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- About the event
The 7th US/Central and Eastern European Agricultural Library
Roundtable was held between May 23 - 28, 1999 in Moscow in the Czech and Slovak
Center of Commerce and Technics, Krasnogo Mayaka Street, 19. There were 51participants
who had come from 19 countries and several national and international organizations.
The programme started with welcome and introductory speaches
by representatives of the host institutions such as the Central Scientific Agricultural
Library in Moscow, and the Ministry of the Agriculture and Food of the Russian
Federation, as well as a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture of Slovakia,
and were resumed by papers by representatives of national and international
organizations such as Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO), including the FAO SEUR (Sub-Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe),
International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists (IAALD), United
States Agricultural Information Network (USAIN) and National Agricultural Library
(NAL), and CAB International (CABI).
The programme continued by presentation of reports by national
representatives from Central and Eastern European countries. Special attention
was placed on stabilization and development of human resources in respective
CEE countries.
Conclusions and Recommendations
After the presentation of country reports the participants
were asked to form working groups to discuss the problems that were highlighted
in the course of the Roundtable. Working in the sections was concluded by a
report by each group. The five discussion groups were set up on geographical
basis. The section reports were then presented to all the participants. The
ensuing discussion served as a basis for drawing of conclusions and recommendations.
Conclusions and recommendations can be roughly systematized into two groups.
The first applies to the cooperation between the countries of Central and Eastern
Europe (CEE) and large international or national organizations outside the scope
of the CEE such as FAO, IAALD and USAIN/NAL. The second corpus of conclusions
and recommendations is applicable to the activities of organizing of Roundtable
events in the future.
- Cooperation outside the scope of the CEE countries
Cooperation with FAO
Cooperation with the FAO can be not only helpful but is indispensable
for implementation of certain tasks in the course of setting up of new information
facilities. FAO structures can be very instrumental in providing strategic basis
for management of information. Also, FAO may be very helpful in the process
of capacity building. The Roundtable participant countries are very much in
favor of continuous development and expansion of systems and subsystems such
as WAICENT and AgroWeb CEE. These systems represent a very useful platform for
the transfer of both research and professional agricultural information to and
from the CEE countries. Such systems, in turn, enhance the role of library and
information institutions and professionals in respective participant countries
and will consequently boost the development of information infrastructure.
It is desired that professional workshops be increasingly organized
in order to train less advanced information professionals in the skills of the
above utilities. With regard to these activities the participants express their
particular support to the utility of the FAO SEUR.
Cooperation with IAALD
Roundtable participants support the idea of a more intensive
cooperation with the IAALD. In this scope there exists a necessity for an increase
of individual as well as collective IAALD membership in the CEE countries. With
the objective of promoting the IAALD activities an selection of national IAALD
coordinators was proposed. During the closing session of the 7th Roundtable
a IAALD CEE Committee Board was established on the principles of geographical
proximity. Respective geographical groups within the CEE countries will be coordinated
by the following persons:
- Nina Abbakumova of Russian Federation,
- Igor Hitrec of Croatia,
- Ludmila Kostin of Moldova,
- Oleg Shatberashvili of Georgia,
- Jan Simko of Slovakia,
- Yuri Bagrin of Ukraine,
- Vladimir Golubev of Belarus,
- and Laslo Papocsi of Hungary.
- Michal Demes and Ildiko Pocza will represent FAO's Sub-Regional Office for
Central and Eastern Europe (FAO SEUR).
IAALD publishing activities should be expanded by setting up of an electronic
newspaper related to the problems of Central and Eastern European countries.
An editor should be nominated in view of these activities. There is a proposal
on the part of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus for establishing of a special editorial
group, based in one of the above three countries, which would carry out the
activities related to the possible Russian version of such a newspaper.
IAALD professionals from the CEE region should step up their activities related
to the publishing of the new IAALD World Directory which will appear in the
year 2000. The present Directory data are rather incomplete with respect to
many CEE countries and therefore need intensive update. This will not be possible
without active participation of each country or information establishment in
question. It may be possible to discuss a possibility of presenting some selected
Directory information also within the frame of AgroWeb CEE.
Cooperation with USAIN/NAL
U.S. National Agricultural Library (NAL) has been a promotor of Roundtable
events since the very first meeting in Beltsville in 1991. It has provided the
CEE library and information professionals with strong incentives in the direction
of setting up of modern information services. CEE Roundtable attendees acknowledge
a very important role of NAL and its staff in the process of transformation
of such services. NAL has also been very helpful in the process of training
of selected library and information professionals at NAL and some other related
institutions. The scope of cooperation with NAL has recently been also conductive
to the cooperation with the United States Agricultural Information Network (USAIN).
Roundtable participants therefore favor a continuos and intensive cooperation
with the NAL as well as USAIN what can further provide CEE library and information
professionals with invaluable professional and personal assistance with respect
to the use of modern information services.
- The course of the Roundtables in the future
The participants agree that it is necessary to continue organizing regular
Roundtable meetings in the future. The Roundtables present a very useful platform
for an exchange of professional experiences of individual representatives
based on practice in their respective countries.
In order for the Roundtables to be organized even better it may be advantageous
to introduce a biennial Roundtable schedule instead of annual. The organizing
countries or institutions will then have more time for preparation.
The participants are in accord with the proposition by the Ukrainian colleagues
that the 8th Roundtable be held in Kyiv. Ukraine is the second largest country
of the CEE community and boasts a complex and influential agricultural research
community that is a generator as well as a user of a large quantity of agricultural
information. Ukraine was presented in Moscow by a strong delegation of library
and information specialists and researchers. The topic of the 8th Roundtable
is proposed to be the "Role of agricultural information in the process of
European integration".
More attention should be placed on work in special topical sections. These
sections should be based on the interests of particular Roundtable attendees.
One section, e.g., could be dedicated to the marketing of services in agricultural
information centers and libraries.
The participants should accord more attention to the quality of their presentations.
Papers should follow more closely the points presented in the Roundtable Guidelines.
They should also be structured accordingly. Each paper should bear full name,
professional or academic title, and professional address of the authors, and
possibly the citations and references to the previous documents. The papers
should also be supplied by an informative abstract.
The organizing institution should provide all needed technical assistance
and technical equipment such as various projectors, Personal Computers with
peripheral equipment and communications devices, video systems etc.
A possibility of videoconferencing should be investigated as a possible
way of organizing some meetings in the future. These meetings could be based
on some limited platforms or broader.
It is desired that countries organize training courses by inviting leading
international experts in the field of agricultural information and thus enhance
information skills and promote professional contacts. Such programs could
also involve exchange of specialists. Courses for mastering linguistic skills
are also recommended.
Along with the forming of the Roundtable Organizational Committee there
should be appointment of individuals responsible for the overall course and
quality of Roundtable and respective presentations and for technical help.
The following three propositions were made by the Russian participants:
-the next Roundtable event may consider usage of Russian along with English;
the possibilities of simultaneous translation should in such a case be examined
-the countries that use Russian as a functional language could prepare their
reports both in English and Russian; the reports should be sent to the Organizational
Committee at least one-month prior to the beginning of the Roundtable -the
existing participant countries of the Central and Eastern Europe represent
the Roundtable participant scope which can also be extended by other logical
constituents of the former Commonwealth of Independent States
With regard to the future Roundtables the participants are of opinion that
the term of late spring or early summer, e.g. months of May or June, represents
the most suitable period for organizing of such events.
The CEE countries should continue as principal organizers and localities
of the Roundtable events. However, participation and support on the part of
FAO, IAALD and USAIN/NAL will be greatly appreciated.
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