Computer-Aided Information Support System for the . Management of Forestry in Zambia
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Date
1995-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study is aimed at designing a computer-based information support system for the
management of forestry in Zambia. For this purpose, a survey was conducted to
ascertain the information flow structure in the industry and the information seeking
pattern of the various categories of forestry personnel. In addition, the study was
directed at examining the current practices relating to collection, processing, storage,
dissemination, and retrieval of pertinent information in this national economic sector.
The forestry sector is an important sector in the economy of Zambia. But due to some
historical developments, the sector has been given a superficial attention on the national
economic priorities. However, for the purpose of developing the forestry sector,
several institutions have been established under the auspices of the Forest Department
to conduct research in forestry and to produce forestry personnel. The major forestry
research institutions include; (1) the Division of Forest Research, (2) the Division of
Forest Products Research, (3) the Bee-Keeping Division, the Zambia Forest College,
and several research stations scattered around the country. This study was, therefore,
undertaken to gain an understanding on how information is coordinated among the
fore stry institutions.
The findings of this study show that the existing manual operated information system
in the forestry sector is inadequate to respond to the information needs of the forestry
information users . The majority of information users indicated that the current
information facilities could not meet their requirements, especially when the
information needed was not available at the local information unit. For this reason, the
computer-based information support system for the management of forestry in Zambia
has been proposed. The proposed information system is to have an information
retrieval system with a central database located at the Forests and Timber Research
Library in Kitwe. The central database will be fed by the various information units of
the forestry information network. Two types of prototype databases using Micro CDS/ISIS have been designed. The first one is an integrated database comprising
bibliographic records, and profiles of experts, forestry institutions, information
systems, and the profiles of research projects. The other one is a set of specialized
databases comprising two databases of FOVEG and TSPE. These databases are
intended to provide information on the types of forest vegetation found in Zambia,
names for tree species, location of specific tree species, and their description. To
facilitate the search of these databases, the ISIS Pascal interface has been used to write
an application program for the user interface that would allow both the IS staff and the
end-users to interact with the system in a friendly way. Finally, a measure for
implementing the prototype system, and for its further improvements, are suggested.
Description
Keywords
Information Science