Based on the I.H.D. Resolution 1–12 the Commission of Snow and Ice of the I.A.S.H. prepared guide lines for the recording and mapping of the worldwide distribution, water equivalent and related data of 1) the total seasonal snow cover, 2) the sea, lake and river ice, and 3) the perennial ice and snow masses on and beneath the land surfaces. Using the glacier inventory as an example, the problems of standardization and presentation of data are discussed. The operation of a computer program written for a Univac 1108 and the use of its ‘control’ cards for the analysis of glacier inventory data from a test area in the Canadian Arctic (Axel Heiberg Island) is outlined. The program presently sorts according to characteristics and classification numbers. A range of variables may be chosen and any one variable is averaged, totalled or histogrammed as instructed by the control cards. A brief description of the program is included. The development of a second stage to the program is envisaged.