Speakers included: Gary E. Gorman (New Zealand), Stephanie Haas (United States), Patricia Merrikin (FAO, Rome), Ajay Pratap Singh (India), Kayvan Kousha (Iran), Ronald Muntasi (Zimbabwe), and Imma Subirats (FAO, Rome).

Below mentioned papers were presented. Full text of these papers except one may be found here

  • Barriers to open access to scientific information in Kenya, with particular reference to agricultural information
  • Aquatic commons model: the roles of IAMSLIC, FAO and IFREMER in supporting open access to fisheries and aquaculture research and management
  • Open Archive@FAO : Providing Open Access to agricultural information and knowledge
  • Citation impact of the open access agricultural research: comparison between OA and Non-OA Publications
  • Open Access initiatives for agricultural information transfer systems in India
  • Towards cohesive consortia organisation and smart partnerships: enabling sustainable open access and effective utilisation of agriculture e-resources in academic and research libraries in Zimbabwe

The session was attended by over 100 participants. Participants included Peter Ballantyne(President, International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists), Toni Greider(Secretary, IAALD),Eleanor G Frierson (Deputy Director,National Agricultural Library, United States), and Barbara Hutchinson (United States Agricultural Information Network).

Presentations and lively discussion that followed focussed on timely availability of information to farmers, ranchers, researchers, and policy makers as it is of paramount importance for sustainable agricultural development in developed and developing countries. It was pointed out that the need is more so during the down turn of global economy and food shortages worldwide.

The session was monitored by Deva Eswara Reddy, Convener of the Agricultural Libraries SIG and Secretary, Science&Technology Libraries Section.