APPENDIX TO ITEM 12.1
Report for the 23rd General Assembly
FIG Working Week in Prague, 22-26 May 2000
Permanent Institution
International Office of Cadastre and Land Records (OICRF)
Introduction
As usual OICRF carried out its activities in all three areas of its tasks,
namely:
- to collect and systematically file and index all documentation material
relating to existing cadastres and land registration systems;
- to make comparative studies of that material, followed by publication of
the results;
- to give information and advice on all cadastres and land registration
systems to all interested persons and institutions, whether for the purpose
of study or to help countries wishing either to introduce a cadastre or a
land registration system or to improve the existing system.
The Collection
After the introduction and presentation of the renewed
Internet-site OICRF spent most of its time and efforts to the consolidation
of the presented services.
Also in 1999 OICRF continued on bringing the most important part of the
collection digitally into the database. This concerns the documents which OICRF
expects to be asked for and consulted mostly.
The growth of the collection is satisfactorily. Magazines’ articles,
dissertations and other books are still useful input for the OICRF collection.
Since OICRF brings in the new documents digitally anyway, it has the most recent
publications always digitally available for its users.
OICRF reports that from the standing collection up to now more than 3000
publications have been brought digitally into the database.
In 1999 research has started in order to generate an overview of cadastres
and public registers all over the world. OICRF intends to get an overview per
country of the existence of cadastre and public registers, its actual position
and status, its authorities and tasks et cetera. This is useful for for example
comparative studies. Besides it enables OICRF to give better advises on land
registration topics, so such a document makes increase the value of OICRF’s
collection. It is planned to publish this study in 2000.
Information and advice
Bringing publications digitally into the database is an activity which has
been given much priority in 1999. By doing this OICRF is able to provide the
most important part of the desired publications via the Internet within hours.
Trying to offer quick services is part of OICRF’s duties.
Just in order to improve this service, OICRF in 1999 started to make its
website more user-friendly. Although it is a site being visited many times (at
least 6000 times this year) and although many digital orders are received,
nevertheless some arrangements will be made just to comfort the visitor. It is
planned to improve the search windows so that the visitor will get a more fast
and more concrete result. Besides OICRF wants to insert a special page with
links to other interesting websites in the field of land registration. All this
is being built at the moment.
Furthermore also this year OICRF presented itself as a host, by receiving
delegations from abroad. Thus was it in the opportunity to promote its
activities and tasks, as well as its international reputation. OICRF was even
invited to lecture at academy.
Comparative studies
Last year OICRF published several (comparative) studies:
- User demands and the application of new technology, Bonn, March 1999, UN/ECE
MOLA
- IT re-engineering and legislation with a focus on automated registration
of deeds, FIG GA, Sun City, June 1999
- Automated Registration of deeds, HM Land Registry, London Gatwick, June
1999
- Land Tenure and Land Administration for Social and Economic Development in
(Western) Europe, UN/FIG, Melbourne, October 1999.
Final Remark
OICRF makes as always every effort to offer best and quick services to anyone
who requests for information, not at least to the members of FIG and the
professional public. In other words: OICRF is ready the perform its tasks at the
level required by an ever improving profession.
Once more all this was possible by the generous support of our host, the
Dutch National Agency for the Cadastre and the Public Registers.
Prof. Ir. Paul van der Molen
President, OICRF
Alexander Maljaars LLM
Secretary-General, OICRF
1 March 2000
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