Developing institutional repositories network:Taking IR Grid at Chinese Academy of Sciences as an example

This paper introduces the current practice of building a network of institutional repositories(IRs)at Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS),which is named CAS IR Grid.National Science Library(NSL)of CAS plays a leading role in the construction,promotion and implementation of CAS IR Grid.It aims to promote each institute of CAS to build IR of its own,and finally form the IR network of CAS institutes.NSL’s experience is introduced in coordinating and supporting institutes’building of their respective IRs and promoting IR services by adopting collaborative and progressive development strategies.Achievements made during the development of CAS IR Grid are described and challenges for its future development are discussed.The authors aim to provide best practices for developing a network of institutional repositories in research institute settings,which can serve as a practical reference to other institutions engaged in the similar task.

Cultivated-land change in Mu Us Sandy Land of China before and after the first-stage grain-for-green policy

Mu Us Sandy Land(MUSL) of China, as a typical eco-fragile and farming-pastoral transitional region, shows great vulnerability to disturbances from cultivation activity. In this region, the conflict between cultivation activity and environmental protection has not attracted great importance until the implementation of China's Grain-for-Green Policy(CGGP) since2000. Here, using Landsat5 TM/Landsat7 ETM+ images from 1990, 2000, and 2010, we monitor the cultivation activity and land-use/cover changes(LUCC) resulting from cultivation activity in the MUSL region. Based on the data from images, we developed a series of databases of cultivated activity-induced LUCC and use them to discuss comparatively the spatio-temporal evolution trends of cultivation activity before and after CGGP implementation. These results provide evidence for managers to evaluate the implementation effectiveness of governmental policy and the influence of cultivation activity on the ecological environment of the MUSL region.