Revolutionary
development of information and communication technologies has resulted in such
a great leap forward in scientific and technical communication that it is
considered to be comparable in significance with Gutenberg's invention of the
movable type printing press in 15th century. The arrival of new information
technologies affords breathtaking opportunities with respect to the rapidity of
scientific information exchange, information retrieval, and multimedia
presentation, but also brings up serious issues concerning data archiving,
intellectual property aspects, and peer review.
This paper is a
background study for a policy paper (Djenchuraev 2004), which addresses a number
of vital issues for the Kyrgyz Republic: what should be the new scientific and
technical communication policy provided new electronic communication
opportunities? which new models should be introduced and supported by the
government in order to shape an effective and efficient communication system in
science? who are the policy stakeholders in scientific communication system and
what is their significance? what is the mission of the scientific communication
system? and so on.
Chapter 2 opens with a definition of scientific communication and co-terms.
This is followed by a discussion of the mission and goals of STI system. The
chapter concludes with a discussion of forms and functions of scientific
communication.
Chapter 3 considers global tendencies in science communication systems. It
discusses models of paper and electronic communications, collaboratories and
other issues.
Chapter 4 traverses the history and current state of the scientific and
technical system in The Kyrgyz Republic. It describes the legislative basis,
country preparedness for electronic communications, and features of major
actors: scientists, libraries and publishers. The chapter concludes with an
original study of science communication in The Kyrgyz Republic.
Chapter 5 provides a conclusion.
A definition of scientific
and technical information and co-terms can be found in many sources. International
Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (1968) defines scholarly communication as “the
exchange of information and ideas among scientists in their roles as
scientists.” Borgman (2000) provides a more comprehensive
definition: “scholarly communication is the study of how scholars in any field
(e.g. physical, biological, social, and behavioral sciences, humanities,
technology) use and disseminate information through formal and informal
channels. The study of scholarly communication includes the growth of scholarly
information, the relationships among research areas and disciplines, the
information needs and uses of individual user groups, and the relationships
among formal and informal methods of communication.” An expanded definition of
scientific and technical information is given by (A-130 Implementation Guidelines Group for Scientific and Technical
Information 1995):
Scientific and Technical Information (STI) derives
primarily from research, development, and monitoring activities of scientists
and engineers and individuals supporting their work. ST1 includes new theory
and data obtained from experimentation, observation, or computation in the form
of text, numeric data, images, charts, and graphs. It includes information
derived from theory and data that may be further transformed, described,
evaluated, synthesized, and recorded through stages of analysis. This includes
information ranging from laboratory notebooks and preprints to formal publications
and evaluated databases. It includes metadata that are needed to describe and
identify data and data sources as well as data about methods and protocols used
in the information gathering processes.
STI may be documented and communicated in print, micrographic,
magnetic, optical, or other media to enhance its communication, usefulness, and
value for a wide spectrum of users and uses, The knowledge that exists in
experts and is exchanged through interpersonal communications is an important
part of the STI system.
Model Law on
Science and Technical Information adopted by Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of
CIS and Law on Scientific and Technical Information of Belarusian Republic
defines scientific and technical information as "information about
documents and facts obtained as a result of scientific and technical,
innovation and social activity". A definition of “documented STI”
is provided: "the scientific and technical information fixed on material
carrier with entries allowing its identification" and “scientific and
technical information system” as "the rank ordered assemblage
of scientific and technical information resources and the
technological-organizational means of realizing processes of creation,
collection, processing, systematization, search and supply of scientific and
technical information to meet the needs of the state, juridical, physical and
physical persons".
The 1999 Law on
Scientific and Technical Information System of The Kyrgyz Republic provides
quite a vague definition of STI, mentioning only that STI “includes information
obtained as a result of research, development, design,
administrative-organizational production and economic activities documented on
any carriers ensuring its storage, accumulation, duplication, search,
distribution and usage”.
The equivalency
of the terms “scientific information system” and “scientific communication
system” must be considered in order to avoid ambiguity. Both terms are widely
used in the literature, but in Russian sources “scientific information” is
definitely dominant. In his book "The General Theory of Social
Communication" (Sokolov 2002) Sokolov provides his interpretation
of this issue. He indicates that after the epochal publications of Shannon and
Viner, "the information approach", the essence of which is the
consideration of objects through the prism of informational category, has
received general recognition in many science disciplines and many communication
phenomena have risen into the light of "information glasses". As a
result of the "painting" of the socio-communication system with
"information colors", a number of terminological equivalents have
appeared: social communication – social information, communication channel –
information channel, recipient – information user, etc. Hence, the State System
of Scientific and Technical Information (GSNTI) in the Soviet Union properly
represented the scientific communication system. However, this system was
referred to as “information” and never “communication”. The reason apparently
was either the dominancy of the information approach or communist ideologists
decreeing communication science as “anti-Marxian”.
At present, the
term “scientific communication system” is not widely distributed in relevant
literature, legislation and policy documents in The Kyrgyz Republic, while the
scientific information system is in general use.
Taking into
account the above-mentioned for the purpose of this paper these two terms will
be considered as equivalent.
2.2 The Mission and
Goals of Scientific Communication
The mission of the
scientific and technical communication system can be defined by analogy with
the one proposed in Russia (Yashukova 2003): “information support of innovative
development of the national economy of the Kyrgyz Republic for the purpose imparting
to it a new quality - knowledge-based economy”
The major goal of a scientific and technical communication system is
the effective and efficient fulfillment of its functions, namely registration,
certification, awareness and archiving which will be considered in detail in
Chapter 2.4. The effectiveness and efficiency of scientific communication is
determined by (Roosendaal and Geurts 1998) as “its combined
ability to facilitate both the generation of relevant research problems (raise
the right questions) and the solution of these problems (identification of
appropriate solutions)”. This also relates to the issue of use, availability
and retrievability of information.”
Effective and
efficient scientific communication system should provide for:
- maximum
visibility and accessibility of scientific knowledge produced both
nationally and internationally to scientists and the general public in the
Kyrgyz Republic;
- global
visibility and accessibility of knowledge developed by scientists in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Social
communication is the process of transferring meanings in social dimension and
time. Three forms of social communication can be distinguished presently: oral
(spoken), documentary (print, written) and electronic (Sokolov 2002). Scientific communication is
a part of social communication. While oral communication is based on verbal and
nonverbal natural channels which can not be replaced, documentary and
electronic communication compete with each other. Should communication barriers
for electronic communication be lower than barriers for documentary
communication, the latter will be squeezed out to the periphery of social
communications (Sokolov 2002).
These forms
interact with each other resulting in hybrid communication forms as shown in
the figure 3.1. A short description of the seven combinations obtained as a
result of this interaction is as follows:
1. Oral
(spoken) communication involves the personal contacts of scientists with
colleagues at conferences, seminars and lectures, etc. Oral communication plays
a substantial role in informal communication of academics. Spoken communication
is localized in time and space, rich in information saturation, and quite
expensive to organize.
2. Documentary
(written, print) communication uses artificially created print documents to
transfer meanings in time and space. Documentary communication is the basis of
formal communication for scientists through publication in books and journals.
3. Electronic
communication is based on transferring information through
telecommunication networks including wireless communication. One of the most
important electronic communication channels is the Internet. The emergence and
development of the Internet has had a considerable impact on the advancement of
scientific communication in recent years. Scientists are utilizing such forms
of electronic communication as e-mail, e-groups, etc.
Figure
3.1 Relationship of forms of scientific communication
4. Oral –
Electronic. This combination provides such communication tools as telephone,
radio and TV. Relatively new communication channels which show the potential to
win popularity in academic societies include videoconferencing, electronic
notebooks and IP-telephony. In the context of the globalization of science the
combination of oral and electronic forms of communication will play a
progressively more important role.
5. Documentary
– Oral. This rather old combination includes video or audio recording.
6. Documentary
– Electronic. This grouping gives birth to electronic journals, dissertations,
books, and new formats such as e-prints. The potential for this combination to
gradually displace documentary communication is sufficiently high.
7. Documentary
– Oral – Electronic. This combination allows the creation of new forms of
scientific organization such as collaboratories (virtual laboratories) which
will be considered below in greater details.
Kaye (1995) distinguishes the following
information sources in accordance with their status:
- Personal vs. Impersonal
- Formal vs. Informal
- Published vs. Unpublished/
open confidential/secret.
Whereas the
meaning of personal/impersonal and published/unpublished pairs is
understandable, there is a description of the widely-used pair formal/informal
below. Formal scientific communication, or scientific publishing, is the
process through which newly discovered knowledge is refined, certified,
distributed to, and preserved for researchers, professors, students and the
public and usually takes the form of published journal articles, conference
proceedings or monographs (Shearer and Birdsall 2002). Informal sharing
of data by scientists is an important tool of scientific communication
distinguished in localization in time and space and rich information saturation.
Only a decade ago virtually all informal exchanges of information between
scientists took place as person-to-person interactions between scientists at conferences,
seminars and other events or personal letters. Computer-mediated communications
substantially minimized many barriers and drastically increased the frequency of
contacts between scientists for a short period of time.
Roosendaal and
Geurts (1998) identified four different services which
contain a scientific communication system. These are:
- Registration –
scientists must have the ability to claim they have made a new discovery
or finding;
- Certification
- it is necessary that a system of scientific communication allow these
claims to be certified;
- Awareness – it is vital that information about
work existence is ensured;
- Archiving – scientist’s heritage must also
be preserved for future generations.
Global
tendencies taking place in scientific communication lately can be illustrated
by the example of Canada. Table 3.1 presents the impact of a number of external
drivers (Shearer and Birdsall 2002) on the
scientific communication system of Canada.
Table 3.1. External drivers and trends in scientific
communication of Canada
|
Drivers
|
Trend
|
|
Technology
|
Electronic
communication systems are increasingly becoming a principal means of
scientific communication displacing traditional communication forms and
creating a new hybrid of communication formats.
|
|
Globalization
|
Scientific
communication is becoming more interdisciplinary and globally increasing the collaboration
among scientists worldwide.
|
|
Economics
|
The spiraling
costs of publication in scientific journals in developed countries and lack
of funds for new journals and books in developing countries.
|
|
Changing pattern
in research
|
New unique
information needs and new forms of scientific organization such as
collaboratories are emerging .
|
|
Public policy
|
The scientific
communication policy in Canada is changing from year to year and from
administration to administration. Especially this relates to research
priority, intellectual property and applied vs. fundamental research issues.
|
The concept of a
national scientific communication system can easily be derived from Figure 3.1 (Shearer and Birdsall 2002). As can be seen
from this scheme the system involves four key groups of actors: scientists (as
creators and users of knowledge), libraries and publishers. As was discussed
above, it has a number of external drivers such as technology, globalization,
economics, changing patterns in research and public policy. Knowledge is spread
into society through knowledge translation, technology transfer and
commercialization.
Figure 3.1. The concept
of the scientific communication system of Canada (Source: (Shearer and Birdsall 2002))
With respect to
scientific communication channels it would be useful to consider one of the classical
paper-based models.
Hurd (1996) describes a model adapted from the works
of Garvey and Griffith shown in Figure 3.2.
Figure 3.2. Garvey and Griffith Model of Scientific
Communication
The process of
research communication and different stages of the research starting from the
beginning of research to archiving is sketched out in the model. The model
takes into account both formal and informal communication of scientists which
lead to a final goal – publication of the article in a peer-reviewed journal.
Sondergaard,
Andersen, and Hjorland (2003) proposed Internet-based model of scientific and technical communication by revising and updating paper-based UNISIST model
originally published in 1971 (see Figure 3.3).
As can be seen
from Figure 3.3., similar to the Garvey and Griffith model, the revised UNISIST
model comprises two channel of communication: formal and informal; the formal
channel serves both e-journals and grey literature such as unpublished reports
and dissertations as well as preprints.
Figure 3.3. Communication of Internet-based scientific
information
Among all electronic editions such as
e-journals, e-books, e-dissertations, etc electronic journals have received the
highest recognition and will be considered in a detail below.
The history of electronic journals can be traced back to the 1970’s
when all the main components for an electronic-journal system emerged — authors
could input digital text through magnetic tapes or cards; publishers used
computerized photocomposition or computer-driven typesetting; libraries began
to automate; bibliographical databases were searched online; scientists had
computers and modems; and the foundations of the Internet were established (Tenopir and King 2001). Further development
of these components led to the appearance of the first electronic journals by
early 90-s. According to the Directory of Scholarly
Electronic Journals and Academic Discussion Lists (http://db.arl.org/dsej/index.html)
published by The Association of Research Libraries in January 1991 there
existed 7 peer-reviewed on-line scientific journals, in December 1997 – 1049,
and in November 2000 more than 3900. Currently, the number of electronic
journals is increasing so rapidly that it is difficult to assess.
Lancaster (1995)
distinguishes four evolution stages from print to electronic journals:
- Use of computers in the preparation of printed publications;
- Distribution of electronic equivalents of paper versions;
- Distribution in electronic form with slightly extended features
in comparison to print versions;
- Completely new publications incorporating hypermedia
possibilities.
What is understood by an electronic scientific journal and what are its
functions? Though there is currently no universally accepted definition of an
electronic scientific journal, a number of co-terms in literature offer a
definition. Moreover a recent Interstate Standard on Technology of Electronic Publications
enacted in the Kyrgyz Republic in 2002 provides the following meanings:
- Electronic edition is an electronic
document (or group of electronic documents) which has passed through
editing, intended for distribution in invariable form with publisher’s
imprint;
- Electronic scientific edition is
an electronic edition including facts about theoretical and/or
experimental studies. In addition it is scientifically prepared for
publishing memorials and historic documents;
- Periodical electronic edition is an
electronic edition appearing over definite periods of time, with a
constant number of issues published yearly, non-repeatable content,
uniform lay-out, numbered and/or dated issues with the same title.
- Network electronic edition is an electronic
edition available to a potentially unlimited number of users through telecommunication
networks.
Considering that a basic requirement for scientific journals is the
scientific quality of publication implemented through peer-review system and accessibility
through telecommunication networks (unlike journals on carriers) the following
definition is proposed for electronic scientific journals: Network
peer-reviewed periodical electronic scientific edition.
Informational electronic scientific journals can be text and multimedia
(e-zines). Depending on the availability of print versions, they can be presented
as electronic analogues to print editions or independent electronic editions
which do not have a print version. Lastly, depending on the nature of
interaction between a user and electronic edition the form of an electronic
edition can be predetermined or interactive.
It is well known that the distribution of information is not the only
important function of scientific journals. Quality control, canonical archiving
and recognition of authors are among some of the functions worthy of mention (Rowland 1997). These four basic functions are
valid both for print and electronic journals.
The shift to electronic media has opened up new avenues for
scientific editions including journals which will be summarized below:
- New possibilities for representing and using information (multimedia interactive journals). Unlike traditional journals,
electronic journals possess substantial additional capabilities for representing
information (Holoviak and Seitter 1997). The
simplest case could involve a colored pictured. This is often not
possible in paper journals for economical reasons. In other cases inclusion
of sound and video files and modeling software offer the potential to considerably
enhance text in many research fields, such as astronomy, organic
chemistry, medicine, etc. There is virtually no limitation to the volume of
main or additional material in comparison to print editions. Presently
there is a considerable potential for the further processing of electronic
texts. It is worth particular mention that electronic texts can be easily
translated from one language into another by specialized software. Modern
systems provide high quality translations with the capacity translate
complex research papers in many fields.
- Global distribution. With the
availability of an Internet-linked computer a scientist from any country
in the world has the ability to access numerous on-line journals provided
that there is no economical barrier such as payment for access.
Unfortunately there are not many journals with open access on the Web.
However, a scientist from a developing country utilitizing an electronic journal
can make research available to a much wider audience through publication
in low-circulation local journals.
- Speed of publication. Submitting an
article to an e-journal on the Web can substantially reduce publication
time. This is especially important in fast progressing disciplines where
time is often a critical factor.
- Searching capability. This is one of
the most important improvements of the e-journal. A full-text search can be
carried out through a journal or archive. Greater flexibility in searching
is attained by using a combination of logical operators.
- Hyperlinks. One more important
option provided by electronic journals is the possibility to navigate
through references by clicking on hyperlinks. Ideally, full-text access to
all references mentioned in a paper can be obtained in a matter of seconds.
This enables one to trace the history of the issue and various methods of tackling
a problem.
- Feedback. Discussions of the paper are
possible immediately following its publication on the Internet, presenting
a powerful interactive tool.
- Flexible circulation. The circulation
of e-journals is a function of the number of copies made from the original
stored on a server. There are no problems with being “out-of-print” or overprinted.
- Solving library problems.
E-journals make it easier for users to solve typical library problems such
as a lack of free storage space, damage to items by readers, poor storage
conditions and the possibility of a document being simultaneously used by
several readers.
Along with new the opportunities offered by electronic publications there
are several problems associated with the development of on-line journals in the
Kyrgyz Republic, such as poor and expensive access to the Internet, lack of
adequate training in Internet-technologies, the language barrier, the poor
informational content, storage formats for electronic journals, copyright
issues, etc.
Some scientists express concern that at the “scientific weight” of e-journals.
They argue that the rapid development of desktop publishing systems and
Internet has substantially simplified the publication of on-line scientific
journals. Now anyone who has a computer and access to the Internet can
potentially publish their own scientific papers whereas the traditional
peer-review system presents a reliable quality control filter. Moreover, these
scientists note that e-journals are virtual or “lightweight”. They can not be held
in one’s hands and it is not possible to the flip through the pages of the
journal.
Furthermore there is the issue of the perception of electronic information
and psychological factors. Valauskas (1997) is skeptical of the scientist’s
perception of electronic information and sites a number of interesting facts: “a
paper can hold up to 50 times more information than can a monitor.” He also
notes that “because of flicker and other factors, we lose up to 40 percent of
the information presented on a computer screen… and we also read more slowly on
a computer compared to paper, up to 25 percent to 30 percent more slowly”.
It is worth noting that e-journals are still in the process of
gaining recognition and all the above problems are solvable with time. For
example, rapid progress in display technologies already makes it possible to
enhance the perception of electronic information. There are also the
permanently decreasing costs associated with the Internet and a better
preparedness of younger scientists to ICT and language barriers.
Information and
communication technologies have enabled the cooperation of geographically distributed
scientists working in one field to a level never reached before. Data from the
observation of scientific communication spanning several decades demonstrate a
clear trend of closer collaboration among scientists due to a deep
transformation of the nature of scientific research resulting in research tasks
with greater size and complexity. This trend began long before the Internet (Odlyzko 2000; Finholt 2002a).
Collaboratories or virtual laboratories have also emerged representing a new
alternative for the organization of scientific activity.
The term collaboratory comes from combination of two words «collaboration»
and «laboratory». The classical and most cited definition of collaboratory
belongs to William A Wulf: a
“…center without walls, in which the nation’s
researchers can perform their research without regard to geographical location
- interacting with colleagues, accessing instrumentation, sharing data and
computational resources, [and] accessing information in digital libraries”.
Another definition of collaboratory or virtual laboratory is “an electronic
workspace for distance collaboration and experimentation in research or other
creative activity, to generate and deliver results using distributed
information and communication technologies (UNESCO 2000).”
Finholt (2002b) distinguishes between a laboratory
and collaboratory: “the laboratory is principally disciplinary-oriented,
concerned with problems of interest within a given lab, and place-based. The
collaboratory produces an environment that is more problem-oriented than disciplinary-oriented,
that is global rather than local, and where research and education occur
independent of physical location”.
A collaboratory is more than an elaborate collection of information and
communication technologies; it is a new networked organizational form that also
includes social processes, collaboration techniques, formal and informal
communication, and agreement on norms, principles, values and rules within the
network (Cogburn forthcoming).
Several attributes of the collaboratory are suggested (Lunsford and Bruce 2001):
·
Shared inquiry – participants share not only common
goals, but the common array of problems;
·
International character – a collaboratory is
recognized by its participants as a joint venture;
·
Active participation and contribution – a
collaboratory is heavily dependent on the input of its participant;
·
Access to shared resources implies access to
common information or computational resources or research equipment;
·
Technologies – a collaboratory involves
information and computer technologies or scientific instruments;
·
Boundary crossings – collaboratories bridge
geographic (international access), time (synchronous and asynchronous
communication), institutional (group access to tools and materials), and
disciplinary (interdisciplinary resources) gaps.
Collaboratories
possess a leveling potential in relation to three aspects: people to facilities
(remote access to scarce scientific resources), people-to-people (increasing
visibility of remote scientists), and people-to-information (enhancing access
to information resources) (Finholt and Olson 1997). Remote access to equipment
is considered to be one of the new developments which can significantly change the
way scientific work is performed (Glaser 2003).
The advantages
of collaboratories can be summarized as follows:
- They enable substantial
funds to be saved as they promote the sharing of expensive equipment performing
or observing experiments.
- They may
contribute to the prevention of “drain brain”.
- They are ideal
for involving young scientists in the work of international teams and the
training of new professionals.
Participation in
the collaboratory requires telecommunication lines with adequate bandwidth. The
availability of computers, computer literacy of scientists and adequate
technical support of collaboratory technologies may also present serious
barriers to the development of virtual laboratories (Canessa, Postogna, and Radicella 1999).
There are numerous
examples of successful laboratories involving developing countries. One of the most
successful laboratories involved Brazil in The Human Genome Project. A virtual
institute represented by 35 laboratories dispersed across The Sao Paulo State
published the first-ever sequence of the genome of a plant pathogen and later the
composition of 279,000 human expressed-sequence tags. Thus, Brazilian
scientists were recognized in cutting-edge science. Moreover, these projects
attracted new investments and more than 200 young geneticists received training
(Collins 2000).
In 1997 The Institute of Atomic Energy and The National Nuclear Centre of the Republic of Kazakhstan had a pilot project together with The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), to
establish a Virtual Laboratory addressing radio-ecological problems in
Kazakhstan (UNESCO 2000).
Some other examples
of research areas where collaboratories may be especially valuable are (UNESCO 2000):
- global and
regional teamwork in data prospecting and mining,
- searches for
new correlations in environmental or health data,
- new
multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural approaches to problem solving,
- synergistic
insights with added value from multi-national and multi-cultural collaborations,
- joint studies
where scientific consensus is important for policy goals.
This chapter
addresses the scientific and technical communication’s historical and current
state of art in The Kyrgyz Republic. STI resources are described in view of the
three major groups involved: scientists, libraries and publishers. This chapter
also analyzes the legislation framework and preparedness for electronic
communications through an analysis of a recent survey of scientists in The
Kyrgyz Republic.
The history of the national STI system in The Kyrgyz Republic is rooted
in the Soviet Union times when the Institute of Scientific Information and Academy of Science of USSR was established in 1952 (since 1955 it has been known as the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information (VINITI)). Presently VINITI is an agency
directing the State Scientific and Technical Information System (GSNTI) of Russian Federation.
Basic principles of the structure
and development of GSNTI USSR were (Nechiporenko 1999b):
- the management of scientific
and information activity is the responsibility of the state;
- the structure of GSNTI USSR is correspondent to the management structure of the national economy;
- the state provides funding for
virtually all works conducted by STI bodies which are involved in GSNTI USSR;
- GSNTI USSR processes all basic information sources in all fields of science and technology and all branches
of the national economy;
- the processing of information
in GSNTI USSR is the responsibility of information organizations with clearly
distributed functions;
- the system provides for centralization
of processing different types of documents in correspondent STI bodies and
decentralization of information transfer to users;
- the system provides for compatibility
of its components by using uniform classification systems and standards.
The organizational structure of GSNTI
USSR included four levels: all-union STI bodies, central branch STI bodies, intersectorial
republican STI bodies, and territorial STI centers, STI departments of organizations,
enterprises, and associations.
By 1990, the last year of existence of the infobase
of GSNTI USSR, 1893,3
million documents were
accumulated and
some 135.9 thousand people worked in the system providing services to about 29
million users. Furthermore, some 200 EC computers and 2000 personal computers
were used in the system. Total electronic resources amounted to 16 million
documents.
With its declaration of independence in 1991, The Kyrgyz Republic
inherited separate elements of GSNTI system and after a time began to recreate
a similar national system of scientific and technical information.
The national
scientific and technical communication system in The Kyrgyz Republic is
represented by a scientific and technical information (STI) system which
includes as its basis the state STI system. The basic objectives of the STI
system in The Kyrgyz Republic are:
·
the provision of achievements of national and
international science and engineering and industrial know-how for wide usage in
the national economy;
·
the establishment, on the basis of national and
international sources, of library and reference funds, automatic state and
commercial databases and databanks;
·
The marketing of information, the provision of
informational products, services, databases and databanks and their
advertisement.
As was shown in
Chapter 2.1, a national scientific and technical information system considers
scientific and technical communication through “information glasses”, with a
focus mostly on documented information; scientific information is considered as
an object. At the same time, using a communication approach could offer an
advantage over an information approach given that the former represents a wider
interpretation of the problem than the latter. For example, informal
communication among scientists through “invisible colleges” may have a dramatic
effect on research planned or being conducted.
According to the
Merriam-Webster Dictionary the word “stakeholder”, which can be traced back to
1708, is defined as “a person entrusted with the stakes of bettors”. Later, in
the second part of 20th century, the word acquired several new
meanings in connection with the development of the stakeholder concept mostly
in the field of strategic management. Mitchel, Aglre, and Wood (1997) cite a
chronology of definitions of “who is a stakeholder”, encompassing the years
1963-1995 and containing as many as 27 definitions.
The common,
classical definition (Freeman 1984) is:
“A stakeholder in an
organization is any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the
achievement of the organization’s objectives”.
Policy stakeholders are defined as (Dunn 1994):
“Individual or group who have a stake in a policy because
they affect or are affected by government decisions.”
Other than
strategic management, stakeholder analysis has been recently applied in many
other fields, such as electronic commerce (Papazafeiropoulou, Pouloudi, and Currie 2001), interorganizational systems (Gupta 1995), multi-sector innovations (Bunn, Savage, and Holloway 2002), project
management (Alexander 2003) and others.
For the purposes
of this chapter, an attempt is made to apply stakeholder analysis to scientific
communication in the Kyrgyz Republic in order to guide government policy-makers
to consider national and international stakeholders in the formulation, design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the scientific and technical
information policy. Classification of the stakeholders is made to assist
government policy-makers in developing management strategies for them.
No universally
adopted approach for the identification and analysis of stakeholders is
currently known (Glick, Hatcher, and Ashton 2002). However,
based on critical examination of the literature (Ramirez 1999 and Bunn, Savage, and Holloway 2002) a number of
steps for carrying out a policy stakeholder analysis of scholarly communication
system in The Kyrgyz Republic may by proposed:
1) The identification of goals for policy stakeholder analysis;
2) The identification of stakeholders of scholarly communication
system;
3) The description of the properties and interests of stakeholders;
4) The analysis and classification of stakeholders in accordance
with stakeholder attributes.
The major goal
of stakeholder analysis is the comprehensiveness of the scientific and
technical information system in a policy context by means of:
·
an early identification of explicit and implicit
policy actors involved in a scientific communication system,
·
an assessment of the interests and needs of all
stakeholders in the system in order to shape integrated policy to encompass the
interests of not only the most powerful stakeholder groups but also marginal
ones,
·
an assessment relationships between
stakeholders,
·
an evaluation of stakeholders power, legitimacy
and urgency to take part in policy cycle activities including policy
formulation and implementation.
Keeping in mind
the above definitions of Freeman and Dunn, for our purposes science
communication policy stakeholders can be defined as:
“any group or individual who have a stake in a scientific
and technical communication policy because they affect or are affected by
government decisions”
As reported by Shearer and Birdsall (2002) the traditional
system of scientific communication involves four major actors: scientists (as
producers and users of scientific information), publishers, and libraries.
However, a more
detailed consideration suggests a more complex pattern. Two levels of
stakeholders can be distinguished while considering the scientific
communication system in the Kyrgyz Republic: national and international ones,
as is shown in Table 4.1.
Table 4.1. Groups
of national and international stakeholders in the scientific communication system
in Kyrgyz Republic
|
National stakeholders
|
International stakeholders
|
|
Group 1.
Government
State Agency on
Science and Intellectual Property National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyz Republic
Ministry of
Transport and Communications
Ministry of
Education and Culture
Council on ICT
under the President of Kyrgyz Republic
Ministry of
Justice
Ministry of
National Security
|
Group 1.
Governments of other countries
|
|
Group 2.
Academic Community
Individual
scientists, post-graduate students, associations of scientists.
|
Group 2. International
Scientists
Individual
scientists, post-graduate students, associations of scientists
|
|
Group 3.
Research Libraries, University Libraries
|
Group 3. International
research and university libraries
|
|
Group 4. Science
Publishers
Science
publishing houses, editors, referees
|
Group 4. International
science publishers
|
|
Group 5.
International Donor Organizations & Foundations
OSI, ICSU, IREX,
UNESCO, OCED, UNDP, etc
|
It is also
necessary to note that some international players can be represented at the
local level: for example, many international and private foundations such as
IREX, The UN and Soros Foundation have representative offices in The Kyrgyz
Republic.
4.2.3.1 National Level
Government. The Government of The Kyrgyz Republic is an evident stakeholder in
the scientific and technical communication system. Stakeholders within the government
are represented by a number of ministries, agencies and other organizations as shown
in Table 4.1. They currently act not as a single actor but rather pursue
various purposes in scientific communication policy. For example, The Center on
STI under The Agency on Intellectual Property is responsible for the implementation
of STI policy, The Ministry of Transport and Communications deals with
telecommunication infrastructure, and The Ministry of National Security is
responsible for the security of information (including scientific information).
The major task of the government is the implementation of integrated scientific
communication policy to support the achievement of specific national goals. The
government can affect policy authoritatively in horizontal and vertical
dimensions.
The functions of
the Center are as follows:
- the
development and implementation of the STI and TEI policy and programs;
- the
acquisition, processing, storage, analysis and distribution of STI;
- the set-up and
development of the national STI and TEI system;
- the provision
of STI and NTI to organizations, scientists and all concerned;
- the
organization and coordination of international cooperation and scientific
information exchange;
- the management
of research for improvement of the STI system and formulation of national
and state resources;
- the
development of legislation in the field of STI;
- the
registration of R&D’s and defended “kandidate” and doctoral
dissertations;
- the
establishment of databases on the state basis.
Academic
Community. It may be said without exaggeration that
scientists represent the major stakeholders in scientific communication. They
stand as both creators and users of scientific knowledge. As creators of
knowledge scientists are inherently interested in having open access to
scientific information and as users are interested in the maximum visibility of
the results of their research.
According to the
State Program for Reform of Science in Kyrgyz Republic for 2003-2005:
a) The scientific potential of The Kyrgyz Republic is concentrated
in 92 independent organizations, universities, science centers, industries,
etc.
b) The share of scientific research in GDP is declining constantly:
in 1990 it amounted 0.7%, in 1995 – 0.22%, and in 2001 only 0,1%.
c) The number of scientists is declining as well: in 1991 there were
17800 scientists, in 1995 – 6900, and in 2001 only 4600.
In fact, there
is a dilemma in scientific communication associated with the aging of
scientists and their perception of electronic communications. On the one hand
older scientists, who feel uncomfortable with computers (according to the above
survey, the use of computers is a barrier for only 16% of scientists 40 years
old and younger and for 32.5% of scientists older than 40), draw information
for their research mainly from traditional paper journals. They have
considerable material for publication but are inclined to publish their
findings in paper journals or law circulation booklets. On the other hand,
younger scientists surf the Internet for information but rarely publish their
work. Thus, those who have knowledge to share do it very inefficiently,
contributing to the “lost science” phenomenon. Furthermore, reference materials
are quite old and incomplete contributing to research backlog.
Older scientists
who travel in policy-making circles are not interested in lobbying for
electronic scientific communications, whereas younger scientists are less
involved in government but ready to use electronic communications.
Findings from
focus-group composed of scientists conducted in the scope of this research shows
that there is a “publish or perish” alternative in the Kyrgyz Republic, although not as pronounced as in the West. In general, an academic community
involving individual scientists or science associations can play the role of
policy experts in a horizontal policy dimension.
Libraries. Research libraries are represented by a number of libraries
including The State Patent and Technical Library, university libraries,
academic community libraries and others. Research libraries are interested in
providing open access to their resources to scientists and the general public.
Similarly to academic community libraries are suitable for the horizontal
policy dimension.
Present research
library resources in The Kyrgyz Republic involve the following libraries (Rafikova 2003):
- The State
Patent and Technical Library (SPTL) under the State Agency on Science and
Intellectual Property (Kyrgyzpatent). The SPTL currently offers access to
about 6 million library items including 200 thousand books, 220 thousand
scientific journals and a large amount of patent documents. Financing for
the library is provided by philanthropic foundations and the funds of
Kyrgyzpatent;
- The Republican
Science and Medical Library (RSML) with 15 branches under the Ministry of
Health;
- The Central
Scientific Library (CSL) under the National Academy of Sciences with 8
branches; the library provides access to about 1 million books and science
journals including 190,000 items in foreign languages;
- science and
technical libraries (STL) at 16 organizations;
- university
libraries – The Library of Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University maintains 103
thousand items including 22 thousand scientific journals, The Science
Library of Naryn State University holds 92 thousand books, The Kyrgyz
State Medical Academy maintains more than 600 thousand items and The
Bishkek Humanitarian University maintains about 250 thousand books.
Additions to university libraries are mainly to the result of contract
education funds.
Science
Publishers. Science publishers are represented by a
small number of publishing houses interested in the publication of the results
of scientists’ research following editing and peer-review. Surprisingly, the
interests of science publishers are practically unrepresented in any of the
policy or legislative documents analyzed.
The publication
of scientific literature in the Kyrgyz Republic is experiencing a period of
distress. Publishers face numerous problems including a lack of skilled
personnel, regional inequality in the geographical location of publishing
houses (more than 80% of publishing houses are located in Bishkek), and a lack
of coordination (The Association of Publishers and Booksellers 2001). Ilim, the oldest publishing house established in 1954, heads the
list of science publishers. Other important organizations publishing science
literature in the Kyrgyz Republic include the Publishing Center of the Soros-Kyrgyzstan
Foundation, The Publishing House of Kyrgyz-Russian (Slavonic) University and
The Center of State Language and Encyclopedia, etc.
4.2.3.2 International Level
Governments.
The governments of many developed countries may be
interested in providing access to scientific and technical information and in
collaborating their research institutions and universities with scientists in
The Kyrgyz Republic. An illustrative example is INTAS (International
Association). It was formed by the European Community and provides funding for
an e-library action dedicated to providing access to scientific literature for NIS researchers, based on electronic delivery (http://www.intas.be).
Governments on the international level may be involved in the horizontal
dimension of policy-making.
Scientists. Scientists worldwide have solidarity in each other through lending
assistance by sending their works to as wide an audience as possible. (Roosendaal and Geurts 1998) state that “authors
want to publish more and have their product widely available while readers want
to read less, but want to be informed of all that is relevant for their
research at hand, want this information available just in time, and want to be
guaranteed that they can and will be informed of all that is relevant to them.”
Libraries. The mission of research libraries is to acquire information,
organize it, make it available and preserve it (Graham 1995).
Science
Publishers. International commercial science
publishers are interested in profit. Some publishers, however, are ready to
provide free access to their resources to scientists from developing countries.
In doing so The National Academy Press provides open access to scientists from
developing countries (http://www.nap.edu)
International
Donor Agencies. (IREX, OSI, Soros Foundation, UNESCO,
Eurasia, INASP, etc). International donor agencies are interested in extending
economic assistance to developing countries to achieve long-term development of
a recipient country. Similar to international governments, international donor
agencies have a role in the horizontal dimension of policy-making.
The
classification of stakeholders, representing the fourth step in the stakeholder
analysis is based on a concept proposed by Mitchel, Aglre, and Wood (1997) who argued
that a theory of stakeholder identification and salience must take into account
three relationship attributes: power, legitimacy and urgency as shown in Figure
4.1.
According to Mitchel, Aglre, and Wood (1997) power can be
defined as “a relationship among social actors in which one social actor, A,
can get another social actor, B, to do something that B would not do
otherwise”. Legitimacy is “a general perception or assumption that the actions
of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially
constructed system of norms, values, beliefs and definitions”. And finally
urgency is “the degree to which stakeholder claims call for immediate
attention”.
Thus, all policy
stakeholders may be categorized into seven classes as shown in the stakeholder
classification in Table 4.2. It is necessary to note that this classification
is valid only for the time of analysis and may change due to dynamic
interaction between stakeholders. Moreover, the analysis is made from the national
perspective, thus the attributes of the same groups of stakeholders at the
national and international levels are different.
Table 4.2. Classification of scientific communication
policy stakeholders in the Kyrgyz Republic
|
|
|
Power
|
Legitimacy
|
Urgency
|
Stakeholder
|
|
National Level (Kyrgyzstan)
|
|
|
1
|
Scientists
|
|
X
|
X
|
Dependent
|
|
2
|
Libraries
|
|
X
|
X
|
Dependent
|
|
3
|
Publishers
|
|
X
|
X
|
Dependent
|
|
4
|
Government
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
Definitive
|
|
International Level
|
|
|
1
|
Scientists
|
|
X
|
|
Discretionary
|
|
2
|
Libraries
|
|
X
|
|
Discretionary
|
|
3
|
Publishers
|
|
X
|
|
Discretionary
|
|
4
|
Governments
|
X
|
X
|
|
Dominant
|
|
5
|
International
donor organizations
|
|
X
|
|
Discretionary
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A number of telecommunication projects have been completed in The
Kyrgyz Republic lately. A description of these projects is summarized in a
recent
country report (UNECE 2002):
The First
Telecommunication project was
funded via a loan from the World Bank and EBRD to the Kyrgyz Government. The
budget of the project was 27,400,000 USD. As a result of this project the
telecommunications infrastructure of the country has been improved
considerably:
• earth satellite stations of the standards A,
F and B were installed;
• a network connecting regional centers was
reconstructed;
• digital telephone stations were built in
Bishkek and regional centers;
• digital telephone stations in Bishkek were
linked by fiber optic cables, with the help of SDH technology.
The Chuy Telecommunication
project was
financed via a loan from the Korean Government of 12,000,000 USD. Digital
telephone stations with a capacity of 43 784 lines were established in the Chuy
valley. A fiber optic line Bishkek – Kant – Ivanovka – Tokmok – Kemin was
built.
The Osh Telecommunication
project was
funded by the Kuwait Fund of Arabic Economic Development, for 8,700,000 USD. It
was used to modernize telecommunications infrastructure in the south of the
country, including Osh, Jalal – Abad and Batken provinces. Digital telephone
stations with a capacity of 23 400 numbers were installed in Osh City and regional centers.
The Trans – Asia – Europe (TAE)
Fiber Optic line,
connecting Shanghai, China and Frankfurt-on-Main, Germany, goes through the
territory of the Kyrgyz Republic. Right now, eight countries (China, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Iran, Poland, Germany, and the Kyrgyz Republic) have completed
their segments, and the total length of the TAE is 27,000 km. In some places in
The Kyrgyz Republic, access to the backbone will be done through radio-relay
communication facilities by NERA Co. This backbone will provide access to many
countries in Europe and Asia with a speed of 622 Mbps.
The National Research and
Educational Network (NREN)
was sponsored by the NATO Science Programme. Via this project, research and
educational institutions have obtained satellite backbone communication lines
with a capacity of 2,5 Mbps.
The latter
project which has been called the “Virtual Silk Highway” or, in short, the
“SILK Project” (http://www.silkproject.org/index.htm)
is worthy of special notice. The aim of the SILK Project is to significantly
increase the exchange of information with and between academic and educational
institutions in Central Asia and Caucasus. In The Kyrgyz Republic, the connection
to the NREN is provided for universities, academic hospitals, institutes for
higher professional education, research institutes, scientific and public libraries.
In fact, the NREN presents a basis for scientific electronic communications
offering the prospect for development of the STI system.
The recent study
conducted by The Expert Consulting Agency (2004), provides important background data
for the analysis of computer availability and literacy in The Kyrgyz Republic though
the study is not focused on the academic community,. According to this research
the computer market in The Kyrgyz Republic is composed of 2 wholesale
suppliers, 7 large trading companies, approximately 20 medium-size and 20
small-size companies. The amount of privately-owned computers in towns of the
country is estimated at 30 thousand or about 6% of all urban households. The
estimated amount of computer users in cities and towns makes up 300 thousand
people (around 10% of adults). Users with a college degree compose 40%.
Computer
availability and the readiness of scientists, librarians and publishers to use
computers for networking is a serious problem. Discussion in the focus group
with scientists (see Chapter 4.5) showed that many scientists (especially above
middle-age) suffer from computer-phobia and prefer to use traditional sources
of information such as libraries.
The major
document defining a long term strategy, implementation of which will help
in overcoming existing problems in a systematic way and provide for the dynamic
development of the state and society in political, social and economic areas is
The Comprehensive Development Framework for the Kyrgyz Republic to
2010 (CDF). The strategy is based on the effective application of the
nation's human and natural potential for development through the formation and
participation of partnerships comprising the state, the private sector, civil
society and the international community. The overarching goal of the CDF is to
achieve political and social well being, economic prosperity of the people of the
Kyrgyz Republic, together with freedom, human dignity and equal opportunities
for all. The statement of the national vision identifies the overall
development goal and its three basic constituent parts, as well as their
components. The national vision focuses on the improvement of the material
wellbeing of the people, provision of human rights, dignity and equal
opportunities for all. The three basic parts of the overall goal are effective
and transparent state governance, fair society providing human development and
protection and sustainable economic growth and development.
The future
development of the Republic's intellectual capabilities depends on overcoming
the critical degradation of scientific and technical research and training in
the country. Scientific and technical development is essential for meeting the
needs of innovative activities required by the market system. To successfully
resolve such problems, the efforts of the state should be to implement a number
of specific policy measures including:
·
the creation of a rational financing model for
scientific research institutions;
·
the improvement of the legal framework for
development of science;
·
the promotion of competitive, innovative
activities and the development of privately-owned scientific research
institutions;
·
the broadening of scientific links and
integration into the world's scientific community;
·
the development of applied science and the commercial
exploitation and application of scientific achievements to improve the ability
of domestic producers to compete;
·
the creation of real incentives to prevent the
outflow of intellectual capital from the country;
·
the enhancement of the appeal of scientific
research work in the Kyrgyz Republic to private investors.
Objectives in
science are to preserve scientific potential, to create conditions for development
of the most promising directions of science and to strengthen interaction
between science, production and society. Planned actions include the improvement
of the regulatory framework of culture, the promotion of formation of state
order for science on a competitive basis, the development of a transfer system
of new technologies, the formation of scientific and educational entities
integrating science, education and production, introducing a mechanism for
crediting applied studies, the creation of conditions favorable for the
development of small and medium innovative companies, the improvement of
regulatory framework for the protection of intellectual property, norms,
standards and systems for the certification of products, the creation of
telecommunications infrastructure for science, and the promotion of international
scientific and technical collaboration.
The National
Strategy for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for the Development
of Kyrgyz Republic defines basic priorities, goals
and tasks and state policy in the field of ICT. It is considered one of the most
important directions for the development of The Kyrgyz Republic within the
framework of the national strategy “The Comprehensive Development Framework of
the Kyrgyz Republic to 2010”. This strategy states that considerable progress
has been achieved for the development of information infrastructure and
informatization of state and private organizations. It also indicates that
appropriate legislation is under development. Development concerns considering
achievements in the ICT sphere demonstrate a need to transform from a policy
for the development of separate sectors – communication and information
technologies – to a policy for the formation of a global strategy of
integration into the global information society. This policy should be designed
to shape the national information sphere and develop local data and knowledge
bases, information resources, and infrastructure. One of the strategy’s goals
is to increase the share of the ICT sector in GDP to 5% towards 2010.
The National
Poverty Reduction Strategy for 2003-2005 in the
frame of the “the Comprehensive Development Framework of the Kyrgyz
Republic to 2010” considers the current state of science of the Kyrgyz Republic
and provides recommendations for its improvement. It promotes the “creation of
the telecommunication structure of science”, the “enhancement of the
legislative framework for science and intellectual property” and the
development of international collaboration.
The current
legislative framework in the field of scientific and technical information in
The Kyrgyz Republic is encompassed by the following legislation:
The Law on Science and Basics of Scientific and Technical Policy
(1994) was signed into law by the President of Kyrgyz Republic on April 15,
1994. This law outlines a national policy and regulates legal relationships in
the field of science. The law establishes:
- The role of
the state in the development of science and engineering, usage of science
and technical results in transforming social production and satisfying the
needs of the people.
- The basic
goals, directions and principles of the state’s scientific and technical
policy.
- The forms and
methods of the state regulation in scientific and technical field.
- The authority
of state bodies in the implementation of scientific and technical policy.
- The economic
and legal guarantees for the development of science and technical
activities.
- The legal bases for the activity of
researchers and scientific institutions.
According to
this law the state should pursue a policy supporting and promoting the
provision of information for decision-making in the scientific and technical
sphere. One of the basic principles of the state scientific and technical
policy is freedom of distribution of scientific and technical information and communication
of scientific and technical achievements.
In order to
establish a scientific and technical information system, the state secures the
development of central and territorial networks for collecting and processing
scientific and technical data and ensures the distribution of scientific information
and quality improvement. The state provides funding for the inflow of
information, literature, periodicals into state informational centers, research
libraries and creates the necessary network for all of this. The state
contributes to the freedom, accessibility and preservation of scientific and technical
information.
The Law on
the Scientific and Technical Information System (1999) lays down the organizational, legal and economic bases for the
operation of The Scientific and Technical Information (STI) System in Kyrgyz Republic.
The Law defines the
object – STI (including information obtained as a result of research,
development, design, administrative-organizational and production and economic
activities) – and subjects (state bodies, natural and juridical persons as well
as international organizations), basic goals and directions of the state STI
policy, organizational structure of national STI system, methods of forming and
using of its resources and principles for operating products and services in
the STI market.
The state STI
policy, as a part of the science and technology policy, is aimed at providing
usage of information for the achievements of the national and international
science, engineering and industrial know-how in the national economy of Kyrgyz Republic for the sake of social and economic development of all the society.
The state therefore:
- establishes and develops the STI system,
defines content and patterns of activity for its separate elements and
administers them;
- creates necessary conditions for the
accessibility of STI resources and improves the efficiency of their usage;
- supports the development of market
relations in the field of STI, fosters competitiveness and stimulates
business activity;
- develops international cooperation in the
STI field and contributes to maintaining free and equitable relations with
foreign and international organizations and structures.
The Concept for
the Reformation of Science in Kyrgyz Republic for 1999-2005 defines basic principles for the reformation of the science and
technical sphere and immediate measures necessary to adapt it to new economic
relations. This concept states that “While implementing state scholarly
information policy major attention should be paid to the set up of the telecommunication
infrastructure for information exchange, support for existing information
networks and provision of access to worldwide knowledge to scientists”.
The State
Program for the Reformation of Science in Kyrgyz Republic for 2003-2005 defines basic measures for the reformation of the
science system and its adaptation to new conditions. It states that “state scientific
information policy in Kyrgyz Republic is a component of science and technical policy.
It is aimed at usage of facts about achievements of national and global science,
techniques and advanced experience for the sake of development of all the society.
The program provides for measures to improve efficiency of the scientific
information support by:
·
setting up academic information network by the
National Academy of Sciences;
·
setting up university information network by the
Ministry of Education and Culture;
·
setting up sectoral science information network
by sectoral institutions;
·
on the basis of the above three networks setting
up state science information network by State Agency on Science and
Intellectual Property.
·
developing library network and transfer to
digital libraries.
The information systems should include the
following elements:
a) databases on R&D’s
implemented by institutions;
b) databases on
publications, scientific editions, conferences and seminars planned;
c) databases on
scientific personnel,
d) databases on
participation in international projects, grants receives, international
collaboration.”
Other documents
in scientific and technical communication enacted in CIS countries are as
follows:
Standard (GOST 7.83-2001. Electronic editions. Basic types and
imprints), adopted
by a number of CIS countries, is effective from July 1, 2002. The standard defines requirements for basic types of electronic editions and is aimed at the producers of electronic editions.
Agreement on Free
Access and Exchange Procedure for Open Scientific and Technical Information between CIS countries of September 11, 1998 states that users of information have equal rights for information access regardless of citizenship
and country of residence. Provision of scientific and technical information may
be realized on a non-profit or commercial basis. Lists of information services rendered
from state information resources are defined by the owner.
This section
presents findings from a comprehensive study of scientific and technical
communication in The Kyrgyz Republic carried out in September – November 2003.
Three focus groups comprised of scientists and one survey of 100 scientists in
Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyz Republic, Osh (South) and Kara-Kol (North) were
conducted. The ultimate goal of the research was to examine the condition of
the STI system in The Kyrgyz Republic through an analysis of the formal and
informal scientific communication channels, barriers to scientific data
exchange, scientific information distribution and sources of information
acquisition.
The methodology
and description of target groups are presented in Appendix 1 and the results of
the research are discussed below.
Because scientists
are both users and producers of scientific information two aspects of the problem
will be discussed below: access to scientific information of scientists from
The Kyrgyz Republic and the distribution of knowledge developed by Kyrgyz
scientists.
Access to
Scientific Information
The data represented
in Fig 4-2 demonstrates that print communication dominates all sources of information.
The five most popular types of information sources used by scientists in the
country are: foreign print journals, local print conferences, local print
journals and foreign and local print books. Among the most important electronic
sources of information are foreign electronic journals, books and materials
from conferences. Local electronic editions are poorly represented on the Web
compared to foreign ones as demonstrated in Fig. 4-2.
Information
distribution channels
Fig 4-3 presents
the results of the survey pertaining to Kyrgyz scientists’ knowledge
distribution channels. The most evident conclusion which can be made from an
analysis of the data is that print publications clearly dominate electronic
ones. This relates to both local and international editions.
It is also
evident from Fig. 4-3 that, in general, scientists publish the results of their
work in local print journals, to a lesser degree, in foreign and local conferences,
books, reports and dissertations in print. Publication in local low-circulation
journals and conferences leads to a situation when the results of the research conducted
in the Kyrgyz Republic remain unknown to the academic society abroad.
A comparison of
Fig. 4.2 and Fig. 4-3 suggests that a gap between paper and electronic channels
is much less a case of access to scientific information as compared with
publication of scientific information. In other words, while Kyrgyz scientists
increasingly use electronic sources they are quite reluctant to publish in
electronic media. Personal communication with scientists and opinions of
participants in focus groups lead to the conclusion that for the time being the
academic community in the Kyrgyz Republic perceives publishing in electronic
media somewhat skeptically. While recognizing benefits of electronic
publications such as wider distribution speed of publication, etc. scientists
voice their concerns about issues of intellectual property and peer-review.
In general, it should
be noted that there are virtually no electronic scientific journals in The
Kyrgyz Republic at present. Moreover, materials from conferences and seminars, electronic
books, reports and dissertations are rarely published in the Internet. Reports
by international organizations on The Kyrgyz Republic are represented on the
Web from case to case but many of them are not open for the general public.
From the analysis of informal scientific information channels it seems
reasonable to conclude that even by now intensity of scientist in The Kyrgyz
Republic-to-scientist abroad contacts through e-mail is comparable with the
level of traditional communications as shown in Fig. 4-4.
Organization of face-to-face
contacts between scientists (conferences, seminars) is quite expensive including
travel and accommodation costs, conference fees, etc. This can be readily seen from
a relationship between the number of scientists communicating at the local
(52%) and international (26%) levels as demonstrated in Fig. 4-4. Alternatively,
electronic communications make it possible to balance this relationship, as in
this case. Because there is no difference where communicating scientists are
located costs are low. An increase in the number of scientists using e-mail
and frequency of email usage while lowering the language barrier of informal
communication through e-mail will be increasingly important.
Further
inspection of Fig 4-4 discloses that communication through forums and listserves
is presently less-accepted by scientists. This may be a function of their poor acquaintance
with this form of interaction or difficulties they experience in searching
forums, lists and chats, reflecting their interests. Videoconferences are practically
unutilized due to low available bandwidth. The necessity of closer integration of
scientists (with the emergence of collaboratories), increasing Internet connectivity
and lowering Internet costs will contribute to wider variety of these communication
forms in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Figure 4-5 depicts
the proportion of scientists in the Kyrgyz Republic possessing e-mail addresses.
According to the survey only one fourth of all scientists in the country do not
have e-mails. Some 42% of scientists have private e-mails and 23% use e-mail
addresses of organizations. Around 11% use both private and organizational
electronic mail.
The frequency of
e-mail usage for those who have e-mail is shown in Fig 4-6. Three groups of
users can be distinguished here. As may be inferred from the figure there is a
group of advanced users making up one forth of all scientists who have e-mail;
some 19% communicate through e-mail once a day and 7% even more frequently.
Another group totaling almost two thirds of all e-mail users communicates
through e-mail 2-3 times a week (43%) or once time per week (21%). A
comparatively small group of scientists uses e-mail once a month (8%) or more
rarely (2%). Thus, the first and second (to a degree) groups represent the
“information elite” who have much better opportunities to integrate into the
global scientific community in comparison to the third group or those
scientists who have no access to e-mail (Russell 2001).
As is readily apparent
from Fig. 4-7 the scientists surveyed prefer free or nearly free sources of
information. This refers to, first of all, libraries (72%), colleagues (41%) and
the Internet (39%). Fee sources such as book stores and publishing houses
amount to 29% and 20% respectively. Electronic libraries gain increasingly
wider acceptance (26%).
The results of the
survey of academic society in respect of barriers to scientific communication
are shown in figure 4-8.
As can be seen
from this figure the highest barrier (62%) is the lack of information in
libraries. This is no surprise since libraries are the most important source of
information (illustrated above).
Another
impediment considered as serious by 42% of academic society is language. The
language barrier here involves English. The results of the focus groups
conducted with scientists demonstrate that a poor knowledge of English is not
the only reason for this barrier, but rather the traditional orientation of
academic society in The Kyrgyz Republic on a centralized system of information
distribution inherited from USSR. In Soviet Union scientists were largely
reliant on the resources of GSNTI
USSR (see Chapter 4.1) which processed scientific information from many
languages of the world into Russian. After the dissolution of this system and
the emergence of mostly English Internet databases, the academic community in
the country could not rapidly switch to a new source of information. As follows
from the analysis of the survey the results of the “language barrier” are
considered important by only 28% of young scientists (ages 20-29) as evident in
Fig. 4-9.
An investigation into the statistics of EBSCO
usage (Appendix 2) in the Kyrgyz Republic show that the American University of
Central Asia, with English as a language of instruction, makes up a
considerable portion of EBSCO users, although connectivity to Internet in this
university is probably better in comparison with other universities.
The high price
of accessing data is the third most important obstacle to scientific
communication in the Kyrgyz Republic (30%).
Surprisingly,
barriers related to computer and Internet turned out to be not so high: only
22% mention poor knowledge of computers and 24% have problems with searching
for information in the Internet.
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