----------------------------Original message---------------------------- This may be of interest to fellow Marine Science Libraries. I received word that HYDROCON LTD., a private company based in St. Petersburg, Russia, is marketing and distributing MARINE SCIENTIFIC MAPS AND ATLASES produced by several Russian marine research institutes. According to HydroCon General Director Mark G. Maliavko, "A large part of any profits from the sale of materials ... will be distributed as a royalty to authors and compilers of these materials." Now available: The Map of the Mineral Resources & Geomorphological Map of the Ocean Floor. $49.60 Angola-Brazil Geotraverse. $47.40 International Geological Geophysical Atlas of the Atlantic Ocean. $132.30 Atlas of the Arctic. $48.50 HydroCon Ltd. P.O. Box 406 196240 St. Petersburg Russia (812) 290.82.06 HydroCon uses a Norwegian partner to serve as a relay point for orders "to avoid at least the main part of problems posed by faulty Russian banks and communications services." VisSim a.s. Gamleveien 32 P.O. Box 1029 N-3189 Horten Norway telephone +47 33 48803 I have additional information I would be happy to FAX or mail to seriously interested bibliographers. Although I just received word of this commercial endeavor and have not yet ordered anything from them, they were given the nod by a U.S. Navy scientist. After recently working with a Russian geomorphologist and member of the Russian Academy of Sciences who earns a salary of $15.00 per month, I think support of Russian maps and atlases by academic libraries is warranted. - Paul Leverenz Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library [log in to unmask]