The UNESCO publication (see also book announcements), written by Peter Ballantyne of the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INSAP), analyses the Western Balkan countries regarding Internet connectivity, access to international e-resources, access to local research and science/journal publishing (paper and electronic). His results are summarised in the table attached.
An important player in the region as regards these aspects is COBISS.Net, a project advancing the free exchange of bibliographic records. In its framework, autonomous library information systems of BiH, Montenegro, the FYR of Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia were already created. The project and the corresponding software are developed by the Slovenian agency ISZUM (Institute of Information Science). This institute is also pushing CRIS (= Current Research Information Systems) initiatives in the region, which are overall coordinated by euroCRIS, an institution aiming at a European-wide interoperability of research data. During the next year, special attention will be paid to the region: the upcoming biennial conference CRIS2008 (in June 2008) will be organised in Slovenia, taking into account the Slovenian EU presidency during the first half of 2008. This provides a fertile ground for collaboration and extension of the euroCRIS activities towards the West Balkan region. New members from the region are very welcome.
Currently, this dialogue is also furthered at the conference COBISS 2006, taking place in Maribor, Slovenia, on November 29-30, 2006. It discusses "The Role of Libraries in Providing Transparency of Bibliographic Indicators to Identify Scientific, Professional and Pedagogical Performance in Higher Education and Research Institutions" and focuses on South East Europe.

Article published in eJournal fall 06.
Links: euroCRIS, IZUM