FAO: Online scientific information on food and agriculture for poorest countries

Online scientific information on food and agriculture for poorest countries
 
AGORA offers students and academics free or low-cost access to scientific 
literature
 
14 October 2003, Rome -- Students, researchers and academics in some of the 
world's poorest countries will gain free or low-cost access to a wealth of 
scientific literature under a new initiative announced today by FAO and a 
range of public and private sector partners. 

The AGORA (Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture) initiative will 
provide access to more than 400 key journals in food, nutrition, agriculture 
and related biological, environmental and social sciences. 

The demand for scientific literature in developing countries has gone 
unfulfilled for many years. Gaining access to current scientific information 
has become a daily struggle for thousands of students, researchers and 
academics. 

A promising example 

While students are unable to access the literature and acquire the knowledge 
they need, researchers and academics are confronted with mounting 
difficulties in publishing their findings in peer-reviewed journals, updating 
their teaching curricula and identifying funding. 

"The AGORA initiative is a promising example of the International Alliance 
Against Hunger in action," according to Anton Mangstl, Director of FAO's 
Library and Documentation Systems Division. 

International Alliance Against Hunger is the theme of this year's World Food 
Day - 16 October - which marks the anniversary of FAO. 

"By bringing together bilateral agencies, UN agencies, private foundations 
and international scientific publishers, AGORA demonstrates that the public 
and private sectors can work together to build greater momentum towards 
building a world without hunger," Mr. Mangstl said. 

International cooperation 

Founding publishers of AGORA are : Blackwell Publishing ; CABI Publishing ; 
Elsevier ; Kluwer Academic Publishers ; Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 
Nature Publishing Group ; Oxford University Press ; Springer Verlag ; and 
John Wiley and Sons. 

Funding and support is also provided by Cornell University Mann Library, 
Rockefeller Foundation, the United Kingdom Department for International 
Development and the United States Agency for International Development. 

Eric Swanson, Senior Vice-President of John Wiley and Sons, Inc, and Chair of 
the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers 
said: "There can be few things more satisfying to a scientific publisher than 
to contribute to a practical program to make valuable information easily 
available in places where it will be used to improve health, nutrition and 
education of the world's poor." 

"I look forward to working with FAO, academic institutions and the computing 
and telecommunications industries to make this important initiative live up 
to its full potential," Mr. Swanson also said. 

"FAO is committed to strengthening capacity for knowledge generation and 
dissemination as a contribution to achievement of the goals of the 
International Alliance Against Hunger and as a follow-up to the World Food 
Summit," Mr. Mangstl stated. 

The AGORA website has been developed in close cooperation between FAO and 
Cornell University, with funding provided by the Rockefeller Foundation, 
based on tools and systems developed by WHO for a similar service in health 
called HINARI. 

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Contact: 
Pierre Antonios 
FAO Media Relations Officer 
pierre.antonios@fao.org 
(+39) 06 570 53473 


SOURCE: Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome