. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/L/388
24 January 2001
(01-0387)
NEW DOCUMENTATION FACILITIES VIA THE INTERNET
Communication from the Secretariat
1. The purpose of this note is to inform Members that, as part of its programme of work to
provide more efficient documentation services, the Secretariat is introducing a new Internet facility
called Documents Online .  The new database, which replaces the Document Dissemination Facility
(DDF),  will become operational on 1 February 2001.  A briefing session on the new service, including
a demonstration of the database, will be held on 31 January 2001 at 3.00 p.m. in the Centre William
Rappard.
Documents Online
2. Documents Online  is a database that provides two distinct Internet services: document
dissemination and documentary research.  The first offers Members the possibility of accessing online
the output of WTO documentation.  Delegations in Geneva and government officials in capitals may
consult and download from their offices all official documents as they are circulated by the
Secretariat.  Each day's production of documents will normally be posted in Documents Online  by
00.00 GMT.  The second service offers Members the possibility of performing both simple searches
(e.g. retrieve all minutes of the Committee on Customs Valuation for 2000) and complex searches,
similar to those normally performed by lawyers in the course of legal research online.  The enhanced
search capability of Documents Online  should facilitate the work of Members, especially in the area
of dispute settlement.
3. Documents Online  breaks new ground by blending two different types of technology: full-text
searching and database (catalogue) searching. While the former permits the identification of a singleword or words or phrase in any official document, database searching enables the identification of
documents on the basis of specified criteria such as symbol, title, countries, circulation date, subject,
names of official bodies, meeting dates, etc. When applied in tandem,  these technologies enable the
user to perform very precise searches which filter out irrelevant documents.
4. Documents Online  contains the majority of official documents distributed by the WTO and is
available in three different language interfaces: English, French and Spanish.  In response to requests
from Members, Uruguay Round documents and a selection of GATT documents have been included
in the database.  All documents are posted in the three official languages of the Organization as soon
as the respective language version becomes available. Irrespective of the language of interface used,
the results of a search always present the user with the choice of previewing and/or downloading thedocuments retrieved in all of the existing language versions.  This is particularly useful for users
wishing to consult documents in more than one language. This feature represents a significant
improvement on the DDF, where users were obliged to perform separate searches by language to
obtain the same result.
5. A considerable effort has been made to ensure that Documents Online  is as "user-friendly" as
possible.  Specific help files are available on-screen to assist users in their interrogation of  the
database and these should prove extremely useful to users unfamiliar with details such as officialWT/L/388
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document symbols, product names, the numbering conv entions of Articles in WTO Agreements or the
names of official WTO bodies.  Additionally, a special "Browse" section has been created where
users, by means of pre-programmed searches, can quickly retrieve and view the "most frequently
consulted documents" in the database.
6. To access Documents Online  Members will require the same equipment and services as they
currently use with the DDF:  a) an Internet connection, b) an Internet Browser; and c) a user name and
a password.  Existing user names and passwords, i.e. those currently used with the DDF, will be valid
for accessing the database as of 1 February 2001 .  These passwords will continue to be valid for a
period of three months ending on 30 April 2001, at which time Members will be informed in writing
by the Secretariat of the new log-on procedure. To begin using Documents Online,  Members should
go to the same Internet address that they now use when accessing the DDF
(http://www.wto.org/members).
7. Public documents posted in Documents Online will also be available from the WTO Home
Page as of  1 February 2001 (http://www.wto.org).
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