Agricultural Economics Reference Organization (AERO)
Fourteenth Workshop/Meeting
October 15 - 17, 2003
Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, VA
Wednesday, October 15
Arrival in Blacksburg.
Thursday, October 16
Tour of the Digital Library and Archives and a tour of Newman Library
Welcome: Margaret Merrill formally welcomed the group to the meeting.
Introductions: Members introduced themselves and shared a bit about their
facilities/responsibilities.
USAIN Update: Jodee Kawasaki (Montana State University) – The conference was in
April 2003. University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign hosted. She thanked them.
Approximately 100 people attended. The next meeting will be in May 2005 at the
University of Kentucky. IAALD is meeting there, as well. It will be their World
Congress. There should be a web site for it ready in January 2004. The
organization is also working with AgNIC, and with Cornell for several
preservation projects. USAIN is going to change the conference to even years,
because the meetings have been conflicting with the ACRL meeting. Fall ’06 is
planned for Cornell, but not official yet.
Louise Letnes (University of Minnesota) asked if the International sessions are
going to be separate from the USAIN theme and Jodee replied that she isn’t sure.
There will be two concurrent sessions at a time. But, yes, they will be melded
together.
Louise asked where the international people work. CMYTT, CGIAR, FAO…. So they
are mainly government and quasi-government reps. There is usually a group from
CTA (from Africa).
SLA-FAN Update: Luti Salisbury (University of Arkansas) – There are 360 members
in that section. Pat Allen is the chair now, Luti was. The meeting was in June.
Peter Young, from NAL, spoke on Agriterrorism. A representative from New York
University Library spoke about food policy in the US. She has a book from
Berkeley Press. There was also a contributed papers session. Next meeting will
be in Nashville and will probably be less expensive. “Factory farms” and
sustainable fisheries are going to be sessions. They will also tour Jack Daniels
distillery.
NAL Update: Wayne Olson (National Agricultural Library) – The library is
preparing to launch Endeavour (the new library management system). The entire
staff has been working non-stop. The dual call number system makes the work very
difficult. It is supposed to go live (the new opac) on November 3. It will be a
“soft launch,” then the big PR public launch will be in 2004. You will be able
to search both databases at the same time. Agricola is going to be the whole
thing. Margaret suggested that NAL make a definitive statement about what the
scope of it is. Wayne notes that the “dictionary catalog” is not included.
(Discussion ensued re: the difference between the free web-based Agricola, ISIS,
Silver Platter, Ovid, etc.).
DigiTop has been launched. DigiTop provides access to subscription databases
from one’s office computer. Eleanor Frierson initiated it. ARS has seemed to
agree to provide more funding to develop it further. This was labeled an “E-gov”
enabler by the CIO of all of USDA, so they are hopeful that it will continue to
be supported.
NAL Thesaurus – As of July 1, indexing is using it, but catalogers are still
using LC. His belief is that eventually catalogers will use it, too. They do
have a CAB to NAL converter. They have said that the Thesaurus will be available
on the web. It might also become the thesaurus for the USDA portal web site.
NAL working with USAIN and participating in the National Preservation Program
for Agricultural Literature – 1820 – 1945. 23 states have come on board. It’s a
NEH project.
The 5th floor has been completely renovated for Special Collections. They are
trying to come up to speed to be a National Archives Associate Facility. They
have to meet certain standards and they are still trying to get there.
There has been a bill passed about federal building security, so they got some
money to put mylar on the windows and pass keys on a lot of doors. The
Department of Homeland Security is opening a library and NAL is going to provide
the personnel of DHS library services for a year.
Rebecca Bernthal (University of Nebraska) suggested that AERO send a letter to
Peter Young about opening DigiTop to land grant universities, possibly as a
consortium-style situation.
ESIRC Update: Barbara Hegenbart (University of California, Davis) – Barry
Goodwin is the chair of the committee. He is in North Carolina. The report from
the meeting will be posted on the AAEA web site. They talked a lot about
historical preservation of digital products. They said they would sponsor AERO
for something like that. David Zilberman, from the AAEA board, said the ESIRC
needed to do something more concrete, because they have been a little dormant.
Microdata analysis and availability was chosen as something on which to focus.
“Why do you have to pay for panel data?,” (survey data, consumer data) is a
question that concerns them. A pre- or post- conference session at the next AAEA
is being planned. The deadline for applying for funding is November 1. The Farm
Foundation is also willing to support preservation projects.
They also discussed the status of the older issue digitization of AJAE. Louise
wrote Donna Dunn and she said they have begun negotiations with JSTOR. Cornell
IS going to pass along the work they have done to JSTOR. The work will be
available both on the Cornell web site and JSTOR.
Greg Lawrence said Cornell has a collection of old computers and software. He is
willing to send out 5 ¼ inch drives.
Farm Foundation Update: They will no long provide funding for the travel
expenses of AERO members, but they will continue to support an ESIRC liaison. We
will continue to keep in touch with them as an organization, anyway.
AgEcon Search: Louise Letnes (University of Minnesota) – 11,000 documents are
now available. They have doubled since the last meeting. The full text journals
have caused most of that. The Farm Foundation gave them some money to digitize
FF papers. The growth in a last year has been heavily international. Finding the
time to keep connections going is the biggest challenge. For instance, the ag.
econ. librarian at Texas A & M left, so they have stopped sending papers.
The progression of AgEcon Search was that they began with working papers, then
they expanded in to conference papers. Then, they went to small, regional
journals. They charge for journals and conferences. So far, the AAEA Foundation
has been funding the regional journals.
They attended the meeting in Durban, South Africa. They estimated they would
talk to 80 people and make 20 new connections, but they were overwhelmed. She
said publishers are using it to find reviewers. They talked to approximately 300
people and 40 institutions that want to participate.
They have written a project proposal. Their vision is that they will set up
hubs. Each of those will do what Margaret and Julie are currently doing. They
would look for granting agencies to fund those hubs. They have contacts in
China, Australia, and South Africa. They have just released it to some select
people, kind of as a working paper. They have a proposal out to AAEA to get an
administrative assistant to do the outreach.
Presentations
USDA Economics and Statistics System: Greg Lawrence (Cornell University)
provided an overview the ESS web site, which is hosted at the Albert R. Mann
Library at Cornell (http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu), as well as their
procedures for measuring customer satisfaction. They view customer satisfaction
based on two aspects: objective quality (does the site work mechanically well)
and perceived quality (attitude; the information might be there, but is the
interface user friendly; what is the reputation of the site). The goals, in
terms of the mechanics of the site, are Access, Reliability, and Retention. The
challenge of Access is making the data available in a variety of formats, such
as via the WWW or e-mail, and in ASCII format, or as a .pdf file or a
spreadsheet. Regarding reliability, the site has only been offline five days in
the past decade. Regarding retention, they have data sets back to 1988 and
reports since 1995. To help measure customer satisfaction, they are using a
servqual instrument, as described in Servqual : A Multiple-Item Scale for
Measuring Customer Perceptions of Service Quality, by Parasuraman, Ziethaml and
Berry (1988). To see the survey, please visit http://horsfield.mannlib.cornell.edu/survey.
The newest aspect of the project is that the Mann Library will be coordinating
the e-mail distribution of approximately 1500 Agricultural Marketing Service
reports (http://usda-reports.mannlib.cornell.edu).
Involving Faculty in Serial Cancellation: A Journal Prioritization Project:
Rebecca Bernthal (University of Nebraska, Lincoln) explained the recent journal
prioritization project the library completed, to prepare for future serials
cancellations. Her first piece of advice was that they didn’t use the word
“cancellation.” It was a “prioritization project.” Time constraints were placed
on every step, both within the library for setting up the project, and with the
response times once the database of journals was distributed to the faculty. The
first step of the project was developing the database of journal titles and
deciding what information about each title would be necessary to facilitate a
decision regarding it. There were many more factors than one might imagine, such
as if the title is part of a package plan. A very large percentage of their
electronic journal subscriptions are purchased as part of large package plans.
Some titles could not be cut for a couple of years due to contractual
obligations. They also had to decide how much information to provide regarding
journal rankings, and explaining the pro-and-cons of things such as usage
statistics or the JCR journal ranking data. Another step was decided how to
split up the list and determine which departments would appraise which journal
titles. Several journals are deemed important by more than one department. They
also had to establish policies regarding requests to cancel one title, in favor
of replacing it with a new title. Also, there was a lot of discussion regarding
how to coordinate communication after they released the finalized “lower
priority title list.” Keeping in touch with distance education facilities was
challenging. Those offices do not have access to the same resources as campus
locations. Finally, they had a meeting to review how the project was handled.
Topics for discussion included: Did this approach to the project work?; What was
valuable?; What was inadequate?; Was more analysis of data/results needed?; What
about next time? What did we learn?
Faculty Preferences and Electronic Resources: Luti Salisbury (University of
Arkansas) described a survey she conducted regarding electronic journals. The
aims of this survey were two-fold: Firstly, to collect information on the
current level of support for electronic-only journals, and secondly, to
ascertain whether the Virtual Periodicals Room is a viable alternative to the
physical Reading Room. It was a web based survey. She included several
variables, including the age of the respondents. She found that it didn’t
matter. Everyone unanimously wanted access to journals electronically and the
vast majority did not care too much about the availability of the paper copies.
Barbara Hegenbart (University of California, Davis) mentioned the concept of
dark and dim archives. For things that are going to be available electronically,
the one paper copy will be kept in storage that very few people can touch.
AgEcon Core Titles Indexing: Jodee Kawasaki (Montana State University) compared
the indexing of core agricultural economics journal articles in four databases:
Agricola, AGRIS (FAO), CAB Abstracts, Web of Science, and EconLit. First, she
had to compile a core serials list. She began with Agricultural Economics and
Rural Sociology: The Contemporary Core Literature, published in 1991 by Cornell
University Press. She updated the list by searching international serial
reference tools, as well as the British Library Catalog, and OCLC’s World Cat.
The study was designed to help answer questions such as: If an institution can
afford only one index, which one has the most comprehensive coverage of the core
agricultural literature?; Which index will provide the most information to our
end users?; and What do differences in coverage among the various indexes mean
to the searcher, be they a student, farmer, researcher, politician or librarian?
The results showed that CAB has the most thorough coverage and Agricola is the
least thorough. It is interesting to note that Rural Development Studies is only
indexed in CAB Abstracts.
Open Discussion
AERO – Where is it going?
Janet Wilson (South Dakota State University) = Thinks we should be an arm of
AAEA. Thinks we should use the listserv more.
Anita Battiste (University of Florida) = Urges need for money.
Melinda Pennington (Winrock International Institute for Agricultural
Development) = Wants to retain the independence in AERO.
Dawn Zrobok (University of Alberta) = Wants to retain independence.
Linda Davis (University of Wisconsin) = Remain independent. Maybe have meetings
less often.
Louise Letnes (University of Minnesota) asked Rebecca (University of Nebraska)
where her money comes from. The University library paid her NOT the ag. econ
department. Margaret thinks, since she is from a University Library, the ag econ
department would not pay. Luti said the ag econ department offered her money
(she is from the central library).
Dave Sites (Mississippi State University) wants to have something to take back
to the faculty to show them that he got something out of this meeting.
Dave Sites (Mississippi State University) recommends seeking other grants.
Talbott Huey (Michigan State University Libraries) urged us to keep up to date
with where our faculty are getting grants and tell them to include the
librarian/library.
Greg Lawrence (Cornell) suggested that we (AERO) produce something we can sell
or to piggy back our meeting on another meeting.
Rebecca Bernthal (University of Nebraska) pointed out that Melinda Pennington (Winrock)
thinks AgEcon Search IS AERO. Louise clarified that.
Using Agricultural Literature, by Hutchinson and Greider. We could do something
like that and “brand” it as AERO.
Talbott Huey (Michigan State University Libraries) suggested doing an annual
publication of the titles list of what was added to AgEcon Search.
Barbara Hegenbart (University of California, Davis) suggested just “beefing up”
our current web site.
Deb Moore (Iowa State University) suggested hotlinking our membership list to
the web sites of the libraries.
Katherine Faulkner (University of Maryland) suggested outreach to the Deans of
University Libraries that we do for the chairpersons of Ag. Econ. Departments,
to encourage the ag econ specialists in central university libraries to join
AERO.
Barbara Hegenbart (University of California, Davis) suggested that AAEA provide
a link to AERO.
Friday, October 17, 2003
Presentation by Dr. George Norton
Dr. Norton (Professor of Agricultural Economics, Virginia Tech) spoke about
managing an international project and the role of agricultural economics in
international development. He has done extension work in Latin America, Africa
and Asia. He has been involved with helping farms improve and streamline the
pre-inspection process for exports. For example, they analyze how a crop of snow
peas is processed and prepared for shipment and, most importantly, make sure
they are safe before they arrive in Miami. If a whole shipload is denied, it
could cut in to any profits for an entire year. Another process he helps foreign
farms with is “adoption analysis.” They work together to determine if it is
economically feasible for a farm to adopt a new technology. He emphasized the
importance of social science aspects of technology adoption. The best case
scenario for “technology transfer” is to have something like a farmer field
school, in which someone familiar with the new technology is able to spend a
whole growing year at the farm. Each case must be treated individually. In terms
of the results of their work, some of it appears in the Journal of the
International Association of Agricultural Economics. He also mentioned World
Bank household-based livelihood studies, and the publications of the
International Food Policy Research Institute. He noted that most IFPRI
publications are free.
Presentation by Dr. Dixie Reeves
Dr. Reeves (Professor of Agricultural Economics, Virginia Tech) spoke about the
merger of the Economics department and the Agricultural Economics department,
including how to stay motivated in the face of budget cuts and personnel
reduction (they lost nine faculty members to “early out” offers). She talked
about the common challenge of finding a happy medium between doing outreach work
and “pure research.” Sponsored research support nearly 75% of their graduate
students. Dr. Reeves also spoke about recruiting undergraduate students and
student retention. For instance, she mentioned the work of the Center for
Economic Education and their outreach work with K-12 teachers. The teachers are
often quite happy to receive materials and suggestions for how to introduce
children and teenagers to economics. Plus, Virginia Tech. has a couple of active
ag. econ. student clubs, such as a marketing team that competes in events
sponsored by the National Agri-marketing association. Another example of
maintaining interest in the department is that they have a class that studies
cooperatives and it is now a class that will fulfill the humanities core
requirement.
Presentation by Bill Wolf, Wolf & Associates, Inc.:
Mr. Wolf is a consultant and advocate of organic farms. His company is based in
New Castle, VA. He was very involved with the process of establishing the
policies for the label USDA Certified Organic. He began his presentation by
providing an overview of the history of what he considers “modern organic
farming,” beginning with the 1940’s, continuing through some of the first state
laws in the 1980’s, and noting the Organic Foods Production Act that was part of
the 1990 Farm Bill. He continued by discussing what USDA has been doing since
then. He discussed the challenges of “regulating a philosophy,” and deciding how
to make the certification attainable, yet still fairly rigorous. It also took a
while to determine who would be exempt from certification (i.e., who would be
allowed to advertise their product as organic, without having to go through the
USDA inspection process). He also discussed the different labeling policies
associated with USDA Certified Organic, including front labels such as 100%
Organic, Organic, Made with Organic Ingredients, or only have particular
ingredients listed as organic in the ingredients list of the product (most often
on the back of a product). He continued by discussing the U.S. organic market.
He spoke about the amount of acreage dedicated to organic farming, the future of
the U.S. organic industry, the U.S. organic market compared to that of Europe
and Japan, trends affecting organic industry growth, and what major companies
are buying and/or heavily investing in organic farms.
Panel Discussion on Finding Market Data, with Barbara Hegenbart, Louise Letnes,
and Margaret Merrill
Barbara Hegenbart (University of California, Davis) – A question she is often
asked is, “Who is the biggest player in an industry?” For instance, who is the
biggest advertiser for pasta? She noted that ABI/Inform has helpful information.
Besides several USDA statistics sites, she also recommended the Bureau of Labor
Statistics for average consumer prices. A web site called The Packer
(http://www.thepacker.com) is a good resource for wholesale prices.
Associations, such as the Western Growers Association, also provide some price
information.
Louise Letnes (University of Minnesota): They have a Food Industry Center and
they have cataloged extra things. They have also done some canned searches and
posted them. They have also posted new dissertations that have been done in that
field. Louise also provided a list of her favorite resources. She highly
recommends the Food Industry Review, because it gathers information from several
sources. She did note that it is rather expensive, but the central libraries of
most universities probably have it. She also mentioned a particular trade
publication: The Progressive Grocer. The April supplement is called The Annual
Report of the Grocery Industry. Some other features of that periodical include
annual product preference studies and consumer expenditure studies.
Margaret Merrill (Virginia Tech): Her approach is more from a “what is the
demand for….” perspective. She also gets questions regarding how to develop a
product. She often counsels people regarding how to research the demographics of
the area in which a person is thinking about selling a product. For instance,
one’s decision to market a product might be influenced by factors such as an
area’s predominant age level, educational level, etc.
Margaret also spoke about the increasing popularity of “community supported
agriculture” (CSA). This is a system in which the consumer pays in to a
particular farm (kind of like a subscription, or a membership fee) and the
person is guaranteed that amount of food. Some CSA farms also require that the
member spend time working on the farm, or assisting with the business management
of the farm. For instance, one could help with the distribution of the products
when they become available.
We spent some time at this point discussing the importance of FAO’s AGORA
project: Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture. “Launched in 2003,
AGORA provides free or subsidised journal access to not-for-profit institutions
in eligible countries. Once details are finalised, all institutions in countries
with a GNP per capita under US$1,000 will be given access to participating
literature. The journal collection focuses on agriculture and related sciences,
and includes titles from major publishing houses.”
Special Presentation:
Dave Beagle (Virginia Tech, Reference Librarian) – Mr. Beagle spoke about his
familiarity with the data available via the web site of the Inter-University
Consortium for Political Science Research (ICPSR). http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/
It is a social science data archive. You have to have a subscription to have
access to the data. He discussed the challenges of different data formats,
noting that they have some data in an old OSIRIS format. They are encouraging
STATA.
ICPSR also hosts “special topics archives.” The web site explains that the
special topic archives are “Sponsored by agencies external to ICPSR, the special
topic archives are projects that focus on the archiving of data in specific
subject areas. Each special topic archive maintains its own Web site, with
content relevant to researchers in that field or discipline. The sites provide
access to the respective specialized collections and other information of
interest. Most of the data in the topical archives are publicly available.”
Although there are several economists on the council, there is still no special
topic archives for economics, nor for agriculture.
Open Discussion
Louise Letnes (University of Minnesota) suggested FAQs for the AERO web site.
Also, the Farm Foundation does not have a library, so we can say we will be
their “library.” Perhaps we could try it for one year.
As a group, we discussed the possibility of creating a survey and panel data
collection guidebook (standardized documentation, who did the data collection,
etc.). Perhaps we could begin an initiative to submit more datasets to ICPSR, or
to establish a special topics archive.