Cataloging; (3) expansion of Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC); (4) the on-line distribution of the bibliographic data base to the various nodes of the national network; (5) an augmented reference service to support the national system for bibliographic service; (6) operation of a comprehensive National Serials Service; (7) establishment of a technical services center to provide training in, and information about, Library of Congress techniques and processes, with emphasis on automation; (8) development of improved access to state and local government publications; and (9) further implementation of the national program to preserve physically deteriorating library materials. Proposed Legislation Future legislation will have as its objective the nationwide network and will: (1) outline the role of the Federal Government, the national libraries, and the states; (2) specify the functions that should be performed centrally; (3) establish the basis for appropriate Federalstate and state-local matching funding; (4) establish a locus of Federal responsibility for implementing the policies and programs of the National Commission; (5) provide a framework for private sector participation; and (6) safeguard privacy, confidentiality, and freedom of expression. Funding Since 1956, with the passage of the Library Services Act, the Federal Government has provided funds for new services, library training and research, new building construction, aid to special groups, and interlibrary cooperation. In 1973 the Administration recommended the substitution of revenue sharing for categorical Federal grant programs. The preponderance of testimony to the Commission says that revenue sharing is not working for libraries. Recent actions by Congress have restored appropriations for many categorical aid programs; but, despite the proposed Library Partnership Act, the threat of discontinuance of those programs persists. Meanwhile, the Commission believes that the American public has not only accepted the principle of Federal funding for libraries, but has also equated it with Federal responsibility for education. It is premature to stipulate criteria for requesting financial assistance from the Federal Government under the national program, but suggestions are herewith put forward for consideration. For example, each institution or agency wishing to participate in the network might be asked to: (1) Request support only for programs that are consistent with national program aids and objectives; (2) Be willing to subscribe to, and to utilize, national bibliographic, technical, and other standards; (3) Provide assurance that successful programs basic to a library's mission and begun with Federal funds, will be sustained by the recipient for at least several years: (4) Stipulate that Federal funds would not be used to offset or dilute financial responsibility at the local, regional, or state level; (5) Match Federal funds with local or state funds according to a formula based on factors other than merely population or per capita income; (6) Develop a mutually compatible formula for matching funds between the state and local governments similar to that between the state and Federal Government; and (7) Adhere to the protocols and conventions of use established for a nationwide network. Until a new funding policy for the national program is worked out and passed into legislation, the Commission strongly favors the continuation of categorical aid under existing titles. Conclusion The Commission believes that the country's library and information services are not yet organized to meet the needs of the Nation as a whole. The Nation must change direction by treating recorded knowledge as a national resource for the benefit of all people and the national welfare. The necessary changes in manpower development, in the application of technology, in Federal and state investment policy, in cooperative, interjurisdictional arrangements and in forms and styles of services will come about gradually; but the Commission is satisfied that the library and information communities are now prepared to work together in creating the strongest possible information services for the country. It urges the American people, through Federal, state, and local governments, and public and private institutions, to support a nationwide program of library and information service as a high-priority national goal. SUPPORTING STUDIES Library and Information Services for Last year, the Commission, concerned with the virtual nonexistence of library and information service to Indians on reservations, appointed a special fact-finding committee to investigate what could and should be done to accomplish immediate and substantial improvement. Unfortunately, the fact-finding committee could find little in the way of facts to work with. Opinions, impressions, and intuitions abounded, but solid data were not to be found. In an attempt to remedy this situation, a study was commissioned to assess the magnitude of the problem and determine the reasons for its existence. The study showed that, with only a very few exceptions, the lack of service is severe. The causes are extraordinarily complex and interrelated, with misconceptions and misapprehensions about the Indian people, their aspirations and cultural context, leading the list, and with an almost total lack of leadership in the responsible agencies in the area of library and information service following closely. From the study, a number of recommendations were developed for action by NCLIS and other concerned agencies. As the year ended, the recommendations were being analyzed by the Commission to isolate those most likely to bear fruit in the immediate future. Interactions Between Traditional Library The library as an institutional concept is thousands of years old, and for most of those thousands of years, the library has been insulated from competition, supported by wealthy patrons, institutions or governments. Since the end of World War II, however, the "information explosion," nourished by equally explosive growth in media of information storage and transfer other than the case bound book and the scholarly journal, has resulted in the appearance of a new phenomenon, the information service. In today's environment, the term "information service" encompasses a wide variety of activities sponsored by organizations at all levels of government and in both the forprofit and not-for-profit elements of the private sector. These activities include: publication of abstract journals; current awareness services, with or without document provision; retrospective searching of computer files in batch or on-line modes; dissemination of documents in a variety of microforms; information analyses, which synthesize large bodies of information into succinct tabulations or state-of-the-art reports; the provision of information for coping with day-to-day problems; and many others. The kinds of information handled range from the mundane (e.g., local health clinics, winning lottery numbers) to the esoteric (e.g., leukemic immunosurveillance mechanisms in outbred mammalian species, chemical reactions in the Jovian atmosphere), and the subject matter ranges from aardvarks to zymurgy. However, much of the original impetus for the development of information services came from the need to cope with the outpouring of research and technical reports created as a result of the heavy investment in research and development, mostly government sponsored, during and immediately after the War. Because these materials did not fit into any of the classical categories, the information services, many of which were initially also government sponsored, took an entirely different approach to their management and use, with the emphasis on dissemination rather than availability. They were also quick to take advantage of new technologies, such as the computer, and old, but little-used technologies, such as microimagery. Some became publishers or republishers-and began moving into traditional areas. Meanwhile, the libraries, faced with the necessity of handling more— and more kinds of information materials, began expanding their horizons in the direction of greater service orientation. As a result, we now have the situation where many libraries are subscribers to information services and depend upon them; many information services rely heavily on libraries as resources and as clients; and yet, the two communities frequently view each other as competitors. This simultaneous interdependence and rivalry poses a problem and a challenge that must ultimately be resolved if we are to have an effective national program. To obtain the facts necessary for a solution to this problem, NCLIS commissioned the Harvard University Program on Information Technologies and Public Policy to study these interactions and develop recommendations and supporting data. As the year ended, the report had been received and was being evaluted by the Commission. The Role of the Library of Congress in the National Program It is obvious to anyone who considers the matter that the Library of Congress must play a crucial role in any national program for library and information services. The permanent Commission's predecessor 213-361 O-76-4 Advisory Commission included as its second recommendation the recognition and strengthening of the Library of Congress' role as the National Library, and Congress stipulated in our enabling legislation the Librarian of Congress as a member of the Commission, the only such stipulation of ex officio membership. With the publication of the national program, the time has come to define that role in more precise terms, as a basis for planning for the Commission, the Congress, and the Library itself. To that end, the Commission and the Library of Congress have negotiated a study contract calling for: (1) A review of the current status and plans of major library and network systems in the United States, with a view toward stating the major characteristics of each and, where possible, the experiences and results to date. (2) Based on the experiences and results of (1) above, a description of the requirements for what appear to be the major components required to assure greater success in network development. (3) A review of the current status and plans for international bibliographic control, with a view toward defining the Library of Congress' proper role in these developments. (4) A study of those efforts in national bibliographic control already underway at the Library of Congress, together with current plans for further development, with a view toward ensuring that these provide the necessary components isolated in (2) above that are proper to the Library of Congress' role. (5) A study of the national requirement for bibliographic products and services, with a view toward determining which of these should be supplied by the Library of Congress, which should be supplied by other organizations, and how these efforts should be coordinated. It is expected that this study will provide a document defining the near-term (five to seven years) role of the Library of Congress in the evolving national program and indicating, in priority order, those steps that must be taken to ensure that the Library of Congress fulfills that role. National Inventory of Library Needs One of the more serious problems facing the Commission as it moves toward implementing the national program is the lack of a current, quantiative assessment of the gap between services now being provided and the needs. The last-and only-such inventory was prepared in |