the library and information field, NCLIS provides a forum for the entire community. The Commission also serves as a

catalyst-identifying problems, suggesting solutions and making things happen. In this executive summary, the Commission's major accomplishments for Fiscal Year 1982 are highlighted under these four functions. These and the Commission's other activities for the year are fully discussed in the body of this annual report.

The Commission served as resident expert for the government and for the library and information community in the following programs and activities:

• NCLIS worked closely with the House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education on the revision and improvement of the Library Services and Construction Act. Using broad-based input from all facets of the library and information community, including users, NCLIS drafted guidelines and specifications for the new legislation.

The Commission completed plans for a new program of public-private sector cooperation, in which information specialists from IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center will examine the anticipated information environment of 1985 and the impact of new technologies on specific user groups, such as the elderly. This study and a closely related one, an examination of the changing library and information needs of U.S. citizens, will provide a solid basis for planning the future of these services. These investigations will also focus on the relationship of new information technologies to productivity in our society.

The Commission continued to advise the Administration, Executive Branch agencies, and the Congress on matters relating to library and information policies and needs. It held regular meetings with senior officials in the Executive and Legislative Branches to explore information-related topics of mutual concern. NCLIS also assisted Mrs. George Bush with her library visits to promote volunteer literacy programs across the country.

The Commission received the preliminary reports of the Task Force on the Role of the Special Library in Nationwide Networks and Cooperative Programs, the Task Force on Community Information and Referral Services, and the Task Force on Library and Information Services to Cultural Minorities. In FY 1983 these reports will be published and their reccmmendations considered by the Commission for followup action. The Commission also received the published report of the Intergovernmental Library Cooperation Project, an NCLIS-sponsored study on federal libraries and resource sharing carried out in conjunction with the Library of Congress and the Federal Library Committee.

In its role as "honest broker," NCLIS helped government officials at all levels and representatives of other sectors communicate with each other through the following activities:

Public Sector/Private Sector Interaction in Providing Information Services, the report of the NCLIS Task Force on Public/Private Sector Relations, was published and widely distributed for comment. The members of this task force were drawn from three entirely different sectors, which are often in conflict: government, business, and the "independent sector." This study marks the first comprehensive and cooperative attempt to identify the appropriate roles of the public sector and the private sector in disseminating information, particularly federal information.

The Commission brought together officials from the National Center for Education Statistics and representatives from the major library and information associations to identify needed statistics and mechanisms for gathering and disseminating them more efficiently.

NCLIS analyzed and transmitted to the Office of Personnel Management the concerns of the library and information community concerning the proposed OPM standards for federal librarians and expressed its willingness to assist by convening an advisory group that would help develop revised standards responsive to the concerns of this community.

During Fiscal Year 1982, the Commission provided a forum for individuals and associations in the library and information field in these and other ways:

⚫NCLIS coordinated a joint Congressional hearing on "The Changing Information Needs of Rural America; the Roles of Libraries and Information Technologies" during the World Future Society's Fourth General Assembly. Witnesses from across the country described the plight of America's rural libraries and the new services being developed to meet the increasing information needs of our rapidly growing rural regions.

⚫NCLIS assisted several professional associations in presenting sessions at their annual conferences and other meetings, and it hosted informal monthly meetings of representatives of the major library and information associations in the Washington area to discuss issues of concern to the profession.

At the request of the System Development Foundation, the NCLIS Executive Director organized an informal advisory committee on library and information sciences, which assisted in preparing a major report on research in information science. This report was reviewed and discussed by leaders in the information

field at a conference of the American Society for Information Science in June 1982.

During the year, the Commission served as a catalyst to help analyze problems and bring about solutions in a variety of areas:

NCLIS continued to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Intermountain Community Learning/Information Service Project in four Western states, and other groups to assist the development of rural libraries. Progress during the year included a demonstration/exhibit of the rural library of the future and a joint Congressional hearing on the information needs of rural America.

⚫NCLIS assisted the Congressional Research Service with a hearing/workshop on computer-based information systems and services in agriculture.

• The Commission continued to work with the White House Conference on Library and Information Services Taskforce to promote the implementation of resolutions adopted by the 1979 White House Conference. NCLIS staff members were instrumental in the implementation of Resolution A-6, the adoption of a national library symbol, in 1982.

• NCLIS agreed to become the Secretariat for the U.S. National Committee for the UNESCO General Information Program, at the request of the U.S. library and information community and the U.S. State Department. The Commission also agreed to help coordinate the participation of U.S. representatives to international meetings concerned with library and information topics.

During FY 1982, the President nominated five new

Commissioners to replace those whose terms were expiring. Miss Elinor M. Hashim, Supervisor, Reference and Technical Services at Perkin-Elmer Corporation, Norwalk, Connecticut, was designated as the Commission's third Chairman. The Commission's Executive Committee met in January 1982, and full Commission meetings were held in June (in Washington, D.C.) and August (in Montreal) in conjunction with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).

II. Introduction

or the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

(NCLIS), FY 1982 was a year of significant change as well as ongoing service to the President, the Congress, the library and information science community, and the citizens of the United States. NCLIS was established in 1970 by Public Law 91-345 as a permanent, independent agency to advise the President and Congress on public policy for the library and information field. Because the Commission's first meeting was held in September 1971, FY 1982 marked the beginning of the Commission's second decade of service.

The NCLIS 1980-81 Annual Report, published in 1982, includes an extensive summary of the history of the Commission, its predecessor National Advisory Committee on Libraries, and its major accomplishments during its first decade.

In its first 10 years, the Commission established the foundation for a comprehensive program to meet the library and information needs of the nation. After conducting extensive needs assessments through regional hearings, research, and analysis, the Commission in 1975 issued a major program document, Toward a National Program for Library and Information Services: Goals for Action. This became the only long-range national library and information planning tool to be endorsed, in principle, by most of the major library and information organizations in the nation. In 1974, with the passage of Public Law 93-568, NCLIS was given an additional responsibility, that of planning and conducting the first White House Conference on Library and Information Services. Approximately 100,000 people were involved in this process at the local, state and national levels. This comprehensive assessment of the country's library and information needs was completed in 1979, and the resulting recommendations were reported to the President in 1980. Responding

to the priorities established by the White House Conference continues to be a major thrust for the Commission.

In order to improve the quality of the advice provided to all three branches of government and the library and information community, during FY 1982 the Commission strengthened its small staff, expanded its contacts with groups and individuals concerned with library and information services, and secured support from the private sector. Based on the results of a two-year planning process and the recommendations of the 1979 White House Conference on Library and Information Services, the Commission established three major goals for FY 1982: 1) develop specifications for library legislation; 2) improve the dissemination of federal information; and 3) improve library and information services through resource sharing and applications of technology. The structure of this annual report is based on these three major goals, within the context of the responsibilities assigned to the Commission in its enabling legislation. In accordance with its first goal, the Commission's major legislative initiative for FY 1982 was to work closely with the Congress on the revision and improvement of library legislation. NCLIS reviewed testimony received in oversight hearings held by the House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education, chaired by Representative Paul Simon, on the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA); considered pertinent resolutions from the 1979 White House Conference on Library and Information Services; and listened to the opinions of professionals representing broad areas of the library and information community. At Representative Simon's request, the Commission then prepared guidelines and specifications for the new legislation.

The publication of the report of the Public Sector/Private Sector Task Force, Public Sector/Private Sector Interaction in Providing Information Services, marked a significant step toward the Commission's goal of improving the dissemination of federal information. The Task Force report, which presented a series of seven principles and 27 specific recommendations, was widely disseminated to obtain response from persons and organizations throughout the private sector, the government and the library and information community. The Commission also acted as coordinator for a joint Congressional hearing entitled "The Changing Information Needs of Rural America-The Roles of Libraries and Information Technologies" held in July 1982. There, witnesses from across the country contributed valuable testimony on the library and information needs and services of America's 80 million rural residents. The Commission also assisted the Congressional Research Service with a hearing and workshop on computer-based information systems and services in agriculture.