Caribbean Librarian for Agriculture

At the Agricultural Information and Documentation Service of the Americas ( SIDALC) 10  meeting held in Costa Rica in September 2009, Kathryn Duncan, Information and Communication Specialist, IICA -Trinidad made a presentation on Agricultural Information Services in the Caribbean. The third SIDALC strategic workshop, organized by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), through the Orton Commemorative Library, technical coordinator of the Agricultural Information and Documentation Service of the Americas (SIDALC), brought together information specialists from the agriculture and environment sector to analyze the current state of the service, share experiences and learn of new trends in the management of information worldwide.

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)'s  has a web portal which provides numerous information resource materials on agricultural and rural development. Anancy, the CTA Virtural Resource Center provides technical publications, proceedings, policy briefs and  rural radio materials. The information is organised by Themes, Collections and Countries. The following themes are used: Agriculture - general; Animal Production and Health; Crop Production and Protection; Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Management; Fisheries and Aquaculture; Information and Communication Management; Institutions and Services; Marketing and Trade; Miscellaneous; Post Harvest Technology and Processing; Rural Dynamics. Searches can also be executed by individual Caribbean countries.

The objective of this Caribbean Librarians for Agriculture (CLA) Blog is to highlight online information resources which support sustainable Agriculture (including Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Development and the Environment) in the Caribbean. Resources to manage online information will also be discussed. This blog is an initiative of the Agricultural Librarians Network of Trinidad and Tobago (ALINTT). It is hoped that policy makers, researchers, students, extension personnel, farmers and persons interested in agriculture will find the resources posted on the site useful. Members at this time are: Mrs. Shamin Renwick, Librarian, Agriculture and Life Sciences Division, Main Library , The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine Campus , Trinidad and Tobago. Mrs. Claudette de Freitas, Information Networks Manager, Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) . Ms. Kathryn Duncan, Information and Communication Specialist, Inter-American Institute for Co...