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Why do it? What is the value of a local directory containing information about private initiatives that help farmers prevent pollution? Information is a critical step in taking responsible action. Farmers legitimately complain that they must go looking in countless places for information. Hard-to-find information is a significant barrier to action. But making information available may only satisfy part of the overall need. Information in a directory may be too general to help to farmers in search of local solutions. They need to know what is available where they live. With a comprehensive local directory, farmers have useful information at their fingertips. Locating resources may be as easy as thumbing through the yellow pages.
When farmers can make links to supportive programs, they are more likely to take voluntary action to prevent pollution. Farmers benefit by improved management that helps safeguard the quality of their drinking water, avoid environmental liability and cleanups, and satisfy the concerns of lenders and property buyers. The public also benefits. Developing a comprehensive resource directory can be an important component of a community or regional effort to protect a public water supply or watershed. There are many reasons to develop a local directory that includes private sector initiatives.
This project need not be complicated. Your best bet is to team up with an existing directory to expand its entries to include private sector environmental initiatives. If such an arrangement is not possible, decide whether you can take on the responsibility of preparing a new directory. This process is fairly straightforward. The keys to success are persistence and a long-term commitment to the project. The process can be divided into as little as three steps if you are working with an existing directory to create a private sector supplement.
Whatever you do, start by assessing your situation. Do not jump the gun. Your efforts must be guided by the needs of farmers and other users in your area. Here are questions for you to consider:
Without an accurate assessment of your situation, you will not be able to define your goals. If there is a working directory of government programs in your area, you should not try to reinvent the wheel. Your goal will be to develop a supplement that covers private initiatives. On the other hand, information resources may be poorly identified in your area. Here you need to think more broadly to provide a service useful to farmers. As one of your goals, you might perform a coordinating function to identify, build and link information resources.
To keep your project on track, define specific objectives to meet your goals. If you have located directories that might serve as partners, for example, set up a timetable for learning more about these directories and approaching them with your idea. If you decide to do your own directory, you need to set up a schedule for collecting entries, creating directory files, and preparing the document for publication. You will want to rough out plans for distribution and publicity. At this stage, it is not too early to start planning how you will maintain and update the directory.
Try to set objectives you can measure. You need to know if you are making progress toward your goals.
You probably will uncover one or more area directories that list environmental or agricultural programs. Before you go too far in pursuing a working relationship with these information resources, learn more about each potential partner. Make sure it is aimed at audiences concerned about agricultural pollution. A general directory of environmental programs may not find its way into farmers' hands. Work only with a directory that is current and regularly maintained. A state-sponsored directory may be longer lived than a private directory.
Once a directory passes this screening test, you then can plan how you will approach this potential partner. In your own mind, carefully outline reasons why a supplement will help the existing directory. Remember, you are asking them to take on more work. If you offer to assume some responsibility for directory preparation or publicity, you may convince your partner to take on this extra burden. Your expertise may be needed to identify candidates for a new section on private sector support programs. You may also offer to provide financial support or locate funding for this undertaking.
Since you may be helping produce or distribute a directory, familiarize yourself with the steps you would follow to develop your own directory.
The core tasks in preparing a directory involve collecting and maintaining resource information. You must ensure that your data is accurate, current and useful. Keep in mind that a directory is an ever-evolving document:
information will be constantly added, deleted, modified, and updated.
The steps outlined in this section are simply a starting point. Maintenance and updating require as much or more work. Do not underestimate the commitment required.
Clear standards for selecting entries will simplify directory development. Clarity will narrow your search for entries, signal potential candidates who might be uncertain about their qualifications, and enable you to confidently sort out qualified entries from the submissions you receive. Your early efforts will be rewarded later when you market the directory. Your audience will know exactly what the directory can do for them.
Listings for model directory prepared by Partnerships for Pollution Solutions, for example, had to meet two or more of the following criteria:
Before sending out any questionnaires or making any inquiries, you need to decide what information to collect. After you start collecting information, requesting more information requires backtracking and wastes time. Of course, you will ask for the basics-- a description of the program and information that explains how to contact the program. Beyond this, you will need to consider the function of your directory. Will the directory serve as information tool for policy makers? If so, then you should have information about environmental benefits of the program. To make the directory even more useful to farmers, consider categorizing the type of assistance each program offers: technical assistance, recognition of achievement, financial assistance, etc. Recognize that there is a trade-off in seeking more information. The more you request, the less likely you are to receive a response.
You may want to consider asking candidates to identify or categorize their programs according to a set of predefined categories. Here are some categories you might use:
How you process information is as important as the questions you ask. Ideally, you should design a system that streamlines data collection, entry, organization, and maintenance. Of course, you must work around the limits of your organization. You may not have the equipment or money to design the most efficient system. Staff may not have the training to implement the system. In the end, you will reach your decision by balancing different factors.
No matter how you approach this problem, a computer is essential. From here, you can go in several directions. What software programs can you use to compile the directory? A database management program has many distinct advantages. In this program, data is entered separately into designated fields for name, company, address, etc. This simplifies entry and updating. To track the age of your entries, you can add a field that tells you when the entry was last modified. These programs allow you to easily manipulate and organize data. You can quickly prepare directory sections that present entries in different ways: alphabetically, by sponsor (government or private), by program type (e.g. pesticide reduction). This system works only if you have a thoughtfully-developed information collection tool with clearly-defined entry fields. These programs have drawbacks. There is little flexibility to enter information outside the parameters you initially establish. Also you may be confined to a certain number of lines in each data field. When you turn the data into entries for the directory, you may not have many presentation options.
With a word processing program, you lose the information management capacity of a database. For example, you will have to sort information manually by different categories. However, you gain some advantages. Most offices own these programs and staff are well-acquainted in their use. If candidates submit entries on a computer disk (saved as an ASCII file), you can dump the text directly into the program and avoid retyping. Many programs offer options for presentation. You can include graphics and select from different layout choices. If you are using popular programs such as WordPerfect or Word, you can expand channels for distribution of the directory. In place of a printed directory, you can provide a copy on a computer disk. With most word processors, you can use a list of names and addresses of organizations in your directory to generate form letters requesting update information.
For appearance's sake, nothing beats a desktop publishing program for presentation. It can turn the mundane into eye-catching designs. With this software, you can do work in-house that you might have sent to professional. In many ways, however, this software is impractical for such projects. It offers none of the advantages of a database and often requires special training for staff. Do not expect others to use computer disks written in PageMaker or other desktop publishing programs.
Entering into partnerships with one or more directories to create a supplement is a very effective approach for collecting and distributing information. But even if you cannot team up with a directory, use the directories you find as a starting point in collecting information for your new directory. For example, you can use the model directory assembled by Partnerships for Pollution Solutions to contact local affiliates of national groups to see if they offer their program in your state. Your state probably has lists of agricultural producers, producer groups and food processing marketing businesses. Try contacting these entities to see what programs they offer. Local newspapers and agricultural publications are good resources to locate private sector programs.
Make telephone calls to track down entries for your directory. Take the time to locate the best person in the organization to help you. If you must write, at least find the person who is most likely to respond to your request. People in research and development may oversee the day-to-day operations of an environmental program, but they may not be the best person to provide information for a directory entry.
When you have located the right person, you now face a dilemma. Do you let the person prepare the entry? While this gives the company full control over content of the entry, it is certain to require several follow-up calls because your project is not usually a priority. You can offer to complete the entry based on promotional material supplied by the organization, but this involves more work for you. If you offer to do the work, let the organization review your entry. Whichever method you choose, collecting entries is a time-consuming process that requires patience and persistence.
Listing entries in alphabetical order may not be the most useful format. If you have devised categories as part of your data collection (see subpart b), you can use these as headings to organize the entries you receive. If you have not, you still can organize entries under different topics. Select categories that are descriptive and useful. An index and cross-references will make the directory more user-friendly.
Your initial efforts to gather information should be viewed as part of an extended process. Your directory is a constantly changing tool that should be monitored, expanded, revised, and improved to better serve farmers. A directory that is not maintained will soon outlive its usefulness. At regular intervals, plan to mail requests to update files. Have in place a system to continue to search for new entries. Pursue ideas to improve the directory. For example, think about how many more people you could reach if the directory were online.
Adequate funding is vital to start and maintain this project. Few will have the money in hand to pay for all phases of directory development and maintenance. If you seriously doubt the availability of funding beyond start-up costs, you should reconsider your effort. Maintenance of the directory is no place to take short cuts. In estimating how much you will need, account for added staff time, postage, printing and telephone charges.
A directory appeals to many government and private funding sources. It is a cost-effective way to educate and stimulate voluntary action. Unlike some other projects, it is likely to produce the results it promises. Try approaching government agencies connected with agriculture or the environment. Consider tapping into the growing number of programs that emphasize wellhead protection, pollution prevention and watershed management. Agri-businesses and producer groups are looking to take a proactive role. Funding a directory may satisfy their objectives without requiring too much of a commitment. Do not overlook private charitable organizations particularly those with an emphasis on environmental issues.
You have made an investment to produce a professional product; now make the public (particularly farmers) aware of this valuable resource. Map out some basic strategies to publicize your directory. A press release is a simple and effective method to announce your new publication. Send the release to community newspapers, local agricultural magazines, producer group newsletters, and other publications farmers read. You may want to prepare a display and attend events such as trade shows and fairs. Consider distributing the publication through channels that are likely to reach farmers, such as county farm service agencies and agricultural lenders.
Be alert to opportunities to publicize your directory. You may be able to ride the coattails of someone else's public relations effort. For example, a producer group may be preparing a resource manual for its members. They may be more than willing to include a reference to your directory.
Though quite a number of people have practical experience in directory development, little is written about the subject. Seeking to expand the services offered to patrons, librarians took an interest in information and referral services. Directory development is a subset of this category. True to their profession, librarians have turned their experiences into guide books. Guidelines for establishing community information and referral services in public libraries (Prepared by the Public Library Association, Community Information Section. -- 3rd ed. -- Chicago: American Library Association, Public Library Association, 1989) outlines basic tips and includes an extensive bibliography. Public library information & referral service (edited by Clara Stanton Jones. -- Syracuse, N.Y. : Gaylord Professional Publications, 1978) is a longer and more academic publication.
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