Report on
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DISCUSSION FORUM ON INFORMATION SERVICESIN THE ASIA-PACIFICBecky Skidmore ASEAN Forest Tree Seed Centre Project, Ottawa, Canada |
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[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8] [Appendix 1] [Appendix 2] [Appendix 3] [Appendix 4] [Appendix 5] [Appendix 6] |
APPENDIX 5 SOURCES OF FORESTRY INFORMATION1Ken Becker and Stephen Rudgard CAB International, Wallingford, United Kingdom INTRODUCTION Well-organised, comprehensive and up-to-date information is essential for creating a knowledge base suitable for planning and implementing effective forestry research programmes. The purpose of this paper is to briefly discuss the role of scientific information in the management of forestry research and then to document established and newer sources and services that are available for use by researchers. "Information" (which can also be termed "objects of knowledge") is contained in numerous forms and various structures, ranging from persons to practical skills and values, written text, etc. In the field of tropical forestry, the 700 or so member institutions of the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO), located in 110 countries and with a network of over 15,000 scientists, collectively generate a vast amount of information. This body of information, recorded in a wide range of publications in many different languages, is being supplemented daily. It is essential that forestry research institutions in developing countries are aware of what is available and have the resources that will allow access to information facilities. In 1986, FAO listed 581 institutions in 104 countries engaged in forestry and forest products research. The number has grown since then. There are at least 77 organisations and 1500 scientists involved in forestry research in Asia. However, scientific strength is concentrated in only a few institutions. In a 1986 survey, five institutions out of a total of 23 accounted for 50% of the total research capacity. The state of forestry research in the Asia-Pacific region in general, and also when compared with agriculture, is poor in terms of funding, leadership, skilled staff, salaries, training and scientific facilities. These factors have produced a poor research environment and, in conjunction with the lack of information resources, they severely constrain innovation and progress by forestry research institutions in the region. In order to encourage innovation and overall progress, it is imperative that developing countries invest in forestry research. The knowledge generated must be shared between the scientific and technological communities, policy makers and the general public. Improved communication and co-operation between researchers and decision makers will facilitate greater use of scientific and technical information and knowledge in policy formulation and programme implementation, helping to achieve the objective of more sustainable management of forests. ESTABLISHED SOURCES OF FORESTRY INFORMATION It is essential for forestry research institutions to have ready access either to what is already known or to the information resources necessary to find out what is known in all fields related to forestry. In the absence of such access, resources may be wasted by duplicating research, opportunities to learn from other's experiences may be lost, and decisions may be taken without studying their proper environmental and social consequences. The established sources of forestry information are discussed under three categories below. Forestry literature (Primary publications) Forestry literature in the form of primary publications represents an important medium for the transfer of knowledge and is available in many formats, including serials (journals and bulletins), books, reports, conference proceedings, monographs, dissertations2, standards, patents, maps, laws and non-conventional (or grey) literature. There are some major forestry libraries in developing countries, but the state of collections in most is discouraging. The main reason lies in the limited financial resources of these institutions, thus ruling out the possibility of maintaining large numbers and ranges of primary documents independently. The Core Literature in Agricultural Sciences Project initiated by the Mann Library, Cornell University, USA, to identify the core agricultural literature for both the developed and developing worlds will be of considerable assistance in managing several areas of library and literature collection.3 The resulting studies will provide evaluation tools and title compilations for agricultural literature4 for the developing world as a portion of the entire study. The final product will be the storage, page by page, of the core literature on compact discs. Secondary publications Compilations of abstracts from multiple sources constitute secondary publications. The abstracts assist users in their search for information in a cost- and time-efficient manner, by helping researchers to decide immediately whether to read the paper itself or whether there is enough information in the abstract to meet their needs. It is difficult to identify one particular database as the best source of forestry information, as they tend to complement each other. The three most valuable sources of secondary information for forestry researchers are: (1) AGRICOLA, the indexing database of the US National Agricultural Library; (2) AGRIS, the bibliographic database of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); and (3) CAB ABSTRACTS, the bibliographic database compiled by CAB INTERNATIONAL. Besides the regular printed versions, databases may be available on floppy disks, on-line and on CD-ROM. The databases which constitute the major sources of secondary information in forestry are listed later in this paper. Tertiary publications At this level we are dealing with reviews of the state of knowledge on specific subjects, often created with input from subject experts. The content of tertiary publications can consist of sub-sets and/or selections of abstracts, with review articles and other features. At the tertiary publications level we are moving from information provision towards knowledge management, a process discussed later. THE ROLE OF ESTABLISHED COMPUTER-BASED SYSTEMS Two computer-based modes of information transfer which have become established in the past 10 to 20 years are online availability of databases and CD-ROM technology. Online Online searching is the process of directly interrogating computer systems to resolve particular requests for information (Hartley et al. 1990). Online document retrieval allows remote access and searching of document reference collections via computer terminals connected to telecommunication lines. The search is usually conducted by means of a keyboard and screen, which communicate through a computer system and a modem to access files of data, possibly at a remote location. The search process is dynamic and interactive, allowing the searcher to refine the original request and continue the process until the best possible results are obtained. Online access is more cost- and time-effective than the print medium. Access may be through a host and by subscription or through the World Wide Web. CD-ROM Online access to remote databases by means of computers and modems is dependent on the existence of an adequate and reliable telecommunications infrastructure. In many developing countries such a network scarcely exists. In cases where it does, the high cost of acquiring online information can make the process prohibitively expensive. Charges vary according to online host, size of file, "heavy use" discount, changes in royalty, etc. CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory) technology overcomes these constraints and provides a cost-effective way of accessing data irrespective of the size or duration of the searches, using only a personal computer, a CD-ROM player and a printer. CD-ROM technology has been revolutionary mainly because of its exceptional storage capacity. CD-ROM technology enables entire collections of books to be put on a single CD-ROM approximately 240,000 A4 pages of text (or 1500 floppy disks), or 7500 pictures in digitised format, or about 74 minutes of sound alone, can be put on a CD-ROM 120 mm in diameter and 1 mm thick. Data access and retrieval using CD-ROM is much faster than referring to printed indexes. As a result, many of the databases that are important for forestry researchers are also available in CD-ROM format. BIBLIOGRAPHIC AND RESEARCH DATABASES RELEVANT TO FORESTRY Bibliographic databases The three main bibliographic databases relevant to forestry are:
Other bibliographic databases with forestry coverage
Research databases Major databases documenting current research activities in forestry are:
THE INTERNET The Internet is the world-wide network of networks connected to each other using the IP protocol suite. The Internet has revolutionised the supply side of information, creating a new online world that is becoming increasingly attractive to researchers, scientists, businesses and professionals at every level and in every discipline. In May 1969, four computers were linked to the Internet. By January 1996, the number of host computers reached 10,000,000.6 An October 1996 estimate of the number of Internet users was 40-50 million.7 The volume of information available on the Internet is increasing rapidly: at present, hundreds of new Internet sites appear every day. Clearly, the Internet should now be considered as providing an appropriate mechanism for communication between forestry researchers in all countries. Connecting a computer to the Internet is similar to connecting a telephone to the phone system. All that is needed to connect to the Internet is a computer, a modem and an account with an Internet service provider. Internet connection can range from a full connection via a local area network (LAN) to limited dial up connections using a terminal emulation package. Burk (1995) provides a good summary of Internet basics and of how to connect to the Internet. The World Wide Web, Telnet, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Gopher and electronic mail (or e-mail) are some of the facets of the Internet, each with their associated specialist software that allows one computer to communicate with another computer. Any permanently connected computer can be an information site on the Internet and is recognised by a unique number (IP or Internet Protocol Number such as 129.1.67.1) or an address (e.g., vax.oxford.ac.uk). There is an international numbering and addressing system based on country codes and organisation type codes. The Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is an address that specifies the location of a file on the Internet. Personal e-mail addresses are often in the format: user name@host name.organisation.country. A survey made in late 1995 by the Forest Products Society (Vlosky and Gazo 1996) on use of the Internet by members of the Society found that the most commonly used Internet functions were e-mail (used by 58% of respondents) and the World Wide Web (used by 46% of respondents). Many university forestry schools, forestry libraries, forestry agencies, forestry extension services, forestry companies and forestry consultancies are developing Web sites. It is clear that there has been a rapid uptake of Internet facilities, and Web sites for forestry organisations and businesses based in South-east Asia are appearing. The trend towards world-wide uptake of Internet facilities is sure to continue during the late 1990s at an accelerating rate. The World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW, W3, "the Web") is a popular application that enables users to find and view the information on the Internet. The basic concept behind the WWW is "hypertext", whereby one resource can be linked to any other information on the Web. There is no formal organisation of the WWW and anyone can set up and maintain a WWW site. One of the common criticisms of the Internet is that it is difficult to find particular information owing to the huge amount of information available and the lack of a formal organisation of this information. However, there are some effective and efficient ways of "navigating" the WWW which can make it easier to find relevant information.8 Various resources to help users are located on the Web itself. Green and Sommer (1995) provide a useful summary of World Wide Web basics for forestry. A "Web Browser" is software which enables the WWW user to find, read, download and print Web pages. These exist for all major operating systems, including MSDOS (DOSLYNX), Microsoft Windows (Netscape, Microsoft Internet Explorer), Mac System 7 (Netscape), 0S/2 (Web Explorer) and Unix systems. The software operates using the Internet protocol (TCP/IP) to "talk" to the remote computer. Web pages, written in HyperText Markup Language (HTML), can consist of text and graphics, and contain hypertext links which are usually operated by clicking with a mouse to jump to a new location. This may be on the same computer or at a completely different site in another country. Once a page is loaded, it may be "saved" to disk or printed. The browser software will also access Gopher and FTP sites, and Newsgroups. The following descriptions refer to the commonly used browser, Netscape for Windows.9 Information on the Internet can be accessed by (1) typing an address, (2) re-accessing pages using "Bookmarks", and (3) searching using "Search engines". Direct access To access a site directly, the address may be typed into the Location box. Addresses may vary based on the type of software used. Once the site has been accessed, further sites may be accessed by clicking on the highlighted hypertext links. Many heavily used sites have identical mirror sites located on different computers at different locations. If there is a choice of identical sites, it is usually quicker and cheaper to look at the nearest site. Bookmarks Once a useful site has been located, a personal or local index can be kept which allows repeated access. This is managed by use of the "Bookmarks" facility. A menu appears at the top of the screen with the commands "add bookmark" and "view" (or "go to") "bookmarks". The current URL is then added to Bookmarks. Click on the bookmark and you will go to the requested page. Search engines To locate information when the address is not known, use a "search engine". Search engines are databases located on remote computers with forms for inputting requests and output screens containing the references as hypertext links. Information providers may "submit" their addresses to the major indexes or the database systems may search the web automatically to find new information ("spider-based" search engines such as the World Wide Web Worm or WebCrawler). Netscape maintains its own search engine and some others, which can be accessed through hypertext links in Netscape. In addition, specific geographical and subject-oriented lists are maintained at a number of sites. These provide hypertext links to a large number of sites. Several lists cover all subjects, including forestry, and are indexed. There is also the WWW Virtual Library which contains the Forestry Virtual Library which is discussed below. Some of these engines process huge amounts of information. Rapid advances are being made in Web search facilities, which will help improve both the comprehensiveness and the specificity of information retrieved from the Internet. There are several sites acting as guides to the use of search engines or as collections of search engines. Forestry information on the Internet10 [Note: Sources of information on the Internet are changing rapidly. Some mail addresses and URLs may have changed since this paper was prepared.] Mailing lists Electronic mailing lists are lists of groups of people sharing similar interests who exchange their views on various topics within the particular interest area using e-mail by way of a central list address. These lists are often run automatically from a list server (which serves e-mail messages to a list of addresses) and anyone wishing to subscribe to the list can do so by sending a SUBSCRIBE command to the subscription address. Any messages sent to the group list address are then automatically forwarded to all members of the list. Many lists also maintain archives of messages. Some mailing lists of relevance to forestry are:
Newsgroups on Usenet Usenet News (netnews) is a decentralised discussion system that allows the world-wide transmission of electronic messages in a standard format using an inter-connected network of computers. The messages, grouped in categories called newsgroups, contain information about the sender and the newsgroup to which it is posted in the header lines. The newsgroups may be distributed locally, regionally or internationally. Two important newsgroups dealing directly with forestry-related subject matter are:
Many files that appear periodically in the newsgroups can be obtained by e-mail from mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu. Instructions can be obtained by transmitting a message with the subject: HELP. Bulletin boards Electronic bulletin board systems (BBSs) are computer services for which connection has to be made to a specific computer, normally by Telnet (a program that allows login to other computers on the Internet) or by a packet switching system. BBSs are also called "computer conferences" or "electronic notice-boards". They are usually on small computers run by local interest groups that interested parties can connect to using their computer and a modem. Although many bulletin boards are free, some of them are accessible only with a password and require a fee for their use. BBSs may also provide a personal mailbox, access to databases, bibliographies, etc. Agricultural bulletin boards may also contain information relevant to forestry researchers. Some BBSs relevant to forestry are: FedWorld, CUFAN, UNEPNET-LAC, EcoNet, Greennet, LTERnet. BBS sites can also be located by entering the BBS name into a search engine. Electronic publications An increasing number of forestry-related publications are becoming available on the Web. Various forestry journals are making some of their information content available on the Web. The full text of many research and conference papers, government regulations, international guidelines (such as the International Tropical Timber Agreement), bibliographies, lists of publications, etc. is available on the Web. Documents which must be updated frequently are especially appropriate to publish electronically. Electronic publications with full online functionality (e.g., access to abstract, full text and graphics; sophisticated search facilities; comprehensive archives; automatic search profiles; and links to related information) currently comprise only a tiny fraction of the available print versions. No available titles in forestry can be cited at present. Three forestry-related electronic Newsletters are:
Important forestry and related sites on the WWW Some of the important forestry sites available in October 1996 include:
FROM INFORMATION TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT As we have seen above in the discussion on the Internet, modern technology can provide easy access to huge masses of information. However, being given information is merely to become informed. Being able to assign meaning to the information received is to become knowledgeable (Tecglen 1992). Knowledge management systems provide not just access to stored information but also access to the meaning of that information. An appropriately designed knowledge management system uses expert knowledge (i.e., expertise) on a subject to guide decision making. The advantage of such a system is that it enables the expertise it has captured to be widely disseminated in a user-friendly form that answers questions in its subject area easily and rapidly. Information technology can be used to organise wide-ranging knowledge (encyclopaedia systems) and/or to apply a subset of knowledge to answer specific questions (advisory systems). The problem of access to knowledge has been seen as particularly relevant to tropical and sub-tropical forestry in the less-developed countries. As an example, CAB INTERNATIONAL (CABI), in collaboration with the Oxford Forestry Institute, has identified a strongly expressed user need for a knowledge management system on the characteristics of tree species important for forestry in the Asia-Pacific region. In response to this need, CABI, in collaboration with CIFOR and in consultation with many other institutions involved in Asia-Pacific forestry, has formulated plans to develop an Electronic Compendium for Forestry in the Asia-Pacific Region (EFC-Asia Pacific). The Electronic Compendium concept, initially developed by CABI for crop protection, is in fact a tertiary level publication as defined earlier in this paper. The EFC-Asia Pacific will be a comprehensive resource on species characteristics relevant to the conservation, management and use of economically important forest trees of the Asia-Pacific. A key feature will be reviews, prepared by experts, of the knowledge base on each of these species, expressed in terms of the application of this knowledge to forestry practice. The EFC-Asia Pacific will contain species reviews, bibliographies, abstracts, illustrations, maps, and taxonomic and multi-lingual terminological databases, all linked by user-friendly search software. In addition to the encyclopaedia system, the EFC-Asia Pacific will also include an advisory system in the form of an interactive guide to species selection. The Compendium will be presented on CD-ROM for use on personal computers, with appropriate links to the Internet for access and updating. The eventual overall goal is development of a Global Forestry Compendium. CONCLUSION The discussion above about the Internet may give the impression that the everyone across the world will soon be using computer networks with access to powerful (and increasingly intelligent) search engines that will extract information from tens of millions of sites on the World Wide Web in seconds. The pace of change is indeed exciting, rapid and accelerating in the North, and has certainly not left the South untouched, as the Web sites for certain South-east Asian forestry institutions and businesses show. It has been stated that, at the present rate of increase, the number of people connected to the Internet will equal the current (that is, 1996) world population by the year 2002 (Rashbass 1996). However, in order to give a more rounded perspective on the current global situation it may be useful to quote from the Pactok home page cited above, as follows: "Contrary to the impression engendered by media myth-makers, the Infobahn still effectively begins and ends on the campuses of first world universities and in the offices of a few technologically adventurous corporations and individuals. Beyond these domains of privilege the superhighway quickly becomes a chaotic pattern of secondary roads dwindling to bush track status in most parts of a world where six out of seven people don't have access to a telephone." It is difficult, if not impossible, to predict the technological, economic and legislative changes that will influence the transfer of forestry information (and knowledge) over the next few years. Some indications of current trends have been discussed above. However, developments are occurring so rapidly that certain topics mentioned in this paper are rapidly becoming of historical interest only. This applies, for example, to File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which is "vanishing into the mists of Internet time" because downloading files using the latest versions of Netscape Navigator is so easy (Lojkine 1996). At present, as far as forestry is concerned, the Internet is mainly of use to provide information on people and institutions access to hard data and full text documents is very limited. Although many research scientists and information technologists may be impatient with the slow move towards a "critical mass" of full text information on the Internet, an entire large sector of the world economy, the publishing industry, requires income from its products in order to survive. Difficult questions regarding how to pay for high-quality information on the Internet, and major difficulties in the area of copyright law, will need to be solved before "virtual libraries" on the Internet begin to reflect the contents of "real" libraries. Also, advances in telecommunications systems are needed to improve the speed of data transfer through cyberspace. In spite of these constraints, some publishers, as mentioned above, are moving ahead boldly towards comprehensive availability of full-text products on the Internet. As the quantity of forestry information grows in both hard-copy and electronic formats and, hopefully, as ready access to the forestry knowledge base improves, interesting times lie ahead for forestry information providers, intermediaries and users. REFERENCES Brines, R. 1996. Net publishing. In J. Rashbass (ed.), Trends Guide to the Internet. UK, Elsevier. pp. 12-13. (URL: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/trendsguide) Brooks, K. 1980. A comparison of the coverage of agricultural and forestry literature on AGRICOLA, BIOSIS, CAB ABSTRACTS and SciSearch. Database March, p. 44. Burk, T.E. 1995. Forestry on the Internet: an introduction. Journal of Forestry 93(5): 6-7, 50-54. Green, C.C. and D.A. Sommer. 1995. The World Wide Web: what's in it for foresters? Journal of Forestry 93(12): 24-29. Hartley, J.A., E.M. Keen, J.A. Large and L.A. Tedd. 1990. Online Searching: Principles and Practice. Bowker-Saur, London. p. 1. Krol, E. 1996. The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalogue. Second Edition. O'Reilly and Associates, Sabastapol, California. Lojkine, M. 1996. The ultimate head to head (Netscape vs Microsoft). .net Issue 25, November, pp. 47-50. (http://www.futurenet.co.uk) McDonald, P. 1996. Characteristics of forestry and agroforestry literature. In P. McDonald and J. Lassoie (eds), The Literature of Forestry and Agroforestry. Cornell University Press, Ithaca. pp. 71-72. Rashbass, J. 1996. Editorial. In J. Rashbass (ed.), Trends Guide to the Internet. Elsevier. UK. p. 3. Tecglen, E.H. 1992. The anguish of abundance. In E. Poultney, J. Cruz, F. Magagnin and D. Vernet (eds), Leonardo: the Age of Discoveries. The Independent, London. pp. 159-160. Vlosky, R.P. and R. Gazo. 1996. The Internet and the forest products community: the role of the Forest Products Society. Forest Products Journal 46(5): 19-25. Note: Fuller information on the various databases and sites are available from the Editor, CIFOR. 1 Based in part on a manuscript prepared for FORSPA by Arun Kashyap and Timothy Green (CAB INTERNATIONAL), with assistance from Andrew Speedy (Oxford Forestry Institute). 2 Forestry dissertations have a greater influence in developing countries' research literature. It has also been observed that forestry dissertations in these countries relate more to the biological sciences than to economics, engineering or forest management and policy (McDonald 1996). 3 For further information, please contact W.C. Olsen., Core Literature Project, Albert R Mann Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-4301, USA. Fax: (607) 255-0318. 4 The areas of the agricultural sciences designated for concentrated study include: Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Agricultural Engineering, Animal Science and Diseases, Soil Science, Food Science and Human Nutrition, Plant Protection and Improvement, and Forestry and Silviculture. 5 An earlier study had found that of the four principal databases (AGRICOLA, BIOSIS, CAB ABSTRACTS and SciSEARCH) that are available, AGRICOLA usually was the first choice because of it being the least expensive of the four. However, CAB ABSTRACTS is often chosen because abstracts are available. SciSearch is often the last database to be searched in a multi-database database search and BIOSIS searches are usually the most relevant in ecologically oriented requests (Brooks 1980). 6 from "Ask Dr Internet, Oct 96" (lis-iis). 7 The Economist, October 19th 1996, p. 28. 8 For fuller descriptions and accounts, see one of the numerous popular publications about the Internet, for example: Krol (1996). 9 See the discussion on the current "battle" between Netscape Navigator 3.0 and Microsoft Explorer 3.0 in .net magazine, Issue 25, November 1996, pp. 44-62. (http://www.futurenet.co.uk) 10 This discussion has been largely taken from J. Saarikko. Forestry Information Resources on the Internet; URL:http://www.metla.fi/ ~saarikko/doc/forestry-resources.html.Discussion Forum on Information Services in the Asia-Pacific |