information services legislation; (2) improving the dissemination of Federal information; and (3) resource sharing and the application of technology.

The sections that follow report on how the Commission carried out its various roles and responsibilities during Fiscal Year 1981. A final section indicates what direction NCLIS activities will take in the near future.

WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES: CONTINUING ACTIVITIES During 1981, NCLIS continued its strong emphasis on promoting implementation of the resolutions of the White House Conference on Library and Information Services, a major user needs assessment. In fulfillment of the Commission's dual responsibilities to implement the resolutions of the White House Conference and advise government agencies on matters pertaining to library and information services, the Chairman sent to the head of each government agency a letter enclosing copies of the resolution(s) for which that agency was considered to have primary responsibility and requesting information on actions being taken or planned to implement the resolutions(s). All agencies have responded and have provided information on their implementation of the resolutions. In addition to urging others to adopt the resolutions, the Commission incorporated several resolutions into its own plan of activities for 1981 and beyond.

The Commission continues to work closely with the White House Conference on Library and Information Services Taskforce (WHCLIST), which held its second plenary meeting in Detroit in September. This was done in conjunction with a regional oversight hearing on the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) held by the Commission at the request of the Chairman of the House Postsecondary Education Subcommittee. The WHCLIST participants received reports of activities in 40 states and four territories engendered by the White House Conference and the preconferences. A number of speakers discussed critical issues and ongoing activities.

Eleven critical areas were identified by WHCLIST for measuring progress, including the enactment of legislation to increase library funding and to authorize multitype library cooperation, adult/user education programs, continuing education for librarians, and efforts to heighten library visibility and public awareness. The next annual meeting is scheduled for September 1982 in Atlanta, and at least one meeting of the steering committee wil take place at the ALA midwinter meeting in Denver in January.

ASSISTANCE TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

The National Commission has been working closely with members of Congress to review existing library and information science legislation. Recognizing that a fundamental element for improving library and information services is carefully constructed

legislation to meet current needs, the Commission has devoted considerable attention to developing specifications for such improved legislation. A first effort in this direction, the "Proposed National Library and Information Services Act" included in the White House Conference's Final Report: Summary, was based on the 64 resolutions of the White House Conference.

Beginning in September, the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education of the House Committee on Education and Labor, under the chairmanship of Congressman Paul Simon, held a series of oversign hearings on the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) in various cities around the country. At the request of Representative Simon, NCLIS asisted with these hearing by helping to identify witnesses from a wide range of interests, to ensure a balanced representation of views, and also by helping to clarify the issues to be discussed. When the Subcommittee Members were unexpectedly required to remain in Washington, D.C. for a critical budget vote, the Commission conducted hearings in Detroit on their behalf and provided the transcript to the Subcommittee.

NCLIS has been asked to analyze the results of these hearings and recommend specifications for legislation early in 1982. Our major concerns in this area have been to determine the appropriate role of the Federal Government, to make certain that the greatest needs are identified and met, and to ensure that the government gets maximum return on its approximately five percent share of public library budgets.

This assistance to Congress from the Commission builds not only on the recommendations from the White House Conference on Library and Information Services but also on those from our follow-up task forces to that Conference. The Commission's Task Force on Community Information and Referral Services has completed its work and will prepare its report. Recommendations from the Task Force will be incorporated into the specifications for legislation. Another important series of findings and recommendations are those of the Task Force on Library and Information Services to Cultural Minorities. This Task Force held hearings and heard valuable testimony on the special needs of the many cultural minorities in this country, and this information will also be incorporated into the legislative specifications.

The Commission has also assisted some of the offices that report to Congress. NCLIS has funded a major project, in

cooperation with the Library of Congress and the Federal Library Committee, on intergovernmental library cooperation. This project. was undertaken to propose ways to improve coordination of government (Federal, state and local) libraries and information resources and services to meet both national and local needs and improve the dissemination of government information. The General Accounting Office requested and received advice on its plans for information resources management.

ASSISTANCE TO THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

The most important assistance the Commission offered to the Executive Branch during 1981 was in the area of determining the role of the Federal government in improving the dissemination of Federal information. The completion of the report of the NCLIS Public Sector/Private Sector Task Force marked a major milestone in the effort to identify the appropriate roles of the public and private sectors (both for-profit and not-for-profit) in providing information services. The Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has singled it out as providing extremely useful information for fulfillment of its repsonsibilities under the Paperwork Reduction Act (Public Law 96-511). The report will be distributed widely, and copies will go to the senior agency officials responsible for information resources management for use in the cost-effective diffusion of information paid for by the taxpayers. The General Accounting Office has also commented on the report's usefulness for its examination of Federal information practices.

Late in Fiscal Year 1981, NCLIS staff organized an informal round table of senior officials responsible for Federal information programs in both Executive and Legislative Branch agencies to discuss the impact of the Paperwork Reduction Act on Federal publishing programs and the use of standards in Federal publishing. This was an important step in the Commission's continuing effort to improve the dissemination of Federal information. During Fiscal Year 1982, the Commission will continue to hold informal monthly meetings of a wider scope in terms of both attendance and subject matter to provide a forum in which Federal agencies in both the Executive and Legislative Branches can discuss problems of mutual concern and share information on their solutions.

The Commission has continued to work with Federal agencies individually and in small groups to assist them in improving their dissemination and management of information. The Office of Management and Budget, for example, has requested and

received assistance from NCLIS in implementing the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department of Education has solicited assistance in formulating the requirements of a study to improve its library/information operations. In response to requests, the Commission has also assisted the National Agricultural Library, the National Center for Education Statistics, and other agencies in improving the dissemination of Federal information.

ASSISTANCE TO STATE AND LOCAL AGENCIES, PROFESSIONAL GROUPS, AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR

The Commission continues to work closely with state and local agencies, professional and trade associations, and individuals on issues in the library/information field. One of these efforts resulted in a study of Federal information centers and their relationship to the Government Printing Office Depository Library Program and existing libraries. In another effort, the Commission is carrying forward its mandated responsibility to study the information needs of rural Americans by working closely with the National Agricultural Library and also by giving support and guidance to the program of the Intermountain Community

Learning/Information Center Project. This is a grassroots activity, essentially dependent on the state and local governments and the state extension services in Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. Because many of its programs and activities relate to

resource sharing, a principal Commission effort has been the Task Force (jointly sponsored by NCLIS and the Special Libraries Association (SLA)) on the Role of the Special Library in Nationwide Networks and Cooperative Programs. This Task Force held a total of four meetings, and its final report will be completed early in 1982. Even before publication of its final report, this Task Force can take credit for a significant accomplishment. One of the major factors deterring special libraries from joining networks using the services of OCLC, Inc., which provides an important on-line cataloging service, was the OCLC requirement that libraries contribute all of their current Roman alphabet on-line cataloging to the OCLC database.

The President of SLA and the Task Force Chairman wrote to the President of OCLC that special libraries would join networks using OCLC services if they could maintain control of proprietary information. The response from OCLC clarified its cataloging requirement and stated that no library would be required to share information considered proprietary or classified that would not be available for general research or lending.

NCLIS has worked closely with the White House Conference on Aging, assisting their staff in the earliest planning stages and sharing information with them from the White House Conference on Library and Information Services. Dr. Bessie B. Moore, Vice Chairman of NCLIS, will attend as an official observer.

The Commission's efforts toward combatting illiteracy have progressed with the help of individual libraries and professional and trade associations. NCLIS is an active participant in the Coalition for Literacy of the American Library Association. At the Commission's invitation, Mrs. Barbara Bush visited the Enoch Pratt Library Literacy Center and plans to visit additional libraries to help encourage volunteers to participate in literacy programs in libraries.

The Commission has continued its efforts to promote awareness of NCLIS, its activities, and its goals in the library and information community, including public, professional, and private organizations and individuals. In addition, NCLIS has sought to improve its own awareness of developments in the community by scheduling both of its 1981 meetings in conjunction with meetings of major associations. The April meeting was held in Chicago in conjunction with the National Information Conference and Exposition sponsored by the Information Industry Association, and the June meeting was held in Atlanta in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Special Libraries Association.

TASK FORCE ACTIVITIES

In 1979, NCLIS established a Task Force on the roles of government and private organizations with respect to the dissemination of scientific, technical, business, and other information. This Public Sector/Private Sector Task Force was carefully assembled to include seven representatives from each of three sectors: public, private not-for-profit, and private forprofit. Under the chairmanship of Robert M. Hayes, Dean, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of California-Los Angeles, the members of the Task Force reached, in most cases, unanimous agreement on seven principles which should help guide Federal Government involvement in information activities. The members of the Task Force also reached substantial, and in many cases unanimous, agreement on twenty-seven recommendations for steps to be taken in implementing these principles.

In general these principles and the recommendations are: in favor of open access to information generated by the Federal