The Steering Committee plans to meet during the Mid-Winter meeting of the American Library Association (ALA), and the full WHCLIST hopes to have its second annual meeting in September 1981. Although NCLIS took a leadership role in organizing the followup meeting on the WHCLIST, the Commission, having completed its function as a catalyst, fully respects the WHCLIST's desire to function as a separate, independent group.

In response to various resolutions of the White House Conference, NCLIS undertook a number of new activities. Three new task forces were established.

Task Force on Community Information and Referral Services

Flowing out of concerns expressed at the White House Conference, NCLIS, early in 1980, established a Task Force on Community Information and Referral Services. This action was based on the premise that, if the library is to become the first place in the community to which people turn when seeking information services to meet their needs, it must provide the library user at all socio-economic and cultural levels with information and, where appropriate, referral to sources (e.g., governmental, community, neighborhood or voluntary organizations) that can provide answers and assistance. The Task Force is seeking to define appropriate roles for libraries in the provision of community information and referral services and to define ways in which libraries can more effectively fulfill those roles. The Task Force met three times during 1980, in conjunction with regular NCLIS meetings, and will continue its efforts through 1981. The recommendations of this task force should have special relevance to possible revision and improvement of the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) when it is considered for renewal. This Task Force effort responds to the White House Conference resolutions in Theme I, Meeting Personal Needs. A list of the members can be found in Appendix V.

Task Force on the Role of the Special Library in Nationwide Networks and Cooperative Programs

The National Commission, at its March 1980 Commission meeting, voted to establish a Task Force on the Role of the Special Library in Nationwide Networks and Cooperative Programs. This Task Force will examine ways of making the under-utilized and often inaccessible resources of the Nation's special libraries available to emerging nationwide networks, and making the resources of networks available to the special libraries. By helping to bring this very large constituency (more than 10,000 special libraries in the United States) into the mainstream of networking and cooperative programs, the Task Force will be making a major contribution to improving the effec

tiveness of the Nation's use of its knowledge resources. This Task Force relates to the White House Conference resolutions in Theme III, Improving Organizations and Professions. A list of the Task Force members can be found in Appendix V. An unusual feature of the Task Force is that the Commission is supporting expenses only for the Commissioners and staff. The Special Libraries Association (SLA) is paying the expenses of the other members.

Task Force on Library and Information Services to Cultural Minorities

Preliminary planning by the National Commission for a Task Force on Library and Information Services to Cultural Minorities was crystallized by concerns expressed at the White House Conference, and in April 1980, NCLIS announced its intention to establish such a Task Force. The first meeting of the Task Force is scheduled for early October, in the next fiscal year.

The Task Force will explore the current status of library and information service programs in support of the needs and desires expressed by minority groups. The Task Force will consider the development of programs designed to encourage ethnic groups in local communities to cooperate in the planning, delivery, and evaluation of library programs, community information and referral centers, and cultural and/or educational centers. They will also explore the means for determining the strength of existing collections and develop criteria and methods for expanding and improving cultural minority materials for library and information services including bilingual materials, foreign language books, films, tapes, etc. The Task Force will also review and make recommendations relative to the resolution developed by the delegates to the White House Conference on Library and Information Services on cultural and ethnic minorities. This Task Force relates especially to White House Conference resolutions in Theme I, Meeting Personal Needs, and its conclusions are expected to have special relevance to revisions in the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA). A list of its members can be found in Appendix V.

Cooperative Project with the Library of Congress

NCLIS continued its cooperation with the Library of Congress by undertaking, in cooperation with the Library of Congress (LC), and the Federal Library Committee (FLC), an eighteen-month study of governmental (Federal, state and local) library resources and services around the United States. Its purpose is 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. This project has been undertaken, in part, in response to several resolutions of the White House Conference in

Theme IV, Governing Society and NCLIS' program document, "Toward a National Program for Library and Information Services: Goals for Action," which strongly emphasized the important contributions that Federal libraries and information services can make and the need to minimize overlapping and duplication.

International Activities

NCLIS continued its efforts in the international arena by undertaking, at the request of the American Library Association (ALA), to pay approximately one-half of the United States National Membership dues to the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA). This commitment broadens the international activity begun by the Commission's earlier support of the Universal Availability of Publications program. The International Cooperation Planning Group, chaired by Robert Lee Chartrand, completed its efforts and reported to the Commission recommending the establishment of a Task Force on International Cooperation. This effort was initially approved, but budget constraints forced NCLIS to defer the initiation of this effort, pending obtaining additional funding to support it. These activities respond to White House Conference resolutions in Theme V, International Cooperation and Understanding.

The initiatives described above all relate to user needs identified at the White House Conference. Therefore, they reflect the Commission's view of some priorities for immediate follow through and action to maintain the momentum engendered by the multi-million dollar investment in the assessment of user needs for library and information services that was the White House Conference.

Commission Planning Session

In July, on the tenth anniversary of the signing of Public Law 91-345, which established the Commission, NCLIS held a meeting at which day-to-day business took a back seat to thinking about the evolving roles and goals of the Commission. Two days of intensive interaction among the Commissioners produced: a restructuring of Commission Committees; clarification of the relationship between libraries and information science; a list of proposed projects, which will be ranked in order by priority to provide an agenda for the coming years; suggestions for streamlining internal procedures; and a better understanding of the Commission's current and potential roles. Many of the recommendations, particularly those pertaining to internal procedures, have already been implemented.

Ongoing Activities

Task Force on Public/Private Sector Relations

The Task Force on Public/Private Sector Relations was established in 1979 to delineate the appropriate roles of government (local, state, and Federal), and the private sector (both for-profit and not-for-profit) in the generation and dissemination of scientific, technical, business and other information.

To carry out its mandate of advising the President and Congress on the means to provide library and information services adequate to meet the needs of the people of the United States, NCLIS felt it needed to establish some principles under which specific recommendations and guidance could be offered. NCLIS recognized that some of its recommendations relating to the establishment of nationwide library network services could impact on present and future activities of both public and private organizations, and it must ensure that its recommendations take fully into account the roles, obligations, and rights of all the parties involved. The work of the Task Force is designed to provide the factual and philosophical context for such evaluations.

The Task Force is not expected to develop a national information policy. Such an undertaking would take far more time and resources than are contemplated for the Task Force. On the other hand, the Task Force is expected to illuminate those aspects of national information policy that bear on the Commission's responsibilities.

The positions of the government, the commercial sector, professional societies, publishers, and other interested parties are fairly well known, and mere cataloging or reiteration of these positions will not, in itself, serve a very useful purpose. What is required is a careful analysis and evaluation of the laws, facts, and perspectives involved, to identify the areas of common agreement, the precise areas of disagreement and the bases thereof, and the principles that, if established, would help to minimize or resolve existing or potential problems in the public interest.

The composition of the 21-member Task Force was carefully balanced with seven members from each of three sectors: for-profit, notfor-profit, and public. The Task Force, chaired by Robert M. Hayes, Dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of California in Los Angeles, met twice in the 1979-1980 Fiscal Year and has made very effective use of a delphitype procedure. Eight potential principles related to the dissemination of Federal information have thus far been identified for detailed examination at subsequent meetings. A preliminary report is being

prepared for presentation to the Commission at its December meeting. A list of Task Force members can be found in Appendix V.

Library of Congress National Network Database Design

In 1976 the Library of Congress undertook, with support from the Commission, a study of authority files and their role in a nationwide network. This was an outgrowth of an NCLIS-sponsored study, "The Role of the Library of Congress in the Evolving National Network," and a survey of operational library networks and expectations from the Library of Congress staff (chiefly the Network Development Office). Although several projects have been completed on the use of authority files for specific products, institutions, or networks, virtually no work had been done to develop authority files for general use by the many different types of libraries in the United States. The report of the first stages of this work-"Initial Considerations for a Nationwide Data Base," identified several tasks necessary to develop a nationwide network. Several of these tasks were funded by the Commission and have been completed this year. The tasks include studies on: including retrospective data; a MARC communications format for series authority information; control of personal name authority data (format of authors' names); and authority files' size. In addition, Network Planning Paper Number 6, National Union Catalogue Experience: Implications for Network Planning, was published. American National Standards Committee Z39

Over previous years, NCLIS assisted in funding an examination of the scope, procedures, organizational location and financial support of Z39, the standards committee of the American National Standards Institute that deals with standards pertaining to library work, documentation and related publishing practices. The importance of standards work was stressed in the President's message and continues to be of concern to the library and information community because of the need for standards for resource sharing and networking. Two new and three revised standards were published this year. Also, work was underway on more than twenty other standards during this fiscal year. The Commission continues to support the activities of Z39 and its subcommittees.

School Library Media Center Implementation Committee

This small group met in the spring of 1980, and concluded that the most urgent need for promoting implementation of the recommendations of the Task Force was a national forum wherein the decision makers, chiefly the Chief State School Officers, could be informed of the recommendations and the merits of following them. The members are now seeking means to establish such a forum, and another meeting is planned early in 1981.