FAO/COAIM-2/Tech.1

Table of Contents

I. Introduction and Background

II. Scope and Objectives

III. Structure and Contents of the Resource Kit

IV. Current Status

I. Introduction and Background

1. The World Food Summit in 1996 highlighted the importance of information as a key element for ensuring food security and enhancing agricultural development. In order to be effective, information must be managed and maintained; kept up-to-date and made readily accessible to stakeholders at all levels. Effective information management requires that modern information and communication technologies be exploited, and that standards and best practices are adopted at national and local levels to make the most efficient use of these new technologies. FAO aims to be proactive in the development of information management and dissemination systems by assisting Member Countries in the uptake and adaptation of tools and standards suited to their level of communications infrastructure, and in tailoring information outputs to meet clients' needs.

2. Capacity building in Member Countries is an important component of FAO's strategic objective to improve the quality and dissemination of information relating to nutrition, food and agriculture. Capacity building and continuous professional development are essential to ensure that the individuals responsible for information management continually strengthen their awareness, understanding and technical skills in order to keep pace with new technologies. FAO promotes self-reliance among its Member Countries through capacity building and human resource development to strengthen the abilities of groups, organisations and networks to create, integrate, maintain and disseminate their information resources, while building communities through more effective sharing of information resources.

3. FAO’s Member Countries provided guidance on these issues at the 1^st Consultation on Agricultural Information Management held in June 2000, by recommending that FAO and its partner organisations work together on the enormous task of capacity building in member countries to empower them to manage and exchange information more effectively. In response to this, FAO in partnership with selected international, regional and specialised agencies, are developing a distance learning initiative for agricultural information management known as the Information Management Resource Kit.

II. Scope and Objectives

4. The overall goal of the Information Management Resource Kit is to improve access to information by key stakeholders involved in agricultural development and food security, and to establish more cohesive relations between agricultural and food security information resources around the globe. The key stakeholders include, but are not limited to, the following groups: farmers and other members of rural communities, extensionists, researchers, academics, agroindustry employees, planners, policy and decision-makers, development assistance agencies, and information professionals.

5. The Resource Kit is aimed at improving the overall effectiveness of programmes in agricultural development and food security by providing a mechanism that serves to enhance information exchange and inter-institutional co-operation through capacity building by:

• promoting and facilitating the development and adoption of standards and guidelines for the integration of data from different sources, thus improving the effectiveness and ease of information exchange;
• promoting and improving consistency in the provision and quality of information content, in the methods used for information management, and in the evaluation of its impact and effectiveness;
• providing a pedagogically designed learning resource for professionals in information management; and
• providing non-proprietary tools which are designed for facilitating collaborative access to agricultural and food security information.

III. Structure and Contents of the Resource Kit

6. The Resource Kit will consist of a coherent set of training resources, standards, guidelines and tools, which will primarily address the area of agricultural information management for food security. The Resource Kit and its contents are being designed in response to clearly articulated needs of the different target user groups, and are based on assessments and analyses already conducted by FAO and its partners.

7. The Resource Kit will provide an e-learning opportunity for individuals and/or organisations through a series of pedagogically designed interactive tutorials aimed at facilitating the uptake and use of standards, guidelines and best practices in information management. In addition to individual e-learning, the modules are being designed in a fashion which will permit the uptake of module materials by individual trainers or specialized institutions who will have received the necessary orientation and/or training to use the materials themselves. The Resource Kit will contain only non-proprietary materials and be made available free of charge. FAO’s objective is to make available as much of the Resource Kit content as possible in all five working languages of the Organization.

8. As a broad range of topics need to be covered, the Resource Kit is being developed as a series of CD-based modules, with each module containing one or more inter-related topics. Four Resource Kit modules (see box) are currently under development covering:

• The management of documents and images
• The management of spatial and statistical data
• Community building
• The role of information in institutional development

9. The curriculum for each module is being designed and developed initially by in-house subject experts at FAO, and then through consultation with external partners and institutions. Each module is being developed as a series of units comprised of lessons, which introduce basic concepts, and guide the user through a series of interactive step-by-step lessons describing specific workflows and topics. Non-proprietary software applications developed by FAO and partner organisations are being provided with each module. Some of these are introduced in the lessons, and are used for practical exercises when appropriate. In addition to the learning materials, the user will have immediate access to customised help, search and glossary facilities.

10. Each module will be developed as a series of distinct versions. Later versions will provide updates to existing lessons and software, and additional lessons will be added based on user demand, and the provision of new materials by FAO, as well as by new and existing partners. Each version will be tested before it is released.

11. In order to ensure accessibility and sustainability with low production and distribution costs, the Resource Kit modules will be distributed on CD-ROM and include pre-formatted materials that can also be printed. The Resource Kit is being developed so that learners who do not have access to the latest generation of computer equipment and software will still be able to access the Resource Kit materials.

12. The Resource Kit will be complemented by a website that will provide both general and detailed information about the Resource Kit and allow learners to register electronically and access resources specific to each of the modules. This will be supplemented by an Internet-based on-line community, which will provide support to learners and allow them to exchange information and request help from each other in the language of their choice.

IV. Current Status

13. FAO has invested considerable resources in the development of the Resource Kit to date, and is set to do so for the current biennium and beyond. A team within the Library and Documentation Systems Division at FAO are responsible for the development of, and support to, the Resource Kit initiative. Other specialised technical units at FAO are also contributing the development of the Resource Kit by providing subject matter expertise and a wide range of tools and applications.

14. Two specialist organisations were consulted in late-2000 for recommendations on how FAO and partners could best approach the development of the Resource Kit, and to develop an operational plan for the Resource Kit initiative. These outputs have since been taken forward in consultation with external partners.

15. Partnerships and agreements¹ have been established, or are under discussion, with several international and regional organizations, as well as research and academic institutions and the private sector in support of the Resource Kit. Support includes the provision of materials and expertise, the design and development of specialized curricula, technical support, and the testing and dissemination of Resource Kit materials.

16. A company specialised in distance learning and instructional design assisted FAO in the development of the instructional design and learner interface for the Resource Kit. These will serve as the common platform for a wide range of subjects and materials to be covered under the overall Resource Kit distance learning curriculum. The interface uses multimedia-based e-learning methods that can be tailored to a broad range of distance learners and skills. In addition to the Resource Kit itself, FAO is developing a standardized approach to managing distance learning content, as well as a networked (virtual) infrastructure to support users of the Resource Kit. A series of webpages concerned with the Resource Kit are available in the five official languages of FAO on the FAO website².

17. A curriculum for the first module entitled "Management of Electronic Documents and Associated Images" was developed by FAO and partners, and then reviewed at an informal consultative workshop held in February 2002. The module is now under development with contributions from experts based at FAO and six external organisations. A pre-release version of the module for testing and evaluation is due for completion before the end of 2002.

18. FAO and partners have started to develop curricula for the remaining three modules. FAO will be co-hosting a consultative workshop in October 2002 to review a curriculum for the module on "The Role of Information in Institutional Development" with the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). ISNAR is taking the lead role in developing the module and will be contributing a considerable portion of the content.

19. A draft curriculum for the module on "Managing Spatial and Statistical Data" is being developed in-house at FAO, and a consultative workshop is foreseen for December 2002 to review the curriculum. A draft curriculum for the module on "Community building: Electronic Networking and Communication" is currently being reviewed in-house at FAO, and by interested partner institutions.
 

__________________________

¹ Partners, collaborators and contributers inlcude: CAB International; Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE); CSW Group; International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA); International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR); Mann Library, Cornell University; Rede de Instituições Vinculadas a Capacitação em Economia e Políticas Agrícolas na América Latina e Caribe (REDCAPA); SEAMEO Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA); Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA); and Wageningen University and Research Centre of the Netherlands (Wageningen UR). Several other interested parties are currently in discussion with FAO.

² http://www.fao.org/waicent/portal/outreach/resourcekit_en.htm