Agricultural Information Worldwide

7/30/2019 Agricultural Information Worldwide

1/9

EmbrapaTechnologicallnformation:A BridgeBetweenResearchand SocietyPatrcia Rocha Bello Bertin, Fernando Csar Lima Leite, and Fernando do Amaral Pereira

ABSTRACT:This paper presents the efforts.undertaken by theBrazilian Agricultural Research Corporation regarding Scienceand Technology information management, through one of itsDecentralized Units, Embrapa Technological Information. Themajor aim of this Unit is to promote and improve the processesof scientific communication - information that feeds and thatresults from research activities- and ofscience and technologydissemination - information that results from research activi-.ties and that is directed to the general publicoRESUME:Cet article prsente les efforts entrepris par IaCorpo-ration de recherche agricole brsilienne pour Iagestion de I'in-formation technologique et scientifique, travers I'une de sesunits dcentralises, appele Informations technologiques Em-brapa (SCT). L'objectif majeur de I'SCT est de promouvoir etd'amliorer les processus de Ia communication scientifiqueIntroductionIn today's globalized world, the minimization of timeand space barriers favors the integration of diverse soci-eties, cultures and ecoI.1omies.This has intensified theglobal exchange cycle, in which importance is assignednot only to increased financial capital flows, but aiso toanother asset, both intangible and hard to quantify, al-beit eminently productive, i.e. intellectual capital. Intel-lectual capital is the sum total of the knowledge of allworkers in a given entity, agency, company, or institu-tion, together with the efficacy of its management sys-tems and a gQodrelationship with the target populationof the products or services of the organization.The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation(Embrapa) has a long tradition of working to generateinformation and knowledge. The activities of one of itsDecentralized Service Units, Embrapa Technological In-formation, or Scientific and Technological Information

Service (SCT), and the organizational structures thatpreceded it, are based on the premise that when infor-mation management processes are properly conducted,the relationship between the institution and its targetpopulations will be efficient and effective, whether forscientific communication or scientific dissemination.Thus, SCT's strategic guidelines generate lines of actionthat are first translated into projects and then into infor-mation services and products. These strategic guidelinesare designed to support research, development and in-novation (RD&I) activities and address social develop-ment demands.The purpose of this article is to show how Embrapa

(l'information qui nourrit et qui rsulte des activits derecherche), et de Ia diffusion technologique et scientifique (l'in-formation qui rsulte des activits de recherche et qui est dirigevers le grand public).RESUMEN:Este artculo presenta los esfuerzos que ha hecho IaEmpresa Brasilefta de Investigacin Agropecuaria en el campodei manejo de Ia informacin, a travs de una de sus unidadesdescentralizadas conocida como Informacin Tecnolgica deEmbrapa (SCT). EI propsito principal de SCT est en Ia pro-mocin y el mejoramiento de un doble proceso: el de comuni-cacin cientfica-es decir, Iainformacin que llega a Iainvesti-gacin cientfica y Iaque sta produce - y elde diseminacin deIa ciencia y Ia tecnologa - o sea, Ia informacin que resulta deIas actividades de investigacin y que est dirigida ai pblico engeneral.has used SCT to manage, organize and disseminate in-formation.

An Introduction to EmbrapaEmbrapa was formed some 35 years ago to "providefeasible solutions for the sustainable deveIopment ofBrazilian agribusiness through knowledge and technol-ogy generation and transfer:' It has built a national andinternational reputation as a leading tropical agricultureRD&I company. As such, it has been courted by diverse

countries and multilateral organizations wanting to cap-italize on its success.Embrapa is currently comprised of 54units: 38devot-ed to research, 3 to services, and 13to administration. It

is present in almost alI the States of the Federation andthe most diverse Brazilian biomes. Embrapa has also in-tensified its international activities through the creationof the Embrapa Virtual Laboratories Abroad-Labex inthe United States (http://www.embrapa.gov.br/a3mbrapa/labex/labex-usa), France (http://www.agropolis.fr/internationalllabex.html), and The NetherIands, as well asEmbrapa Business Offices Abroad in Ghana and Vene-zueIa.To help build Brazil's leadership in tropical agricul-

ture, Embrapa has invested primarily in training. Thecompany has 8,278 employees, of whom 2,113are re-searchers, with 25or 1.2%holding Bachelor's degrees, 525or 24.8% holding Master's degrees, and 1,563 or 74%holding PhD degrees. Embrapa aiso coordinates the Na-tional Agricultural Research Systems (SNPA, in Por-tuguese), which consists ofpublic federal and state insti-Agricultural Information Worldwide - 2: 1 - 2009

10


2/9

Embrapa Technological Information: A Bridge Between Research and Societytutions, universities, private companies, and founda-tions.The SNPAcarries out research in agriculture andrelatedareas in the different regions of the country in acoordinated fashion.With SNPA-generated technologies, Brazil has be-come the leader in tropical agriculture and has solvedcentury-old problems associated with the production,domestic supply, and insertion into international mar-ketsof foodstuff and fibers, aswelIas renewable energy.An StYoincrease in land productivity from 1970to 2006,

achievedthrough the technological deveIopment ofBra-zilian agriculture, prevented the conversion of forestedlands into farmed land. To attain the current leveI ofagricultural production with the technology availabledecades ago would have required triple the grain farmedland, Le.,clearing 90 million hectares of forest. Such ma-jor preservation of natural resources is an invaluablecontribution of Brazilian agricultural research to the re-duction of the global warming phenomenon (Embrapa,2008b).Recent research on the impact ofthe technologies thatEmbrapa develops and transfers to Brazilian societydemonstrated social profits equivalent to R$ 15.47mil-lion (Embrapa, 200Sb). In a major effort to restore Em-brapas budgets in 2007, the federal government grantedthe company the largest nominal Net Operational Rev-enue in history: 1.157billion reais, of which each real re-turned R$ 13-36to the Brazilian society.Even so, even more funding is needed to enable Em-brapas capacity for solving technological problems tokeep up with society's demands. To that end, the Pro-gram for the Strengthening and Growth of Embrapa andBrazilian Agricultural Research will promote annualbudget increases so that by 2010 the budget should beR$1.685billion. That leveIof funding will enable Embra-

pa to modernize its infrastructure and laboratories andset up new research units in agricultural expansion areas,aswelIas train and increase its staff (Embrapa, 2008a).Information Managementin Embrapa'sStrategic PlanningResearch institutions must have information services

that enable them to recognize quickly the demand forinnovations and research results. The 1StEmbrapa Mas-terPlan (I PDE, in Portuguese), the document that guid-ed the company's activities during the 1988-1992period,already emphasized the importance of information asthe "primordial basis for the fulI deveIopment of re-search" (Embrapa, 1988).Since the research sector is themost interested in improving the global technical andscientific information network, the knowledge it pro-duces is certified, disseminated and used as an input inthe development of new knowledge via the subjacentscientific communication system. The science and tech-nology information systems (S&T) of an institutionmust be welI structured and integrated into the global

scientific communication system. However, society willonly benefit from that structure if institutional policiesensure that the information used and generated by re-search contributes to social development.With this in mind, Embrapa began managing the in-formation inherited from the National Agricultural Re-search Department, which was closed in 1973,by pro-ducing colIective catalogues and a crude bibliographiccommutation system. Among the macro-policies estab-lished in I PDE: 1988-1992 related to research support,

priority was assigned to increased resources for the in-formation and documentation areas with a view to:.promoting activities in the area of technical and scien-tific information in order to support researchers withcurrent and retrospective information and documentsthat could infIuence significantly the researchers' leveIof application and contribute to increasing their per-formance as generators of scientific knowledge andtechnological innovations;.networking with national and international, technicaland scientific information, maintaining permanentcontrol over the literature in agriculture and similarfieIds of knowledge and promoting the acquisition ofthose of interest to Embrapa; and.coordinating the documentation and information ac-tivities of Embrapas decentralized units and other en-tities that make up the SCPA(Cooperative Agricultur-aIResearch System) (Embrapa, 19S8).The master plan that guided Embrapas activities from1994to 1998,II PDE, underscored the importance of in-formation and knowledge, a fact readily observed in thecompany's mission for that four-year period: "to gener-ate, promote and transfer knowledge and technology forthe sustainable development of the agricultura!, agro-in-

dustrial and forestry sectors of the economy to benefitBrazilian society" (Embrapa, 1994).In order to fulfilI that mission, among other things,the II PDE established it as Embrapa's responsibility:.to ensure that the knowledge and technologies genercated through research reach the target populations di-rectly or through appropriate dissemination and trans-fer channels;.to encourage other organizations to generate knowl-edge relevant to their mission; and.to organize existing knowledge to make it more usefulwithin the scope of the mission (Embrapa, 1994).During that period, Embrapa began a priority infor-mation exchange and production prognim to supportthe research and development (R&D) actions whosepurpose was to promote:.(...) organizing and making available agricultura!,agro-industrial, forestry, and other similar informa-tion to society,in general, and to the scientific commu-nity, in particular, with a view to improving the effi-ciency and effectiveness of the generation and transfer

11


3/9

TABLE 1 - Scientific production at Embrapa from 2000 to 2006Agricultural Information Worldwide - 2: 1 - 2009

Type of publication 2000 2001 2006 Total002 2003 2004 2005Artiele in proceedings / technical note 1,203 1,553 2,089 2,399 2,818 3,231 3,107 16,400--------....-----------------------------.-----------------------------------.------------.------------.--------------------------------------------------.-------------------------------Artiele in an indexedjournal 1,228 1,135 1,211 1,228 1,420 1,464 1,489 9,175--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.----------------.----.-----------------------Chapter of a technical-scientific book 859 657 739 986 738 903 937 5,837---------------------------.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------......-----........-----------.........----------........_----------.....PhD and master thesis supervision 187 204 244 267 248 265 263 1,678......------.........-----------.......------------........-------.........--------......---------.....----------......--------.......------------.....--------------..---.--------------.Summary in proceedings 3,252 3,069 3,730 3,576 3,779 3,843 4,093 25,342

Total 6,729 6,618 8,013 8,456 9,003 9,706 9,889 58,432

processes of knowledge, technologies, products, andservices.. .The III PDE was developed and made public as theguiding framework for the strategic realignment ofEm-braps actions during the 1999-2003 period. The docu-

ment propounded overcoming the new challenges aris-ing from the "great transformations" in the worldscenario, namely, the globalization phenomenon ac-companied by the opening of markets; the importanceof the environment; the reform of the State; consumerpower; and the technological revolution (Embrapa,1998).The focus ofEmbraps activities during that peri-od was agribusiness and associated opportunities for theeconomic development of the country. In fact, the em-phasis assigned to issues related to information manage-ment in the previous master plan was substantially re-duced in the III PDE. On the other hand, this masterplan promoted the perspective of diffusing technologiesand knowledge through the use of new channels and en-hancement of business communications. Much was saidabout the need to transfer technologies and the qualifi-cation of information to achieve greater conformity withthe modern vision of agribusiness.The IV PDE (2004-2007) showed important progressin supporting the public policies that assigned priorityto democratizing access to production factors (credit,

technical assistance, inputs, and land), diminishing so-cial and regional inequalities, and increasing social well-being, especially through the strengthening of familyagriculture (Embrapa, 2004).Like the previous master plan, the IV PDE did not in-

elude among the strategic guidelines and objectives anyspecific mention to information management. Never-theless, a series of innovating actions were implementedduring the IV PDE regarding the dissemination of infor-mation and knowledge that focused on increasing theproduction capacity of family farmers, especially relatedto the current public policies.The current Embrapa master plan period- V PDE

(2008-2011)- innovates in matters pertaining to organi-zational strategies for the middle term (2008-2011) andlong term (2008-2023), in anticipation of the company's50th anniversary (Embrapa, 2008b). Among the institu-tional challenges set forth in the master plan, the issue of

information is considered of major importance, as wellas a priority, particularly in strategic guidelines 4("Strengthening the management and protection ofknowledge:') and 8 ("Strengthening institutional andmarket-oriented communication in order to act in astrategic manner vis--vis the challenges of the informa-tion societY:')and respective secondary strategies.ResearchOutputs of EmbrapaAgricultural research outcomes have become a funda-

mental element in science and technology planning indeveloping countries. That is especially true in Brazil,because the country's scientific production in the field ofagriculture has been widely recognized throughout theworld. During the 2003-2007 period, 4,139Brazilian arti-eles related to the agriculture field were indexed by ISI;this represents 4%of the world's total production (Pro-duo, 2008). Embrapa, in turn, contributes significantlyto Brazil'sscientific production, as is shown in Table l.The input and first manifestations of RD&I outcomesare scientific publications and patents. In order for

RD&I to be conducted efficiently and effectively,scien-tific communication processes must foster the informa-tion flows that feed this process (input). Furthermore,the results of the research activities must be organizedand disseminated so as to maximize their impact withinscience itself. This will in turn support the generation ofnew knowledge through the management and commu-nication of scientific information - and within societyas a whole by means of the scientific disseminationprocesses. Since its formation, Embrapa has sought toguide RD&I according to such parameters through theactivitie,sof Embrapa Technological Information.EmbrapaTechnologicallnformationEmbrapa has always considered having well struc-tured Service Units indispensable to support its centralrole in the SNPA.The implementation of a documenta-tion and information center was deemed essential from

the very beginning, along with a technology transferand knowledge dissemination unit that would maintainelose relations with the Brazilian technical assistanceand rural extension services (Embrapa, 2006).12


4/9

Embrapa Technological Information: A Bridge Between Research and SocietyThe first three organizational structures with specificroles relating to the various spheres of information, tech-nology and communications were created in 1974:theData Processing Oepartment, Technology Oissemina-tion Oepartment, and Information and OocumentationOepartment (010). The latter arose from concern aboutfacilitating the access of researchers to research outcomesfrom around the world and permitting public access toEmbrapa research outcomes. OIO's first responsibilitywas to establish a network of specialized libraries in allof the company's units, as well as documentation sys-tems capable of seeking the information required fromany country in the world (Embrapa, 2002).The departments of Technology Oissemination andInformation and Oocumentation coexisted within Em-

brapa until the 1980'S,when the Technology Oissemina-tion Oepartment assumed responsibility for informa-tion and documentation and the latter department wasclosed. The growing demand for publishing dissemina-tion material, periodicals and books led the company toinvest heavily in modern publishing equipment.The Information Production Service (SPI) was creat-ed in 1991in order to guarantee an adequate structurethat would organize the information available within thecompany, qualifying it in terms of form, contents andsupport to meet the demands of the various clienteles.Over time the SPI has undergone changes in its orga-nizational structure, experimented with three opera-tional models and, at the same time, modernized its pro-duction and product distribution structure. Its namewas changed in 1999to Technology Transfer Communi-cation Service, and it carne to house printing equipmentand a series of services compatible with publishing, to-

gether with videotape and CO-ROM collections.To ensure the transfer of information and technical,scientific and socio-economic data, given the demandsof the market and the Information Society, the unit un-derwent some administrative and managerial transfor-

mations' in mid 2001. It implemented electronic mediaprojects to make information available in a digital envi-ronment and online. At that time, its name was changedagain, to Scientific and Technological Information Serv-ice (SCT), or Embrapa Technological Information.Beginning in 2003, the unit joined in the effort to de-mocratize access to information and, thus, contribute tothe success of the public policies focusing on social in-clusion. New information projects met the demands ofthose who generate information and those who consumeit, with publications edited in the language, style,media,and format adequate to previously determined functionsand clienteles-particularly to those excluded from hav-ing access to scientific and technological information.

Organizational Structure - Embrapa TechnologicalInformation is a decentralized services unit of Embrapa,with the mission of "Proposing, coordinating and execut-ing solutions for the scientificmanagement and dissemi-nation of information generated byEmbrapa to the benefitof the Brazilian society" (as in III PDUSCT - 2008-2011).The organizational structure of SCT is shown in Figure 1.At present, SCT's 111employees (high-school, Bache-10r's and graduate levels-specialization, Master's degreeand PhOs) make up the multidisciplinary team requiredfor the planning and execution of the information-relat-ed work. Librarians, journalists, archivists, administra-tors, economists, systems analysts, pedagogues, graphicdesigners, language specialists, biologists, and agronom-ical engineers, as well as trainees in the various areas,make up the staff.Thus, the unit is equipped to plan, de-velop and implement information products and servicesfor either dissemination or scientific communication.A comparison of SCT's average annual budget of ap-

proximately R$ 3,094,972.34 (see Table 2) with Embra-ps net operational revenue in 2007 of R$ 1.157billionTABLE2 - Annual budgetof Embrapa TechnologicalInformation (1995-2008)

FIGURE1- Embrapa Technological Information Organizational StructureGeneral Manager

Plans, coordinates andevaluates technical andadministrativeactivities, andintegrates EmbrapaTechnological Informationwith the other Units ofEmbrapa, as wellas withpublic and private

Coordinates administrativeactivities, human resourcesmanagement, logistics,financial matters, operationalsupport, marketing anddistribution of alimaterialpublished at the organization.

Assistant Manager forInformation Organization andDisseminationAssistant Manager forEditorial Production Assistant Manager forAdministration

Plans,coordinates andcarries out activities relatedto information and documentmanagement and to thedissemination of Embrapa'sinformation throughelectronic media.

Edit s, p roduces and pr in tspublications on appropriatelanguage and style, andguides the other Units ofEmbrapa concerning editorialmatters.

13

Year Budget (R$)1995 3,800,284.221996 2>431,607.931997 1,853,858.051998 1,616,895.331999 2,024,668.222000 1,778,940.342001 2,199,115.822002 2,184,396.092003 2,621,386.952004 3>411,657.292005 4,269,862.622006 4,394,969.872007 4,946,342.992008 5,795,627.00Mean 3,094,972.34


5/9

Agricultural Information Worldwide - 2: 1 - 2009shows that the unit's structure is low cost, consideringthat Embrapa has 54decentralized (research and servic-es units) and centralized (administrative) units.Information inAgriculture:FromScientific Communication to theOisseminationof Science

Developing countries like Brazil face structural prob-lems such as poverty, which affects a high proportion ofthe population; income concentration; hunger; high il-literacy rates; foreign indebtedness; and poor healthstandards. A common characteristic of these problemsis that S&Tcan contribute towards their minimization.Thus, promoting access to the information resultingfrom scientific research is potentialIy useful for creatingthe robust social, economic and technical infrastructurerequired for the development process (Chan and Costa,2005). The accumulation ofknowledge through scientif-ic and technological progress and the facilitation of ac-cess to information are essential driving forces in the de-velopment of nations.The information communication flow in the produc-tion of knowledge requires:.scientific communication (researchers ~7 researchersand to the scientific community as a whole), and

. mediation of the scientific information for profession-aIs (non-researchers), technicians and society at large,. whichfavorssocialdevelopment.Since Embrapa is a research institution, its re-

searchers - and Embrapa itself - are inserted into agreater global scientific system, whose production, man-agement and scientific communication processes are di-FIGURE2 - Scientific communication and disseminationthrough Embrapa Technological Information

rectly related to and influenced by a complex arrange-ment of institutions, development agencies, companies,and scientific publishers, among others. This means thatthe communication of scientific information in an insti-tution such asEmbrapa meets not only its own demandsusing its own mechanisms but also, and mainly, the im-peratives imposed by the context of world science.SCTProducts and Services:From Research to Society

Within the scope of its mission, SCT proposes, coordi-nates and executes a series of activities that result in in-formation products and services for research and societyat large. The unit's patrons are individuaIs or public andprivate entities that benefit from its services and/or theinformation transmitted by its information products.Nevertheless, SCT gives priority to the demands of thosesocial groups excluded from access to scientific and tech-nological information, or even those having difficultymaintaining such access. SCT's activities are conductedtaking into account the following contextual trends:.Acceleratedevolution of scientificknowledge,with grow-ing interdisciplinary articulation, and more intensiveapplication of technology in alI categories of agribusi-ness and the sustainable development of rural areas..Growing concern of the population and governmentalpolicies as regards the environmental, economic andsocial sustainability of commercial agriculture's pro-duction, as welI as the quality and contribution offoodstuff to nutrition, health and quality of life..Attention to information and knowledge managementas an instrument that enables access to information, aswell as the sharing of information, in a competitiveglobalized world..Growing concern and competition in the informationpublishing market with respect to issuessuch as informa-tion security and intellectual, author, and property rights.. Rapid increase in the number of people interested inelectronic products and services.

Since the R&D outcomes in agriculture and relatedareas are the main focus of Embrapas activities, SCTstructures its products and services as a function of suchoutcomes. Thus, it is concerned not only with scientificinformation management aiming at improving internaland external scientific communication, but also with themanagement of information with a view to improvingthe communication processes between Embrapa and so-ciety (dissemination), as shown in Figure 2.

The main information products and services generat-ed by SCT are described below, categorized by print me-dia, electronic media and information management.PRINT MEDIAIn the last few years, SCT has produced and madeavailable to internal and external clientele approximately

14


6/9

Embrapa Technological Information: A Bridge Between Research and Societythree million printed copies ofbooks,magazines, manuais, period-icals, information leaflets, forms,posters,direct mailing material, let-ters,and folders.Printed Publications & Journals -. PesquisaAgropecuria Brasileira- PesquisaAgropecuriaBrasileira(Brazilian Journal of AgriculturalResearchIhttp://seer.sct.embrapa.br/index.php/pab/index) is an openaccessjournal, published monthlyin print and online, that dissemi-nates original technical-scientificpapers resulting from research con-nected to agriculture, e.g. plantphysiology, plant health, crop sci-ence, genetics, soils, food technol-ogy, and animal science. It is in-dexed by ISI (Web of Science andCurrent Contents: Agriculture, Bi-ology & Environmental Science),Scopus,CABAbstracts,AGRISandSciELO. The technical-scientificartic\es, as well as the scientificnotes and new cultivars, are pub-lished in Portuguese, Spanish andEnglish. Reviews are published byinvitation from the Editor..Cadernos de Cincia e Tecnologia- Cadernosde Cinciae Tecnologia(http://webnotes.sct.embrapa.br/cct/CCT.nsf/Principal) ispublished quarter-lyinprint and electronicmedia. Itis indexed in CABAb-stracts,AGRIS,AGRICOLA,Agrobase,and the PesquisaAgropecuria Brasileira Database. It was created in1984to foster reflection, debate and a critical view ofscience,technology and agricultural development, withan emphasis on the social, cultural and political aspectsof agricultural problems. The journal accepts originalpapers from researchers, scholars and analysts from thevarious areas and institutions that work with agriculture.Mini Libraries - The Mini Libraries project (http://hotsites.sct.embrapa.br/minibibliotecas) includes the pro-duction and distribution of information products in dif-ferent media to public schools in rural areas. The mate~rial contains technological information generated byEmbrapa and instruction on the production of qualityfoodstuff, taking into account the realities of rural com-munities in the various Brazilian regions. Each minilibrary inc\udes lO8print publications, 40 Rural Talk ra-dio prograrns and 37 Field Day on TV program videosproduced by SCT. The subjects covered by the variouscollections emphasize environmental preservation andeducation, citizenship values, cooperative enterprises,vegetable gardens and orchards, raising small and largeanimais, producing quality foodstuff, soil and water

FIGURE3 - Brazilianmunicipalities thatbenefited from the Mini Librariesproject

management, and how to begin a small food agro-in-dustry, among others. By the end of 2008, as a result ofpartnerships established by SCT with the Ministry ofSocial Development and Combat Against Hunger, Na-tional lnstitute for Colonization and Land Reform, andBanco do Brasil Foundation, the Mini Libraries projectinstalled mini libraries in 1,279municipalities, meetingthe needs of an estimated population of lOO,OOOtudentsand surrounding communities, with almost 198,245publications. Figure 3 shows the Brazilian municipalitiesthat benefited from the Mini Libraries project.ELECTRONIC MEDIARadio Program: Rural Talk - In 2003, Embrapa beganusing the radio to disseminate technologies and infor-mation useful in the daily lives of rural families in theNortheast Region's semi-arid zone, as one of the actionsassociatedwith the Zero Hunger (FomeZero, in Portu-guese) Program of the Federal Government. The follow-ing year, the Rural Talk radio program (Prosa Rural, inPortuguese I http://hotsites.sct.embrapa.br/prosarural)was initially broadcast by 50 radio stations. Rural Talk isa 15-minute program whose content is produced by Em-braps research units in the Northeast Region. By theend of 2004, Rural Talk had been broadcast by 423 sta-tions and covered the entire semi-arid region. More15


7/9

than 1,000 radio stations currently take Rural Talk tothousands of Brazilian rural families who learn aboutlow-cost, easy-to-adopt technologies and products devel-oped byEmbrapa for young people and familyfarmers inthe Brazilian Semi-Arid and the Vale do Jequitinhonha(State ofMinas Gerais), aswelIas the Northern, Central-West, Southeast, and Southern Regions of the country.Rural Talk is distributed free of charge to radio stations

throughout Brazilwith the support of the Ministry ofSo-cial Development and Combat Against Hunger, the Brazil-ianAssociation ofCommunity Radios, the BrazilianCom-munications Company, the Ministry of Communications,and the BrazilianAssociation ofRadio and TelevisionSta-tions. Figure 4 shows the Brazilianmunicipalities that haveradio stations working in partnership with Rural Talk.TV Program: Field Day on TV - Field Day on TV (Diade Campo na TV, in Portuguese / http://hotsites.sct.embrapa.br/diacampol) is a weekly television program cre-ated in 1998to disseminate information and technologiesresulting from research executed at Embrapa and stateresearch organizations. These non-technical programsare designed for the most varied publics, including farm-ers, technicians, students, homemakers, and business-men. The program is aired over public and private TVstations. Starting with just four programs in 1998,over350 Field Day on TV programs have been aired to date.Embrapa Portal - The purpose ofthe Embrapa Portal (http://www.embrapa.br) is to improve and broadenthe communication and technologytransfer capability of the companyvis--vis the various sectors of soci-ety via the Internet. It uses a contentmanagement tool to speed up themaintenance and production of in-formation by Embraps units andto help improve the electronic in-formation publication process onthe Web. Access to the EmbrapaPortal enables clients, users and/orbeneficiaries to obtain informationgenerated by Embrapa through asingle entryway.SCT was charged with defining

the visual identity of Embrapa onthe Web and the architecture of theinformation to be made availableviathe Portal. Currently, SCT is respon-sible for coordination of the processof publishing content via the Em-brapa Portal, in partnership withthe SocialCommunications Office.Embrapa Information Agency -The Embrapa Information Agency(http://www.agencia.cnptia.embrapa.brl) is a web system that makes it

Agricultural Information Worldwide - 2: 1 - 2009possible to organize, treat, store, publicize, and accesstechnological information and knowledge generated atEmbrapa and other research institutions. The informa-tion is organized hierarchicalIy in a tree structure calIedthe Tree ofKnowledge. The Embrapa Information Agen-cy contains alI of the Trees of Knowledge developed byEmbraps decentralized units pertaining to agribusinessproducts and themes. The first three levelsof the hierar-chy contain generic knowledge, while the deeper levelspresent more specific knowledge. Each item in the Treeof Knowledge is calIed a node, which is defined at eachsuccessive subdivision (sub-node) of the contents. TheTree of Knowledge contains validated information aboutalI stages of the production chain, e.g. plant cultivationand raising animaIs, and the most diverse themes. In ad-dition to this information, the Embrapa InformationAgency provides users with complete access to variousinformation resources, including articles, books, imageand sound records, spreadsheets, etc. Information canbe accessed by navigating a hyperbolic tree (graphicalform of the Tree of Knowledge-see Figure 5), naviga-tion over hypertext, or the use of a search service:.Navigation of the hyperbolic tree makes it possible tovisualize the ramifications and sub-nodes of each basicnode..Navigation over hypertext shows nodal and sub-nodal

FIGURE4 - Brazilian municipalities that have radio stationsworking in partnership with Rural Talk (ProsaRural)

16


8/9

Embrapa Technological Information: A Bridge Between Research and Societycontents and enables access to thedocument file..The search service makes it possi-ble to identify the route followedto reach the information withinthe hyperbolic tree when the usertypes in the subject desired in thesearch box..The advanced search option per-mits quality and precision retrievalof the information requested.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENTOpen Access to Embrapa's Scien-tific Information - Embrapa is de-signing a project whose purpose is topropose and implement a method-ological model for the managementof technical-scientific information.The model is based on the premis-es/mechanisms of Open Access tofeed the research and developmentactivities and broadly disseminatethe information produced. The ap-plication of an open access model to scientific informa-tion at Embrapa and its effective use by part of the com-munity would make it possible to:assemble and preserve the scientific intellectual pro-duction of the institution in digital form using specifictechniques;provide unified access to the entire scientific produc-tion of Embrapa in electronic format and full text, andto external open access scientific information sourcesrelevant to the research carried out in the institution;enhance the profile of the scientific production, the re-searchers and the institution itselfby maximizing accessto their intellectual production and, consequently, help-ing increase the impact of the outcomes of the researchexecuted at Embrapa, i.e.an increased rate of citation ofscientific articles written byEmbrapa's researchers, andthus support the internationalization of the institution;provide tangible indicators for the evaluation of Em-brapa's scientific production and demonstrate the pub-lic value and scientific, social and economic relevanceof its activities; andprovide scientific information services to externalusers, with special focus on universities, researchers,and research institutes in developing countries.

Embraps Memory - The purpose of the Embrapa'sMemory project (http://hotsites.sct.embrapa.br/prne ) isto retrieve, preserve, manage, and share Embrapa's tech-nological and institutional knowledge and to record thehistory of the company and its units. The project willhelp strengthen the credibility and image of Embrapawithin Brazilian society, especially among people inBrazilian agribusiness.

FIGURE 5 - Hyperbolic navigation in the Tree of Knowledgeon Mangoes, from the Embrapa Information Agency

6.

Embraps Library System - The SCT coordinates Em-brapa's Library System,which is composed of 39librariesand whose mission is to plan, coordinate, standardize,execute, and advise on the organization of informationand technical, scientific and administra tive documenta-tion of the company, as regards acquisitions, technicalprocessing and availability of information to the compa-ny, the scientific community, and society at large.Management of Documentary and Archival Informa-tion - The Central Archives serves Embrapa's 13CentralUnits on issues relating to the management of docu-ments and archives, such as evaluation, control, classifi-cation, term of preservation, and elimination. SCT coor-dinates the management of archives and documents inthe company's Decentralized Units.FinalConsiderationsEmbrapa Technological Information has transformedthe knowledge generated by Embrapa's research into in-

formation available to academic and technical-scientificpublics and has achieved internal and external publicrecognition since its creation.As important as the mediation of scientific informa-

tion for specialized publics is, SCT also focuses on or-ganizing and disseminating information to excludedpopulations, as a way of supporting universal access toknowledge. The plurality of the Brazilian society and thecountry's rural areas and the diverse socio-economic andpolitical arrangements, demand creativity and determi-nation from a government-owned company such as Em-brapa to ensure that the various forms ofcommunication

17


9/9

Agricultural Information Worldwide - 2: 1 - 2009within society reach all of the people. By doing so, theorganization aligns with public policies aimed at the de-velopment of huge sectors of our population. There re-mains in Brazilian society a vicious circle of technologi-cal exclusion that marginalizes millions of Brazilianswith regard to the benefits that science has brought tosociety, thereby strengthening the social exclusionprocesses. By making information available in the lan-guage(s), style, media, and format appropriate for thevarious segments of our population, SCT assigns priori-ty to that part of the population excluded from access toknowledge and takes aim on the alleviation of techno-logical and social exclusion.Bibliographic ReferencesChan, 1., and S.Costa. 2005. Participation inthe global knowl-edge commons: challenges and opportunities for research dis-seminationindevelopingcountries.NewLibrary World106(3/4):141-163.Embrapa. 1988.I PlanoDiretorda Embrapa:1988-1992.Braslia,DF: Secretaria de Planejamento, 1988.Embrapa. 1994. II Plano Diretor da Embrapa: 1994-1998.Braslia, DF: Servio de Produo da Informao.Embrapa. 1998.PlanoDiretorda Embrapa:RealinhamentoEstra-tgico(1999-2003).Braslia, DF: Embrapa-SPI.Embrapa. 2002. Pesquisa agropecuria e qualidadede vida:ahistriada Embrapa.Braslia,DF: EmbrapaInformaoTec-nolgica.Embrapa. 2004. IV Plano Diretor da Embrapa:2004-2007. Bra-slia,DF:Secretaria de Administrao e Estratgia.Embrapa.2006.SugestesparaformulaodeumSistemaNaci-onaldePesquisaAgropecuria.Braslia,DF:EmbrapaInforma-o Tecnolgica.

Embrapa. 2008a. Balano Socialda PesquisaAgropecuriaBra-sileira.Braslia,DF:Secretaria de Gesto e Estratgia.Embrapa. 2008b. V Plano Diretor da Embrapa: 2008-2011-2023.Braslia, DF: Secretaria de Gesto e Estratgia.Produo cientfica cresce no Pais. 2008. Brasilia: Secretaria deComunicao Social da Presidncia da Repblica. http://www.cereja.org.br/arquivos_upload/producao_ cientifica-,resce. pdf

PATRCIAROCHABELLOBERTINis Assistant Manager forInformation Organization and Dissemination at EmbrapaTechnoIogical Information, Brasilia, DF,Brazil.FERNANDOCSARLIMALEITEis Analyst of Embrapa Tech-nologicaI Information and a PhD Candidate in InformationScienceat theDepartmentofInformationScience-Universityof Brasilia.FERNANDODO AMARALPEREIRA is General Manager ofEmbrapa Technological Information and a MSc Candidate inScience and Technology Policies and Management at theCenter for Sustainable Development - University of Brasilia.Contact InformationPatrcia Rocha BelloBertinAssistant Manager for Information Organization andDisseminationEmbrapa Technological InformationParqueEstaoBiolgica- PqEB,W3Norte(final)CEP70770-91 Brasilia, DFBRAZILE-mail: [email protected]: http://www.embrapa.br/

18

Agricultural Information Worldwide

Documents