RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/L/514
8 April 2003
(03-1938)
NEW DOCUMENTATION FACILITIES VIA THE INTERNET
Communication from the Secretariat
1. This note is to inform Members that, as part of its programme of work to provide more
efficient documentation services, the Secretariat is introducing a major upgrade of the existing
Internet document dissemination facility, Documents online .  The new version of the database will
become operational on 9 April 2003.  A briefing session on the facility will be held in May 2003 in
the Centre William Rappard, details of which will be communicated in due course.
A brief description of Documents online
2. Documents online  is a database that provides two distinct Internet services: document
dissemination and documentary research.  The first offers Members the possibility of accessing the
output of WTO documentation.  Delegations in Gene va, government officials in capitals and other
authorized agencies may consult and download official documents as they are circulated by the
Secretariat.  Each day's production of documents is normally posted in Documents online  by 00.00
GMT.  The second service offers Members the possibility of performing both simple and morecomplex data searches.
3. Documents online  blends two types of search technique: full-text searching and database
(catalogue) searching. While the former permits the identification of a single word or words or phrase
in an official document, database searching enables the identification of documents on the basis of
specified criteria such as symbol, title, country, circulation date, subject, official body, meeting dates,
etc. When applied in tandem, these techniques enable the user to perform very precise searches, which
filter out documents that do not correspond to the search criteria.
4. Documents online  contains the majority of official documents distributed by the WTO and is
available in three different language interfaces: English, French and Spanish.  In response to requests
from Members, Uruguay Round documents and a selection of GATT documents have been included
in the database.  All documents are posted in the three official languages of the Organization as soon
as the respective language version becomes available
1. Irrespective of the language of interface used,
the results of a search always present the user with the choice of previewing and/or downloading the
documents retrieved in all of the existing language versions.  This is particularly useful for users
wishing to consult documents in more than one language version.
5. A considerable effort has been made to ensure that Documents online  is as "user-friendly" as
possible.  Specific help files are available on-screen to assist users in their interrogation of thedatabase (to identify, for example, document symbols, product names, the numbering conventions of
Articles in WTO Agreements or the names of WTO bodies).  Additionally, a special "Browse" section
has been created where users, by means of pre-programmed searches, can quickly retrieve and view
the "most frequently consulted documents" in the database.
                                                     
1 In accordance with the provisions of WT/L/452 (16/05/2002): “Procedures for the Circulation and
Derestriction of WTO Documents - Decision of 14 May 2002”WT/L/514
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New features of the Documents online  upgrade
Phase 1
6. The Documents online  upgrade will take place in two phases:  the first, effective as of 9 April
2003, unveils a new home page which has been designed principally to facilitate access to thedifferent features of the Browse  section of the site. This section brings together a variety of pre-
programmed searches which enable users unfamiliar with the structure of WTO documents to simply
and rapidly retrieve specific types of documentation.
• RECENTLY DISTRIBUTED
Latest documents posted: this section provides direct access to an interface for retrieving the latest
documents posted by date or by topic.  Users can view the documents retrieved on screen before
downloading them or, alternatively, they can choose to download all items immediately in a
compressed file.
Recently modified documents: this section permits the retrieval of documents that have been modified
subsequent to their first posting in Documents online .  It is primarily of interest to users who regularly
download documents for local storage and who wish always to have available in their archive the
latest version of each document distributed by the Secretariat.
• FREQUENTLY  CONSULTED
Jobs (informal restricted documents): this new section provides an easy means of retrieving official
documents bearing the symbol "JOB(YEAR)/… " and which are often referred to as "job documents".
Jobs can be queried by date or by topic and are available in Documents online  from 1999 onwards.
Special meetings:  this section brings together press releases and information documents relating to
specific meetings that have taken place under the auspices of the WTO or in the wider field of
international trade and which are issued as official WTO documents. Note that documents relating toregular meetings of WTO Bodies are not included here; they appear in the section "Official Records
(WTO Bodies and Committees)".
• RELATING TO A SPECIFIC SUBJECT AREA
WTO document series: quick access to WTO documents by subject, using the thematic list help
facility of the Documents online  search interface. eg.
Agriculture
Customs Valuation
Intellectual Property
Preshipment Inspection
Trade and Environment
GATT/Uruguay Round document series: quick access to Uruguay Round and some GATT
documents by subject, using the thematic list help facility of the Documents online  search interface,
eg.
Audiovisual Services
Dispute Settlement
Functioning of the GATT SystemLabour MobilityWT/L/514
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MTN Agreements and Arrangements
Surveillance and Rollback
Tariffs
Tropical Products
When searching in either document collection, the user is always required to specify a year since a
wider search of the database will generally retrieve more documents than can be displayed in theresults list (the maximum is 750 items).  A help file indicating the time-period in which each Uruguay
Round Negotiating Group was active is available on the search page behind  
?  to facilitate searching
in this collection.
To perform a detailed search of Documents online  using more specific criteria, the users should go to
SEARCH FOR DOCUMENTS .
• OTHER RELATED LINKS
A new section that provides swift access to relevant parts of the WTO web site containing
documentation and information in the following broad subject areas:
Legal Texts: summaries of the different WTO and GATT agreements and texts, together with html,
WORD and PDF versions for downloading.  An alte rnative alphabetical arrangement of the legal
texts, incorporating an access by subject, is available in the FREQUENTLY  CONSULTED section
of Documents online .
Trade Topics: detailed information by topic on the work of the Secretariat in the international trade
field.Dispute Settlement: comprehensive information on trade disputes and their resolution in the WTO
context.
Schedules of Concessions: approved lists of the trade concessions made by WTO Members in the area
of trade in goods and services
• DOCUMENT DOWNLOADING
The procedure for downloading documents has b een significantly modified and two options now
exist: structured  and unstructured .
Unstructured downloads
This is the default option and will be selected automatically when the user clicks on Download. Note
that the checkbox  "Structured " at the top of the results display in Documents online  is not selected:
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All documents identified for downloading will be sa ved in a compressed self-executing file (.exe),
together with an accompanying index that contains hyperlinks to these documents. Clicking on the
downloaded file launches a decompression procedure, which places the documents in separate
language directories (English, Français or Español). The index file can be used to identify and open
directly the accompanying documents.  For the hyperl inks to work, it is essential that the index and
the documents are stored in the same top directory on the user's computer.
Structured downloads
This, the original procedure, enables users to download and store documents in an automatically
generated directory structure that emulates the WTO official document archive.  To select this option,
check the box marked "Structured" at the top of the results display in Documents online .
When the user clicks on Download, all documents identified for downloading will be saved in a
compressed self-executing file (.exe), together with an accompanying index that contains hyperlinks
to these documents.
Clicking on the downloaded file launches a decompression procedure which places the documents in
separate language directories (English, Français or Español). Within each directory, a structure iscreated identifying each document by its symbol and name.  In the illustration below, a single
document in each of the G/ADP/ and G/AG/ series has been downloaded in the three languages using
the structured option:
English  corresponds to the document language,  G to the document collection and ADP  and AG to
the document series. The index file can be used to identify and open directly the accompanyingWT/L/514
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documents.  For the hyperlinks to work, it is essential that the index and the documents are stored in
the same top directory on the user's computer ( Structured download  in the illustration).
Phase 2
7. The second phase of the upgrade of Documents online  (expected in April/May 2003) will
introduce three new features on the site:
/g167 a Documents for meetings  section allowing users to identify the different meetings of WTO
bodies by date and by topic and to retrieve automatically, consult and download official
documents connected with each meeting cited;
/g167 the posting of documents in more than one electronic format.  Presently, only WORD documents
are posted in Documents online  and some items are incomplete in electronic form. In future, a
PDF image version of the complete document will also be posted with the WORD original whenit is incomplete; other document formats will be posted as appropriate (spreadsheet, PowerPoint,
etc.)
/g167 an enhanced help facility for the application;
/g167 a new and updated version of the Guide to Documentation  (last issued in July 1998).
Future developments
8. Work has recently begun on the incorporation in Documents online  of the Central Registry of
Notifications  (CRN).  A new “notifications” section will be created permitting the rapid retrieval of
notifications submitted by Members to the Secretariat by subject, date, requirement and tradecoverage (using the HS, Services and UNEP environment classifications). The section will include a
catalogue record describing each notification and will also exploit the existing features of  Documents
online  for consulting and downloading documents, hence the amalgamation of the two presently
separate databases.
9. A second project, “Documents on disc”, is scheduled to commence
2 in the second semester of
2003 and will take two years to complete;  the new service will provide for the pressing of regular
comprehensive archival discs of WTO documents currently disseminated via Documents online .
10. Access to Documents online  requires the following equipment and services
a) an Internet connection
b) an Internet Browserc) a user name and a password (obtainable from Heads of Delegation only).
Passwords
11. To enhance the security of Documents online , a  policy of regularly modifying user IDs and
passwords will shortly be implemented for all user s. The first change of passwords will take place
before the Ministerial Conference in Cancún.  Heads of Delegation will be informed well in advance
of the date of change. In future, password s will be modified on a six-monthly basis.
                                                     
2 funding permittingWT/L/514
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12. All documents posted in Documents online (both  restricted and unrestricted) can be accessed
from the Members’ site at http://www.wto.org/members
13. All unrestricted WTO documents are available to the public in Documents online on the  WTO
Internet site at http://www.wto.orgWT/L/514
Page 7Appendix:  New Home page of Documents online
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