International Organization Information / Research: 1988

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Prepared for Union of International Associations (General Assembly, 28th November 1988)
See also searchable PDF version (original titles, sub-headings, order and typography); also reports 1959-2006

Organization profiles / networks

Yearbook of International Organizations: Series composed of the following 3 volumes.

Organization descriptions and index (Volume 1): This volume was successfully completed on schedule for publication In June 1988. This was the third time that the publication was produced through the UIA's own computer system, making no use of the external service bureau on which the UIA was previously dependent for 14 years. A number of innovations or improvements were made, partly to facilitate the integration at the computer level which the computer system makes possible:

(a) The number of organizations (and treaties) has been increased from 27, 145 for 1987 to 28,942, (an increase of over 6%). The number of organizations from Sections A through D increased from 4,546 to 4,827 (6%); Sections E through U also increased by just over 6%.

In preparing the 1987 /88 edition, a more ruthless approach was taken to organizations on which no new information has been recently obtained. Such bodies, because their addresses are "inactive" or out-of-date, bring the whole Yearbook into disrepute. Even if no confirmation of the inactivity of these bodies was obtained, they were transferred into the inactive section (Section H). This had as effect the significant reduction of the number of bodies in Section D, and created space for the inclusion of Section R, which had to be omitted from the previous edition.

There would appear to be a tendency for the number of "classical" organizations to stabilize (taking into account creations and cessations of activity), with the major increases observable in the Sections E, F and G.

(b) Entry quality: The quality of the entries on the existing organizations continues to be improved to the point where a significant number of organizations now take the trouble to congratulate the editors. It is, however, becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the balance between providing adequate information on an organization and the space constraints imposed by the printing and binding of the volume.

(c) Keywords in text: Work continues on identifying keywords in the text of entries which are extracted into the index and which are also used to identify organizations grouped by subject in Volume 3.

(d) Section modifications: The continuing problem of the limitation on the number of pages to 1600, supposedly because of difficulty in binding connected with the printing method used, has meant that the following sections were not printed in the 1987/88 Volume 1, although they were indexed:

G: Internationally-oriented national organizations (last included in 1984)
H: Inactive organizations (last included in 1984)
J: Unconfirmed new organizations
R: Religious orders, secular institutes (last included In 1987)
S: Conference series
T: Multilateral treaties (last included in 1983)
U: Unconfirmed organizations from the past

The name and address of bodies in Sections G and R are however available from Volume 2, and from
Volume3. In the continuing difficulty over the 1600 page maximum for a volume, the typeface was changed for
the 1988/89 edition, resulting in a space saving of approximately 14%. Volume 1 Is nonetheless
1665 pages. (see Annex 1)

In the continuing difficulty over the number of pages, the publisher has experimented for the 1987 /88 edition with a much thinner paper. This makes the volume appear thinner.

(e) Index: Minor changes have been made to the index to make it easier to use. Due to space constraints, some index items had to be left out of this edition.

(f) Introduction and appendices: These are now produced in-house partly by sending disks to a Brussels printer for final film production. Some films, in particular statistical tables, are produced entirely in-house using the UIA laser printer. This has proved much more convenient for all concerned, permitting much greater control over the final output.

(g) Quality of proofs: A new format was adopted for the mailing this year. Whereas in former years there were at least four items for each organizations (a letter, a Yearbook questionnaire, a Yearbook proof [possibly of two of three pages], and a Calendar questionnaire), this year there were only two items:

-- a Yearbook proof, which included a brief introductory statement in either English or French and, at the end, questions for those Yearbook paragraphs for which we have no information, and requests for addresses and/or information for those bodies cited in the description for which we have no address or for which we have received no recent information (see Annex 1); and

-- a Calendar proof which included a brief introductory statement in both English and French, and details of future meetings listed in the Calendar, or, if there were no meetings listed in the Calendar, the "Events" paragraph from the Yearbook with a request to send information on future meetings, or, ir there were no "Events" paragraph, a request to send information on the organization's meetings (see Annex 2). Every page was marked with the organization's reference number (previously done by hand), and all pages were produced in-house on the UIA laser printer. taking information directly from the Yearbook and Calendar databases.

(k) "Mini-directory" proofs were produced for organizations whose structure or activities involve many other bodies, or who have many international bodies as members. A total of 184 such proofs were mailed in January 1988. The proofs consisted of a title page, index, description of the organization, and descriptions of all bodies cited in the "Structure", "Activities", or "Members" paragraphs. Bodies cited in the "IGO Relations" and "NGO Relations" paragraphs were listed in Appendices. Response, in terms of the quality and extent of information received, has been encouraging. It is hoped that this approach, ie offering concrete examples of the UIA's work, will stimulate interest for specialized mini-directories. (See Annex 7)

(l) Cross-reference numbers: In the 1987/88 edition a major innovation was made in connection with the citation of relationships between organizations (eg NGO Relations, IGO Relations, Membership). The reference number of the cross-referenced organization now appears after its name or abbreviation. This means that the crosi:-ref erenced entry can be consulted immediately, without the time-consuming delay of first finding the reference number in the index. Of equal importance, this innovation also means that the name cited reflects the most recent modifications, free from inaccuracies, because the cross-referenced name is only inserted in the text at the moment of going to press. This new approach also facilitates verification of the reciprocity of relationships between organizations, replacing the need for the citation index which was previously published in Volume 3.

(m) Page-numbering: On Saur's request, all volumes In the 1988/89 Yearbook series had page numbers.

International Organization Participation (Volume 2): This publication was completed on schedule for publication in July 1988. For the third time, it was produced on the in-house computer using a specially commissioned set of programmes. Introductory pages and appendices, including the extensive statistical tables, were produced, in-house with final films being produced either at a Brussels printing company, or in-house on the UiA's laser printer.

The main modification made was the use of the new typeface (as for Volume 1), thus allowing more information per page. Thus, although the number of entries in the Members' section increased from 146,249 to 163,838 (12%), and the number of entries in the Secretariats' section increased from 19,335 to 21,012 (almost 9%)), the number of pages was reduced from 1609 to 1487 (over 7%).

Global Action Networks (Volume 3): This volume was completed on schedule in October 1988, and should be available in December 1988. For the third time, it was produced on the in-house computer using a specially commissioned set of programmes. Introductory pages and appendices, including the extensive statistical tables, were produced, in-house with final films being produced either at a Brussels printing company, or in-house on the UIA's laser printer.

The main modifications made were:

(a) Size: The use of the new typeface (as for Volumes 1 and 2) allowed more information per page. Thus, although the number of entries overall increased from 228,293 to 234,683 (almost 3%), the number of pages was reduced from 1634 to 1428 (over 12%).

(b) Matrix: As part of the work on rationalising rows 7, 8 and 9, "Modes of Awareness" headings from the Human Development section of the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential have been used as categories in row 9. All other row 9 headings have been grouped as W90. This is in line with previous years' work on rows 7 and 8 and, as with those rows, organizations, problems and strategies indexed under row 9 headings appear together In matrix cell W90, the third digit of the matrix code reflecting the overall headings of the matrix columns.

(c) Section W: In addition to entries from Volume 1 of the Yearbook (using keywords both from the title and from the "Alms" paragraph), and entries from the Problems and Strategies sections of the Encyclopedia (using main and subsidiary titles), Section W now includes entries from the Human Development Concepts part of the Human Development section of the Encyclopedia.

(d) Section Z: Two categories which had to be excluded from the previous edition due to lack of space are included again in this edition.

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