15th April 1991
International Organization Information / Research: 1991
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Prepared for Union of International Associations (Executive Council, 15th April 1991)
See also searchable PDF version (original titles, sub-headings, order and typography); also reports 1959-2006
Document also in segmented format in the Kairos indexed database
Organization profiles / networks
Yearbook of International Organizations: Series composed of 3 volumes.Work on Volume 1 is being completed for the 28th (1991/92) edition for 15th April 1991 according to the established annual schedule. Work on Volume 2 and Volume 3 is now underway for publication in the summer.
The major issue indicated on the occasion of the last report was the
possible restructuring of the whole Yearbook series due to both the
problem of space limitations and to that of user-friendliness. This
issue has been successfully circumvented (or evaded) once again.
Saur finally agreed that the possible solutions identified by them were
impractical, or of marginal value within the publishing constraints. It
was agreed, once again, that the UIA would find ways around the
space constraint and would take minimal steps to increase userfriendliness
of the volumes.
The main decision taken in the case of Volume 1 has been to exclude Section R (religious orders) and certain classes of subsidiary body which had previously been included in Sections E or F. These bodies are already indicated in the text of the main entry and may have the same address. Some 597 bodies were therefore transferred to a new Section K.
Like Sections H, G, J and U, the entries of this section are not published in Volume 1. The index references are made to the parent body. The entries will however be more appropriately treated in Volumes 2 and 3.
On the problem of the user-friendliness of the index, a further
simplified sorting order has been used to avoid confusion previously
encountered.
It remains to be seen exactly what procedure will be possible for the
next edition. It is expected, as noted before, that the argument will be
made that "excess" inf ormation can only appear in the compact disk
version of the Yearbook (see below).
World problems / Strategic potential
Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential:
This publication appeared in 2 volumes on 28th March 1991 and is
now the subject of marketing campaigns by Saur (Munich, London
and New York) as well as by UIA.
The Encyclopedia as a whole contains 20,958 entries. These are
linked by 114,395 cross-references. As indicated in an accompanying
note on the contents, changes over the 1986 edition are as follows:
World problems (Volume 1, 1187 pages): The number of"problems" registered has increased by 29% to 13,167, and the
number of descriptive entries has increased by 86% to 8,721. The number of cross-references between problem entries has increased by over 360% to 80,394. The number of pages devoted to world problems has increased by 92% (in a slightly more compact print size). A bibliography of 4,745 items has been added.Human potential (Volume 2, 949 pages): The number of human development entries has increased by 154% to 4,051, with the crossreferences between them increased by 237% to 15,027. The number of pages for this section increased by 190%. Bibliographies have been added to most sections. The commentary material has been completely restructured and extended, notably in relation to metaphors.
From a production point of view, the most striking feature was the in-house preparation of some 250 introductory/explanatory pages in camera ready form. This was a major departure from earlier procedures and set a precedent for the Yearbook series. The procedure is being used for the preliminary pages of the current Yearbook volumes. It is too early to determine reactions to the Encyclopedia from reviewers and potential users. The publication is well presented (thanks to the personal interest of the Saur Production Manager in the cover) and most of the typographical choices worked out satisfactorily (bearing in mind that the mode of production only permits an overview of the assembled parts when it is too late to make changes).
It is clear that (despite extensive use of spell-check routines) more time could have been spent on checking for minor errors, but these were one consequence of the pressure under which the last minute assembly of the work was done. The fact that the publication can be considered as the juxtaposition of mutually incompatible biases and controversies active in international society may serve to draw attention to the book by reviewers reacting to particular portions of the text.
The link to specific international organizations is maintained in
Volume 3 of the Yearbook where organizations and problems are
classified together under specific subject headings. It did not prove
possible to indicate such links within the Encyclopedia has had been
hoped.
Biographical profiles of leadership
Who's Who in International Organizations: The current situation with respect to this series is the subject of a separate report.
Meetings scheduled / Conference organization / Associate Membership
International Congress Calendar (quarterly): The current situation is the subject of a separate report.
By-products / CD-ROM / Online
Guides to International Organization and Mini-directories: No additional information, although there is discussion concerning the production of a Directory of International Organizations based in Belgium (to be done in collaboration with FAIB).
Associations review / journal
Transnational Associations: The current situation is the subject of a separate report.
[NB: Versions of the UIA periodical: La Vie Internationale, 1912-21; Bulletin des associations internationals, 1943-44; Bulletin mensuel, 1951-53; International Associations, 1954-76; Transnational Associations, 1977-2001]
Statutes / Legal status
International Association Statutes: No additional information with regard to this series. This would be an ideal project to continue in compact disk form. The problem remains that of gaining access to a scanner plus appropriate software (estimated cost ca. 300.000 FB)
Research / Statistics
Three earlier papers have appeared in published form:
(a) Through metaphor to a sustainable ecology of development policies. In: The Power of Convening; collaborative policy forums for sustainable development. California Institute of Public Affairs in collaboration with IUCN, 1990.
(b) Recontextualizing social problems through metaphor; transcending the "switch" metaphor. (Paper presented to a
conference on "How to do things with metaphor", Brussels, 1990). In: Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire, 1990, 3.
(c) The aesthetics of governance...in the year 2491 (Paper presented to the 11th World Futures Studies Federation conference, Budapest, 1990). In: Futures (May 1991).
Much of what would otherwise have been considered research has been focused into the contents of the Encyclopedia and its
explanatory pages. Material from earlier UIA work has been partly used for that purpose.
The work done for the Encyclopedia provides a very useful base for
further work relating the concerns of international organizations, the
problems constraining them and to be dealt with, and the accelerating
search for more appropriate modes of thinking ("new ways of
thinking" in FAST terms).
Although the UIA prime statutory focus is on international
organizations it is appropriate to reflect on the configuration of issues
to which the UIA can most strategically respond, given its strengths
and limitations.
Whilst UIA documentation of international organizations has become increasingly efficient and "routinized", the significance and appropriateness of the action of this vast network of bodies has become increasingly questionable in the face of the increasingly uncontrollable network of problems. At the same time, what was previously a UIA "monopoly" (precisely because other forprofit bodies could not do the same documentary work in an economically viable manner) is now threatened by the evolution of the information society.
In this context, it would seem that the UIA is obliged to seek ways of
working at the new cutting edges as they may come to affect the
conception and strategies of international organizations. The strategic
dilemmas of "sustainable development" are the most obvious
example.
The work done on metaphor in relation to policy-making has been
well-received and has resulted in further suggestions for work along
these lines. Metaphor is increasingly seen as a way of providing a
cognitive bridge between the concerns of policy-makers and those of
the image-dependent political world. It is also related to the
widespread concern for new paradigms and new images of a viable
future.
Current work scheduled includes:
(a) Invited contribution to "Tools for Critical Choice by Top Decision Makers", which is a project of the Development Administration
Division of the United Nations, for which Yehezkel Dror is senior consultant.
(b) Invited contribution to a colloquium "Métaphores pour survivre l'avenir" (France, 1991).
(c) Possible involvement in a consortium (Gamma Europe, Prelude International Network and CITA Namur) contributing to the
forthcoming Project Global Perspective 2010 (Tasks of science and technology) of EEC FAST (Forecasting and Assessment in Science and Technology).
Publishing / Marketing
Contractual relationships with SAUR: No further information. No contract has yet been signed for the compact disk project. With the increasing amount of in-house preparation of camera-ready copy by UIA, a new costing balance for publications is being elaborated within existing contracts.
Pattern of sales: Saur continues to report this as "satisfactory" and with "continuing improvements" through the Bowker and Butterworth marketing machine. Sales out of Brussels also continue to improve.
Marketing:
Basically there appears to be little change to Saur's posture and
approach. The focus remains on the library market, to which the
majority of the Saur publications are successfully directed. The
commitment to extra marketing remains limited, episodic and ad hoc.
The marketing responsibilities of Saur Munich, Saur London and
Saur New York are not necessarily coordinated in what outsiders
might consider a "rational" way, especially since these are now units
at different depths of different branches of the holding company.
This continues to mean that the UIA is free to undertake and to
benefit from any marketing out of Brussels. The only point of
negotiation with Saur concerns the contents of the marketing
brochures and the number of complimentary/press copies which are
made available and to whom. Saur remains both sensitive and
resistant to the UIA recommendations concerning marketing (for
example concerning review copy policy).
Future development strategy / Proposals / Fund-raising
Information system:
CD-ROM: The main development scheduled relates to the
compact disk. This should not however affect in-house operations to
any significant degree. Despite the strong re-commitment by Saur to
the compact disk indicated in the 29th November report, discussions
have not been straight-forward. Following a meeting on 28th January
with Saur's new sub-contractors for this work (SRZ Berlin), it was
agreed that a 3 or 4-tier proposal would be elaborated reflecting the
scope and contents of the CD-ROM:
- Level 0: Yearbook only
- Level 1: Yearbook plus other facilities, notably the possibility of
including a French version of the Yearbook and French interfaces
(as discussed in the 29th November report) - Level 2: Inclusion of complementary databases: Calendar, World Problems, Statutes
- Level 3: Provision for more sophisticated features (organization charts, etc)
It was expected that SRZ would dialogue with UIA to clarify these
levels and the investment required, both for Saur and for UIA (to the
enable the UIA to attempt to involve its "francophone" contacts in
producing a "French edition" of the Yearbook on the same
compact disk). In fact SRZ only reported late in March on the minimal
level and without any attempt to dialogue with UIA. Following a strong
UIA protest, the report is being redone by a new expert.
In the meantime Saur has publicized the intention to market the
Yearbook on CD-ROM, even though no formal contract has yet been
signed with UIA. A particular issue, that has been agreed in principle,
is that of data security (discussed in earlier reports). The practical
consequences have not been resolved as yet.
Possible French translation of the Yearbook: Preliminary discussions have been undertaken with the French Government concerning the possibility of the "French" version of the Yearbook. Some of the details are presented in an accompanying note.
Information system vulnerability: Previous reports have discussed the vulnerability of the UIA operations in terms of:
- power failure (now solved with surge control equipment);
- viruses (a problem avoided by avoiding interaction with external systems);
- data security (as noted for the CD-ROM system of dissemination and the possibility of optical scanning).
A much more immediately threatening problem has now arisen. The
building in which the UIA is located has been burglarized on at least 4
occasions over the past year. On several occasions the UIA offices
have been broken into.
It is fortunate that it would appear that the burglars are only interested
in cash. They do not appear to have interfered with the computer
equipment or to have removed any data tapes.
The MAI is in a difficult position in attempting to respond to this
situation. Nevertheless the UIA production is now dependent on the
goodwill of burglars in confining their axe-swinging to doors and not
to equipment. A "higher grade" of criminal could easily put the UIA
out of business over night.
Challenge of openness: No additional information.
Dependence and diversification: No additional information.
Enablement of international initiatives: No additional information.
Comprehension of information: No additional information.
Current explorations in presenting information: No additional information.
Other new products: No additional information.
Computer conferencing facility: No additional information.
UIA Development constraints: As noted in November 1990, despite the many opportunities indicated above, the UIA faces a major problem in moving beyond its current pattern of activity. It is important to recognize that most projects are very tightly budgeted and are based on personnel salary levels which tend to be below commercial rates, especially for skilled, multilingual tasks (and especially in comparison with multinational or intergovernmental salary scales). This of course makes it possible for the UIA to undertake projects which would not be economically viable in other contexts. This situation does however result in severely reduced capacity to take on extra projects even though they may be technically feasible.
The "mini-directory" programme is a good example. Whilst it has
been possible to produce mini-directories as "proofs", distributed to
the relevant bodies, it has not been possible to follow up on requests
to convert them into low-priced publications. The problem is that this
involves extra steps in marketing and negotiating with the bodies in
question, and computer skills to make any minor modifications to the
final product required. These skills are only available at present at the
expense of other activities, often those essential to the basic
production cycle.
The maintenance and development of the computer system is a third
example. After its installation, the system has been extensively
redesigned and extended without calling upon external professionals.
The level of in-house computer skill continues to increase and is
reasonably satisfactory for day-to-day and production operations --
provided key people do not have to leave for medical or other
reasons. But it is clear that current options of developing special
publications (such as "mini-directories"), use of higher quality
printers, CD/ROM, online access, data exchanges with other bodies,
and even the consequences of upgrading to Advanced Revelation, all
make demands for which the current internal skills are inappropriate
and for which it is difficult to accept sporadic use of relatively ill-informed,
external assistance at the exorbitant rates charged for such
services.
The above constraints may be considered as normal and "healthy"
characteristics of a non-profit body -- especially given what the UIA
has been able to achieve within those constraints and in
comparison with other bodies, whether commercial or
intergovernmental. Nevertheless it remains unclear to what degree
it is "healthy" for the UIA to undertake projects which are a natural
extension of its current achievements, but which place additional
stresses on personnel who are either already overworked by some
standards, or inappropriate for the tasks, or inadequately
compensated for them.
The UIA has not been able to resolve the strange dilemma of producing extremely expensive publications at"market" rates using personnel who continue to work on a "nonprofit" basis -- in part because it is the UIA publisher who benefits most significantly from the market rates. This results in real dilemmas when there is a need to indicate costs of a service to some external body. Are the costs at "market" rates or at rates based on "real" costs?
Computer-related infrastructure
Current hardware situation: Two PC workstations have been replaced by ATs, bringing the total to 15 AT workstations. The principal justification was to attempt to increase speed of work for certain people handicapped by the slower machines. Because of the replacement of the old PC workstations, the UIA now has 6 of these "on the shelf". Three are being attached to the network (requiring network cards) for low priority tasks. The network now totals 19 UIA connected workstations, 2 offline stations, plus 2 FAIB/IAPCO stations.
Operation of the system is now relatively "surprise free".
Current software situation: No change. The accounting system is fully operational and parallel checking is almost completed.
Usage of the system: The computer system is used to a satisfactory degree. However it is no longer feasible to make much use of the 4 unallocated PC stations that have been replaced by the faster AT machines.
Adaptation of working methods: The system continues to be central to most operations. Staff continue to develop new skills relating to their particular needs.
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