PROMIS Knowledge System

PROMIS is an internet-based software application program specifically built for bringing project team members’ together in a geography-unlimited, online environment. The information system was designed to present the current dynamics of agricultural research and development projects in which the RWC plays a pivotal role. PROMIS also provides the electronic framework that encourages project-team members to share information with each other or bring information into global access. Through this framework news, events, research and scientific reports and documents generated in the RWC-IGP partner countries are exchanged between project members.

Project information on RWC-PRISM

The RWC, in partnership with WIS International of the Netherlands, supports a regional, project and practice information system for sharing generic project information with support from the NARS of the four IGP countries. The Project and Research Information Systems Module (RWC-PRISM) since 2001 has accumulated over three thousand records and the confidence of dedicated and enthusiastic users from across the IGP. RWC-PRISM is available at www.wis.cgiar.org/rwc. One hundred scientists, researchers and information managers from NARS, NGOs and the private sector were trained in using the RWC-PRISM software in 2004. PRISM is thoroughly indexed by web search engines and an example of expert-to-expert contact through this initiative stretches as far away as Latin America from South Asia. To make PRISM more accessible and available to scientists and research staff who do not have persistent access to the internet, an open-source application was developed. PRISM-Lite is the light-weight version of PRISM offered as a free download from the RWC and PRISM websites.

PRISM search has been further enhanced in that search terms can be used to fetch results from other online ARD electronic resources. Users of the PRISM service can now use agriculture keywords to search AGROVOC, AGRIS, CARIS and Waicent. This opens up doors to different knowledge pools of research and studies on the same search topic.