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Communicating through UNCJIN: operations room at the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch |
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Communicating through UNCJIN: system operators at the School of Criminal Justice, State University of New York at Albany |
In a sense, it was an idea that was ahead of its time. After all, not many people had heard of E-Mail, let alone used it on a daily basis (see box). Many thought it could not be done. And it was argued that an electronic information system neglected the needs of developing countries that had no access to such technology. There were some good reasons for such a concern, but many of them turned out to be unfounded. For example, it is apparent that in some developing countries, technology has made it possible to bypass the intermediate stage of industrialization. In fact, a number of developing countries are members of UNCJIN. With the addition of UNCJIN to the INTERNET computer network in late 1992, that number can be expected to grow.
There is an UNCJIN Gopher-Server located at the School of Criminal Justice, State University of New York at Albany, USA: Gopher/Albany
The electronic communications system used to establish UNCJIN was the Telecommunications Cooperative Network (TCN), a non-profit international computer network with considerable previous United Nations experience. TCN offered training and assistance in setting up the information service. TCN provides its service by contracting through the DIALCOM system. There are many non-profit networks as well as United Nations organizations connected to this particular system. One advantage of being connected to a network including so many other organizations is that UNCJIN members can benefit from the information services offered by other organizations on the network. News of developing countries, for example, is constantly available, as is a recently added AIDS daily update and a resources database.
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Communicating through UNCJIN: operations room at the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch |
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Communicating through UNCJIN: system operators at the School of Criminal Justice, State University of New York at Albany |
Most important of all, UNCJIN provides a forum for criminal justice professionals, scholars, students and interested persons to communicate and exchange ideas and information. Please check UNCJIN on INTERNET at any time - there is a constant and healthy discussion about international criminal justice. Until September 1993, if you have access to INTERNET, you can join UNCJIN simply by sending an Email message to LISTSERV@ALBNYVM1 as follows:
SUBSCRIBE UNCJIN-L YourFirstName YourLastName
After September 1993, please contact the Crime Prevention and
Criminal Justice Branch,
United Nations Office at Vienna, directly.
Welcome aboard! You'll be glad you joined!
Email is an alternative means of communication. Through a system of individual mailboxes, established in a central location, Email allows messages, documents and data, created by any type of microcomputer, to be sent and retrieved from nearly all locations in the world. In addition, Email allows staff on mission to send and receive correspondence at any time, and it completely removes the problem of telephone tag.
The basic service offered by Email is the transmission of messages, documents and data in an efficient and cost-effective manner. They can be in plain text format or in the appropriate application format. This means that files created in Wordperfect, Lotus and dBase can be transferred between users without loss of formatting characters, macros or structures.
There appears to be a misconception among many users that Email was introduced to þreplace the telexþ. While it is true in many cases that Email can be used instead of telex, it will not in the foreseeable future supplant it. Likewise, Email may be used instead of faxing, but since it cannot transmit graphics or a signature, it is not useful in those cases. Moreover, since the number of agencies, Governments and vendors on Email is limited, the most appropriate means of communication should always be chosen. Email is useful for messaging and for sending computer- generated documents and data from microcomputer to microcomputer. It is also useful for retrieving electronic data from information databases. When a large document has to be sent, and it is not required to be read by a microcomputer, then DHL (Worldwide Express Courier Service) or the pouch might be a slower but more cost-effective means of transmission.
The following rates in United States dollars ($) are currently being charged:
Prime time* Non-prime time
DIALCOM system $9/hour** $5/hour
Data transfer $0.05 for 1,024 characters
(approximately one page)
Storage $0.35 per month for 2,048 characters
Public data network Rate varies***Rate varies
The following are examples of the charges for value-added information services:
Prime time Non-prime time
United Nations
Information Service $15/hour $15/hour
Associated Press $45/hour $45/hour
AIDS information
database $18/hour $15/hour
Bibliographical Research
Service**** Rate varies Rate varies
* Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
** Plus $20 monthly fee.
*** Communication charge of local post, telegraph and
telephone service.
**** With approximately 200 databases provided by the
Service at varying rates.
Email is accessed through one of the international public data, or packet switching, networks, such as TELENET, TYMNET or INFONET. Some countries have their own local public data networks; for example, Honduras has HONDUPAK and Kenya has KENPAC. If the field office has access to a local network then only a local phone call is required to make the connection through the local network to an international network. If the country does not have a local network, then an international phone call has to be made to the closest country that has a connection point or node.
Basically, if you can make a direct dial phone call, without going through an operator, and you have the right communications equipment, then you can use Email.
The equipment required for accessing Email is a modem and communications software. The modem should be Hayes, or Hayes-compatible, and be able to operate between 300 and 2,400 baud. In the United States, Europe and Japan, 9,600 baud is available. All offices should first check with their local post, telegraph and telephone service before purchasing a modem, as some countries will only allow modems to be installed if they are purchased or leased from the local service.
There are eight agencies or United-Nations-related networks available on the system. All the United Nations networks have their own user base and messages and documents may be freely passed between them. They are:
INTERNET is the largest computer network in the world. It "works" because many regional and national networks have agreed on common procedures for connecting to each other through INTERNET. Chances are that, if you work for a large governmental organization anywhere in the world or you work at an academic institution, you have access to INTERNET. Many commercial information services (such as "Compuserve") now also offer a gateway to INTERNET. It is fast becoming the main tool for accessing information of any kind.
Note: All text boxes, except those entitled "What does Email cost?" and "What is INTERNET?" draw on the article "Email: the first four years-an update", by Richard Smith, published in the LOGON Newsletter, April 1991, of the United Nations Development Programme, No. 19, pp. 7-9, and on the article "Learning tools for INTERNET neophytes ... and veterans", by Viney Jain and Malcolm Chapman, in the LOGON Newsletter, No. 23, April 1993, pp. 13-14.