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Pub.Review,
Vol. 14, pp. 599-604, All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.
0277--9390/S?
1987
$3.00
+
.OO
(c) 1987 Pergamon Journals Ltd.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS NEWS Robert W. Schaaf Serial and Government Publications Division Library of Congress
UNITED NATIONS The United Nations Division for Economic and Social Information (DESI) recently established (August 1986) an Electronic Information Network (DEIN) as a pilot project. According to available data, more than 70 participants are already using this service for electronic communication and information dissemination. DEIN 1s open to governments, UN missions, nongovernmental organizations, the media and libraries throughout the world. At the heart of the system is a flexxble electronic mail service permitting instantaneous and inexpensive communication and message file transfer between users. The only equipment needed is a personal computer and a modem. Those who become members of DEIN receive a permanent ID to log onto the system and a passwork-protected electornic mailbox. From this electronic mailbox participants can communicate with other DEIN mailboxes as well as a large number of other electronic mailboxes. DEIN has a data base of materials on the United Nations and its concerns, particularly in the field of economic and social development. Access is available to the full text of all UN press releases issued daily by the UN press section in New York. Also available is Newsline, an experimental economic and social news service which includes the weekly United Nations News Digest (cited regularly in this column). Additional features are a Women's Network and the UN's calendar of conferences and other events. The service has been established zn the United States on a DIALCOM data base through membership of the Telecommunications Cooperative Network (TCN). The costs are a $15 monthly user fee for each mailbox plus the online connect time one is actually linked with the data base. Those living in the United States have a communications cost advantage over other parts of the globe, but more and more countries' computer owners can acsess so-called "packet switching" systems. Once connected to the system, users can sift through current news, select, down load and print out items wanted. Based on this librarian's experience, access to the UN press releases alone would make the service worth exploring. In most cases the files are fully searchable by date or keyword. Thus, one can retrieve by topic, name, country, committee or a ~ombiRation of keywords. As of this writing the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Washington already has access to the system. Through the Information Centre, the writer has received a response to his first request. Those wishing CO apply for DEIN membership should contact DES1 Electronic
599
600
Information Update
Room S-1061 L, DPI-DESI, United Nations, New York, Information Network, New York 10017 (212) 754-6875. Material at hand includes a three-page packet containing a general description, an "Application to Join DEIN," Information on the system is also available in and a "User Agreement." Development Forum, May 1987, and the latest issue of the Newsletter of the UN's Advisory Committee for the Coordination of Information Systems (ACCIS). The same issue (May 1987) of the ACCIS Newsletter cited immediately above includes a progress report on the production of a new edition of the RePister of United Nations Serial Publications. In 1986 the ACCIS secretariat obtained a tape of UN organizations' serial titles from the International Serials Data System (ISDS) in Paris. GIN agencies were then asked to verify and amend existing records and add data for titles not previously registered with ISDS. Most of the updated information was The new (second) edition of reported as being fed into a new data base. the Register is expected to be published later in 1987. Details of a dissemination policy are still being worked out, but copies of the UN should be available later in the serials data base on tape or diskette year. UN agencies and member states are asked to assist by letting the $CCIS secretariat know their requirements.
A bibliography of Indexing Vocabularies Produced by Organizations of the United Nations System, included as a four-page insert in the May 1987 issue of the ACCIS Newsletter, contains details of 40 different thesauri produced in recent years by the United Nations and its specialized agencles. Although information on many of these has been available, it is useful to have a listing in one place. The thesauri range from major publications such as the IL0 Thesaurus: Labour, Employment and Training Terminology (3d edition, Geneva, ILO, 1985. 490 p.) to highly specialized works such as UNESCO's Glossary of Chinese Adult Education (Beijing, UNESCO, 1985. 313 p.>. Most of the works can be obtained in printed form from the producing agencies unless otherwise stated (two of three from the Some are United Nations Environment Programme are noted as unpublished). available from the UN sales offices in New York or Geneva and some are also available in machine-readable form or in microform. In each case the scope of coverage is given ("general," "agricultural," "population," The etc.) along with the number of terms included and the language(s). number of terms ranges from several hundred to more than 22,000 in the 25th edition of the International Atomic Energy Agency's INIS Thesaurus (International Nuclear Information System). the United Nations archives have Turning to historical materials, At the time of former UN Secretary-General continued to be in the news. Waldheim's election campaign for President of Austria, it was brought out was in the archives of the former UN War that a file on Mr. Waldheim Crimes Commission (WCC) in the custody of the UN archives at 345 Park (See the author's column in GPR, v. 13, no. 5, Avenue South in New York. September/October 1986, pp. 651-652.) In response to a formal request by the reprsentative of Israel that all of the files on alleged war criminals be opened to the public, UN Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar asked the 17 governments that had been members of the WCC to consult on the matter of changing the rules governing access to these so-called "charge files" which have been available to made it governments only on a confidential basis. The Secretary-General clear to Israeli authorities that the request called for a fundamental revision in the rules governing access to these files. Correspondence
Xnformatian Update
601
between the Secretary-General and the Permanent Representative of Ssrael bearing on this issue was reproduced and circulated ss an official UN document (A/41/343, E/1986/93). (United Nations News Digest, Press Release WS/132S, March 27, 1987, p. 4,) On March 20, 1987, the Secretary-General announced (see, for example, the new York Times and the Washington Post) thar 16 of the 17 members af the former WCC rejected the request for a revision of the rules regarding access. Australia was the only country that agreed to the proposed change. On Narch 24, 1987, the Israeli representative, Benjamin annouaced ati a news conference (see New Park Times, ftlarch 25, Netanyahu, 1987) chat there was a '"treasure trove of new i~forrns~~o~'~ in the 300 files that Israel had specifically requested. He vowed that Israel would press its demand tkar al.1 the files (nearly 37,OOf.I in number> be opened to historians and rhe public, hdditional reports OR this subject later in 1987 refer CO a change of For example, a piece in the New York Times on day 7, 1987, carried the title ""AttitudesShift on Opening of UN War Crimes Fifes."' This arricle explained that the United States, the Netherlands and Yugoslavia had recently changed their minds and now favored broader access to the documents. Several other countries were also reported as reconsidering their positions. According to the same article, a State Department official said rhe decision to oppose opening the fifes except for law enforcemt?ntofficials was made by a lower-level official and had been reversed by Secretary af State Shultz. This same official said rhar althaugh the United States uow favored broader access, itzhad not decided how that should be accomplished. In his "On Ky %.nd" column on the op* ed. page of the New York Times, June 4, 1987, associate editor A. %L Rosenthal, strongly supported the case for opening the files. As of this writing, there is no additional word regarding any change in the regulaCions regarding access co these so-called "charge fifes" in the archives of the former War Crimes Commission at the United Nations. 0piniiXks.
A final item under f&e United Nations concerns a new edition of a document which was also discussed in a previous column. This concerned the production of a list of products char had been banned or restricted by various countries. (See GPB, v. 12, May/June 1985, p= 278.) As noted ttrenthere had been considerable controversy surrounding the compilation and publication of such a fist at the 39th session of the General Assembly zn December 1984, However, a recent issue of rhe United Nations News Digesr (Press Release WS/s/1331, April 6, 39871 simpLy reports the release of a new Consolidated List af Products Whose Consumption and/or Sale Wave Been Banned, Withdrawn, Severely Restricted or Nor Approved compiled by the Department of ItiternationaLEconomic and Social hffairs. As described in the News Digest (p. 91 the LisrLng covers some 600 potenrially toxic chemicals and records regulations adopted by 77 governmenrs. The Cwnsolidaced List cross-fists each chemical.by product name and type of use. Lnternatianal Non-Proprierary Names (INN), fnternetional Organizacioa for Standardization CXSOf names, and Chemical hbstracts SerVicQ hgisfry Wumbers are used when appropriate and where available. Trade names and information an manufacturers are given where possible. Information on measures taken by Sovernmen~s to regulate chemicals is frequentfy accompanied by cumments from the World Heatth Organization on the known effects or availability. Althaugh the previous editian was distributed by the UN, it was not dispatched ro libraries as a regular UN document. In this instance, however, the item is a sales publication bearing UN sales
Information
602
Update
number E.87.1V.l. The newly issued Catalogue of United Nations Rublications, 1988 shows the ISBN as 92-l-130120-3 and gives the price as $60.
GENERAL
AGREEMENT
0~ TARIFFS AND TRADE
(GATT)
Although the press today carries almost daily references to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, primary documentation from GATT is not readily available. GATT is a multilateral agreement which entered into force January 1, 1948. Its purpose was to lay down trade rules for the countries responsible for the bulk of the world's international commerce. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was established after the failure to agree upon an International Trade Organization following World War 11. Although GATT is not a specialized UN agency, it is normally included in the listings of UN related organizations. Under its auspices there have been a series of multilateral negotiating conferences over the years that have resulted in reductions of tariffs and other trade barriers. In recent years, however, there have been developments that have emphasized GATT's role as a forum for discussion and for the settlement of trade disputes. GATT is headquartered at the William Rappard Centre on the lakeshore in Geneva, Switzerland. The various multilateral trade negotiations have been consistently referred to as Tariff Rounds. The last was the Tokyo Round which ran from September 1973November 1979. A new series of negotiations which began in 1986 at Punta de1 Este, Uruguay is referred to as the Uruguay Round. With the importance of international trade matters, questions on GATT surface quite often in research libraries. Reference librarians may be The reason, hard pressed, however, to find answers to detailed questions. as indicated above, is that primary GATT documents are not usually available in libraries. GATT has long had a system of depository libraries, but it distributes to libraries only its publications--not its documents. Major publications include Basic Instruments and Selected Documents and its regular supplements as well as the annuals, GATT Activities and International Trade. A number of monographs have also been published, some of these containing specific agreements or codes arrived at during GATT conferences. Several general sources available from GATT are useful for For current information. One of these is the newsletter, GATT Focus. example, number 44, March 1987, includes a single column listing and summarizing the principle results of the tariff negotiating conferences from 1947 through the Tokyo Round. Also useful are the numerous Press CommuniquCs and a new series of releases entitled News of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. While numerous federal documents and journal articles contain GATT material, the great mass of detailed documents produced regularly by GATT Fortunately, a systemis restricted to governments of member countries. atic program for derestriction of documents exists, although some series are never derestricted. There is a basic period of about two years before Those needing detailed documents can be made available to the public. information should be aware of the existence of a monthly List 6 Index of Documents as well as an annual List & Index which are not restricted items. When the writer visited GATT in 1980 there was no way for libraries to acquire microfiche documents that were being made available to delegations. Within recent months, however, the writer learned that GATT documents are now being made generally available in microfiche after
Information
Update
603
The microfiche were formerly produced approximately a two-year period. only in diazo but the microfiche are now available on silver-based film Detailed information on the microform program with 98 frames per fiche. is contained in a two-page document entitled Microfiche and List & Index This document is accompanied of GATT Documents (INF/208, April 4, 1984). These GATT by a detailed seven-page List of Documents on Microfiche. documents represent an important resource, and the fact that they have now become available to libraries at a reasonable cost (the cost of the 1984 Detailed informaset was 500 Swiss francs) should be more widely known. tion and orders may be addressed to GATT, Translation and Documentation Division, Centre William Rappard, Rue de Lausanne 154, CH-1211 Geneva 21, Switzerland.
INTERNATIONAL
LABOR ORGANIZATION
(ILO)
CISDOC is the name of a new data base of the International Labor Office's International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre (CIS) that is now available on CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory). This new CD-ROM known as OSH-ROM also holds two major English language These are the British data bases on occupational safety and health. Health and Safety Executive's HSELINE and the U. S. National Institute of Occupatronal Safety and Health's NIOSHTIC. OSH-ROM holds approximately a quarter of a million citations, with keywords or abstracts from more than 500 journals and 100,000 standards and reports emanating from more than 50 countries. The citations cover more than 25 years and span a great many subjects and industries. This new CD-ROM is produced by SilverPlatter Information Services from data provided by the originators of CISDOC, HSELINE and NIOSHTIC. SilverPlatter provides its own search software and sells subscriptions. OSH-ROM is aimed at those who require ready access to the latest occupational safety and health data. A one-year subscription costs $900. Current plans call for updating OSH-ROM twice yearly, although updates may be issued quarterly later on. The search software will also be updated routinely. To use OSH-ROM, one needs an IBM PC (AT or XT) or compatible computer with 512 K memory, along with a printer if hard copy printouts are needed. For more details or to subscribe, contact: CIS, International Labor Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. (Extracted from ACCIS Newsletter, v. 4, no. 6, March 1987, p. 3.)
EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES
Several volumes received of interest to librarians, interest in post-war Europe.
from the European Communities archivists and others with
(EC) should be a particular
On June 28, 1983, Gaston Thorn, then President of the Commission of the European Communities, officially opened the historical archives of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). To mark the occasion a special volume was issued entitled the Opening of the Historical Archives of the European Communities to the Public. This 119-page volume which has been cataloged in the Library of Congress (LCCN:84-123221) bears ISBN:92-825-3409-X and the price is $14.
604
Information
Update
In 1987 the first in a series of inventories of the historical archives of the European Communities was received at LC. This impressive looking volume (361 p.) is entitled Records of the High Authority of the ECSC, 1951; Speeches, 1952-67. It bears the imprint date 1985 and carries ISBN: 92-825-4954-2. The price is $14. Because the EC IS operating on the 30-year rule, a single year of records is being opened at one time. The High Authority started work in Luxembourg August 10, 1952, and it is from that date the record period begins. The number of records open to the public will be fairly small for the early period but will increase year by year, especially from 1958 on when the European Economic Community and EURATOM were established. With the initial volume of records being quite small, it was decided also to include in this first volume a list of the speeches made by major European figures between 1952 and 1967. The introduction provides information on the general archives which cover the historical archives and current records; the question of access; and a description of finding aids. The record groups in this first volume are: Secretariat-General; External Relations; Transport; Coal; Steel and the Central Archives. The indexes to the records include subjects; per sonal names; the index of legal references and the place names; chronological index. These indexes are followed by a table showing the archival code and corresponding running number in the inventory. The section on speeches gives the list of speakers from 1952-1967 and indexes by subject, personal name, place name and "organizers." As stated it IS hoped that this publication and subsequent in the introduction, volumes will encourage researchers to make use of the EC historical archives as they become available. Another interesting volume received from the European Communities This publication gives bears the title Commlttes--in seven languages. seven language versions of each committee set up by the Commission of the The volume, which European Communities or under secondary legislation. is a compendium that contains seven alphabetical runs to 504 pages, Committees are listed by Directorate-General and within each indexes. The Directorate the committees appear in the order they were created. indexes give the key words for each entry and should be consulted first. The introduction points out that the committee titles have been fed termed This data bank, the the EC terminology data bank. into The compendium should prove to be a is updated regularly. Eurodicautom, useful reference work for linguists and all others concerned with the As an example, it should be detailed work of the European Communities. of Congress and other major very helpful to catalogers in the Library libraries that frequently have to do a considerable amount of research to identify the names of the many and varied EC communities.
Pub.Review,
Vol. 14, pp. 599-604, All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.
0277--9390/S?
1987
$3.00
+
.OO
(c) 1987 Pergamon Journals Ltd.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS NEWS Robert W. Schaaf Serial and Government Publications Division Library of Congress
UNITED NATIONS The United Nations Division for Economic and Social Information (DESI) recently established (August 1986) an Electronic Information Network (DEIN) as a pilot project. According to available data, more than 70 participants are already using this service for electronic communication and information dissemination. DEIN 1s open to governments, UN missions, nongovernmental organizations, the media and libraries throughout the world. At the heart of the system is a flexxble electronic mail service permitting instantaneous and inexpensive communication and message file transfer between users. The only equipment needed is a personal computer and a modem. Those who become members of DEIN receive a permanent ID to log onto the system and a passwork-protected electornic mailbox. From this electronic mailbox participants can communicate with other DEIN mailboxes as well as a large number of other electronic mailboxes. DEIN has a data base of materials on the United Nations and its concerns, particularly in the field of economic and social development. Access is available to the full text of all UN press releases issued daily by the UN press section in New York. Also available is Newsline, an experimental economic and social news service which includes the weekly United Nations News Digest (cited regularly in this column). Additional features are a Women's Network and the UN's calendar of conferences and other events. The service has been established zn the United States on a DIALCOM data base through membership of the Telecommunications Cooperative Network (TCN). The costs are a $15 monthly user fee for each mailbox plus the online connect time one is actually linked with the data base. Those living in the United States have a communications cost advantage over other parts of the globe, but more and more countries' computer owners can acsess so-called "packet switching" systems. Once connected to the system, users can sift through current news, select, down load and print out items wanted. Based on this librarian's experience, access to the UN press releases alone would make the service worth exploring. In most cases the files are fully searchable by date or keyword. Thus, one can retrieve by topic, name, country, committee or a ~ombiRation of keywords. As of this writing the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Washington already has access to the system. Through the Information Centre, the writer has received a response to his first request. Those wishing CO apply for DEIN membership should contact DES1 Electronic
599
600
Information Update
Room S-1061 L, DPI-DESI, United Nations, New York, Information Network, New York 10017 (212) 754-6875. Material at hand includes a three-page packet containing a general description, an "Application to Join DEIN," Information on the system is also available in and a "User Agreement." Development Forum, May 1987, and the latest issue of the Newsletter of the UN's Advisory Committee for the Coordination of Information Systems (ACCIS). The same issue (May 1987) of the ACCIS Newsletter cited immediately above includes a progress report on the production of a new edition of the RePister of United Nations Serial Publications. In 1986 the ACCIS secretariat obtained a tape of UN organizations' serial titles from the International Serials Data System (ISDS) in Paris. GIN agencies were then asked to verify and amend existing records and add data for titles not previously registered with ISDS. Most of the updated information was The new (second) edition of reported as being fed into a new data base. the Register is expected to be published later in 1987. Details of a dissemination policy are still being worked out, but copies of the UN should be available later in the serials data base on tape or diskette year. UN agencies and member states are asked to assist by letting the $CCIS secretariat know their requirements.
A bibliography of Indexing Vocabularies Produced by Organizations of the United Nations System, included as a four-page insert in the May 1987 issue of the ACCIS Newsletter, contains details of 40 different thesauri produced in recent years by the United Nations and its specialized agencles. Although information on many of these has been available, it is useful to have a listing in one place. The thesauri range from major publications such as the IL0 Thesaurus: Labour, Employment and Training Terminology (3d edition, Geneva, ILO, 1985. 490 p.) to highly specialized works such as UNESCO's Glossary of Chinese Adult Education (Beijing, UNESCO, 1985. 313 p.>. Most of the works can be obtained in printed form from the producing agencies unless otherwise stated (two of three from the Some are United Nations Environment Programme are noted as unpublished). available from the UN sales offices in New York or Geneva and some are also available in machine-readable form or in microform. In each case the scope of coverage is given ("general," "agricultural," "population," The etc.) along with the number of terms included and the language(s). number of terms ranges from several hundred to more than 22,000 in the 25th edition of the International Atomic Energy Agency's INIS Thesaurus (International Nuclear Information System). the United Nations archives have Turning to historical materials, At the time of former UN Secretary-General continued to be in the news. Waldheim's election campaign for President of Austria, it was brought out was in the archives of the former UN War that a file on Mr. Waldheim Crimes Commission (WCC) in the custody of the UN archives at 345 Park (See the author's column in GPR, v. 13, no. 5, Avenue South in New York. September/October 1986, pp. 651-652.) In response to a formal request by the reprsentative of Israel that all of the files on alleged war criminals be opened to the public, UN Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar asked the 17 governments that had been members of the WCC to consult on the matter of changing the rules governing access to these so-called "charge files" which have been available to made it governments only on a confidential basis. The Secretary-General clear to Israeli authorities that the request called for a fundamental revision in the rules governing access to these files. Correspondence
Xnformatian Update
601
between the Secretary-General and the Permanent Representative of Ssrael bearing on this issue was reproduced and circulated ss an official UN document (A/41/343, E/1986/93). (United Nations News Digest, Press Release WS/132S, March 27, 1987, p. 4,) On March 20, 1987, the Secretary-General announced (see, for example, the new York Times and the Washington Post) thar 16 of the 17 members af the former WCC rejected the request for a revision of the rules regarding access. Australia was the only country that agreed to the proposed change. On Narch 24, 1987, the Israeli representative, Benjamin annouaced ati a news conference (see New Park Times, ftlarch 25, Netanyahu, 1987) chat there was a '"treasure trove of new i~forrns~~o~'~ in the 300 files that Israel had specifically requested. He vowed that Israel would press its demand tkar al.1 the files (nearly 37,OOf.I in number> be opened to historians and rhe public, hdditional reports OR this subject later in 1987 refer CO a change of For example, a piece in the New York Times on day 7, 1987, carried the title ""AttitudesShift on Opening of UN War Crimes Fifes."' This arricle explained that the United States, the Netherlands and Yugoslavia had recently changed their minds and now favored broader access to the documents. Several other countries were also reported as reconsidering their positions. According to the same article, a State Department official said rhe decision to oppose opening the fifes except for law enforcemt?ntofficials was made by a lower-level official and had been reversed by Secretary af State Shultz. This same official said rhar althaugh the United States uow favored broader access, itzhad not decided how that should be accomplished. In his "On Ky %.nd" column on the op* ed. page of the New York Times, June 4, 1987, associate editor A. %L Rosenthal, strongly supported the case for opening the files. As of this writing, there is no additional word regarding any change in the regulaCions regarding access co these so-called "charge fifes" in the archives of the former War Crimes Commission at the United Nations. 0piniiXks.
A final item under f&e United Nations concerns a new edition of a document which was also discussed in a previous column. This concerned the production of a list of products char had been banned or restricted by various countries. (See GPB, v. 12, May/June 1985, p= 278.) As noted ttrenthere had been considerable controversy surrounding the compilation and publication of such a fist at the 39th session of the General Assembly zn December 1984, However, a recent issue of rhe United Nations News Digesr (Press Release WS/s/1331, April 6, 39871 simpLy reports the release of a new Consolidated List af Products Whose Consumption and/or Sale Wave Been Banned, Withdrawn, Severely Restricted or Nor Approved compiled by the Department of ItiternationaLEconomic and Social hffairs. As described in the News Digest (p. 91 the LisrLng covers some 600 potenrially toxic chemicals and records regulations adopted by 77 governmenrs. The Cwnsolidaced List cross-fists each chemical.by product name and type of use. Lnternatianal Non-Proprierary Names (INN), fnternetional Organizacioa for Standardization CXSOf names, and Chemical hbstracts SerVicQ hgisfry Wumbers are used when appropriate and where available. Trade names and information an manufacturers are given where possible. Information on measures taken by Sovernmen~s to regulate chemicals is frequentfy accompanied by cumments from the World Heatth Organization on the known effects or availability. Althaugh the previous editian was distributed by the UN, it was not dispatched ro libraries as a regular UN document. In this instance, however, the item is a sales publication bearing UN sales
Information
602
Update
number E.87.1V.l. The newly issued Catalogue of United Nations Rublications, 1988 shows the ISBN as 92-l-130120-3 and gives the price as $60.
GENERAL
AGREEMENT
0~ TARIFFS AND TRADE
(GATT)
Although the press today carries almost daily references to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, primary documentation from GATT is not readily available. GATT is a multilateral agreement which entered into force January 1, 1948. Its purpose was to lay down trade rules for the countries responsible for the bulk of the world's international commerce. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was established after the failure to agree upon an International Trade Organization following World War 11. Although GATT is not a specialized UN agency, it is normally included in the listings of UN related organizations. Under its auspices there have been a series of multilateral negotiating conferences over the years that have resulted in reductions of tariffs and other trade barriers. In recent years, however, there have been developments that have emphasized GATT's role as a forum for discussion and for the settlement of trade disputes. GATT is headquartered at the William Rappard Centre on the lakeshore in Geneva, Switzerland. The various multilateral trade negotiations have been consistently referred to as Tariff Rounds. The last was the Tokyo Round which ran from September 1973November 1979. A new series of negotiations which began in 1986 at Punta de1 Este, Uruguay is referred to as the Uruguay Round. With the importance of international trade matters, questions on GATT surface quite often in research libraries. Reference librarians may be The reason, hard pressed, however, to find answers to detailed questions. as indicated above, is that primary GATT documents are not usually available in libraries. GATT has long had a system of depository libraries, but it distributes to libraries only its publications--not its documents. Major publications include Basic Instruments and Selected Documents and its regular supplements as well as the annuals, GATT Activities and International Trade. A number of monographs have also been published, some of these containing specific agreements or codes arrived at during GATT conferences. Several general sources available from GATT are useful for For current information. One of these is the newsletter, GATT Focus. example, number 44, March 1987, includes a single column listing and summarizing the principle results of the tariff negotiating conferences from 1947 through the Tokyo Round. Also useful are the numerous Press CommuniquCs and a new series of releases entitled News of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. While numerous federal documents and journal articles contain GATT material, the great mass of detailed documents produced regularly by GATT Fortunately, a systemis restricted to governments of member countries. atic program for derestriction of documents exists, although some series are never derestricted. There is a basic period of about two years before Those needing detailed documents can be made available to the public. information should be aware of the existence of a monthly List 6 Index of Documents as well as an annual List & Index which are not restricted items. When the writer visited GATT in 1980 there was no way for libraries to acquire microfiche documents that were being made available to delegations. Within recent months, however, the writer learned that GATT documents are now being made generally available in microfiche after
Information
Update
603
The microfiche were formerly produced approximately a two-year period. only in diazo but the microfiche are now available on silver-based film Detailed information on the microform program with 98 frames per fiche. is contained in a two-page document entitled Microfiche and List & Index This document is accompanied of GATT Documents (INF/208, April 4, 1984). These GATT by a detailed seven-page List of Documents on Microfiche. documents represent an important resource, and the fact that they have now become available to libraries at a reasonable cost (the cost of the 1984 Detailed informaset was 500 Swiss francs) should be more widely known. tion and orders may be addressed to GATT, Translation and Documentation Division, Centre William Rappard, Rue de Lausanne 154, CH-1211 Geneva 21, Switzerland.
INTERNATIONAL
LABOR ORGANIZATION
(ILO)
CISDOC is the name of a new data base of the International Labor Office's International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre (CIS) that is now available on CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory). This new CD-ROM known as OSH-ROM also holds two major English language These are the British data bases on occupational safety and health. Health and Safety Executive's HSELINE and the U. S. National Institute of Occupatronal Safety and Health's NIOSHTIC. OSH-ROM holds approximately a quarter of a million citations, with keywords or abstracts from more than 500 journals and 100,000 standards and reports emanating from more than 50 countries. The citations cover more than 25 years and span a great many subjects and industries. This new CD-ROM is produced by SilverPlatter Information Services from data provided by the originators of CISDOC, HSELINE and NIOSHTIC. SilverPlatter provides its own search software and sells subscriptions. OSH-ROM is aimed at those who require ready access to the latest occupational safety and health data. A one-year subscription costs $900. Current plans call for updating OSH-ROM twice yearly, although updates may be issued quarterly later on. The search software will also be updated routinely. To use OSH-ROM, one needs an IBM PC (AT or XT) or compatible computer with 512 K memory, along with a printer if hard copy printouts are needed. For more details or to subscribe, contact: CIS, International Labor Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. (Extracted from ACCIS Newsletter, v. 4, no. 6, March 1987, p. 3.)
EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES
Several volumes received of interest to librarians, interest in post-war Europe.
from the European Communities archivists and others with
(EC) should be a particular
On June 28, 1983, Gaston Thorn, then President of the Commission of the European Communities, officially opened the historical archives of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). To mark the occasion a special volume was issued entitled the Opening of the Historical Archives of the European Communities to the Public. This 119-page volume which has been cataloged in the Library of Congress (LCCN:84-123221) bears ISBN:92-825-3409-X and the price is $14.
604
Information
Update
In 1987 the first in a series of inventories of the historical archives of the European Communities was received at LC. This impressive looking volume (361 p.) is entitled Records of the High Authority of the ECSC, 1951; Speeches, 1952-67. It bears the imprint date 1985 and carries ISBN: 92-825-4954-2. The price is $14. Because the EC IS operating on the 30-year rule, a single year of records is being opened at one time. The High Authority started work in Luxembourg August 10, 1952, and it is from that date the record period begins. The number of records open to the public will be fairly small for the early period but will increase year by year, especially from 1958 on when the European Economic Community and EURATOM were established. With the initial volume of records being quite small, it was decided also to include in this first volume a list of the speeches made by major European figures between 1952 and 1967. The introduction provides information on the general archives which cover the historical archives and current records; the question of access; and a description of finding aids. The record groups in this first volume are: Secretariat-General; External Relations; Transport; Coal; Steel and the Central Archives. The indexes to the records include subjects; per sonal names; the index of legal references and the place names; chronological index. These indexes are followed by a table showing the archival code and corresponding running number in the inventory. The section on speeches gives the list of speakers from 1952-1967 and indexes by subject, personal name, place name and "organizers." As stated it IS hoped that this publication and subsequent in the introduction, volumes will encourage researchers to make use of the EC historical archives as they become available. Another interesting volume received from the European Communities This publication gives bears the title Commlttes--in seven languages. seven language versions of each committee set up by the Commission of the The volume, which European Communities or under secondary legislation. is a compendium that contains seven alphabetical runs to 504 pages, Committees are listed by Directorate-General and within each indexes. The Directorate the committees appear in the order they were created. indexes give the key words for each entry and should be consulted first. The introduction points out that the committee titles have been fed termed This data bank, the the EC terminology data bank. into The compendium should prove to be a is updated regularly. Eurodicautom, useful reference work for linguists and all others concerned with the As an example, it should be detailed work of the European Communities. of Congress and other major very helpful to catalogers in the Library libraries that frequently have to do a considerable amount of research to identify the names of the many and varied EC communities.