Barriers to Cooperative Action

In viewing the environment in which a nationwide network could become a reality, the Commission recognizes the following barriers and impediments which will have to be overcome to achieve the increased cooperation required to implement a nationwide network:

(1) The information community in the public and private sectors is growing more diverse, and the component parts— the libraries, the publishing industry, the indexing and abstracting services, the education community, and the various government agencies-have had little or no experience in working together toward a common national goal. The Commission recognizes that the success of any comprehensive nationwide program must, therefore, have the fullest involvement and cooperation of all the elements of the information community. The Commission also regards it as important that the functions and relationships of all segments of this community be carefully studied and integrated into the program. Only if the total information community is joined together by a common objective will it be possible for the nation to attack the pressing information problems which confront it.

(2) State, local, institutional, and private funding for libraries and information activities is unstable and insufficient. Funding is not planned to foster interlibrary cooperation in a major way, and, consequently, no mechanism exists whereby local, state, and Federal funds can be made mutually reinforcing for a cooperative national purpose. (3) Jurisdictional problems are impediments. Although information and knowledge respect no geographic boundaries, and user needs are as various as human concerns and interests can make them, the provision of information service in many localities is still limited by the taxes supporting a particular jurisdiction. Traditional funding patterns will need to be changed to make them equally supportive of local and nationwide objectives.

(4) No national guidelines are available to ensure the development of compatible, statewide and multistate network development. Unless administrative guidelines of this kind are formulated soon, there is danger that a heterogeneous group of networks will emerge which may be difficult and

expensive to connect, or which may never be connected at all. (5) The rich and specialized resources of the Federal libraries, nongovernmental special libraries, research libraries and information centers must become an integral part of the nationwide network. Such integration will require that these institutions adopt a more open policy toward serving the general public in addition to their respective organizations, and a willingness to form or join library and information service networks.

(6) Professional librarians have concerns about the use of new technology. The computer and other electronic information systems have made the average librarian and information specialist apprehensive about the loss of personal contact with the patron. This concern is reflected in the caution with which some libraries throughout the country have moved to convert from traditional methods to machine methods. Such conversion, in large part, implies a reallocation of personnel, and entails a new and unfamiliar approach to library management. Mainly, the problem is not technical but attitudinal. Technology also implies an entirely new conception of the library and its services. It requires the librarian to remold his thinking, to be willing to change his notion of librarianship, and to “. ‘. . . rise above the computer, above the engineer, above the systems analyst . . ." and thereby push the profession into a position of real social utility."

(7) The human resources required to plan, develop and operate the nation's libraries and information centers are, of course, the most important elements in today's systems, as well as in tomorrow's networks. Because future systems are not yet determined, the quantity and quality of human resources which will be needed to meet future demands cannot be assessed with certainty. It is evident, however, that new approaches to library and information science education will be necessary, if professionals, paraprofessionals, and other personnel are to be equipped to function in nontraditional ways. Although many library operations will, undoubtedly, continue to be performed in traditional ways, it is becoming progressively more important for librarians to be acquainted with the new technology. Schools of library and information science are in the process of re

evaluating their curricula in order to accommodate innovative programs. Today, however, many of our educational institutions are not turning out professionals who are technically equipped to deal with nonprint materials, or with computer and communications technologies.

(8) Except for the Library of Congress, the United States does not possess an official national bibliographic center to coordinate the processing and distribution of standard bibliographic records for the use of all libraries and information centers. The current complex pattern of bibliographic services consists of a multiplicity of organizations, in the public and private sectors, providing a variety of products and services. National bibliographic control is needed to identify items of recorded information in all media, to provide intellectual access to each such item of information, and to standardize the processing and communication of relevant data.

(9) One of the chief obstacles to sharing resources is the lack of public knowledge about the location of available resources. Not only must the public be made aware that library networks and commercial information services exist, but every potential user must be instilled with the desire to learn, to read, to find out, and to know. Every technique known to the teaching profession and to the television, radio, and newspaper media should be used to educate the users, at every age level, about the location of library and information services available to serve their needs.

The barriers and problems recounted above are, in part, a result of the independent growth which has characterized the development of libraries and information services in this country. To erase barriers to cooperative action will call for a major new program which is built on the concept of national cooperation. A new program will require cooperative action among libraries and also call for cooperative action between the distributors and users of information. The endurance of the information cycle, from production to use, depends on viable economic relationships. The next chapter addresses these issues and sets forth the outline of a proposed National Program.

Chapter V

The Recommended National
Program

At present there is no national program of library and information service for the development of Federal, state and local library, and other information activities in the United States. As a result, existing programs are generally unrelated to one another and continue to develop throughout the country in uncoordinated ways. In some cases, this tends to lead to incompatible systems and counterproductive activities. For this reason, the Commission believes the time has come to ensure that future development of the nation's information resources will occur in a cohesive manner according to a national plan. The National Program proposed by the Commission represents an overall structure within which current deficiencies can be corrected and future requirements can be addressed. The program is designed to be evolutionary and does not pretend to solve all of the problems besetting today's library and information world, but it does set forth certain objectives which can guide its development and improvement in the years. ahead.

The National Commission is firmly committed to the continuation of categorical aid as part of the National Program. Although past Federal funding achieved many worthwhile objectives, the results fell short of the original goals, and much more remains to be done. The proposed National Program would coordinate and reinforce all Federal efforts to support local and specialized services and, at the same time, provide a national framework for planned, systematic growth of library and information services in the public and private sector.

Program Objectives

Objective 1. Ensure that basic minimums of library and information services adequate to meet the needs of all local communities are satisfied.

66-133 0-76-19

Local libraries and information centers, whether large, medium, or small, and whether public, academic, or school, are vital links with the people. Local libraries are the first place in the community where most people generally go to find information. Unless local systems, therefore, are strong, and are supported by continuing, aggressive, and dynamic leadership, they will be ineffective members in any program of nationwide scope. The sharing of resources is no remedy if resources are inadequate at the local level. Strong systems need strong components. It is, therefore, imperative that the National Program provide that local communities attain certain basic levels of service and materials, and that their human resources are also strengthened. Only when local resources have been strengthened can resource sharing and other joint efforts lead to successful networking arrangements at state and national levels. Major existing legislation relating to libraries and education for librarianship (Library Services and Construction Act, Titles I, II, III and IV; Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title II; Higher Education Act, Title II; and the Medical Library Act of 1974) has accomplished a great deal, but it is the Commission's view that Federal support in the form of categorical aid is still needed, and that every effort should be made to expand and retain it. A revised and strengthened LSCA is a major priority for 1976.

Objective 2. Provide adequate special services to special constituencies, including the unserved.

There are large user constituencies which require services and materials of a specialized sort. Such groups include the poor, the illiterate, the blind, the visually and physically handicapped, the ethnic minorities, American Indians on reservations, the very young, senior citizens, inner city youths, migrant workers, the institutionalized, and many other parts of our society. The Commission believes that all people have a “right to read" and that the Federal Government has a responsibility to help them.

In accordance with the Commission's goal that every individual in the United States must, through the local community, be given equal opportunity of access to the resources needed at the time they are needed, the National Program must ensure that those people requiring specialized services get them.