International Organization Information / Research: 1997

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Prepared for Union of International Associations (Executive Council, 29-30 May 1997)
See also searchable PDF version (original titles, sub-headings, order and typography); also reports 1959-2006

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

Yearbook of International Organizations: Editorial work on this multi-volume annual series has followed the regular pattern:

Organization descriptions and index (Volume 1, 33rd and 34th editions)

International Organization Participation (Volume 2): At the time of writing (April 30th), 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.

The trend, indicated in previous reports, towards exclusion of more categories of entry (and/or paragraphs from entries) has been temporarily halted by a change of font -- effectively increasing the number of chartacters per page (already approaching illegibility!).

This may be seen by comparing the 1995 and 1996 page figures for the Yearbook in the table above. The 1996 figures include the new 487 page Volume 4. 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).

Classified subjects and index (Volume 3)

Bibliographies (Volume 4): This new volume was successfully produced for the first time in 1996. It is divided into three sections:

• Publication of international organizations
• Publications about international organization
• Publications on issues of concern to international organization

Work on Volume 3 and Volume 4 is on schedule for completion in May and June. Mailings for the 35th edition are already commencing. The forthcoming edition of Volume 4 will incorporate even more bibliographical material from the UIA Transnational Associations (1970 and 1980). Some additional material relevant to international organization issues has been included as a result of a modest amount of bibliographical work done on the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential.

The principal change to the pattern of production is the process of photocomposition of the introductory pages. These are now subcontracted by the UIA to a former UIA editor to ensure production of Postscript files.

• Print version: as indicated
• CD-ROM version: see below

Annuaire des Organisations Internationales: Building on the French translation experience, the last French edition of the Yearbook 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 represented 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 to work within the framework of funds actually transferred, given that promised amounts might or might not be finally made available -- or be transferred only long after editorial/translation contracts had been made. Because of the French insistence on a "complete" translation, considered unrealistic by the UIA, the funds were not used up until 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 (225.000 FF) allowed the UIA to conclude contracts with translators.

A further 94.525 FF was given through ACCT by the Communauté française de Belgique (August 1996) and 14.179 $C (55.800 FF) from the Province of Québec (in February 1997), also through ACCT for the 1996 exercise.

Nothing has been received from the French government directly for the years 1996 and 1997, in contrast to previous years. The subventions for the CD-ROM total 725.800 FF. The expenses from May 1995 to end 1996 amounted to 912.000 FF.

Exchanges with the French government indicated that a number of points continue to remain unclear, specifically with regard to:

• the meaning of "complete" or "partial" with regard to any translation
• the budgetary complement announced, and the deficit with respect to the total translation cost
• the precise form of the final product
• the data of production of the final product
• the commercialization of the product (including questions of free copies and intellectual copyright)

All these factors affected the planning of translation work, particularly in relation to contracts with personnel and to ongoing production of the French version (as opposed to one-time production).

In order to reduce translation costs the UIA has divided the work both by priority (Frenchspeaking organizations, etc) and translation effort using a number of automatic and semiautomatic techniques (see Annex 4). This proved to be quite challenging from a logistical point of view, involving "horizontal" (one data item, all entries) and "vertical" (one entry, all data items) editing styles.

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.

Inclusion of languages other than English or French made it possible to redefine the product as a "multilingual" edition rather than a "bilingual" edition, or a separate "purely French" edition. The emphasis has therefore been placed on providing information in whatever languages seemed appropriate (or where funds were available), rather than seeking completion in any one language.

At the time of writing, a presentation to relevant French authorities (under ACCT auspices) has been scheduled for 13th May 1997 to demonstrate and discuss the future of the product, especially with regard to maintenance of the parallelism with the English texts. The considerable decision-making delays on this issue have already meant that no consistent effort has been made to update the French for the forthcoming CD-ROM edition.

Considerable effort has however been made to correct errors on the 1996 CD outside the budget provided by the French authorities. In addition, information provided in French by any organizations has been processed, especially if complete translations were provided. This will be reflected in the 1997 CD.

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