TEEAL is a digital library of over 325 agricultural research journals that can be accessed without internet through CD-ROM or local network. It was first released in the 1990s as a CD-ROM collection called TEEAL - "Library in a Box" containing over 140 journals. Later versions such as LanTEEAL provided seamless local network access. The collection covers various agricultural subject areas and is available at discounted rates to institutions in eligible countries through funding partners or an institutional grant program.
5. Module 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEAL
TEEAL (The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library) is a
digital collection of over 325 research journals for
agriculture and related sciences.
Researchers, students, faculty and librarians can discover
and access thousands of full-text PDF articles without
the use of the internet. TEEAL is available to institutions
in income-eligible countries
What is TEEAL?
6. Module 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEAL
Subject Coverage
Agricultural Engineering
Agriculture
Animal Science/Veterinary Medicine
Biology
Biotechnology/Applied Microbiology
Chemistry/Biochemistry/ Biophysics
Economics/Social Science/Development
Entomology/Pest Control
Environment/Ecology/Natural Resource
Fisheries/Aquatic Science
Food Science/Nutrition
Forestry
Human Medicine/Physiology
Plant Science/Soil Science
10. Module 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEAL
Agricultural engineering
Agriculture
Animal sciences
Biology and genetics
Biotechnology and
applied microbiology
Chemistry, biochemistry
and biophysics
Economics and development
Entomology and pest control
Environment and ecology
Fisheries
Food and nutrition
Forestry
Human medicine
Plant and soil science
With coverage of so many subject areas, you have
a wealth of articles to fit your research needs
11. Module 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEAL
A short history of TEEAL
development
12. Module 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEALModule 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEAL
TEEAL – “Library in a Box”
• Released in the 1990s
• CD-ROM based collection that was
updated annually
• Contained over 140 journals selected by
600 international scientists as the most
essential to research and education
13. Module 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEALModule 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEAL
System Requirements
a minimum of:
• a 486-based PC running Windows 95,
• 16 Mb of RAM,
• 300 Mb of free hard disk space
• a CD-ROM drive,
• a color monitor
and video card
capable of 256
color display
• 300 dpi laser
printer.
14. Module 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEALModule 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEAL
LanTEEAL
• Released 2005
• The new local area network (LAN) version of
TEEAL
• seamless access to full-text articles and abstracts
• no compact discs to insert, no Internet, and no
waiting.
• up to 10 simultaneous users.
• For an additional fee, you could increase that
number to 20 or 30
15. Module 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEALModule 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEAL
LanTEEAL 2.0
• Released 2008
• Upgraded edition of the
earlier released LanTEEAL
• Improved Basic and
Advanced searches using
keywords, dates, authors,
titles, etc
• Minimum requirements
• 1500 Mz Processor, 1GB
RAM
16. Module 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEALModule 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEAL
2014 – Redesigned TEEAL
17. Module 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEALModule 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEAL
Requirements of the redesigned TEEAL
18. Module 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEALModule 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEAL
TEEAL Production schedule
• It takes one full year to produce the annual
update for TEEAL;
• Furthermore, since the redesign of TEEAL, we
are working to continually evolve and
strengthen our production process.
19. Module 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEAL
How to Obtain TEEAL
•A variety of discounts are available
based on funding through CTA and/or
the Gates Foundation
•OR through The TEEAL Institutional
Grant programme which in 2015-2016 is
awarding a total of 80 sets to qualifying
institutions
•Email teeal@cornell.edu or
itoca@itoca.org for more information.
available for purchase
20. Module 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEALModule 1a: Background and Introduction to TEEAL
• Now that you have learnt the background and
history of TEEAL you may proceed to
Module 1b: Using TEEAL
Editor's Notes
The objectives of the TEEAL modules:
Help you understand why TEEAL was created and its significance to researchers.
Review the contents of TEEAL, what subject areas are covered by the journals and articles in TEEAL.
Help you to understand criteria for eligibility, how TEEAL is distributed, who gets TEEAL and why and what kind of technology is required to get the TEEAL set working.
Enable you to successfully follow the TEEAL installation steps and have the knowhow of using TEEAL.
Review procedures to purchasing updates and other means of acquiring updates.
TEEAL allows access to journals and articles in the above mentioned subject areas.
TEEAL is available to ensure that even without internet access research is not interrupted.
African institutions are affected by many challenges, lack of funding to subscribe to expensive online journals, poor internet connectivity, power cuts among other things, so TEEAL was designed specifically to neutralise these challenges.
It was also designed such that where there is an internal network, it can be connected to the LAN to allow access to TEEAL contents by many patrons at the same time.
In case an institution cannot not afford to purchase updates, researchers can still make use of old content.
The TEEAL office has also came up with non-financial means for institutions in the six eligible countries to acquire updates through hosting the required number of local workshops by partnering institutions (TEEAL Institutional Grants, find out more itoca@itoca.org)
These are some of the prestigious publishers who donate their journals to TEEAL yearly.
The above are some of the broad subject areas found in the articles available in TEEAL to fit the different needs of researchers in Africa.
TEEAL was launched in 1999 and was first introduced in Africa at Africa University, Zimbabwe.
ITOCA was called the TEEAL Africa Office at that time. Some of you might still have the CD collection in your libraries.
As you can see, the initial requirements were very minimal compared to our current system requirements.
Can you believe that a computer once ran on 16MB of RAM! Now USB flash drives can go up to 1TB.
Due to the improvements in technology TEEAL evolved in 2005. More and more libraries now had access to more computers therefore there was a growing need for a networked solution.
The CDs were discontinued and TEEAL was now produced on a portable hard drive.
This release of TEEAL could be set up on a server hosted on a Local Area Network (LAN). An index would then be installed on every computer that was going to have access to TEEAL. The system was designed to support 10 computers accessing TEEAL at the same time.
2008 saw the launched of what was named LanTEEAL 2.0. This version had improvements to the Basic and Advanced searching features.
2014 saw the introduction of a redesigned TEEAL.
TEEAL has moved past the era of hard drives and now comes on its own mini computer. The installation has been simplified greatly. One only needs to set-up the TEEAL computer and then connect it to the LAN for everyone to have access.
The redesigned TEEAL comes with the following when it is shipped to you
TEEAL machine
Power supply and cord
Ethernet cable
You will learn how to install and support TEEAL in an upcoming module.
It takes a year to produce the annual update of TEEAL. Should you have any questions about where we are in a given production cycle - including the expected release date of the next update - then please contact us
TEEAL is available for purchase at a low cost, and is solely for education and research in public and non-profit institutions in income-eligible countries.
Should you have questions regarding the eligibility of your institution, please contact the TEEAL Project Office by completing our online contact form. The link can be found at the bottom of this page.
TEEAL discounts can be obtained through the CTA funding, the Gates Foundation and
TEEAL Institutional Grant are also available on application for these eligible countries - Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda