Tools for Extension and Tools for the Internet

The Department of Animal Science is rapidly developing computer systems to handle and deliver information to user groups and the general public by more effective and economic means. The goal is to link Extension Advisors and Specialists to facilitate more economic and rapid service to clientele that range from those that have only a mail address to clientele that have full access to the Internet. Departmental personnel have combined funds from regional grants and University resources to build computer applications to add efficiency and economy in the dissemination of Extension information. This past April, Extension personnel gave two presentations at the National Aquaculture Extension Conference in Annapolis, Maryland describing the computer software programs and associated applications for the Internet.

Outreach for Windows is a document management program for desktop computers (PCs) that also has Internet application. It is designed to manage and disseminate digitized publications or any other digitized material. It was developed with six primary objectives: reduction in storage of hard-copy, faster turn-around for publication modification, reduction in the cost for publication modification, reduction in time and cost to distribute publications, to facilitate a publication development philosophy for the adoption of processes that lead to multiple application such as hard copy and digital transmission, and to adopt processes for multiple applications capable of information dissemination ranging from traditional mail to the transmission by Internet.

The program stores, searches for, sorts, and retrieves all types of document files in a protected and unprotected format, and can link protected documents with accompanying cover letters that can be modified by the user. The program stores, sorts and searches an unlimited number of documents or Internet links to documents. Its storage capacity is limited only by the size of the hard drive, CD-ROM, or network server that is being accessed. The program can also be used to store and deliver information using digital spreadsheets, graphics, photographs, videos, and voice. It is designed to view and print any document created under the Windows' operating system. The files are font-independent, word processor-independent, and printer-independent.

Also described at the Maryland meeting was the Department's aquaculture "information hub" designed to link county Extension Advisors with clients and state-wide Specialists. Central to the design is the Internet server and regional aquaculture web-site (California Aquaculture: http://aqua.ucdavis.edu) that is operated by the Department's specialist and software engineer. The system functions as a primary tool for the Specialists, Extension Advisors and aquaculture clients, as well as the traditional Internet function for the delivery of information. It is being designed as a "hub," in that county Advisors will be able to "tool" from the server to deliver information to clients without direct involvement with the Specialist. The full design incorporates the central Internet server and associated software and computer programs, regional aquaculture web-site and a stand-alone document management PC software (Outreach for Windows) that interfaces with the Internet and the server.

County Extension personnel employing software (Outreach for Windows) can sort and search pre-selected documents (.pdf, .txt, .html) located on the campus-based, hub-server, or any other Internet web-site. From the county-based office computer, these documents can be accessed by web browser without a lengthy down-loading process and rapidly faxed, e-mailed or mailed to a third location. Locations without Outreach software may access the FTP site for downloading publications, citations and abstracts. A database of selected references on the web site may be searched and sorted over the Internet using another Internet program (BiblionWeb) and sent to a third location.

The hub server can be accessed with any Internet web browser and, within the California Aquaculture web-site, selected publication files contained within a software program (Outreach Web) may be searched, sorted and accessed. The server is also equipped with an Automatic E-mail Responder that allows e-mail retrieval of an index of files and instructions on how to retrieve files by e-mail, including the capability to send Adobe (.pdf) files in .txt format and reconstruct the .pdf file on the receiver end. The Internet server is maintained by the authors using Outreach for Windows and a computer program that loads documents in all formats, abstracts, references, keywords, and other essential data on all components of the hub server.

These systems are part of the Department's Extension efforts to provide better linkage with county-based Extension effort and to provide better service to commodity groups and the general public. The system and software programs with 127 aquaculture publications and materials from the National Livestock and Dairy Databases will be presented in a Dairy and Livestock Workgroup workshop in Fresno this June.