8th International Conference on Electronic PublishingELPUB 2004

Brasilia, Brazil, 23-26 June 2004Special session “Harnessing local knowledge via interactive

media”

Putting Local Knowledge Putting Local Knowledge Online: Online:

does it become does it become international?international?

Ana María CettoOctavio Alonso-Gamboa

UNAM, Mexico

BackgroundAccess to Internet-based scientific information and knowledge has steadily grown in recent years, with special advantages for the information generated in developed countries.

In other parts of the world a number of factors are influencing the capacity to generate and use scientific information online:

• Connectivity problems• Lack of financial resources• Weak institutional support and infraestructure• Poor training in the electronic publishing and dissemination tools.

Hosts on the Internet (2002)

1.9%0.1% 8.5%

75.2%

11.6%2.6%

Africa 243,171

Asia 13,390,474

Europe 18,358,407

Latin America & theCaribbean 4,006,000North America (Canada & US) 118,549,000Oceania 3,034,390

Total (World): 157.581,802

Source: Global Internet Statistics by LanguageAvailable at http://global-reach.biz/globstats/index.php3

Consulted June 2, 2004.

Internet users (2002)

28.2%

6.6%

28.0%1.6%1.9%

33.8%

Africa 9,988,200Asia 211,201,600Europe 176,232,400Latin America & the Caribbean 41,317,000North America (Canada & US) 175,110,000Oceania 11,607,400

Total (World):626.578,900

Source: ITU (Internet host data: Network Wizards, RIPE). May 2004. Consulted June 2, 2004 Available at: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/at_glance/Internet02.pdf

Number of PCs (2002)

28.6%

2.3%

35.1%

5.9%

26.5%

1.6%

Africa 9,453,000

Asia 154,935,000

Europe 167,430,000

Latin America & theCaribbean 34,417,000

North America (Canada & US) 205,300,000

Oceania 13,188,000

Total (World): 584,723,000 Source: ITU (Internet host data: Network Wizards, RIPE).May 2004. Consulted June 2, 2004Available at: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/at_glance/Internet02.pdf

Language Estimated population (1)

Number of people online

(2)

% of people online (3)

Chinese 874 160 18%

English 508 280 55%

French 77 40 52%

German 100 62 62%

Japanese 125 85 68%

Portuguese 176 32 18%

Spanish 350 70 20%

Other 4,158 129 3%

Total (World) 6,330 858 13.5%

Online Linguistic Population (2004)

(1) Total numbers of people in each language family, million inh.(2) Number of people online in each language, million inh.(3) Percentage of people online in each

language

Source: Global Internet Statistics by LanguageAvailable at http://global-reach.biz/globstats/index.php3Consulted June 2, 2004.

Against this background, in LA&C, universities, higher education institutions and national research councils promote the web as an ideal means to put local information and knowledge online.

Cooperation and Technology in Cooperation and Technology in LA&C:LA&C:

The experience of the LATINDEX The experience of the LATINDEX SystemSystem

Created in 1995, the mission of the system has been to integrate the efforts made in the various countries concerning production and dissemination of scientific journals, and to create and develop an information system online that would register and provide access to the relevant journals published in the region.

www.latindex.org

Latindex partners (2004)Latindex partners (2004)

1. Argentina: CAICYT2. Bolivia: Universidad Mayor de San Andrés3. Brazil: IBICT4. Chile: CONICYT5. Colombia: Colciencias6. Costa Rica: Universidad de Costa Rica7. Cuba: IDICT8. Ecuador: FUNDACYT9. Mexico: UNAM10.Nicaragua: CONICYT11.Peru: CONCYTEC12.Portugal: Fundação para a Ciência e a

Tecnologia13.Puerto Rico: Universidad de Puerto Rico14.Spain: CINDOC (CSIC)15.Uruguay: DINACYT16.Venezuela: Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologíawww.latindex.org

Through the cooperative work Through the cooperative work three databases have been three databases have been

developed:developed: Directory: register all active technical and scholarly journals produced in the region. Available online since 1997 currently offers information of 12,787 titles from 30 countries.

Catalogue: set online in March 2002, covers a selection of 1,670 titles, according to 33 previous agreed international quality parameters.

Index: available as of November 2002, offers direct access to a growing collection of online journals. It currently links to 1,898 journals.

www.latindex.org

Number of scholarly journals registered in the Latindex Directory

2,460

6,764 6,864 6,939

8,376

11,81312,787

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

11997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

A digital gap within LA&C?A digital gap within LA&C?

•Latindex uses an IT platform that is uniform and compatible among the participating institutions

• The system ensures a sustained day-to-day input and continuous update of data

• Our experience shows that the use of electronic media is in quite different stages of development accross the region

• For those countries that already had experience and infraestructure, joining this compiling system has been rather straightforward

•However, other countries in the region, especially those not having a proper infrastructure in place, have inititally faced various difficulties

A digital gap within LA&C?A digital gap within LA&C?

•In addition, in these countries there is a lack of systematic compilation of data on scientific journals

• Most often the existing compilations in these countries are partial and distributed among several institutions

• A number of smaller countries have not yet joined the system

• As a result, information on the journals produced in these countries is underrepresented in Latindex

• This is not an isolated phenomenon in LA&C.

Impact of electronic tools on the role Impact of electronic tools on the role of Latindexof Latindex

Since its inception, Latindex has been electronically based

The system is becoming a standard reference for those interested in LA&C scholarly journals, as shown in a revision of recent literature

A first reason for this is the fact that Latindex offers a comprenhensive and specialized information about print-on-paper-journals

More recently it is becoming a useful information tool on what goes on in the realm of electronic journal publishing in the region

Impact of electronic tools on the role Impact of electronic tools on the role of Latindexof Latindex

Through the Index, Latindex functions as a specialized electronic online source of information and means of access to journals that make extensive use of these electronic tools

It also provides an already representative picture of LA&C scene, by linking directly to a growing number of e-journals

For each title the system includes information on their online history, their display formats, their limitations on access and subscription conditions.

Visibility of journals in LatindexVisibility of journals in Latindex

Traditionally, one major difficulty faced by the scientific journals produced in LA&C has been their lack of visibility

The system provides basic information on all journal titles produced in the region, irrespectively of their history and specific features

The three services provide different and complementary information on the journals; the presence of a title in one or more of these services depends on its editorial quality and degree of development

The journals registered in the databases constitute part of a large family of journals; they are not presented in isolation.

Statistics of visits to the pages of the Statistics of visits to the pages of the Latindex website: most visited pagesLatindex website: most visited pages

2001

Directory 56%Guidelines for editors

20%News 11%

2002Directory 40% Guidelines for editors

10%News 6%

2003Directory 31%Catalogue 21%Guidelines for editors

3%

2004 (June)Catalogue 39%Electronic resources

37%Directory 10%Quality parameters

5%

Visibility of the Latindex web site

• Visibility has been measured by the number of links from other websites to Latindex.

• The information was gathered with the help of Alta Vista search facilities (www.av.com).

• 349 websites were found to offer a link to Latindex, with the following breakdown:

Type of site Number

%

Full text journals (individual or collections)

149 43 %

Bibliographic and reference sites

79 23 %

Specialized sites with information on Latin America & the Caribbean

55 16 %

Universities 28 8 %

International organizations 22 6 %

National S&T 16 4 %

TOTAL 349 100%

Visibility: number of websites with link to Latindex

By type of site

13%

9%52%

26%

LA&C

Europe

North America

International

Visibility: number of websites with link to Latindex

By geographic origin of the linking sites

Use of the mail service latindex@servidor.unam.mx

• Out of 994 messages:– 53% from journal editors – 34% from users, including librarians and reference

experts – 13% are from Latindex partners

• Main questions from editors:– How do I register a title in Latindex– How can information on my journal be modified or

updated

• Main questions from users: – How do I get a copy of a paper published in a Latindex

registered journal– How do I access a Latindex-registered journal of

restricted access.

Positive outcomesPositive outcomes

• A unique information system: no other region in the world has its own scientific journals information system

• Three comprehensive and up-to-date databases related to a broad family of scholarly journals, but offering differentiated information

•A strengthening of links among different specialized institutions within the region and external to it, with actual possibilities for cooperation with relevant international bodies

•A substantial increase of titles of local production made available through the Internet

Positive outcomesPositive outcomes

•A system that provides support to editors, publishers and librarians by way of advice, training workshops, documentation, etc.

•A possibility to influence and support the work of policy makers and evaluators of academic achievement, through the setting of international quality standards for locally produced scholarly journals

•A forum for exchange of national experiences in the field; this expertise is intensely shared during the annual Latindex technical meeting, and has been applied in the development of the existing databases.

latindex@servidor.unam.mx