Challenges to Comprehension Implied by the Logo of Laetus in Praesens
Laetus in Praesens
May 1996

International Organization Information / Research: 1996

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Prepared for Union of International Associations (General Assembly, May 1996)
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

Summary

For purposes of comparison and summary, the publication A4 page production of the UIA (excluding research notes and papers) is indicated in the following table

Publication page production

Organization profiles / networks

Yearbook of International Organizations: Editorial work on the 32nd and 33rd editions of this annual series has followed the regular
pattern. At the time of writing (April 17th), editing of Volumes 1 and 2 of the 33rd (1996-7) edition has been completed and the formatted data had been sent for print. See Annex 1 for statistics on international organizations by type.

As indicated in previous reports, it continues to be necessary to exclude more categories of entry (and/or paragraphs from entries). The response of the publisher, discussed in previous years, is that "overflow" of any kind will have to be carried in future in the CD-ROM, as
produced since December 1995 (see below).

Work on Volume 3 and the new Volume 4 (see below) is on schedule for completion in May and July. Mailings for the 34th edition are already commencing.

There have been two main changes to the pattern of production:

With respect to the CD-ROM version: Yearbook Plus: International Organizations and Biographies, work on this product, scheduled to appear annually in December, was initiated in March 1995 and completed in December 1995 with production of the first commercial disks by
SAUR. This CD-ROM includes:

Of special merit is the fact that advantage is taken of the many links between organizations, documented in the Yearbook, to provide hyperlinks both between organizations and with other databases.

Restructuring the Yearbook: As indicated above, the Yearbook has been restructured by the addition of a new Volume 4 -- a Bibliography of international organizations .

This will be divided into three principal sections:

At this point, no further restructuring of the Yearbook is planned until the impact of the CD-ROM initiative is clear. The CD-ROM version may however acquire a new form as a result of the French and Spanish language initiatives (see below).

Annuaire des Organisations Internationales: The last French edition was produced in 1980 with the aid of the French Government. Discussions on the possibility of a CD-ROM based French version of the Yearbook, initiated by the French Government in 1991, have continued through to the present. Contacts have been developed with other possible partners, notably the ACCT, the Communauté française de Belgique, the Délégation de Québec and the Swiss government.

The global budget is approximately 1 million FF. From 1991 to 1995 a total of 350,000 FF was transferred to UIA by the French Government. This represents approximately one third of the estimated amount required for the task -- if the translation is to be complete in every detail. The problem has been what to do if the remaining two thirds could not be obtained from some other source. Because of the French insistence on a "complete" translation, considered unrealistic by the UIA, the funds were not used up until 1995.

The UIA was requested to make a further presentation on the project to the Comité pour le Français dans les Organisations Internationales in Paris in February 1995.

Current framework: In March 1995, a representative of the ACCT proposed that, in the absence of the funding required, the focus be placed on including French language texts prepared by French-speaking organizations, rather than attempting the costly "translation" of the work as a whole. This possibility was referred to higher authority, with an intermediate meeting on 4th May 1995, to which a revised proposal was submitted at the request of the French in anticipation of a proactive response. The possibility of Canadian (or Quebec) intervention (assisted by Christian de Laet, UIA Member) remained an active possibility.

As a result of these contacts, a letter of intent from the ACCT was received by the UIA on the basis of which the UIA agreed to initiate work with the funds already received -- in anticipation of a contract from the ACCT to encompass the funds already allocated and new funds through the ACCT. It was agreed to focus effort towards a demopnstration version of the CD-ROM to be presented at the Cotonou French-language summit in December 1995. However, because no facilities were available for such a presentation, the possibility was abandoned in November 1995.

At the end of December 1995 a loosely worded contract was finally received from the ACCT, but covering expenses incurred in 1995 (sic). This was for new funds and included no mention of those already received directly from the French government (without any contract). This document was only finally signed by the UIA by accompanying it with an interpretative letter from the UIA to clarify possibly erroneous assumptions. This contract allowed the UIA to conclude contracts with translators.

This new contract brought the total received to: 575.000 FF. A further 200.000 FF has been announced in various ways, representing funds from the Communauté française de la Belgique and from the Province of Québec. It is unclear whether these funds will in fact materialize and when.

Future issues: In April 1995, exchanges with the French government indicated that a number of points remained unclear, specifically with regard to:

All these factors affect the planning of translation work, particularly in relation to contracts with personnel. In order to reduce translation costs the UIA has divided the work both by priority (French-speaking organizations, etc) and translation effort:

It is appropriate to note that the problems for any subsequent edition of the French version are themselves complex:

The most sensitive issue remains the manner in which the French information would be handled in relation to the English information on the CD-ROM, especially with the likelihood that the English information would be more frequently updated than the French.

Recommendations: The UIA has recommended to the French government and to the ACCT that the aim be to include any French texts translated (up to the limits of time and funds) be combined with the English text on the CD-ROM to appear in December 1996.
Preferably this would be defined as a "multilingual" edition rather than a "bilingual" edition, or a separate "purely French" edition. Indeed the UIA already possesses descriptions of some 200 organizations in Spanish which could be scanned for inclusion with relatively little effort. The emphasis would then be placed on providing information on whatever languages seemed appropriate (or where funds were available), rather than seeking completion in any one language.

World problems / Strategic potential

Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential: Work on the 4th edition of this 3-volume publication commenced at the beginning of 1993. The first two volumes were successfully completed in April 1994. See Annex 2 for statistics.

Work on the new third volume, agreed in March 1994, continued from June 1994 and was completed in June 1995 (partially assisted by funds from a UIA Member). It covers "Actions - Strategies - Solutions" employed or envisaged by international organizations and constituencies. At present the database covers some 18,000 "strategies", although only 4,000 have any descriptive text. As with the other volumes, much effort was devoted to relationships between strategies, and in this case also to the "problems" in Volume 1 of the Encyclopedia and to the organizations in the Yearbook. The new publication totals 976 pages.

The strategies project was designed to build on existing advantages:

Biographical profiles of leadership

Who's Who in International Organizations: SAUR remains very interested in this series. Work started from mid-April 1994 on a 2nd
edition of this publication. This was completed in June 1995. The UIA was fortunate to come to an agreement with a former member of the UIA editorial staff familiar with the UIA style and computer software. Editing has been largely done at her home as the first UIA experiment in a mode of work much discussed as the future of many forms of work.

With respect to CD-ROM version, note the above-mentioned inclusion in Yearbook Plus: International Organizations and Biographies

Meetings scheduled / Conference organization / Associate Membership

International Congress Calendar: This is the subject of a separate report.

By-products / CD-ROM / Online

CD-ROM production: Production of CD-ROM versions of UIA data has been investigated for nearly 5 years with SAUR. Following the unsatisfactory delays in negotiating with SAUR's partners in the USA in 1993, it was decided that the UIA would itself experiment with
producing a test CD-ROM using its own software. A test disk was successfully produced in October 1993 and shown to SAUR. A subsequent demonstration was made in Munich at SAUR's HQ. Seemingly this was important to the internal politics of the SAUR group -- a European client producing a CD-ROM, hitherto a speciality of the USA.

Work on the CD-ROM and associated software upgrades was started in mid-1994 by UIA. Hardware upgrades associated with this process were undertaken in April 1994. A distribution licence was negotiated with Revelation in January 1995 for a CD-ROM version. Although considerable advances were made in producing a software interface to take advantage of the UIA investment in Advanced Revelation software over the years, deficiencies in the available software hindered further development. This approach was therefore abandoned in January 1995.

Current approach: It was only in late 1994 that low cost software became widely available to permit publishers like the UIA to avoid the previous high costs of production. In February 1995 reports on electronic publishing software strongly recommended the Folio
Infobase software as a "robust" solution to many of the problems which it may prove difficult to integrate into the Revelation version, notably the security features. The package is produced by another daughter corporation of the Reed-Elsevier group.

Investigation of the Folio software resulted in the conclusion of a contract in March 1995 with a Quebec-based company (introduced by Christian de Laet, UIA Member) to convert UIA data into the Folio format. Work commenced 18th April on a schedule which aimed to
produce a CD-ROM by June-July 1995. This software also permits:

Two copies of Folio production software were purchased to enable work to be done both in Montreal and Brussels. For marketing reasons, in addition to the Windows version, it was considered necessary to purchase DOS and Mac versions, according to SAUR. The French initiative also required a French interface. The UIA purchased a machine to record CDROMs, which is used to test and produce master copies for reproduction elsewhere.

Many teething difficulties were experienced with the Folio product and its user-friendly installation (as opposed to the straightforward UIA-to-Folio data conversion) during 1995. These delayed production significantly. However it was possible to do much more than was
originally envisaged. The questionable titles of the SAUR versions of the CD-ROMs were effectively imposed "for
marketing reasons" by Reed Reference in the USA.

Production in December 1955: Three CDs were produced in December 1955 (as noted above). It was agreed with SAUR that they would
reproduce disks from master copies provided by UIA for this first edition. Ironically, this approach was taken, because the UIA did not have access to equipment to force labels onto the disks, or to prepare packaging. The disks may be entirely produced by the UIA in
December 1996.

Future CD-ROM production: It has always been the intention to produce several different CD-ROMs, with more or less of the UIA information. Exactly what is produced will be determined in consultation with SAUR, although the UIA may produce versions for independent distribution (not through SAUR). Possibilities include CD-ROMs with:

Note that using a scanner also implies the possibility of placing texts from back copies of Transnational Associations, early UIA reference books, and other reports onto CD-ROM. Future work will be affected by significant upgrades to Folio software scheduled for October
1996, although these may well be too close to the UIA production deadlines.

Major considerations will be whether the UIA continues to produce versions for both Windows and Macintosh (the DOS version will be abandoned), and with what language modules.

Internet (World Wide Web) publication: Since late in 1993, electronic publishing has been confronted by a new phenomenon as a result of work done at CERN on hypertext linked documents. This has resulted in the emergence of what is known as the World Wide Web, accessible on all computers by modem from around the world. Throughout 1994 and 1995 the technical and popular press has covered the major implications of this phenomenon.

Such is the simplicity and elegance of the concept, that it constitutes an immediate challenge to any existing publisher, but especially to any organizations (or individuals) with publishing ambitions or information to disseminate -- notably of the kind produced by the UIA.

Many of these points, and their implications for the UIA, have been covered in a separate report (see report on Information Strategy).

In October 1994 the UIA subscribed on an experimental basis to a service providing access to Internet and the Web. The purpose was to test and offer e-mail access to the UIA, notably for organizations wishing to reply in this mode.

UIA Website: In December 1995 the UIA set up its own website (https://www.uia.org) under a subsidized arrangement with Interpac Belgium as part of the marketing programme for the Encyclopedia. Although only experimental, the facility of this medium quickly led to
the placement of some 1,500 "pages" of information onto the Web covering every aspect of UIA activity. This amounts to a full size publication in its own right. The scope can be seen by the introductory "home page" (see Annex 3) through which users are transferred to particular categories of information.

This approach offers considerable advantages in the presentation of up to date information on the UIA and its publications to a potentially very wide audience at relatively little cost -- compared to those of conventional brochure publication (quickly outdated) and mailing. The
quality of presentation is also very satisfactory when printed from the Web by any user (including the UIA).

In addition to detailed information on the UIA itself, the website includes:

Future web initiatives: It quickly became evident that:

Placing data onto Internet adds to the existing challenge for the UIA and SAUR of the balance to be found between book (Yearbook, Encyclopedia) and CD-ROM. A balance must be found between all three for marketing purposes and in the relationship with SAUR.
A particular and relatively immediate challenge for the UIA is to determine in what ways, and at what costs (if any) to users, in which meeting and other data should be placed on the Web. This is especially urgent given the initiatives taken by other bodies in this respect.

Encyclopedia Plus: Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential (CD-ROM version): Work on this product was initiated in March 1995 and completed in December 1995 with production of the first commercial disks by SAUR. Any further edition will depend on market response and/or other sources of funding. This CD-ROM includes:

The CD therefore has some 260,000 hyperlinks. It also provides access to vicious problem cycles.

An experimental version was entirely produced by the UIA as a marketing experiment, rather than by SAUR, and is designed for sale to individuals at a discounted price. The product is virtually identical to the non-individual version, with the exception of the labelling, packaging and the guide.

World Guide to Religious and Spiritual Organizations: This publication, requested by SAUR, is an extract from the Yearbook supplemented by additional information and indexes. Work was initiated in August 1955 and was completed in December 1955 and will be published in May 1996. It totals 476 pages.

The work was done by the former UIA staff member responsible for the Who's Who in International Organizations. The value of such publications for the UIA is that they fund extra editorial effort on particular classes of organizations in the Yearbook.

"Guide series": Publications last appeared in this series in 1985. It was discontinued because of marketing problems. The new World Guide to Religious and Spiritual Organizations is however now seen by SAUR as part of this series.

International Directory of Logos and Abbreviations: This project, agreed with SAUR in April 1996, aims to present the logos of some 6,000 selected international organizations in a suitably indexed directory (see Annex 4). It will make use of scanning facilities and will be terminated in early 1997.

Associations review / journal

Transnational Associations: This 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]

Future development strategy / Proposals / Fund-raising

Long-term strategic issues: The long-term strategic issues are discussed in a separate report (Reflections on a Possible
UIA Information Strategy).

World Encyclopedia of Values, Prizes and Awards: This project, suggested by Robert Muller (UIA Member) and welcomed by SAUR, is currently being investigated for feasibility (see Annex 5). It is of interest to the UIA because of the links to both international organizations awarding prizes and to the Encyclopedia section on values which such prizes honour, and which are often a focus of international organization programmes.

Other possibilities: These are discussed separately (see separate Information Strategy report).

Statutes / Legal status

International Association Statutes: This publication was last produced in 1988 and SAUR has no desire to produce another paper version. It remains an interesting product to include on any CD-ROM to enhance the UIA description of international organizations. Politically it is also important in relation to the possible initiatives to "register" international organizations within Europe.

Technically the problem is one of finding a minimal cost procedure to get the text onto computer -- scanning being the logical approach.
Selected statutes in French have been scanned as part of the project to produce the French language version of the Yearbook.

Research / Statistics

Research-related issues are also developed in other reports. A checklist of papers is presented in Annex 6.

Statistical development: This initiative is described in connection with the report on the International Congress Calendar.

In addition to papers prepared in response to particular occasions and conferences, research-related work is also done in connection with the Encyclopedia. Where possible adaptations of research papers have been used in explanatory sections of the Encyclopedia.

Current research themes include:

Collaborative projects / External relations

Annuaire des Organisations Internationales: See above report under Organization profiles / networks

Publishing / Marketing

Contractual relationships with SAUR: Work continues under long-standing contracts revised in February 1996 to provide UIA with
additional revenue by increasing payments for Yearbook editorial costs by 3% in 1996 and by 3% in 1998. Both parties continue to express satisfaction with the arrangements, despite the many threats to the publishing industry and booksales (see separate report on
Information Strategy) in a time of recession and general uncertainty.

New contracts currently under discussion are:

Marketing (via SAUR): Sales continue at a satisfactory level despite the general recession. SAUR remains very satisfied with UIA products.
Receipts under SAUR contracts increased by 5 percent in 1993 as a result of the adjustment of the contract as previously reported to the General Assembly. Receipts from SAUR have increased (1994: 13.8 million BF; 1995: 14.8 million BF).

Marketing (via UIA): Receipts from sale of publications by UIA itself (through Brussels) remain satisfactory (1994: 7.6 million BF; 1995: 5.9 million BF), although lower than those sales via SAUR. The 1995 UIA sales total is 90 percent greater than the 1993 sales through UIA.
The issue of UIA marketing from Brussels remains unresolved (if it is a real issue). It continues at a very modest level for UIA publications as a whole. As an experiment, an exception, in the case of the Encyclopedia as an unusual product, has been made to the normal approach to UIA marketing:

Marketing (via the Web): As noted above, the marketing challenge has been considerably modified by Internet access. The UIA has placed a large amount of marketing information onto the Web (including hyperlinks to SAUR and Reed websites).

Related initiatives call for a careful balancing act, in consultation with SAUR, concerning:

It is important to recognize that much information on organizations and meetings is already available on Internet free of charge. Increasing amounts will be made available in this way, notably by the United Nations. The UIA may be forced to recognize that its main asset lies
not in the information itself but in the capacity to manage and update it.

Unsold copies: A regrettable issue raised each year by SAUR is the lack of appropriate financial arrangements through which to dispose of unsold copies of UIA publications. The problem is that the cost of shipping them from Germany is quite significant and the lack of guarantee that they can be sold at any price makes it awkward for the UIA to take any position on the matter. Such publications are therefore regularly pulped. Occasionally arrangements have been made with UNESCO, the difficulty being that such arrangements are easily abused resulting in loss of income. A more creative approach to this might have resulted from the contacts with the head of UNESCO's General Programme of Information (no follow up from their side) and the ACCT.

Secretariat / Administration / Human resources

Work on publications is increasingly undertaken with much greater reliance on:

These developments are partly in response to budgetary constraints, to the needs of individuals or to the desire to benefit, or continue to benefit, from known expertise. It is expected that the UIA involvement with the Web will further change the balance and nature
of secretariat operations.

As with many employers, the UIA has difficulty locating suitable (and affordable) personnel who can be expected to stay long enough (several publication cycles) to acquire the levels of expertise necessary to undertake the more challenging editorial and research tasks -- which
are increasingly computer-related.

Other comments on these points are made separately (see Reflections on a Possible UIA Information Strategy, notably Annex 3).

Computer-related infrastructure

Discussed in a separate report (Reflections on a Possible UIA Information Strategy, Annex 2)

Annexes

Annex 1Yearbook statistics (international organizations by type)
Annex 2Encyclopedia statistics
Annex 3UIA Web "home page"
Annex 4International Directory of Logos and Abbreviations
Annex 5World Encyclopedia of Values, Prizes and Awards
Annex 6Checklist of recent papers / Participation in meetings

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