NOTES 



Several recent studies of agricultural research 

 priorities have emphasized this prospect and need. 

 See, in particular, three studies by the National 

 Research Council (1975b, 1976, 1977), Brown et al. 

 (1975), and a report by the Office of Technology 

 Assessment (1976). 



Eventually, progress in this area could lead to 

 increased food production, reduced need for huge 

 expenditures to supply chemical and other capital 

 inputs for agriculture, and reduced pressure on 

 scarce petroleum, natural gas, and other 

 petrochemical supplies; lower food production 

 costs, permitting both higher farm profits and 

 lower consumer prices in the United States and 

 developing countries; and reduced environmental 

 contamination. 



Although we focus on renewable sources and coal in 

 this report, this is not to imply that other fossil 

 fuels should be ignored. On the contrary, these 

 resources, especially gas and oil, must be 

 exploited to the fullest since they are usually the 

 least expensive. They are not addressed in the 

 initiatives here, however, since commercial 

 channels for acquiring relevant technology are 

 reasonably clear and established. For similar 

 reasons, nuclear energy has not been considered 

 here. 



Academic programs and specialized training courses 

 are listed in publications by the American Society 

 for Information Science (197 2) and the American 

 Library Association (1977) , and in the Directory of 

 Continuing Educational Opportunities (in the United 

 States) for Library, Information and Media 

 Personnel - 1978 (Continuing Library Education 

 Network and Exchange, Washington, D.C., in press). 



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