Since publication of the previous (fourth) edition of this handbook by UNESCO in 1978, drastic technological progress and very important changes in the political-economic sphere have taken place, with great impact on library work. The international exchange of publications continues to be an important mode of collection building and is practiced by almost all major libraries. The 5th edition of the Handbook addresses these changes in all three parts: Practices (sources of documents, organization and methods), History and Current Examples (e.g. international book exchange: has it any future in the electronic age?) and the Directory (list of exchange centres, selected bibliography).

This volume explores the idea of intergovernmental organizations as autonomous international actors. Including contributions from leading scholars in the fields of international law, politics and governance, it addresses themes of institutional autonomy in international law and governance from a range of theoretical and subject-specific contexts. The collection looks internally at aspects of the institutional law of international organizations and the workings of specific regimes and institutions, as well as externally at the proliferation of autonomous organizations in the international legal order as a whole.

First Published in 1996. This encyclopedia is unique in several ways. As the first international reference source on publishing, it is a pioneering venture. Our aim is to provide comprehensive discussion and analysis of key subjects relating to books and publishing worldwide. The sixty-four essays included here feature not only factual and statistical information about the topic, but also analysis and evaluation of those facts and figures. The chapters are significantly more comprehensive than those typically found in an encyclopedia.

International Organizations (IOs) are important actors within global social governance. They provide forums for exchange, contention and cooperation about social policies. Our knowledge about the involvement of IOs varies significantly by policy fields, and we know comparatively little about the specific roles of IOs in social policies. This volume enhances and systematizes our understanding of IOs in global social governance. It provides studies on a variety of social policy fields in which different, but also the same, IOs operate. The chapters shed light on IO involvement in a particular social policy field by describing the population of participating IOs; exploring how a particular global social policy field is constituted as a whole, and which dominant IOs set the trends. The contributors also examine the discourse within, and between, these IOs on the respective social policies. As such, this first-of-its kind book contributes to research on social policy and international relations, both in terms of theoretical substantiation and empirical scope.

International Organization in Time investigates why reformers often pledge to unify international organizations (IOs), but end up fragmenting them instead. The book reconstructs the institutional history of the World Health Organization (WHO) since its creation in 1946. It theorizes the fragmentation trap, which is both a cause and a consequence of reform failure in the WHO. A comparison between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) illustrates the relevance of path dependence and fragmentation across the United Nations (UN) system. As the UN approaches its 70th anniversary, this book helps to understand the path dependent dynamics that reformers encounter in international organizations.

For the Yearbook of International Organizations, the most up-to-date and comprehensive reference to international organizations, the UIA has selected the most important 31,086 organizations from its extensive database of current and previous organizations. Yearbook provides profiles of 5,546 intergovernmental and 25,540 international non-governmental organizations active in nearly 300 countries and territories in the world today. Organization descriptions listed in Volume 1 are numbere sequentially to facilitate quick and easy cross-referencing from the other Yearbook Volumes. Users can refer to Volumes 2 and 3 to locate organizations by region or subject respectively, and comprehensive indexes are included. Naturally, the high standards of accuracy, consistency and detail set by previous editions of the Yearbook of International Organizations have been maintained for this edition.

This book provides a unique examination of how a middle power uses international organisations to achieve greater global influence. The authors focus on the OECD, ‘the rich man’s club’ of most of the world’s wealthiest nations. It demonstrates how the decision by Australia to apply for membership was a long drawn out process, delayed by political factors. Eventually agreement was reached with assurances that membership would provide access to valuable and timely policy-related information, especially in relation to international trade and finance. In addition, membership would potentially increase influence by providing greater access to its powerful member states at an earlier stage in their policy discussions and agreements.