A recent release on the “Ranking Web of Research Centers” site ranks FAO as fourth among 8000 global research institutions in 2016 for use of its online information. FAO’s excellent placement on the global research stage reflects on the recent investment FAO has made to increase the branding and visibility of its digital information.

Resources are now consolidated on the fao.org domain and the publication process has been standardized to assist in the delivery of messages that are clear and consistent with FAO Strategic Development Objectives.

FAO’s digital information demonstrates a cohesive branding through a consistent use of the FAO logo and an easily identifiable FAO look-and-feel.

The single location to collect, curate and disseminate digital materials is the FAO Document Repository (FDR), available to the public at www.fao.org/publications or www.fao.org/documents. The FDR is a multi-lingual, full-text repository with materials in 76 languages and a wide spectrum of genres for diverse audiences. In 2016, the FDR published over 5300 digital documents and publications. In 2016, there were 9.7 million visits to the FDR, and historically, over 50% of all traffic to the fao.org domain is to the FAO document repository. Standardized, in-depth and multi-lingual metadata enhance the discoverability and use of FAO materials.

The notable ranking that FAO has achieved among research centers and repositories is a testament to the relevance and usefulness of FAO’s digital information.