United States Environmental Protection Agency Information Resources Management (PM-211A) April 1991 INTERNATIONAL UPDATE Rt 220N91004 INFOTERRA/USA: LIBRARY. RECJOAI v CONNECTING WITH LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Latin America - John Butsch The INFOTERRA/USA National Focal Point (NFP) has recently begun electronic mail (email) communication with Latin America through a newly-developed United Nations system. The email connection was developed by the staff at the United Nations Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC) in Mexico City. The email connection, officially known as the Latin American and Caribbean Environmental Information Exchange Network, will be maintained by ROLAC. Initial participants in the system will include governmental users from Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and St. Lucia. Plans are underway to expand the computer network to include all Latin American and Caribbean countries. This electronic link with our neighbors to the south has enhanced the ability of the INFOTERRA/USA staff to retrieve information concerning Latin American issues. Of particular interest to INFOTERRA users is a data base of Latin American environmental regulations developed by ROLAC. A link to this data base will assure access to the latest in regulatory information for the region. For further information concerning this email connection, please contact the INFOTERRA staff at FTS 382-5917. The Caribbean - John Butsch INFOTERRA/USA is nowthe Regional Service Center (RSC) for the English-speaking Caribbean countries. The announcement of this designation was made in January 1991 by Dr. Woyen Lee, Director of the INFOTERRA Programme Activity Centre (PAC) in Nairobi, Kenya. Underthe new agreement, INFOTERRA/USA will assist the staffs of the English-speaking INFOTERRA National Focal Points (NFPs) in the Caribbean region in accessing information through data base searching, training, and technical assistance. In addition, the new RSC will endeavor to strengthen information exchanges throughout the region. The new RSC will provide assistance to the INFOTERRA NFPs in the following countries: The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, and St. Lucia. As a first step towards implementing the agreement, INFOTERRA/USA will host a conference from June 12-14 here in Washington, DC. Participants will include our partner Caribbean NFPs, representatives from INFOTERRA PAC, and ROLAC. The meeting will focus on regional network formulation, strengthening the information services capabilities of individual NFPs, and building links to other networks in the region. INFOTERRA/USA National Focal Point ------- NEW STAFF MEMBER INFOTERRA welcomes a new librarian to our staff, Ms. Lili Vivanco. A native of Chile, Uli comes to us after a year as the Hazardous Waste Reference Librarian at the EPA Headquarters Library. Lili has a background in linguistics and library science. Lili will be responding to requests for information on all environmental issues with a special expertise in hazardous waste issues. Please feel free to call Lili at FTS 382-5927 for assistance. INFO-SOUTH -- Mary Stevanus New & Noteworthy Journal Articles of Interest "Charting the Course for'92: a Report from the Preparatory Committee forthe United Nations Conference on Environment and Development," Environment. February 1991, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 16-20, 39-44. French, Hilary F. "Eastern Europe's Clean Break With the Past." World Watch. March/ April 1991, Vol. 4, No. 2. pp. 21-27. Hager, Mary. "How Goes the Environmental Presidency?" [Assessing Bush's first two years], National Wildlife. Dec/Jan 1991, pp. 14-17. Kotlyakov, V. M. The Aral Sea Basin: A Critical Environmental Zone," Environment. February 1991, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 4-10, 36- 39. Patterson, Alan. "Debt-for-Nature Swaps and the Need for Alternatives," Environment. December 1990, Vol. 32, No. 10, pp. 5-13, 31-34. Postel, Sandra. "Accounting for Nature," WorldWatch. March/April 1991, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 28-33. EPA Headquarters Library INFO-SOUTH: The Latin American Information System, produced by the University of Miami Graduate School of International Studies, provides up to the minute accessto information about environmental conditions in Latin America. INFO-SOUTH is funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of State to insure complete access to information concerning this important region. INFO-SOUTH is a computerized database containing bibliographic citations and abstracts of journal articles, newspapers, and newsletters. Coverage for articles dates to January 1988. English and Spanish are the primary language of documents.with many selections in Portuguese and French. Environmental, financial, political as well as social issues of relevance to the region are covered in this bibliographic databases. Full text of articles i n the database can be purchased from INFO-SOUTH Customer Service. INFO- SOUTH is available at no charge for government agencies and it is $85.00 per connect hour for all other users. INFO-SOUTH provides access to newspapers and magazines not previously available through online databases. For more information on the range of information available through INFO-SOUTH, or to access the system, please contact Mary Stevanus at FTS 245-3638. Please take a moment to share with us your comments concerning the effectiveness of the International Update in meeting your international information needs. If there are topics of continuing interest or you just aren't sure where to find that important fact, please contact the INFOTERRA staff at FTS 382-5917. Also, please return the coupon found in last month's International Update. We care about providing the best service to you! ------- |