International Organization Information / Research: 1989

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Prepared for Union of International Associations (Executive Council, 28th April 1989)
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): Editorial work, and production of tapes, was successfully completed on schedule on 12th April for publication in June 1989. As indicated in November 1988, a radical change in structure was necessary to permit inclusion
of essential sections into the Volume due to the impossibility of further editorial compromises on space and typography and to the impossibility (from Saur's marketing perspective) of splitting Volume 1 into two volumes. These changes are described in a separate note (see Annex
1).

Essentially they involve dropping approximately 80,000 title keywords (in English or French) from the Volume 1 index and replacing them with subject category words referring the user to the appropriate category in Volume 3. Volume 3 becomes a vital extension to Volume 1 -- in
effect the "second volume" which Saur was unwilling to produce. The opportunity was taken to simplify the index which had been rated as too complex by reviewers. In addition some valuable aids to users were Incorporated into the "abridged" index:

• Subject categories now appear in English, French, Spanish, German and Russian (transliterated)
• Country names, cross-referencing the two sections of Volume 2 are included in English and French.

The merit of this compromise is that it makes Volume 1 index simpler and easier to use whilst increasing the number of entries published, without however losing the multilingual merits of the index. Users are referred directly, where appropriate, to listings of organizations by
subject or by country in Volumes 3 and 2 respectively.

The disadvantage -- the price paid in this compromise -- is that users will not be able to trace a specific organization via a keyword, withgout using Volume 3. Direct access using the Volume 1 index will only be possible via the title or the abbreviation of the title -- in
whatever language. The merit is that the user should not need the Volume 3 index unless unsure of the title or abbreviation. The Volume 1 index becomes a kind of rapid index. Volume 3 is more of a research index for groups of organizations.

Standard editorial changes and improvements were also made:

(a) Number of organizations (and treaties) is now 24,209. This is a reduction on the number in the last edition because it was decided to omit many purely national bodies which had accumulated and to omit unconfirmed bodies from the past. In contrast the number of bodies in Sections A through F has increased from 9, 702 to 10, 182, of which 94 are in Sections A through D. With the new structure of the book, permitting publication of Sections H, R and T, the number of additional bodies printed is 4, 741. (See Annex 2 for a summary) In preparing the 1989/90 edition, a more ruthless approach continues to be taken to organizations on which no new information had 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) or, in the case of Section G, simply omitted from the book (if not from the database). Despite this policy, it is nevertheless clear that the number of "conventional" international bodies is now increasing at a slower rate in comparison with the less conventional bodies which are allocated to Sections F and E.

(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.

(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: Because of the increase in available space from the abridgement of the index. it has become possible to include sections which have had to be omitted or abridged from recent editions:

H: Inactive organizations (last included In 1984)
R: Religious orders, secular Institutes (last included in abridged form in 1987)
T: Multilateral treaties (last included in 1983)

• It remains impossible to print Section G in Volume 1, although the name and address of bodies in Section G are however available from Volume 2, and from Volume 3.
  
  (e) 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.
  
  (f) Quality of proofs: A new format was adopted for the mailing in 1987. 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), as of 1987 there are only two items:
  
  -- a Yearbook proof, which includes 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; and
  
  -- a Calendar proof which includes a brief introductory statement in both English and French, and details of future meetings listed in the Calendar, or, if there are no meetings listed in the Calendar, the "Events" paragraph from the Yearbook with a request to send information on future meetings, or, if there is no "Events" paragraph, a request to send information on the organization's meetings.
  
  Every page is marked with the organization's reference number (previously done by hand), and all pages are produced
  in-house on the UIA laser printer, taking information directly from the Yearbook and Calendar databases.
  
  (g) "Mini-directory" proofs were produced for the 1988/89 edition for organizations whose structure or activities involve many other bodies, or who have many international bodies as members. A total of 252 such proofs were mailed in November 1988. The proofs consisted of a title page, index, description of the organization, and descriptions of all bodies cited in the"Structure", "Activities", or "Membersâ-¢ paragraphs. Bodies cited in the "1GO Relations" and "NGO Relations" paragraphs were listed in Appendices. Extent of information received, was encouraging, and the procedure is now standard.
  
  (h) 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, lGO Relations, Membership). The reference number of the cross-referenced organization now appears after its name or abbreviation. This means that the cross-referenced 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. The total number of citations is now 56,523 for 24,209 bodies (see Annex 3 and 4).
  
  (1) Page-numbering: On Saur's request, all volumes in the Yearbook series now have 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 146,249to163,838 (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%). The 1989/90 edition ls in preparation.

Global Action Networks (Volume 3): This volume was completed on schedule in October 1988, and was 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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