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APPENDIX 4

REPORT OF INFORMATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE, ISSMFE

Joseph M. DeSalvo, Chairman    February 25, 1977

SYNOPSIS

IAC has continued in its service to ISSMFE members by modification and improvement of IGO, cooperation with other International organizations, maintenance and improvement of GA/GRS and liaison with the Asian Institute of Technology. The new Coordinating Committee consisting of ISSMFE, ISRM, and IAEG is further modifying IGC, without changing its basie framework, for suitability to all three organizations. GA/GRS still maintains its position as the best information/retrieval system available to our profession. However, competition from AGE could have the effect of weakening GA/GRS and the effectiveness of ISSMFE to serve all members. Immediate steps should be taken to eliminate the competition and todevise constructive means of cooperation which will result in satisfaction to the goals of the Asian Nations and all nations within ISSMFE.

INTRODUCTION

The prime efforts and accomplishments of the Information Advisory Committee (IAC) have been:

1.    Modification and improvement of the International Geotechnical Classification System (IGS) of the ISSMFE

2.    Cooperation with the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) and International Association of Engineering Geologists (IAEG) to further develop a universal International Geotechnical Classification System

3.    Maintenance and improvement of Geotechnical Abstracts and Geodex Retrieval System (GA/GRS), the official information system of ISSMFE

*♦.    Liaison with the Asian Information Center for Geotechnical Engineering (AGE).

This committee consists of ten members as shown on the attachment. The four tasks listed above have been delegated to specific members of IAC, with generał input reąuested from all members. The accomplishments of IAC have been significant and have served the generał membership of ISSMFE well. The continuation of this work, supported by fuli cooperation of all National Societies, is essential if ISSMFE is to remain the information center, and the single technical representative, of the World's geotechnical engineers.

INTERNATIONAL GEOTECHNICAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

The development of IGC is well known to the Executive Committee of ISSMFE. Its evolution over the past 2u years is summarized by Nils Flodin (2) in his address to AGE. This hierarchie classification system was finally accepted by the Executive Committee at the 1969 Mexico Conference, with slight amendments accepted at the 1973 Moscow Conference. The 1973 version (*♦) is currently in use. Mr. Flodin has been instrumental in the original development and amendments of the IGC. Additional modifications are anticipated in connection with futurę cooperation with ISRM and IAEG.

COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON LITERATURĘ CLASSIF ICATION

At the Istanbul meeting in April 1975, the Executive Committee voted that a Coordinating Committee be established for literaturę classification.    The Coordinating Committee shall consist of nine members, three

each from the following organizations:    ISSMFE, ISRM and IAEG. For convenience, the name of the Coordinating

Committee has been abbreviated to SRG (Soils/Rock/Geology). Prof. de Beer is coordinating secretary of SRG.

The three representatives of ISSMFE have been selected from IAC based on their close knowledge and use of the International Geotechnical Classification System. Those representatives are Nils Flodin, Herbert Kuhn, and Finn JjSrstad. Mr. Flodin is chairman and coordinator of the ISSMFE group.

From the latest correspondence available at the time of preparing this report, ISRM and IAEG have appointed only two representatives each, with a third yet to be chosen.

It is proposed that the existing IGC be amended to adopt the needs of ISRM and IAEG so that one universal classification system may serve the needs of all three groups. The IGC is a logical basis for development because of the morę than 20 years of effort and periodic updating that has brought this classifica-tion system to its present level of usefulness. 0ver the past 6 years, thousands of papers have been classified and hundreds of thousands of cards have been prepared and disseminated throughout the world for information and retrieval by libraries, institutions, firms and individuals; and computers have been fed using the present IGC system. Thus, it would be catastrophic to change the system radically (5).

A meeting of the Coordinating Committee was scheduled for early December, 1976 in Cologne.

However, it was not possible for members of ISRM and IAEG to attend. Nevertheless, Flodin, Kuhn and Jdrstad did meet and madę some improvements based on their experience over the past four years and some correspondence from ISRM. It is planned to summarize the amendments for distribution to and comments from ISRM and IAEG members. Additional progress should be madę from the time of writing this report to the time of the Executive Committee meeting in Tokyo.

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