therefore, for the United states to offer to assist 

 developing countries, through its technical assistance 

 programs or through appropriate international or 

 regional programs, in creating or strengthening general 

 national information management capabilities. 



In addition, the United States might support 

 development of special training programs at some of the 

 many U.S. institutions offering education in 

 information management. 3 These programs should 

 encompass training for users as well as specialists 

 from developing countries. Users could be exposed to 

 sources of information — including standards, patents, 

 manufacturers* catalogues, technical reports and 

 journals, and searchable data bases — and to techniques 

 for locating and acquiring public and proprietary 

 technologies . 



U.S. public and private information resources range 

 from comprehensive mission-oriented and discipline- 

 based systems to very specialized services.* 

 Collectively, they provide bibliographic information 

 and abstracts of published literature; information 

 about research in progress; numeric data and analysis; 

 information on patents and products, including 

 technology available for licensing; and document 

 delivery services. Some resources are maintained by 

 federal and state governments or nonprofit 

 institutions; others are available commercially. 



As a first step in making these systems and 

 services more accessible to developing countries, the 

 United States could support international or regional 

 programs to improve document availability and delivery. 

 Bibliographic references and alerting services are of 

 limited use if the underlying documents cannot be 

 obtained. The United states could also survey U.S.- 

 based systems, services, and programs in key problem 

 areas to be considered by the 1979 Conference. Such an 

 overview, in combination with the United Nations 1 own 

 continuing survey, would help clarify the gaps in 

 present information systems and identify ways of 

 filling them. 



At last count, at least 100 specialized information 

 systems, services, and programs were sponsored by U.N. 

 regional commissions and specialized agencies. 5 

 International bodies often suggest creating new 

 comprehensive systems along the lines of the 

 International Atomic Energy Agency's International 

 Nuclear Information Service (INIS) and the Agricultural 

 Research Information Service (AGRIS) , sponsored by FAO. 

 Such comprehensive systems may or may not be justified 

 on the basis of costs, user needs, and overlap with 

 existing services. 



An alternative approach is to provide U.S. support 

 for strengthening information systems tied to 



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