How to Obtain Information on Education
U.N.E.S.C.O.
Worldwide Action in Education
How to Obtain Information on Education

UNESCO Documentation and Information Network in Education

  • The Clearing House Service
  • What Services, and for Whom
  • UNESCO Documentation and Information Centres in Education
  • Evaluation of Information Services in Education
  • Prospects
  • Special Needs in the Classroom
  • A Literate World

  • Graph: Number of documents distributed by region and estimated utilization rate, 1991
  • Graph: Distribution by subject fields of documentation/information requests, 1991

    • The Clearing house service

    UNESCO's worldwide action in education relies on the circulation and use of information produced and accumulated in the course of the implementation of its programmes. This information is carefully targeted to reach its various 'users', who range from schoolteachers in rural areas to major national, regional, or international institutions.
    UNESCO has thus:

  • established a computer-based network linking all its documentation centres in education, including those of associated institutions;
  • established an active information exchange relationship with a growing number of national, regional, international institutions related to education;
  • strengthened the International Network for Educational Innovation (INED);
  • given support to national documentation centres.

    Education fields covered include:

  • literacy and adult education;
  • training of educational personnel;
  • science and technology teaching;
  • higher education;
  • structures, methods and teaching techniques;
  • educational planning, financing and management of all types and at all levels;
  • innovations and new themes, such as:

    - information and communication technologies in education;
    - the relationship between education and the world of work;
    - education for the prevention of AIDS and drug abuse;
    - environmental and population education, etc.

  • UNESCO activities and technical co-operation projects undertaken in the above-mentioned areas.

    • What Services, and for Whom

    Information services provided at Headquarters:

  • periodical dissemination of the UNESCO Catalogue of documents and publications related to education to over 8,000 recipient institutions;
  • servicing documentation requests received;
  • preparation of specialized bibliographies and/or selective dissemination of documents and information;
  • preparation of syntheses bearing on UNESCO activities in the various fields of education.

    Who are the users of these services?

  • national education institutions;
  • international organizations;
  • international, regional and national NGOs operating in the field of education;
  • researchers, experts, consultants, as well as students from all countries;
  • UNESCO staff.

    What services were rendered by Headquarters during 1988-1993?

  • 873,000 documents mailed upon request;
  • 115,000 documents distributed to visitors;
  • 34,900 visitors received in the Information and Documentation Service;
  • 22,700 bibliographical inquiries processed.

    These figures have to be almost doubled when account is taken of similar services provided by field units and specialized UNESCO education institutes.

    • UNESCO Documentation and Information Centres in Education

  • Documentation and Information Service of the Education Sector (UNESCO)
  • Documentation and Information Unit - International Bureau of Education (IBE)
  • Documentation Centre - International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP)
  • Documentation Centre - UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE)
  • Documentation Service - Regional Office for Education in Africa (BREDA)
  • Library - Regional Office for Education in the Arab States (UNEDBAS)
  • Documentation and Library - Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (PROAP)
  • Documentation Centre - European Centre for Higher Education (CEPES)
  • Educational Documentation - Regional Office for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC)
  • Information and Documentation Service - Regional Centre for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (CRESALC)

    • Evaluation of information services in education

    UNESCO and the International Federation of Information and Documentation (FID) undertook, in 1991, an evaluation study aimed at assessing the 'level of satisfaction' of the different users of UNESCO's educational information and documentation services. The study involved a representative sample of 400 end-users, and enabled to identify more accurately:

  • the regional share of the services provided, and the estimated 'rate of utilization' (78 per cent) of the services by end-users,
  • priority subject fields of users,
  • the most important categories of users,
  • users' appreciation of the 'response time' of the Organization (76 per cent positive).

    The findings allowed the Organization to better concentrate its efforts on priority areas of interest to users, and particularly in those regions which appear to benefit more from these services.

    • Prospects

    Prospects, a quarterly review of education, was designed to supplement national periodical publications. It presents a very rich choice of international information and, from one issue to the next, promotes open dialogue, both universal and interdisciplinary, on current and future educational issues.

    The Review is intended for national libraries, research and teacher-training institutes, teachers, researchers and students in international and comparative education, heads of educational research teams, those in charge of curricula and methods, planners, and international and regional educational support agencies.

    Prospects averages 150 pages of text per issue and is published periodically in Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, English, French, Romanian, Russian and Spanish, and as anthologies in as many other languages.
    Each issue has four sections:

  • Viewpoints/Controversies
    Eminent internationally known individuals, not only specialists in education but also philosophers, anthropologists, economists, sociologists, biologists, etc., take a forward look at the contribution of their respective sciences to the science of education.
    Each time a comprehensive reform of an education system starts to yield results in a specific country, it is described and analyzed in this section.

  • Open file
    Ten or so authors assess an important theme of current international interest, based on actual case-studies.

  • Trends/Cases
    A critical presentation of new trends in education or of practical innovations that could be adopted by other countries.

  • Profiles of educators
    Description of the thoughts and work of great educational thinkers, and discussion of their significance today.

    • Special Needs in the Classroom
    - a teacher training resource pack -

    UNESCO has launched a major international project to develop teacher education materials on special needs education in ordinary schools. Entitled "Special Needs in the Classroom", the project started following a huge demand from countries for assistance and advice on this issue.

    One main outcome is a Teacher Education Resource Pack developed to help teachers respond positively to all children who experience difficulties in school. Including study materials, course leaders' guides and demonstration videos, the pack can be the basis for courses at both the pre-service and in-service levels.

    The teaching approaches recommended in the resource pack are based on extensive research as to how all children can experience success in schools, whether disabled children or others who for a variety of reasons do not do well in school. Five major teaching strategies are advocated: active learning, negotiation of objectives, demonstration, practice and feedback, continuous evaluation and support.

    Available in English, Spanish, Arabic and soon in French.

    A Literate World

    A literate world was published recently by UNESCO's International Bureau of Education (IBE). This 32-page brochure is an attempt to "popularize" the final report of the International Conference on Education, which met in Geneva in 1990 to discuss literacy.

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