An open access gateway for Wageningen research information to a professional audience

Publications of researchers of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) are valuable for the green education chain and for professionals in the agribusiness. The library facilitates domain specific online gateways for information to this audience. With a gateway we place the Open Access (OA) WUR output in the spotlight. At the same time, we provide different stakeholders with the information they need. This gateway service is a service we can also provide for professional audiences in your scientific domain. So please read this blog to find out more and let us know if you are interested.  

Manure Knowledge Kiosk

The Manure Knowledge Kiosk is an example of such a gateway. It is an initiative of  the FAO and Wageningen University & Research, Livestock Research. On their request we developed a Manure database, with information on a variety of issues related to livestock manure (collection, storage, application, treatment). Next, we provided a search environment on this database. In the database we include OA publications from different suppliers. Our own WUR repository is one of the suppliers, but we also included publications from ICRISAT, Organic E-prints and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The supply to the Manure Knowledge Kiosk from the different sources is automated, and the content of the Manure Knowledge Kiosk will grow when the databases of the suppliers grows. In other words, if a Livestock researcher adds a publication on the collection of manure in the Wageningen Repository (Pure), this publication will be automatically available in the Manure Knowledge Kiosk. Provided it is OA.

The Manure Knowledge Kiosk is aimed at an international professional audience. The database contains documents in at least 5 languages, although the larger part is in English and in Dutch. In total there are 29.000 records in the database. We only bring OA publications to the Manure Knowledge Kiosk, so that the audience who uses the database does not get frustrated by a lock on access to the publications. The more OA, the more knowledge in the Kiosk. Currently, already more than half of the documents in the Kiosk originate from Wageningen University & Research. 

Knowledge valorisation is one of the key massages in Wageningen University & Research strategy

Hydrotheek

There are other examples of domain specific gateways we have created. For example, the Hydrotheek, a database with over 40.000 documents in the field of hydrology, aquatic ecology, water management and water purification in the Netherlands (in Dutch). We build them on request. We use the standard Library infrastructure as much as possible. Most of the time, depending on the requirements of the initiators, we need to build custom made adjustments.

Open Access

Publishing in an Open Access journal can help to effectuate the dissemination of knowledge. We in the Library can help to provide the infrastructure. We hope that we have tickled your interest.