IOB creates Web-based library of Dutch evaluation publications

IOB creates Web-based library of Dutch evaluation publications

The IOB Policy and Operations Evaluation Department of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs is updating and expanding its Internet site to serve as a dynamic ‘gateway’ on evaluation. The IOB home page (http://www.euforic.org/iob/), available in French, Dutch and English, presents an overview of all the department’s publications. At the same time, it serves as the hub of a new project to capitalise on the emerging power of the Internet, especially the World Wide Web, to promote virtual information sharing among development actors, from the field to headquarters level.

The IOB’s interest in the project stems from its active role in assessing the development programmes and projects funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The other project partners are Euforic (Europe’s Forum on International Cooperation) and the Dutch Royal Tropical Institute (KIT). Within the project, recent evaluation publications as well as older key documents are being made publicly available on the Web.

Scheduled for an initial two years, the project combines ‘discovery’ and ‘dialogue’ aspects. On the discovery side, it is compiling an Internet dossier and ‘webliography’ on evaluation. The dossier provides insight into the operations and effectiveness of Europe’s development cooperation. In both French and English it points readers quickly and easily to resources and introductions on many aspects of aid evaluation (http://www.euforic.org/resource/en/doss/evaluat/index.html).

The webliography, generated from a Web-based library on international cooperation, lists relevant resources, thus acting as a backbone for the rest of the project’s information services (http://www.euforic.org/by_theme/104.htm).

A second discovery tool is the virtual think tank on ‘evaluating cooperation’ at http://www.oneworld.org/thinktank/evaluate/index.html. Launched in November 2001, the think tank is an interactive Internet magazine centred around quarterly editorials written by evaluation experts. Each editorial is complemented by links to related documents and websites. The first editorial, written by Geoff Barnard of the Institute of Development Studies, explores the new frontier of evaluation and organisational learning.

Dialogue tools include electronic conferencing and the roster of evaluation expertise. Using Euforic’s Maastricht-based electronic conference centre and a combination of e-mail and the Web, the project expects to organise specific, time-bound, electronic discussions on evaluation facilitated by experts in related fields. For example, a conference might be linked to the launch of a new evaluation report or to an emerging debate in the field.

Yet a precondition for dialogue is knowing what evaluation expertise is available where. To provide that information, Euforic is expanding a contacts database created by a consortium of international development organisations. The database will give project partners access, via e-mail, post and telephone, to organisations with expertise in a specific country or field of interest. A first overview of organisations is posted at http://www.euforic.org/actors.

Euforic is an independent non-profit organisation that since 1995 has provided a focal point on the Internet and beyond for organisations and communities involved in Europe’s development cooperation. Euforic increases the transparency of Europe’s development initiatives by providing a platform for debate, improving access to scattered information on the Internet and bringing people together. A cooperative owned and steered by its members, Euforic represents some 60 leading research organisations, NGOs, advisory groups and government agencies.

KIT is a knowledge institute which, through its information services, provides access to documentation, databases and publications in development-related fields, in print and on the Internet. KIT specialises in international cooperation and multicultural exchange. Internationally, it is involved in multidisciplinary projects in development management, culture, health and agriculture.

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