The Working Group was formed at the IAU XXV General Assembly in Sydney, 2003, as a joint initiative of Commissions 40 Radio Astronomy and Commission 41 History of Astronomy, in order to assemble a master list of surviving historically-significant radio telescopes and associated instrumentation found worldwide, and document the technical specifications and scientific achievements of these instruments. In addition, it would maintain an on-going bibliography of publications on the history of radio astronomy, and monitor other developments relating to the history of radio astronomy (including the deaths of pioneering radio astronomers).

Division XI connects astronomers using space techniques or particle detectors for an extremely large range of investigations, from in-situ studies of bodies in the solar system to orbiting observatories studying the Universe in wavelengths ranging from radio waves to γ-rays, to underground detectors for cosmic neutrino radiation.

During the period the Working Group had proposed and was granted renewed status by Division XI Space and High-Energy Astrophysics. Additionally the Working Group requested to be extended to Division IX Optical and Infrared Techniques, Division X Radio Astronomy, as well as Division XI.

Division XII consists of Commissions that formerly were organized under the Executive Committee, that concern astronomers across a wide range of scientific sub-disciplines and provide interactions with scientists in a wider community, including governmental organizations, outside the IAU.

IAU Commission 5 deals with data management issues, and its working groups and task groups deal specifically with information handling, with data centres and networks, with technical aspects of collection, archiving, storage and dissemination of data, with designations and classification of astronomical objects, with library services, editorial policies, computer communications, ad hoc methodologies, and with various standards, reference frames, etc., FITS, astronomys Flexible Image Transport System, the major data exchange format, is controlled, maintained and updated by the Working Group FITS.

Astronomers are well aware of the changing nature, volume, and complexity of astronomical data. Most of us are aware that next generation instruments, with Terabyte databases, are going to present enormous challenges to the way that we process data, and our current ways of managing astronomical databases will probably no longer work. So there are a number of initiatives within the astronomical community, most notably the Virtual Observatory, which aim to address these. However, many astronomers are not aware that similar challenges are being met in other disciplines (e.g., geosciences, life sciences, etc.) and that similar solutions are being sought. As a result, astronomy has much to gain from cross-fertilisation with other disciplines.

The IAU Working Group on Libraries was officially recognized for the first time in the Transactions of the IAU XXIA Reports on Astronomy (McNally 1991), but librarians were involved in Commission 5 activities before that (largely due to the efforts of George A. Wilkins, president of the Commission from 1982 to 1988, see Transactions of the IAU XXA Reports on Astronomy, Swings 1988). Wayne Warren (NASA GSFC, MD, USA) and Helen Knudsen (Calech, CA, USA) were the group's first chairpersons, Brenda Corbin (U.S. Naval Observatory) became Helen Knudsen's successor in 1990. Since 1996, Fionn Murtagh (School of Computer Science, Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland) and Uta Grothkopf (European Southern Observatory, Germany) have been co-chairs.

The Working Group FITS (WG-FITS) is the international control authority for the Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) data format. The WG-FITS was formed in 1988 by a formal resolution of the IAU XX General Assembly in Baltimore (MD, USA), 1988, to maintain the existing FITS standards and to approve future extensions to FITS.

The Working Group Virtual Observatories, Data Centers, and Networks was established under Commission 5 at the Prague General Assembly in 2006. The purpose of the WG is to provide IAU oversight of the activities of the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA, <www.ivoa.net/>), to encourage data centers and other data providers to archive and publish data according to IVOA standards, and to help assure that astronomical research facilities are electronically linked with current network technologies. The WG coordinates activities closely with the WG-FITS, as the IVOA uses FITS as its primary format for binary data exchange, and the WG on Astronomical Data.

From Director Dan Green's report, following this report, it is obvious that the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) continues its excellent work. The Electronic Telegrams (CBETs), established in the previous triennium, have become the regular means for fast communication, with the Circulars providing the official and archival record of discoveries and designations. It is regretted that subscriptions to the printed Circulars continue to decline, but inevitable in this age of electronic communication.

This was the second Triennium in which the Central Bureau issued electronic-only CBETs to aid in the rapid dissemination of reports. Only 174 CBETs had been issued in the 2002-2005 Triennium, but they evolved into a full supplemental and complemental publication to the Circulars during this past Triennium, reflecting the move toward electronic publication and away from printed publication.

The main purpose of Commission 14 is to foster interactions between the astronomical community and those conducting research on atoms, molecules and solid state particles. One way the Commission accomplishes this goal is through triennial compilations on recent relevant research in atomic, molecular and solid state physics, as well as related chemical fields. The most recent compilations appear in the following set of WG Triennial Reports, which were produced by members of the Working Groups and the Organizing Committee of Commission 14. Before presenting the Reports, we highlight the meetings supported by the Commission.

The references cited in this section are mostly papers on original laboratory research; compilations and data bases are covered in another section. The references, ordered by atomic number and spectrum, are given in parentheses following the spectral notations. References including experimental data on line structure, hyperfine structure (HFS) or isotope structure (IS) are also included.

Research in atomic and molecular collision processes and spectral line broadening has been very active since our last report (Schultz & Stancil 2007, Allard & Peach 2007). Given the large volume of the published literature and the limited space available, we have attempted to identify work most relevant to astrophysics. Since our report is not comprehensive, additional publications can be found in the databases at the web addresses listed in the final section. Elastic and inelastic collisions among electrons, atoms, ions, and molecules are included and reactive processes are also considered, but except for charge exchange, they receive only sparse coverage.

In the last decade there has been a tremendous increase of interest in studying processes occurring on IS dust. In part this is due to the availability of ground-based and space-borne high quality instruments which have been used to detect molecules in diverse astrophysical environments, from protoplanetary disks to hot cores and dense clouds. It has also been recognized that IS dust has an important role in the formation of molecules, from molecular hydrogen to methanol. Therefore, it is necessary not to study only properties of dust, but also understand how atoms and molecules interact with and on dust.

Commission 41 of the International Astronomical Union deals with all aspects of astronomical history and heritage from ancient sky knowledge to developments in modern astronomy that have occurred within living memory. It encourages and supports research in the history of astronomy and related fields such as archaeoastronomy and is also concerned with the identification, documentation and preservation of vital aspects of our astronomical heritage such as sites, artifacts, instruments and archives. Commission 41 is one of the largest Commissions in the Union, and is a member of Division XII on Union-Wide Activities.

The Working Group Archives deals with all aspects of the identification and preservation of astronomical archives. In 2009 the IAU will celebrate its 90th anniversary, and on this occasion the WG is taking action toward preserving the archival materials related with the history of IAU. An institution must keep memory of its own past and, as the centenary of IAU is approaching, for the 2006-2009 triennium the WG Archives has started evaluating the archival collections related to the establishment of IAU, in order to check their extent and the current conditions of preservation and conservation of such documents.

The Historical Instruments Working Group (WG-HI) and Commission 41 started planning an interdisciplinary conference titled Astronomy and its instruments before and after Galileo since January 2007. This conference, as an IYA2009 initiative, aims “to highlight mankind's path toward an improved knowledge of the sky using mathematical and mechanical tools as well as monuments and buildings, giving rise, in doing so, to scientific astronomy”. Commission 46 and Commission 55 also support this conference, to be held on the Isle of San Servolo, Venice (Italy), 27 September – 3 October 2009. As a fact of history, it was in Venice that Galileo was advised and got material (glass) to make his telescope, and in Venice he presented an working instrument to Venetian Doge in August 1609. The conference is co-sponsored by IAU as a Joint Symposium with the INAF – Astronomical Observatory of Padova, Italy.

Commission 46 continues its task in the triennium, which started in September 2006. It seeks to further contribute to the development and improvement of astronomical education at all levels all over the world through various projects initiated, maintained and to be developed by the Commission, and by disseminating information concerning astronomy education.

The Program Group for World-wide Development of Astronomy (PG-WWDA) is one of nine Commission 46 program groups engaged with various aspects of astronomical education or development of astronomy education and research in the developing world. In the case of PG-WWDA, its goals are to promote astronomy education and research in the developing world through a variety of activities, including visiting astronomers in developing countries and interacting with them by way of giving encouragement and support.