Welcome to the GFIS Blog!

Summary of the IUFRO Pre-Congress Workshop Training, Namyangju City, Republic of Korea, 16 - 20 August 2010

Course Title: Managing Forest Information
Location: Namyangju City, Republic of Korea
Dates: 16 ? 20 August 2010
Scientific Advisor: Global Forest Information Service (GFIS)
Trainers: Mr. Eero Mikkola, GFIS Coordinator, Metla, Finland
Mr. Juha Hautakangas, GFIS Unit, Metla, Finland
Mr. Randy McCracken, US Forest Service, USA
Ms. Sella Britwum, FORNESSA, Ghana
Ms. Syuqiyah Abdul Hamid, APAFRI, Malaysia

Stated Objectives
This training module is aimed at presenting and demonstrating state-of-the-art internet-based systems and tools that assist in the management and dissemination of forest-related information. One main objective was to introduce the new GFIS and provide information in terms how to utilize RSS feeds for sharing and searching information.

Overview
Five presenters delivered diverse presentations regarding information management.

Topics included

• Overviews of Internet based information delivery


• Global Forest Information Service (GFIS)


• Fundamentals of project management with workgroup assignments and reports


• Practical options for creating dynamic methods of syndicating information through RSS with specific information on becoming a GFIS Information provider.


• Successful methods of adopting these principles by IUFRO-SPDC member institutions(FORNIS and APAFRI)

Class size varied between 16-24 students. Attendees were primarily research foresters and technicians and were not experienced in information and data management. Training was provided in a computer classroom setting. Computers were a necessary part of work assignments and critical for a successful student experience.

As part of the pre-congress workshop agenda, students attended different lectures on each day. This schedule resulted in trainers staying in one location (the computer lab) and having a different set of students each day. Additionally, the congress schedule, and thereby the classroom training times, varied daily to accommodate for plenary events such as the opening ceremony, field trip, and knowledge café sessions. Despite variability, all students were given the same information.

In typical workshop fashion, all presenters delivered information via projected PowerPoint Presentations. Due to the small class size and information presentation style, the trainees were encouraged to view the atmosphere as relaxed and to ask questions and engage in discussion during the presentations.

Challenges to share and manage information globally Mr. Eero Mikkola, GFIS Coordinator, Metla, Finland

The uncatalogued mess of the online world can be difficult to sift through. However, with proper search and distribution techniques, we can capitalize on the vast nature of the internet to enhance forest-related research and expand the worldwide network of information partners. Mr. Eero Mikkola's presentation, "The Mess of Portals: The Challenges of Sharing and Finding Information", examined the best methods for using search engines, news aggregators and portals for information sharing. This presentation discussed the challenges of finding information via search engines, the changing nature of the internet due to social media and how to identify useful portals when searching and distributing information. There is still a need for more portals that gather and share information in a well-organized manner, especially when it comes to niche topics. For forest-related information, Mikkola pointed to GFIS.net as the internet gateway to forest information resources, as it strives to consistently deliver relevant and organized information. GFIS.net is dedicated to constantly upgrading its website and offering users the most effective tools for finding the forest-related information they need.

Introduction to the new GFIS Mr. Eero Mikkola, GFIS Coordinator, Metla, Finland

In the presentation "How to Promote Forest Information to a Global Audience", Mr. Eero Mikkola described GFIS as a network of partnerships for organizing forestry information through an internet gateway that allows institutions to share information via GFIS.net. GFIS, a CPF initiative led by IUFRO, benefits users by helping them organize and find information all in one place. Institutes manage their own information through RSS/XML feeds and GFIS harvests and indexes these partner feeds, making it available through user searches and later providing feedback to partners about information usage.

The presentation covered how GFIS.net has recently been updated in terms of usability, layout and the incorporation of new functions, languages, information types and social media. Along with news, events, publications, job vacancies, datasets and datebases, GFIS has added education, projects and experts as new information types. The entry page can be customized by users, including the language that they choose to view information. This customization has been updated to include English, French, Spanish, German, Finnish, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Swedish, Chinese and Russian as language interface options. With over 80 headlines daily, frequent Tweets and Facebook updates, a GFIS calendar that boasts 120 upcoming forestry events, workshops all over the world and over 200 information partners in total, the presentation about the introduction to the new GFIS proved the solution to finding forestry information is scaleable and comprehensive.

Managing Forest Information Instructor Observations Mr. Randy McCracken, US Forest Service, USA

The presentation "Information Management Projects: Establishment and Maintenance" covered topics such as project management of technical systems, models and methods of software and project development, options for establishing desired systems and services, collaboration tools and the results of group work.

Presenter Mr. Randy McCracken summarized his thoughts on the success of the pre-congress workshop training presentation:

Student interaction, with some daily variation, was exceptionally high during the workshop week. Apparently the diversity, depth, and practical use of of information provided along with the changes in presenters gave students enough stimulation to keep them actively engaged throughout the day. Hopefully these scientists and technicians now have a better understanding of the aspects of information management and can better work with their institutional computer specialists to achieve effective science delivery of their research. Until we receive student feedback, the only change I would suggest to this workshop format would be to have an time for open forum with the students. This is because the students seemed to be most happy when the technical staff were able to give them one-on-one attention to their problems. I would highly suggest proposing this workshop be incorporated in other international forestry gatherings.

How to share and promote information to your audienceMr. Juha Hautakangas, GFIS Unit, Metla, Finland

The presentation "Information Sharing and Syndication" covered content syndication, website solutions and the use of the Really Simple Syndication: RSS 2.0. Mr. Juha Hautakangas discussed how syndication can help notify stakeholders of website updates while helping institutions advertise their information and increase website traffic. Specialized and web browser-based Feed Readers can be especially useful for checking when content is available or updated and by delivering a notification similar to an e-mail message to the subscriber. This presentation covered how website design decisions are imperative for optimal content organization, language and tool options and the difference between static and dynamic feeds. Essentially, static feeds maintained by hand can be problematic as they may lead to syntatic or semantic errors and infrequently updated information. Dynamic feeds and websites are easier to maintain, as they automatically match page contents after they are set up. Mr. Juha Hautakangas concluded his presentation by explaining the importance of syndicating your content, as it requires very little resources, but is an excellent way to share information, attract prospective website visitors and notify your current visitors of new updates.

FORNESSA Information Service (FORNIS)Ms. Sella Britwum, FORNESSA, Ghana

In the presentation "FORNESSA Information Service (FORNIS)" Ms. Stella Britwum discussed the background of FORNESSA and The Accra Accord, the types of information on FORNIS and the technical, practical and governance experiences of developing FORNIS. She concluded her presentation by outlining the benefits of FORNIS through a demonstation and pratical session. In regards to the pre-congress workshop training presentation, Ms. Britwum gave her thoughts:

In general I think the information management session was well organized. From the comments made by participants it was evident that most of them were enthused about the wealth of knowledge and information they have acquired on how to access forest related scientific information speedily and with less difficulty using feeds both from GFIS and FORNIS. FORNIS was a completely new thing to them because they did not know that the service was in existence. Some participants from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zambia and Uganda have expressed their willingness to join FORNESSA in order to contribute to this all important service. Obviously, this is a positive feedback from the information management training and satisfies one of the key objectives of the workshop. However, some participants were also of the view that more information on the FORNESSA countries such as country profile and information about institutions and universities dealing with Forestry resources should be made available on the site.

How APAFRI shares and uses information on GFISMs. Syqiyah Abdul Hamid, APAFRI, Malaysia

The presentation "APARFI and GFIS" discussed how since 2000, the Asia Pacific Forestry Research Institutions has been part of IUFRO as an active association for research, education and discussion of current issues regarding the Asia Pacific region. Ms. Syqiyah Abdul Hamid covered how APARFI contributes to GFIS's metadata feeds of News and Events and keeps members updated through website and e-mail notifications. The presentation discussed how to provide and view information on GFIS by using feed readers and APARFI Secretariat's own experience of using FeedReader and Windows Vista Sidebar Gadgets to stay updated on GFIS and other forestry information websites.

Trainees Comments

• They learned very useful and helpful things for work, especially to find research publications.


• They were satisfied with the course:
  
  
  
  • Learned techniques for getting updates from all over the world.
  
  
  • Feeds are an excellent concept.
  
  
  • Before it had been time consuming to use search engines and difficult to check for updates from websites.
  
  
  
  
• The audience has a background in forestry and are not interested in website designing. The course should be made shorter.

Thanks to all participants for their contribution to the successful workshop,

The GFIS team