ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(74)1423
Vol.1974/0231

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-'COMMISSION^OF'THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(74)1423 final
Brussels ,18September 1974
Proposai fora
COUNCIL DECISION
adopting afirst3yearplanofactioninthefieldof
information anddocumentation inscienceandtechnology
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission )
C01H74)1423final

1
Plan ofaction inthe field ofscientific and technical information
(Communication from theCommission totheCouncil )
On24June 1971 »"theCouncil adopted aresolution forthe
coordination ofthe activities ofMember States inthe field ofinformation
anddocumentation inscience andtechnology (IDST).
TheResolution laid down tooobjectives :theencouragement of
progress inIDST andtheprogressive establishment ofaEuropean network
ofdocumentation and information .
Themeans ofachieving those objectives were tobe,inparticular :
(a)encouraging initiatives directed attherational development of
IDST systems ,bythepermanent association ofwhich theEuropean
network could beformed ;
(b)establishing rules andmethods fortheoperation ofthenetwork
toensure it3coherence ;
(c)promoting thetraining ofspecialists andtheeducation ofusers ;
(d)promoting technological progress inthescience andmethodology
ofdocumentation .
Atthe same time ,theCouncil setuptheCommittee forInformation
andDocumentation inScience andTechnology (CIDST )toassist the
Commission andthePBUST Group intheprepaiatory work onprojects and
other activities implementing theResolution .Thetasks ofPREST inthis
respect have nowbeen assumed byCREST ,setupbytheCouncil on
14January 1974 .(a)

2
During thefirst twoyears ofitsexistence ,thorough-going
andworth-while discussions have taken place inthis Committee andin
theworking parties itappointed tostudy ,forexample ,thetechnical
aspects ofthenetwork ,problems concerning charges forservices
provided ,theagricultural ,environmental andmedical sectors andthe
question ofpatents .
Initsscientific andtechnological policy programme of
25July 1973 (COM(73 )1250),theCommission reviewed thesituation in
theIDST field andoutlined aplan ofaction .InitsResolution of
14January 1974 concerning afirst programme ofaction fortheEuropean
Communities inthefield ofscience andtechnology ,theCouncil noted
with interest theCommission 'sintention topresent toitproposals for
actions concerning scientific andtechnical information .
Itseemed clear ,both totheCIDST andtotheCommission ,that
technical andcommercial developments inthefield ofinformation and
documentation had "become sorapid and sofragmented that there wasa
considerable risk that theestablishment ofarational European network
would become impossible ifpractical action were nottaken without delay .
Inaccordance with item 2oftheResolution of24June 1971 »
overall guidelines will belaid down bytheCouncil .TheCommission
proposes that thelatter should decide toproceed from theexploratory
totheexperimental stage ,byimplementing athree-year plan ofaction .
Theplan would provide fortheestablishment ofsystems
covering various -sectors ,-e.g«,theagricultural andenvironmental
fields |foranumber ofevaluation andpilot projects toenable astart
tobemade onlaunching anoperational network ;andforthestudy of
specific problems ofhorizontal integration (multilingual systems ,
standardisation ,training ofspecialists ,etc.).

3
The (kmaissixm^oc(risidBT3~thart -the ^eacpendirture necessary for
theercpcuticn oftheplan ofaction in1975 is1,840,000 AU# The
corresponding amounts needed toensure the .progressive development of
theaction plan areestimated at2#3 MA.Ufor1976 and2.5MAUfor1977
cntli3 "basi3 of1974 prices ,these amounts tobefinally determined "by
ihs "budget oftheEuropean Communities .TheCommission will submit its
proposals after consultation with CIDST andCREST#
Attached tothepresent communication ares theproposed
decisis ,atechnical dossier giving details oftheplan ofaction and
theopinion oftheCIDST andthe CREST#

Proposai fora
adopting afirst 3year plan ofaction inthefield of
information anddocumentation inscience aridtechnology
THECOUUCIL OFTHEEUROPEAU COMUÎJITIES ,
Having regard totheTreaty establishing theEuropean Economic ,
Community ,andinparticular Article 235thereof ,
Having regard totheproposal from theCommission ,
Having regard totheopinion oftheEuropean Parliament ,
Noting thereport bytheCommittee forInformation and
Documentation onScience andTechnology (CIDST )andtheopinion ofthe
Committee onScientific andTechnological Research (CREST ),
Whereas aresolution wasadopted "bytheCouncil andthe
representatives oftheMember States meeting within theCouncil on
24June 1971 forthecoordination oftheactivities ofMember States
inthefield ofinformation anddocumentation onscience andtechnology
(;IDST),
 
Whereas theHeads ofState orofGovernment ,meeting inParis
on19and20October 1972 ,expressed their intention todefine the
objectives andpromote thedevelopment ofacommon policy inthefield
ofscience andtechnology ,
Whereas ,according toArticle 2oftheTreaty ,theCommunity''
shall have' asoneofitstasks thepromotion ofharmonious development
ofeconomic activities andacontinuous andbalanced expansion throughout
theCommunity ,

Whereastheproliferation ,ofinformatiCTrr systems -aridtheir
rapidTautdisparate progress asaresultofthecompetition "between
publicandprivateventures,maketheestablishment oftheEuropean
networkenvisaged "bytheResolution of24June1971amatterofurgency.
Whereasthesettingupofthisnetworkwouldeffectively contri­
butetotheachievement oftheabove-meritionedobjectives oftheTreaty,
WhereastheTreatyhasnotprovidedthenecessary powers,
WhereastheCounciladoptedaResolution on14January 1974
concerning afirstplanofactionfortheEuropean Communities inthe
fieldofscienceandtechnology ,
HASADOPTED THISDECISION
Article 1
Aninitialplanofactionfortheestablishment oftheEuropean
networkofinformation anddocumentation onscienceandtechnology ,as
outlinedintheannex,isherebyadoptedforaperiodofthreeyearsto
runfrom1January 1975*Theannexformsanintegral partofthis
decision .
Article 2
TheCommission shallberespensible fortheexecution ofthis
planofaction,assisted bytheCoaniittee forInformation andDocumentation
inScienceandTechnology (CIDST)«Thiscommittee andtheScientific and
Tachrical Research Committee (CREST)shallbekeptregularly informedof
theprogressofthework,Furthermore ,theCommission sha.llsubmitafull
reporttotheCouncileachyear..

Article 3
Theexpenditure necessary fortheexecution ofthisPlanof
Actionin1975isindicated intheannextothisDecision.
Artide 4
TheCommission willdecidethedetailed activities to"becarried
outunderthePlanofActionin1976and1977afterconsultation with
CIDSTandCREST.
Onthisbasis,theCommission willdetermine theestimates
ofexpenditure for1976and1977respectively ,inaccordance withthe
budgetary procedure .
Annex:FirstthreeyearPlanofActioninthefieldofIDST

7
Appendice toAnnex 1
FIRST 3-YEAR COIMTM TYPLAIT OFACTION INTH5FIELD OF
INFORMATION' AND DOCUMMTATI OffINSCIMCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Theexpenditure necessary fortheexecution ofthis Plan of
Action in1975 isestimated at1,840,000 AU.Thecorresponding amounts
needed toensure theprogressive development oftheaction plan are
estimated at2,3MAUfor 1975 a*"*2,5MAUfor1977 onthe "basis of1974
prices ,these amounts tohefinally determined "bythe "budget ofthe
European Commission .
Theplan 'sobjectives include thefollowing :
1.Sectoral Information Systems
Therapid development ofsectoral information systems and their
integration into aEuropean network involves setting upCommunity systems ,
which aretohemade compatible with thenetwork ,forexample inthe
agricultural andenvironmental sectors ,andexamining theneed forthe
creation ofnewsystems inappropriate sectors ,aswell assupporting the
rationalization anddevelopment ofthevarious useful private ventures in
existence ,particularly intheindustrial sphere .
Thesumallocated forthis purpose in1975 is550,000 AU.
2.Implementation oftheInformation Network
nlit ~r~ 1rrT r~mi rniib»n■ i– ■■– in i–mi–inini !■m n
Thestarting point isfeasibility andpilot studies .Specifi­
cations forequipment and software will then bedrawn upandstandards
worked outforthemanagement ofthenetwork andforitsinteraction
with users .Only then will thefirst software bedeveloped ,equipment
andtelecommunication lines progressively installed ,andthegradual
adaptation ofspecialised information systems oftheMember States tothe
neiwork beundertaken .
Thesumallocated forthis purpose in1975 i3660,000 AU.

8
3,Information Technology andMethodology
Thesesupportactivities areaimedatestablishing effective
multilingual systemsandstandardformatsforinformation exchanges ,
trcdningofspecialists ininformation technology ,education ofusers,
andimprovement ,ofsystems *methodology ,datatanksandinformation and
analysis-centres .
Thesum^allocated forthispurposein1975is630,000 AU.
0
0 0
Theactiontakentoachievealltheseobjectives willbecarried
outmainlyundercontract withcompetent organisations intheMember
Statesandmaybeextendedtoorganisations ofthirdcountries under
appropriate conditions ,inConformity withtheresolutions ofthe
Councilof24June1971and14January 1974*
Furthermore ,thefinancial supportin1976and1977ofthe
conversion ofnational systemsofscientific andtechnical information
anddocumentation tothenormoftheEuropean network,withparticular
reference tothedistribution oftheexpenditure betweentheMember
StatesandtheCommunity shouldbofullyexamined andagreedingood
time-

MîTEX 2
Plan ofAction 1975**77 *Detailed Proposals
Oneoftheprincipal assets ofEurope lies inthetraditionally
high intellectual ability andinventiveness ofitspeoples ,reflected
inacontinuing high level ofinvestment inthefuture through research .
However ,theproper exploitation ofthis considerable asset intechno­
logical innovation requires that theever increasing volume of
scientific andtechnical information available "becorrectly ,promptly
andeconomically channelled through appropriate information transfer
systems tothose inourCommunity whoneed it.
Itwas,therefore ,natural that ,inits24June 1971 Resolution ,
theCouncil stressed that thekeystone ofaninformation policy worthy
ofEurope layintheestablishment andoperation ofahighly efficient
andnecessarily sophisticated information /documentation network linking
together allthescientific information resources oftheMember Countries .
Theestablishment ofaneffective andeconomical network tobring
scientific andtechnical information anddocumentation andthesystems
which process ,store andsupply ittoalltheusers oftheCommunity ,on
abasis offair andequal access ,isamajor undertaking :
–appropriate totheEuropean Community ;
–capable ofbringing considerable benefit andsaving ,both
economic andintellectual ,alike toscientists ,industry ,
national administrations ,educators andmanagers andthegeneral
public .
Itisanundertaking whose immediate beginning ,intheview ofboth
the Commission and the Committee for infoiraation anddocumentation inscience

10
andtechnology (CIDST )created under the1971 Resolution ,cannolonger
bedelayed without serious danger ,"butwhich requires extensive study ,
experimentation andpilot operation ateach step oftheroad .Forthis
reason ,inclose cooperation with CIDST ,theCommission nowproposes a
three year plan ofaction covering these phases andleading ,only towards
theendoftheperiod ,tofull substantive long-term operations forwhich
afresh decision will besought from theCouncil induetime .
.Thedevelopment oftheenterprise falls naturally under three
heads :
–development ofuseful andnecessary Community information
systems ; .
–development ofacommon communications network tobethe
physical skeleton oftheenterprise ,andlinkage of
appropriate systems toit:
–methodological andtechnological support »
These headings aretreated inthechapters that follow .
Thedetailed plans ofaction which follow remain flexible .
They reflect theexisting discussions andconsensus ofopinion inthe
CIDST ,butaresubject tofurther discussion and ,inevery case ,to
further development ormodification inthecourse ofnegotiations with
ourpartners whomust carry outthebulk ofthework ,andinparticular
with theheads ofthespecialised scientific andtechnical information
systems andcentres oftheMember States .

STIiOSystems
WhentheCouncilofMinisters ,atitsmeetingof24June197'»
adopteditsresolution aimedatcoordinating actionsofMemberStates
inscientific andtechnical information ,itstressedtheneedfor
settingupanddeveloping sectoral information systemsinarational
fashion.
Anumberofsuchsystemsarealreadyoperational ;someare
abouttobeestablished ;othersareplanned.
Theoverallprogramme outlined belowreceived theendorsement
ofCIDSTatitsmeetingon28/29March1974*
TheCouncilforesawalreadyin1971thatthesectoral systems
shouldultimately becomepartoftheEuropean Information and
Documentation NetworkforScienceandTechnology (EURGHET),Practical
stepstothiseffectarecoveredinChapter 2below.

12
1.1.1.IDSTSystemETOS
Withintheframework oftheEuratomTreaty,theEuropean
NuclearDocumentation System(ENDS)wasdesignedin1960and
starteditsinputoperation in1961.In1967»thefirstoutput
wasprovided.Now(1974)1*5milliondocumentsarestored,about
6,000retrospective literature searches havebeenperformed ,
servicesfor700SDIprofilesareprovided,andanon-line
dialogueisoperated.
Asaresultofameetingoftheheadsofthenational
nuclearenergydocumentation centresandotherspecialists from
theMemberStatesconvenedinLuxembourg on25January1^74»the
following plansweremades
(1)TheCommission willcontinuetooperatetheEuropean
NuclearDocumentation' System(ENDS)forretronpsctive
searches,tutwilllimitthenewinputtothesystem
tosuchdocuments asarecoveredbyINT.S.
(2)TheEuropeanNuclearDocumentation Systemwillbe
madeMnet«fit+ia£ wandbecomepartofthenetwork.
TheCommission vri.llperformatestopsrsvtion "on–
line"withoneortwonational centres.
Itisconfidently expectedthatthiswillopenthe
waytooptimaluseoftheturuqueassetconstituted byoneofthe
mostextensive collections ofscientific documents intheworld
serviced byasmall,buthighlyexperienced staff.

T3
Thefollowing operations areplannedfor1975®
(a)Retrievalforretrospective literature searches
in"batchprocessing .
(t>)Retrievalforrétrospective literature searches
inon–linemodein–houseandexperimentally outside,
(o)Retrievalforperiodical literature searches (SDl)»
(d)Contribution ofHJRATOMtotheinputofIKIS.

Byaresolutiondated24-June1971,jhepoundsof
MinistersagreedtocreateaCommunity
processing ^u^jiissemnairi^^-ir of
metallurgy , •-•;
Acoording -tcrthe^x©soln±±on .andaj^ibeeqaeni agreement
betweentheCommission andanumberofp&tion&lmetallurgy
Information centres,thesecentrestakecareofthecataloguing ,
indexingandabstracting oftheliterature ontheonehand,and
theservice-to-4isera .prutbejjr^«r-jrdforiesontheother.
TheCommission isresponsible forthecentral -storage^'
^roooasxng .and.disiidJba±i.art-of "the-callectedl 4ata«
Tb^pix>g3T€unroof03r"l975.iiioludest
(a)thekeypunching andtapestorageofapproximately
9,000worksheets suppliedbysomeoftheparticipants ;
otherparticipants supplytheircontribution directly
onmagnetic tape;
(b)thepreparation ofmicrofiches forapproximately
40,000worksheets }
(c)thecomputerprocessing ofthematerialsupplied,
includingverification andcorrection ofthecataloguing
andindexingdata,genericposting,mergingofthe
materialintoasingledatabase,andpreparation of
tapecopiesfordistribution ;
(d)theupdatingofthemetallurgy thesaurusinseveral
languageversions,andtheprintingofsupplements ,
updatedversions andKWICindexes *
Tosumup,SDIMshouldbeoomefullyoperational in1975
onalargescaleandwithfullcooperation ofthenewMember
StatesoftheCommunities .

1o2«1»ETR^AGPJ3I(©iropecm~corrtrilrai±cn~1ro-N ^^^rterrusct-Lonal ...–IS^TOaTion SystemforAgricultural ScienceexldTechnology ,'
established tmdertheauspicesofthePAO)
Theaimoftheprojectistoorganiseajointcontrituition
oftheMemberStatesoftheCommunities totheWorldAgricultural
Bibliography AGRISIftobeestablished undertheauspices of
theFAO(/1^
Thefirstobjectiveistocollect,select,catalogue ,
indexandplaceatthedisposal ofAGRISIbibliographical
references toEuropeanagricultural literature ,thusenabling
theAGRISIdataprocessing centrotodrawupacompletebiblio­
graphy.
Thesecondobjectiveisanappropriate diffusion and
exploitation oftheoutputofAGRISIinthecountries ofthe
Community *
InordertomeetthePAOcalendar,thepilotoperation
muststartshortly ^itwillbecarriedoutundertheguidance of
theAgriculture WorkingGroupofCIDST,
Theprogramme comprises :
–thescanning ofscientific andtechnical agrioallvral
journals andnon–periodical documents ,
–theprocessing ofcover–to-coveranalysedjournals,
(1)Theprolongation ofthetestphaseofAGPISIwasdecided
bytheXVIIthPAOConference ,heldinNovember 1973inRome

16
thetranslation into English ofthose document titles
which arepublished inother languages oftheCommunity ,
thedescription ,cataloguing and
theclassification andindexing (subject control )of
theseleoted documents ,
thereoording oftheinput data onmagnetic tapes and
theprocessing ofthedata#

17
A-grinultural Management Information System (AMIS )
AMIS istobeaco-ordinated documentation and
information network fortheEuropeanr Community ,serving agri­
cultural policy insuch relevant areas asagricultural economics z
rural sociology andagricultural legislation .
Ithasthefollowing aimss
–toco-ordinate existing services bysharing ,ona
Community basis ,work andexpertise .This would
allow co-operating centres toconcentrate ontheir
ownsubject ormission specialisation !
«-toimprove theservices offered through theuse of
electronic data processing andtoinvestigate the
possibilities ofproviding translation facilities
soastoexpand thescope ofservices tousers j
–toexamine thepossibilities andinvestigate the
need forextending thecoverage within therelevant
fields ,particularly with regard tonon-conventional
literature andtoprovide mutual exchange ofsuch
document at1on•
ARound Table ofExperts ,convened bytheCommission on
therecommendation oftheCIDST Agriculture Working Group ,is
studying atpresent thepossibilities ofachieving theaims set
out above •
Theprogramme includes thefollowings
(a)thepreparation ofthecontribution oftheCommission
toAMIS:
(b)aninput test ofmerging various data bases inthe
Community :

18
(o)thecompilation ofacontrolled vooabulary inthe
AMISfield "basedonapreliminary draftalready -
prepared bytheCommission andanworkunderwayin
FranceandGermany }
(d)astudyofthefeasibility ofproviding a"back-up"
service,i.e.amutualexchange ofactualdocuments }
(e)astudyoftheuserneedsregarding management
information .

19
1„2.3.IPSTSystemonEnvironment
Inaccordance withtheDeclaration oftheCouncil ofthe
European Communities on22November 1973ontheprogramme ofaction
(1oftheEuropean Communities ontheEnvironment v,actionsshould
"betokentoco-ordinate environmental information systemsinthe
MemberStatesandcreatenewsystemswhenever necessary .These
systemsshouldultimately beintegrated intotheEuropean IDST
(2networlc v'andtalcetheirplaceinabroaderinternational frame**
work.Studiesandactionswillbeproposed andcarriedoutby
theCommission afterconsulting agroupofnational experts
representing customerinterests andtheCommittee forInformation
andDocumentation inScienceandTechnology .
According topreliminary investigations bythetwo
groupsofexperts,thefollowing actionsareplannedfor1975*
1•Environmental Management Information
(Studiesoncustomerneedsandrequirements ,existing
information sources,definition anddescription ofa
system.Pilotproject.)
2.European Inventory ofInformation sourcesandjoint
European contribution toUNprogramme
(Inventory ofresearchprojects onenvironment ,inventory
ofcentresofexcellence ,inventory ofdocumentation
sources.)
3oEuropean Analysisserviceforpollution controltechnology
(Studiesandstartingimplemcntation )
4.Studiesand/orstartingpilotprojects
(Environmental legislation information system,pilotfile
onconference papers,accesstodifferent information
records,andotherstudiesnecessary forimplementation
oftheprogramme.)
(1)SeeOfficialJournaloftheE.C.,Vol.16,No.C.112,
20December 1973fAnnex,PartII,Title1,Chap.11,c)
Pages34-37*
(2)According totheCouncil 1sResolution of24June1971
(O.J.Ho.C.122,10.12.1971 ,P«7)

20
1*3*1•Co-operation inDocumentation andInformation inVeterinary Science
ompmttam mtmm >nuwi
ARound Table ofExperts convened bytheCommission on
therecommendation oftheCIDST Agriculture Working Group isat
present studying thepossibilities ofwidening existing bilateral
•contacts between individual countries within aEuropean pattern#
Thepreparatory work isdesired tolead totheimplementation of
aco-operative system ,probably in1977 or1978 *
Forthetime being ,thefollowing studies ordevelopment
operations ,respectively ,areplanned orarealready under way :
(a)Evaluation ofexisting data bases useful inveterinary
medicine •
(b)Review articles
Thereview articles should cover important topics in
research andwill bebased onnational contributions ,
Atotal number of20-25 themes ayear isenvisaged .They
should Ibepublished inatleast 3or4languages .
s
(c)Compilation ofacommon multilingual controlled vocabu­
lary inveterinary science .
This will bebased onpreparatory work performed mainly
intheUnited Kingdom ,Germany andPrance ,aswell as
onstudies already started inorder tomerge existing
thesauri .
(d)Further studies anddevelopment ofother aspects of
veterinary documentation particularly oninformation
analysis ,processing ofclinical data enddisease reports .
(e)Design ofaoo-operative system .

21
1.3.2 .Co-operation inDocumentation andInformation inTropical and -
Sab^ffropical Agriculture (AGRITROP )
.ARound Table ofExperts convened bytheCommission on
therecommendation oftheCIDST Agriculture Working Group is
studying thepossibilities to«o-ordinate thework ofspecialised
documentation centres intheMember States .The aim isthe
creation ofacommon data base which mayberegarded aspart of
theCommunity *saidtodeveloping countries andastheCommunity 's
input tothecorresponding system being developed bytheFAO.
Tothis end ,three actions have been started orare
planned :
1.Enquiry into users *needs based onpreliminary studies
ofPAO andtheBritish Department forOverseas Development ,
2.Documentation of"development literature "(progress
reports ,feasibility studies ,reports ondevelopment
aidprojects ,etc.)
3«Compilation ofacommon multilingual controlled vocabu­
lary intropical andsub–tropical agriculture ,based on
preparatory work carried outmainly inPrance andthe
Netherlands .
y

22
1.3.3.Documentation of'Agricultural Literature inDifficult Languages
Theonlyspecific "bibliography onEastEuropean Agri­
cultureceasedpublication twoyearsago.YettheMemberStates
oftheCommunities haveexpressed theirinterestincovering
agricultural literature inEastEuropean andotherlanguages .
AsmallRoundTableofExperts,convened "byt^e
Commission ontherecommendation oftheCIDSTAgriculture Working
Group,isstudyingthisprobleminordertoco-ordinate dispersed
activities intheCommunity ,toimprovetheexchange ofinformal
tionanddocuments andtomakeexistingfacilities (secondary
services andtranslation services)betterknown.
Studiesoncoverage,languagebarriors anduserneeds,
aswellasthecompilation ofaunioncatalogue ofEastEuropean
agricultural periodicals inWestEuropeanLibraries ,areenvisaged.

1c3»4»Biosed:o"lInformation
ThemandateoftheWorkingGroup"Biomedical Information "
approved "bythePRESTGroupon15December 1973,providesforthe
following studies:
–multilingual terminology andmedical meta–languagesj
–acquisition andprocessing of"biomedical data(medical
recordsanddatabanks);
–permanent inventory of"biomedical research whetherin
handorplanned;
«•elaboration ofproposals forco-ordination andco-operation
oftheappropriate medicalservicesintheEuropean Community .
Thestudiesmentioned involveinvestigations aboutthe
usersandtheirneeds,theelaboration ofstandardised medical
records,i«e»surveyofexistingdocumentation systems(databanks,
compilation ofmultilingual thesauri,etc,)

1«3»5«M7DISBD–EuropeanInfonnation SystemonEducation
Theonlyexistinginformation systemoneducation ,
ERIC,coversliterature originating intheUnitedStates.
TheCouncilofEurope,foreseeing theneedfora
Europeancounterpart ofERIC,createdaWorkingGroupforthe
harnonisation oftheterminology ofeducational programmes and
curricula.Thisresultedintheoreation ofatri-lingual
thesaurus forEUDISED.
Theprogramme includes :
(a)thestudyandmanagement oftheEUDISEDthesaurus
usingtheCommission 1stechnical competence in
thesaurus management j,
(t>)afeasibility studyofthecreationofaEuropean
information systemoneducational matters,inco­
operation withtheMemberStatesandtheCouncilof
Europe.

25
1«4»Data'banks,including databanksonmaterials ,properties and
social*=economic information
WMMft «*1^ll»^tllifiiftI",'».-Mf iIWIMWi–
Inforr?atior^usersprefermoreandmoretogainimmediate
accesstoharddatainsteadofbeingreferredtoliterature inwhich
theypossibly canfindthesedata.Theneedfordatabanksarises
alsofromthefactthat,withthese,comparisons andcalculations
canimmediately beperformed bycomputer#
Theestablishment ofdatabanksrequires anenormouseffort.
Thereare,therefore ,notyetmanyintheMemberStatesofthe
Community ,Nevertheless suchactivities doexist,anditshould
bethetaskoftheCommission tostimulate andtoco-ordinate them:
thatis,topromotetheapplication ofcommonrules,tosecurehigh
qualitystandards ,andtoarrangeco-ordinated processing of
different contributions .
Atitsmeetingon29March1974}"theCIDSTagreedtostart
preparatory investigations intwosectors:
1•Materials Data
i. ■'* ' .
2.Social–économie Data
AtleastfortheMaterials DataBank,certainorganisations
intheMemberCountries havealreadyshowntheirinterestinco­
operation .Thisco-operation shouldresultintheoperation ofa
pilotdatabankbyoneofthecontributing organisations orbythe
Commission inordertogainexperience inoperating databanks.

26
1.5«Studiesoffuturosystems
In-theframework oftheBaropeanNetwork(HJRONET),
ultimately allscientific andtechnical areasshould "becovered
t>yinformation systems.Inadditiontothesystemsmentioned under
1«1»to1«4*ynewsystemswillhaveto"becreatedstep "bystepor,
alternatively ,corresponding activities intheMemberCountries will
haveto"beco-ordinated# '
TheCouncilofMinisters ,initsResolution of24June1971»
agreedtosupportinitiatives inthisrespect,andtheCIDST,at
itsmeetingof28/29March1974*endorsedthenecessitytostart
withpreparatory investigations inthefollowing areas:
–research anddevelopment menergy
–supportforselectedindustrial information systems
–modemtransport technology
«»foodtechnology
–waterresources
-•information andlibraxyactivities
•currentrosearch projects
–sciencepolicy

27
Provision ofdocumentation processing facilities
InordertoenabletheCommunity Institutions to'playtheir
roleintheEuropeanInformation Network(HTR0JT5T)rtheCommission
isduty–bound : ' ,
–toexploitalimitednumberofsectoral information
systemsvdLthintheframework ofthedeveloping EURGNETj
–tocarryoutlimitedpilotschemesandpre–testing
(including debugging )ofsectoralsystems;
–constantly toseekwaysofimproving theperformance of
existing systemsandtothatendconductappropriate tests
andexperiments ;
–tomaintain ahighstandard ofexpertise inadvanced
documentation techniques atalllevels.
Totheextentthattheseactivities involvetheexecution
ofcomputer workbytheservices oftheCommission ,thisworkwill
becarriedoutbyitscomputer centrevrtienthislastissetupin
definitive form#Inthemeanwhile,theCommission willtake'
appropriate stepstoenableitscentretocarryoutthesetasks.
Theprogramme iricludess
(a)extension ofdedicated processing facilities for
documentation purposesî
,(b)linkingtheLuxembourg databasesandfacilities with
-EURONET.

28
Tho Information Network
TheCouncil ofMinisters ,atitsmeeting on24June 1971 ,
agreed that aEuropean network forscientific andtechnical informa­
tion (3UR0NET )should "beestablished assoon aspracticable ,inorder
toputalltheinformation resources available atthedisposal of
-thototality ofpotential users inthocountries of .theCommunity .
Theimplementation ofsuch afar-reaching programme required
anumber ofpreliminary studies andconsultations which have been
carried outbytheCommission incooperation with CIDST andits
technioal advisory group .
Thesetting upofEURGEET will take several years andthis
major undertaking ,through co-operative effort ,must therefore be
carefully planned andimplemented instages .
Five fundamental phases areoutlined initems 2.1# to2.5.
which ,,together ,constitute theblueprint foraction drawn upin
co–operation with theexperts oftheMember States .
Thecosts andurgency ofthis project should beviewed in
relation tothefact that thebeneficiaries ofanefficient EURGUET
will bemany andwidely spread .Infact ,thescientific community as
awhole ,aswell asindustry ,will ultimately derive direct profit
from information properly processed anddistributed .Moreover ,the
educational sector will also benefit from it,aswill thepublic
administrations ofthe Member States .

29
1,Preparatory studies forEuRQNET
These preparatory studies aredesigned toprovide abasis
fortheplanning anddevelopment oftheinformation network .Agree­
ment hasbeen reached onanumber ofinitial studies tobesupple­
mented later byother surveys andanalyses .
Inventory ofinformation resources
Inastudy dealing with information resources ,thecompila­
tion ofaninventory ofdata bases andinformation services hasbeen
undertaken ,based onexisting national inventories anddata collected
bymeans qfaquestionnaire .
Infollow-up studies ,both overlapping ofandgaps between
data bases and services will beidentified .
Evaluation ofresources and services
Theperformance oftheservices offered bytheinformation
network will directly depend onthat .oftheindividual information
retrieval systems connected tothenetwork .Itwill ,therefore ,be
\
necessary ,zncertain cases ,to -perform system ..evaluations before
thenetwork management cancome toadecision concerning the
connection of .systems tothenetwork ..Itwill also benecessary to
analyse certain data bases andtheir operations inorder tocollect
therelevant data fordecisions ontheusefulness ofintegrating
data bases into thesystems .-
v ■ 1
Market studies
Forthedescription ofuser needs ,itwill benecessary to
carry outmarket studies designed toidentify theusers ofthe
network andtheir needs .Inthese studies ,quantitative and
qualitative user data will becollected onaCommunity basis .These
data derive from three kinds ofstudy :

30
–studies designed toprovide estimates ofthenumber of
potential users ,their location andgeographical dispersal ,
their subject "background andactivity# This could lead to
identification ofdifferent user groups which mayhave
different requirements foracoess andservices }
»studies tothrow light ontheinformation awareness of
different user groups ,theextent oftheir access to,and
use of,trained information personnel ,andformal informal
tion resources ; v ,
–anevaluation ofthemore important user groups' reactions
todifferent outputs from ,andkinds ofaccess to,informa­
tion systems andexisting networks .
Thestudies will he "based ,asfaraspossible ,onnational
surveys and studies .
Economie évaluation
•The results ofthe above mentioned studies will bethe basis
forthework involved inplanning EURQtTET .Inorder tohave the
necessary data available fortheeconomic evaluation ofthevarious
technical alternatives that might satisfy user needs andother
requirements ,certain further studies areenvisaged .
In "thefirst place ,there arecase studies .Avariety of
co-operative information systems exist and,inaddition tothe
technical andorganisational aspects ,theeoonomic aspects oftheir
development andoperation will have tobeexamined * . * '•

31
Secondly,otherstudiesareproposedtodealwiththe
economic implications ofparameters suchasmultiple storingof
databasesinthenetworksystems,volumeofdatabasespersystem,
configuration ofthecommunication network,terminal speed#
Moreover,inanetworkenvironment ,inwhichtheuserwill
beofferedservicesoriginating fromseveralsystems,theconcept
ofanadequatepricingpolicyforthenetworkservices hastobo
workedout.Thispricingpolicywilllay.downinadvancetothe
systemoperators theconditions underwhichtheservices oftheir
systemswillbeofferedtotheusersofthenetwork.These
operators may,therefore ,plantheirownsystemsaccordingly .

32
Feasibility studios and
comrnuni cation network
Thesecond step inthesetting upofEQRONET will "bethe
development ofadvanced data transmission networks #Thedata
networks planned bythePost Offices inthevarious countries of
theEuropean Communities arenotexpected tocome into operation
forgeneral public usebefore 1985 •
Asolution must ,therefore ,befound fortheEQR01TET to
cover theinterim period between 1975 1935 *
ι
/
Asaresult ofthepreparatory studies of2.1.,anumber
ofinformation retrieval systems will beselected which will have
tobeconnected totheinformation network .Potential users will
boidentified foreach ofthese systems#
Thus ,thepotential user population forthesystems selected
forincorporation inthenetwork will also beknown#
Afeasibility study forthecommunication network will be
performed based onthese data# Inthis study ,thetechnical
alternatives will beidentified andspecifications worked out#
Inadialogue with aninformation retrieval system ,the
user ofaterminal must employ awell-defined command language #
These languages aretotally different from system tosystem# This
isextremely inconvenient fortheuser whodoes notwish toswitch
from onelanguage toanother when switching from onesystem to
another#
Itis,therefore ,recommended that astandardised command
language bedeveloped#pilot projocts for thecomputergiwKMa^.au élagua lupoawBo–i ––»

33
This study should also identify howmuch effort inthe
programming would beneeded toadapt anon–standardised command
language toastandardised one,or,inother words ,howmuch the
development ofastandardised user/system interface fora
particular system would cost .
Toprovide users with access toinformation stored in
various systems will also require theprovision ofadvice tothese
users onwhich system isnost appropriate ineach particular case#
Such anadvisory service isessential inthecost-effective
operation ofanetwork .Itwill help tominimise "both user
retrieval effort andsearch costs fi.e. telecommunication costs
anddata processing costs .
Intheinitial phase ofnetwork operations ,this adviBory
service will beamanual service atnational level .Inafeasibility
study ,thepossibilities fordeveloping acomputer –based referral
service will beinvestigated .

34
Création ofthecommunications network– owtwÎ>W»II . lbjimm.–in
Asaresultofthefeasibility studyonaninterimconnunica ^-
tionfacilityforEDRONET,aphysicalnetworkwillhavetohesetup.
Theprogressive installation ofappropriate communication
facilities isscheduled tobeginin1976*In1975*"thedevelopment
ofnewsoftware ormodification ofsuitableexisting "software must
alsostart.Twotypesofsoftware havetobeconsidered :supervisory
software andapplication software.
Thesupervisory softwarewillperformfunotions suchas;
«■statistics ofnetworktraffic;
–statistics offaults:
–routxngofmessages ;
–failuredétection ;'
'–errorreoovery ;
«•availability ofhostprocessors ;
–costaccountmg .
Theapplication softwarewillperformmessage-handling
functions suchastransmission ,validation ,failuredetection ,re-*
formatting .
Furthermore ,interface softwarewillneedtobedeveloped for
protocol conversion betweennodalpointsandhostsordata–base
carryingprocessors .TheCommission willcarryoutexperiments with
remote cc.i«lineinformation retrieval fromdatabasesstoredbyit.
Theseexperiments mustprovidetheinformation requiredforthe
designyvniiesofthenetwork.Therearealsoplanstocarryout
exper ?.n3"vc.3onthesharingofdatatransmission linkswithother
syster?;:'providing remoteuseraccess,whichwillmean,from1976
onwarls,theleasingofalimitednumberoflines.

35
Network management studies
Atthepresentstageofthenetworkdevelopment ,itisnot
knownwhatorganisational set-^upwillbechosentocarryoutthe
networkplans*Someassumptions ,however,can"bemade:
–mostoftheexecutive work(installation ,operation,
maintenance ,etc.)relatedtothecommunication network,
terminals included,will "becarriedoutundercontract ;
-•themanagement ofinformation retrieval systemsanddata
"banksthataretobelinkedtothenetwork,willremain
xfiththeirsponsoring organisations .
Thiswill,ofcourse,easetosomeextentthemanagement
taskofthenetwork.Themultilingual ,nultidisciplinary andmultis*.
nationalcharacter ofthenetwork,however,willstillmakethe
management function acomplexandarduousbusiness.Aseparate study
will,therefore ,bemadeoftheproblemsinvolvedinmanagingthe
information networksothat,by1976,specifications foranoptimal
network management willbeavailable.
Besidestheaspectofmanagingthenetwork,therestill
remainsthequestion ofthetraining ofmanagement bothforthe–mtdWiff» «trjttw »•mm
information networkandtheparticipating systems.Itwouldseem
desirable thatthistaskbecarriedoutatCommunity level.

36
Support forconverting existing services
Support nust "beprovided forcertain information systems
(existing orunder development )inorder tomake them compatible
with theEuropean network andtoputthem insuch aposition asto
serv ethe real needs ofusers inall theMember Countries ofthe
Community *
mm
Asthe installation ofthe communication network and
user terminals isscheduled for1976 |networks-compatible information
retrieval systems anddata banks will beneeded bythen .Themost
appropriate systems forincorporation inthenetwork arethose
which already provide ,orwill dosointhenear future ,on-line
acces stostored data .Operators ofsuch systems areexpected to
have thenecessary experience andinterest toadapt their systems
totherequirements defined bythecommunication network andby
thenetwork management .
Adaptation activities are :
•*system /network interface development ;
–development ormodification oftransaction processing
monitors ;
–extension ofconfiguration where needed ;
••setting upofanabstracts distribution service .
In1975 ,itwould bedesirable toobtain some technical
advice onthemerits ofadapting certain systems .Itwould
similarly beworthwhile togive support topromising initiatives
from system operators .Itisquite probable that in1976 andfor
afewyears tofollow ,only alimited part ofthetotal field of
science andtechnology will beoovered bytheadapted on-line
systems .TheCommission ,therefore ,proposes toexploit commercially

37
available databasesatAEuropeanlevel.Inordertoachievethis,
fourorfivespecifically oriented information centreswithinthe
Community could "beextendedinsuchawayastomakecommercially
available databasesavailable on-linethroughthenetwork.Thus,
acentreforphysicscouldbeextendedinonecountry,onefor
chemistry inanother,andsoon.Onecanforeseethefollowing
costfactors :
••acquisition ofdatabases;
–extension ofcomputerconfiguration ;
•–development ofsuitable software ;
•-–recruitment ofadditional staff* ■.
MemberStatesmustcometoanagreement onthequestion of
whichcentreswouldhavetobechosenforthispurpose,otherwise
theEuropean networkwillbeatadisadvantage withothernetworks
suchasTtymshare whichisbasedintheUnitedStates..
Animprovement intheavailability ofinformation tousers
intheshorttermcanbereachedbyinvitingparticularly promising
systemstoopentheirdoorstouserswithintheentireEuropean
Community.Somefinancial supportwillberequired assoonas1975
toencourage thenecessary technical ,linguistic andotheradjust­
ments.However,suchconversions andmostoftheadaptations will
comeonlyin1976andlater.Untilthen,appropriate financing
willhavetobefoundbyseekingnationalcontributions (public
and/orprivate)aswellasaCommunitycontribution ,the
preparations ofwhicharestilltobodetermined .

38
Information Methodology andTechnology
Daring "thepast decade ,Europe hasfallen behind inthe
development ofadvanced information technology andmethodology which
hasmade particularly rapid progress intheUnited States and ,more
recently ,inJapan# There is,therefore ,animperative need tofill
existing gaps ,hutatthesame time ,aserious effort must hemade to
solve problems that arespecifically European .
These problems aredue totheexistence oflanguage barriers
anddivergent approaches inthefields ofstandards ,specialist
education andtechnological development#
TheCouncil fully recognised this .difficulty when itcalled ,
inits1971 Resolution ,forthefurthering oftechnological .progress ,
indocumentary data processing andthesciences ofdocumentation and
forthepromotion ofspecialist training andeducation ofusers .
Attwomeetings oftheCIDST ,acomplete consensus of
opinion emerged totheeffect that every endeavour should bemade to
overcome thedeficiencies andto ,assist theMember States inestab­
lishing anappropriate ,comprehensive andadvanced .technological
infrastructure asapre-re quisite forthesetting upoftheEuropean
information network .
The .steps andmeasures proposed aresummarised in .items 3.1.
to3.6. . ..

39
Studyariddevelopmen tofappropriate ?multilingu altools
Therearetwotypesoflanguage problemsinthecontextof
theEuropean networks terminology controlandtranslation oftext#
Terminology controlimpliesthecreation,maintenance and
useofmultilingual standardised vocabularies orthesauri *
Translation oxtextinvolves theconversion ofthesemantic
contentofthewords,andtheconversion ofthesyntactic structure
ofthestatements fromonelanguageintoanother.
Theprogramme merudes:
(a)athoroughstudyofthecontents,structure andutilisation
ofthesauri,basedonacollection ofallthesauriinuse
todayanduponexperience intheirmanagement j
(b)theelaboration ofthesaurus guidelines (seealsounder
"Standardisation ",Item3.2.)j
(c)thedevelopment ofauniversal modularsoftwarepackage
forthecompilation ,updating,printing endapplication of
mono–andmultilingual thesauri ;theexperimental management
ofoneorseveralsectoralthesauri ;
(d)thestudyofcostandefficiency ofvariousmethodsproposed
forthetranslation oftext;inparticulars
–apilottestoftheTITUSsystem,involving thewriting
andautomatiotrans1ationofnormalised sentenoes ;
~theextension oftheapplication ofautomatic indexing
techniques toamultilingual environment (incooperation
withCSTIS).

40
Studyanddevelopment ofstandards fortheinformation network
Operation oftheinformation networkimpliesthetransfer
ofinformation "betweenvariouscountries ,languages ,scientific
fields,databasesornetworknodes.Thistransferisfeasible
onlyinsofarastheinformation elements andtheoperational
routines are'thoroughly standardised .
Theprogramme includess
(a)thedevelopment ofauniquemagnetictapeinterchange
formatfor"bibliographical data(inco-operation with
UNESCOandEUSIDIC);
("b)studyofthecostandefficiency ofalternative methods
forthemergingandredistribution ofsectoral databases
intomission-oriented interdisciplinary databases;
(c)theelaboration ofguidelines coveringthecontents,
structure anduseofthesauri tobedeveloped withinthe
network"(inco-operation withUNESCOandISO);
(d)thestudyofexistingrileaandguidelines forcataloguing ,
abstracting andindexing,basedonacollection ofrules
usedinexisting systems;elaboration ofguidelines for
systemstobeintegrated inthenetwork#'

41
3,3»Information Analysis Centres
Themethodology ofliterature information retrieval systems
l/asdeveloped over thelast twer.ty years through thesuccessive
invention ofCo-ordinate Indexing ,Boolean Strategy ,Pile Compression ,
Relevance Feedback ,andOn--Line Interactive Retrieval .
Luring this period ,little attention wasgiven (except in
theUSA)totheanalysis andevaluation ofsubjeot content ofthe
available literature .
Centres ofexpertise have evolved only insubject fields
where anextensive need fordirectly usable ,factual information
existed -
Theproposed programme includes :
(a)atypology covering theoperational modes andutilisation
patterns ofexisting information analysis facilities j
(b)'astudy oftheneed fornewfacilities ,andthedevelop­
ment ofcriteria andguidelines for thecreation ofsuch
facilities ;
(c)theexperimental development ofnewinformation analysis
facilities inselected subject fields .
Expenditures forth±a programme cannot beitemised with
precision atthepresent time .They are ,therefore ,covered by
theproposed credits fordevelopment studies (Item 3.6»ofthe
budgetary plan ).

42
Training ofinformation specialists andeducation ofuser s
Anoverall co-operative programme forthetraining of
information specialists inEurope will have to "besetup(reso­
lution oftheCouncil of1971)•Inthemeanwhile ,itisnecessary •
toundertake aninterim programme comprising anumber oflimited
actions todetermine thereal needs inquality ,identify themain
problem areas ,anddevelop appropriate curricula .These actions
constitute anextension oftheefforts already made insome Member
Countries with theaim ofraising thegeneral level ofeducation
andtraining throughout theCommunity .
Itisalso necessary tofind ways andmeans tomake
potential users ofEJJR01TET aware ofthe "benefits they will "beable
todraw from itsuse.Theprogramme in1975 inoludest
(a)theorganisation ofasummer school ,comprising athree-
week course "byaEuropean group -offirst –class specialists ;
("b)theconvening ofspecialist discussi ongroups forthe
thrashing outofproblems oftimely interest orcontroversy ;
(c)thesponsoring ofshort–' term visits tocentres ofexpertise
inother countries ;
(d)theorganisation ofseminars andworkshops specifically
designed formanagers ,system analysts,' andother
specialists responsible fortheefficient operation of
IDST systems ;
(a)thedefinition ofmethods fordeveloping theinformation
consciousness offuture system users during their university
education ;
(f)theelaboration ofaprogramme ofconferences ,exhibitions ,
demonstrations ,marketing ,andother actions likely to
promote theuse ofEQEQNET .

43
Development ofinfCroatian technology
Inorder toimprove theperformance ofIDST systems :andof
theEuropean IDST network ,itwill "benecessary todevelop new
information technologies and ,inthefirst instance ,tocarry out :
(a)study ofoost andefficiency ofvarious file structures
inanetwork environment ,including direct andinverted
files ,clustering techniques anddynamic file arrangements
(t>)aninvestigation oftheEuropean Programme Library »in
order toidentify programmes that can "beused oradopted
foruse inthe context ofELTRGNET#
Conversely ,allvaluable software identified inthecourse
ofcase studies orproduced inthecourse ofdevelopment
studies will befedinto theEuropean Programme Library#

44
Development Studies
Correctorientation ofthecreation ofIDSTsystemsand
theirintegration intotheinformation networkimpliesanumber
ofstate-of-the-artandfeasibility studies,thetopicsofwhich
will "bespecified astheneedsfornewsystemsarise.
Thefollowing actionsarealreadyenvisaged !-
(a)astudyofthecontents,operational nodesandutilisation
patternofexistingdata "banks;thedevelopment ofguide­
linesforthecreation,updating andinterrogation of
data"banks(inco-operation withCODATA);
(b)experimental development ofdatabanksinseleotedsubject
fieldsincluding materials andsocio-economic data
(Item1.4»)Î
(c)astudyoftheoperational modesandutilisation patterns
ofexisting information analysis centres;thestudyofthe
need,andthedevelopment ofcriteria andguidelines for
thecreationofnewfacilities (inco-operation with
CODATA),(Item3.3.)i
\
(d)experimental development ofnewinformation analysis
facilities inselectedsubjectfields;
(e)studyofco-operative industrial information systemsand
theirrationalisation anddevelopment :

45
(f)thestudyoftheneed,andfeasibility ofinformation
systemsinsubjectfieldsoftimelyinterest,including
research anddevelopment inthefieldofenergyproduc­
tion;thefuturetechnology oftransportation ?the
scienceandtechnology offood(inco-operation with
IPIS,theInternational PoodInformation Service);
Europeanresources ofwater,woodandpaper;information
scienceandlibraryactivities ;inventories ofEuropean
researchprojectsinvarioussubjectfields;science
policy;andmanyothers,astheycomeintotheheadlines.

46
MWEX3
ACTION PROGRAMME ONINFORMATION ANDDOCUJTElTTATiaN
INSCIENCE ANDTECHNOLOGY FORTHEPERIOD 1975-1977
OPINION OFCID3T
TheCommittee' forInformation andDocumentation onScienceandTechnology ,
Conscious oftherapiddevelopments whichhaveoccurred withinitsfield
ofcompetence sinceitwassetupin1971»
Considering that,intheabsenceofpromptaction,thevariousmeasures
agreed "faytheCounciland,notably,thesettingupofaEuropeannetworkof
soientific andtechnioal information anddocumentation ,runaseriousrick
ofbeingineffective ,
Takingaccountofthefulldiscussions atits9"thand10thsessions,
–ConsidersthattheaotionssetoutinDocument CIDST/77/74–Rev.1should
becarriedoutbytheCommunity acoording totheplannedcalendar,
–Recommends totheCommission toproposeacomprehensive planofaction
alongtheselinestotheCouncilimmediately ,
–Considers thatthebudgetoftheCommunities shouldcovertheexpenditures
setoutinDocument CIDST/77/74–Rev.1fortheyears1973–1977»
–Stressesthatincertainprogrammes theincreasein1976ar_d1977isdue
totheleadtimeforeseeninsettingthemup,
«»DecidestotransmitthepresentopiniontotheCommission oftheEuropean
Communities aswellastotheCommittee forScientific andTechnical
Research (CREST).
TheUnitedKingdomDelegation formallyreservesitsposition.

47
ArmextoACTTEX3.
Doc.CIDST/77/74Rev.1
ACTION PROGRAMME OUIïïFOEMATÏOÏT AKDDOCUMENTATION' ?
IffSCIENCE AIIDTAUTOLOGY FORTHE1975-197 ?PERIOD
BUDGETARY PM
Themanagement ofsoientifio –technical andsocial-economic information
resources attheEuropeanlevelwillenteranew,moreactivephasefrom
1975on*Considerably higheramountswillberequiredtoachievethetasks
oftheCommission andwhioharepartofanoverallsetupsubmitted to
CIDST.
Thefollowing .btkLgetaiy proposals arecentered aroundthreemainorienta­
tionsdefinedbytheCouncilofMinisters*).
1)Thefirstisrelatedtotherapidsettingupofsectoral information
systems,somebeingimplemented ,somebeingstudied *Thesesectoral
systemswillrequireappropriation of905*000a.u.for1975?this
amountdoesnotcomprise theamountsrequiredfortheoperation of
existingsystems,whiohwillbefinanced byrenewalofthe1974budget
(e.g.420,000a«u.in1975)* >
2)Thesecondgroupoftasksisrelatedtotheprogressive establishment of
theEuropeaninformation network,whiohtheCommission willundertake in
closeoooperation withtheauthorities ofthemembercountries,The
budgetproposedfor1975comprises preparatory studies,feasibility
.studies,pilottestsandthepreparation ofanoutlineofthesoftware
.requiredfornetworkmanagement .
*)–Resolution dated24»6.1971ontheEuropeannetwork v
–Resolution dated24.6.1971 onmetallurgy documentation
–Actionprogrammeforenvircnmental protection (22.11.1973 )
–Draftregulation onagricultural research

48
Bytheendof1975andduring1976and1977*thedevelopment ofthe
networkwillcontinue "bytheadaptation ofon–lineandtheconversions
ofoff-linefacilities .
The1975budgetproposals comprise1,040,000a.u.forthesetasks,"but
considerably higheramountswillobviously berequiredin1976and1977•
OntheCommunity level,theobjectives aretoensureaflexibleoverall
coordination ofactivities whichguarantiees accesstothenetworkunder
equalconditions forallusersintheCommunity andtopromoteharmonized
tarification praotices .
3)AtthesametimetheCommunitywillhavetomakeavigorouseffort
developing modemtechniques forscientific-technical information trans­
ferandofsolvingspecifically European problems suchasthelanguage
barrier;thetasksofthiscategoryalsoincludeaneffortforthe
training ofspecialists andtheeduoation ofusers.Itisalsoenvisaged
toentrusttheIspraCentrewithacertainamountofadvancedresearch.
Thisdevelopment effortrequiresappropriation of805,000a.u.for1975»
***
Thefinancing modewillneoessarily varyasafunctionofthecontentand
theimportance ofeachprojectorprogramme.Inmostcasesitisenvisaged
tousematchingfundsorsubventions ,e.g.fortheconversion orCommunity-
wideextension ofexistingservices.Inothercasesstudyanddevelopment
contracts willbeconcluded withcompanies andinstitutions ofthemember
oountries .

49
I
I
I□3udgetproposais1*2.1000afu3)j
JIfemOrientations
i ■1975 1976 1977
jl7IS3TSystems
r -- .905 !j1006
fj,1165^
„_L J
2»Theinformât!ennetworkl
ii
i1040 j
1|2430 3060
3.Studiesofmethodology and
information technology
». ---- ■-'i
805 !870 j
II
I950
Totalsj
I
iL.2750 j
14306
»5175
P.cirarks :
1•Theoperation ofthenuclearandmetallurgical information systems
(ENDSandSDIM)vailbefinanced "byrenewalofthe1974 "budgetappro­
priations oftheCommission# Theyarecitedinthefollowing tablefor
thesakeofcompleteness only(p»m»)»
2•Thecreation andoperation oftheinformation systemonagricultural
researchprojectswillbefinancedbytheDGVI(Agriculture )onamounts
foreseenintheframework ofacouncil'sdeoision onagricultural research.
Itisalsocitedforcompleteness only#
3,TheStudyofotherproblemslikelytoariseinthecomingyears,thecost
ofwhichisstillimpossible toforeseeindetail,iscoveredbyaglobal
amountof300,000a»u»underitem3«
1

50
DETAILED FJDC-ET PROPOS /ILS
1.STID SYSTEMS
1.1Existing Systems :EÏÏDS and .SDIM
1.2systems being implemented ,including
EUR-AGRIS -I,AMIS andEnvironment
1»3Systems "being prepared ,including
documentation forVeterinary medi–
oine ;tropical agriculture }
agricultural literature indiffi­
cult languages ?bio»«nedical infor­
mation ;education
1.4Data banks ,inoluding data "banks
:onmaterials properties ;onsocial –
economio information
1.5Studies offuture systems ,includ­
ingsystems covering research &
development inenergy production ;
modern transport technology ;food
technology ;water resources ;infor­
mation andlibrary activities ;
current researoh projects ;scienoe
policy ,eto»
1.6Provision ofprooessing facilities
fordocumentation purposes in
order toenable theCommunity
Institutions toplay their role in
theEuropean information network1975 1976 1977
(inthousands a»u«)
905
P*M#
385
220
P.M.
P.M ,
3001006 1165
P.M.
361P«Mi
330
245 335
P.M. P.M.
P.M. P.M.
400 500

51
1975 i1976 .
(inthousandsa.u.)j|1977
2.THEPIFORMA.TIQN' NETWORK |1040
<2430|3060
2#1Preparatory sttidiestoprovidea
"basisfortheplanning anddeve­
lopmentoftheinformation network
forexample s
compilation ofeninventors' -of
information resources andassociz>»
tedstudies onoverlap aridgaps
betweenservices }evaluation of
resources &services ;
economic evaluation ofthevarious
optionsforinformation networks ;
marketstudiesdesignedtoidentify ;
usersandtheirneeds#240 150 80
2.2Feasibility studiesandpilot
projeots oormected withtheplann­
ingofthecoomnunication network,
forexamples
specification ofhardware and
software identification andspeci­
fication ofthestandards for
user/systominteraction#300 .230, 60
2#3Creation ofthecommunications
network#
forexample :
development ofsoftware ofmodific–
cationofsuitable -existingsoft­
ware;
progressive installation ofappro­
priatehardwarefacilities ;
leasingoflines(initiallyfor
experiments )280
I
i610
i/
600
2#4Network management studies,
forexamples
studyoftheproblems involvedin
managing theinformation network;
establishment andoperation ofa
suitable management structure#I
I
!50
f110 120
ι
I-
2#5Assistance tocertaininformation
systems(existingorundercreation)
inordertomakethemcompatible
withtheEuropean network andable-
toservetherealanddifferent
"needsof■th®users.in.the.countries
oftheCommunity#170
■III■II1330
i ;
12200

52
3.STUDIES QPMETHGDOLOGTJdW^miMî&^mfoLOGr
3.1Studyanddevelopment ofsuitable
multilingual systems#
forexample:
économies andeffectiveness of
différent methods.
3.2Workconnected withtheestablish­
mentofsuitable standards for
theinformation network.
forèxamplet
formatsfortheexchange ofinfor­
mationandmessages ;
citation ,of"bibliographic referen­
ces;
indexing languages andclassificat­
ions.
3.3Information analysiscentres.
Surveyofoperational modesand
ofarisingneeds.
3*4Education andtraxmng.
forexamples
promotion ofusereducation ;
training ofinformation special-
lists.
3.5Development ofinformation techno­
logy* , ■ -
forexamples
studyoffilestructures adapted ,
tonetworkoperations ; J
studyofavailable software.
3.6Surveysandstudies.
forexaciple s■
feasibility anddevelopment stu«*
diesas,theneedforthemarises.1975 !1976 '
(inthousandsa.u»)I1977
i
805.!870 950
f
200 190 170
130 130 130
P.M. P.M. P.M.
75 150,250
! ■
I­
•100 ■100 100
300 .300 ;300

53
ANNEX4
0PINI0N
oftheScientific andTechnical Research Committee (CREST)
ontheinitialplanofactiononscientific andtechnical
information anddocumentation (STID)
fortheperiod1975-1977
TheScientific andTechnical Research Committee (CREST),•
HavingregardtotheCouncilResolutions of24June1971and
1/1January 1974*
Conscious oftherapiddevelopments whichhaveoccurred inthe
fieldofscientific andtechnical information anddocumentation
since1971,
TakingaccountoftheOpinionoftheScientific andTechnical
Information andDocumentation Committee (STIDC)ontheplanof
actiononscientific andtechnical information anddocumentation
proposed bytheCommission ,
Takingaccountofitsdiscussions on22May,24Juneand
11July1974, . *
Regardsthescientific andtechnical contentoftheCommission
proposal ?asvalidandconsiders thaturgentactionshouldbe
undertaken bytheCommunity inthissector,takingfullaccount
oftheinterests ofusers,
Recommends totheCommission thatitpropose aninitialthree-,
yearplanofactionalongtheselinestotheCounciltogether
withanestimate oftheappropriations andstaffrequired to
implement it,
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54
Recommends totheCommission thatmdraftingitsproposals it
takeaccountoftheworkdonebythenational centres andof
otherEuropeanactivities ,thatitstudythepossibility of
carrying outcertainprojects byconcerted actionand,finally ,
thatittakeaccount oftheResolutions of24June1971and
14January 1974withregardtotheassociation ofthirdcountries ,
Considers thattheCouncildecision onthethree-year planshould
involveprovision intheCommunity budgetfor1975forexpenditure
intheorderof1.84MUA,
Desirestheplanofactiontobeimplemented bytheCommission
incloreco-operation withtheCRESTandtheSTIDC,these
Committees beingkerctregularly informed ofprogress ,
Considers thattheamountsenvisaged for1976-1977 areonlyan
indication ofthetrendsexpected intheprogress ofthe
programme .AtalleventstheSTIDCandtheCRESTshoulddeliver
anopinionannually onthebudgetary implications ofthefuture
progress oftheplanofaction,
Recommends totheSTIDCthatitexamine morecloselythe
proposals onaidfortheconversion oftheexisting services for
whichnofinancial testimatehasbeenmadefor1976and1977(see
AnnextotheAnnex),particularly fromthetwofoldangleofco­
ordinating andconcerting workinthenational centres ,
HasdecidedtosendthisOpiniontotheCommission andtothe
Council •
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55
Annex
tothe ANNEX 4
,■BUDGETARY PLAN
regarding Scientific andTechnical
Information andDocumentation (STID )
for 1975 and 1976 -1977
Atitsmeetings oji24June and 11and12July 1974 ,the
CREST examined theSTID budgetary plan proposed jointly by
theCommission andtheSTIDC /"seeparticularly CREST /21/74
+Add,1J•
Further tothis examination ,delegations will find
attached :
(1)anSTID budgetary plan for1975 containing theamounts
proposed bytheSTIDC andthose recommended bythe CREST ;
(2)anoverall estimate ofexpenditure for1976 and 1977#
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56
1.STIDBUDGETARY PLANFOR1975
(inthousands ofUA)
iAmount
proposed by
theCRESTAmount
recommended
bytheCREST
CHAPTER I»–•–MMM»M«M«M–_H
i
I
IScientific andtechnical information and
jdocumentation systems
TOTALi
905 550
1,1.Existing systems :ENDSandSMDI p.m. p.m.|
1.2.Systemsbeingimplemented ,including
AGRIS-I ,AMISandEnvironment 385 250
1.3.Systemsbeingprepared ,including
documentation forVeterinary medi­
cine;Tropical agriculture ;agri­cultural literature indifficult
languages ;bio-medical information ;education 220 100
1.4*Databanks,including databanks
onmaterials properties ;social-
economic information p.m.
IP.m#
1.5.Studiesoffuturesystems ,includ­
ingsystemscovering research and
development inenergyproduction ;
moderntransport technology ;food
technology ;waterresources ;inform­ationandlibraryactivities ;
research projects ;sciencepolicy,
etc. P.m. p.m.
1.6.Provision ofprocessing facilities
fordocumentation purposes in
ordertoenabletheCommunity
Institutions toplaytheirrolein
theEuropean information network 300 200
i
I
i
il
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57
(inthousands ofUA)
Amount Amount
Proposed Recommended
bythe bythe
STIDC CREST
CHAPTER 2 F
The information network' TOTAL 1,040 660 J
2.1 ,Preparatory studies toprovide abasis forr
theplanning and development ofthe
information network .
For example :compilation ofaninventory
ofinformation resources and associated
studies onoverlap and gaps between
services ;évaluation ofresources and
services ;économie évaluation ofthe
various options for information networks ;
market studies designed toidentify users
and their needs 24013?
2.2 .Feasibility studies andpilot projects
connected with theplanning ofthe
communication network .
For example :specification ofhardware
and software identification and
speemeation ofthe standards for
user/system interaction 300 140
2.3 .Creation ofthe communications network .
For example :development ofsoftware
ormodification ofsuitable existing
I software ;progressive installation of
approximate hardware facilities ;leasing
oflines (initially asanexperiment ) 280 200
2.4 .Network management studies .
•For example :study oftheproblems
mvolved inmanaging the information
network ;establishment and opération
ofasuitable management structure 50 50
2.5 .Assistance tocertain information
Systems (existing orbeing created )morder tomake them compatible
with theEuropean network and able
toserve the real and différent needs
ofthe users inthe countries ofthe
| Community170 150
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58
rAmount
Proposed
bythe
STIDCAmount
Recommended
bythe
CREST
CHAPTER 3
Studies onmethodology and
information technology TOTAL805 630 I
3.1 .Study and development •ofsuitable
multilingual systems .
For example :économies and effeotiveness
ofdifférent methods 200 80
3.2 .Work connected with The establishment
ofsuitable standards for the
information network . 1
For example :formats for the exchange
ofinformation andmessages ;citation .
ofbibliographic references ;indexing
languages and classificationsi
130 100
3.3 *Information analysis centres .
Survey ofoperational modes and of
arising needs . p«m . p.m .
3.4# Education and training .
For example :promotion ofthe
education ofusers ;training of
information specialists . 75 75
3.5 .Development ofinformation technology .
For example :study offile structures
adapted tonetwork operations ;study
ofavailable software 100 75
3.6 .Surveys and studies .
For example :feasibility and develop­
ment studies asthe need for them
arises . 300 200
GRAND TOTAL 2,750 1,840
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4
59
2.TOTALESTIMATES OFSTTDEXPENDITURE FOR1976AND1977
Asregardsthefinancial years197^"and1977,there
.aregroundsforenvisaging atotalexpenditure foreach
ofthesethreechapters of2,3and2.5MUArespectively ,
giventhatthesefiguresareonlyanindication andthat
theyexcludeinbothcasesconversion expenditure which
wasinitially anticipated initem2.5.Allfiguresare
givenattoday'smonetary value,without makingany
allowance forinflation#
Theestimates for1976and1977havebeendrawnup
takingintoaccount ,inparticular ,thefollowing points:
(1)Thetransition totheoperational stageoftheEuronet
networkwillrequirethepreliminary development of
interface software at"theterminal level,aswellas
thecompletion ofacertain numberofpilottests.
(2)Itwasthoughtpossiblein1975toreduceexpenditure on,
sectoral STIDsystems.However,from1976,onemust
anticipate thesetting upofsomenewsectoral systems
andexpectameasureofsupportfortheindustrial
information systems.
(3)Asfarasinformation technology andmethodology are
concerned ,expenditure for1976and1977hasbeen
maintained atthe1975level,withtheexception ,however ,
ofhigheramountsbeingearmarked forthetraining of
specialists andtheeducation ofusersfollowing the
unanimous recommendation ofSTIDCmembers.
Tosumup,theprovisional estimates overall showan
increase ofalittlemorethan30#between 1975and1976,
butaverymuchlesserrateofincrease asfrom1977*
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