Preferred presentation format: Refereed Paper

Affiliation(s): NSW Agriculture

Title: Mrs. Sally Anderson Position: Librarian Organisation: Agricultural Research Centre, PMB 19, Trangie, N.S.W. Contact email: sally.anderson@agric.nsw.gov.au Contact phone: 02 68808032

Keywords: agricultural extension, extension, library services, advisory staff, extension staff, training, information skills, information literacy, lifelong learning

Over the past eighteen months, Information and Library Service staff within NSW Agriculture have addressed the issue of developing products and services that are applicable to the very distinct information needs of the extension officers within the organization. This paper is outlines the evolution of a database and printed bulletin titled Extension Alert, the creation of an Extension Portal and other services, including information skills training, with extension officers as the “target” clients.

NSW Agriculture is a government department which provides a range of research, extension, education and regulatory services to the State’s commercial farmers, graziers, horticulturalists, agribusiness and other groups. Approximately 30% of the clients are advisory/extension staff. It has been a concern of the Information and Library Service for some years that the services offered to this group are not always relevant and/or appropriate. After consultation with groups of these clients and discussion within the Library network, it was decided to develop a product in a bid to meet the information needs of these clients. Extension Alert was released in September, 2002. The Information and Library Service Marketing Plan 2003-2005 has a commitment to address the needs of extension officers in readily accessible formats and these are also covered in this paper. This paper is a review of the continuing development of Extension Alert, Extension Portal and other services to NSW Agriculture extension officers, particularly the provision of training in information skills

Key learning points :

• The role information and library services can play in an extension officer’s professional life
• the perspective of the extension officer from another discipline,
• information skills and the extension officer