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Supporting access: interventions that seek to improve the ways in which decision makers are able to access research based information. Preseantation by Ananya Raihan, D-Net (Bangladesh) at the Locating the Power of the In-between conference July 08
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Bangladesh Online Research Network (BORN)
www.bdresearch.org
Research Information on Bangladesh Now at a Click
Background: Access Situation Infrastructure:
Internet connectivity is available across the country [EDGE, GPRS, CDMA, DSL]
Access Libraries do not have computerised catalogues Libraries are not online ( except private
university libraries) Library resources are not regularly replenished Lack of availability of latest resources Lack of on-demand services
www.bdresearch.org
Background: Problems Researchers and policy makers spend huge time in
search of required resources[ travel, manual search]
Researchers and policy makers spend huge amount of money [ photocopy, travel, stay]
Policy makers are not updated with latest developments in specific domain of policy making
Teachers and students lack up-to-date reference materials
NGO workers talk rhetoric due to lack to easily available resources [ lack of culture of information use]
www.bdresearch.org
Background: Demand Level 1:
Access to online catalogue of libraries Access to abstracts or executive summaries of research
publications Level 2:
Access to online repositories of resources Access to online repositories of regional and international
publications Contact with the authors Information on request [ managing information overload] Access to information on latest releases of research publication Annotated bibliography by theme
Level 3 Access to digest of the research publications Participation in discussion on a particular topic/publication
www.bdresearch.org
Birth of BORN Bangladesh Online Research Network in
2001 with two pronged objectives: Facilitating research on Bangladesh by creating
an online warehouse of research information on Bangladesh
Serving as a platform to interact for information givers and information seekers
BDResearch.org wanted to fill the gap between the source of information and point of its need
Official website: www.bdresearch.org
www.bdresearch.org
Initial Tasks
Bring in Bangladeshi publishers to share publications with www.bdresearch.org
Develop a user-friendly portal with strong back-end administrative part [web 2.0 was not there]
Mobilise resources Inform target users
www.bdresearch.org
thousands of publications in different categories
free and on payment.
Abstract and full text.
Easy searching options for the users.
Bangladesh Online Research Network (BORN)
www.bdresearch.org
BDResearch.org Offers Regularly updated directory of publication of various institutions Papers focused on Bangladesh and South Asia and related to South Asia Resources in two categories:
Free On payment by using pre-paid card
Strong search engine by author, publisher, theme or key words for research papers
Category wise research paper archive to meet the demand of specific group for 82 categories
Author’s contact information (By e-mail) Provide information on request; in some cases small research is
conducted Online discussion forum CD based content services to specialized organizations CD based e-document service on request Link to other relevant web sites
Key Characteristics Target Beneficiaries
Researchers and Academics Policy-makers Govt. Organizations NGOs & Development Agencies Civil Society Technologist Business community ( national and international) Journalists & Reporters
Scope and Focus South Asia, All themes
Type of resources Peer-reviewed and general ( breadth is important)
Communication Channels Web, email, CD-ROM, occasionally printed
Type of intervention Signposting ( mostly, 60%) organise or disseminate that information ( 20%) Repackage(5%) generate new information so getting involved to help users ( 15%) [ through
collaboration, www.jeeon.com.bd]
www.bdresearch.org
Example of Institutional Collaboration for posting resources
Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP) Bichayan, Technohaven Company Ltd, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Department of Anthropology, Jahangirnagar University Department of Business Administration, Jahangirnagar University Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Jahangirnagar University Khulna University The University Press Limited (UPL) Unnayan Shamunnay
ELDIS
www.bdresearch.org
Example of ThemesFrom A to Z, such as ~
Agriculture Anthropology Corruption Development Democracy Disaster Management
Economics Environment Ergonomics Finance & Banking Globalization Governance Human Rights
Information and Communication
Law Micro Credit Migration Natural Resources Political Economy Population Poverty Alleviation Regional Cooperation SME Urbanization WTO
www.bdresearch.org
Business Model
It was clear that financing situation is not encouraging at all
Exploration earning scope: Resource sharing institutions [ revenue sharing from online
sales] Users
Limited success: people are not ready to pay for information
Robin Hood Model: Earning from other sources spent for sustaining the portal activities
www.bdresearch.org
Pre-paid cards Gold and Silver
Pre-paid Cards
www.bdresearch.org
BORN has added pre-paid card system (first ever in Bangladesh) to sell papers online.
Outcome: Going beyond repository services National budget: enhancing participation
Collecting opinions from grassroots and interest groups feeding the budgetary process
Live web casting of National Budget speech Voice and text response to National Budget by representatives of
interest groups Concept of Benefit of Investment for creating public access to
ICTs Minimum wage campaign:
Feeding with research based claims to the respective campaigning groups
Research agenda of DFID for period upto 2013 Inputs from various interest groups
Trade policy: Whether Trade in services to be the part of SAFTA
Challenges Resource Sharing:
Threat to Income from sales of publication Copy right (plagiarism) Individualism
Access to Resources Access to ICTs ( private and public) Lack of ICT skills
Usage Plagiarism at the initial stage
Offering Advance services due to limited resources Creation of online repositories of resources[ digitization] Offering cheap access to online repositories of regional and international publications Offering comprehensive update on latest releases of research publication Offering annotated bibliography by theme Access to digest of the research publications Participation in discussion on a particular topic/publication
Resource Mobilisation Business model is still struggling
THANK YOU
Contact AddressDevelopment Research Network (D.Net)6/8 Humayun Road, Block-B Mohammadpur
Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh.Tel: +880 2 8156772, +880 2 9131424,
+880 2 9129779Fax: +880 2 8142021
E-mail: [email protected]@dnet-bangladesh.orgURL: www.bdresearch.orgwww.dnet-bangladesh.org
www.bdresearch.org
