LAReferencia is a project presented by RedCLARA, funded by the Fund of public goods Regional of the Bank Inter-American Development (IDB), whose main purpose is the creation of a consensual strategy and framework agreements for the construction and maintenance of a Federated institutional scientific publications repository network aimed at storing, sharing, and giving visibility to the scientific open access production of Latin America .
One of the mechanisms of successful to gather the scientific open access online information in an organized way are institutional repositories , whose initiatives in Latin America have been emerging of isolated, slow manner in each country. The LAReferencia project seeks to promote the first regional pilot experience that defines agreements, processes and standards of reference for the creation of a network of repositories, which can become a reference for other countries.
LAReferencia is a project directly related to institutional strategic framework of the IDB. In particular, it contributes to development information technology strategy which States that “information and development” is one of the five crucial areas to improve and facilitate the development of the Region. At the same time is consistent with the strategy for science, technology and innovation which aims to strengthen and consolidate the region innovation systems, with particular attention to the training of human resources and collaboration between institutions.
The project was born in the bosom of the Latin American cooperation of advanced networks (RedCLARA), which brings together the networks for education and research in Latin America and , by means of these, in universities and research centres. Currently actively involved nine countries partners, represented by national organizations of science and technology and advanced academic networks of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and El Salvador .
The Open access to knowledge is the promoter thought of this project. Known by its original name in English, such as Open Access (OA), this global movement promotes the use of the technologies of communication and information (technology ICT) to put at disposal the scientific content and academic, as free and fair, without further obstacles which imposes itself access to the Internet. In this way, institutional repositories have become one of the most common mechanisms to organize and publish scientific texts, under the proposed access open.
More information: LaReferencia