PRIORITIES/OBJECTIVES The first priority of the Library of Congress is to make knowledge and creativity available to the United States Congress. -To fulfill all Congressional mandates so well that the Congress confidently continues to rely upon the Library to meet those needs; -To meet or exceed needs and expectations of the Congress for legislative research, analysis and information services at a level of sustained excellence; and -To assure that the Congress is fully cognizant of the services and resources of the Library of Congress, and has ready and reliable access to them. The second priority of the Library of Congress is to preserve, secure, and sustain for the present and future use of the Congress and the Nation a comprehensive record of American history and creativity and a universal collection of human knowledge. -To develop and maintain the Library's universal collections in all formats and languages, acquiring them through copyright, gift, exchange purchase, and transfer, in the most timely and cost-effective manner to support the Library's mission; -To ensure that the Library's collections, both physical and electronic, are appropriately secure; -To achieve arrearage reduction goals; -To provide innovative and effective bibliographic, intellectual, and physical control that is appropriate, timely, and of high quality for all of the Library's collections; -To ensure the preservation of the Library's collections for current and future use, using appropriate preservation treatment and technologies; -To lead the development, maintenance, and dissemination (both nationally and internationally) of standards needed for: effective electronic interchange of documents and bibliographic data; preservation; and the theory and practice of cataloging; and -To organize, sustain and make more usable the record of American creativity through copyright registration, deposit, and recordation systems. The third priority of the Library of Congress is to make its collections maximally accessible to Congress, the U.S. government more broadly, and the public. -To lead in the area of electronic outreach by contributing to a national digital library that provides both broad access to the Library's collections and links to other significant, publicly available information, regardless of its location and format; -To make the Library's collections available both nationally and internationally through use of digital technology, lending, and document delivery; -To provide high-quality service to users accessing the Library by telephone, correspondence, and electronic means; -To sustain high-quality service to users of the Library's reading rooms, research areas, and collections; -To broaden awareness and use of the Library's special and foreign-language collections and reading rooms; -To sustain and improve high-quality service to blind and physically handicapped patrons; and -To develop a plan to continue the National Digital Library Program beyond the year 2000. The fourth priority is to add interpretive and educational value to the basic resources of the Library in order to enhance the quality of the creative work and intellectual activity derived from these resources, and to highlight the importance of the Library to the nation's well-being and future progress. -To foster creative scholarship in the Library's unique collections including foreign-language and special-format materials; and -To promote awareness of the Library and fuller and more varied use of its resources through national and international copyright services, exhibits, concerts, publications, associations, conferences, colloquia, and other interpretive programs. The Enabling Infrastructure.-To accomplish its mission the Library must have an efficient and effective infrastructure. Financial Services To provide financial services (budget, accounting, disbursing and travel) to its clients and to conduct program activities, allocate resources, and ensure accountability; and To improve the Library's financial and legal framework, policies and procedures. Human Resources To provide human resources leadership in service to the Library's internal constituency; To formulate and put in place a comprehensive personnel program that will significantly improve timeliness, efficiency and responsiveness to client needs; and To promote equal employment opportunity at the Library of Congress and facilitate resolutions of disputes fairly and quickly. Security To ensure the security of Library staff, visitors, facilities, collections, and other assets. Support Services To promote occupational health and safety and to provide a healthy, safe environment for staff and visitors; To provide facility management, space, and interior design support; To provide procurement and logistic support; and To provide records management, mail distribution, printing, and transportation services. Technology To align the Library's current information technology resources with its overall priorities and develop technological architecture that will support the Library's objectives; To improve information technology customer satisfaction; and To establish and enforce information technology standards that will ensure compatibility of information technology systems. ATTACHMENT 2.-LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SELECTED LISTING OF AWARDS TO NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY PROGRAM [American Memory, including Learning Page and Today in History] Time Magazine Best Web Site of 1996 Award (one of ten sites).—Time Magazine rated American Memory among the ten best Web sites of 1996. December 23, 1996, page 84. New York Times "Internet Hit".-New York Times, Article about LCWeb and American Memory, "Library of Congress Is an Internet Hit". Sunday, Feb. 16, 1997, p. A18. URL: http://www.nytimes.com/ (Select "search"; then enter "congress" "internet" "hit" select ALL words.) PC Magazine Top 100 Web Sites Hall of Fame.-PC Magazine, Includes both American Memory and THOMAS in its Top-100 list, Hall of Fame. American Memory and THOMAS are two of twenty-four sites listed as "Five time champs”, making the cut every time, from the first Top-100 listing in July 1996 to the current Top100 listing in August 1997. URL: http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/special/web100/ ___halloffame.htm. American Memory Review: URL: http://www8.zdnet.com/pcmag/ special/web100/lcweb.htm. Britannica's 40 Best Sites on the Web.-Britannica's Internet Guide selected 40 websites, out of the 64,000 they indexed, as the "best of the web". American Memory is one of the forty. URL: http://www.ebig.com/best.html. Lycos Top 5 percent of the Internet Award.-Lycos award given to websites, judged to be in the top five percent of the Internet. The LOC web site, including American Memory, received an overall rating of 97 based on a scale of 0-100. URL: http:// point.lycos.com/categories/. NII Finalist for Education.-1996 National Information Infrastructure (GII) Awards recognized and honors superior accomplishments in applications of the Internet. American Memory was one of six National Finalist in the Education Category. URL: http://www.gii.com/nii/. Magellan Internet Guide Four Star Reviews.-Magellan Internet Guide rated American Memory four stars out of four. URL: http://www.mckinley.com/magellan/ Reviews/News_and_Reference/ (select "Libraries and Reference", select "Libraries", select "US/Public Libraries"). Net Guide Best of the Web.-Five stars awarded to American Memory. URL: http:/ /www.netguide.com/Site/Detail?siteId=12712. Three stars awarded to the Learning Page. URL: http://www.netguide.com/Site/Detail?siteId=95532. American Library Association 50+ Great Sites for Parents and Kids.-American Library Association guide to quality family-friendly websites for kids. American Memory: URL: http://www.ssdesign.com/parentspage/greatsites.50.html. Today in History is listed. URL: http://www.ssdesign.com/parents page/greatsites/50.html. History Channel Recommended Web Site.-The History Channel On-line includes American Memory in: U.S. History, General Resources section of its "recommended" history websites. URL: http://www.historychannel.com/histlists/us.html. Blue Web'n Library of Blue Ribbon Learning Sites on the Web.-Pacific Bell, with its Education First initiative and its Knowledge Network Explorer rated the Learning Page a five-star Resource application. URL: http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/ bluewebn/. Web Top 40 Education Sites.-Syllabus Web, published by Syllabus Press, lists the Learning Page in its Syllabus Web Top 40 Education Sites. Syllabus Press is an educational publisher. URL: http://www.syllabus.com/top40.htm. The Scout Report.-The Scout Report, published by Internic, is a weekly publication offering a selection of new and newly discovered Internet resources of interest to researchers and educators, featured The Learning Page on March 15, 1996. URL: http://www.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/archive/scout-960315.html. Selected Services of the Library of Congress Borrowing Books from the Library of Congress THOMAS (Public legislative system) This Page: http://www.loc.gov/crs/crstext.html Disclaimer: CRS makes every effort to provide a fair and responsible selection of material on its Home Page from a diverse range of resources. From the CRS Home Page you can enter other, independent Web sites. CRS is not responsible for either the content or nature of those sites. Warning: The CRS Home Page is for use only by Members of Congress and their staffs. Unauthorized use, tampering with, or modification of this system or its supporting hardware or software may violate federal and/or local statutes, and may subject the violator to criminal and/or civil penalties. In the event of unauthorized intrusion, all relevant information regarding possible violations of law may be provided to law enforcement officials. 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