Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1984 - 1995 (Creation)
Level of description
Series
Extent and medium
2.00 linear feet of textual records; 17 CD-ROMs
Context area
Name of creator
Repository
Archival history
Three files are labeled 64. Preservation and dissemination, suggesting they once were part of a numeric file series; however, the remainder of the series has not been identified, and the three files are incorporated in this series.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
In the late 1980s the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research became interested in finding a means to distribute current agricultural research information more effectively. The Group contracted for a study of the issue and then contracted for a prototype of a CD-ROM publication and distribution system. Following the production and evaluation of the prototype, a full-scale CD-ROM publication was initiated, containing publications from nineteen international agricultural research centers plus the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations. The final CD-ROM set, called the Compact International Agricultural Research Library - Basic Retrospective Set (CIARL-BRS), was a single master disc that contained the catalogue and synopticon records and sixteen text-image discs that contained the documents from the centers. They were accompanied by a paper A-Z Reference Guide in English, French, and Spanish, and a Tutorial Guide.
This series consists of the background records of the project; the contracts with each center for use of its publications; contracts for the studies, the production of the CD-ROMs, and the translations of the paper publications; record of the preparation of the paper publications and master copies of them; correspondence with the evaluation sites and the advisory committee; and records related to the marketing of the final CD-ROM set. The records are essential to understand the authorized uses of the publications from the centers.
The records reflect CGIAR's effort to preserve and disseminate the bountiful research information that was being produced by the centers. As an early CD-ROM project, it also provides a miniature study of the developmental steps that were required; for example, the project had not intended to create a paper Tutorial, but the users had difficulty with the unfamiliar CD-ROM technology so a Tutorial was devised. While the project staff hoped that the CIARL-BRS would be the first of many editions of the CD-ROM, website technology soon replaced CD-ROMs for CGIAR distribution purposes and no further editions were produced.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Accruals are not expected.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Records are subject to the World Bank Policy on Access to Information.
Conditions governing reproduction
Records are subject to the Copyright Policy of the World Bank Group.
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Internal World Bank Group Archives rules based on ISAD(G).
Disclosure status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
17 October 2002