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          To answer the query about having FTP access to Board on
          Geographic Names data, I have some news I hope is still
          correct.  During the GEBCO Sub-Committee on Geographic Names
          held here in the SIO Library this past April/May, two of the
          attendees were high-ranking DMA BGN officials.  The very
          first session was by the DMA and went into great detail
          about a new automated data base that would literally replace
          their acres of shoe boxes full of index cards.  Soon all the
          DMA BGN files of terrestrial and undersea place-names will
          be retrieved and archived electrically instead of manually.
          I foolishly asked if the civilian sector, such as
          institutions of higher education, would have any direct
          access to this data via something like an FTP system.  The
          answer, of course  (as the DMA continues to cut the civilian
          sector loose),  was a polite "no".  Got a place-name
          question for the BGN?  Be nice to them, be patient, and
          remember you're dealing with the DMA.
 
          I recommend the DMA SAILING DIRECTIONS (enroute versions)
          and NOS COAST PILOTS ( for U.S. territorial waters) for
          searching islands by place-name.  Each have excellent
          gazetteers and the DMA includes Lat/Long in their lists.
          I've never seen anything that would list world  islands by
          size, nor has such a question ever arisen in my experience.
          However, the United Nations is looking into island size  as
          it pertains to the global warming issue and islands that are
          imperiled by sea level rise.  A useful tome for
          understanding the island thing is Henry Stommel's LOST
          ISLANDS: THE STORY OF ISLANDS THAT  HAVE VANISHED FROM
          NAUTICAL CHARTS (University of British Columbia Press,
          1984).
 
          - Paul Leverenz
            Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library