IV. Developing Specifications for Library Legislation F Y 1982 was a year of very productive activity in developing new specifications for the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), a 25-year-old statute being considered for reauthorization. Representative Paul Simon's Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education is considering the future of this legislation, and at Representative Simon's request NCLIS assisted with the coordination of hearings and other efforts to assess the needs of user groups and the professional library/information community. Progress during the year included holding oversight hearings in three cities and a successful cooperative effort of the library/information community and Congressional staff to develop specifications for new legislation. Beginning in 1981 and continuing through the first quarter of FY 1982, Representative Simon held six hearings to gather views on LSCA to be taken into consideration during the reauthorization process. NCLIS assisted by identifying witnesses and helping to schedule and make other preparations for the hearings. These hearings provided a wealth of information about the importance of LSCA funds to the state and local libraries. Witnesses cited the successes of LSCA projects that had been funded during this law's 25-year history. However, they also pointed out the need for change in the programmatic emphasis of the legislation. For example, they suggested that the potential and necessity of library automation ought to be recognized, as should the special information needs of groups such as the elderly, Indians, and illiterate adults. The states should take a larger role in determining the most urgent library and information needs of their citizens and should allocate LSCA funds accordingly. With the hearings completed, Representative Simon asked the Commission to prepare specifications for the amendments to LSCA. After reviewing the hearings record and consulting with major representatives of the library/information community, NCLIS realized that no clear consensus existed regarding the future of LSCA and therefore presented Representative Simon with guidelines for preparing the new legislation. These guidelines encompassed a detailed discussion of a number of issues and included items on which there was a known difference of opinion. During the next several months, representatives of the American Library Association (ALA), the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA), NCLIS and others met with Congressional staff to draw up the actual specifications for the legislation. Several meetings were held in Washington to accomplish this task. Principal ALA divisions were consulted and their ideas were added to the deliberations. Each state librarian was fully informed of the developing specifications and many offered valuable suggestions. Because of new title concerning Indian library services was being proposed, Indian library groups also became involved in the process of developing specifications. The result of this joint effort was a list of recommended changes to the current Library Services and Construction Act. Both the Commission's role in this process and recommendations from the field were supported by reference to White House Conference resolutions relevant to the improvement of LSCA. The Commission is very pleased that the development of the proposed changes to LSCA has been accomplished in an open forum, and in a manner that has allowed extensive participation by the library and information community. The Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education plans to complete the draft legislation and hold hearings in the spring of 1983. Photo on preceding page: Representative James Hansen of Utah introduces Jason Hardman at the joint congressional hearing on information needs of rural America. V. Improving the Dissemination of Federal Information REPORT OF THE TASK FORCE ON PUBLIC/PRIVATE he report of the Commission's Public/Private Sector Task Force, Public Sector/Private Sector Interaction in Providing Information Services, was published by the Commission in March 1982. This milestone document was the culmination of a two-year task force study under the chairmanship of Robert M. Hayes, Dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of California, Los Angeles. The original charge to the task force stated that its purpose was: to make a significant contribution to the delineation of the proper roles of government and private organizations with respect to the generation and dissemination of scientific, technical, business and other information. The members of the task force represented equally the public (federal, state, and local), the private not-for-profit, and the private for-profit sectors. In an attempt to provide for representation of at least some of the subsectors, the number of participants was set at 21, which is nearly 50% larger than most NCLIS task forces. The members included many outstanding leaders of the library/information community. (See Appendix IV) The task force produced seven principles for guiding interaction between the public and private sectors and 27 recommendations for implementing these principles. Because it is important that these principles and recommendations be evaluated only in the context of the entire report, they will not be listed here. However, in general, these principles and recommendations are in favor of: |