United States. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. Annual Report-National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. 1971/1972 Washington, For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off. v. 24 cm. 1. United States. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. Z678.2U55a ISSN 0091-2972 021.8'2'0973 73-643728 MARC-S For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 National Commission on Libraries and Information Science 30 April 1982 The President The White House Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear Mr. President, I have the honor of transmitting to you the tenth Annual Report of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS). The report is submitted to you in accordance with the provisions of Section 5(a)7 of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Act (Public Law 91-345, as amended by Public Law 93-29, Section 802) and covers the twelve-month period from October 1, 1980, through September 30, 1981. This year the Commission has reached an important milestone. We have just completed our first decade of service to the Administration, the Congress, and the library and information service community. We are proud of our accomplishments during our first 10 years and have summarized them in the enclosed report. In reviewing the Congressional history and intent, we are pleased that our permanent, independent agency has tackled many of the problems envisioned over a decade ago, when our country was just beginning to experience the changes brought about by new information technologies. Our major activities during Fiscal Year 1981 included the publication of Public Sector/Private Sector Interaction in Providing Information Services, the final report of our task force on Public/ Private Sector Relations. This landmark study is the first comprehensive and cooperative attempt to identify the proper roles of the public sector, particularly the Federal Government, and the private sector (both for-profit and not-for-profit) in disseminating information. Because much Federal information is not now disseminated in a cost-effective manner, if at all, a major issue is how to improve the management of the billions of dollars worth of information resources within the government. This issue is part of our continuing mandate to develop and recommend policies which ensure that the citizens of the United States have equal opportunity of access to library and information resources adequate to their needs. The Commission has been active in a number of other areas during the past fiscal year. For example, we assisted the Office of Management and Budget in the implementation of the Paperwork Reduction Act (Public Law 96-511); we assisted Congress in holding hearings on library/information legislation and in developing specifications for new legislation in this area; and we initiated a series of informal monthly discussions among Federal information managers to identify common problems and work toward their solutions. The Commission also worked to implement many of the resolutions from the White House Conference on Library and Information Services, which represented an investment of more than $7,000,000 and the time of more than 100,000 citizens nationwide. Our mandated responsibility to study and analyze the information needs of rural America led us to give support and guidance to the Intermountain Community Learning/Information Center Project, a grassroots activity in the Western United States. These and other activities are fully described in the enclosed Annual Report of the Commission. I am pleased to have had the opportunity to serve you and your predecessor as the Chairman of the agency that has played such a vital role in developing and advising the Federal Government on library and information policies. I look forward to continued service on the Commission. Sincerely, Charles Benton Charles Benton NCLIS Chairman Enclosure |