Blog Enhancing Agricultural Research with FAO’s AGRIS and AGROVOC: A conversation with Elizabeth Arnaud
In this interview, Knowledge Management Specialists at ICARDA - Sara Jani, Valentina De Col and Asma Jeitani - spoke to Elizabeth Arnaud, Thematic Leader and Co-Lead of the Digital Solutions Teams in the Alliance's Digital Inclusion research area. They discussed CGIAR’s collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on AGRIS - a comprehensive bibliographic database on agriculture and nutrition - and AGROVOC - a multilingual thesaurus covering concepts and terminology under FAO's areas of interest.
By: Sara Jani, Valentina De Col and Asma Jeitani
Since 2017, Elizabeth has led the CGIAR Ontology Community of Practice and chaired the CGIAR Task Group for AGROVOC, strengthening CGIAR’s contribution to these programs and supporting the consolidation of the semantic landscape for labeling data in agriculture and food systems.
The importance of AGRIS for global agricultural research
Q: Do you think it is crucial for agricultural research institutions and networks - such as CGIAR - to have access to a large bibliographic database like AGRIS? What are the benefits?
Elizabeth Arnaud: Established almost 50 years ago, AGRIS is a crucial FAO resource with over 13 million records on various publications. Enabling knowledge discovery, it is free and open access, greatly benefiting the agricultural and food systems community. It helps researchers delve into existing knowledge, understand prior research, and identify key players in their field. Moreover, AGRIS offers content in over 100 languages, making it accessible to non-English-speaking communities. This multilingual capability is a significant advantage, especially for CGIAR, which primarily publishes in English. Additionally, the AGRIS team organizes webinars to train users on publishing and retrieving data, thus strengthening the community and maintaining connections with more than 700 data providers.
By indexing our research outputs in AGRIS, CGIAR extends its work to a broader audience and addresses knowledge gaps in areas where CGIAR excels, such as food systems for sustainable development and climate change. Furthermore, some of our research partners lack the means to publish their data. By collaborating on research projects, CGIAR can mediate and make this data accessible through AGRIS, sharing our collective research results.
Enhancing findability and interoperability with AGROVOC
Q: CGIAR also contributes to AGROVOC. Do you feel that the collaboration for AGROVOC can support findability and interoperability in databases such as AGRIS? How do you think AGRIS can leverage AGROVOC to achieve this goal?
Elizabeth Arnaud: Leading the Ontology Working Group, which established the CGIAR AGROVOC curation team, I've been a strong advocate for CGIAR contribution to AGROVOC. Using valid community-recognized vocabulary for metadata is essential. AGROVOC has been used in our repositories for years, but its usage wasn't always accurate. By contributing to AGROVOC, we ensure our research topics are well-represented with validated keywords and definitions, improving data findability and quality of our data. This effort promotes data harmonization across different repositories. It’s also crucial to engage and train our information managers in using AGROVOC. Proper labeling and contributions to AGROVOC are rewarding as they enhance the visibility of our data in open repositories.
AGROVOC’s multilingual nature can improve search capabilities in AGRIS. For example, users can search in Spanish and retrieve related records in various languages, thanks to AGROVOC’s translations. This feature is essential for enhancing AGRIS’s multilingual content.
Looking ahead: future opportunities for AGRIS and AGROVOC
Q: Do you think that AGRIS could use new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
Elizabeth Arnaud: I believe AI technologies will greatly enhance the knowledge extraction from large databases like AGRIS. AI can process vast amounts of open data, and AGRIS can support AI in providing better answers to questions related to agriculture, climate change, and other relevant topics. Tools that process natural language and generate summaries will be crucial. Testing these tools will help us understand their potential for improving data retrieval. Incorporating AI-based search systems in AGRIS would further leverage AGROVOC. If improved, the semantic relationships between AGROVOC terms can enhance the accuracy and relevance of search results, making data retrieval more efficient.
Q: Is there anything else you wish AGRIS could do in the future?
Elizabeth Arnaud: New technologies could significantly enhance AGRIS, such as improving how it finds and harmonizes data. AI technologies might simplify the task of aligning metadata between AGRIS and our repositories. However, technology alone isn’t enough. We need a community-driven approach and a structured governance strategy for contributing to AGRIS, ensuring that all CGIAR centers consistently index their research outputs. Developing workflows and quality checks will streamline contributions and enhance collaboration with FAO. Recognizing the importance of this role and integrating these activities into our digital and data programs will ensure sustained and impactful contributions.
In conclusion, the collaboration between CGIAR and FAO through AGRIS and AGROVOC is pivotal for advancing agricultural research. By leveraging these resources, enhancing interoperability and embracing new technologies, we can significantly impact the accessibility and dissemination of agricultural knowledge globally.
Reflecting on the conversation with Elizabeth Arnaud, it’s inspiring to see how collaborative efforts and technological advancements can shape the future of agricultural research. The commitment to enhancing resources such as AGRIS and AGROVOC demonstrates a shared vision for a more informed and sustainable future in agriculture. It’s a reminder of the power of collective action in making a global impact.
As she approaches retirement, the Alliance would like to thank Elizabeth for her years of inspiring research and dedication to open knowledge.
