
Coherence Initiatives
COAIM workshops in 2000 & 2002
Publication of “Fertile Ground” in 2003
Results of stakeholder surveys,
1st Expert Consultation on IISAST in 2005
Task Forces: Advocacy, Content Mgt, & Capacity Bldg
“e-Agriculture week” in September 2007

5. North American Collaborative Initiatives
Preservation Program
USAIN/Cornell – NEH-funded
Historical agricultural literature
Portals
AgNIC (NAL, Land-grant universities & others)
eXtension (USDA/CSREES)
Repositories
AgEcon Search Open Source repository
Proposed AgNIC initiatives for “born digital” and “re-born digital” agricultural materials

6. Federated Searching

7. Portal to Synthesized Information

8. Takes user to Babel Fish online translation service

9. Delivering Best Practices

10. Organizations, Projects, Experts, & Events

11. Services

13. My lessons learned… Just Use Your Hands…
Technical Side
Blogs
Wikis
Tags
Feeds
Mash-ups
Human Dimensions
People
Access
Participation
Content
= Change
With many spider webs, you can tie up a lion!