staff performed searches for information needed by delegates. The system could locate and retrieve state resolutions on any topic. The Blind and Physically Handicapped Media Area provided ondemand copies of Conference-related information on audio-cassettes or in braille format for handicapped delegates and alternates. In addition, talking-book machines were available for loan to blind delegates. This area also provided access to two of the latest developments in computer technology for handicapped persons: the Kurzweil Reading Machine, which transforms printed material into synthesized speech, and a Digicassette machine capable of producing braille transcript from the output of the computer terminal. Among the services provided by this area was the complete recording of the resolutions that were taken to the floor for final discussion and voting on the last day of the Conference. Facilities and the 16 volunteer staff in this area were made available to the Conference by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress. All sessions were "signed" for delegates and alternates who were deaf. Resolutions As indicated earlier, delegates approved a total of 64 resolutions 25 by voice vote and 39 by paper ballot. These resolutions were reviewed and approved for publication by the Committee of the Conference at its meeting in Chicago on January 5, 1980. The resolutions call for changes of many kinds, and they also set some major goals: to reshape library and information services to serve the people in more useful and convenient ways, to maintain local control of these services, and to obtain greater economy and accountability from the institutions and organizations that provide the services. Resolutions urge libraries to take an increased role in literacy training; in improving access to information for all, including ethnic minority groups, blind persons, physically handicapped persons, and others who are not adequately served. They favor increased activity by the United States to encourage the free flow of information among nations. Many endorse the idea of the library as both a total community information center and as an independent learning center. Generally, the resolutions support the concept of the library as essential to a civilized society, a concern the government must view with high priority in the decision-making process. Delegates to the Conference also emphasized the importance of technology and considered ways this Nation can use it to improve library and information services. They discussed and refined such concepts as the linking of public telecommunications and the Postal Service with a new, expanded role for libraries. The full text of the resolutions, together with detailed elements for a comprehensive national library and information services act and an outline for a proposed National Library and Information Services Act, are contained in the Final Report of the White House Conference. Report On March 21, 1980, almost exactly 120 days after the Conference, a Summary Report was presented to designees of the President in a special ceremony at the Motion Picture Association, in Washington, D.C. This Report was a multimedia documentation of the Conference and consisted of audiotapes of all major sessions, microfiche of all preconference publications, a 100-page monograph, Final Report: Sum mary, which included the text of the resolutions and the proposed programs and legislation, and a special videotape documenting the purpose, activities, and outcomes of the Conference. This 20-minute videotape, Bringing Information to People, was screened for Presi dential designates and other interested persons. Interagency Task Force As promised by Stuart Eizenstat in his speech at the White House Conference, the President appointed an Interagency Task Force to study Conference resolutions and make recommendations for action. This Task Force included: Dick W. Hays, Chairman, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Kenneth Allen, Information Policy Division, Office of Manage- Melvin S. Day, Director, National Technical Information Service, Richard M. Harden accepting the Multimedia Report of the White House Conference for the President Richard M. Harden, Special Assistant to the President for Infor- James F. Hinchman, Deputy Associate Director (replaced by Thomas V. Litzenburg, Jr., Assistant Chairman, National Adoreen McCormick, Legislative Liaison Officer, Library Richard M. Neustadt, Associate Director, Domestic Policy Staff, Howard Resnikoff, Director, Division of Information Science and Al Stern, Associate Director, Domestic Policy Staff, The Jim J. Tozzi, Assistant Director, Office of Regulatory and Infor- Presidential Message In late September 1980, after reviewing recommendations of the Interagency Task Force, the President delivered his message to the Congress of the United States concerning the White House Conference recommendations. In this message, the President reaffirmed the importance of libraries and outlined a number of Federal initiatives under four general headings. These include: The Important of Libraries • the submission of new legislation to replace the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA); increased budgetary support for resource sharing among and innovative application of technologies to libraries and research libraries. Government Information use of the Office of Management and Budget to help develop Federal Information Policy; • affirm the key role of the Federal depository libraries where citizens can obtain free access to government information; direct, for the first time, that Federal Information Centers be located in libraries (initially three to five, but to be expanded if successful). Needs of the Disadvantages • direct the Department of Education to take the lead in coordinating Federal efforts to eliminate functional illiteracy, which affects twenty percent of all Americans; • direct the Department of the Interior to analyze and recommend steps for reducing the impact of barriers to information access for the geographically remote; • send to the Senate a protocol to the Florence Agreement further liberalizing the exchange of books and information and reducing barriers to international understanding. New Information and Communication Technologies • continue working with the Federal Communications Commission in the overhaul of its regulations; opening competition and promoting diversity; • continue to work on developing standards that will enhance our ability to transfer technology; ⚫ continue working on removing regulations that prevent competition and constrain application of the new technologies; • work with the Congress to pass legislation to reduce regulations, stimulate innovation, increase productivity, and make communications industries more responsive to consumer demands; ⚫ direct the Commerce Department to work with the library community to make satellites and other technologies available, where cost-effective, for networking; and ⚫ encourage the library and information science communities to propose technology assessment studies for consideration by Federal agencies. The President affirmed the role of libraries as community resources for information for the consumer and small business on such matters as energy, marketing and technological innovations. He also indicated that increased appropriations had been requested for NCLIS and stated that the Commission has a vital leadership and coordination role in library and information science at the national level. He commended NCLIS for its key role in making the Conference a success. The full text of the President's message appears as Appendix IX to this report. New Initiatives Follow-up to the White House Conference on Library and Information Services The major new initiative, beginning late in Fiscal Year 1980, was the beginning of follow-up on the White House Conference on Library and Information Services (WHCLIS). NCLIS moved to implement the two resolutions of the WHCLIS calling for the convening of an Ad Hoc Committee on Implementation of the Resolutions of the White House Conference and, in response to an offer by the Minnesota delegation to host the Ad Hoc Committee Meeting, scheduled the first meeting in conjunction with the September meeting of the Commission in Minneapolis. Invited participants were to be one professional and one public delegate elected from each state and territory and the District of Columbia, as well as two delegates each from the Federal Library Community and American Indians living on, or near, reservations. All had been delegates to the White House Conference. In addition to the work sessions at which they began the task of setting priorities, the Ad Hoc Committee organized itself as a continuing independent body. The delegates heard presentations from Dr. F. James Rutherford, Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement, and Dick W. Hays, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Libraries and Learning Technologies (OLLT), both of the new Education Department. The group also received a telegram from Vice President Walter F. Mondale and a telephone address (over the public address system) from Stuart Eizenstat, Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs and Policy, the White House. All of these communications emphasized the importance of library and information services and the efforts of the Administration to improve them, and support of the need for and the work of NCLIS. After an intensive three days and nights in Minneapolis, the WHCLIS Ad Hoc Implementation Committee (now called the White House Conference on Library and Information Services Taskforce (WHCLIST)) agreed upon a governance structure consisting of four officers, chosen at large and five public members with five alternates who are in the profession, elected on a regional basis. This group is called the Steering Committee. The 91 (out of a possible 118) delegates reviewed the 64 resolutions from the WHCLIS and made recommendations on the tasks to be undertaken to accomplish the goals of each resolution, on which groups should act as agents for the tasks, and on what time frame should be established for each task. |