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Iranians ’ efforts to design and accredit the first long-term educational program for LIS professionals in agriculture. By : Hamidreza Mokhtari A. Mokhber. Background. Importance of agriculture in Iran. Challenges and opportunities. Laws and regulations
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Iranians’ efforts to design and accredit the first long-term educational program for LIS professionals in agriculture By: HamidrezaMokhtari A. Mokhber
Background • Importance of agriculture in Iran
Challenges and opportunities • Laws and regulations • Share of agriculture sector in GDP • Share of agriculture in labor force composition; • Wealth of indigenous knowledge • Rural population • Specific needs of agricultural audience • International trends
Agricultural information in Iran • Two ministries for agriculture • Two competing LIS bodies • Many achievements • Merging
The need for LIS in agriculture • Paradigm • Language • Communication: • Environment
Iranians’ efforts • 1989: the ministry of Science • 2000: one of the authors • 2003: justification report • Rejection • 2012: restarting with AIM
Skills & Knowledge acquired • Familiarity with agriculture research • Working with agriculture databases like FAO’s • Familiarity with agriculture statistical systems and datasets • General knowledge of agriculture • Knowledge and respect for nature and its products • Working with agriculture -specific terms and concepts • Good command of English for specific purpose in agriculture
Reasons for rejection of proposal • negative perception about librarians in agriculture sector; • the present experts can do the job(even if it is not efficient); • the name: “library” is not proper;
AIM: a leap frog • Context matter as stated by USAID • Difference between developed and developing countries • Good example: • Kenyan university of Nairobi: Postgraduate Diploma in Agricultural Informationand Communication Management (AICM)
Post positivism paradigm Agricultural Information Management Agriculture Discipline Management Discipline LIS Discipline Participatory/advocacy paradigm
Conclusions & Suggestions • defining human resource needs assessment researches for LIS in agriculture; • notice major audience in agriculture sector and base the agriculture colleges for the development of courses; • providing a momentum through NGOs in the sector is very important for the success;
Conclusions & Suggestions • negotiating with major stakeholders and lobbying ; • know the big picture of knowledge and information systems and placing the new discipline in them; • finding the place of indigenous knowledge in the curriculum and relating it to the courses
Acknowledgement: National Library of Singapore for awarding a generous grant to me