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DEAR READER !
This issue is pleased to provide you with a quick update on the Access to Scientific Information Resources in Agriculture (ASIRA) online course.
Additionally, AIMS free monthly e-newsletter highlights several mission-related initiatives and events – in Information, Knowledge and (Research) Data Management Sectors (in Agriculture and beyond) – mainstreaming impact through shared knowledge about projects, good practices, services, infrastructures, at a global level.
Table of Contents
- Focus on ASIRA online course
- Highlights
- From Buzzwords to Strategies and Actions
- Initiatives … What's Around the Corner
- Open Corner with selected Audio – Visuals
- Open Reading Corner
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PREAMBLE
"FAO promotes education systems sensitive to the needs of agricultural and rural communities ... Yet, equitable access to quality education and lifelong learning are key to ensuring sustainable agricultural development and inclusive rural transformation, - Sustainable Development Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
FOCUS ON : ASIRA ONLINE COURSE :
UNLOCKING NEW KNOWLEDGE AND SYNERGIES
The free online course on Access to Scientific Information Resources in Agriculture (ASIRA) for Low-Income Countries was launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in February 2017, as part of the Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA) Program, in collaboration with Research4Life. The goal of the ASIRA course - delivered through Moodle software - is to provide a channel to enhance the visibility, accessibility and usability of agricultural data and science, particularly in low-income countries.
In July 2017, the course concluded its 3rd edition [each edition lasts 4 week and consists of three units including eight lessons]. Since its first round, the course gathered 329 enrolled users from 66 countries. To ensure effective user engagement in the course environment and unlocking new knowledge base on the subject matter, - combination of lessons, webinars, activities, assignments and online tutorials was used.
The following is a list of recorded webinars provided during the course:
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As a result of course evaluation survey overall satisfaction rate of ASIRA alumni was 100% and they all recommend the course to their colleagues both in their local institutions as well as their professional networks.
The participants expressed that they found the ASIRA course very interesting, as they were exposed to many topical issues that are helpful in scientific research, writing and publishing. ASIRA's alumni enjoyed meeting other colleagues and sharing experience nationally and internationally in the online course environment.
Here you can meet some ASIRA alumni who were shortly interviewed on what they think about the ASIRA's online course and how it can be important not only for them but also for their colleagues and organization.
Building on the continued success of the past three course rounds, the fourth enhanced (in terms of content and design) course edition will be launched in the autumn 2017. New version will be provided again before the end of the year.
Anyone working in agricultural science related institution or studying in agricultural and related sciences is eligible to apply for the course. Priority is given to anyone from Research4Life eligible countries, group A and Group B respectively.
Stayed tuned* for more announcements on AIMS and on AGORA channels as to when the registration process will be open. We are already looking forward to the many interesting and creative activities that will then surely be registered and shared !
For more information about ASIRA online course, please contact: agora@fao.org.
POSTSCRIPTUM
"All FAO courses are designed for self-paced learning, and offered free of charge. A mixture of rich content, targeted learning strategies, dynamic screens, interactive tests, exercises with reinforcement feedback and illustrative case studies make often complex topics accessible to novice learners while meeting the needs of experienced professionals wishing to update their skills", - FAO E-learning Centre.
HIGHLIGHTS
Below you will find a selection of news published on AIMS. The full news listing can be read HERE*.
 Data Management and Data skills training with Data Carpentry and ELIXIR |
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Digital Skills and Digital Literacy : European Union policy actions |
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FROM BUZZWORDS TO STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS
A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE ... STAY INFORMED
BUZZWORDS are actively fragmenting into different mission-related initiatives and events mainstreaming trend impact through shared experiences and lessons learned, projects and programmes, services and infrastructures, implementation strategies and capitalization of good practices … and much more, at a global level.
Image Source: Software Carpentry @swcarpentry: The Open Research Glossary [a crowdsourced glossary of terms, acronyms, tools and concepts in and around Open Science] : "'Open' is unsurprisingly the top word ! ".
The current trends - or rather strategic thematic areas - in Open Science, Information-, Knowledge-, and Research Open Data Management are inextricably tied and one shouldn't take precedence over the other. As science becomes more data-intensive and collaborative, AIMS continues to encourage Information-, Knowledge-, and Research Data communities to build solutions (in mind from the outset):
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SPOTLIGHT ON (OPEN) RESEARCH DATA :
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| Open Research Data are those research data that can be freely accessed, used, modified, and shared, provided that there is appropriate acknowledgement if required", - Concordat on Open Research Data. |
| The Open Research Data Task Force Report (30.06.2017) provides a thorough overview of the Infrastructures that support open research data in the UK and abroad. |
SPOTLIGHT ON FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship :
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... the FAIR principles and other similar principles: * the OECD principles, the Royal Society concept of ‘intelligent openness’ and the RDA Global Digital Object Cloud * can finally be put into action and change our data (documentation and sharing) practices to fully support the Research and Innovation policy development on Open Science. See the FAIR - Data - EG guidelines and examples on how to contribute. Members of the FAIR - Data - EG will be present at the European Open Science Cloud summit at the Estonian Presidency event in Tallinn on 13th October 2017 (see: European Open Science agenda: - progress - next steps). |
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... of life science information: Consult our list of FAIR data knowledge and expertise. |
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... supports institutions in making curation decisions around FAIR research data. DAF is a set of survey methods to enable data auditors to gather this information. DAF helps with planning a strategy to ensure research data are preserved and remains accessible in the long term. |
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Take a look at a range of resources cited in the July 2017 AIMS Newsletter that might be useful to explore futher information about Open (Research) Data Management and FAIR principles. |
SPOTLIGHT ON EVENTS AND INITIATIVES (AUGUST 2017) ...
... running a global awareness-raising and advocacy campaign aiming to put core trends in Information-, Knowledge- and Data Management Sectors at the centre of the adaptation agenda at international level. So be invited to get the story told :
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KNOWLEDGE SHARING & LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES ! RDA 10th Plenary Registration - Early Bird ends August 14, 2017 ! Keep an eye out for all the updates at rd-alliance.org/RDA10 : "Better Data, Better Decisions" ! |
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Research Data Management |
Repository Fringe 2017, 3-4 August, 2017, Edinburgh, UK [The event is a gathering for repository managers and others interested in research data repositories and publication repositories]. 3rd Global Summit "Explore Plant Science Research", 07-09 August, 2017 Rome, Italy [The event focuses on aspects such as plant science research aspects and plant biochemistry, molecular marker development, crop/ trait improvement...and enable successful Data Analysis and Management]. MyData 2017 Conference, August 30 - September 1, 2017, Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia. |
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DKAN Open Data Summit. Washington, D.C. August 1, 2017. Introduction to the Open Science Framework: A platform for managing, collaborating, organizing, and sharing your research projects. Johns Hopkins University. Balitmore, Maryland, August 15, 2017. EU Call “Science with and for society” (H2020-SWAFS-2016-17) / Topic : “Putting Open Science into action” (SwafS-10-2017, Deadline August 30, 2017). FOSTER plus project will develop a trainer hand book about Open Science. If you are interested in contributing, please do not hesitate to fill in this google form. |
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Join the OER Commons Team on 9 August at 1:00 pm Pacific Time to discover how educators are leading OER remixing in their schools to meet local teaching and learning needs. OpenSym 2017, 23 - 25 August, 2017, Galway, Ireland. AEL 2017 : The 4th International Workshop on Advanced E-Learning. Pattaya, Thailand, August 1 - 4, 2017. FAO Capacity Development: Learning Materials, Learning Courses, Practical Tools, E-Learning Centre. |
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ARA Annual Conference 2017 "‘Challenge the past, set the agenda", 30 August - 1 September, Manchester, UK. IFLA World Library and Information Congress 83th IFLA General Conference and Assembly, 19-25 August 2017, Wrocław, Poland. |
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Digital Humanities 2017 "“Access/Accès”, 8-11 August, Montreal, Quebec. CCKS 2017 : China Conference on Knowledge Graph and Semantic Computing "Language, Knowledge and Intelligence", 26 - 29 August 2017, Xihua University. |
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HathiTrust digital library text mining capabilities. DePaul University, August 2, 2017, Chicago, Illinois. Conference: TRANSFORMING LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS: The Digital Revolution in Agriculture, 7-8 August 2017, Canberra Join the (University of Illinois) Webinar: Using citation to provide credit for software contributions, Wednesday, 9 August 2017 (3 to 3.30 pm CEST) with a return on Monday, 14 August 2017 (3 to 3.30 pm CEST) The international conference cycle EGOVIS 2017 focuses on information systems aspects of e-government, 28 -30 August, 2017, Lyon, France. |
INITIATIVES ... WHAT'S AROUND THE CORNER
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learn4dev is a joint competence development network linking bilateral and multilateral organisations that are committed to more effective and harmonised development aid. |
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The Development and Access to Information (DA2I) 2017 report - launched by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), in partnership with the Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) at the University of Washington Information School - focuses on the following goals: Zero Hunger (SDG2), Good Health and Well-being (SDG3), Gender Equality (SDG5), and Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG9). |
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The EU-FAO Partnership Programme "INFORMED" aims at strengthening resilience of vulnerable people’s livelihoods and at reducing food insecurity and malnutrition through better informed and evidence-based decision making processes. The programme includes five main areas of work which reinforce each other: * Improved quality and availability of datasets underpinning food security, nutrition and resilience analysis (FSIN) ... |
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FAO library and ESA have recently signed a 6-month agreement with publisher Springer Nature to get access to five e-books collections with 2016 and 2017 content. |
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Get and compare data by browsing and downloading SDG global indicators structured by Goals and Targets. |
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The SDG Academy is a virtual platform that provides free high-quality, mass online education in the field of sustainable development. The initiative brings together the world’s foremost experts on sustainable development – including health, education, climate change, agriculture and food systems, sustainable investment, and other related fields – to offer a comprehensive core curriculum, equipping the next generation of sustainable development practitioners to take on the complex challenges facing our planet. |
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AGRINATURA brings its collective resources to work in partnership with international collaborators. It seeks to nurture scientific excellence through joint research, educational and training programmes and projects and advocates for greater support for agricultural research and educational programmes that contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. |
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OPEN CORNER ... WITH SELECTED AUDIO - VISUALS
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EUROPEAN OPEN SCIENCE CLOUD (EOSC) SUMMIT (12 June, 2017) - recorded. |
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ISA2 (14 June, 2017) - Video Gallery. |
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Watch the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition * GODAN Webinar series & |
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What Is OER? Answers to 5 Questions About Open Educational Resources. OER may include everything from a single video or lesson plan to a complete online course or curriculum and also include the software platforms needed to create, change, and share the materials. What are the potential downsides of using open educational resources? ... |
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Open Data stories (audio-visual from ANDS).
The Australian National Data Service (ANDS) makes Australia’s research data assets more valuable for researchers, research institutions and the nation. All ANDS work is licensed under the Creative Commons 4.0 International Attribution Licence : you are free to copy, reuse and share our material as long as you acknowledge ANDS as its source... |
Let us know (AIMS@fao.org) about high-quality videos created by organizations highlighting thematic areas relevant to information management (Open Science / Open Data / Open Access, Big Data, interoperability issues, FAIR data etc.), agriculture, forestry, fisheries and related themes (food security, land use, environment, etc.).
OPEN READING CORNER
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