Biofuels: From An Information Perspective

1
Biofuels From An Information Perspective

• Kathleen Vazoulas Sands
• USDAs National Agricultural Library

2
Objectives

• Status of Information
• How to Find Information
• Solving Information Overload

3
Biofuels

• Interest in biofuels is sweeping not only the
  nation, but the world as well
• Relieve our dependence on petroleum oil
• Environment issues
• help slow global climate change
• reduce emissions

4
Communication and Information Flow

• Characteristics at the present time
• Information coordination is poor
• Wealth of information available
• Not being shared in an organized manner
• Difficulty navigating

5
Multidisciplinary Nature

• Diversity of scientific disciplines involved
• Sciences
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Agriculture
• Biology
• Environmental Science
• Economics

6
Diversity of People

• Scientists
• Farmers/Agricultural Producers
• Government
• Public
• Private Companies
• Other key stakeholders

7
Factors Influencing Information

• More literature and discussion
• Grants for research and technology
• Increase use of technology

• More literature and discussion
• Expanding organizations and companies
• Policy push
• Advancing technology

• New processes to learn
• Impacting research projects and policy
• Competition for best technology among
  organizations

8
Information Resources

• Where people are looking for information
• Databases
• ABI Inform - 4,685
• Academic Search Premier
• AGRICOLA (Agricultural Online Access) - 2,030
• AGRIS - 4,081
• Applied Science Technology
• CAB Abstracts - 3,206
• Chemical Abstract Service/SciFinder Scholar
• Chemical Business Newsbase - 5,726
• Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology Abstracts
  - 1,320
• Current Contents - 5,710
• EI Compendex - 7,175
• Fuel and Energy Abstracts
• Lexis Nexis
• Science Citation Index/SciSearch - 5,119
• Science Direct
• Scopus - 134,277
• Web of Science

Note Numbers represent the approximate number
of records on biofuels in each database at the
current time
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Information Resources

• Where people are looking for information
• Databases
• AGRICOLA
• Books
• Journals
• Articles
• Conference Proceedings
• Experiment Station Publications
• Extension Service Publications
• Theses

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Search AGRICOLA http//agricola.nal.usda.gov
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Information Resources

• Where people are looking for information
• Science-based journals
• Biodiesel Magazine
• Energy Policy
• Biomass and Bioenergy
• Journal of Biobased Material and Bioenergy
• Chemical and Engineering News
• Science (AAAS)
• Agricultural Research

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Information Resources

• Where people are looking for information
• Newspapers
• Local
• Star Tribune Newspaper of the Twin Cities
• Great Falls Tribune
• National
• Washington Post
• New York Times

13
Information Resources

• Where people are looking for information
• Conferences
• American Chemical Society
• National Ethanol Conference
• Biofuels America Conference and Expo
• World Biofuels Markets Congress and Exhibition
• National Biodiesel Conference
• World Renewable Energy Conference and Expo
• World Refining and Fuels Conference
• Biomass and Biorefinery Deals
• Biodiesel Finance and Investment Summit

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Information Resources

• Where people are looking for information
• Internet Resources
• National Biodiesel Board
• DOE-Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• Biodiesel Blog News
• Biodiesel America . Org
• USDAs NAL Technology Transfer Information Center
• DOE- Information on Biofuels Policy and
  Legislation
• LOC-Thomas Database
• Nasdaq
• US Patent Database
• AgNIC
• Land Grant System

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Information Resources

• Where people are looking for information
• Gray Literature/Invisible Web
• USDA CRIS (Current Research Information System)
• DOE-Biomass Document Database
• Report of the National Energy Policy Development
  Group-Chapter Six
• Bioenergy Feedstock Information Network
• Directory of Open Access Journals
• DOE Information Bridge
• National Technical Information Service
• OSTI Energy Citation Database
• GrayLIT Network

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Information Resources

• Searching difficulties
• Terms in literature vary
• topics multidisciplinary nature
• resources focus within topic
• vocabulary used in the text
• Terms are used interchangeably, sometimes causing
  confusion

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Information Resources

• Searching Tips
• Try searching multiple times with different words
• Try searching terms such as

• biofuel(s)
• bioenergy
• renewable energy
• sustainable energy
• ethanol
• biomass

• biodiesel
• cellulosic
• (bio)butanol
• gasohol
• fuel alcohol(s)
• feedstock(s)

• Contact the experts at NAL, DOE, DOT, DOC, DOI,
  or EPA
• www.usa.gov

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Information Resources

• How people are obtaining information
• Library reference services
• literature searches
• relevant resources
• legal/standards information
• publications in print or online
• customized help
• obtain these services through a variety of media

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Information Resources

• How people are using information
• Research projects
• Start companies
• Acquire grants
• Teach others
• Write policy
• Prepare conference talks

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Current State
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Future
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Coordinated Information System

• This system would create and provide
• A central source
• Organization
• Coordination
• Easily accessible resources
• Full text
• Specialized bibliography of resources
• Subject specific information products

23
National Agricultural Libraryhttp//www.nal.usda.
gov/ttic
www.nal.usda.gov
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National Agricultural Librarywww.nal.usda.gov

• Web site links
• Information Centers
• Online and in-print journals
• Reference services
• USDA research projects
• DigiTop on-site
• Thesauri (AGRICOLA and CABI)

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USDAwww.usda.gov

• USDA Research, Education, and Economics
• Agricultural Research Service
• Cooperative State Research, Education, and
  Extension Service
• National Agricultural Statistics Service
• Economic Research Service

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Conclusions

• Organize and share information immediately
• Partner to enhance information availability
• Connect researchers and their information to each
  other, and to other interested parties
• Develop a national coordinated information system
  for biofuels
• The National Agricultural Library is continuing
  to look at ways in which this can be done!

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Thank you!

• Please visit the Web site below to view this
  presentation after the conference
• http//www.nal.usda.gov/downloads/Chicago
• Kathleen Vazoulas Sands
• AgRef_at_nal.usda.gov
• [phone]