Showcasing top cooperative communicators of the year
Cooperative Communicators Association is showcasing the 2013 CCA Communications Contest Winners. This lively organization for professionals who communicate for cooperatives recognizes excellence through an annual contest.
You can learn who earned top honors this year in four divisions of the recognition program—writing, publication, photography, and programs/projects. Visit: http://www.communicators.coop/2013Contest.htm
Fresh perspective on development “is urgently called for”
“Following over a half century of ‘technology transfer’ and ‘participation,’ the paradigm of agricultural modernization appears to have reached a limit.” With that introduction, Wageningen University faculty members Todd Crane, Stephen Sherwood and Cees Leeuwis recently suggested a next stage—Development 3.0. They explained:
- Development 1.0 led to the creation of the national agricultural research and extension centres, as well as the international agricultural research system.
- Development 2.0 grew with the rise of rural development non-governmental organizations, emphasizing people-centered approaches and “participatory development.”
In the face of urgent social and environmental challenges, they sense a welcomed change taking place. Development 3.0, they suggested, centers on a commonly neglected resource: the creativity embedded in daily practices, innovation and self-organization of families, communities, and other collectives.
You can read this brief report from AgriCultures at: http://www.agriculturesnetwork.org/magazines/global/from-desertification-to-vibrant-communities/development-3.0-development-practice-in-transition
Insights about how farmers view tobacco biopharming
We have added to the ACDC collection a conference paper that reported results of a telephone survey among 145 tobacco farmers in five Southeastern U.S. states. Findings showed:
- The interviewed producers knew little about biopharming.
- Their responses were driven largely by information presented to them, “and, most importantly, by economic profits.”
- They appeared to have relatively less concern about the technology, compared with findings through research among consumers.
- It is “very important to provide producers with appropriate information on biopharming, its challenges and opportunities.”
You can read this 2013 conference paper via: http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/143064
Three fresh ideas for teaching agricultural communications
Teachers of agricultural communications throughout the U.S. are maintaining their creative tradition. Here are three case reports we have added to the ACDC collection from the proceedings of a research session about agricultural communications:
- Mobile classrooms for teaching a visual communications curriculum that fits into the agricultural science courses of secondary schools in Arkansas. View: ” Experiential learning ”
- Inviting online reactions from college students about educational and entertainment videos pertaining to modern dairy husbandry practices. View: ” Advertising agrarian unreality ”
- Using Second Life (3-D virtual world) in the agriculture classroom. View: ” Learning in a new land ”
Congratulations to Nora Quebral
We join others in congratulating Dr. Nora Cruz-Quebral on receiving the 2013 Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award from the University of the Philippines Alumni Association. The honor, to be awarded this month, recognizes her leadership and achievements in the field of development communication.
“The UPAA honors Dr. Quebral for her contributions to devcom education and practice that embodied the University’s heritage of service to the people, and improved the lives of people in countless communities she has served through the years.”
A pioneer in the discipline of development communication, Dr. Quebral was the first leader of the Department of Development Communication (now the College of Development Communication) at the University of the Philippines at Los Baños. As a current professor emeritus, she is chair of the Nora C. Quebral Development Communication Centre. You can learn more about her career at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nora_C._Quebral
Reporting about science in quick-tempered times
“It is the editors who need educating in science,” read the title of an article by Carl W. Larsen. It caught our attention in a 1958 issue of Nieman Reports . We are adding his article to the ACDC collection, partly because of the following admonition that applies to agricultural as well as other kinds of science reporting. Also, the advice seems as timely today as it was a half century ago.
“In this quick-tempered period, we must demand that the quality of reporting and editorial opinion—especially on science—be of the highest order.”
Check with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu if you would like help in gaining access.
There’s the link I was looking for! (Part Two about DOIs)
As discussed previously, a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) can be a wonderful tool for keeping track of digital scholarly resources. As enthusiastic believers in digital preservation, we here at the Center have begun including them in our citation database where possible.
An example of a document with a DOI in our BibLeaves search system is “The once and future georgic: agricultural practice, environmental knowledge, and the place of an ethic of experience” by Benjamin R. Cohen. The DOI for this document is 10.1007/s10450-008-9172-7
To retrieve this document:
Enter the following into an internet address bar: http://dx.doi.org/ + DOI. Therefore, your address bar will read: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10450-008-9172-7 NOTE: This may only work if you have institutional access to this article.
If you’d like to look at some of the articles the Center has identified with DOIs, simply search “DOI” in BibLeaves: http://bibleaves.library.illinois.edu/catalog?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=DOI&search_field=all_fields&results_view=true&commit=search
We hope this solution will help quell some frustrations and fears about the transitory nature of many URLs. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the center at docctr@library.illinois.edu . Or contact our resident DOI expert, librarian Stephanie Pitts-Noggle, at pittsno2@illinois.edu
Communicator activities approaching
- June 17-21, 2013
Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) in London, UK. Information: http://www.icahdq.org - July 22-24, 2013
“Emerging priorities for scientific and agricultural information.” 14th World Congress of the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists in Ithaca, New York. Information: http://www.iaald.org - August 3-7, 2013
“Just wing it!” Agricultural Media Summit sponsored by the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA), Livestock Publications Council (LPC) and the Agri Council of American Business Media in Buffalo, New York. Also hosts the annual conference of the student organization, Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT). Information: http://www.agmediasummit.com - August 26-28, 2013
“Transformative change: chosen or unchosen—pathways to innovation, resilience and prosperity.” International conference of the Australasian-Pacific Extension Network (APEN) in Christchurch, New Zealand. Information: http://www.apen.org.au - September 1-5, 2013
Annual Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in Buenos Aires and Rosario, Argentina. Information: http://www.ifajargentina.com
How’s that again?
We close this issue of ACDC News with a few “amusing ambiguities” gathered by Prof. Ernest Barreto of George Mason University. These headlines caught our eye, of course, because they communicate about food and agriculture.
“Include your children when baking cookies”
“Lung cancer in women mushrooms”
“Enraged cow injures farmer with ax”
Please pass along others that catch your eye. Send them to us at docctr@library.illinois.edu
Best wishes and good searching.
Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC . And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu
2013-06-11