Measuring the distance between countries and the goal of equality of opportunity in education has been the focus of recent contributions in the economic literature, which have concentrated either on intergroup gaps in access to a given level of studies or on intergroup gaps in educational achievement. We argue that both aspects are important and…

In this article we present a new composite index of child health, applied to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) of Africa, one of the areas of the planet most castigated by poverty. Our index has been constructed attending to the variables defined in the Goals of the Millennium Declaration. For this purpose we will use the P2 distance method for…

World food production reached a record high in 1986, exceeding 1985's record by about 1 percent, despite declining food output in Latin America, the United States, Western Europe, and Oceania. World food production generally increased faster than population from 1977 to 1986. Production of agricultural commodities increased at an annual compound…

Describes the use of a database management system (DBMS)--dBaseII--to create an enriched title-based keyword index for a collection of news items at the Renewable Energy Resources Information Center of the Asian Institute of Technology. The use of DBMSs in libraries in developing countries is emphasized. (Author/LRW)

In this paper we argue that the primary force behind the large drop in real exchange rates that occurs after large devaluations is the slow adjustment in the prices of nontradable goods and services. Our empirical analysis uses data from five large devaluation episodes: Argentina (2002), Brazil (1999), Korea (1997), Mexico (1994), and Thailand…

The first of two papers in this document is a report describing the work of the International Federation of Library Association's (IFLA) first professional board functioning under the Chicago rule changes of 1985. Topics include changes in the annual meeting structure; changes in the Medium Term Programme 1986-1991 (MTP); coordination with the…

Four papers and two reports from three sections concerned with library science periodicals and serials publications in libraries include discussions of the role of library and information science journals and their coverage by indexing services as well as a description of an online system for serials, a report from the working group on newspapers,…

The document is divided into four parts. Part 1 presents abstracts of 10 documents concerning adult literacy programs in underdeveloped countries. The second section offers a 46-page list of acquisitions, citing for each entry the author, title, publication source, and descriptors. Part 3 consists of a 100-page section of indexes in the following…

Describes general trends toward improved library services in Indonesia, including the development of the National Library, increased services to rural areas, the provision of scientific and technical information and research tools, compilation of indexes, expansion of special and academic libraries, and the establishment of uniform standards. (10…

Papers on the publication of library journal literature--from the 1982 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference--are presented, including: (1) "The Coverage of Library/Information Science Periodicals from Developing Countries by the Major Abstracting and Indexing Services," a report by Barbara J. Buckley on the…

Examines the cost structure and future system costs of Venezuela's Universidad Nacional Abierta, compares them with the costs of other distance universities, and discusses the cost implications of media choice, size of program, and number of students. The usefulness of cost analysis and projection for decision making is also discussed. (EAO)

Discussion of development literature in Africa highlights DEVSIS Botswana, which was created to facilitate the collection, organization, and dissemination of socioeconomic development literature, and reports on an analysis of its annual index, DEVINDEX Botswana. Producers of development literature in Botswana are described and problems with…

Surveys bibliographic services for scientific and technical information currently available in Nigeria and identifies problems that are impeding effective national bibliographic and information services. The need for national coordination of bibliographic services is discussed and the functions of a proposed national technical and information…

This is a compendium of almost 700 16mm films about Africa. The guide lists existing resources that are readily available in the Midwest to educators in elementary and secondary schools, colleges, universities, and communities. Selected were films being distributed by nonprofit educational, religious, and commercial distributors; films from…