for Acquisitions and Cataloging (NPAC). The Commission believes that the Library of Congress should seek to acquire, catalog and process for current and future use approximately eighty-five to ninety percent of the world output. At this level of achievement it is conservatively estimated that there would be a national saving of at least $66 million for research libraries alone as well as additional significant national benefits. 3. Expansion and distribution of machine-readable cataloging to include substantially all languages of current monographic, serial and other significant library and information materials being acquired by the Library of Congress. This project is essential for the effective operation of the bibliographic apparatus of the Library of Congress and other research libraries and information agencies. The task of maintaining bibliographic control of the increasing amount of significant library and information materials that is acquired by the Library of Congress is best accomplished using automated methods.

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4. Distribution of bibliographic data through on-line munication. When acquisition and cataloging of most of the significant publications of the world (including serials) has become routine, the potential of a complete machine-readable data base can be fulfilled with a central organization to speed the products of these services to the user through his library and his information service network.

5. Further development of an expanded General Reference Program to support the national system for bibliographic service. This would include an expanded, rapid-response referral service to sources of information other than libraries and information centers.

6. A comprehensive National Serials Service to integrate and expand the present serials activities of the Library and to provide an organized set of serial services to the nation. National efforts can substantially benefit all libraries and make their work with serials more effective and less costly and improve the accessibility of serial literature to users.

7. Improved access to state and local publications should be developed by the Library of Congress working with state and local agencies to standardize cataloging and other techniques of organization. The Library of Congress is the logical agency to assist in the local development of policies and programs that will make state and local governmental publications of greater benefit to various governmental bodies of the nation and to the people served by those governments.

The recommendations set forth are those that the Commission believes will contribute most to the further development of information services adequate to meet the needs of the people of the nation. Other recommendations were proposed by the committee to the Commission but deferred at this time in the interest of emphasizing the recommendations that can have the greatest constructive impact. The recommendations above have been con

sidered essential in the development of a national program and are related to a total pattern of Commission recommendations.

A separate report by the Commission sets forth the recommendations on the Library of Congress in more detail.

Bibliographic and Resource Centers

Amid the many problems of the user in gaining access to the information he needs, there are three major questions. Has the information wanted been discovered and recorded in a known language and useful form? How has the information been identified and where is it? Can it be obtained while it is still useful? The more difficult it is to answer these questions, the more likely it is that a research library will be called upon to assist in the search.

Research libraries are important because they can help users whose information needs require uncommon collections or unusual facilities. They can, in concert, provide access to the broadest array of man's recorded progress. Fortunately, research libraries have freely shared their materials-through interlibrary loan-with increasing numbers of scholars. As the requests have risen, those providing the loans have been forced to consider the merits of continuing to permit access beyond the local clientele. Problems of cost, wear on scarce items and of loss are important. More users and more use has inflicted a severe toll for the user, too. He is more frequently disappointed that the item he needs is "out to another user." Since guaranteed text access should be an objective of library service, new techniques to speed or replace interlibrary loan service are required. Addressing these problems, the research libraries, acting collectively, and now the NCLIS have had to seek ways to provide bibliographic and resource service in the future. Several useful studies leading toward possible answers have been completed or are in progress. As a next step toward the goal of providing access to research libraries, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) was asked to examine the considerations that would be encountered in developing a plan either for a single national bibliographic and resource center or, alternately, for a national system of such centers. They were asked to recommend one or the other as a preferable solution to the need. Cracks in the structure of interlibrary loan agreements make it necessary to provide a national "backstopping" arrangement to guarantee the user access to materials without undue or unreimbursed costs being imposed on existing public or private research libraries.

Professor Rolland Stevens, University of Illinois, the principal researcher for the NCLIS contract, examined the existing records of traffic in interlibrary loans, studied the current trends in library cooperation and pondered the emerging patterns of centrally organized bibliographic and resource service in this country and in Great Britain. His report to the Commission provides some basic guidance for planning.

Stevens reports that 50 percent of the materials requested on interlibrary loan are monographs, 34 percent are serials and journals, the remainder are dissertations and other formats. Recently published items-those less than ten years old-comprise half of the traffic, and materials in English account for 80 percent of the need. More titles are sought in science and technology than in humanities and more in the humanities than in the social sciences. Statewide and interstate systems with interlibrary loan compacts seem to be able to meet 65 percent of their own needs. The dimensions of the national problem are, it appears, within the reasonable range of expectation for fulfillment but there are some large problems.

Regulating the borrower's procedure is one of them. At present borrowers do not complete the bibliographic identification of onethird of the items they seek to borrow. Either they lack the catalogs and indexes to perform the verification or they lack the skill to use these tools correctly. The result is unduly frustrating and costly for the potential lender. Furthermore, 15 percent of the loan requests are sent to libraries that do not have the items requested. This results in unacceptable delays for the ultimate user. These problems can be corrected through better training of personnel, insistence on accurate citations by lenders, and the development of regional bibliographic centers to assist in the search and verification process. Such centers should develop around existing collections and not be built for this purpose alone. The large libraries whose collections and services bear the heavy burden of interlibrary loan should be encouraged to continue this practice through a contractual system that provides adequate compensation for the service. And there must be a national center to plan and implement services, coordinate regional centers and serve as a final resource center for all of the materials that cannot be supplied within a region.

Stevens enjoins the NCLIS to:

A. Determine the appropriate regions of the United States in which a national system for interlibrary loan should be organized. The "appropriate region" may be a single populous state which already has a hierarchical or other interlibrary loan system or it might be a group of adjoining states.

B. Designate one existing library as a bibliographic center in each region.

C. Designate other libraries having outstanding or strong collections in a number of subject fields as resource centers. These will be libraries which have been important sources for interlibrary loan in the past, and they will be responsible for continuing to make their collections available to meet the nation's needs. D. Designate the three national libraries, the Library of Congress, the National Agricultural Library and the National Library of Medicine, plus the Center for Research Libraries to serve as national centers, the responsibility for loans to be divided among them according to their collection strengths.

E. Draw up contracts with the libraries.designated as bibliographic centers, resource centers and national centers, outlining their

responsibilities and stipulating the grants, transaction fees and other compensation they will receive for services.

F. Serve as a coordinator to establish policies, make decisions, maintain fiscal accounts and perform other continuous tasks necessary to keep the system working.

The NCLIS has received the ARL recommendations and used them as the basis for a contract awarded to the Westat Corporation of Bethesda, Maryland. Westat has been asked to provide the conceptual design of both the bibliographic and the resource centers defining both their scope and content, to give an approximation of developmental and operating costs and to offer some guidance regarding their management. The Westat report is to be ready in June 1974.

6. Continuing Education

There is a rapidly increasing need within the library and information science profession for an established nationwide program of continuing education. Expressions of need for such a program have come from national, regional and state professional associations, schools of library and information science, state and national libraries, and from librarians, information specialists and their employers. No national coordinated action has been developed.

In the framework established for Commission activity last year, the development of human resources for information service was a priority area of concern. The National Commission stated that: "It is important that those giving service in libraries and information centers be qualified for their work. Poor help in identifying and locating information is bad for the user and will ultimately damage the organization that provides the inadequate service."

To plan a national program for retraining those who need it, the Commission has awarded a contract to Catholic University Library School. Elizabeth Stone, Dean of the school and principal investigator, has been asked to provide recommendations for a nationwide program for the continuing education of professional librarians, library technicians and library trustees.

The recommendations sought are to outline a national framework for the program, insure quality content of the educational experience, and involve all levels of institutional support: state, regional and national associations, state and national libraries and schools of library and information science. The report is to be ready in February 1974.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

The Commission has been pressed, and indeed sometimes tempted, to diffuse its efforts in many directions not described in the material above. When there has been a digression, the cause has

been one whose underlying nature is congruent with the central concerns of the Commission. Copyright is one such issue; the Senate Joint Resolution 40 calling for a White House Conference on Library and Information Services is another.

The portion of the proposed copyright legislation dealing with "fair use" of materials in libraries and by library users has become a contentious issue for authors and publishers on the one side versus librarians and those who use libraries on the other. The Commission is desirous of knowing who it is that will be damaged and the extent of the damage if the legislation is permissive or highly restrictive. The Commission also needs to understand the possibilities of a copyright fee clearinghouse and of other arrangements for handling the necessary user license arrangements. The dilemma of copyright must be dispelled in such a way that access is not impeded and the creation of information and literature will be encouraged through adequate compensation to copyright holders. A fair solution of the "fair use" cases pending under the old law and a careful wording of the new law to avoid confusion and hardship are the Commission's goals. To this end a committee of Commission members and staff has been studying the problem in order to develop recommendations that will assist in its resolution.

The notion of a White House Conference on Libraries has been in the air for at least fifteen years. This year the idea has materialized as a Senate Joint Resolution. (A parallel House Resolution was introduced later.) The Commission has endorsed the Conference and, since the Resolution calls upon the Commission to be the organizing agency, has begun to outline budgets and organizational arrangements in anticipation of enactment. If the conference is held as scheduled, it will occur in 1976 following statewide conferences in preparation for the national event.

ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANIZATION

There were no changes in the membership of the Commission during the fiscal year. Three members whose terms expired in July of 1972, Messrs. Crotty, Goland and Lerner were reappointed by President Nixon to new five-year terms expiring in July 1977. Mrs. Bessie Boehm Moore, Coordinator, Economic and Environmental Education, State Department of Education, Little Rock, Arkansas, was elected by the members to serve as Vice-chairman for the year. Dr. Burkhardt continued as the presidentially-appointed Chairman of the Commission.

There were no staff changes during the year. Substantial technical assistance to the staff was rendered by several temporary consultants. Mr. C. Dake Gull aided with studies and surveys; Mrs. Dorothy Schwenz assisted in planning and reporting the regional hearings. Miss Linda Harris, Miss E. Shepley Nourse and Mrs. Nancy Rasmussen were among those who provided editorial assistance for reports and studies.