AGRIS participates in the XIII Meeting of Scientific Journal Editors in Cuba

FAO, through its International System for Agricultural Science and Technology (AGRIS), took part in the XIII Meeting of Editors of Scientific and Dissemination Journals in Matanzas, Cuba, organized by the Institute of Animal Science of Cuba on October 17.

During the event, the FAO team conducted a workshop focused on "AGROVOC and AGRIS as tools in Spanish to enhance the visibility of scientific production in food and agriculture". The main objective of this workshop was to introduce two tools that significantly enhance the visibility and dissemination of scientific and technical production across various thematic areas, utilizing the Internet to reach a global audience.

The event was specifically tailored for editors and publishers of scientific journals keen on acquiring knowledge about efficient online publication dissemination, with a strong emphasis on improving the quality of bibliographic descriptions and keywords.

Ruth Velia Gómez, a consultant at FAO, played a pivotal role in delivering two presentations. The first one centered on AGRIS, providing a detailed explanation of the functioning of the AGRIS Network, which comprises 472 data providers. The current status of AGRIS in Latin America was presented, boasting 101 data providers and a record of 521,489 documents, accounting for 3.7% of the total number of AGRIS records worldwide.

Participants had the opportunity to watch a video explaining the workings of the AGRIS database and how to effectively utilize this valuable information resource. Furthermore, the importance of metadata quality in the efficient retrieval of information and its international visibility was emphasized.

The second topic addressed the "Significance of Controlled Vocabularies in the Management of Scientific Journals: The Case of AGROVOC". The presentation explained the origins of this thesaurus and its evolution into an essential controlled vocabulary for indexing publications in agricultural science and technology.

The workshop discussed the challenges and advantages of using this potent tool for assigning keywords in scientific articles, as well as the contribution of the editorial community to the expansion of terms in Spanish. Additionally, a live demonstration of AGROVOC usage was provided.

A combination of various strategies, including lectures, videos, and AGROVOC tool demonstrations, ensured the workshop successfully achieved its objectives. Magazine editors and publishers from countries such as Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Brazil actively engaged with the topics presented and displayed a strong interest in their practical application.

This workshop offers participating organizations a valuable opportunity to enhance their visibility and contribute to the global knowledge exchange platform in the fields of agriculture and food sciences. It also strengthens collaboration with AGRIS and enables the utilization of valuable resources within the AGRIS Network.