The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as the global body in the UN family dealing with nuclear matters, has decided to offer, at no cost, to the "Zentralbibliothek fuer Physik" in Vienna a complete set of its collection of full text of Nuclear Non-Conventional Literature on microfiche.
The collection consists of over 360,000 reports concerning all aspects of the peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology (such as in energy, safety, medicine, agriculture, etc.) submitted by Member States to the Agency's International Nuclear Information System (INIS) since 1970. The collection, the most complete of its kind worldwide, is fully indexed, available both on CD-ROM and via several on-line systems.
The Agency has made this offer on the occasion of its 40th anniversary in recognition of its long-standing relationship with the Zentralbibliothek. It has been accepted with the agreement of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Transport.
The collection in Vienna, which is worth over US$3.5 million, will be available for use within Austria only, in order to preserve other Member States' control of distribution within their own territories. It will be updated on a quarterly basis.
A formal handover ceremony wil be held at the Palais Dietrichstein, Minoritenplatz 3, Vienna on 10 December at 11:30 a.m., at which the State Secretary of the Austrian Foreign Ministry, Ms. Bettina Ferrero-Waldner, will accept the gift in the presence of the Director of the Zentralbibliothek, Dr. Wolfgang Kerber, and Mr. Victor Mourogov, Deputy Director General, Department of Nuclear Energy of the IAEA.
Journalists wishing to attend this event are kindly requested to notify the Division of Public Information of the IAEA (tel. 2060 21270, fax: 2060 29616), from which further background information can be obtained.