Introduction and background

OceanDocs started in 2004 as a project in the framework of OdinAfrica. In 2007 the OdinPubAfrica repository became OceanDocs, a repository for the IODE-related communities. Also some of the IODE partners were interested in setting-up their own repository. OceanDocs is now the repository network of UNESCO/IOC-IODE. The OceanDocs Network has now about 50 members. The OceanDocs repository includes more than 40 institutes from America (ODINCARSA LA), Africa (ODINAFRICA , Europe (ODINBlackSea) and soon Oceania (ODIN-PIMRIS) ; their repository is an AgriOcean Dspace customization based on DSpace available on http://www.oceandocs.org/. The OceanDocs network is set-up to support ODIN’s (Ocean Data and Information Network) of IODE with the development of repositories and has the following goals:

• Facilitate publishing of research findings by scientists (e-journal as well as e-archive) thereby promoting the related research and increasing access by scientists to the international research forum, specifically for oceanography, marine and related sciences
• Enhance the internal scientific communication
• Use of common standards[1]

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations customized in collaboration with the Indian Statistical Institute DSpace using the AGRIS Application Profile (AP), in collaboration with Kasetsart University in Thailand FAO also developed a plug-in for the use of controlled vocabularies in Dspace 1.5. The cooperation of FAO is also to advice on technical issues related to metadata standards, vocabularies that enhance the quality of the interoperability and effectiveness of information exchange in the oceans community.

1^st Meeting of the IODE Steering Group for OceanDocs

This 1^st steering meeting was a strategic meeting for the IODE community which sought to draft policies and technical standards to support better sharing of agricultural information specific to oceanography, marine and related sciences through OceanDocs, there was also training on AgriOcean Dspace and VOA3R. Regional Ocean Data and Information Network (ODIN) representatives from Latin America, America, Africa, Europe and Oceania attended this meeting and presented reports of progress on uploads to the OceanDocs repository from their specific areas. The meeting also took time to incorporate members’ contribution to the “IOC Repository Metadata Standards and Policy” document for OceanDocs and came up with a draft document. The OceanDocs community is interested in using LODE-BD properties to recommend basic fields and specifications required to guarantee a correct and meaningful bibliographic record. A contribution was made to the Metadata sections of the policy, and would be submitting along LODE-BD recommendations as an annex to the whole Repository Policy. This would be an excellent use case for LODE-BD. The community also accepted OpenBiblio Principles as a support to Open Data Commons Open Database License.

In order to promote the sharing of information on AOD between the oceans community, OceanDocs platform will do RSS feeds to harvest AOD related materials from AIMS webpage. In creating capacity within the Oceans community in repository development amongst their members a static e-learning course shall be created on the Ocean Teacher; with a section covering AOD and where AIMS will be used as the library or reference point. OceanDocs would continue to use AOD materials on AIMS as a reference point for the adopted planned e-learning course to be created on Ocean Teacher by UNESCO IODE. On the last day of the meeting to training was held for the AgriOcean Dspace, especially on the installation ; and also a training was done for the VOA3R platform. Participants were asked for a feedback on the VOA3R platform using the survey monkey tool.