Social Security Financing. Agricultural Issues: The Farm Economy, Farm Programs and Foreign Trade. Petroleum Exploration and Production Trends and Opportunity in U.S. Science Policy in the Reagan Administration. Religion and Public Policy. Economic Outlook: Comparisons of Major Economic Forecasts. International Banking and Foreign Debt: Disorder in the World Financial Mar kets. Immigration and Refugees. Natural Gas Policy-New Perspectives. Crime Control at the Federal Level. Science, Mathematics, and Engineering. Tax Issues: A Legal Perspective. Reagonomics: The Private Sector Response After Two Years. Financing Entitlement Programs. The Clean Air Act: Yet Another Time. Foreign Aid and Arms Sales: Congressional Oversight. Food and Drug Regulatory Issues. The Soviet Gas Pipeline. Economics of Taxation. Industrial Policy: The Changing Structure of U.S. Industry. Strategic Arms: START and the Nuclear Freeze. Intergovernmental Relations and the Federal System in the Eighties. The Telecommunications Tangle. Compensating Victims of Occupational Diseases, Toxic Pollutants, and Radiation Injuries. Scrambled Nest Eggs: Money Troubles at Depository Institutions. Economics of Defense Industries: The Reagan Boom. Postsecondary Education: Student Financial Assistance. Bail-outs: Ailing Industry Relief. U.S. Policy Towards Central America. The Future of Broadcasting and Cable Regulation. Congressional Information Resources and Services. Housing Issues. Unemployment: Is There a 10 Percent Solution. Nuclear Power-The Congressional Role. Issues in the Middle East. Information Policies in Transition: Information Access Limitation, National Security Controls and Scientific Communication Restrictions. Congressional Veto Legislation: Usage and Constitutionality. Mrs. Boggs. What percentage of Members' offices participate in the seminars? Mr. GUDE. We can supply those for the record. We pay very careful attention to those who do attend and we find that we get a good ratio of Republicans, Democrats, moderates and conservatives, and liberals, because we want to be sure we are presenting a balanced program and it is valuable to all the Members and not just one segment. So we would like to give you that breakdown, too. [The information follows:] Office participation in CRS seminar, workshop and institute program—fiscal year Mrs. BOGGS. How many phone calls does an inquiry unit-how many did it receive last year? Mr. GUDE. We can give you the total number. We get about a thousand inquiries a day by telephone when you all are really busy. [The information follows:] Telephone Calls to the Inquiry Section The telephone call continues to be the most frequently used medium for the placement of a request with CRS. As the focal point for the receipt of 58% of our inquiries, the CRS Inquiry Section handles the majority of daily telephone requests placed by congressional staff. In 1983, for example, 243,450 research and reference assignments were processed by the staff of the Section. Some 194,760 of these assignments were placed by telephone. In addition, the Section receives many other calls which, in most cases, are related to previously placed requests, but in other cases, are for general information and are not recorded as requests. Statistics demonstrate that for every four requests placed, there is at least one "call-back" to add or modify details pertaining to the request. General information requests usually represent 20% of all telephone calls received. Thus, in 1983, the Section handled approximately 342,000 telephone calls, broken down in the following three categories: 243,450 requests for research and reference service general information The Inquiry phones are staffed from 7:30 in the morning until 9:30 p.m., Monday through Friday and from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays. During the weekday hours of 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., 15 telephone lines are available for incoming traffic from congressional offices. Line availability was increased by 50% at the time the Service moved from the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library to the Madison Building in 1980. The increase in line capacity has permitted many more callers to reach CRS, an increase of 22% since 1979, but is still insufficient to satisfy demands during peak workload hours. Surveys taken indicate that the busiest hours are from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on a daily basis; February, March, and April traditionally represent the busiest months. Thus, on a given day in these periods, 143 calls are received during each of the prime hours, almost 2 a minute. In addition to telephone communication with the Inquiry Section, there are alternative means available for placing requests with CRS. Among them are: 2. 1. Letters directed to Gilbert Gude, Director, CRS 3. 4. Order forms for CRS printed products available in The following information, given congressional staff who attend our staff institutes and briefings, describes certain frequently requested services and the best means to obtain them. WAITING TIME Mrs. Boggs. And do you keep a record of the approximate waiting time between the initial recording at the inquiry unit and the point when an individual comes on the line to process the request? Mr. GUDE. We endeavor to keep the waiting time down to five rings but I don't know that we have always achieved this. I have talked with the assistant director who is in charge of this office that we simply have to recruit even more inquiry reporters. We have asked for an additional one this time. Mrs. BOGGS. Good. How many staff visits were made to the various House reference rooms in 1983? Mr. GUDE. All right. We can supply it. It is a large number. IN-PERSON USE OF CRS REFERENCE FACILITIES AVAILABLE TO HOUSE STAFF In-person use of House reference facilities for fiscal year 1983 totaled 74,372. Individual reference center totals were: In addition, the two congressional reading rooms in the Library of Congress buildings served 21,906 staff members from the Senate and the House, who visited the rooms in person. Each in-person use represents at least one request made by the staff member, but more often several questions are handled in the course of one visit, so the number of questions CRS was asked is considerably greater than the total for the number of inperson visits. In addition to visiting the reference centers in person, House staff members can also call directly to a reference center for assistance, and many do-13,053 in fiscal year 1983. In many cases the center is able to handle the inquiry on the spot, and when it is not able to, the request is quickly sent to the main part of CRS for assignment to the proper division. În addition, the two CRS reading rooms handled 23,399 telephone calls, most of them on the "Hot Line" which provides the caller with factual information on an "as-you-wait-basis." This total represents not only calls taken by both reading rooms during the day but also calls taken by the Madison Congressional Reading Room during evenings and weekends, when it represents the entire CRS. REFERENCE CENTER USE EMPHASIZED Mrs. BOGGS. Thank you. In other words, the load is increasing all the time. Mr. GUDE. We endeavor of course to steer as many people from your offices to the reference centers. Particularly if there is some doubt about what it is they want or what kind of a project. We have information specialists there that can either guide them to material right in the reference center or put them in touch with the person in one of our research divisions who knows and can give them answers over the phone. One of the interesting statistics which I pointed out to our people shows the importance of telephone communications. Eighteen percent of the responses we make to congressional requests are by telephone and this is an amazing statistic. This does not mean someone ordered something over the phone but an analyst or re |