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!
------- |