Volume 11, Number 3, 1999 |
Welcome to Volume 11, Number 3 of Livestock Research for Rural
Development, the thirty-fourth issue of the journal.
It appears that at present there are no defined standards for citing papers published electronically. Obviously it is an advantage for such citations to include the "URL" which will take the reader direct to the paper in question. In this and future issues of LRRD the correct citation will appear in the "Heading" of each paper.
One of the objectives of the system for reviewing papers submitting to LRRD is to assist "young" scientists in developing countries to establish contact with more experienced researchers. Unfortunately, in the classical way of "refereeing" submitted papers, the comments of the reviewers at most are made available to the authors concerned. A year ago LRRD established a "Discussion" list but experience has shown that this was not used in the way that was intended. The Editors therefore propose to attach the comments of reviewers as an "editorial" footnote to the papers, when these are considered to be pertinent to the objectives of fostering discussion. Comments from readers on this proposal are welcomed.
The editorial strategy of Livestock Research for Rural Development is to promote the distribution of ideas and hypotheses as well as the documentation of relevant research findings in sustainable use of natural renewable resources. The medium for the former (ideas and hypotheses) traditionally has been through the presentation of short research communications usually at a conference, seminar, workshop or a meeting of members of a scientific association. At such meetings, when many short papers are submitted, these may be accommodated in simultaneous sessions for oral presentation or increasingly in the form of posters. The latter procedure is proving to be the more attractive as it facilitates the dissemination of information by having it available on a continuous basis throughout a meeting rather than at selected times as is the case with theatre presentations.
In the same way that the "tele-conference", employing E-mail and Web communication, is emerging as a cost-effective alternative to the localised (in time and place) scientific gathering, so the "electronic journal" can become a medium for the "poster" presentations. The editors of LRRD are encouraging this approach by means of a section in the journal devoted exclusively to "poster" presentations. It is hoped that by creating a medium for presenting ideas based on preliminary observations, readers interested in the data will be encouraged to enter into a dialogue with the authors. Details for the submission of the posters are given in "guides to authors".
HTML is the native language for publishing documents on the World Wide Web and is understood by all Web browsing software. The journal, as the principal means of publication of developing world sustainable agriculture, needs to be easily available to the widest possible audience of interested people. Using HTML as the on online publishing format has three principal advantages. The first is that everybody who finds the journal can read it with their Internet browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape are amongst the most common). Secondly, the Internet search engines such as Alta Vista, Infoseek and others will index the pages. Thirdly, articles can be posted on the Web as "pre-publication" papers as soon as they are formatted in HTML, thus increasing tremendously the speed of communication of information.
A counter has been installed on the LRRD Homepage to record the numbers of visitors. The trend over the two years since records were kept is shown in Figure 1. Over 20 persons are now visiting the Home Page daily, up from 6 persons per day when the Journal was first posted.
All previous issues of the journal have now been converted to HTML format (thanks to CIPAV staff in Colombia), thus there is available on the Internet through the CIPAV web pages a library of nearly 10 years of research in the field of developing world sustainable agriculture.
Figure 1: Visits to LRRD since posting it on the Web in May 1997
The HTML version of LRRD is available on the Web at:
http://www.cipav.org.co/lrrd/lrrdhome.html
and
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGA/AGAP/FRG/lrrd.htm
Comments about the journal should be sent to the Editors
trpreston@email.com in Cambodia
rene_sansoucy@ccompuserve.com in France
Volumes 1 to 9 of LRRD are now available in HTML format on a CD ROM disk. Readers who wish to receive copies should send their requests to;
The first MSc course, executed by UTA and funded by the Danish embassy in Hanoi, was completed in November 1998. Copies of the research papers that form the theses of the first group of students, and information about the Foundation, are available on the UTAF site at:
http://www.hcm.fpt.vn/inet/~utaf
UTA has now moved the base of its activities to the Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Email address of UTA remains unchanged at: uta@email.com
Further details are provided on the UTAF Home Page.
The Ecological Farm, also known as 'Finca Ecologica', located on the Campus of the College of Agriculture and Forestry of the National University of Ho Chi Minh city, now has a presence on the World Wide www. The aim of the site is to give a digestible overview of the technologies that are in use on the Ecological Farm. The URL is:
http://www.hcm.fpt.vn/inet/~ecofarm
Much interest has been generated in the low-cost plastic biodigesters and the duckweed ponds which are an integral feature of ecological farming. A manual giving practical details of these technologies has been prepared for FAO and is available at:
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGA/AGAP/FRG/recycle/index.htm
and: http://www.hcm.fpt.vn/inet/~recycle
In addition to this manual which uses "still" pictures, more detailed guides on the Biodigesters and the Duckweed ponds are available on CD-ROMs in combined Video and Text format:
1. Productive use of livestock wastes: a manual for installation of low-cost plastic biodigesters
2. Productive use of livestock wastes: a manual for the use of biodigester effluent and ponds for duckweed production
Prices are USD10.00 for each CD-ROM disk plus freight. Details can be had from Lylian Rodriguez at:
lylianr@email.com
This is an electronic edition of the book `Tropical Feeds', originally written by Dr Bo Göhl, and published by FAO in 1971. The database (program prepared by Dr A W Speedy and Nick Waltham) is available on CD-ROM from: The Senior Officer (Feed Resources), Animal Production and Health Division, FAO, Via della terme di Caracalla, 00100-Rome, Italy. The most recent version (version 8) is available on:
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGA/AGAP/FRG/
No 126, Tropical animal feeding: A manual for research workers (Thomas R Preston) 1995, pp 305 (English)
No 132, Feeding pigs in the tropics (Rena Perez) 1997, pp 185 (English)
No 134, Tratamiento y utilización de residuos de origen animal, pesquero y alimenticio en la alimentación animal (Editors: Vilda Figueroa y Manuel Sánchez) 1997, pp 255 (Castellano)
No 135, Roughage utilization in warm climates (Michel Chenost and Chedly Kayouli) 1997, pp 226 (English et Français)
No 139, Tree foliage in ruminant nutrition (Ronald A Leng) 1997, pp 100 (English)
Duckweed; a tiny aquatic plant with enormous potential for agriculture and environment (Ronald A Leng) 1999, pp 108 (English)
No 42, Using fodder from trees and shrubs to feed livestock in the tropics (O B Smith), pp 52 (English, Français, Castellano)
No 43, Feeding animals on straw (F Dolberg), pp30 (English)
No 44, Processing of cassava and sweet potatoes for animal feeding (V Ravindran), pp 49 (English)
No 45, Multinutrient block handbook (L O Garcia and J I Restrepo), pp 28 (English)
No 46, Use of cassava and sweet potatoes in animal feeding (V Ravindran), pp 47 (English)
Copies can be obtained from: The Senior Officer, Feed Resources Group, AGA, FAO, 00100 Rome Italy