WORLD TRADE WT/L/174
5August 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3130)
NEW DOCUMENTATION FACILITIES
Communication from theSecretariat
Withaviewtoimproving services toMembers byproviding amore rapid andefficient access
todocumentation, theSecretariat isnowready tostartoperating twonewfacilities, i.e.theDocument
Dissemination Facility andtheDocuments Centre.
A. TheDocument Dissemination Facility (DDF)
Overview
TheDocument Dissemination Facility (DDF) isaservice forthedaily electronic distribution
ofWTO documents viatheInternet. Thisservice, which isavailable inEnglish, French andSpanish,
islimited toMembers oftheWTO onlyandcanbeaccessed bydelegations inGeneva andbyauthorized
government officials incapitals andelsewhere.
Documents within theDDF areorganized intothree different categories:
SPECIAL - available todesignated Members
NORMAL - available toallMembers
PUBLIC - available tothegeneral public
Theservice isupdated dailyanddocuments remain available foraperiod of60daysfromthe
dateoftheirfirstposting. Eachday'sproduction ofdocuments willnormally beavailable intheDDF
by1.00a.m.Geneva timethefollowing day.
Alldocuments arestored inWordPerfect 5.2format. TheDDFprovides details ofthesymbol,
titleanddateofdocuments, arranged inreverse chronological order sothatthemostrecent items appear
attheheadofthelist.Documents canbeconsulted online byconfiguring WordPerfect forWindows
oraviewer (eg.Outside In)within theInternet browser. Alternatively, theycanbeviewed aftertransfer
toalocalworkstation (seeannex fordetails).
Technical requirements
Toaccess theDDF viatheInternet, thefollowing basic hardware/software configuration is
required:
- IBMPCorcompatible
- Windows 3.1
- Internet link
- Internet browser (eg.Netscape, Internet Explorer, etc.)
- WordPerfect forWindows orOutside InforWindows (Systems Compatibility
Corporation) oranyother viewer.WT/L/174
Page2
Access
Access totheDDFispassword protected. Toobtain theInternet address, userIDandpassword,
please submit arequest inwriting to:
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Translation andDocumentation Division, Attn: Mr.J.Dickson
154ruedeLausanne
1211 Geneva 21
Switzerland
Tel: (022) 7395122
Fax: (022) 7395197
E-mail: John.Dickson@wto.org
Allrequests forpasswords andIDsshould bemade through therespective Head ofDelegation.
Starting date
Members mayrequest access totheDDF from thisday. Theservice willoperate onatrial
basis throughout themonth ofAugust.
Abriefing session ontheservice, including ademonstration oftheapplication, willbeconducted
bytheSecretariat inSeptember. Delegates wishing toattend arekindly requested toinform Mr.Dickson
attheabove address.
Paper copies
Existing arrangements forthedistribution ofpaper copies ofdocuments remain unchanged
forthepresent anddelegations willbeconsulted before anychanges aremade.
B. Documents Centre
Following thetakeoveroftheCWR south wing, some additional space hasbeenmade available
fordocument reproduction anddistribution withaview tooffering anewandimproved service to
delegates intheformofaDocuments Centre. ThisCentre, conveniently located ontheground floor
inOffice 56-58, nearthemain entrance, willoperate daily from 8a.m. to6p.m., beginning on
5August 1996. Theoldpigeon holes, situated nearthePrint Shop, willbedismantled andWTO
delegations andobservers willeachbeallotted aboxinthenewDocuments Centre. Inorder toavoid
some oftheproblems experienced inthepast,thenewboxes willbefitted withlocks. Delegations
mayobtain theirkeysfrom theCentre staff.
However, theDocuments Centre isintended toserve other purposes too.Specifically created
tohandle allrequests fordocuments bydelegations, itwillofferthemamore practical service byacting
asthefocalpoint fordocuments aswellasensuring prompter andmore punctual delivery. Equipped
withanautomatic answering machine, itwillbeabletotaketelephone orders after office hours
(tel.7395032).Theintroduction ofthisservice should helptoalleviate much oftheinconvenience
caused bybottlenecks andqueues around thedocument counters inmeeting rooms atthebeginning
ofsome meetings.WT/L/174
Page3
ANNEX
HOW THE DDF WORKS
Access forWTO Members
1. TheDocument Dissemination Facility (DDF) service forMembers ispassword protected.
OnceyouhaveobtainedanInternetaddress,userIDandpassword,doubleclickonyourbrowser
toopenanInternet session. Enter theInternet address andpress enter. Thisaddress canbe
stored asabookmark forfuture retrieval purposes.
2. Attheprompt, enter youruserIDandpassword.
3. TheDDF home pageisdisplayed onyourscreen. According tothesecurity access assigned
toyouruserID,twoormore ofthefollowing options willappear:
SPECIAL - available todesignated Members
NORMAL - available toallMembers
PUBLIC - available tothegeneral public
Click ontheoption youwishtoselect.
4. Alistofthedocuments available fortransfer willappear onthescreen. Thelistissorted in
reverse chronological order sothatthemost recent items appear first. Documents canbe
consulted online byconfiguring WordPerfect forWindows oraviewer (eg.Outside In)within
theInternet browser. Alternatively, theycanbeviewed aftertransfer toalocalworkstation.
5. Toconfigure aviewer within theNetscape browser, clickonthesymbol ofyourchoice. Click
ontheConfigure aviewer button andselect the.exefilewhich corresponds withtheviewer
ofyourchoice.
6. Totransfer adocument toyour PC,click onthesymbol ofyour choice. Click onthe
Savetodiskbutton. TheDDF willprompt youforinformation onwhere tocopythefileon
yourharddisc. Complete thepathdetails andpress theOKbutton. Thefilewillbetransferred
automatically.
Ifyouhaveconfigured aviewer within theNetscape browser, clickonthesaveas...option
intheFilemenu totransfer adocument toyourPC.Theviewer willprompt youforinformation
onwhere tocopythefileonyourharddisc. Proceed asfor"6"above.
Note:When transferring filestoyourPC,remember thatifyouchoose totransfer thesame
document intwoormore languages, eachversion willhavethesame filename, eg:
Document symbol Filename ontransfer
G/ADP/1 (English) 95-3635.wpf
G/ADP/1 (French) 95-3635.wpf
G/SCM/1 (English) 95-0809.wpf
G/SCM/1 (French) 95-0809.wpf
Youshould organise yourstorage directories tocater forthiseventuality.