does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE SUGGESTIONS FOR

does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! SUGGESTIONS FOR DEMONSTRATING THE VALUE OF ASFA AND WHY YOUR INSTITUTE/ORGANIZATION IS PARTICIPATING IN ASFA by Richard Pepe 2013 ASFA Board Meeting, Peru

TAKEAWAYS Value the Value of ASFA I A F S A 2

A E K TA A F S Communicate - Publicize this Value to others A I 3

WHY demonstrate THE 1. VALUE OF ASFA ? To JUSTIFY the COST of your PARTICIPATION in ASFA 2. To insure the FUTURE SURVIVAL (sustainability) of ASFA against such competitors as Google, Wo. S, Scopus, etc. 3. TO INCREASE THE VALUE & STATUS OF YOUR LIBRARY “HOW could ASFA be used to increase the value of the Library ? ” does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 4

HOW to demonstrate THE does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! VALUE OF ASFA ? 5

HOW to demonstrate THE VALUE OF ASFA ? ASFA Partners Papers on Evaluation/Valuation • Kaske, Neal. , “Library Valuation: a Discussion” (2012 Board Meeting) • Nyika, Edna, “Valuation of IMS Library Services: Results from a User Survey” (2011 ASFA Board Meeting) • Pettman, I. and Schwamm, H. , “ASFA Impact Evaluation, Does ASFA make a difference? ” (2011 ASFA Board Meeting) • Kaske, Neal and Cumberpatch, M. L. , “What is the Return on Investment in the Your Library” (2009 ASFA Board Meeting) These papers contain information that defines and describes the importance of evaluation and valuation, and they provide valuable tips on methodology and approaches. One paper is based on a user survey. These papers can be found on the ASFA ftp site ftp: //ASFA: PWda 28 b@ext-ftp. fao. org/FI/Reserved/ASFA 6 under the folder for that year’s ASFA Board Meeting)

HOW to demonstrate THE does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! VALUE OF ASFA ? 7

HOW to demonstrate THE VALUE OF ASFA ? APPROACH USED IN THIS PRESENTATION TO DEMONSTRATE THE VALUE OF ASFA IS : LIST of suggestions that are: - easy to understand - easy to remember and - fairly easy to implement using existing information Then of course it is up to you to impress your supervisors, funding bodies and users using these suggestions and information. does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 8

LIST OF INFORMATION AND SUGGESTIONS FOR DEMONSTRATING THE VALUE OF ASFA SUGGESTION-1 (Publicize the PRACTICAL BENEFITS of being an ASFA Partner) SUGGESTION-2 (Publicize ASFA as being a PREMIER source of information) SUGGESTION-3 (Publicize/cite Statements that mention the UTILITY of ASFA) SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner) SUGGESTION-5 (Publicize ASFA’s COVERAGE OF GREY LITERATURE) SUGGESTION-6 (Publicize ASFA’s serious control of its MONITORING LIST) SUGGESTION-7 (Publicize that in ASFA one FINDS information) SUGGESTION-8 (Publicize ASFA using available ASFA PUBLICITY MATERIALS) SUGGESTION-9 (Publicize ASFA by using it to produce topical BIBLIOGRAPHIES) SUGGESTION-10 (Publicize ASFA by TRAINING your users - How to search ASFA) SUGGESTION-11 (Keep a RECORD of your users) does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE !

SUGGESTION-1 (Publicize the PRACTICAL BENEFITS of being an ASFA Partner) • WORLD-WIDE VISIBILITY through the ASFA Database for your institute, for your country’s scientists and for their publications • FREE ACCESS TO THE ASFA DATABASE This is not a trivial entitlement, considering: • the recognized scientific value of the ASFA database, and • the substantial commercial subscription price of the ASFA database. • FACILITATES EXCHANGE AND SHARING OF INFORMATION Ideas, experiences, document delivery among all the other ASFA Partner Institutes either through direct contact at annual ASFA Board Meetings or via the ASFA-Board-L listserv and ASFA homepage • ASFA Trust Fund Which allows for the further development of the ASFA System through projects that 10 ASFA Partners can themselves put forward.

SUGGESTION-2 (Publicize ASFA as being a PREMIER source of Information) ASFA #1 does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 11

SUGGESTION-2 (Publicize ASFA as being a PREMIER source of Information) 12

SUGGESTION-2 (Publicize ASFA as being a PREMIER source of Information) quote from: IAMSLIC LETTER “ASFA is the main database used in aquatic and marine science libraries, or IAMSLIC members’ libraries. ” “In libraries which are not part of a larger network it may be the only database available in the library, or that institute. . . ” quote from: IAMSLIC NEWSLETTER May 2003, No. 87 (letter from President of IAMSLIC to ASFA Secretariat WHAT IS IAMSLIC: IAMSLIC (International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers) is the largest single group of users of the ASFA database with approximately 400 members in 70+ countries. IAMSLIC serves as a forum for the sharing of ideas and resources within the discipline of marine and freshwater sciences. IAMSLIC members meet annually to discuss issues relating to the management of aquatic science information (e. g. issues relating to information collection, storage, retrieval, dissemination, etc. ).

SUGGESTION-3 (Publicize/cite Statements that mention the Utility of ASFA) does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 14

for example: Statements made by ASFA Partners in their annual reports to the ASFA Board Meeting International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) REPORT to ASFA Advisory Board Meeting (Marine Institute (MI), Oranmore, Ireland, 25 -29 June 2012) “ASFA is the only bibliographic database available in the ICES Secretariat, and it is used regularly by the ICES staff and by scientists visiting ICES for meetings”. National Marine Data and Information Service (NMDIS), , China, People's Republic REPORT to ASFA Advisory Board Meeting (Marine Institute (MI), Oranmore, Ireland, 25 -29 June 2012) “ASFA remains one of the popular bibliographic databases used in NMDIS …. ” Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico REPORT to ASFA Advisory Board Meeting (Marine Institute (MI), Oranmore, Ireland, 25 -29 June 2012) “ASFA is among the most consulted databases at UNAM and it is also highly appreciated in all the marine and fishing research institutions of Mexico”. Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut , Germany REPORT to ASFA Advisory Board Meeting (Marine Institute (MI), Oranmore, Ireland, 25 -29 June 2012) “ASFA is used in Germany by several marine science institutions …. Fisheries Research Agency (FRA), Japan REPORT to ASFA Advisory Board Meeting (Marine Institute (MI), Oranmore, Ireland, 25 -29 June 2012) “ASFA database is used by Fisheries Research Agency (FRA) researchers and university students in Japan …. ” 15

SUGGESTION-3 (Publicize/cite Statements that mention the utility of ASFA) Excerpts from e-mail to a prominant publishing scientist 16

SUGGESTION-3 (Publicize/cite Statements that mention the utility of ASFA) Excerpts from blog of Nor. MER Phd Student 17

SUGGESTION-3 (Publicize/cite Statements that mention the utility of ASFA) Excerpts from e-mail to author of journal article 18

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner There is CONSIDERABLE PRESTIGE associated with your participation in the ASFA International Cooperative Information System ! ASFA PRODUCTS (and their subject scope) COOPERATION/ COLLABORATION NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 19

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner There is CONSIDERABLE PRESTIGE associated with your participation in the ASFA International Cooperative Information System ! ASFA PRODUCTS (and their subject scope) COOPERATION/ COLLABORATION NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 20

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS ASFA PRODUCTS COOPERATION/COLLABOR ATION 69 ASFA PARTNER INSTITUTES AND 40 COLLABORATING CENTRES (in 59 countries) 21

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS ASFA PRODUCTS COOPERATION/COLLABOR ATION 52 NATIONAL PARTNERS 22

IN 1971 2 National ASFA Partners (1 in France, 1 in Germany, plus FAO & the Publisher, (0 International Partners) (1 UN Partner) IN 1992 12 National ASFA Partners (3 located in Developing countries) (0 International Partners) (3 UN Partner) TODAY 52 National ASFA Partners (32 in Developing countries) (12 International Partners) (4 UN Partner) 23

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS ASFA PRODUCTS COOPERATION/COLLABOR ATION 12 INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS 24

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS ASFA PRODUCTS COOPERATION/COLLABOR ATION 4 UNITED NATIONS PARTNERS 25

4 UNITED NATIONS PARTNERS ASFA SECRETARIAT 26

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS ASFA PRODUCTS COOPERATION/COLLABOR ATION ASFA PUBLISHER & PARTNER 27

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner as the ASFA PUBLISHER: Merges the COLLECTIVE INPUT, submitted by the ASFA PARTNERS, to PRODUCE the ASFA BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASE, in various Formats and Media, for sale and distribution to ASFA PARTNERS A S F A IN P U T ASFA PARTNERS does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! ASFA PUBLISHER ASFA PRODUCTS 28

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner as an ASFA PARTNER: Processes and submits bibliographic references for inclusion in the ASFA Database does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 29

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner There is CONSIDERABLE PRESTIGE associated with your participation in the ASFA International Cooperative Information System ! ASFA PRODUCTS (and their subject scope) COOPERATION/ COLLABORATION NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS 30

NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS ASFA PRODUCTS COOPERATION/COLLABOR ATION ASFA IS ONE of the PREMIER SOURCES of BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES to the AQUATIC SCIENCE LITERATURE ASFA does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 31

NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS ASFA PRODUCTS COOPERATION/COLLABOR ATION THE ASFA DATABASE CONTAINS More than 2 Million BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORDS (ACCESSIONED SINCE 1971)* 7000+ New References are added each month * Some records on the database are prior to 1971 does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE !

NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS ASFA PRODUCTS COOPERATION/COLLABOR ATION Records Prior to 1971 Projects to Input Historical Materials (or to fill gaps) 550 records dealing with Latvian and Lithuanian aquatic literature 1966 -1983 (Estonia ASFA Partner, Estonian Marine Institute) - 6000 records originating from international/regional projects in marine/freshwaters hosted at/carried out by the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (Kenya ASFA Partner, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute) - 4000 records corresponding to some gaps discovered in the ASFA database (Kenya ASFA Partner, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute) - 500 records from the area of the South Pacific. PIMRIS ASFA Partner - 1400 records dealing with old literature (1790 -1970) on the Caspian Sea (Russia ASFA Partner, Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) - 310 records dealing with Barents and Norwegian Seas for the period 1938 -1971 (Russia ASFA Partner (Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) - 600 records corresponding to period before Nigeria joined ASFA (prior to 2004). (Nigeria ASFA Partner, National Institute for Freshwater Fisheries Research (NIFFR) - 10, 000 records dealing the North Sea (mainly the Southern Bight of North Sea) between the years 2000 and 1830, but mainly between 1945 -2000. 33 (Belgium ASFA Partner, VLIZ, Flanders Marine Institute)

NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS ASFA PRODUCTS COOPERATION/COLLABOR ATION Projects APPROVED RECENTLY - 1252 records - Identification and indexing in ASFA of ICES CM Documents authored by IMR during the period 1949 -1999 (all with full text links) (Norwegian ASFA Partner, Institute of Marine Research, IMR) - 170 records - Digitization, Open Access Deposition, and Providing URLs to the existing ASFA Records of Yug. NIRO Annual Proceedings – 1992 – 1997 (Ukraine ASFA Partner, Yug. Niro) - 750 records - Digitization, Open Access Deposition, and ASFA Record Preparation of Freshwater Grey Literature by the FAO Fisheries Branch Library (FBL) (FAO ASFA Partner ) 34

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS ASFA PRODUCTS COOPERATION/COLLABOR ATION The Subject Scope of ASFA (i. e. information contained in the ASFA database) is also of a prestigious nature. Because it is information that is: politically, socially, environmentally and economically important for dealing with many of today’s most challenging global issues which require. 35

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS ASFA PRODUCTS COOPERATION/COLLABOR ATION Information in ASFA (i. e. the Subject Scope of ASFA) is highly relevant to many of today’s issues of international concern: CONSERVATIO N increasing FOOD PRODUCTION conserving BIODIVERSITY POLLUTION control and monitoring LAW OF THE SEA disputes RESOURCE MANAGEMENT mitigating GLOBAL WARMING and CLIMAT E CHANGE 36

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner There is CONSIDERABLE PRESTIGE associated with your participation in the ASFA International Cooperative Information System ! ASFA PRODUCTS COOPERATION/ COLLABORATION NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS ASFA PRODUCTS COOPERATION/COLLABOR ATION ASFA is founded on International Cooperation and Collaborative efforts 38

SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner NETWORK OF ASFA PARTNERS ASFA PRODUCTS COOPERATION/COLLABOR ATION But there also Logistic and Economic realities associated with this international Cooperation and Collaboration Each ASFA Partner contributes its own information to the ASFA database (within its processing capacity), and in return, receives the total amount of information submitted by all the other ASFA Partners. 39

SUGGESTION-5 (Publicize ASFA’s COVERAGE OF GREY LITERATURE AND COVERAGE IN GENERAL) The decentralized, international network of ASFA Partners facilitates the Identification and inclusion in the ASFA database of the GREY LITERATURE (reports, conference proceedings, thesis, chapters in books etc. ). This is AN IMPORTANT COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE, that ASFA has compared to other databases 69 ASFA Partners in 58 countries 40

SUGGESTION-5 (Publicize ASFA’s COVERAGE OF GREY LITERATURE AND COVERAGE IN GENERAL) Regarding ASFA’s coverage in general, there are few, if any limits. as regards language, geographic area, document type, time span etc. Regarding time span, 1971 is the official starting date of ASFA coverage, however there are no restrictions for ASFA Partners wanting to input older materials (pre’ 1971) or who want to retrospectively index older materials. Retrospective coverage for some journals and some subject areas goes back quite some time (e. g. Caspian Sea 1790 -1970). It should be publicized that gap filling and inclusion of historical material in ASFA is an ongoing process or priority and a comparative advantage of ASFA, especially regarding grey literature 41

SUGGESTION-6 (Publicize ASFA’s serious control of its Monitoring List The Monitoring List currently contains 3618 active titles Serial title: Journal of fisheries of China/Shuichan Xuebao Abbr. title: J. Fish. China/Shuichan Xuebao ISSN : 1000 -0615 Location: Shanghai Electr. ISSN: Core journal(Yes/No): Yes Begin ASFA coverage: 8(1)1984 Ceased ASFA coverage: Ceased publication : Notes : IC : CH 42

SUGGESTION-6 (Publicize ASFA’s serious control of its Monitoring List The Control of the ASFA Partners’ monitoring of serials is taken VERY SERIOUSLY by the FAO ASFA Secretariat. does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 43

SUGGESTION-7 (Publicize that in ASFA one FINDS information EASY to Retrieve information from databases, BUT NOT EASY TO FIND the information you need 44

SUGGESTION-7 (Publicize that in ASFA one FINDS information ASFA facilitates the FINDING OF INFORMATION 45

SUGGESTION-7 (Publicize that in ASFA one FINDS information ASFA facilitates the FINDING OF INFORMATION (thanks to) Detailed Structure of the ASFA Record Pro. Quest’s Search Platform: 46

ASFA facilitates the FINDING OF INFORMATION SEARCHERS CAN: CONSTRUCT COMPLEX, ADVANCED SEARCH QUERIES and then REFINE the Query using the “Search Options” available on the Pro. Quest platform 47

ASFA facilitates the FINDING OF INFORMATION SEARCHERS CAN: CARRYOUT BROAD, SIMPLE SEARCH QUERIES and then REFINE the Query using the “Suggested Subjects” and/or the “Narrow Results by” option available on the Pro. Quest platform 48

LIST OF INFORMATION AND SUGGESTIONS FOR DEMONSTRATING THE VALUE OF ASFA SUGGESTION-1 (Publicize the PRACTICAL BENEFITS of being an ASFA Partner) SUGGESTION-2 (Publicize ASFA as being a PREMIER source of information) SUGGESTION-3 (Publicize/cite Statements that mention the UTILITY of ASFA) SUGGESTION-4 (Publicize the PRESTIGE associated with being an ASFA Partner) SUGGESTION-5 (Publicize ASFA’s COVERAGE OF GREY LITERATURE) SUGGESTION-6 (Publicize ASFA’s serious control of its MONITORING LIST) SUGGESTION-7 (Publicize that in ASFA one FINDS information) SUGGESTION-8 (Publicize ASFA using available ASFA PUBLICITY MATERIALS) SUGGESTION-9 (Publicize ASFA by using it to produce topical BIBLIOGRAPHIES) SUGGESTION-10 (Publicize ASFA by TRAINING your users - How to search ASFA) SUGGESTION-11 (Keep a RECORD of your users) does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE !

SUGGESTION-8 (Publicize ASFA using the available ASFA Publicity materials ASFA Homepage and ASFA ftp site http: //www. fao. org/fishery/asfa/en ftp: //ASFA: PWda 28 b@ext-ftp. fao. org/FI/Reserved/ASFA does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 50

SUGGESTION-8 (Publicize ASFA using the available ASFA Publicity materials 51

SUGGESTION-8 (Publicize ASFA using the available ASFA Publicity materials 52

SUGGESTION-8 (Publicize ASFA using the available ASFA Publicity materials 53

SUGGESTION-9 (Publicize ASFA by using it to produce topical bibliographies) Perhaps the best way to publicize ASFA is to Produce Bibliographies and retrieve publications that are USEFUL to your users • ASFA at workshops, seminars, conferences etc. (set up a work station, produce a short bibliography) • Bibliographies for extreme environmental phenomena (e. g. Tsunami, oil spills/blow-outs, hurricanes etc. ) 54

SUGGESTION-10 (Publicize ASFA by TRAINING your users - How to search ASFA) Providing user TRAINING gives greater visibility to your staff and adds to the status of the library does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 55

56

SUGGESTION-10 (Publicize ASFA by TRAINING your users - How to search ASFA) But it is NOT easy to train does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 57

SUGGESTION-10 (Publicize ASFA by TRAINING your users - How to search ASFA) YOU WILL NEED: • To put into practice all of your Library skills • To visit and to study the “help” pages on the Pro. Quest web site (they contain much information on searching both generic and related to ASFA) • To study the general literature on searching • To start a discussion on ASFA-Board-L. Share experiences with other ASFA Partners as to how they carry out user training does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 58

SUGGESTION-10 (Publicize ASFA by TRAINING your users - How to search ASFA) • Organize/carry out trainings sessions (For staff and/or students) • ONE-ON-ONE Training (Most targeted, but most time consuming method) • CURRICULUM (Get professors (academic libraries) to make an ASFA demonstration part of their course) • INFORMATION SHEETS (In some institutes, the access to the library database and its information sources is not straight forward. So prepare information sheets on how to access the library’s information sources and ASFA ) • DEMONSTRATE ASFA (Together with IAMSLIC Z 39. 50 Distributed library) 59

SUGGESTION-11 (Keep a record of your users) to gain information on the utility of ASFA and your library services USER SATISFACTION is the true measure of value of a product or service Do they come back? If your users value the services and information resources that you provide and you can prove it, then your library should be in lesser danger of having its budget reduced or of being closed down. 60

SUGGESTION-11 (Keep a record of your users) to gain information on the utility of ASFA and your library services COLLECT INFORMATION ON USERS Collect both quantitative and qualitative data. • • • the visitors’ sign in sheet, automatic web analysis, questionnaires, online surveys interviews, conversations etc. (again consult the literature and ask other ASFA partners and IAMSLIC members to share their experiences on collecting user data) 61

SUGGESTION-11 (Keep a record of your users) to gain information on the utility of ASFA and your library services TRY TO CORRELATE The usage of your library services with the some of the successful achievements of your University or Institute, for example: • • • the number of students on the honor role professors being promoted number of research papers published number of grants won time saved by users 62

SUGGESTIONS FOR ANSWERING THE QUESTION Why is my Institute/library participate in ASFA? This is a question which has been asked of the ASFA Secretariat a number of times by existing ASFA Partners. This usually occurs when the historical memory of ASFA in an institute disappears (e. g. the Director or person who signed the ASFA Partnership and the person doing the ASFA input both retire or change jobs at the same time). does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 63

SUGGESTIONS FOR ANSWERING THE QUESTION Why is my Institute/library participate in ASFA? The reasons are: • Technical / administrative • Ethical • Operational does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 64

SUGGESTIONS FOR ANSWERING THE QUESTION Why is my Institute/library participate in ASFA? Technically or administratively speaking 1. Your Institute wanted to join ASFA It desired to or saw the need to participate in ASFA and thus requested from the FAO ASFA Secretariat information on the responsibilities and entitlements of becoming an ASFA Partner. 2. Then your Director signed the ASFA Partnership Agreement and by doing so, agreed to the ASFA Responsibilities*. 3. For FAO, the Assistant Director General of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department signed the Agreement. * the basic responsibility that your institute agreed to was: to prepare on an ongoing basis bibliographic records for inclusion in the ASFA database according to the ASFA inputting procedures. In return your institute qualified for free access to the full ASFA database. A generic copy of the ASFA Partnership Agreement can be seen on the FAO ASFA Homepage The original signed copy of your ASFA Partnership Agreement can be requested from the FAO ASFA Secretariat. 65

SUGGESTIONS FOR ANSWERING THE QUESTION Why is my Institute/library participate in ASFA? Ethically Speaking Your Institute agrees that international action and cooperative efforts are good. In fact, ASFA is an international, cooperative information system where the collective monitoring and inputting efforts of the individual ASFA Partners come together to generate one large equally shared aquatic science database. does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 66

SUGGESTIONS FOR ANSWERING THE QUESTION Why is my Institute/library participate in ASFA? Operationally Speaking Your institute understand or appreciates that: 1. No single country can, by itself, afford to compile, maintain and distribute a comprehensive database dealing with the world’s aquatic science related literature 2. ASFA provides an internationally recognized prestigious window or show case for your institute’s/countries publications and scientists 3. By participating in ASFA, your institute is able to directly control the quantity and quality of the literature/records going into the ASFA database from your institute/country (i. e. otherwise the inclusion of your literature in ASFA is by chance and the indexing may not be up to your standards) does ASFA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! 67

TAKEAWAYS Communicate-Publicize the Value of ASFA I A F S A 68