We expect that The OECD Index will be updated regularly, usually on a monthly basis. Now that it is available via the internet, we will discontinue distributing it to libraries on CD-ROM.

The Search Screen provides four criteria on which to search.

Entering information under the Title section will result in a search of the Title, Series, and Article fields of the database.

Entering information under the Author section will result in a search of the author and article fields, both of which contain author names.

Entering information under Key Word searches all indexed fields. You could search for an ISBN number (don't use the dashes) or a meeting location here, words associated with a particular type of data you might be searching for, or a subject usi ng this section.

The Date section allows you to define the time period you want to search. Entering no date will result in a search of the entire database. Search Hints are shown below.

You can enter data in more than one criteria box. Once you have entered your search criteria, click on the Submit Query button. The search will be made and the results will appear on the screen.

Once you get the results of a search, you should know that results are displayed in order of publication, with most recent items first and the oldest last.

Publications with status in print are available for sale through the OECD Washington Center and OECD Sales Offices.

Publications with status out of print are no longer available for sale. Major university libraries and the Library of Congress do have collections where you might find them.

Publications with status general distribution document are free documents for which very limited supplies have been created. Increasingly, departments at OECD are putting them up on the OECD Paris Headquarters Home Page. Press releases and The OECD Letter are also up on OECD Home Pages. Libraries get some of these items, and starting on 1 January 1997, they will receive all new documents in the OECD Working Papers Series. Paper copies of recent items are generally available from the OECD Washington Center. Items more than one year old are often no longer available.

OECD's production of periodical issues is generally only marginally more than the number of subscribers we have, so supplies of back issues are generally very limited. Check libraries for back issues.

• Try both British and American Spellings, or use a truncation that will work for both. For example, organi* would work for both organization and organisation. The same would apply to singular and plural words.
• Use Boolean Symbols to limit your search. For example, foreign & investment would look for both words; foreign/international would look for one or the other. You can search for phrases. And you can search using more than one prompt.
• Entering the year 1996 will find all of the publications for that year. Entering <1990 will find items with pubdates older than 1990. Entering >1990 will find items more recent than 1990. 1992:1993 will find all items wi thin that period.

Search results can be printed out.