Report on
Discussion Forum on Information Services in the Asia-Pacific
and
AGRIS/CARIS in the 21st Century
an Asia-Pacific Regional Consultation

Edited by Michael Ibach and Yvonne Byron

DISCUSSION FORUM ON INFORMATION SERVICES

IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC

Becky Skidmore

ASEAN Forest Tree Seed Centre Project, Ottawa, Canada

List of Acronyms

[Chapter 1]
Introduction

[Chapter 2]
Forestry Information Initiatives

[Chapter 3]
Collaboration

[Chapter 4]
The Survey

[Chapter 5]
The Discussion Forum

[Chapter 6]
Final Action Plans

[Chapter 7]
Keynote Papers

[Chapter 8]
Conclusions

[References]

[Appendix 1]
Survey Questionnaire

[Appendix 2]
Forestry Information Services in the Asia-Pacific Region

[Appendix 3]
The Future for Scientific Publishing and Information in the Asia-Pacific Region

[Appendix 4]
Information Services at IUFRO

[Appendix 5]
Sources of Forestry Information

[Appendix 6]
List of Participants

As emphasised in the table, the need for an integrated and focused information policy and strategy was seen as crucial to the development of an effective forestry information system. All DF participants recognised that such an information system would not be able to develop and flourish without management (i.e., policy) commitment and support at both national and institutional levels. Managers are the resource allocators, but also the policy and decision makers, who "make the powerful linkage between the availability of information and its use, and its impact on their own decision making" (Stone 1993). In order to obtain the necessary management support, library and information managers must be able to convince managers of the value of information and information systems in contributing to the national objectives. In the words of Menou (1991):

Whatever importance high level decision makers may attach to special information activities, particularly libraries and information services, their main concern is increasingly with the efficiency of organizations and their ability to fulfil their mandate, which is basically to channel the resources geared toward socio-economic development ... A financial benefit is the only rationale decision makers under severe economic pressure could regard seriously.

Discussion Forum participants resolved to use the upcoming APAFRI /FORSPA meeting in March 1997 as an opportunity to demonstrate to national forestry managers instances where information and/or information technology have contributed to national development. Regional representatives from the DF group, India, Vietnam and China (and possibly Forest Research Institute in Malaysia (FRIM)) will collect case studies and information on existing information policies/ strategies which have contributed to socio-economic development. CABI will assist the regional representatives by providing literature search facilities while CIFOR will play a co-ordinating role. The large presence of international agencies in this process seemed appropriate to all members of the Discussion Forum. Agha and Akhtar (1992) refer to the role of aid agencies in national policy development "as catalysts to lend weight to a process that may or may not fail depending on local vigour".

Similarly, the need to improve the ability of ISU units and staff to meet user demands pro-actively and to establish a core of well-trained ISU staff (and users) through an integrated programme of training was also seen as an appropriate topic for discussion at the upcoming APAFRI/FORSPA meeting. If managers could be convinced of the value of information in contributing to national and institutional goals, they would also be sensitised to the training needs of information staff and users in developing effective information systems. DF participants stressed the importance of including all categories of people (i.e., information managers and other ISU staff, producers, editors, users) when considering training needs.

Finally, the importance of establishing a communication network to improve the effectiveness of forestry information services in the Asia-Pacific region, was also recognised by the group. Many members of the DF already had e-mail and internet access. Those who did not were asked to determine the associated cost (e.g., telephone line, modem, service provider) of establishing such a service and report back to CIFOR. CIFOR will investigate possibilities to provide support for e-mail connections, facilitate communication amongst the group and others sharing similar concerns. As a further enhancement, IUFRO would assist in establishing home pages for those institutions possessing the appropriate technology.

As part of the commitment to the future development of forestry networking in the region, all participants at the Discussion Forum agreed to the immediate establishment of a network with themselves as core members. For the time being, this would be an informal network but formal recognition of the network, with name and charter, would be developed at the APAFRI/FORSPA meeting in March 1997. Table 3 presents the actions agreed upon by the group.