Good news for vendors and users trying to keep up-to-date with standards: the International Telecommunications Union has released details of how to access its on-line standards service. The experimental service covers just the CCITT standards, but nonetheless manages to encompass around 19,000 pages of information and 5200 different documents. They are available for Anonymous FTP from two sites in the US from bruno.cs.colorado.edu and digital.resource.org in two directories. /pub/ standards/ ccitt/1988, which has the current blue-book standards and /pub/ standards/ ccitt/1992 which appears to contain the more up to date provisional standards. The documents are available in a variety of text formats and the naming conventions are explained in a document called blue.book.org. The server also has an alternative mail interface for those people without direct access to Anonymous FTP. Mail should be addressed to either infoserv (at sign) bruno.cs.colorado.edu or infoserv (at sign) digital.resource.org. Putting HELP into the body text of the mail message instructs the information to send a general help file on how to use the service. No prizes as to what SEND INDEX instructs it to do. The organisers are stressing that this is a test service, and therefore may be a bit creaky, they also suggest that those needing the definitive version of a the standard should buy the paper copy.
