The International Conference on Lasers and Applications was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 29 June to 3 July 1980. This conference was held to commemorate the memory of Professor Sergio Porto who died suddenly about one year earlier while attending a laser conference in the Soviet Union. The sub ject matter covered the active areas of laser devices, photochemistry, non linear optics, high-resolution spectroscopy, photokinetics, photobiology, photomedicine, optical communication, optical bistability, and Raman spec troscopy. The conference was attended by over 150 people including scientists from Japan, France, England, West Germany, Norway, Italy, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, India, Canada, and the United States. Amemorial session attended by members of the Porto family and ranking Brazilian government dignitaries preceded the start of the conference. The location of the conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was chosen be cause it was in the homeland of Sergio Porto and provided an opportunity for his friends, colleagues, and countryrnen to pay hornage to hirn. The setting on Copacabana Beach afforded access to the lovely beaches, restaurants, and nightlife of one of the most beautiful and exciting cities of the world. There were tours of the city together with a banquet that featured a performance by one of the best Samba Schools in Rio. Financial support from many sponsors in Brazil and the United States is gratefully acknowledged in making this working conference a fitting tribute to the memory of Professor S.P.S. Porto."

The field of optical and laser remote sensing has grown rapidly in recent years. This dynamic growth has been stimulated not only by technological advances in lasers, detectors, and optical system design, but also by the potential application of remote sensing systems to a wide variety of atmo spheric measurements. Optical and laser remote sensing can allow single ended measurement capability not offered by conventional point-detection techniques. While many past measurements have been associated with labo ratory research. practical systems have recently been developed which are capable of remotely detecting. measuring. and tracking a wide range of molecular and atomic species in the atmosphere with concentrations of parts per billion and at ranges over 100 km. This book is a compilation of papers which represent an overview of the present state of development of optical and laser remote sensing tech nology. The subjects covered include both passive and active remote sen sing techniques in the UV, visible, and IR spectral regions. related laser and detector technology, and atmospheric propagation and system analysis considerations. While the papers do not constitute an exhaustive treat ment of the excellent research being conducted in this field, they are representative of the wide diversity of present efforts. It is hoped that the reader will gain a general understanding of the current research in optical and laser remote sensing as well as an overview of current systems development."

The Tunable Lasers and Applications Conference was held in Loen, Norway, on June 6-11, 1976. This conference dealt with the technology of tunable lasers from the vacuum ultraviolet to the far infrared and their application in the areas of photochemistry, chemical kinetics, isotope separation, at mospheric photochemistry and environmental studies, photobiology, and spec troscopy. The need for such a conference grew out of the rapidly expanding use of tunable lasers in a broad range of disciplines. The conference was attended by 130 scientists representing Japan, Italy, West Germany, Canada, Israel, France, England, Norway, Sweden, Brazil, Den mark, Finland, the Netherlands, the Soviet Union, and the United States. The location of the conference in Loen, Nordfjord, was chosen because of the magnificent beauty of its aqua-blue fjords surrounded by glacier-capped mountains and lush green hillsides. The Alexandra Hotel was a perfect host for such a conference with first class services, superb smorgesbord, and ex cellent audio-visual facilities. The atmosphere was free of distractions and provided for a relaxed interchange of ideas. An afternoon hike was arranged to the Briksdal glacier while the highlight of the outdoor activities was a bus-ship excursion to the magestically splendid Geiranger fjord. A sumptuous banquet was followed by an interesting'and entertaining illustrated talk on high-speed and underwater photography by Professor Harold Edgerton from MIT. Financial support from our sponsors is gratefully acknowledged in help ing to make this conference a complete success."

The scope and reach of information, driven by the explosive growth of information technologies and content types, has expanded dramatically over the past 30 years. The consequences of these changes to records and information management (RIM) professionals are profound, necessitating not only specialized knowledge but added responsibilities. RIM professionals require a professional ethics to guide them in their daily practice and to form a basis for developing and implementing organizational policies, and Mooradian’s new book provides a rigorous outline of such an ethics. Taking an authoritative principles/rules based approach to the subject, this book comprehensively addressesthe structure of ethics, outlining principles, moral rules, judgements, and exceptions; ethical reasoning, from meaning and logic to dilemmas and decision methods; the ethical core of RIM, discussing key topics such as organizational context, the positive value of accountability, conflicts of interest, and confidentiality; important ethical concerns like copyright and intellectual property, whistleblowing, information leaks, disclosure, and privacy; and the relationship between RIM ethics and information governance. An essential handbook for information professionals who manage records, archives, data, and other content, this book is also an ideal teaching text for students of information ethics.