The objective of this webinar is to provide an overview of the AGORA programme for interested institutions in eligible countries.The webinar will present AGORA, a program to provide free or low cost access to major scientific journals in agriculture and related biological, environmental and social sciences to public institutions in developing countries.The webinar addresses researchers, information management specialists, (agricultural) journal editors, and other people interested in access to journal literature in the global south.

1. Access to Global Online Research in
Agriculture (AGORA): Helping Build the
Global Research Community
Florence Robertson, Kristin Kolshus and Johannes Keizer, FAO
AIMS webinar 29 May 2014

2.  AGORA is one of four programmes comprising
Research4Life, a public private partnership for
development.
 AGORA is an Internet portal collection that provides free or
low cost access to major scientific journals, databases
and Internet resources in agriculture and related biological,
environmental and social sciences, provided by the world’s
leading science publishers
 AGORA is designed to enhance the scholarship of the many
thousands of students, faculty and researchers in
agriculture and life sciences in the developing world.
www.aginternetwork.org
In 2000, WHO surveyed developing country
researchers to discover their highest information
priority – access to subscription journals.

3. Research4Life Programmes
AGORA: www.aginternetwork.org
 Launched 2003 by FAO and Cornell
 80 publishers: 5,300 journals and 4,200 books
 2,400 institutions registered for access
Agriculture, fisheries, food, nutrition, veterinary science, and related subjects. Food and
Agriculture Organization, Cornell University Mann Library, + 80 publishers
HINARI: www.who.int/hinari
Launched 2001 by WHO, 6 founding publishers
and Yale University
270 publishers: 1,300 journals and 29,000 books
5,600 institutions registered for access
Medicine, nursing, and related health and social sciences,
including journals in library science and multiple languages.
World Health Organization, Yale University Library, + 270
publishers

4. Research4Life Programmes
OARE: www.unep.org/oare
 Launched 2006 by UNEP and Yale
 2600 institutions registered
 85 publishers: 5,600 journals, 14,000 books
Disciplines contributing to our understanding of the natural environment. United Nations
Environment Programme, Yale University, 85 STM publishers
ARDI: www.wipo.int/ardi
 Launched 2009 by WIPO
 12 publishers: 3,800 journals, 16,000 books
 250 institutions registered
 Particular focus on applied science and technology. WIPO, 12 major scientific and
technical publishers

5. Eligibility and Target Audiences R4L
 Research and teaching universities
 National research organizations, government
offices and ministries (agriculture, environment,
forestry, health, research, etc.)
 Publicly funded and not-for-profit agencies
(including hospitals, health treatment centers,
etc.)
 National libraries
 Extension centers, local non-governmental
organizations (NGOs)
All staff members and students of a registered institution are
entitled to have access to the information resources. Focal
point: librarian.

6. Eligibility for AGORA and R4L
Group A: Free access. UN Least Developed Country List; Human Development
Index ≤ 0.50; Gross National Income per capita ≤ US$1600
Group B: Low cost access: Gross National Income ≤ US 1 billion; Gross National
Income per capita ≤ US$5000. Cost $1000 per institution per year (2014): gives
access to the four R4L programmes; separate registrations needed. Income is
invested in local training initiatives.

7. Registration for AGORA and R4L
http://registration.research4life.org/
Only one registration
is required per
institution.
Your institution may
already be registered:
ask your librarian.
Your institution can
register for multiple
R4L programmes.

8.  Food and Agriculture Organization, Cornell
University Mann Library, 80 publishers
 Launched in 2003
 2,400 institutions now registered
 5,300 journals and 4,200 e-books offered from
80 publishers
 Agriculture, fisheries, food, nutrition, veterinary
science, and related subjects
 Special version of CAB Abstracts
(covers 80% of journals in AGORA)
www.aginternetwork.org

9. Objectives of AGORA
 Increase access to high-quality, relevant
literature in agriculture
 Improve the quality and effectiveness of
education and training.
 Improve food security
 Improve research in agriculture and related
sciences

10. AGORA Is Like Your Library
Registered users can…
 Browse the collection, just like in a current
periodical room
 Search for journals in a specific subject area,
like departmental libraries
 Track down a citation if you have one
 Use CAB Abstracts as a powerful tool for
discovery
Note: Anyone can browse AGORA’s collection of journals without logging in
and get to the publishers’ websites and abstracts of journal articles.
However, only students, faculty and staff at eligible, registered institutions
can access full-text articles.

11. If login is not completed, this
reminder will appear - the
access to journals is limited
In the ‘All Items’ display
for ‘M’, the green box
equals access.
The white box with the !
equals no access.

12. In the ‘All Items’ display
for ‘M’, the green box
equals access.
The white box with the !
equals no access.
If login is not completed,
this reminder will appear -
the access to journals is
limited

13. Journal Access
 AGORA only gives access to a certain subset of a
publisher’s journals though all journals are listed on the
publisher’s website. The journals with full-text access
indicated may not apply to you.
 For full-text journal articles:
 Users’ institutions must be registered
 Users must log in using institutional user name
and password.
 Which publishers are offering access to registered users?
http://agora.aginternetwork.org/content/en/country_offer.php
 AGORA log in does not give access to all services
offered on publishers’ websites.

14. Access Questions
 See www.aginternetwork.org/en/help/faq.html
 Contact your Librarian or
 Contact the AGORA team with any questions or comments.
 Could you please describe the problems? AGORA will not work without logging in.
 What is the username and password you are using? (Case sensitive, no spaces)
 What institution are you from?
 Are you able to logon? Or do you get a "Failure to authenticate" message?
 If you are able to log on, are you unable to access all journals or only certain
journals? Some journals are only available in abstract form, you will see that list once
logged on.
 It may be a technical problem or firewall issue. Detailed information from you helps us
investigate.
We want/need to hear from users!
agora@fao.org

15. AGORA User Agreement
 All registered institutions must sign a User Agreement covering:
 Use of the AGORA password
 Copyright and Fair Use
 It is OK to:
 Share AGORA username and password with colleagues,
students, faculty in your institution.
 Download or print up to 15% of a journal issue or book.
 Use material for educational purposes (course packs or
reserves) or make copies for institution members.
 It is not OK to:
 Share AGORA username and password outside your institution.
 Post content to websites, or publish username and password
online, or download all articles from a single issue.

16.  The AGORA program is about opening access, and includes
many open access materials, but is not itself an open
access initiative. However, Open Access and AGORA need
to be seen as complementary initiatives.
 Our goal is to make scientific knowledge available
throughout low and medium income countries.
 We encourage “Gold open access” publishers to waive
publishing fees for contributions from those countries. Many
publishers now endorse (with some restrictions) "green
open access" publishing through institutional repositories.
 AGORA/R4L is another necessary tool to achieve our goal.
It will not prevent more "open access" publishing. It will
motivate open access publishing in low income countries.

17. R4L Training and Outreach
 Essential to the success of the programmes. Funded by
Group B income and other funding sources. Train the
trainer approaches
 Courses include presentations, lectures, group discussions,
product demos and hands-on practice, plus handouts
 Online and CD-ROM training modules
 Posters and leaflets in 6 languages
 In-country and distance education training courses
 Online training: www.aginternetwork.org/en/training/ and
www.research4life.org/about/training-resources-for-users/
 National workshops in Asia, Latin America, Middle East,
Europe, and Africa. African training undertaken by ITOCA
(Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa):
www.itoca.org/node/81

18. Access the Case Studies
www.research4life.org/case-studies/stories-from-the-field/ and
www.research4life.org/celebrating-the-unsung-heroes-librarians-and-
research4life/

19. Long Term Vision R4L programmes
 All stakeholders committed to support the programs
beyond the 2015 horizon. Core to the MDGs – education,
health, food, environment
 Better research; updated curriculum
 Research-based policy decisions
 More effective medical treatment, agricultural and
environmental interventions
 Connections to international scientific community
 Reduced "publishing gap" & improved locally-produced
journals
 Ongoing plan to address the challenges and ensure a long
term legacy of research in developing countries
 ULTIMATELY--Improved food security, environment
and health

20. Looking for More Information?
HINARI
 www.who.int/hinari
 hinari@who.int
AGORA
 www.aginternetwork.o
rg
 agora@fao.org
OARE
 www.unep.org/oare
 oare@oaresciences.o
rg
ARDI
 www.wipo.int/ardi/en
 ardi@wipo.int
www.research4life.org

21. We welcome your
feedback