International Information System of Agricultural Science and Technology (AGRIS)

1. International Information System of Agricultural Science and Technology (AGRIS)

AGRIS, the International Information System for the Agricultural Sciences and Technology, commenced in 1974 under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. By 1975, AGRIS became fully operational with the release of its initial issue, AGRINDEX. The system was modelled after the INIS pattern, aiming to streamline information exchange and aggregate global literature encompassing all facets of agriculture.
FAO's Current Agricultural Research Information System (CARIS) and AGRIS function jointly. AGRIS operates as a cooperative system wherein member countries contribute references to literature produced within their respective nations, irrespective of language, and access information shared by other participants. Currently, 242 national, international, and intergovernmental centres participate in the AGRIS/CARIS program and are headquartered in Rome, Italy.
The following objectives drove the establishment of AGRIS:

• Create a comprehensive inventory of worldwide agricultural literature, reflecting research outcomes, food production, and rural development, and facilitate the identification of issues related to global food supply.
• Addressing the information needs of users seeking agricultural information through specialised subject retrieval services, document provision upon request, current awareness services, and selective dissemination of information.
• Collaborating with new and existing specialised secondary information services to enhance efficiency and eliminate redundant duplication.

AGRIS has been instrumental in centralising agricultural information, fostering global collaboration among participants, and catering to the diverse information needs of users within the agricultural domain.

2. Background and Development of the AGRIS Network

The AGRIS Network, in operation since 1975, is primarily aimed at establishing an information system encompassing agricultural science, technology, and related subjects. It operates as a collaborative network comprising agricultural institutions worldwide. The core principles on which AGRIS was founded as a farming network are delineated below:

• AGRIS operates as an international/global system, including all United Nations Member Countries.
• It is multilingual, using English as its primary carrier language.
• A centralised collection of bibliographic details from publications, outputs, and activities of agricultural research programs across various United Nations Member States.
• Special emphasis is placed on non-conventional (grey) literature within Member States.
• It is a participatory system based on designated national AGRIS Input Centres in each United Nations Member State and related international agricultural organisations.
• Supported by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), AGRIS ensures complete coordination in applying tools, methodologies, data processing, training, and technical support activities.
• A system in which all UN Member States collectively own agricultural data, with easy access to the information base maintained at the AGRIS headquarters.

AGRIS covers a broad spectrum of subject areas related to agriculture, including forestry, food, environment, animal sciences, aquatic sciences, fisheries, human nutrition, and other agricultural sciences from participating countries globally. AGRIS centres collate information from various sources such as periodicals, monographs, reports, patents, standards, and other unique materials like unpublished scientific reports, theses, conference papers, and government publications. Approximately 130,000 records are added annually, accompanied by English, French, and Spanish keywords. Centralised processing occurs at the AGRIS Coordinating Centre in Rome.
The AGRIS information system encompasses 242 participating centres in various United Nations Member States. Each AGRIS National Centre is a focal point in the respective country or region, providing information to the user community and functioning as a decentralised system. Some centres document scientific and technical literature and work on agricultural information management development.
While AGRIS has made significant strides in meeting its initial objectives over the past three decades, participating centres have encountered occasional challenges that, at times, hinder the overall progress of the network.

3. AGRIS Network and AGRIS Resource Centres

The AGRIS Network has undergone efforts to enhance the functionalities of AGRIS Resource Centres, thus improving the capabilities of the overall network. To achieve this, a high-level committee convened in June 2000 recommended rechristening AGRIS Input Centres as AGRIS Resource Centres, signifying their evolved role. Similar to input centres, these centres are suggested to be established in various national, regional, or international organisations.
The redefined AGRIS Resource Centres are expected to play a pivotal role in capacity building, focusing on fostering national and regional partnerships. Simultaneously, the international network facilitates the exchange of agricultural information and knowledge through modern tools and technologies. Essential functions crucial for AGRIS Resource Centres encompass:

• Adoption and implementation of standards for cataloguing and indexing agricultural information.
• Collection, organisation, and recording of both conventional and non-conventional scientific and technical literature relevant to AGRIS, mainly focusing on materials produced in the region.
• Establish digital repositories for literature and related scientific information within their area in collaboration with FAO.
• Maximum utilisation of internet-based tools for data processing and dissemination.

Several initiatives have been undertaken to bolster the AGRIS Network, including improving access to documentation in science and technology, reinforcing and establishing standards, enhancing the central AGRIS website and database, and deploying new methods and web-based tools for information activities. Under the information collection activities, several ongoing projects within AGRIS and CARIS are vital, such as:

• WebAGRIS: Encompasses current and ongoing agricultural information projects in AGRIS and CARIS, serving users seeking information on various agricultural and rural development facets.
• AGRIS AP: Provides guidelines for describing information objects for the International Information System on Agricultural Sciences and Technology.
• Electronic Discussion Forum: Facilitates idea exchange on utilising AGRIS AP and WebAGRIS.
• AGROVOC: A multilingual international agricultural thesaurus available online.
• AGRIS Information Products: Various AGRIS products, including CDs, manuals, FTP site data, and FAO documentation, are accessible through the AGRIS Secretariat.

The AGRIS Network has active participation from India, notably the Agricultural Research Information Centre under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. The centre submits an average of 3500 bibliographic entries annually to the AGRIS database. Additionally, the centre provides updated AGRIS outputs from FAO to agricultural scientists in India and offers computerised selective dissemination of information (SDI) services.

4. AGRIS 2.0

AGRIS, the International Information System for Agricultural Sciences and Technology, is a comprehensive repository encompassing various agricultural science and technology subjects, including forestry, animal husbandry, aquatic sciences and fisheries, human nutrition, and extension services. It catalogues diverse content, incorporating unique grey literature like unpublished scientific and technical reports, theses, conference papers, government publications, and more. Approximately 20% of its bibliographic records are linked to corresponding full-text documents available online, facilitating easy access through search engines like Google. 2013 AGRIS 2.0 was unveiled as a collaborative network comprising over 150 institutions across 65 countries. This version, managed by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), serves as a multilingual bibliographic database for agricultural science, boasting over 8 million records substantially enhanced with AGROVOC. AGROVOC is FAO's multilingual thesaurus covering all areas pertinent to FAO's interests, including food, nutrition, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and the environment.
AGRIS 2.0 functions as a mash-up web application, employing Linked Open Data methodology to connect bibliographic AGRIS knowledge with pertinent resources on the web. Mashup pages within AGRIS showcase relevant information from external data sources, such as the World Bank, DBPedia, and Nature, though their display is contingent upon their accessibility. Access to the AGRIS Repository is facilitated through the AGRIS Search Engine, allowing users to retrieve bibliographic records and conduct comprehensive queries, either for full-text or specific fielded information.
To make AGRIS more accessible and interconnected, its data was converted to RDF, generating a dataset of approximately 200 million triples. AGRIS collaborates with several partners, including OAI partners, national networks, institutional repositories, information service providers, and database systems/tools, adopting various formats for data exchange, including the AGRIS AP format. Under the CIARD umbrella, AGRIS strives to enhance the sharing and management of agricultural science and technology information using standardised methodologies and Web 2.0 features. Additionally, it aims to leverage the CIARD RING project, led by GFAR, to offer an overview of existing agricultural research and development information services, facilitating their description, classification, and interoperability assessment for global accessibility and outreach.