Technical Report RP/1981-1983/5/10.1/03 CARIBBEAN

REGION

Contribution to the development of information infrastructures

Caribbean Network of National Referral Centres

by George Ember

Serial N o . F M R / P G I / 8 4 / 1 2 2

llfSCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Paris, 1984

C A R I B B E A N R E G I O N

CARIBBEAN NETWORK OF NATIONAL REFERRAL CENTRES

by George Ember

Report prepared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco)

U N E S C O

Technical Report RP/1981-1983/5/10.l/03 FMR/PGl/84/122(Ember) 3 April 1984

© Unesco 1984 Printed in France

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC

AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION

CARIBBEAN NETWORK OF NATIONAL REFERRAL CENTRES

Contents Paragraphs

Introduction 1 - 3

Background 4 - 9

Presentation of findings 10

Guyana Information scene 11 - 17 Potential demand 18 - 20 Resources for referral 21 - 25 Viability of the national referral centre 26 - 28 Commitments 29

Trinidad and Tobago Information scene 30 - 35 Potential demand 36 - 39 Resources for referral i-O - k2 Viability of the national referral centre 4 3 - ̂ 5 Commitments 46

Jamaica Information scene 47 - 53 Potential demand 5^ Resources for referral 55 Viability of the national referral centre 56 - 58 Commitments 59

Dominica Information scene 60 Potential demand 61 - 62 Resources for referral 63 - 65 Viability of the national referral centre 66 - 68 Commitments 69

Barbados Information scene 70 - 7^ Potential demand 75 - 76 Resources for referral 77 - 82 Viability of the national referral centre 83 Commitments 84 - 85

(Cont'd)

Regional coordinating mechanism 86 - 91

Precondition:-: and resource requirements Governmental commitments 92 - 93 Organizational commitments for development of

centres 9̂ - 95 Operational scope of national referral centres... 96 - 104 Regional coordination mechanism and networking... 105 - 112

Prospects and conclusions 113 - 125 Appendices :

1. Programme of mission 2. Meetings held 3- Selective list of attendees of meetings

1

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I - Introduction

1. The mission vzas carried out in compliance with and funded under Unesco's Regular Programme for I98I-I983. The objectives of the undertaking were stated in the following terms of reference:

The consultant shall "examine the possibilities and requirements of establishing national referral centres and their eventual interlinking into a regional network in the Caribbean Region."

..."examine in each country the potential demand for referral services and the resources available to develop such services..."

"If the referral network is found a viable project, the consultant will have to prepare a detailed plan for the network, with appropriate administrative or financial arrangements. The plan will have to provide elements of reply concerning the following questions:

- what kind of structure and expense are needed at the national and regional levels?

- which commitments each participating country is ready to make?

- what would be the financial implication for a regional organization interested in supporting the project?

- what would be the desirable international support?"

2. The mission took place between 15 October and 1 December I983 and consisted of field trips to Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Dominica and Barbados. Arrival and departure dates are indicated in Annex 1 and the ¿t-8 Caribbean organizations visited by the consultant are listed in Annex 2.

3. The consultant wishes to express his sincere appreciation for the friendly reception and cooperation accorded him by cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries of ministries, national librarians, representatives of national and regional bodies in the five countries of the region. He wishes to acknowledge the guidance and assistance of Mr. Yves Courrier, Unesco Division of the General Information Programme, Paris, Mr. Hugh Cholmondeley, Unesco Representative to the Caribbean, Kingston, Jamaica, and Ms. Ursula Albertus, Regional Adviser of Unesco's General Information Programme, Caracas, Venezuela.

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II - BACKGROUND

^. Referral centres are information transfer mechanisms which, in the support of socio-economic development, intensify the communication of scientific and technical knowledge. Referral practices select specialists for concrete problems, bring experts into interaction with seekers for information, and create colla­borative links by which scholarship, know-how, experience, criticism and instruction can be channelled for practical use. The service mediates between enquirers (user) and experts (source) via a specialized facility (referral centre) that maintains an inventory of available expertise within a national community. The referral route of information transfer complements the conventional information dissemination functions of libraries and other services dedicated to the diffusion of knowledge and skills; it is an instrument for problem-solving and advice in an inter-personal framework. The referral centre (a) solicits the participation of experts, (b) maintains and manipulates the source inventory, (c) invites the queries of users, (d) monitors and evaluates the information transfer event. The design and operational methodologies for these activities are fully described in the UNISIST "Guidelines on Referral Centres- (PGI/79/WS/4).

5. Referral services are based on human skill and do not demand sizeable staff, costly facilities and equipment. Their establishment and operational maintenance require modest funding; a minimal budget as compared with the financial needs of any bibliographic service or other community-oriented information system. The setting of the national centre is, ideally, within a governmental host organization whose mandate corresponds with the mission of the referral service. Considering the socio-economic aims of referral centres in the context of this study, preferred host organizations are envisaged as national bodies with programs targeted toward the small- and medium-size range of the productive sector.

6. Developed industrialized countries as well as some countries in the developing world make effective use of national referral centres and in the Caribbean region the advantages of referral services have also been recognized. Jamaica successfully operates a number of referral centres and in Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica national focal points of INFOTERRA, the global referral system of the United Nations Environment Programme, have been implemented. Without the formal distinction of referral services, scientific and technical information organizations routinely employ referral practices in Trinidad and Tobago and elsewhere.

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7. In consideration of the seemingly favourable prospects for referral centres in the region, and in accordance with the recommendations of the UN Conference on Science and Technology for Development, held in 1979 in Vienna, Unesco initiated the establishment of national referral centres and their eventual interlinking in a Caribbean network. A "Unesco Seminar on Referral Centres" was hosted by the Caribbean Development Bank from 2k May to k June 1982 in Wildey, Barbados, that was attended by national delegates from Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago; by representatives of the CARICOM Secretariat and the UN ECLA Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean; and by the Unesco Regional Adviser, General Information Programme. The 2-week seminar dealt with the basic conditions, developmental phases, methodologies and service patterns of national referral centres and with the operational principles, organizational options and interlinked functions of a referral network for the Caribbean region. The proceedings and results of the seminar were published by Unesco under the title "National Referral Centres in the Caribbean Region" by G. Ember, Paris, Unesco, 1983,(FMR/PGI/83/110).

8. Following the Barbados seminar, a "Project Proposal for the Establishment of National Referral Centres" was formulated by the Unesco office of Regional Coordination for Latin America and the Caribbean, and this was submitted to the meeting of Ministers in charge of Unesco affairs, in July I982 in St. Lucia. The organizational and administrative issues of the network were further discussed at the "First Meeting of the Bureau of the Pilot Project for the Coordinated Development of National Information Systems in the Caribbean Region", 1-2 November I982 in Caracas (PGI-82/DIl/80/l/Bur-l).

9. Resulting from Unesco's consultations with national authorities in the region, the mission was designed to appraise the conditions and feasibility for implementing the referral scheme in an operational service mode. The local programs of the mission consisted of pre-arranged meetings with ministerial representatives, in the areas of socio-economic development and planning, education and information, and of mission-oriented public and private organizations which are candidates for the role of "national referral centre" and/or are actual or potential large-scale providers of scientific and technical information. The timing of the mission coincided with the Unesco General Conference in Paris and the majority of high-level governmental officials - whose views, advice and commitments could have been of critical importance - were attending that event; this circumstance had a limiting effect on the results of the mission.

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III - PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS

10. For consistency, and to aid the comparative appraisal of distinct features, the findings are grouped in a uniform pattern, under identical subheadings, for each of the five countries. Thus, the material is organized in the following subdivisions :

COUNTRY (in the sequence of visits) Information scene

Brief outline of the national situation, the major bibliographic resource organizations, and the information community.

Potential demand Declared and perceived demand for referral services, their anticipated uses, and characterization of the target population.

Resources for referral Existing formal and informal referral practices, national R&D activities, and the nature, scope and availability of expertise for referral purposes.

Viability of national referral centre Choices of host organizations for the referral centre with indication of the time-frame required for development; constraints and possible conflicts; the requirements and the availability of human, material and financial resources to establish and operate the centre.

Commitments The support and commitments of national authorities or organizations to the implementa­tion and maintenance of the national referral centre.

The findings related to regional networking, especially to the designation of coordinating responsibilities to a capable organization, are presented in the following manner:

REGIONAL COORDINATING MECHANISM Coordinating functions and their resource requirements

Findings concerning the need for central reinforcing functions; desirable organizational, operational and financial criteria for regional monitoring and network management.

Candidate organizations for regional coordination Issues encountered in the assessment of organizations for the regional coordinating role.

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GUYANA

Information scene

11. The present information environment in Guyana reflects a difficult situation in which organizational potentials and efforts are impeded by sustained limitations. The problems are most acute in the library field where austerity measures, inadequate material and human resources, and the lack of direction for development, have had a negative impact on the service capabilities and the performance of institutions.

12. The major bibliographic centres - National Library, the library of the University of Guyana, and the Guyana Medical Science Library - are engaged in a holding operation, with their budgets drastically reduced in two consecutive years and without the availability of foreign currency for acquisition purposes. The bibliographic resource base, therefore, shows the signs of gradual erosion. The "Union List of Scientific and Technical Journals in Guyana" - a Unesco-funded project executed by the Guyana Library Association's Bibliographic Committee - identifies about 14-00 titles, 933 current subscriptions, reported by 22 holding libraries. But subscriptions to the vast majority of the current serials could not be renewed for 1983 for the lack of foreign currency. Monographic acquisitions also came to a standstill in 1983« Thus, monetary curtailment prevents the bibliographic centres to acquire that critical mass of current publications which would assure the information flow into the country.

13- The Information and Documentation Section of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, situated in Georgetown, owns a well-rounded library collection which acquires material according to the subject orientation of the regional organization. While it may supplement Guyanese holdings in some topical areas, the CAHICOM library cannot be considered even as a partial substitute for the country's own national collection. The CAHICOM holdings include 6^6 current serials, 125 titles on microform, over 10,000 books and some 17,000 official documents.

Ik. Technology development, mechanization and automation, in the information field is non-existent. In the last year the computer centre of the National Data Management Authority was established on the university campus, but its functions are related exclusively to governmental administrative tasks. Bibliographic compilations, literature searches, are manually performed in libraries and no planning or design was undertaken for future applications of electronic, or any other, technology.

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15- There are Zk formally educated librarians in the country and the Library Association has some 50 members. The need for professional manpower, primarily for middle-management positions, is apparent and, without a library school in Guyana, staff development is based on on-the-job training.

16. In the non-bibliographic sphere of information services, the advisory and consultative functions of the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST) deserve recognition. Assisting technical developments in the industrial sector, this dynamic organization has achieved good initial results in technology diffusion, product development, and in the research support for small and medium scale manufacturing and for public enterprises. Naturally, the inadequacy in library resources has a direct effect on the level of competency and effectiveness of the IAST staff which, by their own admission, is not sufficiently informed about the latest advances in science and technology.

1?. Information for agriculture and the native agro-industries is being generated mainly on the regional level and reaches Guyana through conferences, workshops and inter-organizational arrangements. The Guyana branch of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) is the information source for dairy farmers on pasture improvement, while the Ministry of Agriculture and its agencies offer information and advice on a wide scale to inquirers.

Potential demand

18. The approach of the Guyanese parties to the project ranged from cautious interest to conditional support. One of the authorities stated that the demand for referral services is unknown at the present and the participatory willingness of experts has not yet been verified. Therefore, the risk of building up with great efforts a system that ultimately may remain underused or dispensable, cannot be disregarded (State Planning Commission). It was also suggested that in agriculture, which provides the livelihood to the largest segment of the population, information and advisory services are already in place and functioning well. For example, any cane farmer knows where to turn with his problem and is convinced that the response will be reliable (Guyana Sugar Company). Comments often dealt with the economic aspects of the referral centre. From the stringent budgets of organizations no funds are available to cover

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the personnel cost of the survey and the compilation of the inventory of experts. In the tight staffing situation no institute can relieve a qualified person from his/her present duties and dedicate to the lengthy preparatory work (University Library).

19« The Minister of Information and Public Service declared her support for the concept of the referral service which is expected to be relevant to the special conditions and needs of Guyana. On this basis, the Government of Guyana is prepared to endorse the project with the proviso that the expenses of the survey are covered by external funding. As a result of this meeting, the University Librarian submitted to the consultant a formally prepared estimate of G$ ¿f,500 (or US$ 1,500) as the amount requested for a 3-month full-time employment of the surveyor (G$ 2,700), cost of travel (G$ 800) and stationery (G$ 1,000).

20. The consultant is in agreement with the opinion stated in point 18 concerning the risk factor of a referral service in the present conditions. The key elements of the future service - namely, the participation of experts, the appeal of the project to the target population, and the management of the centre - cannot be predicted with certainty. However, if a prestigious organization, with strong links to the scientific and technical communities, and enjoying the trust of prospective users, establishes and properly maintains the referrel centre, the elements of success are present. In a forthcoming point of the report these chances will be further explored.

Resources for referral 21. A modest example of a formal referral service in Guyana is the national focal point of INF0TERRA - the global referral system of the United Nations Environment Programme - that functions within the National Science Research Council in Georgetown. By personal recruiting of the source population, the operator of the focal point has registered 31 environmental experts; 28 governmental and 3 other scientists and technologists. In the course of 1982 the service received k2 requests which were all carried through (and monitored for user satisfaction). It is estimated that about fifty professionals in Guyana qualify as experts in the environmental field and their recruiting is now in progress. The operator has been for less than three years affiliated with the centre and had no

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opportunity to attend any of the INFOTERRA conferences and training workshops; her preparation for the assignment was entirely through documented instructions and the accomplishments bear witness to the feasibility of success in referral activities on the basis of organizing skills and motivation.

22. The large majority of experts in Guyana are affiliated with government and the source population of a national referral service would predominantly be composed of public employees on many levels. Beyond the ministries and their directly controlled agencies, this sector includes the quasi-governmental 37 public corporations as well as the teaching and research staff of state-owned academic institutions. The number of experts not affiliated with the public sector is suspected to be small, perhaps negligible. The locally situated professional staff of the GARICOM Secretariat would potentially be available for referral in Guyana and in the region; at the present, this group includes technical assistance officers (3), agricultural economists (7), energy specialists (5)» and an industrial engineer.

23. Concerning the possible involvement of ministerial and agency personnel in the referral services, here an important point should be made. Governmental administrations usually maintain various types of information, counseling and guidance services for the assistance of the general public. Such special units in ministries (of agriculture, industry, trade and commerce, etc.) are staffed by qualified individuals able to provide professional advice to external clients. Often these units are also "gatekeepers" for public organiza­tions and, in this role, they are able to channel queries to specialists within the entire organization and, thus, utilize the pooled expertise of a public body. During the mission in Guyana, and elsewhere in the Caribbean, the consultant had to clarify time and again the unfortunate misunderstanding, or suspicion, that the national referral centre intends to replace or in some way change the character of the essential advisory services. It had to be repeatedly explained that these units and the gatekeeper practices will remain intact, even further developed, as "blocks of expertise" for the referral centre. They will be entered as "organizational referral sources" in the inventory and the contact point will be a liaison person, or gatekeeper, within the unit. For the development and functions of national referral centres, it is an enormous advantage to have such service nodes in existence, because inquiries related to an entire subject field can be conveniently "switched" to a specific organizational source of expertise. Some national referral centres, notably that

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in the United States, built up its entire inventory exclusively of organizational sources and all the referral transactions are mediated via gatekeepers. If the individual client is aware of the existence of such an organizational public service, he/she will turn directly to it with the query; if not, the national referral centre will routinely direct the inquirer to the organizational source. With respect to the situation in Guyana, agriculture - and perhaps a few other subject fields -may be represented only by a single organizational source, while other subject fields either by organizational and individual experts (not related to the organizational source) or by individual experts only.

2^. Various production-oriented public corporations conduct R&D which is heavier on development than on original research. The Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation centralized all R&D activities (in the areas of pharmaceuticals, food products, edible oil, stockfeed, soap, etc.), engaging some 25 university-trained chemists, chemical engineers, and pharmacologists. The Guyana Sugar Corporation has three R&D divisions, the largest of which specialized in agronomy. Fertilizing technology, herbicides, pest control, mechanization of harvesting and cane transportation, are the major topics of interest. The University of Guyana is a plausible source of expertise and mainly its Technology Faculty could play a role in referral practices. The qualifying factors for academicians in referral are practical orientation, experience and the ability to relate to the often "simple" production problems of inquirers. If expertise in the public corporations and academic institutions can be optimally mobilized for the referral centre, in the consultant's opinion a source population in the order of 150-200 individuals seems a realistic, perhaps even conservative, estimate.

25. The Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST) is an industrial R&D institution and, in the wording of its mandate, the "national technology transfer centre" of Guyana. Initiated and established in I98O by the National Science Research Council, IAST is located on the university campus in Turkeyen, on the fringes of Georgetown. About half of its 55-member staff consists of specialists, among them 12 are engaged in industrial advisory services. The Institute's clientele is an assortment of manufacturing entities, ranging from the small entrepreneurs of cottage industries to diversified governmental corporations. As an R&D establishment, IAST has embarked on a variety of projects: industrial utilization of Guyana soapstone, solar drying of agricultural crop, water pumping by wind energy, construction of biogas plants, of wood burning kilns, etc. The Institute receives about 500 requests annually for advice and

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technical assistance. Technical experts regularly visit various locations to provide on-site problem diagnosis and to follow up requests for assistance by direct contact with inquirers. IAST could accomplish more with larger human resources and qualitative staff development; their expertise would improve if the current technical literature could be made available to the professional staff and if the benefits of study trips, conference attendance, continuing education abroad would enrich their competence and innovativeness. Still, IAST is seemingly doing the utmost under unfavourable circumstances; the staff is working at full capacity. For a referrel service in Guyana, the Institute is an extremely valuable asset and either as organizational referral source or as the institutional framework for the national referral centre, IAST should be given prime consideration.

Viability of the national referral centre 26. Provided that all human and funding requirements are satisfied, the national referral centre for Guyana has the brightest prospect for success if it is operated within the Institute of Applied Science and Technology. The choice of IAST as the host organization for the service is based on a number of factors: (a) the Institute's mandate and scope of activities conform with the objectives and orientation of the centre; (b) close relationship with the scientific and technical community, and familiarity with the target population, will contribute to operational effectiveness; (c) the referral service is a natural extension of IAST's present line of duty; (d) the referral centre could be in a much shorter time implemented in the Institute than in any other organizational setting.

27. The choice of IAST for operating the referral centre may be in conflict with a conceivable local preference for the library of the University of Guyana. This prestigious academic institution possess incomparable strength in the bibliographic service field but, in the consultant's judgment, the approach, methodology, and the clientele of the envisaged referral centre could be more suitably accomodated in IAST*s domain of technology transfer. This recommendation also implies that the national survey of expertise should be the operational responsibility if IAST.

28. Any consideration of setting up a referral centre in Guyana must first address the problem of constraints. Governmental

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and institutional authorities explicitly stated that domestic resources were unavailable for financing the project and pessimistic comments were made concerning the ready availability of qualified manpower for employment in the centre. While the latter issue could conceivably be resolved by transfer or secondment of personnel, the primary problem of funding remained open.

Commitments

29. As reflected in the foregoing, governmental support for the national referral centre was made conditional on the external funding of the project. Commitment was made by the library of the University of Guyana to conduct, in a 3-month time frame, the national survey of experts, subject to the availability of a US$ 1,500 external subsidy.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Information scene 30. Information organizations show an impressive tendency for progress in Trinidad and Tobago. Discussions about the state of affairs of information services are punctuated by frequent references to programs ready for implementation, to ongoing studies, to the "next step" in planned development. In an apparently favourable social climate, advancements aim at the structuring of information support mechanisms of interrelated areas into coordinated systems, improving the economy of resource management, introduction of new service varieties, and the better utilization of modern information technology.

31. In the bibliographic field the Ministry of Education and Culture is the prime mover. Under the auspices of the Ministry, the "National Library, Information and Archives Service" (NALIAS) is being shaped as a stratified complex of national, departmental, school, public and special libraries,

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documentation and archival centres in the governmental sphere. The strongest collection in science and technology is in the library of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, which operates with a staff of 98 (18 librarians). Physical sciences, engineering, agriculture and the life sciences seem adequately supported by existing holdings. Photocopies of items not available in the country are routinely ordered from the British Library, Library of Congress, and the U.S. National Agricultural Library (in the approximate annual amount of TT$ 16,000). The university is the major national supplier of photocopies - provided on a partial cost recovery basis - and the primary source in interlending. The national Union List of Serials, a one-volume mimeographed compilation, is about five years old and does not include the university collection. A more up-to-date union list is maintained by the university library, in the form of a card-file for manual use; this location tool contains only the in-house holdings and the serials held by major oil companies and a few special libraries. Collection development is an ongoing national effort but no scheme exists for the cooperative acquisition of journals and monographic material.

32. The presence of active regional organizations (ECLA, CARDI, CDCC) has a reinforcing effect on the national information situation. Of special importance is the support and stimulus of the Caribbean Documentation Centre of the UN Economic Comission for Latin America, Subregional Office for the Caribbean, operating from Port of Spain. Beyond its character as a powerful bibliographic and documentary resource for the service of member states, ECLA is the organizer and promoter of cooperative intra-Caribbean projects and developments. As the regional coordinating centre of CARISPLAN, the Documentation Centre is responsible for the merging of input from 18 parti­cipating nodes for the publication of the quarterly CARISPLAN Abstracts. The data base, growing by about 3-^000 abstracts per year, is loaded on the Centre's computer which, eventually, can be interconnected with minicomputers in the participating centres. This program embraces several functional areas and proved to be a strong impetus for the organization of national documentation centres, bibliographic standardization, indexing and abstracting practices, education of operators and users. The Centre also issues a Current Awareness Bulletin and regularly compiles special bibliographies on topics of regional interest.

33- Technology development is a formative element of the NALIAS program for a wide variety of bibliographic applications. The university library is now exploring the data base packages of international vendors (SDC, Lockheed, BRS) with the view of

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online access when the new telephone network, under construction, will permit direct dialing to North American locations. Micro­processors have already been installed in a number of organiza­tions (CARIRI, Institute of Marine Affairs, etc.) and plans call for the wider application of electronic technology.

34. The Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) is the pivotal mechanism for technology transfer in the country. A diversified R&D organization in constructive alliance with the productive sectors, CARIRI is totally devoted to industrial development. Its Technical Information Service (TIS), in the words of the 1982 Annual Report, is engaged in the "acquisition of the knowledge required for contributing to the needs of the industrial environment." These contributions, and the overall capabilities of TIS, naturally assign a leading role in referral services to this organization in the country and, potentially, in the region. There are several institutions in Trinidad and Tobago which are noteworthy for their pooled expertise. Among them the Institute of Marine Affairs is now in the process of establishing a computer-aided large scale information service structure for scientific, industrial and educational uses.

35- The information community in Trinidad and Tobago resembles a mosaic. The library association's membership totals over 100 but, in the many institutions and service units, a sizeable number of scientific, technical, data processing and trained support personnel are involved in a variety of information gathering and dissemination functions.

Potential demand 36. The consultant's assessment of the potential demand must be prefaced by a caveat. The visit to Trinidad and Tobago was the only phase of the Caribbean mission which was locally unprepared. Key governmental authorities were unavailable (attending in Paris the Unesco conference at the same time), arranging the appointments was often difficult and always time-consuming, and most of the meetings were held with people who had no advance information of the project. Consequently, the exposure was limited to organizations which were considered the most representative in the information field. Governmental opinion of the referral centre was not possible to obtain.

37. Under the circumstances of the inquiry in Trinidad and Tobago, the demand for a national referral centre can only be

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appraised by two means: (a) from the judgment of organizations which cater to the information needs of the same target population that the referral centre is expected to serve and (b) by inferring from features of the general situation the desirability, or rather the latent need and conceivable benefits, of a centrally organized referral service. Both these ways of assessment led to positive conclusions.

38. Having confirmed by their own experience the problem-solving capacity of the referral route, the major information organization» find that an increasing demand for referral services is recognizable. A national referral centre could widen and intensify the use of this service mode.

39- The industrialization trend, the agricultural development programs in Trinidad and Tobago, bring into the small entre­preneurial category a growing number of enterprising individuals. The country also has a large number of medium-size production units whose prosperity depends on technical know-how and productivity. The national referral centre can significantly contribute to the utilization of endogenous scientific and technical expertise on behalf of this prospective clientele.

Resources for referral ¿J-0. According to the Head of the Technical Information Service of CARIRI, the number of potential referral sources in Trinidad and Tobago is in the order of three-hundred. The subject range of expertise is very wide; the level of competency and currency of scientific and technical knowledge is generally considered high.

¿H • The major information providers function in organizations (university, CAHIRl) which have large residential staffs of scientific and technical experts. In serving their extramural clientele, these centres can relay queries to specialists and, in the referral mode, arrange meetings of inquirers with experts on staff. Occasionally the university library initiates such contacts but, in the operational routine of libraries, its approach is to find solutions to problems by reference tools or in the literature. The library also provides bibliographic support for community-oriented activities which may contain some referral elements; an example is the Outreach Program of the Faculty of Agriculture which offers advice to farmers across the country. The capable and experienced staff, a strong collec­tion, the easy access to academic experts, make this leading information organization a primary resource for a national information service.

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4-2. In I982 CARIRI initiated 58, in I983 over 70, research projects which can all be characterized as technical contributions to industrial development in the private and public sectors. The list of clients of the Institute contained 105 local in­dustrial firms in 1982. While the great majority of R&D and advisory activities are performed for national benefits, through the Caribbean Technology Consultancy Service (CTCS) network - coordinated by the Caribbean Development Bank - CARIRI offers its services also to the lesser developed countries of CARICOM. The Technical Information Service, a division of CARIRI, pro­cessed in I982 some 750 inquiries from external requesters and from the various research and technical divisions of the Institute. The method of handling requests is briefly described in the I98I Annual Report: "Our information specialists locate and obtain relevant data for the requests submitted to the Division from a wide range of local sources. If this approach does not provide the required information, international sources are contacted. When external queries demand practical advice, expertise from the Divisions of the Institute is readily available." The 7-member professional staff of TIS consists of a chemist, industrial engineer, documentalist, as well as an economist and two geologists with formal training in information science. Internally, a member of the TIS staff is responsible, by assignment, for the information support of each ongoing project,' external queries are distributed on the basis of subject competency. The breakdown of the external clientele in I98I was: 5^% industry, Zh'/o University of the West Indies, 7>¿ ministries, 5.5% consulting firms, 5-5% foreign requests, k% public utilities. TIS utilizes the services of overseas information brokers; publishes - in cooperation with other organizations - the quarterly "Construction Cost Information Bulletin"; and provides patent information in the country through liaison with the World Intellectual Property Organisation. For its services, TIS won the confidence of users all over the Caribbean. CARIRI and its Technical Information Service are, in many aspects and roles, among the foremost sources of strength for national and regional referral services.

Viability of the national information centre 4-3 • The organization best prepared for the operational manage­ment of the national referral centre in Trinidad and Tobago is CARIRI. Exploratory discussions with the Head of the Institute's Technical Information Service revealed that TIS intends to delegate two qualified persons for carrying out the national

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survey of expertise in an approximately 6-month time period. It was also indicated that the continuous service operations of the national referral centre would be a one-person activity and TIS would cope with the task by its own staff strength. These preliminary declarations clearly show CARIRI's interest in the project and the acceptance of responsibility for providing the necessary resources to the centre.

•4^. It is further expected that the University Library will actively cooperate with the referral centre in CARIRI. The University possesses very significant professional capabilities and a regular working relationship between the two organizations will greatly contribute to the success of the project.

¿J-5- Although the national referral service can be accomodated in CARIRI's scope of functions, which the Institute - for the enrichment of its current activities - is willing to undertake, a formal endorsement of the project by governmental authorities seems mandatory. At this time the governmental approval is a pending issue.

Commitments 46. The Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Education and Culture pointed out that the government had not been aware of the project and had no advance knowledge of the consultant's mission in that regard. The commitment for participation in the regional referral scheme has to be formally proposed to the Minister whose position in the matter will be brought before the Cabinet for decision. The Minister and the Permanent Secretary will be informed about this issue after their return from the Unesco General Conference in Paris, but action will follow only the presentation or a documented program of Unesco for the proposed referral services.

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JAMAICA

Information scene

¿(-7- Among the many distinctive features of the Jamaican milieu for information activities, two characteristics seem to be the most illustrative. One is the purposeful and orderly architecture of the interactive national system. Other is the total integration by which conventional library functions and special information practices are performed in the system's componential units.

^8. The model designed in the late 1970s by the National Council on Libraries, Archives and Documentation Services (NACOLADS), has structured the country's service providers into separate "information networks", each with its own subject and community orientation and with its leading organization acting as the "focal point." Thus, there exists now a Socio-economic Information Network (SECIN) whose focal point is in the National Planning Agency, a Scientific and Technical Information Network (STIN) with the Scientific Research Council as its focal point, etc. The NACOLADS scheme created the National Library of Jamaica from the restructured West India Reference Library and initiated, among others, the National Referral System "comprised of sub-systems based on strong existing libraries, designed to provide rapidly on request the location of needed materials and organize inter-library loans." Traditional library services are innovatively enriched in Jamaica with several kinds of support and non-bibliographic information functions; special document collec­tions, indexing and abstracting, compilation and publication of directories and other professional tools, blend into the routine operations.

49. On the Mona campus of The University of the West Indies is the Caribbean region's only library school which grants bachelor degrees in librarianship, after 3-year* study over the highschool level, and the postgraduate diploma in librarianship, following a one-year curriculum for holders of a bachelor degree. There are field work requirements in both programs.

50. The National Library is responsible for the national bibliography, the union list of serials, and acts primarily as a "library of libraries", reinforcing the service capabilities of the nation's collections. The University of the West Indies maintains the central, the science/technology and the medical libraries on the Mona campus; 22 professional librarians and about 50 trained and support staff are working in the 3 centres. The growth of the academic collections is severely curtailed by

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financial restraint: in science and technology the number of current serial titles actually decreased since 1979 from 1630 to the present 1300. In I983 the National Planning Agency opened its documentation centre with Caribbean and international reports, monographs, 120 current journals in economics, finance, agriculture, and mainly the planning and development aspects of science and technology. This agency is the national centre for GARISPLAN Abstracts and sends about 200 records annually to ECLA for input into the regional data base. The Bureau of Standards is the Jamaican focal point for the Caribbean Tech­nology Consultancy Service (CTCS), coordinated by the Caribbean Development Bank; the Bureau receives about ten requests per year for assistance via this network.

51• In this panoramic view of the Jamaican information scene, the Scientific Research Council (SRC) deserves a special intro­duction. Established in i960, SRC was mandated by the government "to foster and co-ordinate scientific research in the Island and to encourage the application of the results of such research to the exploitation and development of the resources of this island." Its activities aimed particularly at industrial develop­ment and assistance, the laboratory divisions of the Council carry out R&D whose products are passed over to industrial firms for manufacturing and commercialization. The leading national supplier of scientific and technical information, SRC is the primary resource and - in its role of focal point for the network - the catalyst of a community of libraries. The NACOLADS plan of I978 (in the Report of Working Party No. 6) estimated that "there are approximately two hundred specialized libraries and collections in Jamaica, and about one hundred of these are in the science and technology section." While only perhaps half of this number belongs to the core of units with above-average functional strength, SRC coordinates the total wealth of scientific and technical information in Jamaica. As a service centre, the Council's Technical Information Service, and its library and documentation units, are large-volume providers of information and ardent experimenters in new service methodologies.

52. Technology development in the information field moves at a rather slow pace, with computer applications only in the planning stage. The county's only online link with an international data base service (DIALOG) is on the university campus (but not in the library).

53. The information community is larger than in any other country of the region. In the various networks the personal interaction is well sustained and the library association seems an active factor in community contacts.

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Potential demand 5̂ - In a country with four functioning referral services, the demand for this mode of information transfer does not require further proof. In the field of science and technology, the evidence of the demand for a referral service is the fact that such a service already exists.

Resources for referral 55- As stated earlier, four referral services function in Jamaica, (a) The Jamaican Access to Sources of Information (JASIN), operated by the National Library, directs inquirers to that library which is best equipped to handle the particular query. At the present, 50 libraries (the public library system is counted as one) represent the sources of bibliographic expertise and clients can submit their problems to any of these member libraries for guidance. Implemented after a 6-month pilot phase in 1982, JASIN proved successful in fulfilling its objectives. For example, the library of the National Planning Agency has received over 30 referred queries in the past 18 months, (b) The Jamaican Bureau of Standards (JBS) recently established its referral service, for the use of its own staff of 200. By analyzing the subject expertise of 30 in-house specialists into detailed profiles, an alphabetical list was created of narrow subject terms followed by the expert's name. Although relatively modest in volume, and restricted in use, the methodology and usage patterns of this system are exemplary, (c) The Jamaican node of UNEP's INFOTERRA referral system was established some five years ago in the Natural Resources Conservation Department of the Ministry of Mining. The inventory contains 55 organizational sources of expertise, with gatekeepers as access points. In 1982 the number of requests amounted to 126, about half from Jamaican clients and half from other national focal points of INFOTERRA. (d) The "Skills Bank" of the Technical Information Service (TIS), Scientific Research Council, is a national inventory of many hundreds of individual experts. The listing was published with the subtitle: "A Directory of the Available Expertise in Science and Technology in Jamaica". Compiled by a national survey, the Skills Bank file contains, the name, earned degrees, affiliation, and the discipline or field of the persons included. Undoubtedly, the Skills Bank is already, in its present format, a useful tool for referral, but a more detailed breakdown of the individuals* specialty, the profiles of expertise, would greatly increase the instrumentality of the system. Related to the Skills Bank

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are two additional projects, both implemented by national surveys and published in mimeographed form: Scientific and Technological Activities in Jamaica (I98I) and Scientific and Technological Equipments in Jamaica (1983)- Assisted by the diversified internal expertise of its parent organization, and utilizing the Sills Bank and other useful tools, TIS has demonstrated its operational skills in serving the scientific and technical communities.

Viability of the national referral centre

56. Of the four organizations which practice referral in different service capacities, only the Technical Information Service of SRC can be fully identified with the objectives and subject territory of the Unesco project. Therefore, the choice of the Scientific Research Council as the host organi­zation for the national referral centre, and TIS as the per­forming body, are dictated by reason and necessity. Discussions with the Director of Information of SRC and with the Head of TIS brought to light two aspects of this issue: the information division of the Council intends to further expand its program and refinements in referral activities have already been contemplated; (b) responsibility for the national referral centre would be readily accepted by the TIS and it would form part of its regular activities.

57• Considering the unique Jamaican situation, conflicts could be avoided by naming the centre: "National referral Centre for Science and Technology." This title would pre-empt possible argumentation about positional priority over other existing services. (Perhaps all the national referral centres in the Unesco scheme could adopt this name for better identification.)

58. Information activities of the Scientific Research Council are now performed by 15 staff members. SDC representatives expressed guarded optimism that the personnel and operational funding requirements of the centre can be met from the Council's internal resources. After an assessment of the situation, this positive expectation will have to be confirmed.

Commitments

59- For the development and maintenance of the referral centre

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the Scientific Research Council's principal support can be anticipated with reasonable certainty. Since authorities on the ministerial level could not be consulted (due to their absence), official governmental commitment was not received.

DOMINICA

Information scene

60. The inadequacy in resources - human, material, financial and institutional - has blocked the development of a visible information infrastructure in Dominica. With the exception of the Public Library in Roseau, staffed by one librarian and six clerical assistants, no functional collection could be traced in the country. The effort of a Peace Corps volunteer on a 2-year assignment to the Teachers' College library was the sole sign of an isolated improvement. The plan for a Documentation Centre in government, backed by the Caribbean Documentation Centre of the UN ECLA Office for the Caribbean, seemed a truly encouraging promise for the near future.

Potential demand 61. The Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education conveyed to the consultant the Minister's expression of support for the referral centre (made before the departure of the Minister and the Permanent Secretary for Paris to attend the Unesco meeting). Demand for the national referral centre was very positively affirmed by the Chairman of the Food and Nutrition Council of Dominica, the Economic Adviser at the Ministry of Finance and Planning, the Manager of the Industrial Development Corporation and several other governmental functionaries

62. In substantiating the demand, two of the anticipated advantages of the centre were given special emphasis: (a) There has never been a census taken on Dominican expertise and a national survey of information sources would the first time expose the human assets of knowledge and skills, (b) In the regional sharing of expertise, Dominica will hardly be able

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to offer substantial contributions to other countries; it can, however, become the recipient of much needed, assistance through access to Caribbean experts in several areas of development.

Resources for referral 63- In October I98I the 15-member National Council of Science and Technology was formed, whose terms of reference included, among others, the identification of ongoing research activities in the country and the encouragement of research in food preservation, pharmaceuticals, road building and maintenance, and the harnessing of hydro energy. In addition, the Council was to advise the government on scientific policy matters, including technology development. Under the jurisdiction of the National Council, the National Appropriate Technology Committee was established to carry out studies in the industrial field and to recommend a program in instrumentation. After a promising start, which raised many expectations, the Council's chairman left the country and shortly afterwards all the activities came to a halt. The Secretary of the Council, who acts also as the Coordinator of its Appropriate Technology Committee, foresees that the Minister of Education will, in the not distant future, reactivate this mechanism and reinforce it with a permanent secretariat. If this predicted move is indeed forthcoming, Dominica will have a statutory body which, at least, will raise the level of awareness of the acute problems in science and technology. As the representative forum for the small scientific and technical community, the Council could be instrumental in promoting information exchange and technology transfer through referral channels. This is, naturally, anticipation and not actuality but could be relevant to the prospects of referral services.

64. Resources for referral exist in the ministries, their various advisory and development units, and in quasi-govern­mental organizations, such as the Produce Chemistry Laboratory and the Industrial Development Corporation. Among the many very demanding tasks of a Dominican referral service, the activation and public availability of this expertise are the crucial objectives.

65- With the establishment of the governmental Documentation Centre, mentioned earlier, information in bibliographic and other graphic forms will become available and this institution will be able to access similar operational centres and regional

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information systems in the Caribbean. The consultant was informed that the candidate for founding and operating the centre for an initial period will be the present Chief Librarian of the Caribbean Development Bank in Barbados, who resigned and will leave her present position in January I984. Under the leadership of such a knowledgeable and expe­rienced professional, the Documentation Centre seems a most promising initiative.

Viability of the national referral centre 66. If "viability" is defined here in dictionary terms as "the quality of state to maintain a separate existence", the assessment can be only negative. The present quality of state does not seem to the consultant conducive to a national referral centre because in Dominica the necessary human resources to operate the service, the material and financial requirements, the conditions of operational stability, are not present at this time.

67. When applying the term in the context of socio-economic development, a number of factors can outweigh the liabilities of a negative situation. For its progress, and to reach the long-range goals of national development, Dominica vitally needs technical initiatives, skills, professional know-how, and the inflow of knowledge and ideas into the country. A properly managed national referral centre, with good regional links, represents a potential to assist the country's socio­economic development. Obviously, the necessary human and financial resources are not available and Dominica would be faced with perhaps prohibitive obstacles if it would attempt to establish a we11-functioning centre, by its own strength. It is now an issue of the availability of external or inter­national aid to implant in the country a resource base for making the referral centre work. In the consultant's opinion, a minimum 3-month subsidized consultancy (of a well-motivated, experienced professional person with excellent regional contacts) and modest operating funds, in the order of US$ 10,000, are the foreseeable requirements, presupposing that the location and modest equipment of the centre are provided by the government.

68. Consultations on the local level led to the conclusion, that the planned governmental Documentation Centre would be the most appropriate organizational framework for a national referral centre in Dominica.

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Commitments 69. Beyond strong government support for the principle of the project, no commitments were made.

BARBADOS

Information scene

70. Under the authority of the Ministry of Information and Culture, the "Barbados Library, Archive and Information Centre Network" (BLAIN) is about to become a functional reality. The design - that was adopted in 1Ç82 by the National Council on Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (NACOLADS) -places the libraries of government departments, the public library system, school, post-secondary educational and special libraries, the archives, within an operational superstructure that is coordinated by a Central Directorate. This focal body also provides technical processing (acquisition, cataloguing) and essential support services (union catalogue, union list of serials) to the network and further reinforces its overall capabilities by staff development and training, publishing activities, data base construction and maintenance. Such an ambitious undertaking illustrates the collaborative disposition and forward-looking nature of the library community, and also the supportive attitude of the government toward the innovative development of the country's information services.

71. The information environment is lively and has a remark­able broad composition for a country of Barbados' size. The public library system, which operates with an annual budget of B$ 320,000, branches out into seven locations and employs eight professional librarians; the 10 basic units of government maintain various types of library and documentation services, primarily for internal use, staffed by semi-professional persons; the Cave Hill campus of The University of the West Indies, whose collection develops with an annual B$ 100,000 acquisition budget, actively participates in national interlending. The University Librarian is presently on leave and heading the Central Directorate of BLAIN. A number of quasi-governmental organizations are active information providers, such as the

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Export Promotion Organization, affiliated with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Industrial Development Corpo­ration, one of the four similar IDCs in the Caribbean (the others being in Jamaica, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago). A recent strategy study of the Industrial Development Cor­poration identified as one of its four initiatives in a long-range integrated industrial program, the development of information services.

72. The information activities of regional organizations located in Barbados very significantly enrich the national situation, in terms of both resources and cooperation. The library and information services of the Caribbean Development Bank are of special importance for their continuous inter­action with local services. The Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce is a member of the Caribbean Basin Information Network and a well-equipped source itself for information in areas of industrial production and trade. The coordination centre of the Unesco-affiliated Caribbean Network of Educational Innovation and Development is also situated in Bridgetown.

73- Technology development is a programmed feature of BLAIN and in the Central Directorate the software production for data base building and search operations on the already installed small computer is in an advanced stage. The DIALOG bibliographic search system, of the Lockheed Corporation in the United States, is accessible online in two locations: at the BLAIN Directorate and in the University Library. A number of organizations, visited during the mission, were in the process of acquiring mini- and microcomputers to be used, most often on a time-shared basis, for information processing.

7^- The information community's central organization is the Library Association; about 30 professional librarians work in Barbados. The local Community College has conducted since 1982 a one-year library technician course with weekly lectures and practice sessions. In 1982 the number of graduates was 25» in the current year 19 individuals were enrolled.

Potential demand 75. During the meetings in Barbados, the strong demand for the national referral centre, and its regional interlinking,

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was expressed by virtually all the authorities and organizations consulted. In fact, the meetings focussed mainly on how fast, and in what form, the centre can be made operational. The Director of BLAIN endorses the project and is prepared to establish the centre within the Central Directorate. The Executive Secretary of the National Council for Science and Technology offered Council's formal declaration in favour of the plan. The General Manager of the Industrial Development Corporation stated that the need for referral services in the promotion of technology transfer was realized long ago and an attempt was already made to involve the engineering commu­nity in such a program.

76. The primary target population of the referral centre in Barbados is the developing manufacturing sector which has grown in the past few decades from relative insignificance to a position when it is responsible for 15% of all employment and contributes 12$ of the Gross Domestic Product. Besides this primary area, referral v/ill be applicable in agriculture, small-scale agroindustry, and other fields demanding profes­sional skills and the problem-solving capabilities of specialists.

Resources for referral 77- With the exception of the United Nations Environment Programme INFOTERRA focal point in the Ministry of Health (which has identified only 2 information sources in Barbados), there is no formal referral service operating in Barbados on the national level.

78. The Barbados-based regional Caribbean Technological Consultancy Service f(CTCS) is a project of The Technology and Energy Unit of the Caribbean Development Bank. The service functions through its own network of 11 country nodes; among these nodes are institutions which have earlier been described in this report: CARIRI in Trinidad and Tobago, IAST in Guyana and JBS in Jamaica. Serving the English-speaking Caribbean countries, CTCS offers to its clients technical assistance in the areas of agro-industry, garment, furniture, plastics and polymer manufacturing, wood working and energy-related subjects. The country nodes receive and analyze the client's problem and, if extra-territorial expertise is needed, forward the query to the centre in Barbados. For on-site technical assistance, CTCS can identify experts from its continuously updated regional roster of available consultants or request a consultant from outside the region (via the British Executive

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Service Overseas, International Executive Services Corps, Volunteers in Technical Assistance, etc). The requesting organization or firm assumes responsibility for the cost incurred with relation to the consultancy and pays a flat fee of $500 (in local currency) to CTCS. In addition to mediating in such transactions, the Service is equipped to provide documents - retrieved from its own and the U.S. National Technical Information Service (NTIS) data bases -and to conduct literature searches. As this brief descrip­tion of CTG3 indicates, the nature of the service is a variant of the referral concept, which is essentially related to, but in its methodology not identical with, the transactional procedures of national referral centres as viewed in the Unesco project. Nevertheless, CTCS - as a network and a medium for technology transfer through financially compensated consultancies - has a definite role in the envisaged regional referral service.

79« The significance of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) should be seen far beyond the operational scope of the CTCS. The essential tasks contained in CDB's charter are to "have special and urgent regards to the needs of the less developed members in the region" and to "assist regional members in the co-ordination of their development programme...." In discharging these duties within the CARICOM community, CDB finances infrastructure developments and individual projects. The funding of Caribbean initiatives is complemented by several forms of technical assistance (of which CTCS is one), advice and training. For example, through the Project Administration Training Unit (PATU), the Bank offers courses for middle and upper level managers in the member countries. The library of CDB has been a steady supplier of bibliographic information in a number of service varieties.

80. The headquarters of another important regional organi­zation - the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC) - is situated in Barbados. CAIC has created its own version of a listing of Caribbean and foreign experts available for industrial consultancy in the region. Since April 1983 a pilot project has been conducted for on-site diagnostics of manufacturing problems in the member countries. Caribbean chambers of commerce and industrial associations request this type of consultancy which CAIC provides entirely free through an industrial engineer. Following the pilot phase, the Associ­ation intends to organize a team of industrial engineers for diagnostic and advisory services. Within the Technical Assistance Programme of CAIC, the Technical Information Service

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operates on the departmental level and handles inquiries of a manufacturing nature, publishes periodic bulletins on a number of industrial topics. Within the iiconomic Development Department of the Association is the Barbados centre of the computer-based Caribbean Basin Information Network (CBIN). This online service has, at the present, six nodes for terminal access in Jamaica, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Canada and the United States. CBIN is a marketing information network which contains data on import-export and investment opportunities and promotes business links, partnerships, in the private sector within the region and between North American and Caribbean enterprises. CAIC is a many-sided, resourceful and strongly service-oriented organization which is a potential source of expertise for referral purposes. Indeed, the Director and the Head of Technical Information Service are seriously interested in the Unesco project and foresee various ways for CAIC to interface with national referral centres in the Caribbean.

81. Among the national referral sources, the Cave Hill campus of The University of the West Indies can offer considerable expertise in the natural sciences and technology. The areas of primary interest to the national referral centre are chemistry, biochemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, computer science and meteorology. In addition, a number of institutions represent considerable organizational expertise for the centre. The quasi-governmental Barbados Institute for Management and Productivity, the Sugar Technology Research Unit, and some energy-related private and public enterprises - in the fields of oil exploration, natural gas and solar energy - are considered prospective referral sources. As already pointed out (in para. 71), the Barbados Industrial Development Corporation is a major supporter of the referral service project; here IDC should be mentioned again as a force in national industrial progress and a willing contributor of expertise to the national referral centre.

82. A survey and statistical analysis of the Barbados National Council for Science and Technology identified in the I979-I98O fiscal year 82 ongoing research and development projects in scientific and technical areas (excluding the health sciences). The amount spent on R&D (B$ 1,112,920) was 0.1% of the country's Gross National Product. Of these funds 38.5% was spent on 30 agricultural and 26.7% on 9 food technology projects, the rest in 17 subject areas. All R&D activities were performed by 15 institutions in Barbados. When interpreting these figures into indicators of expertise in the R&D community, the result indicates a core of specialists in the governmental,

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academic and industrial sectors; an active group of mainly applied researchers, engineers, agronomists and agrotechni-cians. While the size of R&D is modest (it could have increased in the past three years!), its spread to 19 disciplinary fields in 15 performing institutions are promising signs for finding qualified investigators as information sources for referral in Barbados.

Viability of the national referral centre 83. As reflected in the foregoing, a national referral centre in Barbados is viable on the basis of widely expressed demand and support and by the commitment to establish and maintain the centre in the Central Directorate of BLAIN. The Director of the network, under whose authority and supervision the service would operate, is a leading and respected information professional in Barbados and this fact contributes to the credibility and expected good results of the undertaking.

Commitments 8^. Discussions with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Culture, and several meetings with the Director of BLAIN, led to a firm commitment to implement the national referral centre in Barbados, with the view of inter­linking the service with participating Caribbean centres in a regional referral network. It was indicated, that the task would be accomplished by the existing staff, and from the available funds, of the Central Directorate.

85- The Central Directorate of BLAIN is a Department of the Ministry of Information and Culture. Thus, the commitment of the chief officer of the Central Directorate, and the endorsement of this commitment by the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, is the expression of jurisdictional authority.

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REGIONAL COORDINATING MECHANISM

Coordinating functions and their resource requirements

36. Interactive service functions in a regional network presuppose a considerable degree of uniformity, or at least compatibility, in the design and operational methodologies of the individual national referral centres. The balanced development of the network also requires support activities which can be most effectively performed by a reinforcing central mechanism. It is anticipated, therefore, that the success of autonomous national service entities to become a collective of interlinked nodes will largely depend on the coordinating and support activities of a regional centre.

8?• The findings of the mission indicate several dissimi­larities in the national conditions for establishing and operating referral centres. Differences exist in the socio­economic environment, in the availability of resources (human, financial), and in the volume and nature of indigenous expertise that can be utilized in any of the participating countries. Thus, the central mechanism will, unavoidably, operate and orchestrate a group of somewhat heterogeneous service units. While these variables in the setting and capabilities of the centres are intrinsic, and would be present in the grouping of countries anywhere in the world, a high degree of operational stability can be achieved by shared principles and criteria, common policies and practices, among the various referral services.

88. The coordinating functions of the central mechanism can be tentatively identified as (a) standardization of criteria for the inclusion of experts in the national inventory, (b) standardization of the parameters and the formatting of inventory records, (c) standardization of the communication mode and format between national referral centres, (d) standardization of methods of monitoring and evaluating referral transactions. It is not expected that the regional centre will, or should, formulate these standards. All the procedural conventions of the network must emanate from the recommendations and concensus of the national referral centres and the regional mechanism.

89. The foreseeable support functions are: (a) maintenance of a - preferable computer-based - regional directory of sources for (b) channelling referral requests within the region and (c) producing printouts of national/regional source inventories, lists of experts in sectorial areas, by demand, (d) production

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anci cost-recovered provision of regional, and useful extra-regional, referral tools, (e) regional promotion of the network, including publication of promotional and publicity material, (f) maintaining contacts with regional organizations, (g) or­ganization of regional workshops, meetings, for staffs of national centres, (h) production of procedure manuals for the centres, material for training, user education and source recruitment, (i) continuous updating of the centres on common interest issues, regional statistics of referral activities, plans and events, (j) communication with the centres - by-correspondence, telephone, telex - on pertinent matters, (k) acting, on behalf of the regional network, in matters of funding, linkages with foreign referral centres, exchanges, etc., (1) negotiating with national authorities in the region the establishment of new centres and issues related to existing ones.

90. The desirable resources of the central coordinating mechanism are: (a) at least one, but possibly two, qualified person to manage and operate the regional centre, (b) office space, (c) office and communication equipment, stationery, (d) record management system, preferably computer-based with text-processing and search capabilities, (e) funds to cover salaries, office supply, data processing, communication cost, travel, publicity, meetings and hospitality. At this stage, any attempt to estimate the expenditures would be entirely speculative; there is no basis for calculation. Funding requirements will depend on existing salary levels, the number of national centres to interface, the type and ownership of the computer to be used, overhead cost of the parent organi­zation, etc.

Candidate organizations for regional coordination 91. The consultant discussed with the Director, Economics and Programming, Caribbean Development Bank, the possibility of CDB becoming the regional coordinator of the project; the Chief Librarian of the Bank also attended the meeting. It was revealed that the Caribbean Development Bank would look favour­ably at the project if no financial obligations were involved in accepting the coordinating role. CDB could contribute office space in the new extension of headquarters that will be erected in 198^; also the Bank's computer is underutilized and its use by the regional centre could be feasible. Beyond these possible, but not yet confirmed, contributions the Bank is not in the

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position to support by any staff, monetary and material resources the planned operations. The Director, Economics and Programming, indicated that his statement reflected the Bank's firm policy and he considered unlikely that in this case an exception would be made in the application of adopted directives. However, if Unesco wishes to pursue the matter further, a formal proposal should be submitted to the Bank's executive management with itemized and costed requirements in the following categories: staffing cost, accommodation requirements, computer use, travel cost, supply, overhead.

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IV - PRECONDITIONS AND RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS

Governmental commitments

92. By exploring the demand, the resources, and by identi­fying the prospective host organizations for national referral centres, the mission could sufficiently cover the feasibility criteria of the project. The solicitation of concrete govern­mental commitments was much less successful. Governments are hesitant to enter into binding obligations in the somewhat 'ad hoc' situation of a consultant's visit. The mission was instrumental only in informing governments about the project, in requesting their support, but could not bypass the procedural line of formal policy-making and seal the issue with a prompt declaration of a commitment.

93. The mission's performance on the governmental level had another, circumstantial, limitation. With the exception of the Guyana portion of the assignment, the mission coincided with the Unesco r̂ eneral conference in Paris-which all the rriinisters and permanent secretaries of education and information attended at the same time. For this reason, the high-level negotiations with national authorities could not take place. Another, although less significant, influence was the general pre­occupation with the Grenada events that were in the focus of attention during this period. In conclusion, negotiations aiming at formal commitments will have to be followed up by Unesco's direct contact with the responsible ministers.

Organizational commitments for development of centres

9̂ -. As indicated in Chapter III, institutional frameworks for the referral centres were identified in Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. The three national institutions made verbal commitments to establish and operate the national referral centre in their countries and to participate in the regional network. Such commitment was not available in Dominica and Guyana, where the preconditions for centre development need to be firmly established.

95« The prospective national referral centre in Barbados (BLAIN) will meet the staffing and financial requirements from its own resources and an explicit statement was made in this regard. The tentatively designated host institutions in Jamaica (SRC), Trinidad and Tobago (CARIRI) indicated their intention to find internal means for providing the personnel

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and the required funds; it can be expected that these contri­butions will be affirmed at a later date.

Operational scope of national referral centres

96. Developmental phases of centres are represented in the following sequence of activities:

(a) Staff assignment (b) Office establishment (c) Source inventory construction (d) User recruitment (e) Transactional operations (f) Evaluation.

On the list (a) and (b) are initial steps, while (c) to (f) denote continuing work tasks. Planning of the centre (the formulation of service policies and operational methodologies) can be most effectively carried out before step (b) is reached. 97. The institutions suggested for national centres in Jamaica and Trinidad can pass through stages (a) to (c) in a reasonably short time, perhaps within k-5 months. Their staff and equipped premises are available and the survey work will be expedited by their earlier prepared compilations of national experts. Barbados is able to concentrate almost immediately on step (c).

98. As indicated in paragraph 19, Guyana plans to undertake the survey and inventory construction, with temporary staff, in a time-frame of 3 months. After this step (c) is finished, and subject to the availability of human and financial resources, the centre in Guyana can proceed in the sequence of (a), (b), (d), etc. In the case of Dominica, the same pattern of development seems the most suitable. Here the suggested institutional framework for the centre (see paragraph 65T will not become functional before late 1984 and the space, staffing, funding requirements of a referral service are all pending issues at the present time. It would facilitate later developments to conduct, as the first step, a survey of Dominican expertise, subsidized this activity by an approximate US$ 1,000 grant, or carried out through a 2-week consultancy mission.

99- It should be noted that in Dominica and Guyana the survey of national experts (as the starting point) received immediate

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general support. These countries have only a vague perception of how many, and what calibre, experts are on the domestic scene. The readiness of these experts to act as referral sources is also essential to explore. It was repeatedly recommended that, before starting any serious planning of a national referral centre, first it is necessary to find out whether the supply side for the service indeed exists and, if it does, what is its worth. The consultant agrees with this approach.

100. Concerning the operational scope of national centres, in Jamaica and Trinidad an issue was raised that can be best illustrated by the following, not entirely hypothetical, example. If an MDC offers to the network the expertise of, say, 300 specialists, and the majority of LDCs an average of IO-15 experts, the "referral traffic" will become virtually unidirectional toward the MDCs. Consequently, the MDCs will be heavily burdened by the large number of requests from outside of their territories. While this assumption seems logical and, indeed, could conceivably materialize, there are a good number of points to raise against it. First, the larger the number of experts, the easier the incoming requests can be spread among them. If all the MDCs in the region will have a combined total of 800-1000 referral sources (a quite reasonable expectation!) the danger of overburdening may not exist at all. Second, requests will be "filtered" by the issuing centre, the receiving centre, and monitored by the regional centre. These control mechanisms will detect imba­lances and correct them. Third, due to their many similarities in economic orientation, LDCs will often seek advice from each other and this might alter drastically the expected traffic pattern.

101. Staff requirements depend, first of all, on the stage of development of the national centre but, naturally, size of the source and user communities, the technique of file manage­ment for the inventory, are also determining factors. In general, a medium-size referral centre - with a source inventory of up to about 150 entries, and handled manually - can be operated by 1-2 people. The initial survey and inventory construction phase is the most labor-intensive and also a crucial activity when transitional reinforcement of the staff is always justified. The quality and comprehensiveness of the survey will determine the basic service capabilities of the centre whose essential tool is the source inventory. The interview-method of surveying is superior to the impersonal questionnaires. The interview (when the data elements of the source record are filled in via a dialogue with the expert),

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however, is a profitable investment of staff time and usually produces a more accurate input as well as clues to the identi­fication of other experts. A doubling of the normal staff strength, and the addition of clerical (typing) support, during step (c) is strongly recommended.

102. For maintaining an operational environment in the national centre, the following facilities are required:

(a) office space (b) office furniture (c) typewriter (d) telephone (e) office supply (f) access to telex (g) access to copying machinery.

103. Maintenance cost of the centre consists of (a) salaries (b) acquisition of referral tools (estimated

as US$ 300 per annum) (c) local travel and (d) the procurement/rental/usage of

items identified in paragraph 102. 10¿K On details about operational routine activities of national referral centres, the two Unesco publications referred to in paragraphs k and 8 should be consulted.

Regional coordination mechanism and networking

105. The role, operational duties and resource requirements of the network's regional coordinating centre are described in paragraphs 86-90 and the Caribbean Development Bank's approach to acting in this capacity is contained in paragraph 91.

106. The regional centre's expenses will generate from routine activities and the following operational, administrative and managerial duties:

Operational: (a) Computer-based regional directory (editing, inputting,

storing, retrieving and printing) (b) Evaluation and channelling of referral requests to

national centres (continued)

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(c) Compilation and preparation of publications (regional referral tools, manuals for procedures and training, material for promotion, publicity, source recruitment and user education)

Administrative ; (d) Organization of programs (meetings, workshops, courses,

system demonstrations, staff exchanges, visits) (e) Acquisition and/or distribution of referral tools

and publications identified in (c) above (f) Production and distribution of standardized forms

(inventory records, statistical matrices) (g) Maintenance of regional statistics Managerial; (h) Standardization (as detailed in paragraph 88) (i) Contact with network members (problem-solving,

monitoring, concensus taking on plans, program­ming of events, updating and information)

(j) Regional promotion of network (via negotiations with national authorities and regional/national organizations)

(k) Representation of the network (in centrally organized funding efforts, solicitation of support, contact with foreign and international bodies)

(1) Arrangement of consultancies (foreign, international) (m) Supervision of operational and administrative functions

(identified above). 107. With only a very few exceptions, all the functional tasks from (a) to (m) will require considerable time and effort to prepare, develop and test. For indicative purposes only, the following examples are given to show the nature of the initial activities implied:

- Computer programming for the processing of the regional inventory and its operative uses

- Recruitment of staff - or secondment from other areas of the parent organization

- Training of staff - Development of standards etc.

108. Only a detailed development plan for the regional mechanism can ensure that all its operational, administrative and managerial facets are "in working order" before the first national centre is set up. The starting point of the network, and its precondition, is the existence of a functional coordinating mechanism. This priority condition is the key design principle for creating this, or any other, centralized or decentralized service network.

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109- When the availability of the required resources are ensured, and developments are "ready to go", a minimal six months time-frame is a reasonable calculation for the regional centre to become operational. It would be most beneficial if, during this time, organizations which are committed to establish national referral centres in the region, would actively interface with the developing coordi­nating mechanism and, thus, provide a "test ground" for the preparatory work.

110. The required resources of the regional centre are estimated in the following for costing purposes. The estimate (for staffing and other volume-sensitive resource requirements) was based on the stipulation that, following the full-scale development of the regional mechanism, at least ten national referral centres will be established within 2 years, and the location of these will include Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago.

111. Human resources Continuous: 1 regional network coordinator

1 operational assistant 1 administrative assistant 2 clerical support (secretary/typist)

Temporary: consultant 8 weeks

consultant k weeks

consultants

(operational design) (1st yr.) (standards and records) (1st yr.) (local assistance in estab­

lishing national referral centres) 30 weeks/yr (1st and 2nd yrs.)

Material resources Office space Office furniture Office supply (inc. paper-feeding of computer operations) Typewriters (2) Telephone Telex Copying machinery Collection of regional/foreign/international referral

tools (Shared) computer and peripherals (Dedicated) terminal with printer

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Financial resources In the following list of expenditures, certain items may be subsidized by external or international funding. Those items which are primarily con­sidered for international funding, are preceded by an asterisk (*).

Funds for:

Salaries (continuing staff) ^Honoraria and per diem (of consultants) Allocation for overtime and part-time or temporary help Accommodation cost and rjrocureient of furniture Office supply 2 typewriters Copying machinery (purchase or rental) Referral tools (approx. US$3,000 in 1st; $1,500 later yrs.) Computer programming (approx. 1 month) Data base building and file maintenance Disc storage of source inventory Production of forms (inventory records, etc.)

*Publication program (preparation, editing, duplication/ printing of material identified in paragraph 106, items c and f)

*Meeting program (travel, accomodation of participants, conference room rental, teaching and demonstra­tion aids, incidentals)

*Staff travel (to support items i, j, k in paragraph 106)

Rental and cost of telephone Rental and cost of telex Postage and cables

Incidental general expenses

Overhead of host organization

112. External or international funding will be required for the financial support of source surveys in cash-poor countries, such as Guyana and Dominica (as discussed in paragraphs 19 and 67).

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V - PROSPECTS AND CONCLUSIONS 113. The five countries in this study do not represent a cross section of the Caribbean area. Three of the countries belong to the most developed category in the region (having the highest Gross Domestic Product in the English-speaking CARICOM community), which are capable to embark on the project owing to their own strength. In contrast, the remaining two countries face serious obstacles, due to their shortage in human and financial resources. The majority status of countries with favourable preconditions for participation, versus the minority standing of countries without such capability (a 3:2 ratio), as they appear in this study, is not expected to reflect the existing regional status quo. Extrapolations from the participatory potentials of the set of the five countries to full Caribbean dimensions can, therefore, lead to fallacious conclusions.

114. Of the five countries visited on this mission, four have large universities; thus, the expertise of sizeable academic communities can be utilized for referral purposes. The Mona, Cave Hill and St. Augustine campuses of The Univer­sity of the West Indies (in Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago), the University of Guyana, are the region's centres of higher learning. University-based and affiliated research institutions, academic libraries, various existing community-oriented programs, are potential contributing elements to the project's development. In addition, all the information-related activities of regional organizations are centred in headquarters within this group of countries. Active national organizations engaged in industrial research and technology transfer can assume the role of national referral centres. These and other intellectual and organizational assets suggest that the chances for the recruitment of source populations and for active referral services in the set of countries under examination are generally promising.

115- The significance of referral services in the prevailing regional situation can perhaps be best demonstrated by pointing to trends in socio-economic development. Manufacturing has had an increasing share in the Gross Domestic Product of most Caribbean countries in the last ten years. During the same period the natural resource industries and agro-industry have enlarged their domestic production bases, with the effect of higher employment capacity, export potential and international trade. Under these circumstances, the need for technology development and skilled manpower became acute problems which are now in the focus of economic planning. Aiming at technology

_ / + 3 -

transfer, problem-solving and advice to the productive sector, successful referral services can infuse much needed knowledge and manufacturing know-how into a wide range of production efforts. The countries visited during this mission wish to move ahead on a technology- and skill-dependent industrial path of economic development. Their need for the kind of assistance which referral services can offer was well understood, and explicitly stated, by many authorities and individuals with whom the consultant discussed the issue.

116. In some countries - where referral services could foster much desired qualitative change in technical information support - inadequacy in human and financial resources can be an obstacle. As the findings in Dominica and Guyana indicate, staffing and funding requirements in these countries cannot be met from local resources and external support is the key to bring about organized referral activities. Since the consultant did not explore the resource capabilities of countries beyond the geographic scope of his present mission, he cannot predict the extent of this problem in regional proportions.

117. The shortage in qualified manpower all over the region was dramatically depicted two years ago in a Unesco study. Nick Moore's survey of library and information manpower needs in the Caribbean (PGI-82/WS/15, 1982) warned that "the region faces a major problem of the supply of trained manpower.... The output of the training institutions is well below that needed to satisfy the recruitment and training need in the short term" (p.3). He found that "30% of the posts for qualified staff were vacant at 31 December I98I" (p.17).

118. In anticipation of shortages in human resources, the plan for the regional coordinating mechanism includes (in para­graph 111) two consultants for local assistance to the establish­ment of national referral centres. The main task of these consultants would be to conduct, with the participation of local representatives, surveys of the available expertise and, thus, to appraise the indigenous service potentials. This approach is further discussed in paragraph 99 of this report.

119. In Guyana the offer was made to organize a 3-nionth national survey of experts, to be carried out by a seconded or contracted local professional, for the requested amount of US$ 1,500 (Paragraph 19). Such a national survey, the first ever made in Guyana, would be useful to assess the size and distribution of the community of experts and, for that reason, it deserves consideration for support. However, two qualifying remarks should be made concerning the proposed undertaking.

_¿l4-

First, before such surveys are carried out in countries, which later will operate their centres in a regional network mode, the parameters of a standard "source inventory record" must be worked out for application by the regional coordinating body. The input will be contributory to the establishment of referral centres only if it is produced with the content, in the depth and form, of the operational source inventory. Secondly, the survey that is needed for inventory construction is not a "pure" identification of the universe of individuals who would qualify for inclusion in the inventory. The survey must also recruit the source population and result in a selective listing of experts who are committed and available to participate in the planned referral service. Therefore, the suggested census taking of Guyana's experts has merits only in creating an initial summing up of the community which, later and through a different approach, will yield to the national centre its referral sources. The offer should be viewed in this context and as an intermediary step toward a distant objective.

120. In the case of Dominica, the report (in paragraph 67) suggests a 3-month subsidized consultancy for the survey, for the establishment of the referral centre, and the on-site training of the operator.

121. National referral centres which are established by similar heavy involvement of consultants and external finan­cial assistance, are expected to be taken over by local operators at the time when user recruiting (service marketing) and routine operations are launched. At that point in its development, the centre's staffing and funding become the responsibility of the local parent organization in which it functions. The consultant strongly recommends that this 'sine qua non' requirement should become an indisputable obligation of the host country by formal declaration of the detailed commitments. As the centre earns credentials and trust, proves its usefulness, it will "pay back" the investment of staff-time and running cost through the benefits its clientele will obtain and recognize. By following up and evaluating the referral transactions, these benefits will be demonstrated and presentable to local authorities. Through monitoring and statistical means, the regional coordinating mechanism will then follow the activities in a routine manner.

122. Financial assistance for centre establishment (with or without the assignment of a consultant) to countries which cannot afford funding the preparatory phase, is calculated as maximum US$ 10,000, with a standard minimum of $7,000 for staffing ($3,000), equipment and office supply ($3,000) and travel ($1,000).

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123« As pointed out in paragraph 110, estimates for the regional coordinating mechanism were based on the assumption that in the first two years at least ten national referral centres would become operational. With fewer national centres in the network, the estimate for staffing, consultancies, and for some volume-dependent resource categories, may be scaled down. Such adjustments, however, should be made judiciously, carefully avoiding any damage to basic capabilities, and leaving intact the critical mass of resources which are necessary to perform at any scale.

124. The stipulation of ten national centres in a two-year time was, simply, a basis for calculation. At this point no growth curve for the network can be projected by inference from any evidential premise. This fundamental uncertainty does not permit the realistic planning of the network's central support mechanism at the present time.

125. The fact must be strongly emphasized that the mission's findings and recommendations relate only to a unique set of five countries. The consultant analyzed their situation and attempted to depict the prospects of national referral centres, and their interplay in a network, in this limited scope.

-46-APPENDIX 1

PROGRAMME OF MISSION

15 October - 1 December 1983

Arrival and departure dates;

Guyana 15 October - 22 October

Trinidad and Tobago.. 22 October - 3 November

Jamaica 3 November - 13 November

Dominica 15 November - 17 November

Barbados 17 November - 1 December

-47-APPENDIX 2

MEETINGS HELD IN THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS:

GUYANA

Ministry of Information and Public Service (Minister) Ministry of Education, Social Development and Culture (Minister) Institute of Applied Science and Technology National Library of Guyana National Science Research Council State Planning Commission Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation Guyana Sugar Corporation Guyana Medical Science Library University of Guyana, Library National Commission for Unesco United Nations Development Programme Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute

(CARDI), Guyana Branch CARICOM Secretariat, Information and Documentation Services TRINIDAD Ministry of Education and Culture Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) Institute of Marine Affairs University of the West Indies Board of National Library, Information and Archives Service National Commission for Unesco United Nations Development Programme Caribbean Documentation Centre, UN ECLA Office for the Caribbean JAMAICA Ministry of Mining, National Resources Conservation Department National Development Agency National Planning Agency National Bureau of Standards Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica Scientific Research Council University of the West Indies, Mona Campus National Library of Jamaica National Council on Libraries, Archives and Documentation Services Unesco Regional Office Unesco National Commission DOMINICA Ministry for Education National Appropriate Technology Committee National Council of Science and Technology Food and Nutrition Council Clifton Dupigny Community College Public Library

(Cont'd)

_^8-

BARBADOS Ministry of Information and Culture Export Promotion Corporation Industrial Development Corporation National Council for Science and Technology-Central Directorate, Barbados Library, Archive and Information

Centre Network Caribbean Development Bank Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce Caribbean Network of Educational Innovation and Development United Nations Development Programme

-49-APPSNDIX 3

SELECTIVE LIST OF ATTENDEES OF MEETINGS

GUYANA Mr. Clarence BLUE, State Planning Commission Mr. Ranji CHANDISINGH, Minister of Education, Social Development

and Culture Dr. Leslie CHIN, Technical Director, Guyana Pharmaceutical Corp. Ms. Carol COLLINS, Chief, Information & Documentation, CARICOM Seer. Ms. Joan CHRISTIANI, National Librarian Ms. Cécile DAVIS, Resident Respresentative, UNDP Ms. Yvonne HAREWOOD-BENN, Minister of Information and Public Service Ms. Carmen C. JARVIS, Seer. Gen., National Commission for Unesco Mr. Fitz MACLEAN, Guyana Sugar Corporation Dr. Gordon J. MÜLLER, Head of Unit, CARDI Dr. A. RAMWA, Institute of Applied Science and Technology Ms. Yvonne STEPHENSON, University Librarian, University of Guyana Ms. Mavis TAYLOR, National Science Research Council/lNFOTERRA Ms. Jennifer WILSON, Guyana Medical Science Library TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO Ms. Jacqueline ARCHER, CARIRI Ms. Yvonne E. BOBB, Interim Board of National Library, Information

and Archives Service (NALIAS) Ms. Stella EDWARDS, Documentalist, CARIRI Mr. Clyst EDWARD, Acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education

and Culture Ms. Shirley EVELYN, Librarian, University of the West Indies Ms. Anite FORDE, Library Development Unit, Ministry of Education Ms. Barbara GUMBS, Head, Technical Information Service, CARIRI Ms. Annette KNIGHT, Librarian, University of the West indies Ms. N. MADRAY, Secretary to the Seer. Gen., Ntl. Comm. for Unesco Ms. Wilma PRIMUS, Head, Caribbean Documentation Centre, UN ECLA Dr. Doon RAMSAROOP, Director, Institute of Marine Affairs Dr. Winthrop WILTSHIRE, Senior Scientist, CARIRI JAMAICA Mr. Hugh CHOLMONDELEY, Unesco Representative to the Caribbean Mr. Leo DAVIS, National Bureau of Standards Ms. Elsie E ELLWOOD, Librarian, Building Research Institute Dr. Patrick W. FAIRBAIRN, Chief, Ecology Branch, Natural Resources

Conservation Department Ms. Stephanie FERGUSON, National Librarian Ms. Barbara GORDON, Jamaican Bureau of Standards Dr. Dennis IRVINE, Regional Science and Technology Adviser, Unesco Ms. Audrey LEIGH, National Library Ms. Onida LEV/IS, Head, Information Dept., Jamaican Bureau of Standards Ms. Annette MARTIN, National Commission for Unesco Ms. A. ONONAIWU, National Planning Agency Ms. Shannon RICKETTS, Small Business Association Ms. Isabel ROBOTHAM, National Development Agency Ms. Merline SMITH,Head, Technical Information Division, Scientific

Research Council Ms. Myrtle STAGLE, National Planning Agency Ms. Mona TELESFORD, Librarian, Scientific Research Council

(Cont'd)

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JAMAIGA (cont'd) Mr. Cordel WALTER, Librarian, Building Research Institute Ms. Maureen WEBSTER-PRINCE, National Library Mr. Jim WELLWANG, Librarian, University of the West Indies Dr. John A. WIGHT, Director, Information and Coordination, Scientific

Research Council

DOMINICA W. Kenneth ALLEYNE, Industrial Development Corporation Ms. Anita BULLY, Director, National Development Foundation Mr. Collin BULLY, Ministry of Agriculture Ms. S. CHARLES, Economic Development Unit Mr. Edward LAMBERT, Chairman, Food and Nutrition Council Mr. Bernard SEBASTIAN, Economic Development Adviser Ms. Eudora SHAW, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education Mr. Rupert SORHAIDO, Director, Community College Mr. Grenfell THOMAS, Secretary, Ntl. Council of Science and Technology Ms. Cornelia WILLIAMS, Chief Librarian, Public Library BARBADOS Dr. E.R. BUCKMIRE, Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Mr. Rawle CHASE, General Manager, Industrial Development Corporation Ms. Cora CLARK, Barbados Export Promotion Corporation Michael E. GILL, Director, Barbados Library, Archive and

Information Centre Network (BLAIN) Ms. Pauline OSWITCH, BLAIN Mr. Marius St. ROSE, Director, Economics and Programming, CDB Ms. Nancy ST. JOHN, Chief Librarian, CDB Dr. George SMITH,Executive Secretary, National Council for

Science and Technology Mr. Gordon SOMERS, Resident Representative, UNDP Mr. V.S.R. SUBRAMANIAM, Consultant Advisor, Data Processing, CDB Mr. Arnold THOMAS, Program Manager, Technical Assistance Dept.,CAIC Mr. Leton THOMAS, Coordinator, Caribbean Network of Educational

Innovation and Development Mr. N. THOMPSON, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and

Culture Mr. Patrick A. THOMPSON, Executive Director, Caribbean Association

of Industry and Commerce (CAIC)