ECLAC meeting the demand for statistics

ECLAC Economic Commission for Latin American Countries has established a statistical database on a wide variety of economic and social subjects for the CDCC countries of the Caribbean in recognition of the vital role played by statistics in the decision-making process. This now includes a special sub-sector on agricultural statistics. The CDCC countries, which embrace several ACP states, work together to break cultural and linguistic barriers and to foster economic and social develop ment through mutual self-help. They include: Bahamas, Barba dos, Belize, Cuba, Dominica Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, The Netherlands Antilles, Saint Kitts Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Suriname, the British Virgin Islands, the US Virgin Islands and Trinidad and Tobago. The first objective of the compilers was to collate, store and disseminate statistics of government departments and statutory boards with the intention of providing only single-source data. The second was to make an inventory of major statistical publicabons of the various countries, and to prepare abstracts of their contents so that the resulting document could be searched for subject matter or tabular content. The constructors of the database used elements of the meta-data system that guides researchers to the tables, and allows them to understand more fully the numbers as stored in the time series that form the core of the database. A Directory of Major Statistical Publications was prepared and published, and eventually Major Statistical Publications - Abstracts was also brought out. This provides a fuller bibliographic treatment of the documents cited in the Directory, and is one component of a three-part document consisting of Publisher/Title index; Abstracts; and Series Index. The Abstracts is intended to provide bibliographical coverage for a select number of statistical publications generated periodically within the Caribbean region and which give statistical data for a number of social and economic factors. The records entered in the abstracts have been structured to convey the following informabon: country to which the data relate; name of the agent responsible for the publication, title; a source number code which denotes country, publisher, and numeric sequence; frequency or periodicity, publishing dates of those entries held in the Caribbean Documentation Centre; and content. All statistics published are provisional, and revisions are numerous. A record of requests for information is kept; note is taken of the series requested for which no coverage is held and attempts are made to expand the scope of the database in the light of these. The special agricultural statisbcs sub-sector puts out a biennial publication giving information on production, land use and tenure, land area and area under cultivation, population (including agricultural population) and the contribution of agriculture to Gross Domestic Product. For more details, contact: Lancelot A Busby Economic Affairs Officer (Statistics) ECLAC Porto Spain TRINIDADECLAC Economic Commission for Latin American Countries has established a statistical database on a wide variety of economic and social subjects for the CDCC countries of the Caribbean in recognition of the vital role played by statistics in the..