The Tilde computer encyclopedia "The History of Latvia" offers easy access to information about the ancient states of Livonia, a view of the arrival of Tsar Nicholas II in R�ga, recordings of the songs of Latvia's legionnaires and red partisans, and views of the Baltic Way demonstration that brings back memories of the recent period of renaissance in the Baltic States. The multimedia format of the encyclopedia brings together text, images, image galleries and audio and video recordings that offer extensive information, search, selection and utilization opportunities. The computer encyclopedia has 688 chapters, 930 images, 32 sound recordings and 43 documentary film fragments.

Informatics is an area which is doing very much to separate countries and people into two groups � the winners and the losers. This is a global phenomenon, and there is nothing much that we can do about it. The aim of this article is to analyze the state of informatics in Lithuania in the context of these global processes, to reveal existing problems, and to consider ways in resolving these problems. The author presents a concept of informatics, and he argues that there are tangible gaps between science and education, education and industry, and industry and science in Lithuania. His conclusion is that informatics problems can be resolved by integrating science, education and industry, with universities establishing "informatics clinics".

April 1, 1999, will be a significant moment in Latvia, because the country's new criminal law will take effect. Prior to this, Latvia has used a criminal code that was implemented in 1961, making necessary amendments along the way. Among other things, the new criminal law sets out criminal liability for violations in the field of computers (i.e., what has come to be known as cybercrime). The mission for the state here is to protect the lawful interests of its residents, should they become victimized by the development of information technologies and telecommunications. The criminal law itself, however, is just one normative act in this area, and in order to apply the law, the state will have to do a great deal of work. ISD regulations, for example, must be elaborated. The criminal process law must be adopted.

Standards, as well as legislation, are the norms with which the IT sector is regulated. Unlike legislative acts, standards are not mandatory, but they make easier work with information technologies, and they set out specific quality demands. This article looks at the development of IT standards in Latvia, offering the views of several Latvian IT specialists with respect to the practical application of standards.

For the Estonian IT Standardization Technical Committee, its first full working year was a success. Several national standards were approved or adapted from international standards. The committee also served the local community by providing standards-related information and assistance.

During the four years of the Information Systems Division's operations, IT infrastructure elements and business applications have been developed, providing support to all areas of the company's operations. Lattelekom is fast approaching the situation where its information resources and technology management processes do not differ in any essential way from similar processes in Western companies that have had much more experience in intensive IT usage.

Information is playing a rapidly increasing role in our society, and because of this fact libraries are becoming increasingly important. If at one time libraries primarily served as entertainment facilities, then now the situation has changed. The main task of all libraries now is to enable people to find the information that they need. This makes the informatization of libraries an extremely important thing.

We are still far away from being able to construct a fully automated schedule planning system for schools. There are simply too many parameters to be taken into account. The fact is, however, that the computer can offer some very profitable assistance. The Timetable Planning Assistant allows schools to work out non-contradictory lesson timetables, and it has various output opportunities, as well.

In Latvia's higher education system, today, information systems are used by a few higher educational establishments only. The exchange of information among universities, the Ministry of Education and Science and the State Statistical Bureau is a process that involves Word documents or written papers. Thus the obtaining of complete statistical data is a difficult process. The Latvian Education Informatization System project, a part of which is the Information System of Higher Education (ISHE), is helping to improve the situation in Latvia.

Informatization of management is an essential part of the Latvian Education Informatization System, known as LIIS in the Latvian acronym. In 1998 the first version of management information system was developed and installed in many educational institutions. The underlying principles of the system are the following: First, it must be distributed and cannot be enclosed within the walls of the Ministry of Education. Second, it must conform to existing workflow and paper documents as closely as possible. Third, it must provide an integrated solution for many areas of the education system.