Agricultural Telecommunications 2002
Proposal
6.3 /
800730118
Project Summary:
| Title of Project: | Developing Advanced Web Delivery of Rangelands and Natural Resources Information: An AgNIC Project |
| Project Director: | Carla Long Casler |
| Applicant Organization: | Office of Arid Lands Studies |
Summary:
A regional Agriculture Network Information Center (AgNIC) partnership involving thirteen Western
land-grant universities under the lead of the University of Arizona (UA) will develop an advanced
technical foundation for improved delivery of rangelands and natural resources information and
programming via the web, targeting resources for typically underserved populations such as
small-scale landholders as well as agency and other private land managers, researchers, and
students. This will involve establishing "repository" status within the national AgNIC system
whereby the UA will develop and maintain a metadata database which accommodates both data
entry from the western partners and the capability to interface with the main AgNIC gateway
database currently housed at Cornell. Each partner institution also will: (a) identify and develop
rangelands and natural resources information and programming on the Arizona model
[http://rangelandswest.org/az/index.html]; and (b) make the resources available through the
regional rangelands web site and AgNIC database. Finally, the project will provide training
materials and a training workshop for regional library and extension partners in metadata
applications. Partners will incorporate the web resources developed into established extension
programming and will demonstrate the final web product at Cooperative Extension and library
meetings throughout the Western U.S.
Authorized Organizational Representative:
| Name: | James E. Cook |
| Email: | jcook@ag.arizona.edu |
| Phone Number: | 520/621-7902 |
| FAX Number: | 520/621-3816 |
| Address: | Office of Arid Lands Studies
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85719-5224 |
| IRS Number: | 86-6004791 |
| Congressional District Number: | Fifth |
| Period of Proposed Project Dates | 2002/10/01 to 2003/09/30 |
Principal Investigator / Project Director #1:
| Name: | Carla Long Casler |
| Email: | ccasler@ag.arizona.edu |
| Phone Number: | 520/621-8571 |
| FAX Number: | 520/621-3816 |
| Address: | Office of Arid Lands Studies, CALS
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85719-5224 |
Curriculum Vitae:
Carla Long Casler
Research Librarian
Arid Lands Information Center
Office of Arid Lands Studies
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
The University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona 85721
(520) 621-8571
ccasler@ag.arizona.edu
EDUCATION
1981 Indiana University. Master of Library and Information Science.
1973 Indiana University. Bachelor of Arts.
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
The University of Arizona
Office of Arid Lands Studies
Arid Lands Information Center
1988-present. Research Librarian. Conduct database searches for projects, manage collection,
conduct training, supervise interns, develop web sites, write proposals, answer reference
questions. Developed and supervised project to create a web site of resources on soils, Soils
of
Arid Regions of the U.S. and Israel, http://ialcworld.org/soils/home.html. Coordinated project
to
create web site on watershed management, Watershed Management in the Southwest,
http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/watershed/index.html. Developed and conducted short-term
training programs on library management and library technology for librarians from Saudi
Arabia
and Kenya.
1985-1986. Research Associate. Developed and coordinated Yemen Documentation and
Learning Resource Center Technical Training Program for three students from Yemen Arab
Republic. Managed project converting Arid Lands Development Abstracts from the original
Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux format to AGRICOLA MARC format.
The University of Arizona
University Library
1987. Business and Humanities Librarian. Provided reference service. Conducted bibliographic
instruction in business, marketing, journalism, and literature. Responsible for evaluating journal
titles in law and linguistics for Serials Review Project. Revised departmental training program
for
librarians and graduate assistants.
1981-82. Orientation Librarian. Coordinated library instruction system?wide and conducted
bibliographic instruction for many university departments. Provided reference service in the
Science?Engineering Library. Compiled "Glossary of Library Terms" for foreign students.
INTERNATIONAL PROJECT ACTIVITIES
2000 Trainer for Short Term Library Technology Program for librarian from Egerton University
Library, Kenya
1998 Trainer for Short Term Library Management Program for Saudi Aramco.
1991 Training Consultant, Documentaliste, INRAN, Niamey, Niger.
1988 Provided backstopping support for the National Agricultural Research Project (NARP)
component for developing a National Agricultural Library in Egypt.
1985 Conducted Yemen Documentation and Learning Resource Center Technical Training
Program.
1980 Library Assistant. American Embassy Library, Warsaw, Poland.
PRESENTATIONS
1997 "A demonstration of the Arizona AgNIC Website on Rangeland Management," poster
presented jointly with B. Hutchinson, M. Haseltine, and K. Waser at the International
Symposium and Workshop on Combating Desertification: Connecting Science with
Community
Action, October 1997
.
1997 "Designing a Web Resource on Aridic Soils of Israel and the U.S.," poster presented at
the USAIN/IAALD Joint Conference, April 1997.
1994 "Access to Information on Desertification: Using Technology and Non-Traditional
Resources." paper presented jointly with B. Hutchinson and M. Haseltine to the International
Symposium and Workshop on Desertification in Developed Countries, October 1994.
1994 "A Demonstration of CD-ROM Databases and Internet Access to Information on
Desertification" poster session presented jointly with M. Haseltine to the International
Symposium and Workshop on Desertification in Developed Countries, October 1994.
PUBLICATIONS
forthcoming. "Soils," Carla Long Casler and Karl Schneider, in Using Agriculture Literature,
edited by Barbara Hutchinson and Antoinette Greider. Marcel Dekker.
forthcoming. "Comparing AGRICOLA by Vendor," Carla Long Casler, Eileen Herring, Helen
Smith, Heather Moberly, Susan Flood, Valerie Perry, and Karl Schneider, Journal of
Agricultural
& Food Information.
1996. "Food Science Technology Abstracts: a database review, " Barbara Hutchinson and
Carla Long Casler, Journal of Agricultural & Food Information, v. 3, no. 3, p 79-87.
1993. "Sustainable Agriculture: A Guide to Information Sources," Barbara Hutchinson, Jodee
L.
Kawasaki, Carla Long Casler, Arid Lands Newsletter, vol. 33 Spring/Summer, p. 6-19.
1992. Famine Mitigation Bibliography: With Special Emphasis on Ethiopia, Sudan and Angola.
B. Hutchinson, K. Johnson, M. Haseltine, and C. Casler, eds. Washington, DC: Office of
Foreign Disaster Assistance, 245 pp.
SERVICE
2000-2004 Board of Directors, United States Agricultural Information Network (USAIN)
1999-2002 United States Agricultural Information Network (USAIN), Chair, Communications
Committee, and Convener, AGRICOLA Interest Group.
1998-2000 Advisory Board, School of Information Resources and Library Science, University of
Arizona.
1998-1999 Nominating Committee, Food, Agriculture and Nutrition Division of the Special
Libraries Association.
1996-1997 Conference Coordinator for USAIN/IAALD Joint Conference, "The Information
Frontier: Linking People and Resources in a Changing World," April 3-5, 1997.
1992 Co-Organizer for Arizona Chapter of the Special Libraries Association two-day
workshop,
"Living in the Desert: Issues and Information Sources.
1990-1991 Program Committee for Arizona State Library Association/Mountain Plains Library
Association/Arizona Educational Media Association conference. Developed programs on
working with disabled patrons, Americans with Disabilities Act, and alternative careers for
librarians.
1990-1991 Tucson Networking Chair for Arizona Chapter of the Special Libraries Association.
Principal Investigator / Project Director #2:
| Name: | Barbara S. Hutchinson |
| Email: | barbarah@ag.arizona.edu |
| Phone Number: | 520/621-8578 |
| FAX Number: | 520/621-3816 |
| Address: | Office of Arid Lands Studies, CALS
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85719-5224 |
Curriculum Vitae:
Barbara S. Hutchinson
Director and Librarian
Arid Lands Information Center
Office of Arid Lands Studies
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
The University of Arizona
1955 E. Sixth Street
Tucson, Arizona 85719
Email: barbarah@ag.arizona.edu
Education
University of Arizona, Tucson M.L.S. 1982 Masters in Library Science
University of California, Riverside B.A. 1972 History, Teacher's
Credential
Riverside City College, Riverside, California 1970 English major, transferred
Employment
1985-88 Manager, Arid Lands Information Center, OALS, University of Arizona,
Tucson. Supervisor: Dr. Kennith Foster.
1988-89 Manager, Research Support Office, Office of the Vice President for
Research, University of Arizona, Tucson. Supervisor: Mr. Charles Peyton, Associate Vice
President for Research.
July 1989- Director and Librarian, Arid Lands Information Center (ALIC).
Present Office of Arid Lands Studies (OALS), College of Agriculture, University of
Arizona, Tucson. Supervisor: Dr. Kennith Foster.
Selected Honors and Awards
1999 National Agricultural Library Travel Grant to attend Agriculture Network
Information Center (AgNIC) Coordinating Committee Meeting, March
1998 USDA Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Leadership in the
Development of AgNIC; National Agricultural Library Visiting Scholar Award - $10,000
1995 Received Continuing Status and Promotion to Full Librarian
1972 Elected to Phi Beta Kappa
1972 Graduated from U.C.R., Magna Cum Laude
Selected Consulting
October 2001: Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation. Duties included: Conducting intensive
library systems evaluation and preparing a report of recommendations for the President of the
Foundation. Ardmore, Oklahoma.
February 2000: Farmer to Farmer Program. Duties included: Library system evaluation and
training in the use of The Essential Electronic Agriculture Library (TEEAL). Egerton University,
Njoro, Kenya
July 1999: Colorado River Indian Tribes, Parker, Arizona. Duties included: Evaluation of library
and archive services, collection, and facility.
January - February 1999: Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Madras,
India, and the World Bank. Duties included: Evaluation of existing library services, facility,
and
personnel for the purpose of creating a long range plan for improving overall library programs.
January - February 1997: Malawi Ministry of Research and Environmental Affairs. Duties
included: assessing current state of environmental information access in Malawi as part of an
effort to design an Environmental Information System for the country.
Selected Committees and Service
2000 Member, Blue Ribbon Panel to review the programs and services of the U.S. National
Agricultural Library (appointed)
2000 Member of Arizona Statewide Library Development Commission (invited)
1999+ Chair, AgNIC Task Force on Technical Requirements for Information Retrieval
System
1998-01 Elected President of the U.S. Agricultural Information Network (USAIN)
1995-97 Chair, USAIN/IAALD 1997 International Conference (included fundraising, selecting
keynote speakers, organizing pre-conference workshops, and overall administration)
Selected Publications
Baker, M., B. Hutchinson, E. Pfirman, and M. Haseltine. 2001. Management of Arid and
Semi-Arid Watersheds: Decision-Making Tools and Technology Transfer. Hydrology and Water
Resources in Arizona and the Southwest. Vol. 31, pp. 7-12.
Hutchinson, B. S. The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library (TEEAL): A tool for agricultural
education and research in developing countries (a case study). 2002. Journal for the
Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education 9(1): 93-99.
Hutchinson, B. and G. Ruyle. 2000. Wired without the Barbs: Using the Web for Rangeland
Information. Rangelands 22(6): 19-22.
Hutchinson, B. and G. Ruyle. Partnering for Better Management of Western Rangelands:
using
web technologies to get the word out. Submitted to the Journal of Agricultural and Food
Literature (in press).
Timmermann, B.N., G. Wachter, S. Valcic, B. Hutchinson, et al. 2000. The Latin American
ICBG: the first five years. Pharmaceutical Biology 37(Supplement):35-54.
Principal Investigator / Project Director #3:
| Name: | Marianne Stowell Bracke |
| Email: | brackem@email.arizona.edu |
| Phone Number: | 520/621-4612 |
| FAX Number: | 520/621-3816 |
| Address: | Science-Engineering Library
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721-0055 |
Curriculum Vitae:
Marianne Stowell Bracke
CURRICULUM VITAE
CHRONOLOGY OF EDUCATION
Degrees Awarded:
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. M.S. in Library and Information Science, 1995
-
1997
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. B.A. in History (with distinction), Minor in
Women's Studies,
1989 - 1993
CHRONOLOGY OF EMPLOYMENT
Assistant Librarian, Science and Engineering Team, University of Arizona Libraries. November
2000 to present.
Key work responsibilities:
· Departmental Responsibilities: Agricultural and Resource Economics, Agricultural
Education, Family and Consumer Sciences, and Speech and Hearing Sciences
· Establish and maintain ongoing connections with students, faculty, researchers, and
staff in assigned departments
· Identify, evaluate, and select information resources for purchase or access in the
following LC subject classes: R, TT, and TX 1-340
· Develop and provide library education, course-related instruction, and other
specialized educational sessions
· Develop and maintain in-depth subject knowledge of information resources and
provide
in-depth reference and consultations
· Participate in reference desk service at the Main Library reference desk and in the
new Information Commons in Spring 2002
· Participate in AgNIC activities, including supervising a student worker and locating
new items to add to the "Hot Topics" section of the website
· Develop and maintain an MS Access database to track results from the SEL
reference survey
Cross-functional Teams:
Information Literacy Team, 2001 -
Reference Action Planning Team, Spring 2001
Virtual Reference Project Team, Team Leader, 2001 -
AgNIC Steering Committee, 2001 -
Life Sciences Librarian, University of Houston Libraries. July 1998 - November 2000
Key work responsibilities:
· Departmental and Collection Responsibilities: Biology, Biophysical Sciences,
General
Science, Communication Disorders, and Women's Studies
· Established and maintained relationships with faculty, researchers, and staff in
assigned departments
· Identified, evaluated, and selected information resources for purchase or access in
assigned departments
· Creator and sole administrator of a funded pilot project to facilitate speedier
document
delivery for Biology and Biochemistry faculty
· Instructed both undergraduates and graduates in the use of the science resources
· Trained library staff on general and life science resources
· Participated in reference desk service at the general reference desk
· Co-moderated PACS-L (Public-Access Computer Systems Forum Listserv)
Information Skills Program Librarian, University of Houston Libraries. September 1999 -
November 2000
Key work responsibilities:
· Assist the Coordinator of Library Instruction with all aspects of the Information Skills
Program, including content development, outreach on and off campus, marketing, internal
training, website content, and class instruction
· Taught walk-in workshops, such as introduction to research, basic and advanced
web
searching, and catalog searching, as well as course-integrated instruction in English,
psychology, education, political science, and social work.
· Provided in-depth, one-on-one instruction to undergraduate students during "drop-in"
research help sessions held during peak times of the semester
· Maintained two library classrooms, ensuring all computer equipment and projectors
were functioning
Reference Librarian, Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences Library (ACES),
University of Illinois Libraries. August 1997 - June 1998
Key work responsibilities:
· Departmental and Collection Responsibilities: Food Science & Human Nutrition and
Human & Community Development
· Coordinated all reference activities, including scheduling 3 librarians and 4 graduate
assistants
· Developed instructional materials for ACES 100, a required course for all students in
the ACES College
· Supervised and trained 4 graduate assistants
· Updated and maintained the library's website
· Migrated and maintained 3 local databases from Inmagic software to MS Access
· Catalogued College of ACES graduate theses
HONORS AND AWARDS
Nominated and selected for excellence in teaching to participate as one of twenty University of
Arizona faculty members in the Wakonse Conference on College Teaching, May 17 - 20, 2001.
SERVICE
Intramural Service:
AgNIC Western Regional Rangelands Workshop Planning Committee. University of Arizona.
Spring 2002
Committee on Committees. University of Arizona. Fall 2001 -
Wildcat Welcome. ASK ME Volunteer. University of Arizona. Fall 2001
Daughters on Campus Day. Instructor of a Web Searching Class. University of Arizona.
Spring 2001
Cougar First Impressions. Volunteer. University of Houston. Fall 1998, 1999, 2000
Travel Committee. Chair. University of Houston Library. August 1999 - November 2000
Collection Management Committee. Member. University of Houston Library. August 1999 -
May 2000
Materials Budget Allocation Taskforce. Member. University of Houston Library. July 1999 -
May 2000
Committee on Committees and Elections. Member. University of Houston Library. August
1999 - November 2000
Search Committee for Digital Services Coordinator. Member. University of Houston Library.
October 1999 - September 2000
Student Publications Committee. Member. University of Houston. September 1999 -
November 2000
Collection Development Committee. Intern. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 1997 -
1998
Extramural Service:
American Library Association, 1996 -
Reference and User Services Association, Machine-Assisted Reference Section, 2001 -
Education, Training, and Support Committee, 2002 -- 2004
Association of College and Research Libraries, Instruction Section, 1998 -
Emerging Technologies in Instruction Committee, 2000 - 2002
Association of College and Research Libraries, Science and Technology Section, 1998 -
Oberly Award for Bibliography in the Agricultural Sciences, 1999 - 2003
E-STREAMS (Electronic Reviews of Science & Technology References covering Engineering,
Agriculture, Medicine and Science), reviewer 1998 - 2000
Library Journal, reviewer 1998 -
PUBLICATIONS
Bracke, Marianne Stowell and Lori Critz. "Re-envisioning Instruction for the Electronic
Environment of a 21st Century Science-Engineering Library." Science & Technology Libraries.
(2001) Vol. 20, No. 2/3, p.97-106. (Refereed)
Bracke, Marianne Stowell and Diane Gwamanda. "Document Delivery by Individual Selectors."
The Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Information Supply. (2002) Vol. 12, No.
4.
(Refereed, in press)
Bracke, Marianne Stowell and Paul Bracke. "Selected Web Resources in the History of
Science." Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship. (Winter 1999) Vol. 21
(http://www.library.ucsb.edu/istl/99-winter/internet.html). (Non-refereed. 50% contribution,
author
listing is alphabetical)
Bracke, Marianne Stowell. "The Dirt Under Your Feet: A Brief History and Future of Soil
Surveys." Bulletin of the SLA Map and Geography Division. (Summer 1997) Vol. 186,
p.36-40.
(Non-refereed)
Principal Investigator / Project Director #4:
| Name: | Robert MacArthur |
| Email: | robmac@ag.arizona.edu |
| Phone Number: | 520/621-2489 |
| FAX Number: | |
| Address: | Educational Communications and Technologies, CALS
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721 |
Curriculum Vitae:
Robert MacArthur
College of Agriculture
University of Arizona
Tucson, Az. 85721
(520) 621-2489
Personal Data
Date of Birth: June 26,1945
Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois
Education
Bachelor of Arts, University of Illinois, 2/67
Certificat de Presence, Sorbonne - Paris, France, 6/67
Ph.D in History, University of Arizona, 6/76
Professional Experience
8/93 - present: University of Arizona, Tucson Arizona
· Coordinator of networking, Web, and database activities for the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences. Responsible for college servers, and a statewide TCP/IP network, with
multiple feeder LANs that supports administrative and research-based applications and
distance
education.
· Academic Appointment - School of Renewable Natural Resources - teaching and
research in geographic information systems (GIS), spatial data modeling, 3D visualization
8/91 - 8/93: University of Arizona, Tucson Arizona.
Associate Director Advanced Resource Technology (ART) program in the School of Renewable
Natural Resources. ART is the college's center for natural resources management using
remote sensing, geographic information systems, and artificial intelligence for spatial modeling
purposes.
7/85 - 7/91: University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
Director of Computer Applications, College of Agriculture. Micro manager for 600
microcomputers including systems planning, network implementation, and general consulting.
Teaching Experience
1992 to present, Renewable Natural Resources 271 - Computers in Natural Resource
Management. Basic computer instruction for natural resource majors, including remote
sensing, geographic information systems, GPS, and artificial intelligence.
Papers and Presentations
Chapter in pending textbook for an environmental monitoring course, "Geographic Mapping of
Natural Resources".
"Building Community GIS Educational Applications", ESRI International User Conference, San
Diego, July, 2001
"Building a State Repository of Agricultural Data", 2nd International Conference for Geospatial
Information in Agriculture and Forestry, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, January, 2000.
"Building Landscape Visualizations for Instruction", ESRI International User Conference, San
Diego, June 2000
"The Southwest Project - Using University Research Data in K-16 Education", Conference on
Remote Sensing Education, ASPRS/NASA, Boulder, Colorado, July, 1999
"The Southwest Project: A University of Arizona Learning Experiment", presented to NLII
conference of EDUCOM, New Orleans, February 1999
"Communities of Learning Benefit from GIS/LIS", presented to GIS/LIS '98, Fort Worth, Texas,
November 1998.
"Integrating Natural Resource Data into Instructional Applications", presented to 7th
International Conference on Computers in Agriculture, ASAE, Orlando, October 1998.
"The Southwest Project - an Example of a Collaborative Outreach Project" presented to
National
Extension Technology Conference, St Louis, June 1998.
"Using Natural Resource Data in a Broad Educational Context", paper presented to American
Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing-RTI Annual Conference, Tampa, April 1998
"Using University Research Data in a K12 Environment " presentation to Teaching and
Technology Conference, Phoenix, January 1998, repeated to Microcomputers in Education,
Phoenix, March 1998
Paper, "Natural Resource Management and the New Internet-Based Technology", Resource
Technology '97 Proceedings, April 7 to 10, 1997
Presentation, "Using GIS to Distribute Educational Materials", Southwest ArcInfo Users Group
Conference, Flagstaff, AZ, November 12-13, 1997.
Principal Investigator / Project Director #5:
| Name: | Sheila D. Merrigan |
| Email: | merrigan@ag.arizona.edu |
| Phone Number: | 520/626-6543 |
| FAX Number: | |
| Address: | Cooperative Extension
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721 |
Curriculum Vitae:
Sheila D. Merrigan
Information Resources Program Coordinator
Cooperative Extension
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona 85721
520-626-6543
merrigan@ag.arizona.edu
EDUCATION
August 1995 M.L.S. Library Science, University of Arizona, Tucson. Included an
Internship at Arid Lands Information Center.
August 1987 M.S. Interdisciplinary Studies, Texas Tech University, Lubbock.
Emphasis
on conservation and management of natural resources.
May 1983 B.S. Forest Products, Business Option, University of Idaho, Moscow.
December 1983 B.S. Forest Resources, Management Option, University of Idaho, Moscow.
May 1980 A.S. Nebraska Western College, Scottsbluff. Course emphasis in science
and mathematics.
EMPLOYMENT
2000 - present Information Resources Program Coordinator. University of Arizona,
Cooperative Extension, Tucson, Arizona
1999 - 2000 Reference Librarian. George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
1999 - 2000 Administrative Manual Human Resources Web Site Coordinator.
Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture,
Washington DC/Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
1997 - 1999 Information Resources Program Coordinator. University of Arizona,
Cooperative Extension, Tucson, Arizona
1996 - 1998 Research/Information Specialist. University of Arizona, Council for
Environmental Studies, Pesticide Information and Training Office, Tucson, Arizona
1996-1997 Library Manager. University of Arizona, Udall Center for Public Policy,
Tucson, Arizona.
1995-1996 Librarian. California Coastal Commission, San Francisco, California
1990-1995 Research/Information Specialist. University of Arizona, Council for
Environmental Studies, Pesticide Information and Training Office, Tucson, Arizona
1988-1989 Research Assistant. Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
1985-1987 Development Prospect Researcher. Texas Tech University Office of
Development, Lubbock, Texas
1983-1985 Library Assistant IV. Texas Tech University Library, Lubbock, Texas
PUBLICATIONS and PRESENTATIONS
Merrigan, S.D. and T. McKimmie. In Press. Grey Literature and Extension Resources. In
Hutchinson, B. and A. Greider (editors), Using the Agricultural, Environmental, and Food
Literature. Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York, NY.
Merrigan, S.D. 2002. Grant Seeking. Family Skills Workshop, 22 February 2002, San Carlos
Indian Reservation. Two-hour presentation.
Merrigan, S.D. 2001. Building Web Sites Using Dreamweaver. December 18, 2001, Tucson,
Arizona. Five-hour hands-on workshop.
Merrigan, S.D. 2001 Grant Seeking Workshop, 29-30 October 2001, Tucson, Arizona.
Organized two-day workshop and delivered a two-hour presentation on proposal sections.
Huchinson, B., D. Jones, and S.D. Merrigan. AgNIC Presentation to Arizona Farm Bureau, 13
September 2001, Phoenix, Arizona. 45-minute presentation.
AWARDS
The University of Arizona 1998 Team Award for Excellence. Awarded to the UAInfo Advisory
Council & Implementation Team 15 April 1998.
University of Arizona, College of Agriculture, 1997 Second Quarter Idea Award. Awarded 15
July 1997.
MEMBERSHIPS
International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists (IAALD)
Special Library Association
United States Agricultural Information Network (USAIN)
Principal Investigator / Project Director #6:
| Name: | Jeanne L. Pfander |
| Email: | pfanderj@u.library.arizona.edu |
| Phone Number: | 520/621-6375 |
| FAX Number: | |
| Address: | Science-Engineering Team
The University of Arizona Library
Tucson, AZ 85721 |
Curriculum Vitae:
JEANNE L. PFANDER
Associate Librarian
Science-Engineering Team
University of Arizona Library
phone: (520) 621-6375; email: pfanderj@u.library.arizona.edu
http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/users/jpfander/jpfander.html
EDUCATION
University of Missouri, Master of Arts, Library Science, August 1979
Stephens College, Bachelor of Arts, Biology, December 1976
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Associate Librarian, Science-Engineering Team, University of Arizona Library, July 1982 -
present.
Biological Sciences Librarian, Oklahoma State University Library, January 1980 - June 1982.
CURRENT RESPONSIBILITIES
Serving as liaison to College of Agriculture departments such as Animal Science, Entomology,
and Veterinary Science / Microbiology.
Managing and participating in collaborative projects, such as the Arizona AgNIC Rangeland
Management Project and the Journal of Insect Science E-Journal Project.
Developing and conducting instructional sessions in library research, information management,
critical thinking and computer skills.
Developing research guides, both paper and web-based.
Selecting information resources for the Library collection and managing assigned subject area
budgets.
Providing reference assistance at the Science Reference desk, via email or by appointment (for
in-depth, subject-specific questions).
Supervising staff and/or students on a project by project basis.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Grant Proposals
The Arizona Electronic Atlas Project: World Wide Web Access to Arizona Maps. Principle
Investigator - Chris Kollen, University of Arizona Library. (I contributed ~10% to the
development
of this proposal and will serve as a project team member.) Funded to begin December 2001.
Increasing the Availability of Electronic Information in Rural America: Proposal for a USDA
Fund
for Rural America Center Planning Grant. Principal Investigator - Pam Andre, National
Agricultural Library. (Hutchinson, Pfander, and Jones of UA contributed to the development of
this proposal.) Submitted March 1997. Funded.
Enhancing the Arizona AgNIC Model: Agricultural Information on the Web. Proposal for a
USDA
CREES Telecommunications grant. Co-Principal Investigators - Barbara Hutchinson, George
Ruyle, and Jeanne Pfander. Submitted July 1996. Funded.
Develop More Advanced Approaches to Disseminating Electronic Information: Arizona AgNIC.
An agreement with the USDA ARS, National Agricultural Library. Co-Principal Investigators -
Carla Stoffle, Doug Jones, Barbara Hutchinson, and Jeanne Pfander. October 1995. Funded.
Selected Presentations and Publications
Pfander, J.L. "Growing an E-Journal: The University of Arizona Experience". Presented at the
USAIN Conference, Raleigh, North Carolina, April 23, 2001.
Pfander, J.L. and Macha, C. "Tooling Up: Preparing Librarians for New Pedagogical
Paradigms."
Presented at the LOEX (Library Orientation Exchange) of the West Conference,
Bozeman, Montana, June 7-10, 2000.
Pfander, J.L. "Meeting Rangeland Information Needs through a Web-based Reference Service:
The Arizona AgNIC Experience." Presented at the U.S. Agricultural Information Network
(USAIN) Conference, Manhattan, Kansas, April 22-23, 1999.
Pfander, J.L., Hutchinson, B.S. and Ruyle, G.B. "Home on the Cyber-Range: Creating a
Web-Based Information Center for Rangeland Resources." Presented at the Arizona Library
Association Annual Conference, Phoenix, Arizona, November 6, 1997.
Arizona AgNIC presentations & poster sessions. Presented (with Hutchinson, Ruyle, and/or
McClaran) numerous times during 1996-1999 to groups such as the Arizona Farm Bureau,
the Arizona AgriBusiness Council, and the Western Council for Agricultural Research,
Extension and Teaching (WCARET), etc.
Pfander, J.L., Jones, D.E. and Hutchinson, B.S. 1993. Monitoring and Managing the
Information
Resources of Hot Desert Rangeland Ecosytems. in Proceedings of the Symposium of
Vegetation Management of Hot Desert Rangeland Ecosystems, pp. 53-60, Phoenix, Arizona.
Principal Investigator / Project Director #7:
| Name: | George B. Ruyle |
| Email: | gruyle@ag.arizona.edu |
| Phone Number: | 520/621-1384 |
| FAX Number: | |
| Address: | Rangeland and Forest Resources, SRNR
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721 |
Curriculum Vitae:
George B. Ruyle
Professor and Extension Specialist, Range Management
Program Chair, Rangeland and Forest Resources
School of Renewable Natural Resources
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
Chronology of Education
University Major Dates Degree
Arizona State University Environmental Agriculture 1974 - 1977 B.S.
University of California, Berkeley Range Management 1977 - 1979 M.S.
Utah State University Range Science 1980 - 1983 Ph.D.
Chronology of Employment
1998 - present Professor and Extension Specialist, Range Management
1996 - present Program Chair, Rangeland and Forest Resources, School of Renewable
Natural Resources, The University of Arizona
1989 - 1998 Associate Extension Specialist, Range Management, The University of
Arizona
1990 Adjunct Professor, Gerald Thomas Chair for Sustainable Agriculture, New Mexico
State University (Sabbatical).
1983-1989 Assistant Range Management Extension Specialist and Assistant
Research
Scientist, The University of Arizona
1980-1983 Research Assistant, Utah State University
1979-1980 Post-graduate Research Range Ecologist, University of California, Davis
1977-1979 Research Assistant, University of California, Berkeley
Selected Service
2001 Ranch Conservation Technical Advisory Team, Pima County Sonoran Desert
Conservation Plan
2001 Arizona State Range Task Group
2000 Governor's Rangeland Technical Advisory Council
2000 Rangeland Resource Team, Bureau of Land Management
1999 Peer Review Panel, EPA, Regional Scale Analysis and Assessment, Science to
Achieve Results program research grants, Washington, DC
1999 Expert Review Panel for the USAIN/NEH Project to Preserve the Literature of
Agriculture and Rural Life between 1820-1945
1994 Agriculture, Trade, and the Environment Task Group, Office of Technology
Assessment, U.S. Congress, Washington, D.C.
1992 Reviewer, National Academy of Sciences BOSTID Proposals
1991 Review Panel, U.S.D.A. Competitive Grants Program, Sustainable Agriculture and
Education, San Francisco
1989-94 Committee on Rangeland Classification, National Academy of Sciences, Washington,
D.C.
Professional Society (Society for Range Management)
National
1989-93 Task Group on Unity in Range Condition Terms and Concepts
1989 Range Condition and Trend Subcommittee (Chair)
1989 Public Affairs Committee
1990-93 Associate Editor, Rangelands
1992-94 Advisory Council
1992-95 Research Affairs Committee
1995-1998 Rangeland Assessment and Monitoring Committee
1995-1998 Accreditation Committee
1998-present Finance Committee
State
1991 Vice President
1992 President-elect
1993 President
1994 Past President
Honors and Awards
Fellow Award, Society for Range Management
Certified Professional in Range Management
Description of the Agricultural Communication Network Project:
- Project Objectives:
- Make optimal use of available resources for agricultural extension,
resident education, and research by sharing resources between participating
institutions.
- Enhance the ability of United States agriculture to respond to environmental
and food safety concerns.
Explain how the Project relates to the Program Objective(s) and
how the Projgect will contribute to achieving these over-all Program Objective(s).
Rangelands, sometimes called grasslands, are the most extensive land form on earth and are
a
critical source of water, wildlife habitat, and open-space recreational opportunities. World-wide,
they also provide over half of the forage for domestic ruminants (from
http://rangelandswest.org/career.html). The AgNIC Western Rangelands Partnership seeks to
make optimal use of rangelands and natural resources information and decision-making tools
as
well as professional expertise for agricultural extension, resident education, and research -
sharing these resources not only among the thirteen participating land-grant institutions, but
with the world, by means of the World Wide Web. In addition, these electronic resources will
be incorporated into existing Extension and library programming by the project participants,
both to alert potential clientele to their existence, and to provide training in their use for the
widest and most practical benefit.
The increased availability of rangelands information by means of this regional information
system will also directly enhance the ability of United States agriculture to respond to
environmental concerns, specifically those focused on rangelands and related natural
resources
that are key to life and livelihoods in the western U.S. Topics to be further developed at both
state-specific and regional levels include wildlife and endangered species, water and riparian
areas, mining and fossil fuels, recreation and wilderness uses, grazing on public lands, forests
and logging, invasive species, fire, and rangeland urban/rural transition. By informing the public
of the complex nature of these issues, this web-based resource will contribute to citizens and
land managers making better decisions at both the local and national policy levels.
Although the project will primarily target the two program objectives outlined above, the
proposed web-based resource also will contribute to another of the stated objectives. Through
the multiple-partner, interdisciplinary model already in place and the planned outreach activities
including existing extension programming and presentations at professional meetings of
rangelands, extension, and library professionals, the project will also facilitate interactions
among leading agricultural scientists and experts in rangelands management. Targeted
groups
include university and college research and teaching faculty, extension personnel, other
government and non-governmental experts, and librarians.
The overall project goal is to strengthen the newly established AgNIC Western Rangelands
Partnership by providing it with the technical foundation to operate as a repository for the
national AgNIC system and to allow quick access to quality state-specific and regional
rangelands and natural resources information targeted for a broad and diverse constituency.
To
accomplish this goal, the following objectives will be met:
1) develop and maintain a metadata database that meets the specifications of web
service enabled programs.
2) compile training materials for utilizing the metadata database and for developing
rangelands, natural resources, and environmental programming content for AgNIC web sites
including metadata data entry, use of NAL Thesaurus, and opportunities for local partnerships
in
developing content;
3) conduct a workshop for all regional AgNIC partners to provide metadata training,
coordination of programming and web site development (including targeted resources for
underserved populations), and opportunities to discuss organizational structure;
4) facilitate and direct the development of natural resource and rangelands programming
materials for state and regional web resources that leverage partnerships with local agency,
non-governmental organization, and others; and
5) incorporate the regional web-based rangelands and natural resources information and
learning tools into ongoing extension programming and to demonstrate them at a variety of
library and extension meetings throughout the Western U.S.
- Description of Agricultural Communication Network to be Developed
or Utilized.
The proposed project utilizes two existing, interrelated agricultural communications networks,
the national-level Agriculture Network Information Center (AgNIC) and the newly established
AgNIC Western Regional Rangelands Partnership spearheaded by the University of Arizona
(UA). AgNIC provides the world community with access to agricultural, environmental, and
food-related information, resources, and data through a web-based gateway system
[http://www.agnic.org/]. Begun in 1995 as an initiative of the National Agricultural Library (NAL)
and four Land-Grant universities, a formal AgNIC alliance structure is now in place with
twenty-nine fully contributing partner institutions, eleven supporting partner organizations, and
thirty-eight operational, subject-based web sites. Using a centers-of-excellence approach,
each
participating institution takes a leadership role in building web resources and learning tools on
a
particular aspect of agricultural knowledge and in offering timely online reference services in
support of its selected topic(s). Themes currently covered by various partners include food and
nutrition, rural information, animal welfare, plant genomics, sustainable agriculture, technology
transfer, water quality, USDA statistics, geospatial resources, agribusiness, forestry, and
rangelands. As the number of participating institutions continues to grow, so too does the
coverage of agriculture-related subjects made available through a dynamic and network of web
sites.
Collaboration at all levels has been a keystone of the AgNIC effort. Nearly all of the
participating
AgNIC institutions have developed unique partnering relationships with a variety of internal and
external institutions, groups, and agencies to identify and develop content and tools for their
respective web sites. Specific to this proposal is the regional AgNIC initiative recently begun in
the western U.S. as an expansion of the original "Managing Rangelands" AgNIC site created
by
an interdisciplinary team at the UA. At the workshop described above, potential participants,
including librarians and extension range specialists, discussed the possibility of building a
regional rangelands web resource for AgNIC using the UA's existing site as the foundation and
creating individual state sites linked from the map on the regional web site's home page. This
resource would provide users with extensive information, learning and decision-making tools,
and geospatial applications to facilitate more informed and environmentally beneficial land
management decisions and policy making for the entire western U.S. At the end of the
workshop, there was unanimous agreement to pursue such an effort. The results of this new
initiative to date can be viewed at [http://rangelandswest.org/], with a summary, complete
workshop transcripts, and PowerPoint presentations available at
[http://rangelandswest.org/workshop.html].
Currently, the national-level AgNIC distributed information system is loosely tied together
through a home page structure where users can select a subject offered by an AgNIC partner
and go directly to that web site, or use either the browse or keyword search interfaces to target
a particular topic maintained in the AgNIC database [http://www.agnic.org]. The master AgNIC
database is maintained by Cornell University and NAL, with Alliance members entering Dublin
Core specified metadata into online forms which are then loaded into the overall database. To
accommodate varying levels of Alliance member participation, only five of the possible fifteen
metadata fields are mandatory, with the remaining ten optional. An additional five
administrative
fields also were created solely for AgNIC use. The controlled vocabulary is taken from the NAL
Agricultural Thesaurus (http://agclass.nal.usda.gov) which follows a natural-language,
hierarchical subject structure.
While significant progress has been made in defining a common metadata structure, controlled
vocabulary, and search engine for the system, recent advances in portal technologies now
make it possible to create a much more powerful and user-friendly system than first envisioned
for AgNIC seven years ago. The technical foundation for AgNIC is currently undergoing a
reconfiguration utilizing web services technology. This technology, which allows for
cross-platform information storage and retrieval capabilities, will soon provide the means for
linking databases, providing access to interactive learning tools, map server applications, and
animations, and generating individualized home pages - no matter what operating systems or
software the participating AgNIC members use.. In addition, there is already an option in place
for Alliance institutions to participate at a higher technical level in the AgNIC system. Acting
as
a "repository", an institution can maintain its own metadata database which can be harvested
by the master database, yet which also allows for increased local institutional control and for
multiple uses. The University of Arizona proposes not only to participate in this way, but to
establish repository status for the entire AgNIC Western Rangelands Partnership.
- Agricultural Communication Network Programming:
- Environmental and Natural Resources
Describe the Programming and how it will contribute to achieving
the Objective(s).
It is a challenge to provide information covering the many complex issues of rangeland
management to meet the needs of a uniquely diverse and widely dispersed clientele. Many of
the most difficult and intractable issues of the day are involved: public land use and grazing,
wildlife management and endangered species, wildfire management and forest ecology, water
quality and water conservation, invasive species, mining, and the urban/rural interface - all
come
into play and are "in the news" on an almost daily basis. For seven years the University of
Arizona (UA) has worked to develop a web site on managing rangelands, providing educational
materials covering many of these issues. A policy issues section provides a complete
overview
of these "hot topics" with links to many related resources
(http://rangelandswest.org/policy/policy.html) Environmental concerns also have been
highlighted in extensive resources such as sections on vegetation monitoring
(http://rangelandswest.org/az/monitoring.html) and the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) (http://rangelandswest.org/policy/nepa/nepa.html). In addition, database and
geospatial
applications for land management decision-making have been developed including the Arizona
Ecological Site Descriptions (created in association with the Arizona Natural Resources
Conservation Service and the Tohono O'odham Nation --
http://rangelandswest.org/az/siteguides/guides.html) and Rangeview: Geospatial Tools for
Natural Resources Management (created in association with NASA, Raytheon, and the Hopi
Nation -- http://rangeview.arizona.edu/).
Recognizing that rangelands issues do not stop at state borders, the UA team decided to
explore the possibility of expanding their effort to a regional approach. To this end, the UA
team
hosted the AgNIC Western Region Rangelands Workshop in March 2002, which brought
together rangeland extension specialists and librarians from 13 land-grant universities to begin
a
collaboration of diverse talents and experience. In addition, the UA created a new site,
Rangelands of the Western U.S. (http://rangelandswest.org/index.html) to act as a gateway to
this new region-wide effort, and also developed templates for each state partner to use in
preparing rangelands and natural resource content specific to their state, and to be distributed
via this new web site. By the end of the workshop the potential partners all expressed strong
interest in participating in this regional effort and several have already operationalized their
state
rangelands sites.
Thus, one of the objectives of the proposed project is to further strengthen this collaboration in
order to increase the wide availability of quality, value-added rangelands and natural resources
information and programming, including existing resources which have had limited availability
to
date. Through this collaborative and regional approach, there will be new opportunities for
interaction between researchers and extension specialists and agents. This will minimize
duplication of effort in developing information and learning resources. It also will make optimal
use of available resources and those under development, by facilitating sharing of expertise
and
mode of delivery. The combined resources will improve the dissemination of information to
producers, processors, and researchers by creating one authoritative portal for environmental,
marketing, and general information related to the natural resources of the Western U.S.
Detailed description of methods to be used in producing and/or
delivering the programming.
Currently, there are many useful, web-based rangeland resources produced by land-grant
partners throughout the western U.S., but few tools to help the public find these diverse sites.
The Western Rangelands Partnership is currently working toward helping each state create its
own central rangeland web site, linking to all such resources within each state. This is the first
step to making each state's resources accessible through the Rangelands of the Western U.S.
web site. In addition, we propose to become a regional repository for metadata for web
resources for the Western Rangelands Partners, and to conduct training and quality control for
the partners, maintaining the metadata database in Arizona for harvesting by Cornell and the
National AgNIC Alliance.
There are three levels to this technical effort.
1. Develop a relational database that will store the metadata that describes all the partners'
web pages and all the pages of the Rangelands of the Western U.S. site.
2. Develop a web interface that will allow selected personnel, including partners, to create,
read, update and delete information from the database. The purpose of this interface is to
allow
University of Arizona personnel to monitor the database and check assigned terms, assessing
whether further training should be conducted.
3. Develop a web service that act as an interface to the relational database. A web service
allows transparent use of programs and information with no restrictions based on platform or
language via distributed systems like the web. This service will have its methods published
and
documented using established conventions, to allow use of its methods by a broad range of
users. In particular, this will allow data aggregators (e.g. Cornell) to interact with the data
stored in Arizona and combine it with data from other regional centers into a large distributed
database for the national AgNIC Alliance.
As the database and interface are developed, training materials will be developed for the
workshop to teach the partners about assigning and entering metadata for their web pages.
These materials will be added to the web site for easy access by Western Rangelands
Partners
and other AgNIC members. Besides the metadata training, the workshop will provide a forum
for improving collaboration and coordinating programming and web site development,
particularly
targeting resources for underserved populations.
This project will also work with the Arizona Coordinated Resource Management Working
Group,
an interagency committee, to identify and develop appropriate programming materials for state
and regional web resources.
Upcoming extension workshops for ranchers on Allotment Management Planning and
Monitoring will introduce ranchers to resources on the Rangelands of the Western U.S. site,
which can help them successfully manage this process.
- Population to be Served and Target Audience(s):
One of the brainstorming sessions held by participants at the March 2002 workshop involved
an
assessment of the targeted populations to be served by the proposed regional rangelands
initiative. Reflecting the wide variety of information and resources to be made available through
the combined regional and state-specific web sites, the list of clientele to be served is broad
and extensive.
1) General overview materials such as presented in the Policy Issues section of the
rangelands web site were considered to be most relevant to the public including youth and
students of all ages, lifelong learners, and those professionals who most directly serve the
public such as extension agents, librarians, and teachers.
2) GIS applications, Ecological Site Guide databases, vegetation monitoring guides,
and
alternative income resources are clearly oriented to land management planning functions such
as are needed by large and small private land managers and producers -- particularly those
who
are typically under-served who do not have the resources to buy decision-making tools, such
as
small-scale land owners and Native American tribes.
3) In-depth interpretations of environmental legislation and its applications to
state-specific scenarios are similarly applicable to general education purposes involving
teachers, university faculty, and extension specialists, as well as land owners and producers,
policy makers, government agency personnel, and environmental and advocacy groups.
4) Resources such as the fulltext of relevant documents, reports, and manuals,
including
the back issues of such serials as the Journal of Range Management, facilitate research and a
healthy dialog among college and university faculty and researchers.
By providing a broad spectrum of information, resources, and tools, the Western Rangelands
Partnership will build on the Arizona rangelands site to meet the needs of a large cross-section
of people living, working, and interested in the American West.
- Collaborating Institutions and Other Partners:
Two major partners within the University of Arizona are the University Library and the College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). The Dean of Libraries gives full support to the Science
Librarians involved in this project. Within CALS this project has strong support within the
Office
of Arid Lands Studies, Cooperative Extension, the Educational Communications and
Technologies group, and from the Dean. All of these entities have provided personnel and a
variety of financial support for the AgNIC rangelands project during its first six years of
development. They are committed to the project in the long term in part as recognition that
such intensive web projects serve to fulfill the three-fold land grant mission (teaching, research,
and outreach) by extending the educational paradigm into the emerging 24/7 distance learning
model.
Those institutions that participated in the March 2002 workshop by designating both a librarian
and an Extension Range Specialist for the regional effort, and who have positively responded to
the University of Arizona's call for collaboration include:
Colorado State University
Kansas State University
Montana State University
New Mexico State University
Oregon State University
Texas A&M University
University of California, Davis
University of Idaho
University of Nevada
University of Wyoming
Utah State University
Washington State University
- Rationale for Project:
Land management in the Western U.S. has become increasingly challenging during the past
several decades. As more and more people migrate to the Western states, pressures on the
land to serve the population's economic and recreational needs also have increased.
Contentious issues surround almost every aspect of life in the West and while it is clear that
the
landscape is undergoing significant change, it is not clear what the result of that change will
be,
even within the next decade. Particularly during such turbulent times, it is essential for people
to have as accurate and complete information as possible to make more informed decisions
about their own land use and to more appropriately influence the policy-making process. It is
often said that information is power; however, information is not always equitably distributed.
Small-scale land managers, including significant numbers of women and Native Americans,
typically do not have access to the same financial and support resources that large-scale land
owners do. Even researchers and agency personnel often work in isolation and at great
distances from colleagues. Given these factors, it is not easy to reach these populations with
educational and informational programs.
The growth of the Web in terms of availability of quality content, combined with increased rural
connectivity, has made it a powerful medium for distribution of educational programming and
the
dissemination of information to widely dispersed and diverse populations. Providing such
resources at any time, day or night, has proven to be an effective way to make information
available to people regardless of their location or economic resources. At the same time, both
the Web and the Internet as a whole, provide new opportunities for maximizing communication
and collaboration among the research and policy-making communities.
With land-grant institutions and other educational entities under economic pressures which
threaten resources and staffing levels, the more that specialists can collaborate, the more
cost-effective and time efficient they will be. By delivering the extension, teaching, and
research
materials of the Western land-grant universities to the public via a Web portal, we can, for
example, provide researchers with the online Journal for Range Management; provide
producers
with monitoring and marketing information and with" practical tools" for meeting NEPA and
Clean Water requirements; and provide teachers and students with extensive resources on
rangelands that are not readily available even in large libraries.
With the March 2002 workshop and the subsequent collaborative web development activities, a
beginning has been made in developing this sort of resource for Western rangelands. This
proposal solicits funding to further develop this interdisciplinary and multiple partner interaction
among range and information specialists. In addition, the Rangelands of the Western U.S. site
would be expanded and improved by developing the technical foundation for an AgNIC
repository. A training workshop would be conducted for all partners on developing metadata,
and all training materials would be posted on the web site as a further resource to the regional
and national participants in AgNIC.
- Describe the potential for significant impact on the Agricultural
Communication Network development and/or integration:
The University of Arizona (UA) will work closely with its regional partners as well as with
Cornell
and the national AgNIC Alliance to ensure that the regional metadata system is fully integrated
with and complementary to the national AgNIC technical architecture. This system will
potentially increase the amount of rangeland information that the UA can furnish 12-fold by
involving 12 other universities in the collaboration. In addition to the university partners, several
agencies and organizations have expressed interest in providing or disseminating information
through this project, potentially increasing the amount of rangeland information available even
further. The national AgNIC Alliance is already benefiting from the work of the Western
Rangelands Partnership and several agencies and organizations are now aware of and use the
AgNIC site. The public that visits the rangeland information will become aware of other parts of
AgNIC.
Furthermore, by developing increased levels of AgNIC functionality, the regional partnership will
provide a new model which may be adopted or modified by other AgNIC groups, to add more
content and increase accessibility to the overall AgNIC system. The project also will provide
the technical foundation for the AgNIC Western Rangelands Partnership to play a strong role
in
the planned move into the use of web services technologies by the National AgNIC Alliance.
As
AgNIC positions itself as the premier web resource for agriculture, the environment, and
food-related information, this project will significantly contribute to the ultimate realization of
that
goal.
- Describe the plans for research, assessment, evaluation and dissemination
as applicable to the project:
The proposed project will involve the following actions to accomplish the objectives outlined
above as related to the areas of research, assessment, evaluation, and dissemination:
Research: Although there is no traditional research being conducted by this project there are
areas of research in the project which are technical and subject-based in nature. At the
technical level, the UA will develop a metadata system and training program to enable the
rangeland partners to share resources and to provide greater accessibility of rangelands
information to the public.
Assessment and Evaluation:
An Assessment Team of librarians, rangeland faculty and extension specialists, and computer
specialists at the University of Arizona will develop an iterative process for assessing the
progress and effectiveness of the metadata system and training tools. An Advisory Group of
selected individuals from the partner institutions will evaluate the success of the metadata
system as a model, the training materials, and the overall effectiveness of the regional
rangeland site.
Dissemination: Three types of information dissemination are relevant to the proposed project.
First, there is the dissemination of information via the regional and state-specific rangelands
and
natural resources web sites. Second, there is the dissemination of information about the
availability of these resources by Extension professionals, librarians, academics, and agency
personnel in workshops and presentations to their clientele and public. Last, is dissemination
of
information regarding the metadata system training to other national AgNIC members. This
system may potentially be used or modified by others for their local needs. Following
evaluation of the workshop and training program, the metadata training program will be
presented to the national AgNIC Alliance.
- Broader Impacts:
The purpose of the Agricultural Telecommunications Program is to "encourage development of
agricultural programming utilizing advanced technology to facilitate and to strengthen
research-based agricultural extension, resident education and discovery, and domestic and
international marketing of U.S. agricultural commodities and products through a partnership
between eligible institutions and the Department of Agriculture." The proposed project will
create an advanced technical foundation for thirteen collaborating land-grant institutions to
disseminate and share western regional rangelands information, such as agricultural
research-based instruction, agricultural research results, and marketing information.
Currently, the thirteen states attempting to work together to provide rangelands information are
loosely tied together. This project would solidify the commitments of these states to work
together to accomplish two major short-term impacts: 1) less duplication of work and
resources
and 2) a more comprehensive, centralized knowledge base.
Medium-term impacts include developing the foundation for a new, multi-state use of
technology
that will likely provide the groundwork for other such collaborative projects in other subject
areas
of AgNIC. This collaborative effort will facilitate the involvement of additional entities that
currently have limited ability to make their information known and available (e.g., Native
American tribes, non-governmental organizations, and educational institutions), thus enriching
the knowledge base of rangelands information from which everyone can benefit.
In addition to the flow of information into AgNIC as mentioned above, the outward distribution of
information will also improve. Long-term impacts include increasing the dissemination of
information and the development of knowledge. For instance, small-scale ranchers do not have
the same ease of access to information enjoyed by their large-scale counterparts, and this
project will facilitate the delivery of needed information to a much broader audience. This broad
information dissemination leads to better-informed rangeland decisions by managers, scholars,
decision makers, and the general public. An additional long-term impact includes
well-developed metadata for all thirteen states, as well as extensively documented metadata
practices that can be used as a model for all AgNIC participants.
- Proposed Timetable:
Month Activity
Oct - Nov Establish both Assessment Team and Evaluation Advisory Board
Oct - Jan Develop structure for metadata database
Oct - Jan Develop structure for data entry interface
Oct - Sept Guide content development for state partners
Dec - Feb Assessment Team examines effectiveness of relational metadata
database
and web service developed
Dec - Mar Create workshop training materials and program on metadata creation and
use, content development.
Mar Conduct workshop
Mar - May Advisory Group evaluates the effectiveness of workshop and materials and
suggests improvements. Post training materials to the Regional Rangelands Web site.
Mar - Sept States supply information for metadata database
Mar - Sept Operationalize repository activity for harvesting to national AgNIC
Jun - Sept States explore new relationships with under-served clientele
Jun - Sept Advisory Group evaluates success of regional partners involvement, training
on metadata database, and operation of repository
Aug - Sept Final project report including assessment of partnerships created by
regional
partners with under served clientele, ability of regional partners to create and use metadata,
operation of repository, and overall coordination of regional site.
- Project Personnel and Time Commitment:
Michael Haseltine, Senior Support Systems Analyst to develop relational metadata database
and web service application, 1000 hours
George Ruyle, Range Extension Specialist to work with Arizona Coordinated Resource
Management Working Group, an interagency committee, to identify and develop appropriate
programming materials and to conduct workshops for ranchers including introduction to web
resources, 50 hours
Sheila Merrigan, Information Resources Program Coordinator to coordinate planning and
preparation for workshop for AgNIC Western Rangelands Partnership, 100 hours
Science Library Graduate Student to input metadata into metadata database, 400 hours
Carla Long Casler, Project Director, to manage project activities to successful completion,
208
hours
Barbara Hutchinson, Co-Project Director, to manage project activities and coordinate
collaboration among AgNIC Western Rangelands Partnership, 208 hours
Marianne Stowell Bracke, Metadata Supervisor, to supervise metadata entry and quality
control
of data and to prepare training for workshop, 208 hours
Jeanne Pfander, planning for workshop and training, 104 hours
Doug Jones, planning for workshop and training, 104 hours