Introduction to WebAGRIS

WebAGRIS is a complete, multilingual Web-based system for distributed data input, processing and dissemination (through the Internet or on CD-Rom), of agricultural bibliographic information. WebAGRIS also allows to link to documents that are available in electronic format. It is based on common standards of data input (meta-data standard data structure), and dissemination formats (export formats (XML, HTML, ISO2709)), as well as subject categorization schema and thesauri, i.e. AGROVOC.

Depending on the "architecture" of the production process and resources WebAGRIS can be used either as a local application or in a joint collection of information (through exporting, harvesting data, etc.).

Each AGRIS network participating centre can choose to host a Web site for inputting, searching and/or sending data to the central AGRIS database for publishing on CD-Rom. WebAGRIS improves accessibility of information generally, through the use of multi-database or multihost searching and harvesting.

WebAGRIS ensures:

Database maintenance functions:

• (data entry and update);
• password control;
• creation of new records;
• updating of existing records (selection from a list);
• validation by formats;
• display of authority data for a selection.

• user friendly retrieval;
• sort;
• print and export options;
• searching through a number of databases;
• result paging;
• saving option for query history, etc.

The current version of WebAGRIS2 is realized by AGRIS/ CARIS and Documentation Group, GILW, FAO (FAO-Agris-Caris@fao.org),.in close cooperation with the Institute for Computer and Information Engineering (ICIE,rybinski@mimuw.edu.pl), Poland and IICA/CATIE, Costa Rica.

The interface is based on HTML forms, and has been implemented as a CGI program. The program is invoked by the WEB server process. The access to the CDS/ISIS databases is managed through BIREME's software ISIS-DLL, an API (Application Program Interface) for CDS/ISIS software of UNESCO in the Windows environment.