International Documents for the 80’s: Their Role and Use. Proceedings of the 2nd World Symposium on International Documentation Brussels - 1980 [Reprint 2019 ed.] 9783110842579, 9783110087178

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International Documents for the 80's: Their Role and Use

International Documents for the 80's: Their Role and Use proceedings of the second world symposium on international documentation Brussels — 1980 TH.D. DIMITROV, Editor

L. MARULLI-KOENIG, Associate Editor

W DE G WALTER DE GRUYTER • BERLIN

1982

Copyright © 1982 by UNIFO Publishers, Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be produced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

This edition published 1982 by WALTER de GRUYTER, Berlin

CIP - Kurztitelaufnahme der Deutschen Bibliothek International documents for the 80's (eighties) : their role and use ; proceedings of the 2nd World Symposium on Internat. Documents, Brussels 1980 / Th. D. Dimitrov, ed. L. Marulli-Koenig, assoc. ed. - Berlin ; New York : de Gruyter, 1982. ISBN 3-11-008717-0 NE: Dimitrov, Theodore D. (Hrsg.); World Symposium on International Documents 02, 1980, Bruxelles

Manufactured in the United States of America

iv

T A B L E

OF

C O N T E N T S

Publisher's Note Foreword

- Dr. Davidson Nicol

Editor's Introduction

-

xi

Dr. Theodore D. Dimitrov

General Report of the Symposium

-

xvii

Prof. Franco A. Casadio PANEL

xxi

I

SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL

DOCUMENTATION

(Document numbers follow the series symbol: UNITAR/AIL/SYM.2/WP I/-) DOC. NO. REP 1

PAGE • OR FICHE NO. E. Gaskell J. Jeffries

2

R.

3

J.

4

J.

5

M.

6

J.

7

R.

Introductory Report - Panel I 1- 9 The Public Availability of European Community Documentary Sources 10-20 Cormier Les publications statistiques de l'organisation de coopération et de développement économiques Mf 1/34 - 42 Abstract in English 21 J. Cherns Intergovernmental Organizations As Publishers - A Critical Look 22-31 Fletcher International Comparative Statistics Produced by International Organizations . 3 2 - 4 7 H. Rogers et al The Visibility of International Socio-Economic Development Agency Documentation 48-58 M. Gibb Getting Scientific and Technical Information From the Producer to the User 59-62 Furstenberg Distribution and Acquisition of UN Documents . 6 3 - 6 8 P A N E L II

A C Q U I S I T I O N AND O R G A N I Z A T I O N O F I N T E R N A T I O N A L

DOCUMENTS

(Document numbers follow the series symbol: UNITAR/AIL/SYM.2/WP II/-) REP 1 2 3 4 5 6

L. E. Samarasinghe Introductory Report - Panel II K. Ishikawa Bibliographic Control & Servicing of International Organizations' Publications at the National Diet Library, Japan M. Zlatich Broad Terms of the United Nations System Report on the Work of the UNACC Task Force on Indexing Vocabularies L. E. Williamson Bibliographic Citation of International Documents: The Need for a Uniform Standard . . C. W. Kohler Intergovernmental Documents in One Large Academic LibraryOrganization for Retrieval E. G. Schaffer OAS Documentation in the Columbus Memorial Library from 1889 to the Present S. Simeonov The System of Documents of the International Organization for Standardization: A Case Study v

71-80 81-89 90-93 94 -101 102-115 116-124 125-142

PANEL 11

(continued)

DOC. NO. J. Clews 7 8

P. I. Hajnal

9

F. Cestac

10

D. Griffin

11

B. Hopkins

12

A. C. Keefer

13

S. Singh and

14 15

S. Sobel E. Levy S-M. Kleckner

16

M. Legere

17

D. Arnold

18

N. Dusoulier

19

L. Siler-Regan & and H. Bell

20

E. Krucoff

21

M. Gaudier

22

V. P. Gathright

23

K. Fukuda

24

I. Itina

25

D. H. Thompson

CONTENTS P A G E OR FICHE N O . Improved Bibliographic Control of U N Publications 143-148 Organization of Publications of the European Communities in the University of Toronto Library 149-156 Organisation des outils de b a s e des services linguistiques d'une organisation internationale . . . . Mf 1/44- 58 Abstract in English 157 The Acquisition of United Nations Publications 158-161 The Academic Research Library and International Documentation 162-167 Organization of American States: Document Organization, Distribution and Control . . 168-184 UNBIS Compatibility w i t h National and International Information Systems . . . . 185-192 United Nations Depository Libraries 193-198 Major Publications of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs 199-214 The Canadian International Development Agency and the Use of International Documents . . 215-223 Computerized Terminology as a n Aid to Information Retrieval 224-230 Coordination et harmonisation des systèmes d'information au sein des organisation de la famille des Nations Unies Mf 1/60- 66 Abstract in English . 231 Library Housing and Processing Patterns for Publications of International Governmental Organizations, 1977-1978 Survey 232-249 The Organization & Utility of European Community Publications: The Perspective of an Official Information Office 250-269 Selected European Community Publications...A Title Listing by Major Subject Category Annex M f 1/2- 14 L e support bibliographique d'un institut de recherche et d'enseignement . . . . Mf 1/68- 73 Abstract in English 270 The Organization and Work of the United Nations Information Centre Library, Washington,D.C. 271-276 Co-operation w i t h the United Nations Depository Libraries 277-280 Acquisition of Publications Issued by InterGovernmental Organizations 281-287 Reference List of Bibliographic Tools and Acquisition Sources of Intergovernmental Organization Publications Appendix M f 1/16- 32 Note o n Documentation in WHO 288-292

vi

CONTENTS PANEL 11

(continued)

DOC. NO. 26 N. K. Leneman 27

K. P. Sauvant

PAGE OR FICHE NO. Acquisition and Organization of the United Nations and Specialized Agencies Collections in the Dag Hammarskjold Library Characteristics and Availability of the Documentation of the Group of 77 and the Non-Aligned Countries

293-308 309-331

PANEL III UTILIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS (Documents numbers follow the series symbol: UNITAR/AIL/SYM.2/WP III/-) REP

A. J. N. Judge

1

E. E. Kaungamno

2

R. W. Schaaf

3

J. P. Chillag

4 5

E. A. Johansson G. Rozsa

6

L. Marulli-Koenig

7

E. Johansson E-:M. Tammekann C. Keren u. Jeppesen

G. Valyi G. Boisard V. Kutik 8 9

F. W. Riggs D. Fischer

10

M. Pease

11

G. E. Gorman and M. G. Bloom E. Masini

12 13

I. A. Hodosh Y. V. Stephenson

Introductory Report - Panel III 335-381 Use of International Documentation: Some of the Major Problems Facing Developing Countries 382-391 International Documentation: Serving Users' Needs 392-407 International Documentation at the British Library Lending Division 408-410 Use and User Attitudes in a National Library 411-416 On Some Features of the Documents of International Intergovernmental Organizations : Outline of a Study 417-419 Documentation of the United Nations System: 420-438 Bibliographic Control and Coordination . Reports from Depository Libraries - 1 Comments on the Experience of the 439-441 British Library 442-443 The Library of Parliament, Helsinki Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, 444 Tel-Aviv 445-446 The Royal Library, Copenhagen .... 447-449 Library of the Hungarian Parliament 450-451 Bibliothèque Nationale 452-454 University of Bratislava Library . . 455-456 Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid 457-522 Technical Jargon and Ordinary Language On the Potential Role of Information for Development 523-527 Fly the Blue Flag: United Nations Documentation as Evidence and Record of International Normative Activity 528-543 International Organization Documentation from a Development Studies Perspective . . . . 544-556 Note on the Topic:"Communication, Cultural Identity in an Interdependent World" . . . 557-558 Reports from Depository Libraries - 2 Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the U.S.S.R 559-561 University of Guyana Library 562 vii

CONTENTS PANEL IV ARCHIVES OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS DOC. NO. REP 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10

11

12 13

(Document numbers follow the series symbol: UNITAR/AIL/SYM.2/WP IV/-) PAGE OR FICHE NO. S. Welander S. Welander

Introductory Report - Panel IV Mf 2/2- 10 The "Guide to the Archives of International Organizations" Mf 2/12- 19 Archives et droit d'auteur . ^f 2/21- 29 M. Zarb M. Jarvinen Archival Finding Aids in International Organizations M f 2/30- 35 K. Bartolomeos Archival Material in the Organization of African Unity - The Need for Organization Mf 2/37- 41 A. M. E. Erlandsson The Relations between Archives and Libraries within the UN Family . . . . Mf 2/43- 53 R. Manning The Records of Conferences Resulting in Foundation of Organizations Mf 2/55- 58 G. Perotin Archives et documentations Mf 2/60- 63 F. B. Evans Access to Archives of United Nations Organizations Mf 2/65- 72 N. Paveskovic Registry & Archives Mf 2/74- 82 V. Y. Ghebali Les archives des organizations internationales: le point de vue du chercheur Mf 2/84- 90 C. Bertho Communication sur les archives des organisations internationales déposées aux Archives nationales à Paris Mf 2/92- 96 T. L. Welch and Description of the Archives of the M . A. Roidan Organization of American States . . . Mf 2A/100-115 H. Adolph Communication du Secrétaire général de l'Organisation commune africaine et mauricienne: notice historique et description sur l'OCAM et ses archives Mf 2A/117-144

BACKGROUND PAPERS INSTITUTIONAL PAPERS RELATING TO THE THEMES OF PANELS I, II & III (Document numbers follow the series symbol: 1 2

UNESCO C. Collins

3

UPU

4

UN, Geneva

5

WHO

UNITAR/AIL/SYM.2/BP -)

UNESCO Publications and Documents . . . . Documentation in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM Secretariat) Documents de l'Union postale universelle Basic Report on United Nations Documentation Distribution of WHO Publications

viii

M f 3/2-

8

Mf 3/10- 15 Mf 3/17- 19 M f 3/21- 26 Mf 3/28- 31

CONTENTS BACKGROUND PAPERS

(continued)

DOC.

No.

~~6

WIPO/OMPI

7

IMF

8 9

UN, New York FAO

10

M. Zlatich

11

ILO

12

EC

13

ICAO

14

OECD/OCDE

15

OCAM

16 17

NATO J. Clews

18

IAEA

19

B. Flores

20 21

GATT F. Casadio

22

B.I.S.

PAGE OR FICHE NO.

Les documents de l'Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle Mf 3/33- 42 Documentation of the International Monetary Fund Mf 3/44- 49 United Nations Documentation Mf 3/51- 58 Publications and Documentations of the Food and Agricultural Organization . . . . Mf 3/60- 71 Publications and Documentation Systems of the World Bank, the International Development Association and the International Finance Corporation Mf 3/73- 76 Publications and Documents of the International Labour Office Mf 3/78- 84 Publications and Documents of the European Communities Mf 3/86- 97 Report on Publications of the International Civil Aviation Organization Mf 3A/100-101 Les publications et documents de de l'Organisation de cooperation et de développement économique . . . Mf 3A/102-103 Notes sur certains aspects de la documentation à l'OCAM Mf 3A/105 Report on NATO Documentation Mf 3A/107-108 Documentation of the United Nations System: a Survey of Bibliographic Control and Suggested Methodology for an Integrated United Nations Bibliography . Mf 3A/110-154 Overview of the IAEA's Publications Programme Mf 3A/155-160 The South Pacific Commission Area and International Documentation . . . . Mf 3A/161-169 A Note on GATT Documents Mf 3A/170 Report and Recommendations of the 1972 Symposium Mf 3A/171-191 Rapport sur la documentation du B.I.S Mf 3A/192-195

Subject Index

563-569

Author Index

570

ix

PUBLISHER'S NOTE To provide the reader comprehensive coverage of the Symposium papers, it has been necessary to include microfiche. Panel IV, non-English papers, and lengthy annexes will be readily located on the five microfiches included in this publication

x

F O R E W O R D

(OPENING SYMPOSIUM ADDRESS BY DR, DAVIDSON NICOL.)

I would like to join in greeting our distinguished guests and participants, and welcoming you here to Brussels, on the occasion of the Second World Symposium on International Documentation. I present to you, on behalf of the United Nations and on behalf of its Secretary-General, Dr. Kurt Waldheim, heartiest greetings and best wishes for a successful symposium. I would particularly like also to greet and welcome those in the audience who have travelled here from the developing parts of the world. I know that in your profession as documentalists and librarians you have to cope and deal with unique and serious problems. You are located far away from the traditional centers of information and documentation. I would like to pay tribute to the outstanding services which, like your colleagues from the industrialized world, you render to your respective countries. I sincerely hope that these three days of discussion will be of some use and help to you in the performance of your duties. The United Nations at present, as you are well aware, is at a crucial stage of its existence. The Organization has undergone significant changes over the past two decades in an effort to respond and adapt to the ever increasing demands and challenges that members of the international community are placing on the world organization. From a relatively small group of fifty-one nations in 1945-46, the United Nations has developed into a truly worldwide organization which today comprises more than 150 sovereign member states. The United Nations system includes some 15 specialized agencies and, through its Economic and Social Council, the United Nations has established working relations with some 150 non-governmental organizations. The problems and issues that are debated within the United Nations system today go far beyond the expectations that one could have had at the time the UN Charter was drafted and adopted in San Francisco at the end of the Second World War. While it is true that the maintenance of international peace and security remains the primary concern of the United Nations, the Organization has come to realize, over the years, that real and lasting peace can only be achieved if peace keeping efforts are accompanied with a series of comprehensive peaceand-confidence-building measures and in particular steps leading to economic, cultural and social cooperation. It is in this connection that the plea of the developing countries for a more just and equitable international economic order has gained momentum. People of good will from all parts of the world are increasingly aware of the importance of this issue. A commission headed by Willy Brandt, former Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, has brought out a very interesting report and has made recommendations which might xi

succeed in rescuing us from our alarming situation. The UN Committee on Development Planning has similarly produced an important report on the subject. A special session of the General Assembly devoted to this subject is scheduled for the month of August this year and the members of the United Nations are actively preparing a new round of global negotiations designed to bring about genuine change in the world economic system.* Will all these efforts be successful? One can only hope that all the actors involved in the negotiations are fully aware of the seriousness of the situation and contribute to creation of the political will which is essential for making progress in this field. We have been particularly interested in this subject and arranged a Brandt Commission Report Symposium last month as part of our fifteenth Anniversary celebrations. Mrs. Therese Gastaut, the United Nations Representative in the Benelux countries, has brought to public attention the symposium of 40 parliamentarians from Western European countries who discussed the New International Economic Order on 2 and 3 June in Brussels, and we have noticed with great interest the Pact for Common Growth put forward by Minister Eyskens of Belgium. The fate of the industrialized countries is bound with that of the developing countries; both share in the crisis brought about by energy considerations. An inevitable default of debt payments from developing countries, as well as an oversurplus of one hundred and twenty billion dollars from oil producing countries, might lead to serious difficulties in the international banking system. It might lead to increased inflation and the unemployment of up to three million workers in the industrialized countries including Belgium. The problem is thus urgent and your task is important in providing the documentation to establish the knowledge and political will to avoid this situation. You now have to add subjects such as energy, science and technology, and the environment, to your expertise in helping to bring about international peace. The variety and complexity of the problems and issues with which the United Nations is faced at present obviously affect the work of documentalists and librarians concerned with international documentation. Their tasks have become enormous and the handling of the mass of information and documents that are produced every day becomes almost impossible, impossible at least for the user. Your crucial function consists in assisting all those (policy makers, advisers, scholars, researchers) who, in one way or another, depend on information and documentation to perform their duties in the best possible way. The problem of information - in particular the number and volume of international documents - has of course been a preoccupation not only of the United Nations itself but also, within the limits of their own activities, of the specialized agencies and other international organizations. For all, a difficult and delicate balance remains to be achieved: to avoid waste and exercise restraint without, at the same time, hampering the work and the efficiency of the United Nations system. The Secretary-General himself has pointed out that "documents are the most important working tools of the Organizations, and any excessive limitations imposed would risk creating impediments to the discharge of the functions of the United Nations and impairing the possibility of attaining its objectives". On the other hand, the production of documents has reached "astronomic figures" and it can seriously be questioned whether this mass of information and documentation can be utilized in any meaningful way. It is my hope that the Second World Symposium will be able to concentrate on this central issue and to come up with a set of recommendations designed to improve the present situation. * See Report in United Nations document A/S.11/25. xii

UNITAR, since its inception, has tried to make a contribution to the international community. The Institute, as an autonomous institution within the United Nations supported solely by voluntary contributions, is basically concerned with training and research. It has an international Board of Trustees, of which one of the most distinguished and long serving is Minister Raymond Scheyven of Belgium. I would like to pay tribute publicly in his country to his fourteen years of service to UNITAR as Board Member and financial adviser as well as for his other distinguished services to this UN organization. He has been appointed Senior Honourary Fellow of the Institute by the SecretaryGeneral. The Belgian Government has been unfailing in its contributions, both financial and intellectual, to UNITAR. One recalls among our staff members, Belgian scholars such as Dr. Edmond Janssens now of the Economic Commission of Europe, and Baron Simon-Pierre Nothomb once our UNITAR representative in Europe. Over 5,000 persons have profitted from UNITAR's training programmes for delegates, foreign service officers, national officials with duties involving international contacts, and international officials, particularly those serving the United Nations and its agencies. The UNITAR programmes cover two major areas: (a) multilateral diplomacy and issues of concern to international organizations, and (b) procedures and techniques of international co-operation and development. The Institute has organized numerous conferences, colloquia, symposia, seminars and panels, on substantive issues of current concern to the international community thereby providing an informal forum for the exchange of opinions and ideas among practising diplomats, international officials, and scholars. UNITAR has published more than 80 studies in the fields of peace and security, international organization, international development, and energy resources. It publishes two journals — UNITAR News and Important for the Future — in addition to its Annual Report to the General Assembly which carries a detailed account of its activities and publications. My own personal interest in your field of documentation has always been great. In the 1960s I served my country, Sierra Leone, as head of its University and helped to establish its library service as Chairman of its Library Board. Sierra Leone not only had documents dating as far back as the eighteenth century but also artifacts such as the De Ruyter stone - a rock which sixteenth and seventeenth century sailors like De Ruyter from Holland and Francis Drake of Britain had visited and on which they inscribed their names. I was also involved, with the great help of experts in your profession, in enlarging University libraries in West Africa. In the 1970s micro-electronic technology has started bringing about great changes in your profession. It should be regarded as a useful tool but not a substitute for your professional expertise which will always be necessary. Computers are servants and not masters of man. Their introduction should lead nevertheless to more intensified training and more varied employment of staff at all levels so that this advance in technology with its enormous capacity for storage of facts, can enhance the usefulness of the librarian and documentalist to the international community and to the worlds of learning and of government. At UNITAR, we have always attached great importance to the problem of international documentation. We co-sponsored the first International Documentation Symposium in 1972 which was held in Geneva under the leadership of Hernando Samper of Colombia. We tried to implement some of the recommendations xiii

formulated at that time, in particular the organization and conduct of training courses on UN documentation for members of Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, and more generally on international documentation in the form of advanced courses for documentalists and librarians from all over the world. The report on the first symposium is document UNITAR/ER/ SEMI/REP prepared by Dr. Franco A. Casadio of Italy and distributed to you. It was therefore directly in line with our mandate and history when UNITAR in Geneva, through Dr. Hans Geiser of Switzerland assisted by Miss Jocelyne Josiah of Guyana, took the initiative in organizing a Second World Symposium on International Documentation. I am happy and grateful to acknowledge that we would not have been able to organize this important event without the help and contribution of a number of people and institutions, first and foremost being the Association of International Libraries (AIL). I should like to express our gratitude to Mr. Theodore Dimitrov, its indefatigable President, and Mr. Oldrich Cerny, the able Secretary-General of AIL, for their invaluable contribution and assistance in the preparation and conduct of the symposium. Despite their busy schedules at the United Nations and the International Labour Organization in Geneva, respectively, they have given their free time and energy to the Symposium. This attests once more to the idealism which prevails among the professional circles of librarians and documentalists. Our gratitude also goes to all the sponsoring institutions and the members of the Executive Board (International Council of Archives, Federation of International Documentation, International Federation of Library Associations, Union of International Associations, and the United .Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and in particular to the Commission of the European Communities and its Chief Librarian, Mr. E. Gaskell, for the support and assistance which we received in the course of the preparation of the Symposium. A scientific symposium on international documentation obviously needed substantive input. We are grateful to the various chairman and rapporteurs of the four panels for their efforts to ensure the background documentation for the Symposium. It would take too much of our time to mention names, but looking at the distributed list of all those who prepared papers, notes and communications for the Symposium, I am sure you will agree with me that the number and quality of the papers prepared for the Symposium is impressive and, in a way, the best guarantee for successful and fruitful discussions over the coming three days. This symposium takes place in Brussels. There are many other places where we could have held it. The reason we decided to hold it in Brussels is the following: Belgium is celebrating this year its 150th anniversary of independence. What better way could there be for UNITAR to greet Belgium, than by covening our Symposium in Brussels. I am sure that all participants will join me in expressing our best wishes and our sincere thanks to the Belgian Authorities for receiving us. Belgium is multilingual like the United Nations and like the United Nations its peoples strive with some success to live in peace and harmony. We know that we have a very sympathetic and powerful friend here in Brussels. You all know him: His Excellency Professor E. Libhaers, Grand Maréchal de la Cour Royale de Belgique, who has just given us an inspiring welcome. Professor Libhaers has been instrumental with respect to this Symposium in all its aspects. He is himself a librarian by vocation and training - at present honorary President of the International Federation of Library Associations and he supported the organizers very strongly all through the preparation of xiv

the Symposium. We are most grateful to him for his help and assistance. In his capacity as President of the Symposium, together with Professor Franco Casadio of Rome University, who kindly agreed to act as General Rapporteur and whom we welcome very warmly, we have the best guarantee that the Second World Symposium will be an interesting and fruitful event during which all participants will benefit from their wide experience and guidance. We would like to express our deep respect to His Majesty King Baudoin whose devotion to scholarship is well known and admired. It gives me great pleasure to join in declaring open the Second World Symposium on International Documentation. Davidson Nicol Under-Secretary-General, United Nations Executive Director, UNITAR June 20, 1980 Palais des Congr^s Brussels, Belgium

xv

E D I T 0 R'S

I N T R O D U C T I O N

(DR. THEODORE DIMITROV's WELCOMING ADDRESS)

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Colleagues: I wish to express my gratitude to all of you who have come from many international organizations and from many countries to participate in this Second World Symposium on International Documentation. I would like to take this opportunity to compliment the City of Brussels, the radiant rival of Geneva, which — 60 years ago — came so close to winning the title of world capital when the decision was made on the location of the League of Nations. I also want to honor the many documentary activities which took place in Brussels, from the founding of the International Bibliographic Institute in 1895 to our present symposium. It was here in Brussels that Henri Lafontaine and Paul Otlet, at the beginning of the century, for the first time used the term "international documentation". It is here in Brussels that, due to the activities of the Union of International Associations, world issues are studied at an impressive level. Here, too, international living has been successfully practiced for many decades, helping to spread throughout the world essential facts about the international organizations. I wish to thank the Belgian Government for having extended such a warm welcome to us and for having granted us the use of the organizational facilities for this symposium at the wonderful Palais des Congr^s. Let us also thank all the member organizations which have contributed to convening this symposium. I should like to repeat how much I appreciate the privilege of cooperating with the United Nations Institute for Research and Training, which has always demonstrated a scientific, creative and positive approach to solving the many problems faced by international organizations. With your direction and support, Mr. Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, we have been able to carry out a number of projects such as graduate courses in international documentation, scheduled each year in Geneva, or courses for young diplomats on the utilization of documents. We also would like to thank our colleagues at CIA(ICA), FID, IFLA, UAI (UIA) and UNESCO who share with us the same professional interests. For the first time, we are working together with the Commission of the European Communities which seems like a symbol of cooperation between world, regional and functional organizations. I also want to thank our presidents and Reporters, as well as the experts who wrote the working documents xvii

they all have contributed to solving the constant problems generated by international documentation. W e are all extremely sensitive to the great influence of information and documentation on the future of our civilization. W e are now prepared - better than ever before, and certainly better than 8 years ago to study these issues in view of their solution. Historically shaped by one organization and linked to a n institutional order, international documentation came into being w i t h the foundation of the first international agencies. Since then, it has grown and reached the extraordinary complexity of our times, trying to achieve its goal, namely, to accomplish an unprecedented cooperation in the development of humanity. Inter national documentation follows and reflects scientific development and concretizes in syntheses the universal knowledge of relations in times of peace, tension, or war. Current trends of research are reaching exclusive dimensions w h i c h prove that among sources of information, such as government documents or works produced by the scientific community, international documents have their place as a primary source of information. They are inseparable from research and contain the essence of current world problems. Their informative value is geared to serve: a) the international organizations from w h i c h these documents originate and where they are used as working tools, b) the national governments of the member-states, and finally, c) the entire international

community.

Shall w e try to prove in the course of this symposium that the function of informing, raised to the level of shaping the future, is determined to become the primary function, the basic function, the most substantial function in the activities of any inter-government or non-government organization? This unique function of information fulfills itself through documentation and thus justifies the very existence of these organizations. International documents are synthetical; they reflect and summarize information in the fields of social sciences, exact sciences, and technology in order to enable this information to b e used in the framework of cooperation. Documentation is not limited to presenting isolated facts and events, but it views problems from the broadest possible angle. Its outstanding features are the comparison and interpretation of facts, the standardization of the application of new methods, and universality. Documentation is destined to play a role in'the life of nations without knowing any borders. Consequently, international documentation takes unprecedented and unique forms w h i c h by themselves contain the richness of research and international activities. Its complexity reveals the inherent difficulties of the social sciences and of international relations. Generally accessible, it has to serve all the countries in the world without discrimination, and mainly those that need it most. One should not forget that international documents are originals which, by their content as well as their form, represent the source of basic information that, in many areas, is the only competent source for providing information. The significance of our symposium lies in the concept that it is presently the only m e d i u m for dealing with the numerous problems faced by international documentation. The Gordian knot among our concerns is, as it has always

been, the coordination of the information policies as they are currently applied by the various organizations, and, above all, the coordination of their information systems. However, this kind of coordination is beginning to take shape due to the United Nations' bibliographical information system. The inefficiency of a number of coordination bodies and information systems has led to structural changes. Efforts made by the Inter-Organizations Board for Information Systems (IOB) have been rewarded with the completion of some remarkable projects in the past three years. The identification and coordination of the activities of international information systems remain an essential task. The primary goal of all our efforts is to achieve a bibliographical control of international documents. A number of projects and experiments will be evaluated during the course of this symposium. We have constantly tried to approach international documentation at different levels: administrative, bibliothecal-economical, and scientific, each approach attempting to solve the basic problem of volume and usefulness of international documentation. This issue had prompted the 64 recommendations made at the International Symposium in August 1972, which aimed at increasing the efficiency of the international documentary system. Many of those proposals have remained dead letter, especially those of a more general nature. Still, we can report today that a substantial number of projects have been carried out, even though some of the recommendations are still at the stage of initial planning. During the coming three days, we shall try to promote them to a more concrete stage, to the level of better coordination in view of future action. Some of the documents presented at the symposium are rather touching because of the issues they raise, such as the erosion of the collective memory, or the alarmed appeal of one of our colleagues who calls on librarians and documentalists to be more aware of their responsibilities. As early as 1966, our president, Professor Liebaers, at a conference held by the Association of International Libraries at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, has formulated the requirements that we are committed to meet. We have some good examples. A pleiad illustrates by their way of life what a librarian, a documentalist, and an international archivist should be like. At the practical and, since the First Symposium, at the theoretical level, the list of these eminent colleagues grows constantly longer. First of all, we should mention Florence Wilson, the first woman director in Europe and the founder of the Library of the League of Nations in 1919. Other great personalities such as Sevensma, Breycha-Vauthier, De Madey, Liebaers, Arntz, Landherr, Haden, Baby, Leymarie, Vladimirov, Harry Winton, and many others present here today have supported the role of international documents in times of peace and of war. In the course of increasing internationalization, librarians, documentalists and international archivists are dedicated to playing a vital role of liaison within the network of international information. They are expected to apply uniform working methods and to conform to the standards of handling international documents that insure a genuine transfer of information. Besides having linguistic qualifications, they are required to interpret the documents which put them in close contact with their clients. Therefore, in order to be able to expertly handle documents, it is necessary for them to know the organizations, their methods and their statutes. International documentation should serve the cause of peace by means of international cooperation. It is therefore a noble task that falls on librarians, documentalists, and international archivists. Their position close to the decision-makers at national and intergovernmental levels adds another facet to the complex responsibilities that devolve on us. xix

Are w e capable of drawing the connecting line between the present situation and the ideal situation? O n this basis, our work will be part of the patient and efficient efforts of the advocates of progress. The stakes are high. However, let us be optimists and think positively, for those who possess information are able to know, are able to act, because pioneer information has become the most precious of our national and international possessions. I w i s h all of y o u success as well as excellent results during the coming days of study and work. Theodore D. Dimitrov Chief, Processing Section United Nations Library, Geneva President, A I L June 20, 1980 Palais des Congr^s Brussels, Belgium

xx

SECOND WORLD SYMPOSIUM ON INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTATION

FINAL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS (CONDENSED TEXT) BY PROFESSOR FRANCO A. CASADIO SOCIETÀ ITALIANA PER L'ORGANIZZAZIONE INTERNAZIONALE, ROME

Organization of the Symposium Information has become an essential function of intergovernmental organizations, which results from their research work based on their practical experience in the international field. The activity of the international community is reflected in an enormous mass of documentation. Since the first symposium on international documentation, held in Geneva in 1972, a considerable number of important developments on several aspects of international documentation had taken place. The Second World Symposium had to provide answers to urgent needs for examining the action taken with respect to the recommendations drawn up in 1972, to adapt a large number of these recommendations to new conditions, and to act on new problems affecting information activities taking place in the international organizations. The Second World Symposium on International Documentation, held at the Congress Palace from 20 to 22 June 1980 in Brussels, was organized by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Association of International Libraries (AIL), under the auspices of the following organizations: International Council on Archives (ICA), International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), International Federation for Documentation (FID), United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Union of International Associations (UIA), with support of the Commission of the European Communities. xx i

The preparatory work was assured by an Executive Council consisting of the following members: Prof. Helmut Arntz, President of the FID; Mr. Theodore Dimitrov, President of the AIL; Mr. Robert Fenaux, Honorary Ambassador, Secretary General of the UIA; Mr. Charles Kecskemeti, Executive Secretary, ICA; Dr. Davidson Nicol, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Executive Director of UNITAR; Mr. Vladimir Orlov, Director, Dag Hammarskjold Library, United Nations, New York; Mr. Jacques Tocatlian, Director, General Information Programme, UNESCO; Miss Margreet Wijnstroom, Secretary General of IFLA. An Organization Committee was composed of: Mr. Oldrich Cerny, Secretary General, AIL; Mr. Theodore Dimitrov,•President, AIL; Mr. Hans Geiser, Officer-in-Charge, UNITAR, Geneva; Miss Jocelyn Josiah, Symposium Secretary, UNITAR, Geneva, coordinated the carrying out of various decisions. The Symposium worked in four large working groups: -

Group I

:

Sources of international documentation

-

Group II

:

Acquisition and organization of international

-

Group III :

Use of international documentation

-

Group IV

Archives of international organizations

documents :

Group I was chaired by Mr. H. Waldner, Chief Librarian, United Nations Library, Geneva, with Mr. E. Gaskell, Chief Librarian of the European Communities, serving as Rapporteur. Group II was chaired by Mr. J. Leymarie, Honorary President, Association of International Libraries, with Mr. L. E. Samarasinghe, Chief of the Section for Information Infrastructures Development, Division of Information Programme, UNESCO, serving as Rapporteur. Group III was chaired by Professor H. Arntz, President of FID, with Mr. Anthony Judge, Assistant Secretary General of UIA, serving as Rapporteur. Group IV was chaired by Dr. C. Wyffels, General Archivist, General Archives of the Kingdom of Belgium, General Secretary of the ICA, with Mr. S. Welander, Chief, Section of Historical Collections, League of Nations Archives, United Nations, Geneva, serving as Rapporteur. The Symposium brought together all those who, professionally, had a permanent interest in the publications of international organizations. One hundred forty-two participants, coming from sixty-two countries, took part in the deliberations on a personal basis without the responsibility of their organization being involved. Forty-five persons representing the Symposium organizers, or their organizations, made their contribution towards the success of the Symposium. A list indicating the names, functions and addresses of the participants was published under the heading UNITAR/AIL/SYM.2/BP XXIV. For financial reasons, an important number of participants could not directly take part in the work of the Symposium. Special efforts should be made in the future to secure the funds necessary to assure the participation of proxxii

fessionals from developing countries. In spite of these difficulties, Brussels served as a magnet, thanks to the splendid facilities made available by the Belgian government, the Commission of the European Communities and the Union of International Associations. To allow participants to take part in all sessions, and thus to be informed of all questions discussed, the Organization Committee decided to use the system of consecutive, rather than parallel sessions in the work of the Symposium. Given the special questions concerning the theme of International Archives, Working Group IV met separately. Thus, Groups I, II and III met just after the opening session according to the following timetable: -

Group I

:

20 June from 11:30 to 13 hours and from 14:30 to 16:30 hours

-

Group II

:

20 June from 16:30 to 18 hours and 21 June from 9 to 13 hours

-

Group III :

21 June from 14:30 to 18 hours and 22 June from 9 to 10:30 hours

Each Working Group was able to hold its discussions on the basis of a Group Report and working documents which were presented. 28 institutional and 68 individual reports formed the basis for the drafting of recommendations presented in this report. The Symposium examined in greater detail questions dealing with: -

a better understanding of the role of international documentation and an improvement in all means and procedures with respect to its production, organization and use;

-

the introduction of the most effective bibliographic control and document processing at all stages of documentation using the most modern means, procedures and techniques;

-

the improvement of the presentation, distribution and use of international documentation from the user's point of view.

A series of recommendations were adopted in order to improve the production, organization and use of international documents. At the opening session, the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UNITAR, Dr. Davidson Nicol, emphasized the importance of working documents of the United Nations and very particularly the role of documentation for developing countries. He also greeted the Belgian people on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Belgian Kingdom. Professor Herman Liebaers, Grand Marshal of the Royal Court and Honorary President of IFLA, summarized the developments in the international documentation field which had taken place since the first Symposium. In his opening speech, Mr. Theodore Dimitrov, President of the AIL, paid tribute to the city of Brussels where multiple documentary activities had been developed from the creation of the International Institute of Bibliography in 1895, to the holding of the Second World Symposium. He described the historic stages of international documentation, its functions and the tasks which it should carry out by drawing up a dynamic assessment of the field, and recalling the illustrious professionals active in it. The closing plenary session was held from 11:30 to 13 hours on 22 June in xxiii

the Albert 1st Room, under the chairmanship of Mr. Herman General Rapporteur, Professor Franco A. Casadlo, Chairman Committee of the Union of International Associations, and Italian Society for International Organization, presented subjects to be covered in the final report.

Liebaers. The of the Directing Director of the the main lines of

A reception was offered on 20 June by the Foreign Affairs Ministry in the halls of the Egmont Palace. Participants visited, collectively or individually, the Royal Library, the Library of the Commission of the European Communities, the City Hall and other locations.

General considerations The quantity of documentation produced by the international organizations is enormous and has continued to increase. Impressive figures are available. According to one source, United Nations' documentation reached 300 million pages in 1979. Other sources indicate that the real quantity of this production was 3 times that figure. With reference to several international organizations as is the case of the European Communities - two distinct phenomena were added: the increase in the number of member countries, with the resultant increase in the number of working languages and the growth of the work. While this may be a natural phenomenon, it would be interesting to study those cases in which it has been possible, if not to reverse the tendency, at least to slow down the growth. Recommendation: - It is recommended that the Permanent Committee encourage or // 1 undertake research, assigning it to the most appropriate institutions, on the quantitative aspects of international documentation. This research could focus, during the first stage, on the United Nations family of organizations and the European Communities. It should then be extended, insofar as possible, to all "regional" or subregional organizations. In a later phase, it could be concerned with the production of documentation by the hundreds of more important nongovernmental organizations. The significance of the phenomenon of the quantity of international documentation becomes clearer if one examines the effective use that is made of this documentation. It means evaluating to what extent this enormous quantity of documentation succeeds in influencing the decisions and behavior of the great number of actors in world society. The phenomenon has at least three particularly interesting aspects. First:: the feeling of saturation from international documentation that one notes among everyone who feels unable to "control" its utilization. Second: the rather high quantity of documentation uncontrolled, in other words, practically lost. Third: the conviction that, in international documentation, a very great wealth of information is not being used adequately. As was already commented on at the 1972 International Symposium, a reduction in the number of documents produced would facilitate the improvement of quality, but it would seem that the solution to the problem lies less in the decrease in quantity than in the improvement of use. The criterion used to measure use of international documentation, socalled effective documentation, retains its value. This expression concerns the relationship which, for a given international organization, exists between, on the one hand, the volume of international facts and events which that xx iv

organization is studying or which it considers to fall under its competence, and, on the other hand, the quantity of documentation effectively produced. This relationship is very high, in the sense that the international organizations normally take account of a very great number of events in their documentation. The relationship which is defined as that of selective documentation seems to be less positive. It concerns the relationship existing between, on the one hand, the documentation which is circulated by the international organization in question, and, on the other hand, the proportion of this documentation which is effectively and profitably used. Potential users of international documentation are not presently in a position to take advantage fully of its potential. The effect and impact of international documentation on the decisions and behavior of the "actors" in world society are very different, case by case, because of a whole series of different factors. In certain cases, such as in the framework of the European Communities, it can clearly be observed that documentation directs and influences practical action for governments as well as for businessmen. This results from the fact that the documentation contains the basic rules for economic integration, rules which it is nearly impossible to ignore. It is so in the United Nations family, especially with respect to the action that is taking place to establish a "new international economic order". It is in the international documentation that the arguments and facts are put forward concerning the injustices of the previous economic order and the urgent need for a new economic order. In the field of human rights, international documentation has furnished, in support of various claims, arguments which have been widely used to influence world public opinion. The field of human rights is one of those in which the documentation produced by international non-governmental organizations appears still more important than that produced by intergovernmental organizations. The hundreds of thousands of documents produced by the international organizations, as well as the different stages of life of each of these documents from production to classification, from storing to its final utilization represent one of the important information systems that exist in world society today. The information system represented by international documentation has shown special characteristics: longer life of information, ability to collect information, greater capacity to faithfully reflect the dynamics of international reality; all are essential for the needs of scientific research as well as for any well-advised political decision. In recent years, the system of international documentation has not been affected by the controversies with respect to freedom of information, as has been the case of the mass media. During recent years, the information system represented by international documentation has been developing in parallel with other information systems. One of these systems consists of international meeting documentation which, in an ever-increasing number of cases, has been covered outside existing inter-state organizational structures. It is enough to think of the "summit meetings" between countries of a certain importance or belonging to a given region. Another large information system consists of the documentation of transnational associations or international non-governmental organizations. Several reasons could be brought forward to underline the importance of this information system; the large number of international non-governmental organizations (certainly at least 7000); the large number of international meetings arranged xxv

by these organizations (in 1979, at least 4600); their ability to understand the reality of world problems which run the risk sometimes of not being taken into account by the inter-state organizations; the use of the network of transnational relations as an alternative to the network of intergovernmental relations. Recommendation: - It is recommended that the Union of International Associa// 2 tions study with the Permanent Committee the conditions required to carry out research which, taking as a point of departure the previous work tools prepared by the U.I.A. over several years - such as the Yearbook of International Organizations, the annual International Congress Calendar, the Repertory of Periodicals published by International Non-governmental Organizations and others - making it possible for the main documentation centres to obtain: - the periodical and non-periodical publications of by field of interest or by specialty

NGOs,

- other basic documentation capable of influencing an evaluation of the influence exercised by the NGOs and their national committees, as well as their capacity to represent efficiently basic interests and directions. The system of scientific documentation coincides in part with the information systems mentioned heretofore. It coincides to a great extent with the information system peculiar to transnational associations (international nongovernmental organizations). It coincides to a great extent with the information system of inter-state organizations (it suffices mentioning WHO, IAEA, UNESCO or even UNEP). It intervenes to a slight degree in the information system represented by inter-state conferences organized outside the institutional structure of intergovernmental organizations.

Recommendation: - It is recommended that the Permanent Committee explore the // 3 possibility and research condition concerning the quantity of international scientific documentation which, for its production and distribution, makes use of governmental and intergovernmental channels. Afterwards, the quantity of documentation using non-governmental or transnational channels should be compared. The comparison with the other large information systems makes it easier to define the information system represented by international documentation. The question is still open of how to define documents,from a strictly technical point of view. One should not forget all the formal problems of definition linked to the world of "archives". In the larger field of international documentation, different types of information systems can however be rather clearly defined. A first criterion of definition is based on the means employed in the phase of collection and in the development of information, such as a library or an archive. Secondly, there are the criteria based on sub.j ect-matter. One can indeed speak of an information system concerned with human rights, or a documentation system concerning international finance. This last system of documentation draws its importance from the fact that it must bring out the points in common of all 80 institutions which presently operate in the field of finance. It has xxvi

been noted that, presently 335 different documentation systems exist in the United Nations family. Each of these systems has its own reason for existing. Moreover, around 80 of these systems have already been the object of automation. Some have developed in a co-ordinated fashion. Not only can one speak of a United Nations documentation system made up of dozens of minor systems, but also of a United Nations family information system, the elements of which are dozens of systems, each made up of sub-systems. The large international organizations which have been occupied up to the present with information or documentation, now find themselves faced with the problem of drawing the true geography of various information and documentation systems. Some of these systems are autonomous in their choice of terminology and logic. Each of these different documentation systems is rooted in its social and cultural environment. A functional and efficient documentation system influences the life of society in whose structure it is embedded. Crises which have overtaken different types of society are none other than crises affecting the system of production, circulation and collection of information. This explains the importance, universally recognized in recent years, of information and education as indispensable instruments for economic development and social transformation. One of the first consequences of this realization is the responsibility to everyone who wants to make use of the enormous wealth of information hidden in international documentation. First, responsibility for keeping records of events, in the name of the continuing international community; second, responsibility of making use of the accumulated records, by placing them in the cultural context of different societies; third, responsibility for making sense out of all that takes place under the prescription of information policy. Among the different problems raised by the management of international documentation, three in particular draw our attention: information policy; documentation centres and especially their location; and documentation workers, that is the staff working in the field of international documentation. In the last ten years, the international organizations have proved increased capacity as compared with the past to give sense and balance their information policy. The documentation systems seem clearly more tional when considering them individually as well as standardized in a more efficient manner when considering them on a comparative bases.

their to funcmuch

However, not always have documentation systems helped scientific and technological progress. The delay is due to insufficient investment, to conservative tendencies and to the insufficient development and testing of new methods of storage and treatment of the documentation. The problem of location with respect to space for documentation centres is linked to their size. Several concepts can be involved. One can make reference to the place where they are set up (in one or another country, in one or another city) or the place that they occupy in the cultural structure (in the academic world, the business world or in foreign policy decision centres). In certain cases, this location corresponds to a real cultural multicentre. The documentation centre in the nuclear field supported by the headquarters of the IAEA is an example of this. xxvii

The study of the "geography" of documentation centres leads us to conclude the environment Influences the "degree" of documentation. The location of the instruments of documentation, as well as their real effectiveness, requires that two different elements be examined: first, the variety of instruments, from libraries to documentation centres, from archives to information centres; the size of these centres is a function of the quality of the documents contained therein, of the depth of the information collected, as well as the range of subjects covered by the documentation centre. The material location of documentation centres only represents one of the factors contributing to make a given country, university or cultural environment a place which has an important, or, on the contrary, a limited degree of documentation. Accumulation and development of documentation are essentially active functions, in which, in addition to the documentalist, the last user of the documentation is involved. It is, above all, in these last stages of use of documentation that one discovers the reasons for insufficient use of documentation and for a low relationship by use of selective documentation. Recommendation: § 4

_

It is recommended that the Permanent Committee make a feasibility study, not only on the location of documentation centres, but also on their density with respect to the academic or operational environment.

Finally, the documentation operator should be better defined. Since this type of categorization exists already in the economic and cultural fields, it can also be applied to the field of documentation. Many specialized meetings in the field of documentation have already pointed out such a necessity. In any case, the documentation operator must be defined in the largest possible sense. Presently, the category of documentation operators includes, in particular, those involved in the stages of acquisition, storage and development of documentation. It must now include all those contributing to the production of documentation and involved in its real use, up to the moment when a document results in an action or an event. A better definition of the role of the documentation operator results in a more precise determination of professionalism. This question of professionalism involves three different problems, which include: first, the relationship which should exist between the problems to be solved and functions performed; second, the continual and constant revision of different functions performed by the documentation operator; third, the training and retraining of this category of operators.

Production and sources of international documentation Having examined the overall general implication of the problem of international documentation, more specific questions may now be addressed. These relate to the recommendations necessary for the documentation production stage, to be followed by those dealing with processing, storage, development, and, finally, use. The stage of international documentation production involves several problems. First, the documentation producers are involved. Certain principles must be followed in the direction and guidance of production. Many problems emerge from document content. They also relate to the results which are sought from production and to the distribution and use of the documentation. xxviii

With respect to International documentation producers, the debate brought out three main groups of ideas. It was pointed out that a large number of publications which form part of international documentation are in fact produced by a rather small number of international organizations. In each of these organizations, the so-called collective authors, even when they are more than one hundred, as in the case of the United Nations, are rather well-known. They have references, abbreviations and names which are precise and unique. Recommendation: - It is recommended that the Authority List of collective authors be updated, that another one hundred entries be added # 5 to the present list (which already consists of more than 300 intergovernmental international organizations), with their respective organs, if these have sufficient autonomy to be considered "authors" of publications. It is further recommended to add to the Authority List, perhaps as a special section, at least 2000 of the 13,000 international nongovernmental organizations covered in the Yearbook of International Organizations issued by the Union of International Associations. The number of issuing organs increases geometrically the duplication of effort and layering of documentation production, causing waste and confusion among users. The autonomy enjoyed by each organization, and each organ results from its natural dependence on a group of countries, associations or individuals who in fact determine the "policy" of that organ. Recommendation: - It is recommended that the Permanent Committee launch a # 6 series of studies on the lack of coordination between organs in the same organization and between the policies and information systems of organizations. Some of these studies should examine in depth the over-production or redundancy or documentation by subject, i.e., in relation to the topics covered. Other studies should examine redundancy in the documentation dedicated to a country or a region of the world. The cases of several developing countries were brought up on which several organizations had produced studies and documents which the respective governments had not been able to use effectively. Meetings should be organized to facilitate the exchanges of ideas among the officials responsible for documents production. Contacts should be established among those officials and librarians in their organization. The production of every document should be regularly preceded by searches for relevant material in the data bank of the issuing organization and those of organizations active in the same field. Beginning from the document production stage, an international organization should have an effective archival service. Recommendation: - Each international organization - especially when it is made # 7 up of many issuing organs which could cause difficulty in documentation production control - should have not only an adequate archival service, but should also establish an effective records management system. It should be able to use appropriate methods, have an adequate budget and, in particular have highly qualified personnel. The principles and criteria governing international documefttation production can be important from a qualitative viewpoint. It would appear to be urgent: - to review, and possibly to standardize, the classification X X ix

system for material issued as publications and documents, or which are destined from the outset for the archives, through records management, and, - to define the terminology for archival classification. The following recommendation addresses not qualitative but quantitative considerations in international documentation production. It was proposed that: - the guidelines used by the United Nations to limit the quantity of documentation produced be applied also by the other intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), as well as by the international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) , which together are the main producers of this documentation, - the reduction of the quantity of international documentation be attained not only by reducing the number of documents and copies, but also by any other means as, for example, by shrinking the format. - note should be taken of the ever-increasing costs of "cultural production" and the effect of such on international documentation production. Recently, apprehension has become apparent among "cultural operators" due to the prohibitive cost of printing. Recommendation: It is recommended that the Permanent Committee examine and # 8 study production costs for documentation and the elements making up these costs (paper, printing, preparation and development of the content of documents, etc.), as well as the possibilities presently existing to increase the quantity of international documentation placed on the commercial publication market. In several cases, the Symposium participants brought up problems of invisible, underground and grey documentation. This term includes publications and documents not having all the characteristics of a publication. Especially in the economic and financial field, it appears that this category of documents, containing precious data and information that is sometimes unique, amounts to 60% of publications which are formally capable of being catalogued. Certain regional organizations have recently taken the initiative to include "grey documentation" in their data banks. Many stated that they were against the practice, already widespread in many organizations, of considering as "classified" and "confidential" a great amount of documentation, even if such was not really necessary. This resulted in important damage to research which could be based on this documentation. Declassification, affecting all international documentation, is based on different criteria when applied to archives. The problem arises, particularly, when it concerns access to archival material originally of a confidential nature. In this regard, it is difficult to evaluate potential damage; whether or not it will take place can depend on discretion. An attitude of excessive caution is as dangerous as one of excessive liberality. Finally, many called attention to the ideal relationship which should exist between improvements in document production and standardization. The production of international documentation can initially be influenced by the type and kind of eventual users, or, at least, by those who are the primary users. Also, production can depend on the way information systems operate, i.e., the way in which potential readers and users are reached. A xxx

hierarchical classification of documentation produced by an international organization has been proposed, this being based on number of users. The users ask those responsible for documentation production to introduce technical innovations, such as microforms, or even simple improvements in the flyleaves or in symbols used. The field of archives offers a classical example for documentation producers and users when it comes to harmonizing standards for operating archives (on which the producers have at least an indirect influence), and standards for records management of international organizations. Documentation processing has been studied based on three stages, or rather, three main aspects: material dissemination and acquisition of the publication, establishment of bibliographical data, and finally, archival preservation with its special features. The previous Symposium analyzed each of these stages, making it possible to limit the present analysis to main themes. Concerning the dissemination of the documentation, the following recommendations were drafted: Recommendation: More efféctive means should be employed in the marketing of # 9 publications. Improvements in the distribution and marketing of international documents are urgently needed. Marketing implies the development of an image, good publicity and an active sales force, since the public rarely sees IGO publications in bookshop windows or in advertisements. The user's ignorance of the existence of publications is the main reason for a disappointing use level. This could be overcome by more systematic marketing of publications through the book trade or through co-publishing with commercial firms. Also, publicity should be aimed at public libraries in order to reach the general (non-research) public. Still another approach would be to charge a professional organization (e.g., INSPEC, NFS, AIL) to identify and disseminate the material. Overall, it should be emphasized that an effective sales policy reaches more people than does free distribution. Recommendation: There is a serious gap in the coverage of IGO documentation by // 10 the commercially available indexing and abstracting services. Improved coverage in reviewing, and in indexing and abstracting journals, would benefit users. Symposium participants felt that the availability of documentation depends, above all, on the degree of identification in document lists, i.e., the list by means of which the researcher can find the document he needs in a reasonable time. With respect to the form of presentation of document lists, two recommendations were prepared: Recommendation: In order to improve the information about the availability of # 11 international documents, it is recommended that steps should be taken towards the publication of a common monthly newsletter, or bulletin, listing, by broad subjects, the documentation of the various international organizations (both inside and outside the United Nations system). This newsletter should preferably be the responsibility of one of the institutions of the United Nations system and should be offered for sale to libraries and other interested institutions. xxx i

Recommendation: Indéxes of the documentation of the various intergovernmental # 12 organizations should be offered for sale to libraries which are not depository libraries of these organizations. Such indexes will facilitate interlibrary lending in research libraries. Various forms of cataloguing were discussed including descriptive and subject. There is satisfaction with a whole new series of tools which have become available during the last few years. First, bibliographic description and analysis are facilitated by indexing repertories using standard descriptive and essential elements, and by the use of standard criteria for the citation of documents. Second, the widest possible use of reference instruments used by the United Nations was recommended. In recent years, these were harmonized and standardized in order to better respond to the needs of users. It would be useful to recommend simultaneous and systematic use - and if necessary, arrange for relevant training of librarians - of the following instruments: UNDOC Current Index Reference Manual, UNBIS Data Elements Dictionary, UNBIS Reference Manual for Bibliographic Descriptions, UNBIS Catalogue Manual. Third, concerning role of the broad co-operation with macro-thesauruses

macro-thesauruses, three elements were explored in depth:the system of indexing terms used by United Nations agencies, UNISIST programmes in this area, and compatibility among of different international organizations.

Other issues considered were: - the need for more comprehensive bibliographic control of international documentation with the possibility of achieving Universal Bibliographical Control. - improving the currency and scope of existing bibliographic tools. Suggestions included new editions of UN Sales Publications and UN Document Series Symbols, and the production of the UNDOC Current Index not only in English, but also in other languages. - the very definite problem of the obstacles that the use of copyright imposes to citation and dissemination of a document's content. Particular attention was devoted to the criteria for cataloging international documentation and for making bibliographic data available in data bases. Two series of recommendations were drawn up. Certain of these were addressed to documentation producers. Recommendation: Bibliographical data produced by the organizations of the # 13 United Nations family should be incorporated in a consolidated data base, which should be accessible on-line through the telecommunication networks from host computers operating on a commercial basis.

xxx ii

Recommendation: In order to ensure some coherence in the data produced by // 14 the different organizations, it is recommended that the organizations follow international standards for the production of their bibliographic descriptions, in particular: - the international organizations in the United Nations system should agree on a set of essential data elements for bibliographic description; - the organizations should adopt standard bibliographic practises such as AACR-2 in the bibliographic descriptions; - the organizations should agree on a compatible list of descriptors for the subject analysis of their documentary material; - the organizations should prepare authority lists of their own organizational bodies and make them available to the other organizations; - cataloguing-in-publication should be practised more broadly by international organizations. Recommendation: In order to improve the possibilities for exchanging data, # 15 it is recommended that the organizations take steps to adopt the final format for bibliographic exchange which will be proposed by the UNESCO Ad Hoc Group on the Establishment of a Common Communication Format. In the process of storing information about a document, account must be taken of the interests of the users of the documentation being processed. Three recommendations are involved: Recommendation: Bibliographic information added to the data base should be # 16 such as to enhance the interest of the data base to commercial data base suppliers. In particular, the period between the publication of the document and the entry of the bibliographic record into the data base should be considerably shortened. Recommendation: Steps towards the adoption of modern technology should be // 17 outlined in a simple manual which would assist medium-sized documentation units in their efforts to standardize their methods and link up with large international data bases. Recommendation: Available word processing capacity should be utilized to // 18 create machine readable data bases and printed reference tools. A study identifying the means of introducing a wider use of word processing capabilities in the international organizations for application in documentation activities should be undertaken. With respect to international organizations making available more selective documentation services, some proposals were drafted:

xxxiii

Recommendation: The international organizations should produce bibliographic // 19 catalogues with subject analysis as well as a clearer descriptive analysis. The international organizations should then become aware of the most frequently requested subjects. Also, they should identify the fields and subjects whose documentation is under-utilized due to obstacles to its use. Recommendation: The user interested in a particular subject should be in a # 20 position to select documentation of interest to him in each organization dealing with the same subject, and not just in the "dominant" organization. This is a problem which can be labelled as horizontal extension of subjects and occupations. It is an additional reason to aim for a unified IGO "data-base". The most problematic aspects of documentation availability were examined by concentrating on two distinct problems: creation of "international depositories" and "integrity of archival funds". Depository libraries are situated so as to serve a region, in the largest sense of the term. An examination was made of their promotional capability, i.e., their ability to become an important stimulus in the research chain or in the distribution of information. The use of mini-computers for on-line services to access IGO data bases and research into means for giving libraries material in a much shorter time than possible at present were discussed. The Symposium prepared, in this connection, the following recommendations: Recommendation: International organizations should examine the methods pre# 21 sently used for sending material to depository libraries, particularly with regard to timeliness and completeness. The usefulness of the material received is greatly reduced by the long period between publications and their receipt at depository libraries. Recommendation: International organizations should send to depository libra# 22 ries copies of all public information material, i.e., pamphlets, booklets, etc., produced by them. Recommendation: International organizations which have set up a depository // 23 library system should include commercially published materials among the publications and documents sent routinely to depository libraries. Where this is not possible, complete listings of commercially published materials should be prepared and be available in all depository libraries. Recommendation: Particular attention should be paid to the material problem # 24 of space required for the accumulation of all printed documentation. International documentation, despatched annually to an average library, fills not less than 60 to 80 linear meters. Use must be made of the most appropriate and practical storage methods, including microfilms, microfiches and microforms - without, however, compromising the "contact" between the user and the document. With respect to the field of archives, one of the most significant recommendations concerned the creation and maintenance of a complete reference xxx iv

compendium. It should cover documentary groups existing in the archives of all the intergovernmental organizations, and discuss the operational problems resulting from such a reference service. The use of international documentation The Symposium considered last the stage in which international documentation is used and "brought to life". This question was widely covered by the 1972 Geneva Symposium. The considerations issuing from the discussions can be divided into four categories: a) determining the type and nature of users; b) proposals for improving use by increasing "receptivity" on the part of the potential user; c) increased "selectivity" of use, and d) a new attempt to measure the influence and the impact that international documentation exercises on national and international life, individuals and societies. The types of users remain essentially, a) international operators in the large sense, i.e., international officials, diplomats, permanent delegations of governments to international, universal, regional, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, b) intermediate users, from the researcher and the specialist to the teacher and journalist, c) and librarians, in the widest sense of the term, including all those taking care of international documentation. Recommendation: It is recommended that the Permanent Committee undertake or // 25 set in motion a significant series of studies, preferable using the "case study" method to examine the way the various user categories use the documentation produced by international organs. The interpretation of these studies could result in concrete proposals to those responsible for production. Many recommendations had as their goal to increase the users' receptivity. International documentation is used considerably less than it should be. The reasons for such a situation are tied to the documentation itself, as the user does not know what he may be able to extract from it. Once these reasons have been clarified, it would be wise for the international organizations to take the initiative of organizing an information campaign for users. It is very important that all the instruments made available in recent years for librarians and archivists be effectively used. The Symposium particularly encouraged the use of the following two publications: the Directory of Information Systems and Services issued by the Inter-Organization Board for Information Systems (IOB) of the United Nations and the specialized agencies, describing 330 systems, and, in the field of archives, the Guide to the Archives of International Organizations produced by UNESCO in collaboration with the International Council on Archives. The question of "selectivity" should also be taken into account. This means the capacity of each user to choose, from the mass of documents, those which he requires on the basis of his interests and/or duties. On the user's side, this means the user's capacity to locate and choose the document of interest to him. Above all, he must be able to know that the document exists and where it can be found. On the international organizations' side, this means that they must offer a more varied selection of services insofar as they are able to do so. xxxv

To improve overall research capacity, it is proposed that: Recommendation: The appropriate use of bibliographic sources, and especially // 26 those dealing with international documentation, should be the object of a sufficient number of training sessions, not only in courses for documentalists, but particularly in diplomatic institutes and academies, and in training courses for careers in international positions. A study on this subject could be prepared by UNITAR. Recommendation: The needs of special groups of users should be satisfied, in # 27 particular: - Since, in most developing countries, the agricultural sector contributes more than 50% of the gross national product (GNP), international documentation should pay close attention to the needs of farmers and small enterprises. - In most developing countries, there has been a recent reorientation in national development planning and programme objectives in favour of less developed sections of society. If information systems are to support national development, then these should be designed to serve both such groups and the planners concerned with their socio-economic development. - In developing countries, those points where information should flow into the country (e.g., universities and research institutes) are usually underfinanced, and thus underdeveloped. Intermediate personnel, such as librarians, documentalists and other information specialists, are either rare or non-existent. Planners, decision-makers and administrators are thus unaware of the benefits they could have from information, and are therefore underutilizers of IGO documentation, if they use it at all. Action should be taken to reinforce the input points for information, so that decisions can be made with a better knowledge of what is involved. The use of international documentation and its impact on organizations and individuals was studied by the previous Symposium, and reference should be made to its report. Thus, it remains only to continue the study, noting the influence of international documentation on international activities and on individual states; perhaps this will reveal whether the documentation is really effective or not. In this sense is the following: Recommendation: It is recommended that the Permanent Committee make contact # 28 with the organizations involved in the "new international information order", especially UNESCO, in order to study the role of international documentation in the world communications system.

xxxvi

PANEL I SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTATION

SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTATION: INTRODUCTORY REPORT FOR PANEL I BY E.

GASKELL

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Let us start by recalling the preoccupations of Panel I at the Geneva Symposium coupled with some of the questions raised in discussion there: -

the variety of documents produced - how well are ttie.se understood by recipients and users? the useful life of documents according to category - can the IGO's lay down more precise criteria? quantity of documents produced - should it be reduced and if so how? quality

of content and of presentation - how can this be improved

bibliographical presentation - how to improve and standardize numbering and other elements? computer editing and type setting - possibilities of new technology? microforms - their space-saving and other uses? distribution - what is the producer's viewpoint? pricing - what are the limits of free distribution and the policies of determining prices? clearing houses for bibliographies - where to situate them? As a further aid to memory let us cite the recommendations from that First Symposium pertinent in particular to Panel I: that a solution to the problem of quantity lies in improving content, handling and use; 1

that information systems should be better coordinated; that there should be no needless overlapping of the IGO's workprogrammes ; that the technical means of dissemination be reviewed in terms of its social cost; that IGO's keep a critical eye on the links between their activities and document production; that an Authority List be made of IGO's; that research be carried out to determine the catalyzing role of IGO's in the generation of literature; that a clear distinction be made between the different types of material produced; that documents bear appropriate symbols; that terminology be standardized; that there be some way of eventually declassifying documents; that documents be made more intelligible; that contents be adapted to users; that special attention be paid to graphics; that a study be made of recipients (e.g. governments, libraries); that documents be clearly marked with their 'time position' in series; that documents carry bibliographical slips; that title pages be standardized; that catalogue cards be produced centrally; that ISBN's and ISBD's be used in all cases; that sales-methods be improved. Judging by the papers submitted to the present Symposium it is doubtful whether many of the above recommendations were taken to heart by the authorities to whom they were addressed from Geneva. The impression given is that not a great deal has changed since 1972 - our problems remain much the same. All the more reason then to formulate updated proposals and to express them with as much force as may be brought to bear. One can only hope they will be heeded as representing concerned and informed opinion.

The following table of debating points should not be taken as exhaustive since they have had to be drawn only from those papers received sufficiently early at Symposium headquarters. They are meant to provide an hors d'oeuvre to the meal. The entree and dessert must be got together on the day by participants themselves. 4.1

THE IGO's their continued multiplicity. Some vears ago, says Cherns (WP 1/3), Mr. Dimitrov counted 300, the main bulk of them being "incidental even if compulsive publishers... Such bodies have a job to do, but they are too small to have much coherence or professionalism about their publishing". The fact is that the real mass of paper is turned out by a small number of bodies such as the UN and OECD. their importance. Schaaf (WP III/2) estimates about 200 IGO's and 2000 non-governmental bodies producing material of great importance. According to him it is underexploited, the main users at present being social scientists. A contrary view is given by Keren (WP III/7) who depicts international documentation as "badly organized, repetitive, woolly, and most often not compatible with any standard". Hard words indeed.'

-

g functions. A call for from CARICOM (BP II) in a paper deploring the "duplication of feasibility studies done by agencies pertaining to the same country". To prevent this sort of thing CARIC0M recommends that the agencies should meet and take decisions "regarding the i) listing of studies carried out and ii) exchange of information regarding these lists; that as far as possible, a depository be named in each country - for studies relating to that country; and that for regional groupings a regional depository be named for studies of a regional nature". On the same tack Cherns (WP 1/3) states the more restrained view that "fairly elementary forms of cooperation on regional or wider bases would suffice to make marked improvements".

4.2

PRODUCTION policies. "What policies", asks Cherns (WP 1/3) "govern the origination, control, distribution and sale of this great mass of commercial-type publishing in all its variety of subject and form?" The complete answer to that question would need a book to itself. Distilling the essence Cherns distinguishes between agencies with a specialized clientele (FAO, WHO, IAEA) and those (particularly UNESCO) having to aim at a wider public. The real problem, as he says, is one of editorial control. How can committees be expected to do more than supervise? How is it possible, if an agency's activities proliferate, to ensure good content and language for its publications "in relation to a specific market level of comprehension". Just as important, how to avoid duplicating work already done in the field? To their credit, FAO, WHO, ILO and perhaps other organisations too already exert their own form of editorial control; sometimes it is the device of referring manuscripts to outside experts. Experience shows there is

never an easy answer to the problem particularly not in organisations where departments enjoy a fair degree of autonomy. One line of approach is to form 'reading committees' made up of people with the required motivation and span of knowledge. At the European Commission where the method is used its necessary motor force of a few dedicated officials includes the Librarian. categories of material. The UNESCO background paper mentions a recent innovation whereby specialist publications are differentiated from the interdisciplinary type, i.e. those "not closely linked to a specific programme activity". The European Commission does likewise. Notice too that UNESCO includes many so-called 'documents' in its sales catalogues, and that at the UN (WP/10) such material is first mimeographed before being "reproduced in final form in the Official Records or as sales publications". Schaaf (WP III/2) points out that formally printed publications present fewer problems for researchers and librarians than do documents, UN's output of them being respectively 7,500 and 180,000. To complicate matters WIPO thinks exclusively in terms of 'documents', dividing them into three categories, i.e. periodicals etc., roneographed or printed items aimed at a more or less wide public, and internal working documents. The same haziness of definition is encountered at the European Commission where certain series of 'documents' (i.e. COM and SEC) having a definite public dimension (known as COM and SEC they contain draft legislation and policy statements) are nowhere publicly listed in their entirety. The reason for such anomalies probably is that 'document issuers' have in a general a tendency to lose touch with the object of their actions. It is up to librarians to remind them from time to time on the public's behalf. limitation of output. At UNESCO "efforts continue to be made to cut down on production", notably through the use of microfiche. Another means to the same end is not "generating documents which could be produced by Member States". No one could argue against that principle - is it applied elsewhere? WIPO limits the size and number of documents by applying strict rules for the preparation, content and distribution of texts, as does UPU; CARICOM on the other hand has made "no concerted or official effort to curtail the amount of documentation produced for meetings". It behooves us to define our terms carefully here. There can surely be no argument against the proposition that 'internal documents' understood in their true sense are the sole and proper concern of the organisations producing them. In these days the economic aspect should be enough in itself to discourage over-production. But that element apart, administrations ought to be made aware in their own interests that with 'documents' as with food, humans are subject to an absorption limit soon reached. So far as 'external documents' are concerned (again if the term is properly applied) an organisation's responsibilities naturally swell proportionately to the size of its public. It therefore seems a pity, if what Schaaf says is true (WP III/2), that the "amount and complexity of UN documents constitute a serious obstacle to effective utilization". Is it a fact that they are "confusing to most librarians as well as to users"? Cherns (WPI/3) claims "there are no facile solutions" and discerns

4

"only two lines of approach, neither of them new, which can be effective: financial stringency, and some kind of central coordination". His suggestion that there should be a clearinghouse similar to NTIS for "at least some of the physical output... of IGO documents" is slightly differently expressed by Keren (WP III/7) - "the only real solution I would see is to charge a professional organisation (say of the type if INSPEC, NTIS, etc.) with the capture and dissemination of that material, ensuring thereby that the casualness and amateurishness are removed once and for all". confidentiality. This is the oldest and thorniest of problems. CARICOM has made recommendations not yet implemented on procedures and criteria for declassifying material. But as Schaaf comments (WP III/2), no actions seem to have been taken in response to the Geneva symposium's call for "declassification of confidential documents after stated periods as well as the standardization of terminology to distinguish between items restricted because of their confidential nature and items in a limited distribution category". Rogers (WP 1/5) makes some very pertinent remarks on this point, noting how fluid is the notion of confidentiality. What puzzles him is "the extent of accessibility which pertains while documents are still so classified... the procedures (if any)... for declassifying documents after a given period and what archival regulations apply in the various agencies". He asks for guidelines from the IGO's on their classification and declassification procedures. More daringly he wonders if it would be possible to extract the factual information from classified documents and incorporate it "into publicly accessible information stores and libraries". "invisible" literature. Rogers (WP 1/5) discusses this topic in depth from the angle of development studies. Quoting from the DEVSIS Study Team's report that 60% of the literature is invisible (grey?) he identifies the international development banks as important originators of this material on the grounds that "most applications for the funding of development projects pass" through their hands. He estimates that IBRD alone produces about 12,000 'invisible' documents to which must be added material from the IDA, IFC and other regional development banks. Already troublesome, this issue "may become even more serious as legitimate restrictions on the flow of information are contributing in part, for example, to the expression of populist alternatives at the global conferences of recent years". How discouraging that "the agencies themselves seem quite unconcerned about this confusion".' microforms. What progress has been made on this front since the Geneva Symposium? One would expect some if only because machines have since improved and space got less. Among organizations pursuing active microform programmes are the IMF, the UN and the European Communities - there must be many others. Even so, Rogers (WP 1/5) complains that "the microform programmes of international agencies exhibit distinct anomalies in terms of duplication of effort and criteria for selection". Taking a hopeful view perhaps the physical and mental barriers to micropublication have at last been breached and perhaps enough criteria now 5

exist for the device to be applied more widely, rationally and effectively than in the past. It is a matter for discussion. common standards. Schaaf's (WP III/2) call for technical improvements in title pages, document symbols, etc. will surely be endorsed by this conference. Some organizations already follow strict rules in this regard (e.g. WIPO) but there are many sinners. It would be helpful for the discussion to disclose a few concrete examples. There is certainly an advisory or gadfly role to be played here by librarians though of course all depends on the status they enjoy in their organizations. Where it is high, constructive protests about technical aberrations are more likely to be heeded since they will be taken as reflecting specialist knowledge and experience. co-publishing. According to Cherns (WPI/3) there is a growing tendency to adopt this expedient for the good reason that "commercial publishers are by nature in very close touch with markets". A case in point is UNESCO which issued 35 out of 377 titles by this means in the year 1977-78. A yet more striking example is the Commission of the European Communities where no less than half the total output in pages (45 out of 250 scientific and technical titles) emanating from DG XIII is published and sold by private firms. Not only that, one periodical so published (World patent information) is the joint product of the Commission and WIPO. The rationale behind this policy is explained by Gibb (WP 1/6). 4.3

CATALOGUES common standards. Schaaf (WP III/2) asks "would it not be appropriate for regional bodies such as the Organisation of American States and the Organisation of African Unity to concern themselves not only with improving their own documentation system but also with encouraging standardization and coordination in the documentation of related organisations?" Though the answer is probably yes, the point needs debating, as also does Schaaf's other plea for "an international organization bibliographical agency that would be responsible for standards and for authenticating international corporate headings the way national bibliographic agencies now do national names". The thought arises: how does one achieve complete bibliographic control so long as the very concept and its importance remain unappreciated in IGO's at the level where decisions are made? On a more encouraging note, Rogers (WP 1/5) at least praises two bodies, i.e. WFS and ISI, for providing good services. indexing. The ground could hardly be more shifting than it is here. Imposing disciplined indexing in a single establishment is difficult enough without trying to ensure that the same standards are followed in all places. But perhaps there is a need, as Zlatich asserts (WP II/2), for an indexing vocabulary restricted to broad terms representing the programmes and activities of the UN and other bodies. Though the OECD and ILO have brought out their separate but related thesauruses incorporating many such terms, the UN's wider project has been discontinued. 6

Zlatich proposes that "the work on expanding and refining the list be continued under a revised interagency format, such as by a consultative body to the IOB". automation. A pioneer in this field, UNESCO has a computerized documentation service which allows retrospective searches and SDI services on its activities. Among other bodies operating automated systems are the ILO, the IAEA, and the European Commission. However, according to Schaaf (WP III/2) "little international documentation is publicly available through on-line systems" whilst there is the eternal problem of obtaining documents once they are located. He calls for "cooperative inputting arrangements whereby international agency materials can be entered into publicly available data bases". Notice in this regard that the European Commission Library tags all its international acquisitions appropriately and is thus able to produce catalogues exclusively made up of this material. 4.4

DISTRIBUTION sales agents. Cherns (WP 1/3) gives an excellent summary of the present position. His figures show that UNESCO has the widest network of distributors (275 in 112 countries), followed by FAO which is represented in 83 countries, the UN and WHO each in 69 and OECD in 35. About 80% of sales are made in Europe and the Americas. There is a peculiarity in "the variety of agencies which can occur in one place" (e.g. Argentina and Colombia) to the customer's evident confusion; the question arises whether there is a case for cooperation between the IGO's, with "combined service points... regional common stockholdings with regional catalogue reference and ordering points"? The idea attracts. Is it practical? criteria for distribution. Schaaf's complaint (WP III/2) is that important documents are held back from depository libraries, particularly by UNESCO. Why, he would like to know, cannot the IGO's at least place copies in their own libraries so that the documents' existence could be on record. On the question of free distribution it will be noticed that WHO has enunciated clear principles in tune with its aims; if it is able to stick to them the reason presumably is the comparative homogeniety of its publications and audience. At the UN (WP 1/7), where the situation is more complex, guidelines exist governing the principles of free distribution and exchange agreements, the latter conditional on fair returns. The European Commission also has criteria for the types of material that may be sent out free and to whom, either systematically or on demand. With so much effort expended overall, one would expect the public to be better informed than it apparently is. Does one have to figure on an address-list of specialists to discover what the IGO's do? Or rather, are we asking too much of people to take in more information when there is so much flung at them uncritically? After all, information is like food: it has to be digested. depository libraries. The question is: do they fulfill their roles properly? One might go further and ask whether they can really be expected to in circumstances that are often far from ideal. The 7

UNESCO report is right when it points out that free distribution is a costly business; all the more reason then for the IGO provider to take depository libraries seriously and keep them constantly informed. This is too rarely the case according to Keren (WP III/7) who claims that "no user with actual information needs knows of the existence of these depository libraries and the material they get". He doubts even "that it is worth the effort to try to look there for information, it may be much faster and eventually cheaper to write to the originator and get another copy". It is worth noting that the Library of the European Commission has recently been given a general coordinating role vis a vis the depository libraries of that institution, this same task being carried out for the area of North America by the Commission delegation's library in Washington (WP 11/20). Speaking for a nondepository library, Hopkins (WP 11/11) regrets not being systematically informed about, for example, changes in the UN's "monthly newsletter on the publications and documentation of the IGO's along the lines of Marulli's column 'International Documents Roundup'. The only problem is "which organisation would have the personnel, the time and the allocation of funds to make it a reality".

POSTSCRIPTUM Since the preceding remarks were written many additional papers have been received at the Symposium Secretariat. Of course not all are equally relevant or quotable for the purposes of Panel I nor do they consistently add new points of substance to the ones already raised. The few mentioned below, by proper category, seem of especial interest. 4.2

PRODUCTION - limitation of output. A paper from the UN (BP VIII) exposes the problem in fearsome detail. It appears that in New York and Geneva alone no less than 375,000 pages a year are translated into six languages and that the annual cost of documentation comes to around 70 million dollars. To put the matter more vividly "the cost of producing one single-space page... in six languages" is of the order of $500.' This being so, one is glad to learn that counter-measures have been taken ranging from "internal rules on questions of presentation... to decisions... to suspend the provision of summary records to their subsidiary bodies". There is also a rule limiting Secretariat papers to 32 pages. Nevertheless the paradox remains that UN delegations complaining one moment about being suffocated with paper are liable the next to ask for more studies to be commissioned - as if there were no longer a link between cause and effect. Faced with perverseness of that order, the onlooker may be excused for emitting a wail of despair. On the same problem the South Pacific Commission paper (BP XIX) alleges that "irrelevant and wasteful distribution is caused by lack of time and knowledge on the part of the distributor, and lack of organization and interest on the part of the recipient". As librarians and recipients we all know this statement to be true; the snag is that it takes time and money to maintain distribution lists in good order 8

and administrations are not always ready to deploy the resources required. This is precisely the trouble at the South Pacific Commission. On the other hand serious attempts are made there to screen publications through a system of vetting by the Director of Programmes, editor and writer's colleagues. A prime object of this procedure is to discourage "vanity publishing" by authors anxious to keep their names before the international public! An interesting suggestion made in the South Pacific Commission paper is that IGO's should turn their attention to "audiovisual presentation of information" for regions lacking good library services or having an oral tradition.

- confidentiality. Jeffries (WP 1/1) has some potent criticisms to make of the European Communities though he softens them charmingly by placing this body between the two extremes of "paranoia for secrecy" (British) and "neurotic frankness" (American). His main accusation is that the Communities fail "to consider the needs of the end user of documents". Whilst accepting the obvious fact that some documents are more confidential than others, Jeffries believes that the public should be given access to more than it sees or knows about at present. "I would recommend", he says, "that the Institutions take a more formal position on what they choose or do not choose to make public". He goes further and asks for a procedure that would permit the eventual declassification of documents along well defined lines "I do not agree that confidentiality should be used to mask administrative expediency".

4.3

CATALOGUES - common standards. The paper from IFLA (BP XVII) should be studied carefully as presenting a detailed model for the UN system. It underlines the need for wider coverage in input from subsidiary bodies, for adherence to accepted cataloguing rules and common standards, and for a Central Agency.

4.4

DISTRIBUTION - depository libraries. The South Pacific Commission paper (BP XIX) makes some very practical comments based on its experience with 65 depository libraries. One idea put forward is for the IGO's "to establish a network of complete regional and selective sub-regional or country depositories" which would provide reference, loan and reproduction services to the people around. This, it is claimed, would enable the IGO's to cut down distribution to individuals. Training courses would also have to be offered as well as visits "from officers ... to organize collections". In the paper by Jeffries (WP 1/1) there is a direct challenge to the European Communities to treat their Documentation Centres as active partners instead of leaving them to their own devices; as things are, the Commission's information programme "is mainly concerned with the mass media" and pays no attention to the role of libraries. Worse still, "no one seems ever to have established the documentary entitlements of European Documentation Centres".

9

THE PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF EUROPEAN COMMUNITY DOCUMENTARY SOURCES BY JOHN J E F F R I E S , UNIVERSITY

ASSISTANT

OF KENT AT C A N T E R B U R Y ,

LIBRARIAN

CANTERBURY,

UNITED

KINGDOM

Public Access and Confidentiality One of the main problems with which one is faced in the analysis of the documentation of official organisations, whether they be of a national or an international character, is the determination of the criteria whereby a document can be said to have entered the public domain. When does a document become public property? In this paper, I should like to consider some aspects of the problem of how materials come into the hands of the public and to make a few suggestions about how the dissemination of documentary information might be made more effective. I should also like to consider some of the barriers to becoming successfully informed about the European communities.If I may anticipate my conclusion I should like to suggest that the apparent failure of the Institutions and particularly the Commission to consider the needs of the end user of documents is reflected in the complex organisational matrix of the Institutions which results in a failure to comprehend the nature of the information process. So far as the user from outside the organisation is concerned the mimeographed document produced in the first instance for internal use may be much more interesting than the printed work produced more obviously for public consumption. The reason for this is quite simple. It is the working documentation which contains the recent information, the current proposals, the detailed reports and the results of research studies. There is no doubt that a considerable quantity of documentation from all sorts of organisations does circulate freely even though it had been produced for internal reasons ostensibly. But equally plainly, some documents will start out in life as confidential. I do not think that we need to detail ourselves with a discussion as to whether material should be confidential in certain cases. I am sure that this is not in dispute. There will be documents which it is in no one's interest to make public and others where it is perfectly proper to retain confidentiality. The problem here is really one of interpretation and at the margin one cannot expect always to be able to make a simple distinction between what needs to be confidential and what does not. Intuitively it seems far more likely that in the real world a document would actually lie along a continuum from top secret to completely public. 10

If we take the case of the draft legislation of the European Communities, we can establish that a particular proposal has entered the arena of public debate when it has been published in the pages of the Official Journal. It is at this point that the formal process of consultation can be said to have started because a proposal will have passed from the Commission to the Council of Ministers. But this is not at all a clear cut matter. The issue will have been clouded by the tendency of the Commission to consult on an informal basis long before the process of consultation demanded by the Treaties has started. In this way a truly internal document may actually receive a great deal of exposure early in its life; it may even appear in print. We know that this process of semi-publication does take place. What we cannot say is the extent to which it is deliberate or accidental although we do know that a document may be deliberately leaked. My point is perhaps that in any event we do not need to be surprised about it. If you will allow me to digress a little I should like to take the issue of confidentiality further by briefly contrasting the supply of official information in the United Kingdom and the United States. In the United Kingdom there is an Official Secrets Act which is very widereaching in its implications. In effect it confers on officials the power to place a total embargo on the publication or dissemination of information. But of course the question one is left wishing to ask is how do they decide what is an 'official secret.' What we observe in practice is the use of the criminal law to extend a security blanket to all kinds of matters, some of which are far removed from what one might ordinarily consider to be the realm of state security. For example, as a British university librarian I might well have a need to consult statistics relating to other university libraries. It happens that a convenient summary is published in the 'universities' volume of Statistics of education which is published by the Department of Education and Science. Unfortunately, this publication is usually several years in arrears and so far as recent data is concerned, one is often better served by the publications of individual universities. Although the data is collected centrally it is an 'official secret' until the decision is taken to publish it. No one could, with any truth, state that the information is either 'official' or 'secret'. In the United States, on the other hand we find completely the opposite situation. There is a Freedom of Information Act which guarantees to the citizen a right of access to official information. The European Communities seem to lie between these two extremes though they may from time to time incline either to the one or the other. One does not necessarily find either the bureaucratic paranoia for secrecy of the British or the neurotic frankness of the Americans. It is often instructive to go back to the Treaties and discover the legal basis for Community activity. Article 2 of the Treaty of Rome (Euratom) states that the Community shall: 'promote research and ensure the dissemination of technical information,' but there may be a catch. If we look at Article 55 of the Treaty of Paris we find that the results of research: 'shall be made available to all concerned in the Community.' Who are these people who are concerned? I think that this kind of provision can mean as much or as little as you wish. It is capable of a very restricted interpretation which may be exemplified in the attitudes which Community officials have in dealing with requests for specific documents. 11

I should be the last to dispute the energy with which the European Communities have approached the supply of information but this does not mean that I am without reservations. I should like to draw your attention to European Documentation Centres and I shall need to deal with them at length. From the point of view of the librarian or documentalist, the creation of European Documentation Centres was a most important innovation. A great deal of money has been spent on them and there can be few population centres in the Community countries or for that matter in the developed world which are not served by a European Documentation Centre or Depository Library. It should be comparatively easy to find a representative collection of the official publications of the European Communities. Nevertheless I am bound to say that I find this a passive rather than an active response to the problem of the supply of information. In particular there is little attempt to assess the needs of the end user, and the obligation is very much with the individual to inform himself. This task is made doubly difficult by the innate complexity of the literature. The user can discover a very great deal if he sets out to it from the multitude of sources available; but there is a high price to pay, and this is in his own time. As a result in recent years there has been a considerable growth in the number of organisations, publications and services which have sprung up with the aim of providing the user with information about the European Communities. Of course the user in this sense is often the commercial enterprise and not the individual citizen. It has been found that companies are willing to pay substantial sums if they can be assured of being informed about what they need to know when they need to know it. I think that it should be remembered that even Commission officials read Agence Europe to find out what is going on inside the Commission. In other words, information about the European Communities has become a marketable commodity. This must surely imply that there was an unsatisfied information need; one which was not satisfied by the official supply of official information. In the United States information can be demanded as of right. Some federal agencies have complained vigorously of the cost of meeting this obligation. I am sure that this is the logic behind much of the extensive use of the official secrets act in the United Kingdom. In many cases the supply of official information will have more to do with administrative convenience than either state security or civil liberties. But if we speak of administrative convenience we ought to be certain just whose convenience is being served. Unfortunately, it seems to me, that the convenience served is far more likely to be that of the bureaucracy than the citizen. On the other hand I should not want to turn this into a moral issue. I do not think that it is like that. Rather we find ourselves in a situation that has arisen by accident rather than evil intent. If you like, a sin of omission rather than commission.

How documents are made public When we look at the official documentation of the European Communities we find that the way various sources are treated is very much a matter for the individual institution. There are some publications which are more or less demanded by the Treaties. There is, for example, the Commission's general report on the activities of the Communities. Even so there is considerable flexibility, especially about the form of publication. There are a number of possibilities: 1. Publications printed and sold by the Official Publications Office 2. Publications handled exclusively by commercial publishers 12

gratis.

3. Material printed by the Official Publications Office and distributed

4. Material printed by commercial printers and distributed gratis, especially the general publications of the Information Offices of the Commission. 5. Limited distribution documents handled by the print shops of the individual institutions. If we look at the Institutions in turn we find a complicated pattern emerging. The Court of Justice sells its most important documents, notably the case law. It gives a little away free and makes some use of limited distribution. The European Investment Bank sells nothing and relies mainly on giving away printed publications. The Council of Ministers does not use commercial publishers, sells some quite valuable works and supplies some by limited distribution, but it must be said shows a marked reluctance to supply anything at all. The European Parliament does not use commercial publishers, does use the other categories and is actually quite generous. The Economic and Social Committee produces some free publications and uses limited distribution a little. The Commission is by far and away the largest source of documents of all; so much so that it is easy to forget the other Institutions as suppliers of documents even though much significant information comes from say the Parliament. The Commission has always made extensive use of sales publication. It introduced the idea of using commercial publishers, starting with scientific works, but it now extends over a wide range of Community activities. In the past there was much greater reliance on limited distribution, but since 1976 this use has declined markedly. For example, the reports on concentration in certain industries are now sales publications even though they appear only in the language of the country to which they relate. The sales catalogues are now filled with EUR documents which could previously only be traced in Euro abstracts and many of these are only available in microform. Up to 1976 there were many statistical compilations headed 'internal information' which have now been replaced by sales publications. There seems to be a growing feeling that the most efficient means of informing is to sell the information to those who are willing to pay for it and therefore can be presumed to need it, rather than to rely on a system of self-administered free distribution. This ties in with the increased use of commercial publishers. One uses a commercial publisher when it can be assumed that a specialized publisher knows how to deal with a specialized market. In this respect the position of the Official Publications Office is quite interesting. It has much more of the character of an official printer than an official publisher. It accepts no commercial risks nor does it take any commercial decisions. The role of the publisher in the accepted sense belongs with the individual Institution. For the Commission, the responsible body is the Comité consultatif des publications.

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The already complex pattern is complicated still further by the use of the Official journal which contains many of the most important documents from all of the Institutions. It is the main source for information of a legal character. The problems involved in the retrieval of specific pieces of information are nevertheless immense. The shortcomings of the index are too well known to be worth further elaboration and it is not easy for the user to decide what kind of information is most appropriately sought for in the Official journal. I have said nothing about the creation of on line data bases. Although this is not a new field for the European Communities, public access to the Communities ' own files is a novelty and I think that it is probably too early to draw any conclusions. I do not even know how widely ECHO is used. Some specific cases Well, where does this leave you? I think that mainly it means that you do not know where you are. To show you what I mean in more detail I should like to refer you to some specific cases. In 1979 there were three reports which seem to have received some particular attention. They were: 1. Proposals for reform of the Commission of the European Communities and its services; this has come to be known as the 1 Spierenburg report. ' 2. Report on European Institutions; known as the 'report of the three wise men.' 3. European Society faced with the challenge of new information technologies: a community response; known as the 'Telematics' report. One might say that there is some significance to be attached to the fact that they have each acquired a name, a sobriquet, other than their strict title. None of the three are available as sales publications with all the implications that this has for bibliographic control; all three are in memeographed format. Of the three only the report of the three wise men had been received in the European Documentation Centre over which I preside on publication. This is remarkable in itself since the three wise men is a Council of Ministers document; though it nowhere actually says this. I might reasonably have expected to receive 'Telematics' because it is a COM document. Eventually, most, although by no means all, of the COM documents are received by European Documentation Centres. As it happens a quantity of the English text was received by the London office of the Commission and I was able to obtain a copy from them. Spierenburg is also a Commission document though not in any numbered series. Again, I obtained a copy by asking the London office of the Commission who had received a limited supply. Obviously, if I had not already known about these reports I should not have been able to ask for them. It seems rather odd to have to rely on the 'grapevine' for the supply of official information. The case of COM documents is particularly strange and the attitude of the Commission rather enigmatic. Essentially COM documents are the means whereby the ¡Commission communicates 14

with the Council of Ministers. Although the draft legislation is communicated in this form it is not necessarily a problem because of the appearance of these texts in the Official journal. The main problem is the range of reports and other communications which appear only as COM documents where there is no publication in the Official journal or elsewhere. Having an interest in on-line information retrieval, the Annual report of the data-processing departments of the Commission is a very useful statement of Commission activity in this field. I do not regard this as a report for internal consumption only. Although the report for 1978 was published on 28 November 1979 and available in the London office of the Commission from that time I did not receive a copy until 7 April 1980. Other delays have been much greater than this. To say the very least it must be an irritation to the Information offices of the Commission to have to distribute documents to those who might reasonably have expected to receive them automatically. It is also unclear to me what Brussels expects of the Information Offices in respect of documents. I suspect that the rest of the Commission may have inappropriate expectations of what the Information Offices can hope to achieve or might reasonably be expected to achieve. Certainly they cannot be expected to make good the whole of the non-informing by the rest of the organisation. Dealing with European Community enquiries is hard enough for the specialist. All official publications present special difficulties both for the end user and the documentalist or librarian: which I suppose is one of the reasons we are here today. Having created the difficulty in the first place international organisations might be persuaded that they are under some obligation to ameliorate the situation. Yet I cannot help but feel that the European Communities have adopted a very much take it or leave it attitude. The consequences for the citizen are enormous. He cannot be sure that he has the information to meet even his legal obligations. It is perhaps not surprising that so much mythology has sprung up in the United Kingdom and elsewhere about what the Common Market is or is not going to do. In the UK at least I think that the European Communities have lost the propaganda war. In 1975 there was a substantial referendum vote in favour of the continuation of British membership. If that vote were to be repeated today I wonder what the outcome would be; and there are in fact more compelling reasons for the continuation of British membership than at any other time. In 1973 I heard a radio 'phone in programme on the European Communities in the course of which a very articulate man complained bitterly that he had been unable to consult a text of the Treaties. He seemed fairly convinced that the Treaty of Rome was a confidential document. From my point of view what was worst of all was that he was not really answered. It is not difficult for the end user to be denied access to a document, and this need not be by design. This is not without consequences. I think that the Commission should consider how the information process affects its own image. The classification and declassification of documents The report of the International Symposium on the documentation of the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations makes the following observations :

15

'Although the Symposium did not produce a formula for classifying documents according to their content, it was generally accepted that, as a first distinction, they should be identified according to whether they are used mainly within the organization or outside it. As a second major distinction, documentation in the general sense should be separated from documentation intended to form archives.' Only the Working documents of the European Parliament can really be said to be classified in this way. The Parliament issues a list which distinguishes three categories of its working documents. They are classified A, B or C, depending on whether they are supplied to all European Documentation Centres, to Depository Libraries only, or for internal use only. The main application of category C is for documents which have been withdrawn and are plainly of only archival significance. From the lists that have appeared so far I cannot see how anyone could reasonably object to the categories in which documents have been placed. To look at the problem another way it is just too easy to say 'Oh, you can't see that because it is confidential.' I have already argued that the reason for making this kind of assertion can be purely administrative. I have even been told by an official of the European Communities that knowledge of the existence of such and such a title is confidential. I do not think that the recommendations are being complied with from the earlier symposium. On the other hand it would be churlish to deny the extent of the rationalisation which has taken place particularly since 1976. A greater proportion of material seems now to be handled by the Official Publications Office instead of emanating from the print shops of the Commission. Myself, I should much prefer to see the Official Publications Office taking on even more of the characteristics of a commercial publishing house. To some extent I think that there has been a failure to recognize the professional content of publishing activity. While stating the claim for more information it would be churlish to attempt to deny the utility of the tremendous amount of economic and technical information which originates in the Communities both in the form of statistical analysis and research reports. Unfortunately, even here we do not know the full extent of the literature available. In 1976 Flowerdew, Thomas and Whitehead produced a report entitled the Demand for on-line information services as a function of the charges. The report exists in cyclostyled format, it is a very valuable piece of research, it has not been disseminated. I got a copy from one of the authors. In 1979 the Commission and the Council of Europe organised a symposium on full text legal information retrieval. A very important user study was carried out by Nunn-Price which has now disappeared into total obscurity. It is called a Technical study in legal information retrieval; report on a survey of users. I do not accept that these are documents of purely internal significance. In one respect at least if the taxpayer in the European Communities pays for certain research he is entitled to ask searching questions about what happens to the results. How can such reports be considered confidential and what is the procedure for declassification after a period of time? We know that the Commission, for example, is well able to control its own working documentation. Its documentation handling firstly through the 16

ECDOC and now the CIRCE project is remarkably sophisticated. Commission papers are now in the EC01 data base. Some of the CIRCE data bases may be available for public access through the European Community Host Organisation soon. We are likely to have CRONOS next year and perhaps CELEX in two years time. CRONOS consists of statistical time series and CELEX the law of the European Communities. One accepts that a substantial part of the CIRCE system must remain under the wrappers of confidentiality but if there were a willingness to rationalise one presumes there is a capability to implement fully recommendation 16 of the international symposium, namely : "... the 'declassification* after a certain time, of confidential documents and those having restricted distribution, and the regular notification of documents thus made accessible..." At the moment nearly all the effort goes into the maintenance of what are purely internal systems. Each Directorate-General of the Commission is responsible for the creation of its own archives. This activity is entirely separate from the Central Library of the Commission. Some DG's, notably DG VI are extremely inward looking and have attitudes which can be best described as 'what we have, we hold.' Moreover, not only are there documentation centres in each Directorate-General in the Commission and a Central Library, but there is also a Central Archives and Documentation Service in DC IX. One is drawn inescapably to the conclusion that in the European Communities and in the Commission above all there are too many people doing too many things with documentation for a coherent picture to emerge.

European Documentation Centres Many users of the official publications of the European Communities from outside the Institutions rely heavily on European Documentation Centres. By and large the EDC's can be expected to hold a substantial proportion of the material handled by the Official Publications Office. This material is particularly rich in legal and statistical information. The scientific literature is on the whole excluded from the arrangement but should be available from the Depository Libraries, and in any event enjoys the best bibliographic control because of Euro Abstracts which can be searched both in hard copy and in machine readable form. No one seems ever to have established the documentary entitlements of European Documentation Centres. There is no centralised mailing. One accepts the necessity of having to treat the Institutions as separate entities but there is no centralisation of mailing, apparently, even within the Commission. For many gratis and limited distribution documents it seems to be necessary to get on to various separate mailing lists. There is no automatic procedure whereby an EDC is added to a new mailing list as it is created. Instead, one has first of all to discover that something new has started to appear, find out who deals with it, and then write away for it. Having taken the imaginative step of creating the European Documentation Centre system I should have thought that it might well have been carried through to its logical conclusion. It seems odd to have to enter into a correspondence every time that DC X puts out a new information periodical. EDC librarians spend too much time chasing items that would be better dispatched automatically. The situation in respect of COM documents is particularly worrying. The COM document series is certainly the single most important documentary source of information about the European Communities. Some SEC documents also receive a wide circulation and their standing is even less clear, but in the 17

range of information they present they complement COM documents. There is a certain amount of bibliographic control through the Bulletin on documentation and legislative proposals are listed in the weekly British business. British business is important because it enables one to get from the number ascribed by the Council of Ministers back to a COM document number. On the whole though the dissemination of COM documents is a bit of a shambles. A document may or may not be supplied to the Information Offices of the Commission in quantity. It may or may not be distributed to European Documentation Centres but no one is to say when. Regular distribution could be placed on a more secure footing at comparatively little cost because COM documents are already being produced in fiche. It is possible to subscribe to the Working documents of the European Parliament, which includes the reports of Parliamentary committees but not the original proposals. It would be very valuable to be able to subscribe to COM documents. They represent the broad sweep of Community activity and yet how few people even know that they exist. They are much more informative in many ways than even the Official journal. European Documentation Centres have been criticised by the Commission over the years for a lack of activity; I well remember it being described as a 'lifeless scheme.' But I should counter this by contending that European Documentation Centres have not necessarily received all the support they might have anticipated. A cynic might draw attention to the unerring skill with which the most important documents fail to be dispatched. I think that there is a lack of leadership. The 'conceptional1 direction for European Documentation Centres comes from DG XII, most of the distribution is handled by DG IX but we know that the power is more likely to lie with the Secretariat-General. The whole scheme depends on a very loose knit association between the Institutions and different parts of the Institutions. The reason that it is impossible to be listened to is that there are too many people who would have to do the listening.

The future of European Community documentation The supply of information through documentary sources is an intensely practical matter. There is nothing subjective about it. You are either informed or you are not. If you are not properly informed then you are not operating efficiently whether as a private citizen, or as a business man, or as a technician or whatever. If there are sound reasons for preserving confidentiality then fair enough, but I do not agree that confidentiality should be used to mask administrative expediency. When a document is sold there is some reasonable expectation that the normal methods of bibliographic control will take over. It is fairly probable that a sales publication will get into the yellow pages of the Bulletin of the European Communities. Material handled by commercial publishers can be traced bibliographically but is less likely to find its way into Depository Libraries or European Documentation Centres. Between the two extremes of confidential documents on the one hand and sales publications on the other lies a very large grey area. Some attempt has been made to diminish its size by moving from limited distribution to sales publication. But there are many documents prepared for internal use which are circulated without restriction. I would recommend that the Institutions take a more formal position on what they choose or do not choose to make public. In formulating its policy I feel that the following points should be taken into consideration: 18

1.

The extent to which outside users have legitimate needs for documents. This would be a general right of access, not a matter of those who are 'concerned'.

2.

If a document has to be confidential, how long does it remain so and what are the arrangements for making it public after that time?

3.

How can documents be sold to those who demand them?

4.

What are the arrangements for the deposit of materials? If a global view were taken of the problem of documentation in relation to the needs of the outside user, then it would be possible to go on to make certain statements about the materials actually produced. It is not always clear why publications have appeared and to whom they are directed. Fitz Gerald (1) has drawn attention to a description work on the British economy which was published in English only. It was old news to British economists but likely to be an instruction introduction for economists in the other Community countries, that is, had it been available in their own languages. One does not wish to deny the importance of some of the general information publications, but of all the things that the Commission does disseminate these are probably the least useful since they are often lacking both in news value and detailed content. In fact, so far as institutional matters are concerned, they provide very little information that others do not do better. The importance of influencing public opinion is not lost- upon the Commission. COM (79) 701 final of 10 December 1979 on the Information programme for 1980 includes the following statement: 'As far as the member states are concerned the Commission is acutely conscious that the first elections to the European Parliament revealed widespread ignorance about how the community works and what it has achieved, as well as disturbingly low levels of popular support for it in one or two member countries.' Unfortunately, I see no recognition of the role of libraries in general and European Documentation Centres in particular in the information process nor any recognition of what the Commission itself has to gain from the conservation and dissemination of documentary information. Moreover, I see no impetus to rationalise, categorise and organise: the phenomenon aptly described by the three wise men as lourdeur. The Information programme for 1980 is mainly concerned with the mass media. It only considers documents as general information publications. Given the structure of the Commission this is perhaps not surprising. When the Spokesman's Group was merged with DG X the responsibility for European Documentation Centres was transferred to DG XII. Presumably, according to the proposals of the Spierenburg Report it would pass on to DGV (social affairs). At the same time as this, DG XIIIB (information management) would merge with DG III (industry). To me the implication of all this is that the supply of documents is likely to get worse rather than better. Information management will be looked at solely as a problem for science and technology; the EDC's as only a matter for education and training; and the publication of information on institutional matters as solely a problem in the mass media. In short, I feel that the organisation of information is out of step with user needs.

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The failure of the Library Association-European Communities working party to achieve any significant rationalisation in either the supply of documents or policy making for me underlines the failure of the Commission to understand the real issues. I see no likely improvement until the Commission is prepared to take decisions about the supply of information at a high level. We wait to see what will be the impact of the recent initiative of the German EDC librarians. I think that it will be bedeviled by the complex organisational matrix of the Commission. In conclusion, if the tendency for the supply of information to become even more fragmented is to be stemmed firm decisions will have to be taken at the centre. These would include a study of the objectives of the supply of documentary information, and the streamlining of the dissemination of documentary sources. The mechanics of this might be simple to indicate at a tactical level; the problem which remains is the willingness or otherwise to regard this as a serious problem and to implement a coherent policy. No outsider can attempt to fathom whether the Institutions will come to believe that it is actually in their interest to confront the issue of the availability of European Community documents. It might be that they will conclude, at the level of strategy, that there is more to be gained by informing than concealing.

NOTE 1. Fitz Gerald,F.N. Publications policy and activities of the Official Publications Office of the European Communities. International journal of law libraries 5(1), March 1977, (pp. 6475 at p. 68.)

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STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT BY R.

CORMIER

C H I E F LIBRARIAN,»

OECD

The Chief Librarian at headquarters gives an overview of publication services and the organization of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is emphasized that statistical publications cover a wide range of both general and specific topics which provide essential support for the work of the organization and its 24 member countries. The various documentation services are briefly described as are the methods involved in obtaining the complex and diverse statistical data from member countries. It is pointed out that relations with other IGO's result in an effective exchange of information, and the aim is for close cooperation in a number of areas, including standardization of methods and compatibility within diverse formats. The use of nonprint media such as microfiche and magnetic tape is explained, and specific mention is made of the microfilm availability of the hundreds of thousands of pages comprising OECD's foreign trade statistics.

The complete text of this paper appears in French in the Microfiche Programme - Fiche 1/pages 34-42 - at the end of this book.

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INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AS PUBLISHERS - A CRITICAL LOOK BY J. J. CHERNS FORMER DEPUTY CONTROLLER, H.M.S.O. ABSTRACT This survey looks functionally at the publishing activities of intergovernmental organisations, in terms of policies, control and sales distribution. It suggests that the publications, as distinct from the the documentary, output of the main organisations is susceptible to closer examination in commercial publishing terms, particularly in editorial control and alignment to its markets, which might produce improvements in its publishable quality. It also suggests possibilities of reducing the volume of publishing, and especially of a cooperative effort by the main organisations in relation to their sales distribution arrangements, with the objective of providing an improved and more coherent service to customers throughout the world.

Intergovernmental organisations carry on a wide range of publishing activity. The larger organisations are major publishers by any standards, with formal publishing policies, organisation and programmes. In the snaller organisations the activity is more incidental; but there are many of them, and in total they add substantially to the volume (and the problems) of intergovernmental organisation publishing. This survey looks at these activities not from the point of view of any particular user or interest, but in relation to the organisation and motivation associated with them. Where it cites particular organisations or situations it is by way of illustration rather than of criticism. The 1972 Symposium produced a varied and informative range of exposition and expressions of view about this output and the many problems which have grown up round it, summarised in its Report and Recommendations. Much of this is no doubt still being digested; eight years is a short time on the international scene to tackle large and complex problems. Meanwhile,neither their scope nor their dimensions will have diminished, and there will have been new developments. The object of this note is to touch on some organisational aspects and problems which do not always receive attention. THE PUBLISHING ACTIVITY The temptation to begin any consideration of this subject with a stupefying display of statistics is strong. However, it is likely that somewhere in the proceedings they are being registered in terms of hundreds of millions of pages printed, the lengths of shelf run necessary to contain them, the vertical height of a year's output stacked on end (if anybody wants to view it that way one is sometimes tempted by the assertion that 85% of it goes unread to feel 22

that a case could be made), the millions of hectares of forests despoiled to produce the paper, and so on. Large activities produce large statistics, and this is all perfectly legitimate in order to impress the sheer size of the problems in physical terms. It is important to have a dimension. But this is to consider the end-products, and the problems may perhaps be more effectively considered closer to the point of input, when it may still be possible to do something than of output, when it is often too late. Mr. Theodore £imitrov, in the introduction to his Documents of International Organisations,! warns: '... international documentation has proliferated at a staggering rate, and has now reached figures of immense proportions. A glimpse into the future can be unnerving'. If we are realistic we shall accept that statement, steady our nerves, and assume that the annual accretion of documentary matter coming into circulation from intergovernmental organisations will continue to be huge, and that the diminution in the rate of increase is likely to be marginal, if it can be induced at all. Problems of bibliographic control and accessibility will continue to occupy most of the deliberations here on the associated questions; indeed the first two objectives of this Symposium are very much concerned with them. This Panel is concerned with the sources of international documentation. This is usually treated as a largely descriptive matter, in which the basic volumes and patterns of documentary flow tend to be taken for granted. This is realistic enough from the point of view of most of the participants here, who are either at the receiving end of the flow, or are representatives of the originating organisations with established patterns of origination and distribution. But at the risk of being simplistic it may be useful to look at some of the fundamentals involved, and to consider what options could be examined which might affect both the volume and the effectiveness of the traffic. This must mean,for a start, looking at the publishing policies which underlie the output. What are the objectives of all this publishing? How far does its organisation give effect to them in the degree to which the defined needs of the organisations themselves and of the users of their output are satisfied? Here, one of the complications is that many of the immediate users are intermediaries with no direct interest in the intrinsic substance of the output, and ultimate value judgements are therefore difficult to obtain. What is the machinery of publishing control in the organisations? The subject will take no harm from an occasional airing in this sense. "Publishing" is an activity with more than one concept determining its form of organisation. There is an obvious distinction between the motivations of commercial publishers and of "official" publishers - governments or intergovernmental organisations. The former is an entrepreneur classically organising a chain of activity between an idea in the mind of an author and a book, or comparable mode of communication in the home or the library. The essential is a market which will buy the product. The publisher may take risks, but persistent bad judgement in what he publishes, or of organisation in getting his product to the market, will eventually put him out of business. He needs to have control of commissioning, acceptance, editorial, production and distribution processes involved, and the power of choice is fundamental to his success. His activity is driven from the centre. This is an oversimplification of a sometimes much more complicated activity, but the essentials are different from those which govern the activities of the intergovernmental organisation as publisher. Broadly, intergovernmental organisations are compulsive publishers, with limited effective power of choice over what they publish, and with limited control over it. Their activities are driven from the periphery by the workprogrammes of their organisations. Their markets are largely captive, and so *far as they are optional they are also often marginal, with a consequent tendency Annotations are to be found on page 31. 23

to blur the impulse for maximum effective penetration, in organising the product to suit its market best and in getting it there when it is wanted. Again, this contains oversimplifications, but Mr. Dimitrov's estimate that 90% of international documents, excepting working documents for the exclusive use of delegates, circulate mainly among four groups of libraries (international; national; parliamentary and research) must prompt the thought that a "guaranteed" output and a largely captive market do not create the most positive environment for examining fundamentals. The differences in motivation between commercial and intergovernmental organisation publishers should not obscure an important similarity. It is, of course, a mistake to regard commercial publishing these days as a matter of large editions and sales. Many commercial publishers operate successfully in highly specialized material, in small editions. In many fields of knowledge publishing activities overlap freely (and some intergovernmental organisations make extensive use of this in publishing through commercial channels); the circle of entrepreneurial publishers specialising in such apparently unpromising ventures as records and backlists, in normal and microform editions, of intergovernmental organisations will be well known to delegates here. Though some of these ventures have built their success on the deficiencies of the organisations themselves, they must prompt the thought that the commercial intermediaries could be more fully engaged. In terms of publishing, intergovernmental organisations fall naturally into two main classes. Mr. Dimitrov's work contains a Directory of IGO's, of which, even five years ago, he lists over 300. There are, of course, many more nongovernmental organisations. The main bulk of these IGO's are incidental, even if compulsive publishers. An organisation acquires a title, an acronym, offices and a secretariat. A governing or deliberative body meets, has proceedings, which are recorded (and delegates want a record of every interjection) and sometimes makes decisions. This body needs to be briefed and informed, it issues guidance and advice; it sets up committees, working parties, task forces, which report and recommend, and symposia, which want to record and issue their proceedings. In no time at all this acronym becomes a source of international documentation, and usually the publisher of it. Its output may be small, but added to that of several hundreds more it creates problems of bibliography and accessibility which are a constant irritation. Such bodies have a job to do, but they are too small to have much coherence or professionalism about their publishing, and a lack of policy and expertise often shows in the output - if it can be identified and obtained. One can only suggest that something more concerted needs to be organised about this situation, and that fairly elementary forms of co-operation on regional or wider bases, would suffice to make marked improvements. But the main flow of documentation and publications comes from a much smaller number of major intergovernmental bodies, comprising broadly the United Nations family, in all its offshoots (and points of publishing origin) and a handful of organisations, such as OECD, the European Communities and the Council of Europe outside it. Their interests in publishing differ in kind and extent, but all are major publishers, with extensive publishing organisation. Their publishing operations were ably described at the 1972 Symposium, and are familiar to most here. They create the majority of specialised bibliographic and library handling problems discussed in this forum by the professionals and specialists from the largely institutional fields into which most of their output flows. It is worth looking more closely at the policies which govern this activity, and are implicit in some of the problems it creates. 24

Documentation Perhaps the most difficult problems, and the most specialised derive from the documentation of the organisations, in the sense in which they generally distinguish between documents and publications, the former being the records of of meetings and papers prepared for internal information and working purposes. These are inexact terms, but there are no exact or agreed boundaries. From the publishing point of view many documents are made available sooner or later as published items, with a cover price or specially priced at the time of issue. But even those which are not officially made available often have a very wide distribution to member governments and others, with varying degrees of restriction, rarely possible to maintain consistently. Much documentation is the subject of automatic distributions, in a number of languages, and it is possible to find more than one version in circulation - an original document circulated for agreement or for working purposes and another, slightly amended, for formal publication or final working version. This body of material is at its most complex within the United Nations Organisation and its offshoots, and is the subject of specialised information systems which are beyond the lay interest. This intractable body of material, familiar enough to those present has some of the characteristics of parliamentary and regulatory publishing in the government sphere. It is not normal publishing, and its problems were comprehensively summed up by the rapporteurs of the 1972 S y m p o s i u m . ^ As one of them (Mr. Anthony J.N. Judge) then commented, it is not ideas which are lacking about very long-standing problems, and what is said applies also to other organisations in varying degrees. The literature of comment and of technical examination of the problems is in itself complex to follow, and the view of the Joint Inspection Unit on United Nations Documentation, as long ago as 1971, that the volume of documentation jeopardised its usefulness^ is as widely accepted as it was moderately expressed. There is a well-known and continuous background of UN resolutions over the years deploring the sheer volume of documentation and its staggering cost in financial and resource terms. There are no facile solutions, least of all in face of the growth of United Nations membership and the organisations' constantly expanding spheres of interest, numbers of meetings and so on. There seem only two lines of approach, neither of them new, which can be effective: financial stringency, and some kind of central co-ordination. The former has begun to bite in the past few years, especially under the influence of inflation, and the 1976 UN Handbook - the latest available in April 1980 - records efforts to cut down meeting records and dispense with preliminary circulations. ^ Among the many Action Possibilities noted in the reports of the 1977 Symposium was the establishment of an Inter-Agency acquisition office which could act as the clearinghouse for the Directory of acquisition information also proposed. It seems certain that only the establishment of some central machinery can have an effective long-term influence on the problems. It may be presumptuous for the interested bystander to add suggestions, but the idea of a clearinghouse for information does prompt a comparison with a well-known clearinghouse elsewhere, the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) in the USA. Cannot the clearinghouse idea be applied to at least some of the physical output also of the intergovernmental organisations' documents, especially combined with the suggestions of increased output in microform and accessing material on tape, and of the use of facsimile transmission for transfer of hard copy, distribution lists and associated material. Many of the problems connected with the documentation of major intergovernment organisations are never going to be solved; they are inherent, often for political reasons, in their situations. But perhaps none of them will be solved until there is 25

a determination to set up some really business-like machinery for tackling them. Liaison and discussion machinery is not likely to make a real impact on the physical problems. It should not be beyond the wit of the major organisations to reach some denominator of agreement, though one does not underrate the difficulty of disturbing entrenched interests intent on pursuing what they see as best for their own organisations, and immersed in the idiosyncracies of their own systems. These are sometimes more historical than functional. Nobody can feel persuaded that action has really bitten on the documentary problems of the organisations while resolutions are constantly passed, and meetings constantly deplore the same old faults of overproduction and lack of full control. Commercial Type Publishing From the external viewpoint perhaps the most interesting area of the publishing of intergovernmental organisations is not the intricate mass of documentary material but the substantial programmes of publishing which bear more direct comparison with the output of commercial publishers, intended for specialised or general publics. Part of its interest is that a lot of it can be put to justify its existence in publisher's terms - evidenced by the amount now reprinted, co-published or published under contract for the intergovernmental organisations by commercial publishers. The annual output of titles puts the major organisations well into the publishing business as generally recognised. UNESCO alone had a 1977-78 output of 377 titles, new or reprinted, in a variety of language versions, comprising 68,759 printed pages. Thirty-five of these titles were published in conjunction with outside publishers. It will be no surprise to learn that this compares with an output of 305 titles comprising 59,992 pages in the previous biennium. Sources suggest an average edition of 5,000 copies for sale and free issue, and this would give in excess of 30 million pages of output in 1977-78 - only a fraction of the 272 million pages of documentation produced in the organisation's own workshops alone, but enough to think about. In addition in 1977-78 UNESCO published 296 issues of 12 periodicals. The control, translation, production, distribution and sale of this is a major undertaking. UNESCO is in the big league as a publisher, but other major organisations also rank high. The cumulation over the years of titles remaining in print needs little more than a glance at the sale catalogues issued to appreciate the extent of the whole commercial-type publishing activity associated with the major intergovernmental organisations. Over 500 FAO titles were in print in 1978, and around 1,300 sale publications of the United Nations. OECD, with a limited geographical span, can match FAO; the Council of Europe has almost 600 titles in print; the International Atomic Energy Authority lists 700-800. These figures are for English language versions only. One could go on. PUBLISHING POLICIES AND CONTROLS What policies govern the origination, control, distribution and sale of this great mass of commercial-type publishing in all its variety of subject and form? There is, of course, no completely common policy among organisations dedicated to so many special purposes; but there is a strong thread of community, in the generally accepted dominance of the need to communicate the work of the organisation to those at whom it is directed, in order to fulfill the organisation's purposes. This is at its strongest in the most specialised organisations; for WHO its publications are the vital link with professional health workers all over the world, providing knowledge and leadership; in many ways the same can be said of FAO, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and others in their particular fields. Many publications promulgate accepted standards, or have regulatory effect. As the purposes grow broader, the policies follow suit, and 26

so does the range of publishing. For the United Nations a publication must have public interest, suitable intellectual standard and an expectation that greater public awareness or practical assistance to UN membership will follow. Publishing policies reach their broadest with UNESCO, in the general dissemination and exchange of information and promulgation of material for various publics, arising out of the work of the organisation or commissioned in connection with activities which cover very wide fields of human knowledge and concern. Part of the publishing of most major agencies is in the nature of public relations material, aimed at promoting their own images. Dissemination is the paramount objective, and financial objectives are secondary, though caps are doffed to them with the customary ambiguity that revenue should be sought or maximised, though dissemination must not be impeded. Nevertheless, as early as 1951 the Executive Board of FAO is recorded as recognising the much neglected truism that 'The main importance of sales resides in the fact that only in the case of such publications as are actually purchased is it possible to have some certainty that tht publications are finding their way into the hands of persons who actually need them.' However, free distribution policies are usually on a liberal scale. This complicates the variations in pricing policy, within organisations and between them, which are often low in consistency and seem sometimes opportunist. Pricing policies can conceal all sorts of hidden subsidies, and it must be doubtful whether they are sometimes in the best interests of organisations in distributing publications. But they are subject to many special factors, not least those connected with the hideous complications which all the major organisations at least have in publishing in a number of languages or in multi-language editions. It is worth noting that OECD made a deliberate and successful attempt in the mid 1970's to reduce free distribution of its publications in favour of sales, without apparent damage to anybody. Publishing policies have received a good deal of discussion in main intergovernmental organisations, and will be found expressed and reviewed in their conference and governing body documents, sometimes elaborately. It is not the purpose to examine them in detail here, even if it were appropriate in this forum. But whatever the policy, it has to be given effect through machinery of administration, and it is at this point that the practicalities come to the fore. The framework through which policy control of publishing is normally organised is budgetary and programmatic, as it has to be in large organisations. The control machinery consists in almost every case of high-level committees - impressively so. But the nature of the organisations is such that publishing origination and editorial expertise are widely diffused in the organisation among the numerous committees of experts and the various bodies at work on particular programmes, among the very large numbers of meetings, symposia and so on which are generated by every intergovernmental organisation. Inevitably high-level committees are supervisory bodies which cannot hope to deal in detail with individual publications, often already committed to programmes of work, or to series, or otherwise already deeply involved in the internal machinery and hierarchy of the organisation. And since the editorial resources are similarly dispersed and involved, it is difficult to feel, in the nature of things, that publications generally receive either the concentration or detachment of editorial expertise which may be desirable; that from inception they are under examination for content and language in relation to a specific market level of comprehension, for duplication of existing material in the field (a danger expressly mentioned in some of the declared publishing policies) and for what may be called, generally, publishable quality, as distinct from subject. There are, of course, peculiar difficulties in organisations commissioning established experts to write on their own subjects, for they are not 27

always the best judges of either the publishable quality of their work, or the market for it. Real publishing control has to be exercised at very early stages of planning if it is to be effective. The more specialised agencies - FAO, WHO and to a large extent ILO - achieve a centralisation of editorial capacity which is able to deal more independently and effectively than some other organisations with these essential publishing questions, including critical reading and revision of manuscripts, and in some cases reference of dubious works for opinion outside the organisation. This does enable a more direct influence to be exerted on the quality of published material, though it will certainly fall short of perfection. Completely independent editorial views may be difficult to come by in the involved hierarchy of complex intergovernmental organisations. All this is not to suggest that editorial competence is not present elsewhere; but it is to suggest that programme control, necessarily a high—level business, needs to be supported by strong item control at a stage when it can be effective. A comparative scrutiny of the catalogues of the main organisations can hardly fail to raise some question-marks in the mind; a reading of some of the texts will leave others. It may be that financial stringencies are also desirable - sometimes perhaps the most effective. FAO drew attention at the 1972 Symposium to the salutary effect of budgetary stringency on writers, authors and originators as a factor in arresting the growth of documentation; publishers are less susceptible. It needs to be remarked that the commercial publisher's first hurdle, the viability of the edition (or print-run) is generally missing from these fields. Many sale editions of intergovernmental organisation publications would be too small to stand on their sales merits, but are substantially increased by the free distribution to a point at which publication appears in a more favourable light. The thought, of course, obtrudes of a possible circularity in the processes. How many items tip the balance in favour of publication mainly on free, including depository, distribution to libraries and institutions who require the item simply because it is published? There are other senses in which reduction of volumes does not seem impossible. One must hesitate to suggest it here, but the sheer bulk of symposium papers and proceedings published by intergovernmental organisations must add substantially to institutional and other library shelves. Cannot the clearinghouse idea be of use for providing hard copy in extenso to those who really need it, while publishing formally only the excellent rapporteurs' summaries which are usually available, or perhaps publishing papers and proceedings in microform only. This is sometimes done, but symposia and meeting material is among the most bulky published, and there must be wider applications. Inter-organisation co-operation can surely be more widely extended to fields in which there is a persistent feeling that duplication occurs. This goes further than statistics; catalogue headings indicate overlaps in subject coverage between organisations which must be wasteful in resources and publishing effort. Economic and social development, education, communication - and how many different but overlapping physical areas alone are concerned? Are all series really necessary? When some (aspect of national policy is examined country by country in a planned series |of publications it is (a) unlikely that the series will ever reach an end and (b) likely that before it has gone very far the earlier editions will be out of print or out of date. There are more composite ways of dealing with these questions. Periodicals, once started, tend to go on, sometimes with difficulty. It is not necessarily a mark of the right sort of industry for the annual output of commercial-type publications from intergovernmental organisations to grow and grow (and inevitably for the programme budgets to grow with it). Otherwise 28

there is no end to a further contribution to the problem of over-production which everybody recognises and deplores. Co-Publishing There is a growing tendency for the publishing output of intergovernmental organisations to diversify into co-publishing or the licencing of outright commercial editions, not only for reprint and microform publishing in which commercial firms have long specialised, but also for current productions. This is partly the outcome of financial stringencies, and partly deliberate policy. It would be undesirable if this became simply a means of expanding the publishing activity in the context of tighter domestic budgets. But in terms of diversion into greater expertise (and publishing realism) and better possibilities of dissemination it does have advantages. Commercial publishers are by nature in very close touch with markets, through their sales organisations and through the book trade generally. A difficulty of all intergovernmental organisations is the lack of a domestic constituency for sales, and they lean on direct sales, often by subscription and various types of standing order, and on a world-wide network of commercial and government sales agencies. The complications of origination, control and timely production are difficult enough to handle, but the complications of sale and distribution are vital. As a European Communities document^ remarks (in broad summary) it is important enough to ensure that a publication is properly put together and presented, but once a publishable product has been obtained previous efforts will have been wasted unless the effort is made to give it as quick and as wide a circulation as possible. SALES DISTRIBUTION It is not easy to establish from published information the effectiveness of the sales machinery which the main intergovernmental organisations have established. The UNESCO report on its publications programme is one of the more extensive to be found, though not overfull for an operation of this scope. However, though it deals in percentage additions and comparisons, it stops short of giving basic and comprehensive figures and figures of geographical distributions of sales and other meaningful data from which it would be possible to appraise this end of the programme. However, there is evidence to suggest that about 80% of the sales of publications of the major intergovernmental organisations are made in Europe and the Americas, and that a good deal of this is direct subscription, etc. servicing. At the same time the organisations have an extensive agency network throughout the world. A perusal of current catalogues (the figures are always changing a little) shows UNESCO to have the widest network - 275 distributors or subdistributors in 112 countries; the UN is represented in 69 countries; FAO in 83; WHO in 69; OECD and the European Communities - both more restricted in scope of operations - 35 and 13 respectively. There are some peculiarities, the first being the general one that the larger networks cover a great many countries and agencies outside Europe and America, with the broad inference that very many agents are handling very little business. This must bear a relation to the fact that free and subsidised distributions of sales publications are most extensive in these areas. The second apparent peculiarity is the variety of agencies which can occur in one place. While one bookseller in Greece or in Denmark seems to handle the output of most (not all) main intergovernmental organisations, Argentina and Colombia seem to have different agents for almost each organisation. In the United Kingdom HMSO is the general agent for most, but not all, of the major and some minor organisations; in the USA the commercial agency of UNIPUB handles a good 29

many, but has major gaps in its coverage. At various points around the globe some organisations have different agents in the same city or country, sometimes with different agents for publications and for the periodicals of the same organisation - even a separate agent for one periodical. Some organisations, such as ILO, idiosyncratically maintain their own outlets here and there. Some of the reasons are obvious, where there is a specialised output and specialized agents; some are not Immediately clear. But a comparative table of sales agencies has an unruly patchwork appearance, in terms of variable coverage of countries themselves and of points within them. For the customer it must sometimes be very confusing. Moreover, it is unlikely that the commercial agents will carry substantial stocks; even the government agents, not susceptible as a rule to the stricter disciplines of commercial costs, are limited in what they can carry of the profusion of publications available. Many agencies can be little beyond catalogue reference and ordering points. And for countries where they do not have agents the organisations handle orders direct anyhow, mainly from European bases. Their service has no reputation for alacrity, and this compounds in terms of accessibility the long periods before some types of publications appear, and the further difficulties deriving from delay in the issue and updating of catalogues. The current OECD catalogue contains a pretty direct appeal to customers to eliminate delays in distribution via an intermediary by placing standing orders. Besides the expenses of administration, visiting agents have to be given generous discounts to handle intergovernmental organisations' publications. The total amount spent on sales distribution must be very large, and where it is concentrated for a number of organisations mainly with one agent, as in the United Kingdom, and, though with rather more exceptions, in the USA, there are total turnovers which must suggest that a further degree of concentration would either reinforce a comprehensive agent's inducement to run a complete operation or provide a financial basis for a co-operative effort by the organisations themselves. Past approaches to co-ordination of production of intergovernmental organisations' publications have been negative, though there are some inter-organisation productions where there are shared programmes. The immense difficulties are obvious. But there does seem something of a case for radical examination of the whole sales agency system, from both the finance and service aspects. Combined service points run on a co-operative basis, regional common stockholdings, constituting central bibliographic and cataloguing reference points, or even, central stockholdings with regional catalogue reference and ordering points, especially if backed by such a system of bank accounts to facilitate payment as IAEA already has, would not seem impossible systems to operate. Teleprint, facsimile, airlifting can annihilate time and distance, but exploitation of such facilities does not seem to be on any systematic scale. Australian publishers co-operate to airlift books by container regularly from the United Kingdom, adding only marginally to prices but revolutionising service to the customer. WHO already use their regional offices to service their publications over wide areas of the far east, and other organisations have regional offices which they sometimes use for publications. The organisation of servicing can never be satisfactory until positive and realistic standards are set and maintained on a world-wide basis and the logistic apparatus created to give them effect. This can be economically feasible only on a co-operative basis among intergovernmental organisations, but could make an immense difference to the efficiency of their publishing operation. It is an old story with governments that for lack of attention to the final organisation, involving relatively small investment, distribution systems for outputs of publications in which very large sums have been invested, directly and indirectly, fail to convey them effectively to those who are meant to benefit 30

by them. Much the same is true of closer working co-operation to every sort of objection, it mental organisations concerned operation throughout the world system might also well provide of the smaller organizations.

on the international scale, and though the idea in this kind of way would no doubt be subject has to be remarked that the large intergovernare those whose working job it is to foster coat large, or in large areas of it. A co-operative a better framework for incorporating many

CONCLUSION It would be presumptuous to think that every suggestion made would be justified, and that many ideas have not been considered. But the publishing operations of the intergovernmental organisations are in total very large indeed, and inadequacies in them are troublesome to the international community. Clearly, anything which can be done to improve the quality of their publishing, restrain its volume and improve its accessibility and service would be a benefit. This cursory survey has made some suggestions on particular situations'; it has not exhausted the possibilities. It would be difficult to accept out of hand that the existing systems are the best which can be devised. That is not meant to be a reflection on them, because they are the product of many years of difficult and often patchwork history - witness the impulses now evident in the European Communities to bring into better order the multiple points of publishing origin and supply deriving directly from the history of that organisation. But there come times in the development of all large organisations when a radical look at some of their functions is justified by the sheer persistence of identifiable problems.

1. 2. 3. A. 5.

Dimitrov, Th. D. Documents of International Organisations: a Bibliographic Handbook, Unifo Publishers Ltd., New York, 1975 Sources, Organisations, Utilisation of International Documentation, FID publ. 506, The Hague, 1974. Report of the Joint Inspection Unit on United Nations Documentation, United Nations, A/8319,1971, para.26. Yearbook of the United Nations, 1976, pp. 909-910 PUB 352 Rev. 1, Annex 2.

31

INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE STATISTICS PRODUCED BY INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS BY J. FLETCHER LIBRARIAN, COVENTRY (LANCHESTER) POLYTECHNIC, ENGLAND

This paper is not to be a catalogue of the statistical publications of international organizations with a comparison of the data on, for example, international trade, issued by the United Nations, O.E.C.D., and the Statistical Office of the European Communities. That would be very boring for all of us, and I will assume that most of my audience have some knowledge of the statistical output of these organizations. What I propose to do is to look at the international comparative statistics produced by international organizations and try to see what are the sources of these data, and how they differ from those of other, national statistics sources. Finally, I want to discuss the role played by international organizations in the world-wide collection and dissemination of statistical information, and try to answer the questions "Are the requirements of international organizations for statistical returns a good thing?" and "Do the international organizations do enough to stimulate the right, and better quality, statistical output from hard-pressed local statistical offices?". There are three aspects of statistical sources which we need to examine: collections, use, and dissemination. My brief is to cover the first and last of these, leaving the use aspect to another speaker. "The Permanent Secretary to the (U. K.) Board of Trade identified three ways in which the demand for statistics might be generated: by the policy-making part of government; from the awareness of government statisticians of gaps in available information; and by suggestions from industry that particular statistics might be collected". (1) * This is a rather narrow approach, and certainly more applicable to a developed than a developing country. Statistics are collected for two main reasons: first, for administrative or political purposes, such as taxation, grantmaking or the compilation of electoral registers; and second for policymaking-forecasting and monitoring economic and demographic trends. *

Annotations are to be found on page 41. 32

We can similarly identify two methods of collecting statistical data on a national basis. First, what might be termed " counting as they pass by"; counting things or people in certain well-defined categories as they pass through some process or physical location. For example, goods being imported or exported counted at the port (international trade statistics), people counted at an international border post (migration or tourist statistics), birth and death registration, and even some quite specialized data such as water consumption in a large city may be collected in this way. The second method is enumeration: a census or survey, usually with a questionnaire to be filled in, giving a snapshot of the situation at one time. Obvious examples are population censuses, surveys of housing facilities, consumer expenditure and industrial investment intentions. A third method of data collection could be when data collected for one purpose yields within itself, or, where the data has been son with other sources: data collected for partial data on income distribution.

mentioned: accident. This occurs additional information either carefully classified, by compariincome tax purposes will yield

Usually, several of these methods will be needed to produce any comprehensive picture: the introductory notes to the Special Report on International Migration in the 1977 Demographic Yearbook indicated that data had been acquired by a combination of border collection, registration and field surveys, and a detailed table was given as to which method or methods were used in each country covered. We shall return to the question of data collection in more detail later, but next let us look briefly at the use to which statistics are put, since to a large degree the use governs the content and the method of collection of data. Why do we want statistical information? Pyatt and Roe, in the introduction to their book Social Accounting for Development Planning (a study prepared for the International Labour Office under its World Employment Programme) said: ". . . w e see statistics as an input into informed opinion and as a means of making better policy decisions. The case for statistics as a purely descriptive historical record is an extremely limited one". (2) There are at least four interrelated reasons for collecting statistics: to monitor current events ; to improve economic policy-making; to facilitate and make more accurate the forecasting of changes in economic variables; and to enable us to understand better the relationships between various sectors of the economy. To quote Pyatt and Roe once more: " . . . the complete (albeit relatively crude) picture which emerges generates psychological novelty by virtue of showing 33

how one aspect of the economy relates to another".

(2)

(Here, as elsewhere in this paper, we should remember that demographic and social data are also important in economic policy-making, so these aspects of data should also be included in our examination. They are frequently much more sensitive and difficult to obtain accurately than economic data.) Before we look in detail at the dissemination of statistics by international organizations there is one aspect of the publication of data which is worth noting: publication means making public, and this gives a political dimension to some data publication. Statistics may show results contrary to a declared policy, and there may be a great temptation for a government to suppress or modify the data it publishes. Two examples, anonymous for obvious reasons, will suffice: a team of economists retained by an international organization to prepare a report on a Middle East country, asked for the unemployment figures. "We have no unemployment", they were told "the President has a policy of full employment". One can compare the data for the number of Americans migrating to certain centrally planned economies, given by the U. S. and by the receiving country, and see the discrepancies. Some returns may not be forthcoming for strategic reasons: for example, the U. N. Statistical Yearbook does not include any data for uranium production in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Finland, India or Italy, although all these countries have substantial resources of both uranium and statisticians. Publication, in printed form is the main method used by international organizations to disseminate the data they collect: but how do they collect it? These data are of three types: first, the result of a direct survey conducted by the staff of the international organization, or by experts employed by them, and perhaps under their supervision; second, the result of a special survey, done at the request of the international organization, by local national statisticians and/or subject experts; third, a compilation of data collected by the national statistical service to meet its own needs. Another type, probably a subdivision of this last one, might be identified: a report produced by the international organization's staff (or subcontracted experts) based on a variety of data sources. Of course, this delineation of types of data sources is somewhat artificial, since most published series from international organizations will comprise some, or all, of these types: one country's normally-collected series will be another's special survey; this is an aspect of international organizations' data collection we shall return to later. For example, a not untypical section of the introductory notes to a statistical compendium reads: "For the preparation of this volume information was collected from all readily available sources: national and international publications, country replies to the annual questionnaires sent out by the Directorate . . ., the Growth questionnaire sent out by Working Party No. 2 ..., miscellaneous reports and direct information provided to the O.E.C.D." (3)

34

Or, from another international organization: "The statistics presented in the Demographic Yearbook are official data unless otherwise indicated. The primary source of data for the Yearbook . is a set of questionnaires sent annually and monthly to more than 220 national statistical services and other appropriate government offices. Data forwarded on these questionnaires are supplemented, to the extent possible, by correspondence with the national statistical services". (4) What can international organizations' statistics sources provide which is not available in a collection of separate national statistics publications? The first answer is implied in the question: there are very few collections of statistics publications from national sources, available to the public, which could provide anything like the coverage of the international organization's output. Second, the international organization, with its political muscle backing its technical expertise can elicit information from government statistical services which the latter does not normally publish itself. Third, many governments simply do not have the manpower or the expertise to collect certain data, however desirable they may be - the international organization can provide advice, assistance, and in some cases financial support, for the carrying out of special surveys, or training local staff to do them. Fourth, an international organization can put pressure on a national statistical service to provide data to a time schedule. This may be an advantage, in speeding up the publication of some nations' data, or a disadvantage in delaying the publication of another's. Fifth, international organizations provide unbiased evaluation of (and in some cases, comment on) nationally-produced data. But it is probably the sixth feature of international statistical compendia which is widely regarded as the most valuable: international comparability. The O.E.C.D. publication quoted before continues: "Figures should be established in conformity with the international definition adopted by I.L.0./0.E.C.D." (5) Those of us who use international statistical data are aware of the great debt we owe to the statistical offices of international bodies for the work they have carried out in persuading, cajoling (perhaps even forcing?) national statistical systems to adopt standard definitions of products and industries. It is an immense task and will take many years, but the value of the results is equally immense. Sometimes they admit defeat, even in a subject one would have thought relatively straightforward, such as the land surface: "Lack of international comparability between surface area estimates arise primarily from differences in definition." (6) (the differences in treatment of inlets, costal systems, rivers and inland lakes). Let us now look at the three (perhaps four) types of data collected by international organizations and see how they match up to the possible advantages and disadvantages noted. First, the survey: in an extreme form this would entail the organization sending staff (either its own or staff seconded for the purpose) to collect the data or to supervise its collection. This is rare, because the organizations' statistical offices are not designed for this. More likely, they will send staff to encourage, train and perhaps supervise local 35

statisticians in setting up, and running the machinery to produce the data. The advantage of this type of data are: minimal time lag in data production, absolute control over definitions and thus comparability. The training of local staff leaves the country with expertise for the future, and supervision of collection means that the international organization can evaluate the quality of the data and, if necessary, offset known politically-biased results. The disadvantage is that the international organizations are not geared up for this type of activity, though they are deeply involved in the training aspect. And of course, there is the political element. No government likes to admit that it cannot do the job itself and has to ask the international community to do it for it. A more common scenario is when the international organization asks an existing national statistical service to carry out a specific survey, perhaps with advice or assistance from outside experts. An example of this is the request by the Conference of European Statisticians, under the auspices of the U.N.E.C.E., for standardized data on tourism, made in 1972. As adopted by O.E.C.D. this specified, in great detail, the common data to be obtained through national holiday surveys undertaken by member countries of the O.E.C.D. (7) In so far as the sponsoring organization can lay down specific detailed definitions, and the countries adhere to these, the data will be comparable. And the national statistical offices will gain the expertise to carry out such surveys again. The price paid, however, is a time lag if the data is not already collected, and, in increasing the demands made on the national statistical service the survey may bias the priorities they have for their work. This aspect is especially important in the case of countries with small and hard-pressed statistical services, and is a point we shall return to later. The vast majority of statistical data published by international organizations is taken from reports by national statistical offices, of data they collect because they need it themselves. This is especially true of most data about developed countries, or more accurately, countries with developed statistical services. It leaves the international organization with the problem of reconciling data from different countries, using different definitions of terms, and/or persuading the national statistical offices to adopt standard definitions. In so far as it is successful, the comparability of data is good; if it is not successful the organization's statisticians must re-work the data supplied to approximate comparability and aggregation. To quote the O.E.C.D. again: "The Secretariat has proceeded to numerous adjustments in the figures . . . necessary to reduce the inconsistencies between the various series . . . " (8) Similarly, these statistics may be reworked by the statisticians of the international organization on a different basis: international trade by commodity, by country, by region, by type of economy, or rebasing a series of index numbers. The last group of statistical publications of international organizations are reports, based on data already collected, but collating it in a different way, and with expert commentary added. One important example of this type of publication is the regular series of Economic Surveys of member countries carried out by O.E.C.D. Using data supplied by the country, together with 36

their own estimates, O.E.C.D. economists report on the current state and short-term forecasts for each member country. Because of the quality of the report and commentary, and the high regard in which O.E.C.D. economists are held, these reports are held in great esteem by the countries concerned. Other, regularly published, examples are the Food and Agriculture Organization's annual review, The State of Food and Agriculture, and its review and forecast, Commodity Review and Outlook. In this category too we must include those monographic reports containing data but not necessarily continued as a serial: again the F.A.O. produced many of these in the past, for example The World Rice Economy in Figures with its detailed historical data, and Pulp and Paper Development in Africa and the Near East, a conference report. Considerable rationalization of the publication of statistics has taken place in recent years. The F.A.O.'s thin Commodity Reviews such as The Coconut Situation have given way to statistical compendia like the Production Yearbook, a welcome change. So far we have been talking as if publication were the only form of statistical data dissemination by international organizations: but we need to look briefly at the rising star - databanks. In the postwar period, and especially in the last ten years we have seen very great increases in the quantity of data collected, the specificity of that data, the demand for data by nongovernment bodies and above all^ the inevitable use of computers to process the ever-increasing volume of statistical returns. International organizations' statistical offices are subject to these pressures no less than the national statisticians who supply them, and although the national offices have generally speaking been more advanced in the use of computers, the international statistical agencies have produced some valuable databanks. The most obvious use has been in the processing of data and the mechanization of the typesetting of printed tables: manv European Community statistical publications are produced in this way. But this is merely the mechanics of printing, although the use of computers to produce microfiche editions of statistical serials has speeded up their publication: O.E.C.D. and the S.O.E.C. have both adopted this means of rapid publication of international trade data. Much more important aspects are that large quantities of data can be obtained now on magnetic tape, ready for use in the customer's own computer, that some of the very specialized data which it would be uneconomic to publish in conventional ways can be made available to meet customers' specific needs, and that those statistical offices which have matching software such as macroeconomic models, may be persuaded to make them publicly available, enabling non-official bodies to use the forecasting models and. data used by governments. The final advantages of databanks are that they can be constantly updated, with new estimates replacing earlier ones, and they are cheap to produce. All advances carry with them drawbacks• First, the problem of access: statisticians are notoriously bad at providing adequate indexes to their published tables, and the same criticism applies to databanks. Second, when an individual user extracts a data series he does not automatically, or even easily, obtain the "small print" - the details of the method of collection, and the definitions used - which is so vital for the proper appreciation of the data. I was particularly pleased to note in a recent issue of Eurostat News that the CRONOS databank includes information about definitions. The third problem relates to developing countries: the statistical offices of small or developing countries are under extreme pressure to collect and process data, and have great difficulty in training statisticians of the high 37

quality needed for this work. Computerization adds another, technological, dimension to their problem. One might refer to this as the problem of "appropriate technology" (a term beloved by development economists) applied to statistical work. One aspect of the computerization of data does not yet seem to have been appreciated: vast quantities of very detailed data are being printed conventionally when the demand for the data is very limited. Might it not be more economic to supply this in a cheaper format onlv to those bodies particularly interested? The Statistical Office of the European Communities is a particular offender in this context, with extremely detailed published data on, for example, the weekly prices of specific agricultural produce in certain towns throughout the Community. All in all, then, we must accept that the development of databanks as a means of data dissemination will continue, but that it raises problems for all users of data, and for some collectors as well. Finally, I wish to consider two very fundamental questions about international statistics: is the international organizations' involvement in statistical publication a good thing? Are the international organizations doing enough to stimulate the right and a better quality statistical output? The questions are related and I propose to treat them together. The benefits of international organizations' statistical efforts can be catalogued: -

they collect together data from many different sources into one convenient package; they provide standard definitions and persuade national statistical offices to adapt to (if not adopt) them: and,

-

they assist embryo statistical offices to develop their expertise.

The family of international organizations which we call the United Nations, have, over the years, spent vast amounts of money and effort to improve the quantity and quality of useful data available to economists and planners throughout the world, and especially in and for developing countries. This work is very fully described in Part 1 of the United Nations Statistical Office publication Directory of International Statistics (New York. U.N. 1975) (Statistical Papers, Series M, No. 56). The main forms of technical assistance provided by the United Nations in the statistical field are advisory experts, and training. This latter activity may take the form of support for training centers, courses, conferences, and workshops. In parallel, of course, has been the publication of manuals on methods, especially of sampling and census-taking, and the compilation of agreed international classification schemes for industries, products and occupations. On this point, a few quotations.

From Pyatt and Roe:

"A very large amount of the increased postwar availability of macroeconomic data . . . is due to the efforts of the United Nations and other international agencies in producing manuals explaining the sort of data which are 'needed' , the classifications which are appropriate, and the methods of collection. These same agencies have also contributed by supplying technical assistance personnel to help carry through their recommendations".(9) 38

and from the United Nations itself, explaining the purpose of one of its statistical programmes: " . . . its basic aim is to make optimum use of all available resources to build up an effective and enduring statistical infrastructure . . . with a resulting improvement of related national statistical services". (10) I think we are all well aware of the benefits which the international organizations' statisticians have given to the economic community. But there is disquiet among some of the development economists working in the field, in both developing and developed countries: "In retrospect, it can be doubted whether the efforts made by the United Nations Statistical Office and the Technical Assistance Administration in the course of the past fifteen years to improve statistics in the underdeveloped countries have led to entirely desirable consequences. For reasons of prestige, many of these nations have felt compelled to concentrate their statistical efforts on compilation of such global estimates as those of national income, capital formation and savings. When an expert, under the auspices of the UN, has gone to a country on a short term assignment, pressure has been brought upon him to help the local statisticians in assembling glamorous macroeconomic estimates. Fashion has thus pushed necessity aside. As a result, development of basic statistics such as data on production, prices, population movements, growth and distribution of labour force has been on the whole neglected". (11) More specifically, the critics say, first that the data being asked for, or at least the detail being demanded, is irrelevant for developing countries. Prof. Hans Singer in an I.L.O. document, for example: "Once it is generally realized that much of the data now collected (such as GNP growth . . . on export growth . . .) are irrelevant to development (the purpose of which is to reduce or eliminate poverty) it becomes clear that this sort of data collection could be discontinued in order to switch resources to obtaining more relevant data." (12) For example - taken at random from the 1978 United Nations Statistical Yearbook: steel consumption in Togo, cotton consumption in Nicaragua, sugar consumption by industry in Thailand, and the floor area of new non-residential building in Kenya. Sometimes, of course, national statisticians do not deliver the goods: palm oil production, and milk production, by animal, for most developing countries is given as estimates by the F.A.O. Data on wheat production, however, is almost complete, but a high proportion is in developed countries. Second, the critics add that the task being set developing countries is too big: (Pyatt and Roe) " . . . many see the SNA (System of National Accounts) as a monolithic, excessively ambitious, dogmatic structure which 1 requires ' developing countries to produce data in which they have no analytical interest, using classifications and conventions which are quite inappropriate to their circumstances. 39

and so on". (13) (It should be noted that Pyatt and Roe regard this as unfair criticism.) Third, following on from these criticisms is the fear that the demands made on local statisticians by international organizations bias the work of the local offices. Pyatt and Roe give considerable space (14) in their book to the statistical problems besetting economists working on Sri Lanka, despite Snodgrass1 comment: "The body of economic statistics available for Ceylon must certainly rank as one of the most complete and accurate in the world for a country of such low per capita income". (15) Additionally, there is the problem of reliability: despite the enormous increase in the availability of data for developing countries the statistical documentation is often poor in terms of the reliability of the data - often due to pressure of work on the local statistical offices. What reliance can be placed, for example, on the data for mattress production (sprung or filled with any material) in El Salvador? I raise this mainly because of the data themselves: 12,000 in 1968, 101,000 in 1969, back to 26,000 in 1970. Finally, the international organizations' technical assistance is felt to be of less permanent benefit than had been anticipated. The United Nations Secretariat notes: "Interest by international and bilateral agencies has also tended to follow on a specific need, usually of the agency concerned, leaving behind little of an enduring nature after the survey has been completed". (16) So, what conclusions can we draw? Certainly the effects of various international organizations' statistical offices have produced large and valuable compilations of statistical data, on a reasonably comparable basis, which would not have otherwise been widely available. These data are probably of more value to economists, economic advisers and the organizations themselves than to the developing countries which produce so many of them. I have a sneaking feeling that these economists are reaping the benefits, and that the price is being paid by the third world countries. If the statisticians in international organizations can be persuaded by development economists to trim the demands they make on the small expert resources of developing countries, to reduce the number of data they ask for, and to ensure that the detail requested is relevant to the needs of the supplying country, and not simply needed to provide blanket-coverage for the world, then some of the problems will be ameliorated.

An appendix to this paper follows listing some sources of statistical data published by intergovernmental organizations.

40

References (1)

Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Estimates Committee: Government statistical services: fourth report from the Estimates Committee . . ., Session 1966-67. London: H.M.S.O., 1966 (1966-67 H.C. 246). page ix.

(2)

Graham Pyatt and Alan Roe: Social Accounting for Development Planning, with special reference to Sri Lanka. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977, page 15.

(3)

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: Labour Force Statistics, 1966-77. Paris: O.E.C.D., Introduction.

(4)

United Nations. Demographic Yearbook, 1977. notes on the statistical tables, page 17.

New York: U. N. Technical

(5) As (3). (6) As (4), page 18. (7)

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: Tourism Policy and International Tourism in O.E.C.D. Countries. Paris: O.E.C.D., 1978.

(8) As (3). (9) (10)

Ibid, page 12. United Nations. Secretariat. The National Household Survey Capability Programme (NHSCP), Prospectus. Consultative Meeting on the National Household Survey Capability Programme, 21-22 June 1979, New York. (ST/ESA/STAT92). New York:U.N., 1979, page 1.

(11) Mitra, A.: Underdeveloped statistics, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 9.3(Ap. 1963), part 1. (12)

International Labour Office: Time for Transition: a mid-term review of the Second United Nations Development Decade. Geneva: I.L.O., 1975, page 83.

(13)

Pyatt and Roe, page 11.

(14) Pyatt and Roe, chapter 2, section 5. (15)

Snodgrass, D. R.: Ceylon: an export economy in transition. (111.): Irwin, 1966.

(16) As (10), page 2.

41

Homewood

APPENDIX A Select List of some of the more useful sources of statistical data published regularly by intergovernmental organizations GENERAL Basic Statistics of the Community comparison with some European countries, Canada, U.S.A., Japan, and U.S.S.R.

EC

Annual

Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific

ESCAP

bi-A

Economic Outlook economic indicators, forecasts

OECD

semi-A

Economic Surveys (of OECD countries)

OECD

ca. A

Economic survey of Europe in . . . subtitled The European Economy in . . .

ECE

A

European Economy supplements include Annual Economic Report, Recent Economic Trends, Economic Prospects

EC

Monthly

Eurostat Review

EC

A

Eurostatistics: data for short-term economic analysis general statistics, especially economic indicators

EC

M

Main Economic Indicators also Historical Statistics, with up to 20 year's data available on magnetic tape

OECD

Monthly Bulletin of Statistics

UN

M

Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics for Asia and the Pacific

ESCAP

Q

Regional Statistics various subjects covered in different volumes

EC

varies

Statistical Yearbook

UN

A

Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific

ESCAP

A

Statistical Yearbook for Latin America

ECLA

A

World Economic Survey

UN

A

Yearbook of Regional Statistics

EC

A

Demographic Statistics

EC

A

Demographic Trends

OECD

5 years

Demographic Yearbook special subjects in each volume

UN

A

Population and Vital Statistics Report (Statistical Papers, series A)

UN

Q

DEMOGRAPHY

42

AGRICULTURE Agricultural Situation in the Community published in conjunction with General Report on the Activities of the European Communities

EC

A

Agricultural Trade in Europe

UN

A

Commodity Review and Outlook

FAO

A

Crop Production

EC

Q

Economic Accounts: agriculture, forestry

EC

A

Feed Balance Sheet: resources

EC

A

Fisheries: catches by region also volumes on size of fleets, quantities and values of landings

EC

varies

Forestry Statistics

EC

irreg.

Meat Balances in OECD Member Countries

OECD

A

Milk, Milk Products and Egg Balances in OECD Member countries

OECD

A

Monthly Bulletin of Statistics

FAO

M

Production of Vegetables and Fruit

EC

A

Production Yearbook

FAO

A

Quarterly Bulletin of Fisheries

EC

Q

Review of Fisheries in OECD Member Countries

OECD

A

Review of the Agricultural Situation in Europe

ECE

A

Timber Bulletin for Europe supplements on market trends, prices, country profiles

EAO/UN

semi-A

Trade Yearbook

FAO

A

Yearbook of Agricultural Statistics

EC

A

Yearbook of Fishery Statistics: fishery commodities

FAO

A

Yearbook of Fishery Statistics: catches and landings

FAO

A

Yearbook of Forest Products

FAO

A

INDUSTRY - General Indicators of Industrial Activity available on magnetic tape

OECD

Industrial Short Term Trends

EC

M

Quarterly Bulletin of Industrial Production

EC

Q

Results of the Business Survey carried out among Managements in the Community orders, capacity utilization, expectations of prices and production

43

EC

Structure and Activity of Industry coordinated annual enquiry into industrial activity in member countries

EC

A

Yearbook of Industrial Statistics Vol. 1: general industrial statistics; vol. 2: commodity production data; both cover 10 years data

UN

A

ECE

A

INDUSTRY - Chemicals Annual Bulletin of Trade in Chemical Products Annual Review of the Chemical Industry

ECE

A

The Chemical Industry

OECD

A

Fertilizer Yearbook

FAO

A

Annual Bulletin of Housing and Building Statistics for Europe

ECE

A

Compendium of Housing Statistics

UN

irreg.

Yearbook of Construction Statistics

UN

A

Annual Bulletin of Coal Statistics for Europe

ECE

A

Annual Bulletin of Electric Energy Statistics for Europe

ECE

A

Annual Bulletin of Gas Statistics for Europe

ECE

A

Annual Bulletin of General Energy Statistics for Europe

ECE

A

Annual Oil and Gas Statistics

OECD

A

EC

M

EC

M

INDUSTRY - Construction

INDUSTRY

Energy

continuation of Oil Statistics Coal: monthly bulletin Electrical Energy: monthly bulletin Energy Balances of OECD Countries includes 5 year data

OECD

Energy Statistics

OECD continuation of Statistics of Energy; includes 5 year data Energy Statistics Yearbook EC

A A A

Half-yearly Bulletin of Electric Energy Statistics for Europe

ECE

semi-A

Hydrocarbons: monthly bulletin

EC

M

Operation of Nuclear Power Stations

EC

A

Quarterly Bulletin of Coal Statistics for Europe

ECE

Q

Quarterly Oil Statistics produced by International Energy Agency

OECD

Q

Yearbook of World Energy Statistics (Statistical Papers, series J); continuation of World Energy Supplies

UN

irreg.

44

INDUSTRY - Metals Annual Bulletin of Steel Statistics for Europe

ECE

A

Products

ECE

A

Engineering Industries in OECD Member Countries

OECD

A

Iron and Steel

OECD

A

Iron and Steel: monthly bulletin

EC

M

Bulletin of Statistics on World Trade in Engineering

Iron and Steel Yearbook

EC

A

Non-ferrous Metals Industry Quarterly Bulletin of Steel Statistics for Europe includes data for Canada, Japan, U.S.A., U.S.S.R.

OECD ECE

A Q

Quarterly Iron and Steel Bulletin

EC

Q

Statistics of World Trade in Steel

ECE

A

The Steel Market in . . .

ECE

A

Steel Market in . . . and Outlook for . . .

OECD

A

Tugsten Statistics

UNCTAD

Q

Annual Bulletin of Transport Statistics for Europe

UN

A

Maritime Transport

OECD

A

Monthly Tables of Transport

EC

M

INDUSTRY - Transport

Results of the Maritime Transport Study for the Years ... UN commodity trade statistics reworked to give pattern of goods flows in world's major sea lanes

3 years

Review of Maritime Transport

UNCTAD

A

Statistics of Road Traffic Accidents in Europe

ECE

A

OECD Countries

OECD

A

Pulp and Paper Industry in OECD Member Countries

OECD

INDUSTRY - Other Footwear, Raw Hides and Skins and Leather Industry in A

Pulp and Paper...Stocks...Production...Trade and Shipments OECD

Q

Textile Industry in OECD Member Countries

OECD

A

Member Countries

OECD

A

FINANCE Balance of Payments Vol. 1: geographical breakdown; vol. 2: global data Balance of Payments: quarterly data

EC

A

EC

Q

IMF

M

Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD

Balance of Payments Statistics continuation of Balance of Payments Yearbook 45

Bank for International Settlements: annual report

BIS

A

Development Cooperation (principally commentary)

OECD

A

Financial Accounts of OECD Countries

OECD

A

Financial Market Trends

OECD

3 p.a.

Financial Statistics OECD tables, methodological supplement, financial accounts

A

Financial Statistics Monthly (interest rates supplement)

OECD

M

General Government Accounts and Statistics

EC

A

Developing Countries (includes 4 year data)

OECD

irreg.

Government Financing of Research and Development

EC

A

Government Finance Statistics Yearbook

IMF

A

International Banking Developments

BIS

Q

International Financial Statistics

IMF

M

Steel Industries: summary report

ECSC

A

Maturity Distribution of International Bank Lending

BIS

semi-A

Geographical Distribution of Financial Flows to

Investment in the Community Coalmining and Iron and

National Accounts (voL 1: aggregates; vol.2: detailed tables) EC National Accounts of OECD Countries OECD vol. 1: main aggregates; vol. 2: detailed tables; 15 and 30 year data respectively Quarterly National Accounts Bulletin OECD available on magnetic tape

A A

Revenue Statistics for OECD Member Countries

A

OECD

Q

Science Resources Newsletter (very brief, but useful OECD A data on research and development expenditure in OECD countries) Yearbook of National Accounts Statistics UN vol. 1: individual country data; vol. 2: international tables

A

PRICES Agricultural Markets: livestock products: prices

EC

10 p.a.

Agricultural markets; vegetable products; prices

EC

10 p.a.

Agricultural Price Statistics

EC

A

EC Agricultural Price Indices

EC

Q

EC Index of Producer Prices of Agricultural Products

EC

bi-M

Agricultural Production

EC

Q

Electricity Prices

EC

EC Indices of Purchase Prices of the Means of

Prices of Agricultural Products and Selected Imports in Europe and North America

ECE/FAO

A

Purchase Prices of the Means of Production

EC

Q

Selling Prices of Animal Products

EC

bi-M

Selling Prices of Vegetable Products

EC

bi-M

46

SOCIAL SITUATION Compendium of Social Statistics (Statistical Papers, series K)

WHO/UN/ILO/FAO/UNESCO

irreg.

Education and Training also an irregular Statistical Bulletin

EC

irreg.

Educational Statistics in OECD Countries

OECD

irreg

Food Consumption Statistics (15 year data)

OECD

A

Household Income and Expenditure Statistics

ILO

irreg

Social Indicators for the European Community, 1960-78

EC

irreg

Statistical Yearbook

UNESCO

A

World Health Statistics Annual (up to 3 vols p.a.)

WHO

A

World Health Statistics Quarterly

WHO

Q

Bulletin of Labour Statistics

ILO

M

Hourly Earnings: hours of work

EC

semi-A

Labour Force Sample Survey

EC

bi-A A

LABOUR

Labour Force Statistics (quarterly sup., magnetic tape)

OECD

Wages and Incomes: statistical bulletin

EC

irreg.

Yearbook of Labour Statistics

ILO

A

EC

A

INTERNATIONAL TRADE ACP Yearbook of Foreign Trade Statistics

Analytical Tables of Foreign Trade (NIMEXE and SITC order eds.)

EC

A

Commodity Trade Statistics (Statistical Papers, series D) UN

A

Direction of Trade Statistics

IMF

M

Direction of Trade Yearbook

IMF

A

EC Trade with ACP States and the Southern Mediterranean States

EC

Q

Foreign Trade Statistics of Asia and the Pacific - 2 series

ESCAP

A

Handbook of International Trade and Development Statistics

UNCTAD

A

Monthly External Trade Bulletin EC special supplements on EC trade by commodity classes and main countries Statistics of Foreign Trade OECD series A: monthly bulletin, available on magnetic tape; series B: trade by commodities, country summaries, quarterly, cumulating; series C: trade by commodities, market summaries, quarterly, cumulating; Import-Export Microtables, and supplements, on microfiches Yearbook of International Trade Statistics vol. 1: Trade by country; vol. 2: Trade by commodity 47

UN

11 p.a.

M and Q

THE VISIBILITY OF INTERNATIONAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY DOCUMENTATION BY M. H. ROGERS IN COLLABORATION WIT 16, E. GORMAN AND M. G, BLOOM THE LIBRARY, INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX, U.K.

Scope and Nature of International Documentation Chapter Two of the DEVSIS Study Team report has the title, "Accessibility of Development Literature: The Present Dilemma of Poor Availability and Wasted Resources".1 It discusses the problem of this literature in terms of both the procurement and dissemination of actual documents or copies thereof and of their bibliographical control. The Team concluded from its investigations that the identification and acquisition of new development literature was so labour intensive that even the richest institutions would find it impossible to sustain their existing procedures. The Study Team also observed that some formats of the literature were much more accessible than others and that these were being partially and, in a global sense, repetitively indexed and abstracted in individual institutions. In contrast, important segments of development literature were proving difficult to obtain and were, in any public sense, under minimal bibliographic control. The report estimated that 60 per cent of the literature, consisting of " — unpublished working papers, feasibility and pre-investment studies, theses, research reports and documents of governments and international organizations which are not widely disseminated," was "invisible".^ The Team also considered it "... unlikely that decision makers in developing countries and elsewhere accord special importance..."3 to documents from international organizations and calculated that 17 per cent of the total development literature came from the United Nations, its specialized agencies and regional offices, with 3 per cent emanating from other international organizations. In Chapter Seven of its report the Team raised the question of redundancy of some of this documentation in a specifically mission oriented development information system, due either to the fact that it falls outside the subject scope of the system or to the incidence of draft versions which are superseded by final documents. We do not propose to refine these estimates of the size of the develop48

ment literature corpus or the proportion of international agency documentation included in it. Our own investigations indicate that the public bibliographic records of several of the most extensive contemporary collections consistently report about 20 percent of titles as coming from international sources, but with agencies outside the United Nations family being represented marginally more frequently. What can be discovered from such an analysis does not reflect the extent of the really "invisible" parts of the literature. The format of documents listed by the Study Team varies considerably, and it must be obvious that there are degrees of difficulty in document procurement and bibliographical control.

International Documentation in the IDS Library A distinctive feature of the IDS Library collection is the extensive range of international organizations whose publications are included in it. The selection criteria and acquisition procedures followed in sustaining this part of the collection are elaborated elsewhere.^ Particularly crucial in this programme has been the alarming growth rate of international organizations; the 1978 Yearbook of International Organizations lists more than 11,000 institutions which are international in some sense, and this is more than four times the number listed in the 1969-1970 edition. Of course, not all of them publish in any formal sense, and at the earlier date only half issued a periodical publication. Nevertheless, this growth does mean that there is an ever increasing number of agencies of which one must be aware in attempting to maintain a representative collection of international development documentation. The pattern of IDS Library acquisition is intended to be systematically representative of both fact and opinion without claiming to be comprehensive. In many instances the publications of international organizations are sought specifically in order to exclude extensive coverage of similar information and opinion from lower territorial levels (for example, publications of the International Rice Research Institute and the International Potato Centre are acquired for this reason); this is especially the case where the subject scope of the organization is marginal to any conventional definition of development.^ Overall our acquisition of documentation from international organizations is designed quite deliberately to provide information and opinion on the same topics from global and regional, governmental and non-official sources, which is supplemented by varying degrees of national and subnational coverage in our total acquisition scheme. A recent count shows that 1201 international organizations are represented in the IDS Library collection by more than one title. Subdivisions of headquarters agencies and their regional offices (e.g. of the International Planned Parenthood Federation) and other associated institutions do not figure in this total, although defunct organizations do (e.g., agencies of the East African Community). Intergovernmental organizations number 422 (100 global, regional) and 779 are nongovernmental (521 global, 258 regional). The regional distribution is systematically representative in the context of our specific guidelines which, for national U.K. reasons, largely exclude coverage of European countries and non-Third World socialist states. The distribution by regional location of organizations is as follows:

49

Governmental

Nongovernmental

112

45

Arab States

35

17

Asia

42

48

Caribbean

18

19

Commonwealth

17

22

Europe

18

32

Latin America

64

64

Pacific

11

11

5

0

322

258

Africa

Socialist countries

580

These figures may cause some surprise both in total numbers and in the regional distribution. We think it unlikely that other libraries whose subject scope extends widely into many aspects of contemporary affairs acquire publications on a regular basis from so many international organizations. We also believe that the networks connecting international organizations in terms of the transmission of documents and bibliographical information are still considerably distorted and unbalanced; in part our acquisition programme is a modest attempt to create a better balance by being hospitable, even at some extra cost, to difficult-to-procure documents from a variety of sources, particularly those in the Third World. The Directory of United Nations Information Systems and Services certainly suggests that, despite some fairly clear lines of division of labour in terms of work programmes and documentation services, there is still considerable duplication of effort in both procurement and bibliographic recording of documents within the U.N. family.6 On the other hand, while there are often adequate but still imperfect connections among regional agencies and global agencies located in rich countries, the infrastructures and networks connecting regional organizations in Third World areas are as yet minimal within each of these regions and almost nbnexistent between counterpart regional agencies.1 Again, this picture deteriorates still further when one considers those agencies which, for political or other reasons, are established in part to compete with existing organizations. How long, for example, will it be before the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research begins to produce documentation differing only minimally from that of its direct competitor, the Food and Agriculture Organization? In spite of these many complicating factors we would argue that most of what the IDS Library collects cannot be considered "invisible". If we or anyone else can identify through conventional sources of directory information an international organization which in some way is concerned with problems of development and then can enter into correspondence with it, it is possible to establish the visibility of a range of publications even in the ab50

sence of a formal bibliographic record. Furthermore, it is well known that most document producing international agencies issue publications lists at varying intervals of frequency, even if their publications are not recorded in the more sophisticated bibliographic records currently available. "Invisible" Documentation What is of specific concern here is that which is excluded from both publications lists and bibliographic records. In general it seems that the more involved an international agency is with the political dimensions of financial disbursements the more restrictive is its control over the distribution of documents describing such activities. Since the area to which we are alluding inescapably involves the most critical decisions for development, it is not surprising that the principals are, to understate the case, cautious in their procedures for information dissemination. Many documents are given a security classification by governments and private organizations as well as by international agencies; but, as the DEVSIS Study Team has pointed out, "the notion of confidentiality is a very fluid one. It means different things to different people at different times, and documents are sometimes really less restricted than one might think."8 Everyone is aware that varying degrees of confidentiality are assigned to operational documents. What is far less clear is the extent of accessibility which pertains while documents are still so classified, what procedures (if any) exist for declassifying documents after a given period and what archival regulations apply in the various issuing agencies. Many documents do indeed have a spurious security classification; many others are produced in such a way that factual information, often bought at considerable expense, is entangled with policy recommendations of varying degrees of sensitivity. Surely it should be possible for the two areas to be separated so that the informational content could be incorporated into publicly accessible information stores and libraries. At the very least there is scope for public discussion of this problem and of the archival procedures and rules of confidentiality of such issuing agencies. While accepting part of the argument for security classification of documents of this kind, it is pertinent to point out that there is considerable carelessness and laxity on the part of issuing agencies. One could suppose that security systems might fail, even if one did not know for a fact that this happens. However restricted the documents, there is some dissemination to collaborating operational agencies, both intergovernmental and private, and documents do surface openly with their security classification intact but whose antiquity clearly contradicts that classification. This being the case, it would simplify matters immensely if the various issuing bodies were to produce readily available guidelines on their classification and declassification procedures. Examples of "Invisible" Documentation: International Development. Banks It is appropriate that we try to make some bibliographic sense of this and other scattered information which has come our way in a very ad hoc and almost accidental fashion. In both the 1972 Unitar Symposium and the 1978 Indiana Workshop there were contributions on the publications of the World Bank Group (IBRD) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB).9 Since most applications for the funding of development projects pass at some stage 51

to the IBRD and the regional counterparts and since a massive amount of consultancy manpower goes into pre-investment and feasibility studies for subsequently underwritten projects, this is where many of the "invisible" documents indisputably relevant to development are generated. There appears to have been comparatively little public analysis of the political projects, how they are chosen in the requesting countries, how they are negotiated between governments and funding agencies, how feasibility and pre-investment studies are commissioned, how choices are made among competitive tenders from possible implementing agencies and how consultants collect their information. At each of these preparatory stages a substantial corpus of "invisible" documentation relevant to development is generated, documentation of which there is little public knowledge and for which there is no public bibliographic record. It might be argued that this group of agencies does in fact satisfy the outsider's curiousity to an acceptable degree. In most cases public reporting is fairly standardized by means of press releases which treat newly funded projects, by regular newsletters, by credit and loan statements issued at various intervals, by operational summaries and related dissemination procedures. Furthermore, after the event there are annual reviews, retrospective surveys and summaries by governing boards. Occupying an intermediate position in the scale of information provision are loan, credit, investment and project documents, presumably issued by all of these banks but only comparatively visible as far as the IBRD is c o n c e r n e d . I n addition, some of this information also appears in sources issued by completely separate agencies and commercial services. Yet in spite of these several sources of information, it remains true that we have available on a regular basis only a miniscule proportion of the documentation prepared for larger development projects. This is scattered in a wide range of materials and so is difficult to retrieve with any degree of efficiency; more painfully, no matter how efficient one is, there is at this stage never any access to the complete corpus of preparatory documentation, which of course contains the core data of value to a far wider audience than just the project personnel. As far as the IBRD is concerned, it is perhaps a blessing to the librarian that he does not have to cope with its "invisible" documentation. Of necessity the Bank has a complex organizational structure, but the variant designations of the constituent parts which appear on the confidential and restricted documents would be a cataloguer's nightmare. There seems to be a number of global project departments and counterpart functional project departments and divisions, not always with the same titles or scope as the global ones, within regional offices. Most of the latter are sectoral project departments, but there are also a number of country programming departments. The category of "invisible" IBRD documentation known to most people is commonly referred to as "country economic reports" (those with the grey covers which cannot be cited even by employees of the Bank). It is clear that this series is distributed on certain conditions to member government donor agencies and, where appropriate, to collaborating operational agencies (e.g., UNDP field offices). It is also known that some of the recipient agencies for their own convenience list such documents for in-house records, and some with special permission may deposit additional copies of such documents in specially designated libraries, where the same conditions of access are imposed. The current sequence of these documents is numbered consecutively with a regional or country mnemonic. Almost 3000 individual items have been issued since 1972, when the previous numbering sequences were discontinued. These 52

earlier sequences w e r e numbered consecutively o n being started w h e n the regional organization w a s From very sketchy information one estimates that documents appeared in these sequences during the 4000 items.

a regional basis, new ones changed during 1968 and 1969. at least a further 1000 1960s, giving a m i n i m u m of

By no means are all of these country economic reports, and those that are o f t e n h a v e the nature of country economic memoranda, current economic situation reports or development performance notes. I n many respects these are fairly innocuous documents and are far less interesting than the staff appraisals of projects, credits, loans and sector programmes, all of w h i c h are issued in this same numbered sequence. Earlier sector and project appraisals w e r e issued i n project department sequences w i t h a distinctive mnemonic and consecutive numbering, and perhaps 300 to 500 of these h a v e to b e added to the cumulated total, now numbering 4300-4500. The next category consists of reports and recommendations of the President and Executive Directors of the Bank, sometimes to the International Development Association (IDA) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) as well, o n proposed credits and loans of a regular or special kind. These are numbered in a P-number-country mnemonic sequence and again the running total is almost 3000. The category of documentation most likely to b e found in libraries, however, is the loan and project agreement in "conformed copy". Both the loan and project agreement documents carry the same number w i t h a country mnemonic, and about 2000 of each h a v e b e e n issued. These are listed o n a n irregular basis in International Bibliography, Information, Documentation and are obtainable on request from the issuing a g e n c y . H Rather m o r e confidential are the minutes of meetings of the Bank's Executive Directors, sometimes together w i t h their IDA and IFC counterparts. These documents are numbered M-year-l-plus. A final category to be noted is the series of Chairman's reports of proceedings and meetings of consultative groups and other specially constituted b o d i e s. There are k n o w n to b e consultative groups for Kenya and Uganda (previously for East Africa), Tunisia, Zambia, Korea, the Philippines and Thailand; aid groups for Bangladesh, Burma, and Sri Lanka; a n India and a Pakistan consortium; and a Caribbean Group for Cooperation in Economic Development. Documents for all of these are issued in country mnemonic-year-l-sequences. Overall, therefore, it seems that w e can estimate something in the order of 12,000 documents w h i c h are intended to b e m o r e or less "invisible" and not under bibliographic control. At one time a weekly circular listing such documents w a s produced w i t h i n the Bank, but it is unclear whether this is still the case. Obviously this one group has issued a substantial and important corpus of "invisible" documentation. Not m u c h need b e said about IDA and IFC documents. IDA issues a consecutively numbered sequence w i t h country menmonics of credit and special credit agreements and a n accompanying sequence of project agreements; both are available o n request. Some 1000 of each h a v e appeared i n a numbered sequence w h i c h b e g a n in about 1970, and w e h a v e no information o n earlier sequences. There is also a series of recommendations o n credit agreements numbered IDA/R-year-l-plus, w h i c h o f t e n exceeds 100 items per year. A smaller number of special a c t i o n credit agreements appears recently to have b e g u n a new numbering sequence. All the agreements seem to go through a confidential draft stage in the Legal Department b e f o r e release to a wider audience. Two sequences of IFC documents h a v e b e e n noted: reports and recommendations of the President

53

on proposed investments (numbered IFC/P-l-plus) in a sequence which began in the mid-1960s, and appraisal reports on projects (numbered IFC/T-l-plus). Similary, if less voluminous, series of documents are assumed to be prepared by the African, Asian and other regional development banks, but information about them is extremely scanty. The Asian Development Bank, for instance, issues two distinctly numbered series of country reports and project appraisal reports, as well as loan and project agreement documents; perhaps 600-700 items have appeared to date in these categories. Likewise the African Development Bank and African Development Fund are assumed to be engaged in the preparation of similar documentation; however, since even their reputedly visible documents are exceedingly difficult to control, it is impossible to say anything about what might exist in terms of "invisible" documentation. In the same way nothing quantitative can be said about the number of consultancy reports commissioned by these banks at the pre-investment and feasibility study stages. An anomaly of bibliographic control is the erratic inclusion of such materials in the library accessions lists of some of the banks and the U.N. regional economic commissions. Therefore, the series of questions with which we are left concerns the nature of archival control within this group of development banks, in particular procedures for declassification and eventual public access and the inventory procedures for such documents intended for public use.

Additional Problem Areas and Conclusion A few almost random remarks about other intergovernmental agencies closely involved in development problems conclude this survey, whose primary purpose is to encourage some public discussion of an issue which is of increasing concern nationally but which seems to be avoided at the international level. This issue may become even more serious, as legitimate restrictions on the flow of information are contributing in part, for example, to the expression of populist alternatives at the global conferences of recent y e a r s . 1 2 These conferences themselves pose problems of document availability, especially with regard to national reports submitted to them; in some instances these problems are overcome by microform collections (e.g., of the U.N. Conference on Human Settlements and of the U.N. World Conference of the International Women's Year), but in other cases nothing appears to be under consideration in this area.13 The microform programmes of international agencies exhibit distinct anomalies in terms of duplication of effort and criteria for selection. Why, for instance, was a programme for a monthly microfiche edition of U.N. agency press releases initiated in 1976? Similarly, what criteria does the Organization of American States use in deciding which records and publications are to be issued in microfiche, and why are these produced up to two years after the conventional copy becomes available? Two other serious obstacles to the rational dissemination of information are apparent to us. A number of agencies, particularly at the regional level, have quite complex organizational structures of permanent organs and functional divisions which issue a variety of documents not classed as confidential, yet they do not issue document indexes for public reference. These surely must be prerequisites for effective bibliographic control, and their apparent absence for such agencies as the Asociación Latinoamericana de Comercio Exterior, the Junta del Acuerdo de Cartagena and the Secretaría Permanente del Tratado General de Integración Económica Centroamericana is a considerable handicap. Equally unsettling is recent correspondence from the 54

International Trade Center (Unctad/Gatt) which states that their important publications are no longer available on a sales basis but may be consulted at, in our case, a number of U.K. centres. This list does not include the U.K. Department of Trade nor any other agency likely to acquire all of the Centre's publications. In this case, then, highly visible documentation in terms of bibliographic control and selective availability is made virtually "invisible" by virtue of a decision for which there is no public explanation. Particular points of interest arise with regard to documents of the United Nations Development Programme and the International Labour Organization. Of considerable and continuing significance are the annual reports on development assistance issued by each UNDP field office, which we have found particularly laborious to acquire; some come via headquarters, some direct from the issuing offices and yet others through the U.K. diplomatic bag. Again we ask whether a central archive containing all of these reports exists. Perhaps more interesting are the few references to lists not only of UNDP documents but also of other development documents collected in individual field offices and relating to the particular country; examples of these come from Congo (Brazzaville), Nepal and Indonesia and undoubtedly from others as well. In the DEVSIS system design such collections would be put under bibliographical control in a national rather than an external agency, but how often is this the case in reality? The aspect of ILO's document production which has interested us in particular is the World Employment Programme (WEP) research and its regional employment teams. The Bibliography of Published Research of the World Employment Programme is useful but incomplete, as is the microfiche collection currently offered for sale.l^ In this context we would again make the points of difficulty in acquiring documents from the regional programmes of global agencies and the incomplete nature of the transmission of information from regions to central offices, let alone intraregionally. Furthermore, behind the published research is another invisible tract of document production, some of which we have had the opportunity to collect in the form of working papers and submissions to WEP missions to Colombia, Kenya and Sri Lanka in which IDS members participated. These may be archival or strictly confidential in rare cases, and they may be accessible under archival control in the sponsoring agency; we have no way of knowing, and the agencies themselves seem quite unconcerned about this confusion. One reason for our dissatisfaction with the status quo is the knowledge that this need not continue, and we have excellent examples of how it can be improved. Looking at the World Fertility Survey (WFS) of the International Statistical Institute (ISI), we see a prime case of a programme which is well administered in terms of bibliographic control and documentation dissemination. Not only does the Survey produce a substantial corpus of main documentation, but it also seeks to make available much ancillary data in a variety of series.Furthermore, the WFS produces lists of materials which deposit libraries should hold and from time to time asks whether we lack available publications, always providing copies when there are gaps. Admittedly the Survey is a small operation when compared with undertakings of major agencies, but then the ISI itself is a relatively small organization which nevertheless administers this programme with admirable efficiency. Clearly it can be done, and we only hope that other international agencies can be encouraged to provide the same sort of service in future. This analysis, sketchy as it is, indicates at least some of the difficulties experienced by a library outside the operational agency network but 55

tantalizingly permitted an occasional inside view, although most frequently required to indicate to its users where specialized sources of information not held by us can be consulted. In our ignorance of archival procedures of issuing agencies and in the absence of bibliographical records of numerous relevant documents we are often unable to reply to such queries with any degree of expertise. In view of this it is not surprising that we have emphasized negative rather than positive aspects of international agency documentation. We trust that our contribution has a constructive effect towards a more general explanation of impediments in the way of freer access to information of public concern.

NOTES 1.

DEVSIS Study Team, DEVSIS: The Preliminary Design of an International Information System for the Development Sciences (IDRC-065e. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 1976), pp. 17-25.

2.

Ibid., p. 18.

3.

Ibid., p. 18.

4.

G.E. Gorman, "International Organizations and Development Studies Documentation," Government Publications Review 6(1979):1—9; Cf. G.E. Gorman, "International Organization Documentation from a Development Studies Perspective," paper prepared for the Second World Symposium on International Documentation, Brussels, June 1980.

5.

However, it may be misleading to speak of a "conventional" definition of development, since this varies greatly from one region to another. Even within Europe it is difficult to reach agreement, as the literature clearly shows. Nevertheless, we operate broadly within the 1975 definition adopted by the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes: development research as approached through the social sciences and interdisciplinary studies. Even this is undergoing change, for EADI recently has adopted a rather wider view. See European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes, Constitution adopted by the Constituent General Assembly, 12 September 1975, Linz, Austria (Vienna: Executive Secretariat of EADI, 1975); and European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes, Profile for a New European Perspective on Development Studies (Vienna: EADI, 1978).

6.

Inter-Organization Board for Information Systems, Directory of United Nations Information Systems and Services (Geneva: Inter-Organization Board for Information Systems, 1978). Just one example of this duplication may be seen in the work and published output of the International Institute for Educational Planning (Paris) and the International Bureau of Education (Hamburg), not to mention the overlapping activities within Unesco divisions concerned with various aspects of education.

7.

The whole problem of "horizontal" as opposed to "vertical" cooperation in the Third World has been with us for some time, but little of substance has been done to foster more adequate horizontal relations. 56

Among development coordination agencies concerned in part with documentation the vertical relationship continues to hold sway. Thus the Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development produces research registers for various regions; yet for each geographical area there exists an established association similar in nature to the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes: the Council for the Development of Economic and Social Research in Africa, the Association of Development Research and Training Institutes of Asia and the Pacific, the Association of Arab Institutes and Centres of Research in Economic and Social Development, and the Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales. A nod in the direction of horizontal cooperation has been made with the formation of an Inter-Regional Coordinating Committee of Development Assocations, but as yet this has had little effect in any concrete terms; one expects that documentation exemplifying "verticality" will continue to be the norm for some time. Cf. G.E. Gorman and L. Shaw, "Improving Information Flows on Current Development Research: A Western European Perspective," International Social Science Journal 30(1978): 929-943. DEVSIS, op. cit., p. 42. United Nations Institute for Training and Research et al., Sources, Organization and Utilization of International Documentation: Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Documentation of the United Nations and Other Intergovernmental Organizations, Geneva, 21-23 August 1972 (FID Publ. 504. The Hague: International Federation for Documentation 1974); Carolyn Kohler and Gloria Westfall (eds.), "Documentation of Intergovernmental Organizations: Proceedings of the Workshop, Indiana University, 24-26 May 1978, "Government Publications Review 6, no. 2(Special Issue 1979): 127-193. Using the Inter-American Development Bank's dissemination procedures as a paradigm for all similar agencies, one has the following type of documentation relevant to development projects: Annual Report; IDB Newsletter; News Releases; Statement of Loans; Board of Governors Meetings, Proceedings. International Bibliography, Information, Documentation (New York: Unipub, 1974). Publications of development banks appear in almost every issue. Here one can mention at least three conferences which have in part expressed this populist attitude in varying degrees: the U.N. World Conference of the International Women's Year, Mexico City, 1975; the U.N. Conference on Human Settlements, Vancouver, 1976; the U.N. Conference on Science and Technology for Development, Vienna, 1979. The documentation available at the United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Development, Vienna, 1979 is currently stored in some disarray at the Vienna Institute for Development; no attempt is being made to exercise any bibliographic control over this collection for quite legitimate staffing reasons, and one wonders what will become of this and similar important collections from other conferences. 57

14.

International Labour Office, Bibliography of Published Research of the World Employment Programme (2nd ed. Geneva: ILO, 1979). This usefully includes studies produced by the three regional employment teams (Jobs and Skills Programme for Africa, Asian Regional Team for Employment Promotion and the Programa Regional del Empleo para America Latina y el Caribe), but again these listings are far from complete.

15.

In addition to the national fertility surveys, which are issued by national agencies and often reprinted by the International Statistical Institute, the WFS includes the following documentation: Annual Report, Basic Documentation, Newsletter, Occasional Papers, Scientific Reports, Technical Bulletins, WFS Diary and World Fertility Survey (Country Report Summaries).

58

GETTING SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION FROM THE PRODUCER TO THE USER BY J. MICHEL GIBB DIRECTORATE-GENERAL SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

The main purpose of this paper is to explain how an organization which is neither governmental nor international, but something in between, namely the Commission of the European Communities, is trying to disseminate as effectively as possible the scientific and technical information it generates. The methods which it is using for this purpose at present were developed through many years, and there is plenty of scope for further improvement, if only because of the new opportunities opened up by current advances in communication technology. I have deliberately used the word "information" and not "documentation". Information is of course something impalpable, a product of the mind, which I believe to be the most important commodity of the economies of developed nations. If this information is not put to advantage, if it is not used, it might as well never have been generated. Of course, certain types of information for sometimes dubious but frequently for very respectable reasons, are deliberately disseminated to a restricted number of people only. However, I think it is true to say that most of the information being produced today is not subject to such conscious limitations. The obstacles to its dissemination are purely practical, and it is the job of a whole chain of professionals, starting from the initiator of the information and including editors, publishers, book-sellers, librarians, documentalists, conference organizers, etc. to get the primary information, in a cost-effective manner, to as many potential users as possible. In practical terms, this in most cases involves packaging the primary message into what is called a document and getting it to potential consumers in such a way that it can be read, heard or watched and, it is hoped, understood. I apologize for this somewhat philosophical preamble, but I just could not find any other way of putting what follows into perspective. 59

The scientific or technical information generated by or through the Commission of the European Communities stems from three major sources, namely the research programmes it manages, the conferences it holds and the studies it commissions. I find that few generators of information are completely aware of the tricky nature of the subsequent dissemination process. It, for instance, always infuriates me to hear someone using the words "printing" and "publishing" indiscriminately, as though, once a document has been duplicated, a friendly and hard-working deity arranges for the copies to get into exactly the right hands. I must confess that we, in the department actually responsible for the task of publishing scientific or technical information, have had to be content to use the services of people or organizations equipped with the necessary skills. Three main things have to be done within the process of publication: first, decide whether a particular piece of information is intrinsically of sufficient quality, in view of its accuracy, novelty or whatever, to deserve dissemination; second, make sure it is adequately packaged (e. g. have it edited, if necessary) and, third, ensure that the resulting document is distributed to the kind of public that can absorb its content to its advantage. In the case which we like best, these tasks are all done by people other than ourselves. I refer here to the articles reporting, say, particular research results, which are published in scientific or technical journals of high standing, or the papers which are presented at specialized conferences. Indeed we can be reasonably confident that, by and large, only adequate material will get through the critical screening machinery set up by these journals or conferences, that, at least in the case of the journals, the editing task will be performed when necessary and, most important, that that kind of public will become aware of the material that can actually use it. Hundreds of titles, stemming from the activities of the Commission, are published in this way every year. Naturally, a considerable number of papers cannot be published through these channels. I mean more particularly those which, because of their bulk, cannot be published as articles or individual conference papers. These documents can be placed into five main categories: - conference proceedings (about 40 per year) - topical research reports (about 220 per year) - general research reports, e.g. progress or "status" reports covering whole programmes (about 10 per year) - study reports (about 30 per year) - atlases. This last category in fact comprises a special class of study reports. Clearly, the Commission needs to collect data over the whole territory of the European Community, in order to achieve a better perception of certain policy problems. The results of such surveys are often most conveniently published in the form of atlases. Current examples are an "Atlas of subsurface temperatures in the European Community" and a "European Solar Radiation Atlas". 60

As far as possible, here too, we try to rely on outside expertise; a good number of these longer documents are submitted to publishing houses. The basic negotiating status of the Commission in such cases is that of an ordinary author looking for a publisher prepared to take the risk of putting his work on the market. As we are not, for this reason, in a position to force the publisher's hand, we have to face the risk of seeing a manuscript refused. Nevertheless, this method takes care of some 50 titles per year, of which about three-quarters are conference or course proceedings. Quite a number of study reports or status reports are also accepted by publishers, insofar as they are, by the nature of their content or presentation, likely to attract a sufficiently large public to make them commercially viable publications. Most of the atlases, too, are being handled by publishers possessing the necessary technical and commercial know-how for this very special category of publication. It follows from this that highly specialized topical reports are much less likely to be taken over by publishers. However, quite recently, even those have begun to attract the attention of publishers, insofar as it is possible for the Commission to supply a sufficient number of items to create a series. This is so at the moment for some of the reports issued within the Euratom research programme. They have been brought together within a journal called "European Applied Research Reports - Nuclear Science and Technology Series". In 1979, the first year of publication, six issues were published, covering 19 titles and a total of some 1700 pages reproduced from typewritten cameraready manuscripts. It is too early to say whether this experiment is being successful or not. As we all know, it takes several years to establish a journal. However, the fact that the creation of two further series has been suggested to us, covering other subject fields, is probably a good sign. What happens, it may be asked, to the titles which are not handled by private publishers? The answer is, quite simply, that they are published by the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, an organization which functions under the joint supervision of all the institutions of the European Communities. Some of the documents receive a similar treatment to those which are handled by private publishers, namely that the Office, in collaboration with the Commission, issues promotional material and tries to sell them through its worldwide network of agents. This applies to the items which are of sufficiently wide interest to make promotional efforts worthwhile. However, a large proportion of the items are not worthy of this kind of treatment. This is not a way of saying that the items in themselves are worthless. On the contrary, we hope they are of intrinsically high quality. It just so happens that much of the material is highly specialized and therefore only likely to attract a few dozen purchasers. It would not be ridiculous to promote them in the ordinary commercial way, but cost-effectiveness would certainly nat be high. The Commission's policy with regard to such items at the moment is to issue them as microfiche publications within a number of series relating to the main subject areas covered by the Commission's programmes, e.g. "nuclear science and technology", "environment and quality of life", "coal technology", "steel technology", "radioprotection", etc. Microform is not very popular with users, of course. We thus established the practice of making a few cheaply produced full-size copies as well, if only to enable the authors to distribute them to their immediate colleagues and any other persons with whom they are in contact professionally and who they know are interested in the subject covered by the document. 61

At this juncture, it should be said that all scientific and technical publications of the Commission, whether articles, conference papers, reports, proceedings, etc. are abstracted and announced in Euroabstracts sections I and II (section I deals with documents relevant to work carried out under the EEC and Euratom Treaties, and section II under the European Coal and Steel Community Treaty). Now this journal permanently advertises the possibility of ordering full-size copies, termed "blow-ups", of the microfiche publications. Demand for these "blow-ups" has grown through the years. We are therefore investigating, even in the case of these rather rough and ready documents the possibility of cooperating with specialized publishers. We cannot expect them to take large risks here, quite obviously. They would act as sub-agents of the Office for Official Publications. It is sometimes tempting to issue certain titles as part of the "grey literature" (grey literature = documents which are not published through normal commercial channels), but we will strongly resist this temptation as long as there is no system in existence to ensure satisfactory access to this category of documents. There is hope here, fortunately, because a few large libraries and documentation centres in the European Community are at the moment building up a network for the collection, indexing and fast delivery of such items. Let us hope that, in due course, thanks to this network, some of the grey literature will lose some of its "greyness". Everything I have said concerns scientific and technical information essentially. I would suggest in conclusion that there is no apparent reason why the methods which have been developed in this field could not be adapted, insofar as they have proved successful, to the transfer of information generated in other sectors.

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DISTRIBUTION AND ACQUISITION OF UN DOCUMENTS BY R. FURSTENBERG CHIEF, SALES OFFICE, UNITED NATIONS, GENEVA

I.

BASIC DEFINITION OF UNITED NATIONS DOCUMENTS

United Nations documents are primarily produced to facilitate the conduct of international business which the Organization forwards on behalf of the Member States. This parliamentary documentation pertaining to sessions of commissions, committees or conferences of the main organs of the Organization, is composed of: i)

pre-session documentation = studies and reports relevant to agenda items;

ii)

in-session documentation including: - draft proposals and draft resolutions - basic documents - background documents and summary records

iii)

post-session documentation: Final Report on proceedings and Resolutions of the session.

United Nations documents, as long as "provisional", are issued in mimeographed form. Once finalized, they may appear in a printed version. With few exceptions, United Nations documents and publications are identified by an alpha-numerical symbol appearing on the top right hand corner of each document. Symbols remain the same for all language versions. A sales number (showing the year of publication, the subject matter and a numerical sequence) is added to any publication placed on sale. The main topics covered are: I.

General Information and Cartography 63

II.

Economics

IV

Social Questions (including UNICEF)

V.

International Law

VI.

Atomic Energy

VII. Political and Security Council Affairs VIII. Transport and Communications IX.

Disarmament

X.

International Administration

XI.

Narcotic Drugs

XIII.

Demography

XIV. Human Rights XV.

UNITAR Studies

XVI. Public Finance and Fiscal Questions XVII. International Statistics The sales aspect of documents and publications is but a secondary object of publication, its primary purpose being to disseminate United Nations publications and informational material on as wide a basis as possible. II.

DISTRIBUTION OF UNITED NATIONS

DOCUMENTS

According to the rules of procedure of the various organs of the Organization, documents should, in principle, 6 weeks prior to any debate, be in the hands of the delegates. This rule, unfortunately, is not too often followed. a)

What is being distributed?

All documents and official records produced by the Organization, including summary records of meetings, studies and reports prepared by the Secretariat upon request by a legislative body. Periodicals, yearbooks, bulletins and any other information concerning the Organization. b)

To whom does the Organization distribute its documents and its publications?

Documents being normally prepared for the benefit of legislative bodies which, after having examined them, should normally come to a ruling; such documents are distributed to delegates attending meetings, to Member Governments of the Organization and Observers accredited through established Permanent Missions, be it in New York or in Geneva. 64

These same documents are also distributed to inter or non-governmental Orgnizations, to the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations System, to the Regional Branch Offices, to the Information Centers of the Organization all over the world, to Depository Libraries, to the Secretariat, as well as to the Press. Publications of a more permanent nature are placed on sale and are made available to the public, at random, through sales agents all over the world and in the bookshops of established United Nations Offices. c)

How does the Organization distribute its documents?

Opening a parenthesis, it must be explained that, for distribution purposes, documents and summary records of meetings are classified in the following categories, each indicating the pattern and scope of distribution: "GENERAL", "LIMITED", "RESTRICTED"; (appearing above the document symbol). The designation GENERAL is used on basic documents and meeting records, including agendas, studies and reports previously requested, communications from Governments and adopted resolutions and other decisions of main organs. Documents in this category are given the widest distribution appropriate to the body concerned. The texts of documents issued in the GENERAL series should not be included in, or annexed to subsequent documents, as they are easily accessible to all interested parties. The designation LIMITED is issued on documents of a temporary nature such as draft resolutions and amendments thereto, draft reports and other action documents, and papers dealing with the order in which items will be discussed and other ephemeral matters. The primary distribution of documents in this category is limited to those likely to be immediately interested in the work of the body concerned. The substance of limited documents may, as appropriate and reasonable, be referred to or included in, or annexed to the report of the body in which they are discussed. Limited documents bear the letter "L" before the serial number. The designation RESTRICTED is used on documents and meeting records whose contents require at the time of issuance that they not be made public. The distribution of these documents and records is determined by the originating office. Such documents bear the letter "R" before the serial number in the symbol. Once these three categories are well defined and combined with the symbol series of each document, the actual distribution process may start. (For your information, some 800 symbol series are presently active and used.) The distribution of documents can be effected in several different ways: the most elementary system involves using a series of addressograph plates or computer produced labels on which, in addition to the address of the recipient, are indicated the required languages and quantities of a given category of documents. This system of distribution is employed for the mailing of documents to addresses interested in only one particular series of documents. 65

When the addressee is liable to receive several different categories of documents, it is possible to tune to a system of selection by tabbing the addressograph plates. Thus, although the name of the addressee has to appear on several different distribution lists, only one plate needs to be used for each list, the tabs substituting repetition of the same plate. However, where governmental, ministry or library addresses are concerned, and even Permanent Missions and Memb ers of the Secretariat (where the quantities and sometimes even the languages vary for each category of documents), the above procedure cannot be used because of the impossibility of including in the limited space of a plate too many distribution indications. In order, on the one hand, to correct this difficulty and, on the other, to group dispatches to the same addressee, pigeon holes are put to use in the workshop - one pigeon hole per address. Each pigeon hole bears an identification number, the address of the recipient as well as a chart giving all necessary indications to the distribution clerk as to documents series, quantities and languages in which the recipient wishes to receive his documents. This system, developed in Geneva, is called the "visual distribution system", based on the use of a graphic distribution guide in the form of a key-chart which transcribes into numbers the different categories of documents. This numbered graphic guide is completed by an eye-catching colour guide on which the quantities of documents to be distributed are indicated by figures in different colours according to whether the text is in French, English, Russian, Spanish, Chinese or Arabic. The chart being the key to the graphical distribution guide, it includes all different categories of documents. To accomodate all requirements of various groups of recipients, several distinct key-charts may be used. At regular intervals, the pigeon holes are emptied and their content is dispatched (via surface air freight or possibly diplomatic pouch) to official recipients. Such groupings are rendered necessary for reasons outlined above and also because of the volume of documents to be distributed; grouping helps to minimize the cost of dispatching. d)

Official free distribution: how generous is the Organization?

It is the Publications Board which sets the regulations and policies concerning the distribution of documents, meeting records, official records and publications. It is the same Board which determines the number of copies which may be given away free of charge. Thus, for instance, when talking about official documents and summary records of meetings under "general" distribution, 25 copies of a given document are earmarked for each Government and for the Specialized Agencies. A maximum of 5 copies of these same documents, in the language of their choice, is foreseen for inter and non-governmental Organizations as well as for accredited observers, while no real limitation exists for Permanent Missions other than availability of stocks. When it comes to publications, books, studies, the distribution is more restrictive since a maximum of 25 copies per Member State are to cover the needs of the Permanent Missions in New York and Geneva, the Ministries and possible other governmental instances. For yearbooks, be it the United Nations, Statistical, Demographic, International Law, National Statistics, or others, a maximum of 5 66

copies is foreseen per Member State. Exchange agreements with other institutions exist but never allow for more than one copy at a time. (i) Complete exchange All generally distributed documents and publications, printed or mimeographed, in the official languages of choice, may be exchanged for the publications or library services of other organizations or institutions. Such arrangements shall be concluded only when the return to the United Nations, either in publications or in services, is commensurate with the value of the United Nations documents and publications offered. (il) Limited exchange Exchange arrangements may be concluded between the United Nations and other Organizations or Institutions whereby part of the generally distributed documents and publications of the United Nations is exchanged for their publications and/or bibliographical services, even though the return of United Nations documents and publications may be disproportionate. Such arrangements shall be concluded only when clearly in the interest of the United Nations. (iii) Selective exchange The exchange of selected United Nations documents and publications for publications of approximately equivalent monetary value may be arranged with libraries and other institutions whenever such exchange arrangements will prove expedient and economical. III.

ACQUISITION OF PUBLICATIONS a)

acquisition based on institutional arrangements

b)

acquisition on an exchange basis

c)

acquisition based on gifts received

d)

acquisition through purchase, against payment

Having covered the three first aspects of acquisition above, we shall limit ourselves hereafter to the aspect of acquisition through purchase. As indicated at start, the sale of United Nations publications is a regular secretariat activity which is not principally a profit-making venture but one which is undertaken on a self-sustaining basis. Its primary purpose is to disseminate United Nations publications on as wide a basis as possible. At the same time, internal and external auditors, as well as the Accounts Division, have been emphasizing over the years that it is also an activity of a commercial nature and, as such, should be conducted and controlled on a businesslike basis. This conflict of purposes has never been completely resolved and probably never will be.' The Sales Section, operated from New York and Geneva, disseminates the publications produced through national distributors or sales agents, booksellers and non-governmental organizations all over the world. 67

A trilingual catalogue, updated at regular intervals, as well as a monthly list of new titles published, keeps sales outlets informed about availability and prices. A Standing Order Service enabling a purchaser to receive a continuous supply of a recurrent title or series, or each title in a subjectcategory, without the necessity of re-ordering each specific issue of the publication in question is offered by the Sales Unit. United Nations Publications, as well as those of other Organizations of the United Nations System may also be obtained from bookshops existing in established Headquarters of International Organizations: - New York - UN Headquarters

- ILO, Geneva

- Geneva, Palais des Nations

- FAO, Rome

- IAEA - UNIDO, Vienna

- UNESCO, Paris

In spite of a relatively large free give away, a good many of United Nations titles sell quite well and interest a vast amount of public. This is because these publications constitute a big reservoir of substantive and technical knowledge of considerable value for all engaged in the study and practice of international affairs whether at the level of administrator, educator, publicist, scientist, statistician or student. IV.

AVAILABILITY OF OLD DOCUMENTS, MEETING RECORDS AND OFFICIAL RECORDS

Mimeographed documents are normally available for two years after the original date of issuance; Official Records (verbatim and summary records, annexes and supplements) and documents issued in final form are normally available for five years, with the exception of resolutions, which are stocked on a continuing basis. It should be noted that all United Nations documents and Official Records may be consulted at the Documents Reference and Indexing Section of the Dag Hammarskjold Library at Headquarters and in the Reading Room (United Nations Collections) of the Library of the United Nations Office at Geneva. Sales publications, with few exceptions, are normally available from 5 to 10 years. Yearbooks are available as long as not out of stock. Continuing series relating to main publications are available on a continuing basis and are reprinted if needed (i.e. International Tax Agreements). Old documents and publications are also available on microfiche. The text of the microfiches offered for sale is in negative (i.e. clear text on opaque background) with the title in positive (i.e. opaque text in clear background); enlargements will show the text in positive form. Each fiche is 105 mm x 148 mm (4" x 6") in size; it contains 60 frames at a reduction of 20:1 and is housed in an individual protective envelope coloured according to the language of use of the text. This additional service, however, is given against payment only at the present cost of US $1.25 per microfiche.

68

PANEL II ACQUISITION & ORGANIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS

ACQUISITION AND ORGANIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS: INTRODUCTORY REPORT FOR PANEL II BY L. E. SAMARAS INGHE, CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OF

INFORMATION

INFRASTRUCTURES

GENERAL INFORMATION PROGRAMME,

I.

UNESCO, PARIS

TYPES OF DOCUMENTS

The organizations contributing institutional papers have listed the types of documents produced by them. They could be presently identified, as in the paper produced by CIDA, into 4 types: 1.

official publications which represent the views of the organization and are available to the public;

2.

official documents where distribution is restricted;

3.

administrative documents which include all documents produced in the daily work of the organization;

4.

publications or documents that do not represent the views of the organization.

There is a wide disparity in the number of documents produced by the various international organizations, particularly those in the UN system. Some of the figures given for the quantity of documents produced by the largest UN organizations, e.g. the UN and Unesco are staggering. For example, in 1979, the UN distributed 20,951,841 documents, totalling 300,281,213 page units and representing 34,908 jobs. The International Monetary Fund on the other hand, has a relatively small publication programme. It produces approximately 2,600 international documents per year and these are not distributed outside the Fund because of their confidential nature. However, some are made available to international organizations according to procedures established by the Fund. At CARICOM, much of the documentation is not available even for selected or limited distribution, published material available for general distribution being limited to press communiques and material published by the Secretariat.

71

Some action has been taken towards limiting the volume of documents produced by many international organizations. For instance, the General Assembly has laid down a number of regulations among them being: (1)

no UN body or organ shall have both verbatim and summary records;

(2)

the length of the summary records for a 2-1/2 hour meeting should not exceed 15 pages ;

(3)

provision of verbatim records is strictly limited; and many other similar directives.

Within this section, the identified problems are the heavy cost of producing the documentation and of certain delays in the availability of the publications and difficulties in studying the documents due to their volume. At CARICOM, a survey revealed that 60% of the international documentation was not of immediate use though of general interest. Of the documentation requested from international organizations by CARICOM, about 25% was not of value due to inaccurate description and cataloguing. As Gathright states: the usefulness of UN documentation is a direct function of the effective organization of the materials. II.

INDEXING VOCABULARIES

Zlatich reporting on the work of the UNACC Task Force on Indexing Vocabularies says that all indexing efforts from international organizations go back over a quarter of a century. The first tangible result was the Broad Terms for UN Programmes and Activities (G.V. 79.0.1). The purpose of the Working Party was defined by ACC at the meeting held in New York, 15 to 19 November 1976, as "... the acceleration of primary means for making information on the documentation of the various agencies more widely accessible ... by determining what information contained in documents might be exchanged, how they can be described bibliographically and what common indexing terms might be usefully employed". The Working Party recognized that in addition to certain standard bibliographic data elements, broad subject fields and specific subject descriptors should be mandatory for each document description. The Working Party made the following recommendations: 1.

a high degree of compatibility and coordination of the terminology used by the participating organizations;

2.

equivalent indexing terms in multiple languages;

3.

setting up of an informal Task Force of representatives of UN organizations and terminology experts. The Task Force should determine the best means of arriving at a thesaurus of broad terms for the whole UN system.

72

Linkage to the OECD revised version of the Macrothesaurus was recommended. In the First Task Force Meeting held in Paris, 28-29 June 1977, it was proposed that Unesco prepare a feasibility study for establishment of "computerized UN inter-thesaural systems of indexing terms employed by the UN agencies with English and French terms in parallel titles"; no report has yet been received by the Task Force. The new edition of the Macrothesaurus published in 1978 included some changes originating from suggestions from the Geneva-based agencies. At the Second Task Force Meeting, held in January 1978, it was decided that as the Macrothesaurus was of limited scope, being concerned only with economic and social development, organizations of the UN system should submit lists of terms that represented their current programmes and activities to IOB which was entrusted with the collection and compilation of a vocabulary with the technical assistance of Unesco. The Third Task Force Meeting in January 1979 recommended that the contributions of the 27 agencies should be placed in a structured form on the lines of the ACC programme classification. The Broad Terms for UN Programmes and Activities was fully automated using ISIS programmes and a printed edition was available at the Thirteenth session of IOB in Washington in November 1979. Zlatich recommends that because of the significance of the Broad Terms for UN documentation, the work of refining the list be continued under a revised inter-agency format, such as by a consultative body to the IOB. Arnold reports on the work being carried out by the UN Terminology Unit towards the development of an on-line system for terminology with 200,000 terms in English, French, Russian and Spanish, with possibility of inclusion of Chinese and Arabic. This work is important to ensure correct, appropriate and consistent use of multi-linguistic terms and is essential in drafting, translating, editing of documents and interpretation. III.

STANDARDS

Williamson proposes the development and edition of a standard for bibliographic citation of international documents. Citations to international documents often fall short of the ideal and it is essential that all items of information should be presented in order to facilitate retrieval of the cited documents. Williamson discusses four standard sources which provide guidelines for the citation of literature, all of which fall short in providing for uniform and complete citing of international documents. In addition to the normal bibliographic citation, international documents should be described with additional information of which the inclusion of all numbers appearing on the document is very important. Numbering increases bibliographic control and facilitates retrieval by computer. Williamson proposes a manual with examples of current format and content. Several organizations have been interested in the standardization of bibliographic information, e.g., Unesco,

73

IFLA, ISO and AIL. It is proposed that one of these appoints a committee of experts to draft a uniform standard and develop the manual. IV.

REFERENCE TOOLS

Singh and Sobel list the major tools produced by the Dag Hammarskjold Library. They include UNBIS Data Elements Dictionary and UNDOC Current Index Reference Manual, UNBIS Reference Manual for Bibliographic Descriptions, UNBIS Cataloguing Manual. Foreseen is a Bibliographic Style Manual for International Documentation based on the Cataloguing Manual. Already available is the UNBIS, List of Descriptors based on the consolidated indexing and cataloguing vocabulary of the Dag Hammarskjold Library. Several papers suggest that Unesco should be associated in the establishment of bibliographic format, standards, thesauri and all tools necessary for the organization of international documentation. V.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL

Papers submitted by CARICOM, WIPO, IMF, ISO, UN and other organizations list a large number of catalogues, indexes, lists of publications, bibliographic data bases and other sources which would provide bibliographic control of the documents and publications produced by these organizations. However, other papers from individual contributors seem to suggest certain inadequacies due to lack of standardization in bibliographic description and subject analyses which limits the usefulness of some of these tools. VI.

DISTRIBUTION OF DOCUMENTS

Levy describes the network of depository libraries which has been useful in making Member States aware of the work of the UN through its documentation. Current problems connected with depository libraries are that some countries have still not nominated depository libraries and that publications issued by the UN sometimes arrive in irregular, incomplete and slow shipments. It is expected that delays in the receipt of indexes will be reduced by computer-assisted UNDOC. Fukuda reporting from Tokyo writes about the Annual Conference of the UN Depository Libraries in which participate all UN depository libraries in Japan, the UN Library of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UN information centres and other libraries and organizations. The Conference aims at collaboration of depository libraries towards improving access to UN publications. CARICOM, aware of the unavailability of information on research projects and feasibility studies carried out by international organizations and private companies in respect of CARICOM Member Territories and the Region as a whole, recommends that a meeting of agencies be convened to decide on:

74

1.

(a) listing of studies carried out; (b) exchange of information regarding this list;

VII.

2.

establishing a depository in each country for studies relating to that country;

3.

establishing a regional depository for studies of a regional nature.

ACQUISITION OF DOCUMENTS

Griffin describes the procedures presently in force for the acquisition of UN documents whether in the form of printed publications, periodicals, mimeographed documents or microfiches. CARICOM experienced difficulty in obtaining-documents of international organizations and believes that only arrangements at the highest level bordering on inter-institutional agreements would produce results. It recommends the establishment of a mechanism for organizations, by virtue of their international responsibilities, to receive international documents on a regular, on-going basis. The European Community Information Service, according to Krucoff, tries to acquire everything published by the Community's institutions and English language periodicals and books published by private sources about the Community. It provides services to the public, to libraries and to the delegation staff. The paper lists the wide range of publications of the European Community. On the subject of acquisitions, Hopkins lists the following concerns: lack of awareness of current publishing trends - new titles, produced by inter-governmental organizations indicating the need for a newsletter. She suggests an enlarged microfiche programme by the UN and a study of the feasibility of a KWIC index, and a wider distribution of indexes pertaining to governmental organizations to facilitate inter-library loans. VIII.

SALE OF PUBLICATIONS

WHO in 1952 recognized that "only in the case of such publications as are purchased is it possible to have some certainty that they are finding their way into the hands of persons who really need them". Distribution policy is based on a number of postulates some of which seem to be applicable to most international organizations: 1.

objectives of publication cannot be attained without effective distribution;

2.

national channels must be used for distribution;

3.

staff, services and funds should be made available for promotional publications;

75

4.

sales vary according to: (a) organization of book trade in the country (b) subject of publication (c) physical form and price of publications (d) language in which the publication is available (e) possibility of purchase with locally available currency, etc.

5.

IX.

free distribution is necessary when the factors in point 4 hinder attainment of the objectives of publication.

CLASSIFICATION OF DOCUMENTS

Forget discusses the classification of documents as carried out at the International Planned Parenthood Federation, to illustrate the processing of national and international documents and the provision of services. The method used should respond both to the need for organizing documents as well as for documentary research. An appropriate classification for documents is necessary when users consult documents personally in the library. Forget discusses the question of the desirability of utilizing a universal classification or a specialized classification in an institution such as IPPF. X.

PROCESSING

Siler-Regan and Bell report on a survey carried out in 1977/78 on Library Housing and Processing Patterns for Publications of international, governmental organization. The survey was carried out in 193 libraries and some interesting conclusions were drawn, particularly in answer to the following questions: 1.

whether IGO publications tend to be housed in separate collections or integrated into the general collections of libraries;

2.

extent of cataloguing;

3.

means of bibliographic access;

4.

means of acquisition;

5.

which library departments perform functions relating to the processing and use of IGO publications.

76

The result showed that some but not all IGO publications were housed in separate collections. A significant percentage of libraries reported cataloguing of all IGO publications but in the case of government documents libraries tended not to catalogue or to catalogue only selectively. The publication catalogue was the primary means of bibliographic access, and very few libraries used a computer produced tool for this purpose. Printed bibliographies and indexes were used but were often considered inadequate. Acquisition was generally through sources such as the UN sales office, UNIPUBInc., depository status with the UN, or gifts and exchanges. XI.

INTER-ORGANIZATION BOARD FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS (IOB)

Mention must be made here of IOB which is beginning to perform a vitally important role in coordination of information systems of the UN and specialized agencies. Dusoulier reports that IOB published in 1980, its second edition of the Directory of Information Systems and Services of the UN which describes about 300 systems presently operational. It is published in three languages, English, French and Spanish. For several years, there has been a preoccupation with matters of cooperation and research on common problems, but there have been many difficulties and little progress. The objective is to achieve an integration of the incomparable wealth of the information available in the UN system through a simple and flexible network. The IOB has established three sub-programmes towards carrying out the responsibilities vested in it by the ACC:

1.

coordination of economic, social, scientific and technical information systems;

2.

co-ordination of management information systems;

3.

exchange of information on co-ordination and harmonization of computer systems and services.

These are implemented through : 1. acquisition of information through inventories, surveys, seminars, etc. 2. creation of tools ; 3. development of policy.

IOB has also produced Bibliography of UN Thesauri, Classifications, Nomenclatures, which lists over 100 linguistic tools used by more than 70 systems and services. In 1977, it produced a Directory of UN Computer Facilities and, in 1979, a Directory of UN Data and Word Processing Facilities. Close cooperation is established with the UNISIST programme and in 1980-81 a number of joint IOB-UNISIST projects are envisaged. 77

Kohler (University of Iowa), Ishikawa (National Diet Library) and Schaffer (Columbus Memorial Library) h a v e contributed detailed factual papers o n a number of points discussed earlier describing these aspects in relation to the particular situation in their libraries.

REFERENCES

ARNOLD, D.

Computerized Terminology as a n Aid to Information Retrieval

CESTAC, F.

Organisation des Outils de Base des Services Linguistiques d'une Organisation Internationale

CLEWS, J.P.

Documentation of the U N System: A

Survey of Biblio-

graphie Control, Recommendations for a n Integrated Bibliographic System

DUSOULIER, N.

Coordination et Harmonisation des Systèmes d'Information a u Sein des Organisations d e la Famille des Nations Unies

FORGET, J.

L a Classification, Clé et Voûte d e l'Organisation des Collections Documentaires

FUKUDA, K.

Cooperation with the United Nations Depository Libraries

GATHRIGHT, V.P.

Organization and W o r k of the United Nations Information Centre Library, Washington D.C.

GRIFFIN, D.

The Acquisition of United Nations Publications

78

HAJNAL, P.I.

Organization of Publications of the European Communities in the University of Toronto Library

HOPKINS, B.

The Academic Research Library and International Documentation

ISHIKAWA, K.

Bibliographic Control and Servicing of International Organizations' Publications at the National Diet Library, Japan

KEEFER, A.C.

Document Organization, Distribution and Control

KLECKNER, S.M.

Major Publications of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs

KOHLER, C.W.

Organizing the Documents of International Organizations for Use in a Large Academic Library, Experience and Problems

KRUCOFF, E.

The Organization

and Utility of European Community

Publications: the Perspective of an Official Information Office LEGER, M.

The Canadian International Development Agency and the Use of International Documents

LEVY, E.

United Nations Depository Libraries

SCHAFFER, E. G.

OAS Documentation in the Columbus Memorial Library from 1899 to the present

SILER-REGAN, L. and BELL, H.

Library Housing and Processing Patterns for Publications of International Governmental Organizations, 1977-1978 Survey

79

SIMEONOV, S.

A System of Documents of the International Organizations for Standardization: A Case Study

SINGH, S. and SOBEL, S.

UNBIS Compatibility with National and International

WILLIAMSON, L. E.

Bibliographic Citation of International Documents:

Information Systems

The Need for a Uniform Standard ZLATICH, M.

Broad Terms of the United Nations System: Report of the Work of the UNACC Task Force on Indexing Vocabularies

80

BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL AND SERVICING OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS' PUBLICATIONS AT THE NATIONAL DIET LIBRARY, JAPAN BY KOJI

ISHIKAWA

REFERENCE AND BIBLIOGRAPHY DIVISION, NATIONAL DIET LIBRARY

The National Diet Library functioning as the sole national library in Japan has the largest holdings of international organizations publications in the country, such as those of the League of Nations, the United Nations, its specialized agencies, the European Communities and the Organizations for Economic Co-operation and Development. In the library, the UN and Government Materials Room (with 12 seats), which is an organizational part of the General Reference Section, Reference and Bibliography Division, is a functional core for the servicing of such publications and documents as well as other foreign and domestic government materials. The present paper chiefly mentions about NDL's bibliographic control of international organizations publications, their specialized bibliographies, its co-operation with relevant institutions in the country and also touches on some problems worthy of attention.

I.

Bibliographic control of international organizations publications

1-1

Acquisition

The National Diet Library (NDL) is a depository library for publications of the United Nations, its specialized agencies and some other international organizations such as EC and OECD. 1-2

Classification

NDL classifies UN publications with document series symbols, while those without such symbols and other international organizations publications are classified according to National Diet Library Classification (NDLC) (for the period 1948-1970, Dewey Decimal Classification). 1-3

Shelving

Documents: Current documents are shelved according to document series symbols in the vertical files of the UN and Government Materials Room for 2 years and then are bound and removed into the given area of the general stacks. 81

Books and pamphlets : UN publications with document series symbols are shelved according to their symbols and kept in the given area of the general stacks, while those without such symbols and other international organizations publications are interfiled with other foreign publications in the general stacks. Periodicals; Current issues of periodicals by such international organizations are shelved in the UN and Government Materials Room for 1 to 2 years and then bound and interfiled with other bound foreign periodicals in the general stacks. 1-4

Bibliographic Tools

The following tools for searching and locating items of international organizations are in use: 1-4-1

Catalog cards

The catalog cards of UN publications with document series symbols are filed by three different groupings, that is, title, sales number and document series symbol, whereas the catalog cards of such publications without document series symbols as well as other international organizations publications, which are classified by NDLC, are first grouped by respective organizations and then filed according to NDLC. All such catalog cards are available for consultation in the UN and Government Materials Room. 1-4-2

Catalogs in printed form

1-4-2-1 International organizations Gaikoku seifu kankobutsu ukeire annai (Foreign government publications) 1961 semi-monthly Tokyo, National Diet Library It is an accession list of international organizations and foreign government publications currently acquired by NDL. 1-4-2-2 League of Nations Guide to the League of Nations publications; a bibliographic survey of the work of the League, 1920-1947. Hans Aufricht New York, Columbia University Press 1951 682 p. It lists major English-language publications issued during the period of its existence, 1920-1947. Useful tool especially when one searches a specific title by subject. Key to League of Nations documents placed on public sale Boston, World Peace Foundation 1920-1929: 1930 316 p. 1st supplement: 1930 58 p.; 2nd supplement: 1931 95 p.; 3rd supplement 1932 1933: 1934 89 p.; 4th supplement 1934-1936: 1938 188 p. A supplementary tool to the above Guide.

82

Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan shozo Kokusai Renmei, Kokusai Rengo kanko shiryo mokuroku (Catalogue of the League of Nations and the United Nations publications in the National Diet Library) Vol. 1 National Diet Library See II-2-2 It lists all publications (1920-1939) of the League of Nations held by the National Diet Library. 1-4-2-3 United Nations Kinchaku shiryosen (New book list) 1961Tokyo, United Nations Information Centre

5 times a year

Annotated bibliography of newly published books and documents by UN. It also lists books translated into Japanese. United Nations documents index 1950-1973. monthly UNDEX: United Nations documents index 1974-1978. 10 times a year UNDOC: current index Vol. 1 (1979)New York, Dag Hammarskjold Library for the above three. These are the basic tools for UN publications, making distinction between publications and documents. Mostly used for retrospective searches. Ten years of United Nations publications, 1945-1955 (ST/DPI/SER.F/7) Sales no. 55.1.8 United Nations books in print

1960

1955

(ST/CS/SER.J/1)

United Nations publications catalogue, 1945-1966 (ST/CS/SER.J/9)

1968

United Nations official records, 1948-1962 Sales no. 64.1.3

(ST/CS/SER.J/2)

1964

United Nations publications in print; check list English

276 p.

annual

All these are useful for searching UN publications put on sale. Annotated preliminary list of items to be included in the provisional agenda of the regular session of the General Assembly annual It is in use for retrieval of discussion documents prior to each session meeting of the General Assembly. [Kokusai Rengo Sokai no jigyo 6th Session (1952)- annual Tokyo, United Nations Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It contains the summarized deliberations at each regular session of the United Nations General Assembly as well as the document series symbols for materials for discussion. In Japanese. Basic tool for information on the activities of the General Assembly sessions. Index to proceedings of the General Assembly

83

1953-

(ST/LIB/SER.B/A.1-

)

Index to proceedings of the Security Council

1964-

(ST/LIB/SER.B/S.1-)

Index to proceedings of the Economic and Social Council 1953- (ST/LIB/SER.B/E.1-) Index to proceedings of the Trusteeship Council 1953- (ST/LIB/SER.B/T.1-) Each is a basic tool for verbatim records or summary records of the speakers at each session of the General Assembly or other respective councils. Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan shozo Kokusai Renmei, Kokusai Rengo kanko shiryo mokuroku (Catalogue of the League of Nations and the United Nations publications in the National Diet Library). Vol. 1 1971 National Diet Library See also II-2-2 1-4-2-4 Specialized agencies United Nations documents index 1950-1952 monthly New York, Dag Hammarskjold Library This is the only comprehensive bibliography comprising both UN and its specialized agencies materials, i.e. documents, books and periodicals published for 1950-1962. In and after 1963, materials of the specialized agencies have been excluded. Consequently, since 1963 each specialized agency has been publishing regularly the current sales publications catalogue. For such unpublished documents and working papers, however, the following bibliographies are only made available as reference tools: FAQ documentation; current index Rome, FAO Documentation Centre

Oct., 1967- monthly and annual

Subject list of publications and documents of Unesco 1962-1972 Unesco list of documents and publications

quarterly

1973-

5 times a year-and annual cumulation List of documents for general distribution issued during the month monthly Wien, International Atomic Energy Agency Note: Our experience shows that WHO's documents of this type are here in as much demand as FAO's counterparts. We wish to see documentation for such WHO materials published at an early date. Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan shozo Kokusai Renmei, Kokusai Rengo kanko skiryo mokuroku (Catalogue of the League of Nations and the United Nations publications in the National Diet Library) Vol. 2 Specialized agencies I. 1973 288 p.; Vol. 3 Specialized agencies II. 1974 371 p. See also II-2-2 It lists the publications of all UN specialized agencies held by NDL. 1-4-2-5 European Communities. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

84

Publications of the European Communities, monthly Luxembourg. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities It lists current sales publications (books and periodicals) issued by EC. Each entry has the titles of the English, French and German editions. Gekkan EC janaru (Monthly EC journal) Tokyo, Public Information Office, Commission of the European Communities. It lists current EC publications (English title only) at the end of each issue. OECD publications news Centre

monthly

Tokyo,

OECD Publications and Information

This is the quickest source of current sales publications of OECD in Japan. Addition of the Japanese translations of the original titles makes it more convenient for Japanese use. OECD catalogue of publications biennial Paris, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development tye at NDL are using this mainly for retrospective searching. II.

Compilation of bibliographies

The United Nations Information Centre, Tokyo, the National Diet Library and several other institutions holding international organizations publications in Japan are actively engaged in publicity of such publications of theirs through compilation of bibliographies concerned. Below mentioned are chiefly such bibliographies, published on a regular basis: II-l

United Nations Information Centre, Tokyo

Kinchaku shiryosen (New book list)

1961-

5 times a year

An essential tool for UN current publications. For details, See 1-4-2-3 II-2

National Diet Library

NDL is publishing the following bibliographies in order to facilitate utilization of its holdings: II-2-1 Gaikoku seifu kankobutsu ukeire annai 1961- semi-monthly See 1-4-2-1

(Foreign government publications)

II-2-2 Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan shozo Kokusai Renmei, Kokusai Rengo Kanko shiryo mokuroku (Catalogue of the League of Nations and the United Nations publications in the National Diet Library). 1971-1978. 4 vols. It is a comprehensive catalogue of NDL's holdings of publications issued by the League of Nations, the United Nations and its specialized agencies. It also includes necessary comments and information on the structure and function of each organization, thereby to provide easier access to individual items, whose documentation is often too complicated to use. Some important publications have explanatory notes. 85

As another feature, each of Vol. 2, 3, and 4 has a subject heading list and a subject index for the convenience of general users. It is also worthy of note that each volume lists such pamphlets as ones not available at other institutions in Japan. Vol. 1 League of Nations and United Nations for 1920-1968

1971

443 p.

It lists all publications issued up to 1968 and held by NDL. Divided into 5 parts. Part 1 (p. 1-33) remarks LN and UN and the type and nature of respective publications. Since no bibliography of the publications of the League of Nations has ever been published in Japan, it is all the more important as a tool for the LN publications. Part II (p. 34-169) is an annotated bibliography of the more important items. Part III (p.170-349) lists UN publications, a part for "books and journals" and another part for "official records". Part IV (p. 350-356) lists various catalogues, users' guides and indexes for the publications of both LN and UN. At the end of the volume is a subject index for the publications entered. Vol. 2 Specialized agencies I: ILO, Unesco, WHO.

1973

288 p.

It lists the publications of ILO covering the period 1919-1971 and those of Unesco and WHO for the period 1945-1971. Altogether 2,455 titles listed. The catalogue has three sections for the respective agencies. Each section gives a brief comment on the organization, publications of the agency and finally its series listing. An index of authors, titles and subjects at the end. Vol. 3 Specialized agencies II: ICAO, FAO, IAEA, GATT, IMF, IBRD, IDA, IFC, ITU, WMO, and UPU, for 1910-1973. 1974 371 p. The catalogue gives each agency a separate section consisting of a brief account of the organization, a survey of the agency's publications and a listing of official records, general materials, periodicals and series. At the end is an index of authors, titles and subjects. Vol. 4

Bibliography on the League of Nations and the United Nations 1978 688 p.

It is generally a bibliography of publications relating to the League of Nations and the United Nations with its specialized agencies including IAEA and not a bibliography of their own publications. As the only exception, it contains the Japanese translations of the publications of such organizations. Altogether some 13,900 items listed and classified by subject. The volume is divided into two parts by language; part one for materials in Japanese and part two in Western languages. Each entry provides: compiler's or author's name, title, publishing place (only for materials in Western Languages), issuing institution, publishing date, number of pages and call number of the Library. 86

As for journal articles, each entry provides compiler's or author's name, journal title and the pages for each article. At the end are a list of subject headings in Japanese and English and indexes for subject headings and authors. II-2-3

UN Publications Exhibition

In observance of the thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations, National Diet Library organized a week-long exhibition of United Nations publications. The exhibition, which opened on UN Day, October 24, 1975, in a hall of the National Diet Library, was seen by more than 900 visitors, including members of the Diet, foreign embassies, international organizations and university faculties as well as students, other researchers, librarians and publishers. The exhibition was divided into two parts, the first dealing with the League of Nations and the beginning of the United Nations, and United Nations' aims and activities in general, and the second part dealing with the following subjects: maintenance of international peace and security, economic and social development, human rights, trusteeship and non-self-governing territories, international law, statistics and bibliographies. A Japanese-language catalogue was specially produced for the exhibition. UNIC/Tokyo collaborated in providing NDL with several publications as well as pamphlets, posters, a UN flag, photographs and films which greatly helped to make the exhibition even more visually attractive. The result, as Mr. David J. Exley, Director of UNIC/Tokyo, valued in his report to the United Nations, "was a highly professional, authoritative and informative display." II-3

United Nations Depository Library, Kyoto

For 1962-1969, UNDL in Kyoto published the following three catalogs, each having annotations in Japanese: Kokuren shiryo (United Nations documents) riyo no tebiki to kokuren kankobutsu mokuroku 1945 - Apr., 1962. 1962 124 p.; May, 1962 - Dec., 1963. 1963 34 p.; Supplement No. 1, 1962. 1963 52 p.; 1964. 1965 90 p. Kokuren senmon kikan kankobutsu mokuroku (Catalogue of the United Nations specialized agencies publications): Part I (IAEA, ITU, UNESO, WHO). 1964 83 p. Part II (IMF, IBRD, IFC, IDA, GATT, EEC, OECD). 1964 113 p. Part III (ILO, FAO, ICAO, UPU, WMO, IMCO). 1966 125 p. Kokuren shiryo nenkan (Yearbook of United Nations materials; including specialized agencies, EC and OECD publications). 1965-1969. annual II-4

International Labour Office, Tokyo Branch Office.

ILO byusu (ILO news). 1978-

monthly

A Japanese-language publicity bulletin on ILO's activities. Each issue has a listing of ILO's current publications with Japanese translations of titles and their annotations. 87

II-5

OECD Publications and Information Centre, Tokyo.

Keizai Kyoryoku Kaihatsu Kiko shinkan annai (OECD publications news). 1973monthly An announcement of current OECD publications with Japanese translations of original titles. II-6

European Documentation Centre, Chuo University,

Chuo Daigaku EDC nyusu (EDC news) No. 1(1980)The University Library's accession list of EC publications. II-7

Nagoya University, Library of Faculty of Economics, Nagoya

Tosho shiryo nyusu

annual

An accession list of EC publications received by the Library. II-8

Subject Bibliographies.

Kokusai Rengo oyobi senmon kikan kanko kaiyo kaihatsu kankei shiryo mokuroku (List of the United Nations and the specialized agencies publications on marine development). Tokyo, United Nations Depository Library, University of Tokyo. 1973 33 p. An annotated bibliography on marine development. Shin kokusai keizai chitsujo ni kansuru bunken risuto (List of United Nations documents and publications on a new international economic order in the University of Tokyo Library). Tokyo, United Nations Depository Library, University of Tokyo. 1978 29 p. An annotated bibliography on new international economic order. Kokuren shiryo joho (United Nations documents). June, 1974Nagoya, Aichl Prefecture Labour Office

5 times a year

A subject bibliography of current United Nations publications, with each issue treating with a different subject. III

Co-operation among the United Nations depository libraries in Japan.

There are 11 depository libraries for the United Nations publications in Japan. In order to achieve better processing technique and reference service for such publications, the staff of these libraries meet together every year to report on their activities and exchange information about UN publications under the leadership of the United Nations Information Centre, Tokyo. On this subject, you will find a fuller account in a report, "Co-operation with the United Nations Depository Libraries" prepared by Miss K. Fukuda, United Nations Information Centre, Tokyo. IV

Problems

1)

Shelving: 88

The shelving of the publications in question done by the National Diet Library is based on the order of document series symbols, which makes it impossible to shelve together materials on an identical subject or such serial publications as annual reports and yearbooks. In the latter case, one has to take the trouble of looking into each year's numbering in order to identify the subsequent editions. Example: ST/ECA/79 World economic survey 1962, Part 1. 1963

120 p.

ST/ECA/80 Studies in long-term economic projections for the World economy 1964. 1964 190 p. ST/ECA/81 Transport of dangerous goods. Vol. 1

1964

ST/ECA/82 Water desalination in developing countries.

130 p. 1964

325 p.

ST/ECA/83 World economic survey 1963: II Current economic developments. 1964 120 p. This inconvenience could be eliminated if such document series symbols system as adopted for series publications were to be adopted also for above types of publications. Example: World Cartography

Vol. 1(1951)-

ST/SOA/SER.L/9

Vol. 9

1969

83 p.

Sales no. E.69.I.7

ST/SOA/SER.L/10

Vol. 10

1970

113 p.

Sales no. E.70.I.4

ST/SOA/SER.L/11

Vol. 11

1971

67 p.

Sales no. E.71.I.6

The sales numbering as given to the great majority of the League of Nations publications is found very convenient to group together publications on an identical subject issued in a same year. However, this numbering is not always applied to United Nations materials. In my personal view, the National Diet Library should treat United Nations publications in the same way as other publications in terms of classification and shelving, which will lead to a more efficient access to United Nations publications. Another suggestion based on NDL's experience is that documents and official records, two different types of United Nations publications, be shelved as close to each other as possible in order to achieve functional efficiency. 2)

Utilization

Users of international organizations publications are mostly scholars, researchers, university faculty members, business men and postgraduate students. Their demands for unpublished papers are often as strong as for other publications. It is desirable, therefore, that such unpublished papers be made available to some well-justified institutions as has been the case with the National Diet Library. 89

BROAD TERMS OF THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM : REPORT ON THE WORK OF THE UNACC TASK FORCE ON INDEXING VOCABULARIES BY MARKO ZLATICH, CHIEF, DOCUMENTATION SYSTEMS SECTION RECORDS MANAGEMENT DIVISION., ADMINISTRATION SERVICES DEPT. WORLD BANK 1

Summary. Traces the history of the Task Force on Indexing Vocabularies of UNACC Working Party on Indexing. A.

the

PURPOSE OF THE TASK FORCE

1. The history of interagency indexing efforts goes back over a quarter of a century. It is not the purpose here to cover the course of these efforts but rather to chronicle the work of a small segment of these efforts that nonetheless accomplished the first tangible result: the Broad Terms for United Nations Programmes and Activities (GV.79.0.1). 2. In 1975 the Working Party on Indexing of Documents was revived by the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination (hereafter ACC) because of the increasing concern of governments and other organizations over the availability of information in the documents of the agencies of the United Nations System. The purpose of the Working Party was clearly stated by the ACC in a circular letter (Reference AD323/22 dated 20 August 1976) addressed to participants of the Working Party meeting held at New York 15-19 November 1976. "... the exploration of primary means for making information in the documentation of the various agencies more widely accessible. .. by determining what information contained in documents might be exchanged,how they might be described bibliographically and what common indexing terms might be usefully employed." (my italics) 3. In addition to certain standard bibliographic data elements, the Working Party agreed that broad subject field and specific subject descriptors "^Participated as World Bank delegate in the work of both the Task Force and the Working Party. 90

should be mandatory for each document description. Recognizing the significance of an indexing vocabulary to the retrieval of documentation, the Working Party report CO-ORD/R.1197, p. 13-14, included the following recommendation: F.

Indexing Vocabulary

It was recognized that effective retrieval of information required a high degree of compatibility and co-ordination of the terminology used by the participating organizations in the indexing of their documentary material. It was further recognized that equivalent indexing terms in multiple languages were desirable. For the purpose of developing full compatibility among existing indexing vocabularies, the Working Party recommended the setting up of an informal Task Force comprised of representatives of interested United Nations organizations and two or three terminology experts. This Task Force would: (a) Make a comparative evaluation of existing general and sectoral thesauri from the point of view of their potential contribution to the needs of the United Nations system; (b) Determine the best means of arriving at a thesaurus of broad terms reflecting all programme sectors of the United Nations system. In that regard, the Working Party noted with interest that IDRC had awarded a contract to OECD to prepare during the period from 1 November 1976 to 31 October 1977 an updated version of the Macrothesaurus: A basic list of economic and social development terms. Therefore, the Working Party further recommended that the Task Force, in carrying out its assignment, would maintain close links with the OECD unit engaged in the revision of the Macrothesaurus.^ It was agreed that the ILO would co-ordinate the work of the Task Force and provide the necessary link with OECD. It was also understood that the Task Force would consult with all organizations in the United Nations system during the course of its work. B.

FIRST TASK FORCE MEETING

4. The question of evaluating existing thesauri was dealt with in Paris, 28-29 June 1977, at the first meeting of the then "Informal" Inter-agency Task Force on Indexing Vocabularies. The report of the meeting, circulated as CO-ORD/R.1229, 28 July 1977 contained a list of existing agency vocabularies, i.e. those of UNESCO, ILO, WHO, FAO and UNIDO. It was proposed that UNESCO, 2

OECD. MACROTHESAURUS for Information Processing in the Field of Economic and Social Development. New English Edition prepared by Jean Viet, Paris, 1978. 438p. Hereinafter referred to as the MACROTHESAURUS. 91

in view of its acknowledged leadership in the thesaurus field, would prepare a feasibility study for the establishment of a "Computerized United Nations InterThesaural system of Indexing Terms employed by United Nations Agencies, with English and French Terms in parallel files." No report of progress on this task was received by the Task Force. 5. In compliance with the Working Party's instructions, close links were to be forged between the Task Force on Indexine Vocabularies and the OECD/ IDRC team working on the MACROTHESAURUS. On 9 December 1976, a number of Genevabased agencies met with Mr. Jean Viet, the team leader. It was the consensus of this meeting that the work on the MACROTHESAURUS might incorporate the requirements of the Task Force. To that end, the MACROTHESAURUS team was to consult with individual agencies to try to "ensure that all of the agencies' needs are catered for..." A new edition of the MACROTHESAURUS incorporating some agency-submitted changes, as well as others, was published in December 1978. C.

SECOND TASK FORCE MEETING

6. By the 17-20 January 1978 meeting of the Task Force, the agencies themselves determined that for the purposes of the broad terms list, the MACROTHESAURUS was of limited scope inasmuch as it deals chiefly with the fields of economic and social development, while the UN system encompasses many additional areas. Thus, the Task Force determined that the broad terms list should be compiled within the system from terms submitted by each agency. To accomplish the compilation, the Task Force approved the following recommendations as quoted from the meeting report C00RD/R.2161: a) All organizations of the United Nations system should draw up lists of terms that represent their current programmes and activities; the specifications for the submission should include the following basic elements. (i) The terms should be submitted in English and in other languages if available; the United Nations (Translation Division, Department of Conference Services) should be asked to establish equivalents in the various languages; (ii) The terms should be precise enough to fully describe the various substantive activities of each organization; the list should be restricted to activities at a sectoral and sub-sectoral level; for those organizations that operate on a programme budget basis, the list should include all activities at the major programme and sub-programme levels; (ili) Terms related to individual projects should not be submitted. (iv) Those organizations which have a thesaurus should submit the lists of broad terms in the structure already in use so as to facilitate the subsequent work of the technical team; (v) The preparation of the list should, as appropriate, be entrusted in each organization to the office responsible for indexing activities, in coordination with other relevant offices of the organization. 92

b) Collection and compilation of the list of broad terms submitted by the organizations should be undertaken by the IOB (i.e. Interorganization Board for Information Systems) Secretariat with the technical assistance of the ILO and UNESCO, the compilation to be in a form suitable for review by October 1978; in that effort the IOB Secretariat should take into account the parallel effort to revise the ACC programme classification. D.

THIRD TASK FORCE MEETING

7. Thanks to the energetic work of the IOB, the compilation of the agency responses to the canvas went through two manually prepared drafts. In each case the IOB secretariat circulated the complete drafts for agency commentary and correction. A Task Force review of the second draft took place under IOB sponsorship in Geneva, 22-24 January 1979. 8. The Geneva meeting recommended that the contributions of 27 agencies could be more useful if placed in a structured form, along the lines of the ACC programme classification. The meeting decided that the Broad Terms should be limited to descriptors, each term representing as far as possible a unitary concept. Terms which were originally submitted in the form of programme statements were to be converted into descriptors. Because some organizations had also submitted programme titles, acronyms and other names, a separate section identifying forms of name ("identifiers") was to be prepared. Some agencies also submitted terms of a generic type. Here too, a separate section will list such terms commonly used to cover general or administrative areas of activity. 9. Following the January meeting, the list of Broad Terms was fully automated using ISIS programmes made available by the ILO and specially adapted for this purpose. This format enabled the IOB to swiftly and completely follow through on the recommendations of the 3rd Task Force meeting. A printed first edition was ready for consideration at the IOB's 13th Session held in Washington during November 1979. E.

TASK FORCE DISCONTINUED

10. The January meeting was the last one in the Task Force series. Along with other subsidiary bodies of the ACC, the Working Party on Indexing and the Task Force were discontinued in the course of a restructuring of the ACC that occurred during the summer of 1979. F.

RECOMMENDATION TO THE SYMPOSIUM

11. Because of the significance of the Broad Terms to the processing and retrieval of UN and other Agency documents, it is recommeneded that the 2nd World Symposium on International Documentation resolve that the work on expanding and refining the list be continued under a revised interagency format, such as by a consultative body to the IOB.

93

BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION OF INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS: THE NEED FOR A UNIFORM STANDARD BY LINDA E. WILLIAMSON, DOCUMENTS LIBRARIAN VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

The desirability of applying uniform standards to international documentation is well recognized. The need to "identify and consider adoption of established, relevant standards aimed at improving retrieval"-^*} was expressed by Helen Seymour at the 1972 International Symposium on the Documentation of the United Nations and Other Intergovernmental Organizations. Among the final recommendations emanating from that meeting were Number 31, which calls for application of the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) system, and Number 33, which calls for adoption of the Internation Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD).2 In line with this thinking, I would like to suggest the development and adoption of a standard for the bibliographic citation of international documents. Through my experience as a documents librarian in academic research libraries, I have found that the citation appended to a text is the most common access point to the collection of international documents. It is far more likely that a researcher will identify a needed document via a footnote or bibliography entry than that he will find it through a subject catalog or an index to an agency's publications. The undisputed purpose of a citation, aptly stated by Miles Price, is "to lead its reader to the work cited, and this without enforced recourse to any other source of information, for data which should have been given in the citation itself."3 All items of information should be presented which may facilitate retrieval of the cited piece, be it retrieval of the original, a reprint, or a microfacsimile, from a library collection, a vendor, or an office of the originating agency. Citations to international documents often fall short of this ideal. An informal survey of legal and political science literature reveals considerable inconsistency in format and detail of information. This comes as no surprise to librarians, who are called upon to fill in the missing information in order to guide a patron to the cited material. "Why," we ask, "when the author had the document in hand, didn't he/she include the series symbol number (or sales number, official records supplement number, etc.)?" The answer to that complaint is that the author did not have appropriate instruction in composing a citation to an international document. The authoritative style manuals used in the United States provide very little guidance in the citing of this specialized body of literature. (*)Annotations are to be found on page 100. 94

The Chicago Manual of Style, one of the best-known guides to form of entry, dispenses with international material in two short paragraphs. It states that for U.N. documents there are three classes: official records, treaty series, and special agency publications. No mention is made of mimeographed material, periodicals, sales publications, republished material appearing in the official records and other sources, nor of the existence of series symbol numbers and sales numbers. While series symbol numbers are shown in the sample citations, no sales number appears. Two examples are for material published in the official records, but no mention is made of this fact in either citation. Only a librarian familiar with U.N. documentation would know to go to the official records with the following information: United Nations, General Assembly, Summary Records (A/C.4/S. R.1232), 1 December 1961, p. 2. United Nations, General Assembly, Report of the Subcommittee on the Situation in Angola, Suppl. 16 (A/4978), January 1962, pp.40-45.5 The MLA Handbook, another well-known style manual, shows only one illustration of an international document. No official number is given even though the series symbol number E/CN.14/INB/1 appears on the cover of the piece and above the page number throughout.6 Turabian's Manual for Writers, also a source of citation forms, gives four examples of international documents. One, a citation to a U.N. official records piece, is incomplete; the fact that it pertains to agenda item 25 is not provided.' For legal citations, the "Harvard Bluebook" is the authoritative guide. Section 15 is dedicated to citation forms for international documents, and United Nations material receives the greatest attention. This manual is very useful in terms of indicating all elements necessary for a complete citation to an official records piece. But it is misleading to find no discussion or examples of citations to such other material as unrepublished m i m e o g r a p h e d documents, periodicals, series which have not been assigned series symbol numbers, or publications which bear sales numbers. The implication, by default, is that all U.N. documents can be cited to the official records of one of the main organs.8 Clearly, these standard sources fall short of providing the guidance needed for uniform and complete citing of international documents. The "Chicago Style Manual" states that the principle behind using a particular form of citation for a public document is to make it accessible to anyone wishing to locate it in a library.9 Ironically, it then provides examples which fail to achieve this because essential information has been omitted. What better evidence of the fallacy in assuming that "general principles... plus common sense should suggest logical forms"?10 There is definitely a need for an internationally accepted standard for the format and content of citations to international documents. The essential elements of a bibliographic citation are: author, title, edition, series, information, place of publication, publisher, and date of publication. A standard for the citation of international documents needs to: 1)

Specify the ways in which a document citation may differ from a traditional citation, e.g., the issuing body is usually considered 95

to be the author; publisher and place of publication may not need to be given. 2)

Specify additional information to be included, such as: a) numbers for resolutions, treaties, agenda items, meetings, sessions, etc.; b) type of record, such as verbatim, summary, etc.; c) type of publication, such as annex, revision, supplement, addendum, amendment, corrigendum, etc.; d) distribution information, such as limited, restricted; e) identification of all issuances of the text; f) languages of issuance; g) official numbering

To take up this latter point in more detail, it is essential that the importance of document numbering be recognized, that citations to international documents include all numbers appearing on the piece. These might include one or more series symbol numbers, a sales number as ISBN or an ISSN. The importance of these numbers increases as bibliographic control is assumed by the computer, which can be programmed to allow retrieval by assigned numbers. With respect to conventional printed sources of bibliographic control, listings by issuing agencies are often organized by document number, such as the OAS' Lista Generally and the U.N.'s UNDOC*2. Finally, the document number is frequently the key to physical retrieval of the piece in a library. It is a common practice for large research collections of documents to be maintained separately and to be arranged by document number assigned by the issuing body. Indeed, the form of the material may make this the only feasible arrangement, as with mimeographed documents and microform sets such as the Readex collection of U.N. publications.^^ Even sales numbers, assigned by agencies for distribution purposes, may assume a^eoirtcol function within a library collection. Documents may be arranged by s9l.es number, or references may be made from sales number to the call number assi/gned to the piece. In the development of a standard for citing international documents, existing guidelines for bibliographic description may be helpful. The ISBD(G): General International Standard Bibliographic Description forms the framework for the second edition of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules; the ISBD(M), for monographs, has been incorporated in relevant sections.1^ In 1975 the International Organization for Standards adopted ISO 690-1975: Documentation— Bibliographical References—Essential and Supplementary Elements. It provides examples of references to publications in their entirety and to particular pages or portions of a w o r k . M o r e recently, the American National Standards Institute Committee Z39 on Library Work, Documentation, and Related Publication Practices developed Z39.29-1977 for bibliographical references. It classifies elements according to whether they are essential, recommended, or optional. While these sources differ in detail, all allow for variations in content depending upon the purpose of the bibliographic description. The ISO standard illustrates full references and corresponding abridged references. The latter 96

contain only those descriptive elements which the standard specifies as essential; the former contain all essential elements plus supplementary information: abridged reference per ISO 690-1975 ESDAILE, Arundell. A Student's Manual of Bibliography, 2nd ed., London, 1932, pp. 178-196. full reference per ISO 690-1975 ESDAILE, Arundell. A Student's Manual of Bibliography, 2nd ed., London, Allen + Unwin and Library Association, 1932 (Library Association, Series of Library Manuals, No. 1), pp. 178-196.^ Note that the publisher's name is considered supplementary, rather than essential information. This would not seem so curious if the standard were intended for official documentation, as author and publisher are usually the same. The ANSI standard shows comprehensive and abbreviated references. The latter correspond to the ISO standard's abridged references, containing only those elements deemed essential by ANSI Z39.29-1977. This standard also specifies recommended elements and optional elements. A comprehensive reference, which parallels the ISO full reference, contains essential, recommended, and optional data. Suggested for most general purposes is the comprehensive reference without the optional elements: abbreviated reference per ANSI Z39.29-1977 Ann. Acad. Sci. Fenn., Ser. A4, 1972; 187: 1-4. comprehensive reference per ANSI 39.29-1977 Saarikoski, Pirkko-Liisa; Suomalainen, Paavo. Studies on the physiology of the hibernating hedgehog. 15: Effects of seasonal temperature changes on the in vitro glycerol release from brown adipose tissue. Ann. Acad. Sci. Fenn., Ser. A4, 1972; 187: 1-4. CODEN: AAFBAU; ISSN: 0066-1996.18 general purpose reference per ANSI 39.29-1977 Saarikoski, Pirkko-Liisa; Suomalainen, Paavo. Studies on the physiology of the hibernating hedgehog. 15: Effects of seasonal and temperature changes on the in vitro glycerol release from brown adipose tissue. Ann. Acad. Sci. Fenn., Ser. A4. 1972; 187: 1-4. The ISBD(G) specifies three levels of description. The first level corresponds to ISO's abridged reference and ANSI's abbreviated reference; the 97

second level parallels ANSI's suggested general-purpose reference; the third level corresponds to ISO's full reference and ANSI's comprehensive reference. It is significant that the first level of the ISBD(G) contains the standard number (ISBN or ISSN), thus specifying it as an essential bibliographical element. The ANSI standard mentions only the ISSN, and deems it an optional, rather than an essential or recommended, element. The ISO standard does not mention either type of number. For international documents, the standard number concept might be enlarged to include all numbers officially assigned to a piece. If so, the ISBD(G)'s requirement of the standard number for all levels of description, from the most concise to the most comprehensive, should be adopted. In other respects, however, the applicability of the ISBD(G) to the citing of international documents is questionable. It was developed to provide guidance in descriptive cataloguing, for the purpose of constructing library catalogs. It provides rules for citing whole works only, not portions, such as chapters in books or articles in journals. The bibliographic description begins with the title proper, followed by the first statement of responsibility. Punctuation specifies a slash between these two elements, with dashes separating other bibliographic data. The ISBD(G) thus imposes changes from traditional bibliographic description with respect to order of elements and puncutation. Should these changes be incorporated in a standard for the citation of international documents? Would editors and publishers who set policies be likely to adopt a standard which differs significantly from traditional practice? When reference is made to the ISBD's and the ISO and ANSI standards, it must be borne in mind that their intention is to specify information sufficient to uniquely identify a work. The complexities of international documentation demand more than this from a citation; all elements must be presented which may facilitate retrieval of the piece. Data given must allow it to be located in a library, whether catalogued, shelved by official number, arranged by document group or other system. Data should also allow its acquisition from the originating organization, whether through a central sales unit, the agency's headquarters, or an outlying office. A standard for international document citation would provide a framework which should be fleshed out by a manual providing many examples of correct format and content. I suggest, as a minimum, that it cover the following organizations: United Nations, UNESCO, Organization of American States, World Health Organization, European Communities, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Labour Office. For each, information should be given about the various categories of publications and types of numbering schemes. Also, it would be helpful to provide instruction in identifying all issuances of a given text. In the case of U.N. material, many mimeographed documents are later published in the official records. It is especially important that the final version be cited, as official records receive wider distribution, and may be the only source for that text in certain languages. This proposed style manual should address itself to several different types of citations: citations within a bibliographic list; those appended to a text, either as footnotes or as endnotes; citations embodied within a text; and legal citations. Thus, format and content would be specified for the wordiest type of citation, i.e., that appearing in a bibliographic list, down to the most 98

concise citation, i.e., that used in legal literature, which makes extensive use of abbreviations. Illustrations should also be provided of abbreviated citation forms used for second and later references. Abbreviations to be used within citations need to be specified. ISO 8321975: Documentation—Bibliographic References—Abbreviations of Typical Words sets forth standardized abbreviations for words commonly found in bibliographical r e f e r e n c e s . L e g a l citations make extensive use of abbreviations for organizations and for serial publications, e.g., the "Harvard Bluebook" uses the "U.N. SCOR" to indicate "United Nations. Security Council. Official Records." A standardized list of these kinds of designations would be useful, as would be an authority list of corporate names of international governmental organizations. Instruction should be provided as to where to find the elements to be included in the citation. The title page is generally the preferred source, but for international documents data is often printed in other locations. Essential information, official numbers in particular, may be found on the verso of the title page, on the front cover, on the back cover, and elsewhere. This manual would not need to be created out of a vacuum, since there presently exist scattered works dealing with the citing of documents of specific international governmental organizations. The United Nations is the most prolific publisher on the international scene. Its documentation presents the greatest complexity in terms of categories of publications, types of series, republication practices, and numbering schemes. Guidance in citing the U.N. documents has been available for some time through the United Nations' Bibliographical Style Manual,20 editorial directives from the Secretariat,^ and Rothman's Citation Rules and Forms. For citations to treaties, international law cases, and official records, the "Harvard Bluebook" may be consulted. Additionally, the Association of Student International Law Societies has issued a draft guide on the citation of League of Nations d o c u m e n t s . 2 3 The standardization of bibliographic information has been a major concern of such distinguished international organizations as UNESCO, International Federation of Library Associations, Association of International Libraries, and International Organization for Standards. I suggest that one of them appoint a committee of experts on the documentation of selected international governmental organizations. The charge to this committee would be to draft a uniform standard for the citation of international documents, and to develop a manual that shows application of the standard to the various types of documents issued by the selected organizations. The intended audience for this standard would be authors, editors, and publishers, including producers of indexes, abstracts, and sales catalogs. Widespread application of the standard would foster improved bibliographic control by ensuring completeness of information within the citation. Thus, the student, the scholar, the policy-maker would be able to retrieve the cited document with greater ease. The final result of facilitating access to international documents would be their increased use by the world community at large. And this is without question one of the foremost concerns of the international organizations, libraries, and documentation centers represented at this Symposium.

99

Notes* 1.

Helen Seymour, "The United Nations and Modern Document Retrieval," in Sources, Organizations, Utilization of International Documentation: Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Documentation of the United Nations and Other Intergovernmental Organizations, Geneva, 21-23 August 1972 (The Hague: International Federation for Documentation, 1974), p. 407 (FID Publication 506).

2.

Franco A. Casadio, "Symposium Report and Recommendations," in Sources, Organization, Utilization of International Documentation, pp. 56-57.

3.

Miles 0. Price, A Practical Manual of Standard Legal Citations, 2nd. ed. (New York: Oceana Publications, 1958), p. iii.

4.

A Manual of Style: for Authors, Editors and Copywriters, 12th ed. rev. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969), p. 394.

5.

Ibid., p. 397.

6.

MLA Handbook: for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (New York: Modern Language Association, 1977), p. 72 (ISBN 0-87352000-9).

7.

Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 4th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973), p. 158 (ISBN 0-226-81620).

8.

A Uniform System of Citation, 12th ed. (Cambridge:, Harvard Law Review Association, 1976), pp. 67-79.

9.

Manual of Style, p. 389.

10.

Ibid., p. 395.

11.

Organización de los Estados Americanos, Secretaría General, Documentos Oficiales de la Organización de los Estados Americanos: Lista General jde Documentos, y.1- , 1960- (Washington, D.C.: Organization of American States) (OEA/Ser.Z/I.l: sales numbers vary).

12.

United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld Library, UNDOC: Current Index, v. 11979- (New York)(ST/LIB/SER.M/-;no sales number).

13.

United Nations Publications, 1946Readex Microprint Corporation).

14.

Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, ed. Michael Gorman and Paul W. Winkler, 2nd ed. (Chicago: American Library Association, 1978), p. xi.

15.

,

, Readex microprint ed. (New York:

"Documentation—Bibliographical References—Essential and Supplementary Elements," International Standard ISO 690-1975(E), in Information Transfer: Handbook on International Standards Governing Information Transfer *See page 101. 100

(Texts of ISO Standards), comp. ISO Information Centre (Geneva: International Organization for Standardization, 1977), pp. 29-36 (ISO Standards Handbook 1) (ISBN 92-67-10017-3). 16.

American National Standards Institute, American National Standard for Bibliographic References, ANSI Z39.29-1977 (New York, 1977).

17.

"Documentation—Bibliographical References," p. 30.

18.

American National Standard for Bibliographic References, p. 34.

19.

"Documentation—Bibliographical References—Abbreviations of Typical Words," International Standard ISO 832-1975 (E/F), in Information Transfer, pp. 37-75.

20.

United Nations, Dag Hairanarskjöld Library, Bibliographical Style Manual (New York, 1963) (Dag Hammaskjöld Library Bibliographical Series No. 8) (ST/LIB/SER.B/8: Sales No. 63.1.5).

21.

Editorial directives from the Secretariat supplement the Bibliographical Style Manual; the following is an especially important one: United Nations, Secretariat, Editorial Directive (on Footnotes and Other References) (New York, 8 June 1973) (ST/CS/SER.A/14 : no sales number). Rules and examples condensed from this directive may be found in: Peter I. Hajnal, Guide to United Nations Organization, Documentation and Publishing (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publications, Inc., 1978), pp. 188-200.

22.

Marie H. Rothman, Citation Rules and Forms for United Nations Documents and Publications (Brooklyn: Long Island University Press, 1971).

23.

"Draft Selections: A.S.I.L.S. International Law Citation Manual," A.S.I.L.S. International Law Journal (Washington, D.C.: Association of Student International Law Societies, v. 2, 1978, pp. 72-87 (ISSN 01611402).

* Before developing this paper, I had been on the receiving end of inadequate citations, needing to fill in information so that a particular document could be found in the library collection. Noting this paper placed me on the other side of the fence, with authors who must compose citations to international documents. The frustrations I encountered have reinforced my conviction that there is a need for a uniform standard for the citation of international documents.

101

INTERGOVERNMENTAL DOCUMENTS IN ONE LARGE ACADEMIC LIBRARY: ORGANIZATION FOR RETRIEVAL BY CAROLYN W. KOHLER, HEAD GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES IOWA CITY, IOWA Libraries with major collections of documents issued by intergovernmental organizations (hereinafter referred to as IGO documents) have had to learn to cope with vase bodies of materials, much of which is not amenable to conventional library cataloging and classification. Reasons why the bulk of this material will not fit into normal library operations are numerous: the enormous quantity arriving daily; the flimsy nature of much of it; and its frequently ephemeral nature (the material is important NOW, but can lose its timeliness and/or be superseded while awaiting processing by conventional methods). Much of this material is best retained in a unified collection arranged and recorded in an archival manner, rather than by subject, allowing researchers to follow the flow of the material through the deliberative processes of the IGO, and permitting librarians to readily check on holdings. While much has been written on the problems generated by government publications in general, comparatively little has been printed on the specific problems of IGO documentation; each library has been left primarily on its own to make arrangements best suited to its needs to cope with this material. This paper discusses how one such institution, the University of Iowa Libraries, has handled the problem. Based on an earlier short article, it covers the background of the University of Iowa Libraries and its documents collection, then discusses systems devised for recording IGO documents and a classification scheme used for organizing them on the shelves.!(*) THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES AND GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS COLLECTION The University of Iowa is a major midwestern university founded in 1847 and now enrolling about 22,000 students.2 Holding almost 2,217,000 volumes and adding nearly 90,000 volumes during the 1978/79 fiscal year (both figures not including microforms or uncataloged documents), the University Libraries are numbered among the top 30 academic libraries in the United States.3 In terms of staff, however, we do not rank so high; with 251 full-time equivalent staff members in 1978/79 (combining professional, clerical, and student workers) we ranked only 50th.^ The library system can therefore be characterized *Annotations begin on page 114.

102

as a busy institution with a heavy flow of incoming material but only a relatively small staff to handle it. The library system includes the Main Library, which houses the Government Publications Department, and 12 departmental libraries scattered around the campus: Art, Botany/Chemistry, Business Administration, Education/Psychology, Engineering, Geology, Health Sciences, Library Science, Mathematics, Music, Physics, and Zoology libraries. In addition to the Main Library system is a separately administered Law Library. The separate Government Publications Department is a centralized processing unit for all documents in the Main Library system, regardless of their final location; all orders for documents and all incoming documents are processed in this department. That part of the documents collection housed in the Government Publications Department itself totaled 774,000 full-size documents and 370,000 microforms by the end of fiscal year 1978/79. At least another 250,000 full-size documents and uncounted microforms are housed in the Main Collection or in departmental libraries; there is no accurate count of these documents. The collection is currently growing at the rate of 108,000 full-size documents and 60,000 microforms per year. IGO documents comprise about 182,000 of the total collection remaining in the Government Publications Department, and are growing at the rate of 15,000 documents per year. Four professional librarians handle the documents collection, each alloting one-half of their time to documents reference (the department currently serves some 28,000 patrons per year, who ask 13,000 reference questions and utilize 57,000 items from the collection). The remainder of the librarians' time is assigned to processing documents and maintaining the collection. In this effort, they are assisted by five full-time clerks and the equivalent of 1-1/2 full-time student assistants. Of this total staff, only the equivalent of 1/5 full-time professional, slightly more than 1/2 full-time clerical, and 1/5 full-time student help is available for all processing and maintenance of IGO documentation. This staffing is quite low according to Brenda Brimmer, who said that it generally requires 2 full-time people to process and service a United Nations depository collection alone (we do, however, have 2 full-time equivalent librarians available to service all documents).^ The Government Publications Department is a depository for United Nations materials (November 1968- ; prior to this time we purchased all official records and sales publications, as well as the Readex-Microprint edition of the mimeographed documents). We have also been an exchange depository for the Organization of American States (1960- ), though we are currently purchasing OAS materials. We are also a depository for GATT (1972- ), and the European Communities (1974- ; earlier, we purchased official records and sales publications). We purchase, or otherwise comprehensively acquire, the publications of the Council of Europe, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Labor Organization, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Health Organization, and the World Bank Group. We more selectively acquire the publications of the International Atomic Energy Agency, International Civil Aviation Organization, World Meteorological Organization , and numerous smaller organizations. All total, 183 IGOs are represented in the collection, not all of which are still functioning. The size and type of collection varies from organization to organization: For the United Nations, European Communities, Organization of American States and UNESCO we collect sales publications, official records, and mimeographed documents. In other cases we collect sales publications and official records only. Rarely do we collect technical reports (the 103

new OAS microfiche edition of technical reports is an exception); usually we purchase these on demand, or borrow on interlibrary loan. Documents retained permanently in the Government Publications Department are those dealing primarily with the administration functioning of the organizations: official records, annual and working reports, constitutions, treaties, laws, rules and regulations, informational materials about the work of the organization, budgets and financial reports, et cetera. Publications in any of the above categories that fit into the specific subject specialty of a departmental library, as well as publications produced by the agencies for more general consumption are sent on to that library or to the Main Collection. For example, the Health Sciences Library takes all World Health Organization publications, the Education Library has many of the UNESCO publications, Physics has IAEA publications, et cetera. We keep records on all documents, however, and know where they are and how they are being handled. Eighty-seven percent (87%) of the material housed in the Government Publications Department (675,000 documents at the end of fiscal year 1978/79) are uncataloged (i.e., they are not officially cataloged or classified by the Library of Congress system). Current policy states that "government publications which are indexed and designated to be housed in the Government Publications Department or in a departmental library are not to be cataloged, with the exception of substantive works of general interest.6 While it is recognized that ideally all, or nearly all, documents worth acquiring should be fully cataloged and retrievable through the public catalog, in practice this is impossible to accomplish, due to the sheer volume of documents, cost of cataloging, the catalogers' already heavy work load, and time lag in acquiring cataloging, if available. We feel that specialized librarians with centralized control who handle the documents daily more than make up for the lack of formal cataloging. RECORDS To offset lack of official cataloging, the Government Publications Department has developed specialized records that streamline processing of documents and yet supplement printed indexes, catalogs, and bibliographies for efficient retrieval of documents. Generally, we find printed tools neither comprehensive enough, nor cumulate frequently enough, and to have too few points of access, particularly for subject and title. However, with the advent of computerized information handling, the indexes of the major IGOs have been improving in recent years. Our in-house records, as detailed below, enable librarians who are not specialists in IGO documentation to provide adequate reference service to the collection. The records also provide immediate access points for patrons citing documents in a variety of ways: by document series symbol, sales number, title or garbled title, corporate author, or subject, all frequently with only a very general idea of publication date. By extensive use of photoduplication and carbon paper, they take minimal time to maintain yet cut down tremendously on processing and servicing time.

104

Corporate Author Main Entry The major tool, other than the IGO's own indexes, is the departmental check-in record. Arranged by corporate author entry, this basic record can, with some knowledge of the structure and functioning of the IGO, provide a kind of subject approach. The United Nations Style Manual is followed as much as possible in establishing the corporate author entry and other information included on the record.1 The corporate author assigned is always the English version, unless the IGO never publishes in English. Titles are recorded in the language in which they are printed; multi-lingual titles are recorded in English. The record shows, in addition to the corporate author and title, the date, paging, document number and/or sales number if any, location if not housed here, and either the Library of Congress number or our own classification number for uncataloged documents. We prepare a location-instruction card for serials, which also includes any author or title changes that have occurred, from which cross-references are made, processing instructions, and tracings for any added entries that have been made. As will be explained in greater detail below, added entries are made at least for serial titles, and in the case of United Nations publications we also make added entries for sales numbers and document numbers.

LOCATION-INSTRUCTION CARD FOR A SERIAL I-ILO/W89 7:yr/no International Labour Office. World Employment Programme World employment programme; ... progress report on income distribution and employment. LOCATION: swank stacks INSTRUCTIONS: check in by yr. and report number on following card. Add call.

I. title

O

The series location-instruction card is usually followed by a simple check-in card. Monographic sales publications and periodicals are recorded on individual records. 105

Shelflists Most mimeographed documents are checked in only under the document series symbol and not given the corporate author main entry treatment. Therefore a combination check-in record and document series symbol shelflist is maintained in conjunction with the corporate author file for applicable IGOs. The check-in record is a 1-50 or 51-100 numbered card which allows space for cross-references and pertinent notes, such as "add(ition)", "corr(ection) "prov(isional)", "restricted", "out-of-print", et cetera. Addition of all this information to our check-in record enables us and our patrons to know at a glance exactly where a document is, or why we do not have it without backtracking through many issues of the printed indexes. We record and shelve documents under the first number listed on the piece, usually the document series symbol of the parent body. However, we do use the second number instead if it is a serial-type number that would keep all the documents in that series together. For example, we shelve under UNIDO/LIB/SER.D/nos. rather than under the ID/nos. In either case, we do make cross-references from the unused number to the one actually used for shelving. Document number added entries for United Nations sales publications given corporate author main entry are interfiled with check-in cards for the mimeographed documents. The check-in card will say "see sep(arate) record" in this case, and the manila added entry is filed behind it. Sales publications showing serial-type document series symbols are, of course, entered only once as an added entry in the document number file.

U. N. MIMEOGRAPHED DOCUMENTS CHECK-IN RECORD

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