ALIA West

October 2005

Australian natural resources and agriculture information online

If anyone was wondering whatever happened to Streamline, Australian bibliography of agriculture (ABOA) and Australian rural research in progress (ARRIP) they haven't disappeared, they have all been combined into a free online resource called Australian agriculture and natural resources online (AANRO). The databases are also available as online subscriptions from RMIT Publishing but the free site has additional material and features, such as data collections from organisations which fund the system and the ability for researchers to add their projects online.

A lot of development work has gone into AANRO recently. The formerly separate databases are now all searched together, along with selected websites and full text publications. Of course it isn't Google and the search syntax may be unfamiliar, but the advanced screen offers a variety of options for refining and limiting searches, including controlled terms. Results are presented in two main groupings: research projects and publications, with further subdivisions according to how old citations are and whether the full text is available online.

For people who prefer a graphical interface Geosearch enables the searcher to locate records relevant to a geographic area by clicking on a map and homing in on specific regions via drainage basins, agro-ecological regions or states and territories. Search terms can be used in conjunction with the maps.

To sum up: screens are clear and uncluttered, the proportion of online information has increased significantly, searching and management of results has been improved and more help has been added. If you haven't tried it lately it is worth a look.

Pauline Sawyer, a/co-ordinator information delivery, Department of Agriculture