Commission with planning and conducting the first White House Conference on Library and Information Services. The idea of a White House Conference had originated twenty-two years earlier, in 1957, when it was proposed by Channing Bete, Sr., then a library trustee from Massachusetts. This time, the span from proposal to enactment took considerably longer, with additional time spent moving the idea from the point of legal enactment to fiscal viability, as the appropriation request was delayed. However, the appropriation was requested by President Gerald R. Ford in his FY 1976 supplemental budget request, but was not approved until the request was submitted a second time in the next session of Congress. The one-time appropriation of $3.5 million dollars was approved by Congress, and was signed by President Jimmy Carter in the spring of 1977. The Commission raised additional funds through a variety of mechanisms, including support from other Federal agencies who were interested in the topic. The 57 states and territories which held pre-conferences involving approximately 100,000 people also contributed or raised another $3 to $4 million dollars with support of this process. Thus, approximately $7 million dollars of public funding was invested in the assessment of library and information service user needs through the White House Conference. White House Conference on Library and The major event of the 1979-1980 Fiscal Year was the first White House Conference on Library and Information Services. Conference Overview On November 15, 1979, after more than two decades of dedicated effort on the part of librarians, trustees and concerned citizens, the first White House Conference on Library and Information Services was convened at the Washington Hilton Hotel. In the four and onehalf days that followed, more than 3,600 participants, including a total of 806 delegates and alternates, discussed and debated some of the most critical issues emerging in contemporary society. It was the largest White House Conference ever held at one location, a fact which underlined the importance of the issues and the widespread interest in their resolution. The timing of the Conference was fortunate. Advances in computer and communications technologies are fast bringing about profound changes in the way the American people get and use information. Thus, issues flowing from a consideration of the future role of library and information services in a rapidly changing "information age" society have far-reaching significance, even to having a major impact on the Gross National Product. Activities leading up to the White House Conference and numerous pre-conference activities are described in prior NCLIS annual reports and are fully documented in the Final Report of the White House Conference on Library and Information Services, Information For The 1980's. This report is available from the Government Printing Office. The Final Report-A Summary also includes all of the resolutions in their final form. This document is available from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service. The stock numbers and ordering instructions are given in Appendix XII. During this fiscal year the National Conference and several follow-up activities kept the Commission and its small staff very busy. Thematic Structure Based on a consensus derived from the pre-conferences, the theme of the White House Conference was "Bringing Information to People," and the Conference itself was structured around user needs. Thus, the five major themes in which issues were clustered addressed Library and Information Services for: (1) Personal Needs, (2) Lifelong Learning, (3) Organizations and Professions, (4) Governing Society, and (5) International Cooperation and Understanding. These major themes emerged from an analysis of the more than 3,000 Resolutions and Recommendations sent to the Commission from the 57 state and territorial pre-conferences. Prior to the Conference, individually authored discussion guides were prepared to assist delegates in examining the five theme areas. Some of the major issues included within those themes are summarized here. I Library and Information Services to Meet Personal Needs: • What new services should library and information providers offer to meet personal needs? • What national policy issues must be addressed if libraries and information services are to be more effective in meeting personal needs? • How should library and information services be expanded or redesigned to meet the needs of special constituencies? • What legislative and funding initiatives are required to encourage better use of limited resources in our Nation's libraries? • What measures will encourage maximum use of the Nation's information resources? II Library and Information Services for Enhancing Lifelong Learning: How could the present Federal legislative program supporting library and information services (school, public, and academic) be more effectively administered? • What are the respective roles and areas for increased cooperation between school and public libraries in meeting the needs of schoolage children? How best can a nationwide network be implemented to support the Nation's educational goals? • How can libraries and information services improve and enhance the lifelong learning opportunities of the Nation's citizens? • How can libraries and information services best be used to promote literacy? • What increases should there be in the percentage of state support of the total funding of public libraries and what are the dimensions of the Federal role? • What special status, if any, should be accorded by the Federal Government for those academic and research libraries with collections of regional and national significance? • How can local community, public school and academic libraries and information services that support our national educational programs adapt to the changing social and technological environment? III Library and Information Services for Improving Organizations and the Professions: • What new roles and services should libraries and other information providers assume in serving organizations and professions? • What kinds of information delivery services should be used to meet the needs of organizations and professions? • How can libraries and information providers best serve the needs of special constituencies such as professional groups and non-profit organizations? • What should be the roles of the Federal Government and the private sector in providing information services and systems that serve organizations and professions? To what extent should information be made available to individual and organizational users? IV Library and Information Services for Effectively Governing Society: • How best can we distribute information needed for governing society? • Should government share its legislative information system developed by the Congressional Research Service? • What new government information services can libraries offer? • What is the appropriate balance between freedom of information and individual privacy? • How do we ensure the preservation of information sources necessary for governing society? • Do we need a national information policy? V Library and Information Services for Increasing International Cooperation: • In a pluralistic world, do Americans need more information from abroad? Do other peoples need new types of United States information? If so, how can these needs be met? • How can comprehensive and well-articulated policies and procedures for sharing United States information best be developed? • As technology advances, how can the goal of broader information flow be balanced with the rights of private corporations and nation -states to control the information they generate? • How should the underlying international imbalance and the ability to create and disseminate information be reduced? • How can the United States help the developing countries meet their information and communication needs? The above description of the thematic structure and the major issues raised under that structure provided the basis for organizing |