Recent success at Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA) in building Institutional Repository using WebAGRIS

The AGRIS Secretariat recently supported the conversion of INIA's local database into WebAGRIS. This work included running of the WebAGRIS application, the mapping of the local database fields to the WebAGRIS fields and the migration of the local application/metadata to WebAGRIS. Further steps will include the installation of the OAIAGRIS plug-in and the harvesting of INIA's Repository through Open Archives Initiative - Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). The OAI compliancy not only open the metadata for harvesting by AGRIS but also by any service providers in the open access framework. The lessons learned from this experience underline that the whole process of building Institutional Repositories and bringing them to OAI-PMH compliancy should not only be regarded as a support to the migration process but also an activity that includes capacity building in tools (WebAGRIS, OAI Plug-In) and standards (AGRIS Application Profile, OAI) for improved interoperability. Additionally, one output of the project was the inclusion of INIA's records in the AGRIS Repository.