HINARI and AGORA: revolutionizing access to scientific information in the developing world

HINARI (Health Internetwork Access to Research Initiative) and AGORA (Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture) are sister programs which offer free or very low cost access to scientific journals for the developing countries. HINARI is coordinated by the World Health Organization and AGORA by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in collaboration with the scientific publishers and other partners. This article describes the programs and how they work together to share the costs of system development and outreach and training. The article presents early feedback on the use of AGORA since its launch in October 2003. Challenges and barriers to uptake are also described.