COMMISSION 5: DOCUMENTATION AND ASTRONOMICAL DATA Report of Meetings 4, 5, and 10 August 1988 CHAIRMAN: G. A. Wilkins Session 1. 4 August 1988 09.00-10.30 BUSINESS MEETING (1) Chairman: G. A. Wilkins Secretary: G. Lynga [First 5 non-relevant agenda items omitted.] 6. Working Groups. A provisional list of Working Groups and Task Groups, and of their chairmen, for 1988-1991 was drawn up. P. Grosbol requested that the Task Group on FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) should be a separate permanent Working Group (and not part of the WG on Astronomical Data) so that its importance would be more apparent to national agencies which should be encouraged to adopt the standards prepared by the Group; he described the recent work on the extension of the standards to cover catalogues and other tabular data. The decision on the list was deferred until the second business meeting to allow for further discussions during the technical sessions. 7. Resolutions. P. Grosbol introduced two resolutions on FITS: the first concerned the extension of the standards and the second the setting up of a permanent working group. After discussion it was agreed that the President should forward these resolutions to the Resolutions Committee of the Union. [They were adopted by the General Assembly and are given as resolutions B1 and B2.] Session 2. 4 August 1988 11.00-12:30 TECHNICAL AIDS FOR DATA Chairman: G. Westerhout Secretary: R. J. Hanisch The meeting of the Working Group on Astronomical Data was opened by the Chairman, who pointed out that, in spite of three WG newsletters, there had not been much activity, other than by the FITS Committee. He requested that the WG members communicate regularly with the Chairman. [First 5 non-relevant agenda items omitted.] 6. FITS. P. Grosbol reported on the activities of the FITS task group and pointed out that details of the FITS Tables Extension, including blocking factors, printable arrays, etc. are given in Astron.Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 73, 359-372, 1988. He presented two resolutions on FITS and the Working Group agreed that: (1) the use of the Tables Extensions should be an IAU recommended practice; and (2) a new FITS WG should maintain and review FITS Standards. Reference: Transactions of the International Astronomical Union, Vol. XXB (1988), pp. 110-111.