Subject: EnVoc: Multilingual Thesaurus of Environmental Terms
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Greetings Colleagues,
The following press release has been sent to you in order
to:
1)inform you of the new EnVoc Multilingual Thesaurus of
Environmental Terms, and;
2) to provide you with information that you can disseminate
in your respective lists, newsletters, book reviews, etc...
UNEP has just completed the printing of the English version
of EnVoc with Spanish, French and Arabic due out in the
next
few months. Chinese and Russian to follow. This is the
first
time the thesaurus will be published in all 6 official UN
languages.
It is indeed an honor for the INFOTERRA Secretariat,
Division
of Environmental Information and Assessment, to have the
EnVoc Multilingual Thesaurus of Environmental Terms
launched
on World Environment Day in Korea by UNEPs Executive
Director, Ms. Elizabeth Dowdeswell.
Please feel free to use this press release as a publicity
initiative, send the release to your local newspapers,
journals, news wires, radio television and other relevant
environmental contacts. Promoting the thesaurus and
sharing
with others how you use the thesaurus will have a consensus
building effect on what professional information
specialists
are responsible for in your nations environmental
information
exchange.
We thank you for your efforts. Please keep the Secretariat
informed of any developments.
*******************************************************
Under Embargo
Not for release until 8 a.m. GMT
5 June 1997
UNEP LAUNCHES A REVISED VERSION OF EnVoc -
MULTILINGUAL THESAURUS OF ENVIRONMENTAL TERMS
Contributing to a global standard for Environmental
Vocabulary
Seoul/Nairobi, 5 June 1997 - The United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), launched its EnVoc
Multilingual Thesaurus of Environmental Terms, to
coincide with the World Environment Day celebrations
in Seoul today.
"Five years after the Rio Conference, it is now an
opportune time to reflect on the role of information
in the implementation of Agenda 21. Throughout
Agenda 21, there are hundreds of references to the
importance of information for better decision-making
in the management of sustainable development" said
Ms. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Executive Director of UNEP
while releasing the publication.
Chapter 40 of Agenda 21 states the following: "In
sustainable development, everyone is a user and
provider of information considered in the broad
sense. That includes data, information, appropriately
packaged experience and knowledge. The need for
information arises at all levels, from that of senior
decision makers at the national and international
levels to the grass-roots and individual levels. The
following two programme areas need to be implemented
to ensure that decisions are based on sound
information:
(a) Bridging the data gap;
(b) Improving information availability".
UNEP is addressing both of these issues under the
sub-programme entitled Global and Regional Servicing
and our global environmental information exchange
network, INFOTERRA, is responding to several mandates
received from governments to improve information
availability.
Although there exists a wealth of information that
could be used for the management of sustainable
development, one of the major problems encountered
within many countries, particularly developing
countries, is that information is not adequately
managed for a variety of reasons including lack of
technology and methodologies for effective access.
Chapter 40 proposed the "establishment of standards
and methods for handling information" as one of
several activities to address this problem. One of
UNEP's contributions to this initiative is the
production of a standardized environmental vocabulary
entitled EnVoc - Multilingual Thesaurus of
Environmental Terms which is a reference tool for both
users and providers of environmental information.
The use of a controlled vocabulary for keyword
indexing is a fundamental pre-requisite not only for
the library community but also for our ever-expanding
partnership of specialists working with environmental
data and information. In the absence of a standard
environmental vocabulary it would be inconceivable to
compile meaningful datasets and information products
let alone exchange them in an efficient and harmonised
manner.
EnVoc is the latest edition of the INFOTERRA
Thesaurus of environmental Terms fully revised to
reflect emerging environmental concerns and new
technologies especially in the field of
environmental information. The thesaurus has evolved
from an unstructured list of keywords with very
limited application to a structured environmental
thesaurus with a broad application base comprising of
librarians, documentalists, database developers,
thesaurus developers, terminologists, GIS
specialists, translators, interpreters and
environmental information specialists in general.
EnVoc is being published in all six official United
Nations languages -
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
UNEP would like to especially thank the Government of
Sweden for funding the production of the thesaurus in
the Arabic, English, French and Spanish, under the
Agenda 21 Trust Fund. The Russian and Chinese
versions are being published with assistance from the
Governments of the Russian Federation and the People's
Republic of China.
Additionally a number of other Governments have
undertaken the translation into their national
languages. The initiative taken by these Governments
in translating the thesaurus into their national
languages is testimony to the importance they attach
to environmental terminology and the value of the
thesaurus as a reference tool.
UNEP wishes to thank the Italian Government for
assistance received from the INFOTERRA national focal
point for Italy located in the Institute of
Biomedical Technologies of the National Research
Council (CNR-ITBM-RRDA) in Rome, during the revision
of the third edition of the INFOTERRA Thesaurus and
its subsequent integration with the General
European Multilingual Environment Thesaurus (GEMET)
being developed by the European Environment
Agency (EEA).
As testimony to its widespread appeal we have now
decided to rename the thesaurus EnVoc, reflecting its
established niche as a leading environmental
vocabulary with an international client base.
As a subject, environment is multidisciplinary by
nature. Its study, therefore, covers a wide range of
linkages to disciplines and consequently it would be
very difficult, though not impossible, to construct a
thesaurus containing every environmental term. The
terms listed in EnVoc are drawn from a relatively high
level in the environmental terminology hierarchy.
This strategy eliminates unnecessary duplication with
more specialised thesauri and the end product is
closely integrated, compact and more practical to use.
*******
For more information on EnVoc or other INFOTERRA
products and services, contact: Beth Ingraham, UNEP
Thesaurus Team, Division of Environmental
Information and Assessment, UNEP, P.O. Box 30552,
Nairobi, KENYA. Tel: 254-2-62-4299; Fax:
254-2-62-4269;
E-mail: infotinf@unep.org. Web site:
http://www.unep.org/soenoe97/en/indexges/nick_waltham/lrrdhome.htm
Tore Brevik, Chief or Patricia Jacobs, Information
Officer, Information and Public Affairs UNEP, P.O. Box
30552, Nairobi, KENYA.
Tel: 254-2-62-3084;
Fax: 254-2-62-3692; E-mail: ipa@unep.org
Note to journalists:
In Seoul, Korea, during the International Media
Conference on Environment and Development the EnVoc
Multilingual Thesaurus of Environmental Terms will be
launched by the Executive Director of the United
Nations Environment Programme, Ms. Elizabeth
Dowdeswell, at 11:00 am at the Hotel Shilla 5 June
1997.
To order a copy, contact:
SMI (Distribution Services) Limited, P.O. Box 119,
Stevenage, Hertfordshire SG1 4TP England, United
Kingdom, Fax: (44 1234) 782878, E-mail:
Anthony@smibooks.com
Published by: United Nations Environment Programme,
1997, 270 pages, A4, paperback
ISBN: 92 807 12608,
Order Price: US$25.00 (plus shipping and handling)
UNEP News Release 1997/23
___________________________________________________________
Beth Ingraham (Ms.) ingrahab@unep.org
or infotinf@unep.org
Information Officer
INFOTERRA Secretariat
The Global Environmental Information Exchange Network
United Nations Environment Programme
P.O. Box 47074
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: (254-2) 624299
Fax: (254-2) 624269
____________________________________________________
Text from the pamphlet is as follows:
______________________________________
Multilingual Thesaurus of Environmental Terms
A product of INFOTERRA
UNEP's Global Environmental
Information Exchange
Network
1997
EnVoc is the latest edition of the INFOTERRA Thesaurus of
Environmental Terms. EnVoc (Environmental Vocabulary) has
been revised to reflect emerging environmental concerns and
new technologies especially in the field of environmental
information.
Originally produced twenty years ago as the INFOTERRA
Thesaurus of Environmental Terms, this product has evolved
into an important reference tool for both users and
providers of environmental information. As testimony to
the
products widespread appeal we have now decided to rename
the
thesaurus EnVoc - Multilingual Thesaurus of Environmental
Terms reflecting its established niche as a leading
environmental vocabulary with an international client base.
Throughout Agenda 21 there are hundreds of references
regarding the importance of information for better
decision-making in the management of sustainable
development. Chapter 40 of Agenda 21 entitled INFORMATION
FOR DECISION-MAKING is entirely devoted to this issue. The
preamble to this chapter states:
"In sustainable development, everyone is a user and
provider
of information considered in the broad sense. That
includes
data, information, appropriately packaged experience and
knowledge. The need for information arises at all levels,
from that of senior decision makers at the national and
international levels to the grass-roots and individual
levels".
Chapter 40 proposed the "establishment of standards and
methods for handling information" as one of several
activities to address the problem of inadequately managed
information. One of UNEP's contributions to this
initiative
is the production of a standardised environmental
vocabulary
entitled EnVoc - Multilingual Thesaurus of Environmental
Terms.
User Friendly EnVoc for:
- describing the information holdings of a library or
documentation centre
- describing the areas of expertise of a consultant
- classifying a query according to the information
requested
- indexing a monograph or journal paper
- standardising attributes in GIS databases.
New! Features:
- Available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian
and Spanish, other language versions to be announced
- Integrated with GEMET - General European Multilingual
Environment Thesaurus of the European Environment
Agency
- Revised from a gender perspective
- Biological diversity, now expanded to include -
biotechnology and management of biodiversity
- Includes the terminology associated with the Global
Programme of Action (GPA) for the Protection of the
Marine Environment from Land-based Activities
- Economic aspects of the environment addressed to
highlight the new economic instruments for
environmental management.
- Geographical attributes have been updated using
ISO Standard 3166
- Improved relational structure.
Table of Contents includes:
- Outline of Categories and Sub-categories
- List of Terms in Code Sequence
- Categorised List of Terms
- Alphabetical List of Terms
- KWIC (KeyWords In Context).
EnVoc is a reference tool for librarians, documentalists,
database developers, thesaurus developers, terminologists,
GIS specialists, translators, interpreters
and environmental information specialists
in general.
For more information on EnVoc or other INFOTERRA
products and services, contact:
UNEP Thesaurus Team
Division of Environmental Information and Assessment
United Nations Environment Programme
PO Box 30552
Nairobi, KENYA
Tel: (254 2) 624299
Fax: (254 2) 624269
E-mail: infotinf@unep.org
Web site: http://www.unep.org/soenoe97/en/indexges/nick_waltham/lrrdhome.htm
EnVoc
Multilingual Thesaurus of
Environmental Terms
Published by the United Nations Environment Programme
1997, 270 pages, A4 paperback, ISBN: 92 807 12608
Order Price: US$25.00 (plus shipping and handling).
To order, contact:
SMI (Distribution Services) Limited
P.O. Box 119
Stevenage
Hertfordshire SG1 4TP
England, United Kingdom
Fax: (44 1234) 782878
E-mail: Anthony@smibooks.com
A product of INFOTERRA
UNEP's Global Environmental Information Exchange
Network
************************************************
Background on INFOTERRA.
************************************************
United Nations Environment Programme
Division of Environmental Information and Assessment
INFOTERRA The Global Environmental Information Exchange
Network
INFOTERRA, the global environmental information exchange
network, is one of the
most comprehensive environmental information exchange
networks in the world,
designed by The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
to stimulate and
support the exchange of scientific and technical
environmental information within
and between nations.
Coordinated by the Secretariat and based at UNEP
headquarters
in Nairobi, Kenya,
the network is comprised of l74 National Focal Points
(NFPs),
located in nearly
every United Nations member country. The network also
supports activities at ten
Regional Service Centres (RSCs). The INFOTERRA network
processes approximately
60,000 queries on the environment annually, and links
approximately 8,000
national and international institutions and experts from
various sectors in the
UN common system, NGOs, industrial, governmental,
commercial
enterprises and
academia.
In response to the 1992 United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development
(UNCED) UNEP has adopted a "Results Management" strategy
which encompasses the
two key concepts of "results over procedures" and "client
service first".
INFOTERRA has, since its inception in 1975, been a
service-directed and
results-oriented programme. However, the new Results
Management orientation of
UNEP has strengthened its commitment to seek a more
integrated information system
in order to:
- provide better quality information to decision-makers;
- stimulate training and building of national capacity in
the NFPs;
- repackage information; and
- promote services to launch sustainable development at
the
country level.
INFOTERRA is using two Internet services to promote the
electronic exchange of
environmental information. Firstly, a Internet
subscription
list has been
established and users can submit, or respond to, queries by
sending an e-mail
message. To subscribe to the list contact the host at:
< majordomo@cedar.univie.ac.at >. This service is
being
provided by the
Central European Environmental Data Request Facility,
CEDAR,
in Vienna which is
INFOTERRA's Regional Service Centre for Central and Eastern
Europe.
Secondly, information on INFOTERRA and other UNEP offices
can
be retrieved from
the UNEP WWW site < http://www.unep.org/soenoe97/en/indexges/nick_waltham/lrrdhome.htm >.
The use rate of the INFOTERRA network has grown
exponentially
since it became
operational in 1977 with fewer than two hundred queries. In
1984 the use total
climbed to 12,000 queries and eight years later in 1992
some
28,000 queries were
processed. The 1993 statistics reported 10,500 more
queries
than the year before
bringing the annual total to 38,500. With the increased
use
of the Internet, the
1996 query statistics are expected to reach the 60,000
mark.
For further information on our products and services or the
INFOTERRA National
Focal Points, please contact:
INFOTERRA, The Global Environmental Information Exchange
Network
Division of Environmental Information and Assessment
United Nations Environment Programme
P.O. Box 30552
Nairobi, KENYA
Tel: (254-2) 624299 or 623275
Fax: (254-2) 624269
Telex: 22068 UNEP KE
E-mail: infotinf@unep.org
WWW: http://www.unep.org/soenoe97/en/indexges/nick_waltham/lrrdhome.htm
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