National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
Agency name	National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
Formed	1970
Dissolved	2008
Jurisdiction	United States
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Parent agency	Executive Office of the President

National Commission on Libraries and Information Science was an independent advisory agency established to advise the President of the United States and the United States Congress on library and information policy. It operated at the intersection of federal policy debates involving the Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the National Archives and Records Administration. Commissioners engaged with stakeholders including the American Library Association, the Special Libraries Association, the Association of Research Libraries, and the Public Library Association.

History

The commission was created by the Library Services and Construction Act amendments that led to its founding in 1970 during the administration of President Richard Nixon, following reports from panels such as the Kerner Commission and commissions influenced by leaders at the Ford Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Gulf and Western Corporation. Early commissioners worked with directors from the Library of Congress like Lawrence Quincy Mumford and with scholars from institutions including Columbia University, Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan, and University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the commission interacted with federal entities like the Office of Management and Budget, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, while responding to technological shifts raised by companies such as IBM, Bell Laboratories, RAND Corporation, and initiatives at Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In the 1990s commissioners confronted policy questions posed by the Clinton administration, the National Information Infrastructure initiative, and debates involving the World Wide Web Consortium and the Internet Engineering Task Force. The commission produced guidance as the Library of Congress National Digital Library Program emerged and coordinated with agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Smithsonian Institution. With legislation like the Museums and Libraries Services Act the commission's role evolved alongside the Presidential Communications Operations Office and consulting bodies including the Council on Library and Information Resources and the Conference of State Library Agencies. The commission ceased operations in 2008, with functions overlapping those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services and advisory inputs to the Federal Communications Commission.

Mandate and Functions

Statutory mandate traced to congressional acts required commissioners to advise the President of the United States, the United States Congress, and federal departments including the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation on access to Library of Congress resources, coordination with National Archives and Records Administration, and policies affecting entities such as the American Library Association and the Association of Research Libraries. Functions included conducting studies with partners like the National Endowment for the Arts, providing testimony before committees such as the United States House Committee on Education and Labor and the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and issuing reports that influenced programs at the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

The commission advised on interoperability issues involving standards from the International Organization for Standardization and the American National Standards Institute, metadata schemas used by projects at Yale University, Princeton University, and Cornell University, and privacy concerns raised with stakeholders including Electronic Frontier Foundation and American Civil Liberties Union. It also coordinated with state-level organizations such as the California State Library, the New York Public Library, and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Organizational Structure

The body comprised appointed commissioners who were nominated through White House processes under presidents such as Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. The commission worked with executive directors and staff drawn from institutions including the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, and universities like Rutgers University and Syracuse University. It organized subcommittees and task forces in partnership with the American Association of Law Libraries, the Medical Library Association, and the Council on Library and Information Resources.

Administrative interactions connected the commission to the Office of Personnel Management, the General Services Administration, and contracting partners such as West Publishing and Gale Research. Advisory councils included representatives from the Public Library Association, the Association for Library and Information Science Education, and the Friends of Libraries USA, and liaison roles with state associations like the California Library Association facilitated local coordination.

Major Reports and Initiatives

Major publications addressed national information infrastructure, access policies, and digital preservation, produced in collaboration with organizations such as the National Science Foundation, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Reports examined themes aligned with initiatives at Harvard University's library projects, Library of Congress National Digital Library Program, and digitization efforts at New York Public Library and Smithsonian Institution units. The commission convened conferences featuring speakers from American Library Association, Association of Research Libraries, Special Libraries Association, and technology partners including Microsoft, Apple Inc., Sun Microsystems, and Oracle Corporation.

Initiatives included studies on rural access involving collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture, urban library strategies referencing work in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., and workforce development projects tied to curricula at Syracuse University School of Information Studies and University of Maryland, College Park. The commission's policy briefs informed programs under the Museums and Libraries Services Act and were cited in testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Impact and Criticism

The commission influenced policy discussions affecting the Library of Congress, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and state libraries in California, New York, and Texas, and its reports were used by academic centers at Columbia University, University of Michigan, University of Illinois, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Critics from entities like the American Library Association and the Electronic Frontier Foundation argued that the commission sometimes lagged behind technological change and that its advisory role duplicated work performed by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Council on Library and Information Resources. Other commentators from publications such as those of The New York Times and The Washington Post questioned the cost-effectiveness of continuing the commission versus reallocating funds to programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Science Foundation.

Supporters cited the commission's convening power with organizations including the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries, Public Library Association, and universities like Harvard University and Yale University as valuable in shaping national dialogue on access, preservation, and interoperability. The legacy continued through successor policy influence at the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in standards work at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and the World Wide Web Consortium.

Category:United States federal agencies