III. The Role of Information in Building a More Productive Society he decline in the growth of United States productivity is prompting nationwide concern. The productivity level in the U.S. at the end of World War II was almost double that of Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, and Sweden, and approximately three times that of Italy and France. The U.S. rate of productivity growth from 1960 to 1979 was lower than that of any of the top eleven industrial nations. In his statement on September 22, 1983 before the White House Conference on Productivity, President Ronald Reagan said, "The challenge of greater productivity growth is of supreme importance to America's future.' This decline in productivity growth affect libraries, information centers and information professionals in a variety of ways. The sector of our economy devoted to information-related activities grew from 8 percent at the beginning of the century to approximately 25 percent in 1955. Today, the information sector accounts for more than 50 percent of the economy. We are becoming a society of knowledge workers, a change that challenges traditional notions of productivity. Currently libraries are faced with a reduction in available resources as well as the opportunity to play a leading role in helping to improve national productivity. Some of the ways in which libraries and information professionals can help are by teaching information skills, providing valuable information resources and managing them effectively, and harnessing the new information technologies. U.S./U.K. SEMINAR ON INFORMATION AND NCLIS focused attention on the area of productivity during FY 1984 by cosponsoring a bilateral seminar on the topic of "Information and Productivity-Implications for Education and Training" held July 27-30 at the Cranfield Conference Center in Bedford, England. This seminar was the first in a proposed series of bilateral meetings between leaders in the library/information field in the U.S. and the U.K. (Future seminars will involve representatives from Canada as well.) The seminar was sponsored by NCLIS, the British Library, and the Library and Information Services Council of the U.K. The co-chairmen for the meeting were Sir Harry Hookway (then Chief Executive, the British Library), and Elinor M. Hashim, NCLIS Chairman. The eighteen invited participants were selected for their expertise in the areas of productivity, primarily in research and information policy. Two overview papers were presented, providing a summary of research on information and productivity, issues for discussion, and descriptions of the key agencies and organizations involved. The participants then took part in a series of discussion sessions, concentrating on four theme areas: Access to Information; Technology, Innovation and Productivity; Management of Information; and National and International Information Policy. Among the major recommendations from the meeting on "Information and Productivity-Implications for Education and Training" are that: 1. A completely new approach to the school curriculum be adopted whereby children, in addition to learning computer skills from an early age, learn to use libraries and learn how to find and use information effectively. This skill is seen as the "fourth R" and is essential in the learning process from cradle to grave. 2. Promising young achievers in the library and information field receive accelerated and intensive training. If this is not done, there will be a serious lack of leaders in the future. 3. Employers and educators work together now to identify the crucial competencies needed in the emerging information sector and plan how these can best be taught. 4. Decision makers be made fully aware both of the amount of pertinent information already at their fingertips and the fact that use of this information can dramatically increase productivity in the public and private sectors. 5. Research efforts in the library and information field be fully exploited, with the U.K. and U.S. exchanging findings and planning future efforts. 6. A data analysis center be set up jointly to analyze and disseminate the information-related data already available in the two countries. Seminar participants from both sides of the Atlantic have begun the process of bringing all their recommendations to the attention |