science

INFOTAB

INFOTAB is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand INFOTAB rather than just read about it. In short: The International Tobacco Information Center, known as INFOTAB, was an international lobbying organisation for the cigarette industry, based in Brussels. History INFOTAB developed through four main stages.

Key takeaways

INFOTAB belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect INFOTAB to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of INFOTAB from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The International Tobacco Information Center, known as INFOTAB, was an international lobbying organisation for the cigarette industry, based in Brussels.

History INFOTAB developed through four main stages. The initial program to set up a joint lobby by the competing cigarette manufacturers was known by the code-name Operation Berkshire, and was established in 1977. The first organisation with staff was established by Mary Covington on loan from Philip Morris, and was named the International Committee on Smoking Issues (ICOSI). Its main operating subcommittee was the Social Acceptability Working Party (SAWP) which sought ways to make smoking more acceptable to non-smokers. The Director was Julian Doyle, a former MP in the Australian parliament. ICOSI was transformed into INFOTAB in 1984, when funding and staffing for the organisation was increased, and it was tasked to resist the growing political pressure on the tobacco industry from the European Community, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). The WHO in particular had a highly active anti-smoking program. The main director of INFOTAB was Bryan C. Simpson, an Australian newspaper executive. In the November 1998, the Master Settlement Agreement was signed between the Clinton Administration, the US States Attorneys General and the tobacco industry. INFOTAB was supposed to be wound up as part of this agreement, but many of its functions were simply transferred to the Tobacco Documentation Center, which was by then a global organisation with database operations in various countries, based initially on the Brussels INFOTAB database division.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with INFOTAB

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what INFOTAB claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to INFOTAB before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about INFOTAB ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of INFOTAB

In research: INFOTAB appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses INFOTAB in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: INFOTAB is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lobbying firms, Tobacco industry, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for INFOTAB outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study INFOTAB in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what INFOTAB means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain INFOTAB out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is INFOTAB in simple terms?

The International Tobacco Information Center, known as INFOTAB, was an international lobbying organisation for the cigarette industry, based in Brussels. History INFOTAB developed through four main stages.

Why does INFOTAB matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study INFOTAB?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on INFOTAB.