Joining nations 1947-1990

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JOTNING NATIONS

which was duly launched in 1963. In principle, each issue was to contain 48 pages of editorial text as well as advertisements. National delegations agreed to act as agents and to distribute the journal in their countries as well as to assist the advertising agent in obtaining advertisements. The discount and retail subscription rates were the equivalent of £z.50 and £3·75 respectively per year. The contents were mainly the most important documents recommended for pub– lication by the Commissions. By 1965 the number of subscribers had reached about 850, the number of pages per issue was about 60 instead of 48 and the journal was breaking even financially. The main disappointment was the almost complete lack of advertising except from the UK, the country of publication. Five years later, the relative success of the IIW's publishing activi– ties and the quantity of material available led to a decision to publish six issues a year instead of four and this was maintained until the end of the '8os when a supplementary number containing the references of IIW working documents was introduced as part of the databank programme. In the meantime, the publication of the journal had been trans– ferred to Pergamon Press, it being assumed that a worldwide interna– tional publisher would have marketing capabilities vastly superior to those of the IIW and its member societies. This assumption did not turn out to be well justified perhaps primarily because, in the present state of information technology, the prevailing climate is not propi– tious for specialist journals. In this , as in every other sphere, the IIW has to be ready to adapt itself to current circumstances as it has done with some measure of success over the past 45 years. STA 1 DARDIZATION If one of the 'products' of the activity of the Commissions has been material for publication, another has been drafts for international standards. As we have seen, one of the objectives which the IIW set itself in its constitution was to 'assist in the formulation of international standards in collaboration with the International Organization for Standardization'. To this end Commission VII Standardization was set up at the outset, not with the task of preparing draft standards but with that of maintaining liaison between the other Commissions of the IIW and the ISO, and in particular ISO/ TC 44 (Welding) . That