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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Recurso educativo Open Access |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
1974
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED104445 |
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Table of Contents:
- Toward a National Information System in the United States. McElderry, Stanley Government Role Information Needs Information Systems Interlibrary Loans Library Cooperation Library Networks Library Research Library Services National Programs To determine more rational and economical methods for serving the information needs of the public, a series of studies have been sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries. Libraries in the United States are characterized as independent agencies supported from governmental and private sources and serving a local clientele. Steadily rising costs of operation associated with population growth, increased publishing rates, higher wages, and other factors have led to reduced quality of services. Efforts to share costs through interlibrary loan and other cooperative arrangements have only partially alleviated the financial problems and have done little to improve the quality of services. The ultimate solution is seen as a more systematic national approach designed to optimize available resources in order to achieve more rationally defined goals. There remain a number of unresolved questions concerning the configuration of national resource collections, bibliographic organization and access, communation and delivery methods, and coordinating mechanisms. A strong leadership role by the Federal Government seems mandatory for establishing and maintaing a comprehensive, higher quality information service. (Author/PF)