AnnouncementsDirectory of Resources PublishedThe Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC) published a Directory of Resources on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in June 1995. The 65-page directory was compiled by Jean Larson, AWIC; Krys Ungar, European Research Group for Alternatives in Toxicity Testing/Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experimentation; David C. Anderson, University of California Center for Animal Alternatives; and Pearl S. Stark, retired from Wyeth-Ayerst Research. Contents include a listing of newsletters, databases, publications, audiovisuals, and computer simulations. Entries are indexed by name and by country. The publication is available from AWIC, National Agricultural Library, 5th Floor, 10301 Baltimore Blvd., Beltsville MD 20705 (Tel: 301-504-6212). OECD Approves New MethodThe Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has approved the Acute Toxic Class (ATC) method, an in vitro assay for determination of acute oral toxicity, as an official test guideline. The method, developed at the Federal Institute for Health Protection of Consumers and Veterinary Medicine (BgVV) in Berlin, reduces animal experimentation by 70% in comparison to the previously accepted for determining acute oral toxicity. The ATC method was tested internationally in laboratories in six countries. The German Federal Minister for Education, Science, Research, and Technology supported the validation study with a grant of 2.1 million marks from 1987-1994. Poling to SPCAJoan S. Poling, former staff assistant at CAAT and current Director of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Animal Care and Use Committee, has accepted the position of Administrator of the Cecil County MD Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). Poling will mange the shelter and focus on increasing public awareness of SPCA and its role safeguarding the welfare of animals. "I'm looking forward to serving the community through the SPCA Administrator's role," she said. | 
