381 



You mention in your statement as an aside, referring to your Science 

 Information Office or some agency within your organization that ac- 

 cumulates scientific information. 



Did I understand you correctly ? 



Dr. KoBERTSON. Yes, sir. We have an Office of Science Information 

 Services, which has as a major responsibility to see to it that scientific 

 information is made adequately available to all. 



Mr. Edwards, Then recently, when we had our other hearings, the 

 Smithsonian Institution had a witness here who testified that as he 

 understood the position of the Smithsonian in this overall picture, its 

 primary duty was to assimilate all of the scientific information, so 

 that there would be one repository for all to use. 



My question, then, is this : Is there any duplication between what the 

 Smithsonian is doing, and what you are talking about ? Is there any 

 conflict that could be resolved in the direction of efficiency, so that there 

 would in fact be one repository, and finally, is that something that 

 should be a sought-after goal ? 



Dr. Robertson. First of all, I would like to say that the Marine 

 Council is taking an active interest in this particular problem, in the 

 area of marine sciences. 



There exists a National Oceanographic Data Center, whose object is 

 to be a central repository for data about the oceans. 



We work very closely with the Smithsonian Institution m many 

 fields. In fact, the Smithsonian Institution operates a Science Informa- 

 tion Exchange which is a systematic listing of all scientific projects 

 being supported by the Government, classified according to the field 

 bemg supported. 



We fmid this Exchange by transfer of fmids from the National 

 Science Foundation to the Smithsonian Institution, so that we are 

 very close in our relationship with them in this field. 



Mr. Edwards. But you don't feel that there is any problem or any 

 duplication of effort involved here ? 



Dr. EoBERTSON. No, sir. 



Mr. Edwards. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Lennon. The gentleman from New York, Mr. Dow. 



Mr. Dow. Thank you. 



Dr. Robertson, it is very good to have you here before the committee. 



I think I might make just one comment, and that is that I think 

 we ought to reflect on the fact that the space program is running on 

 the order of $5 billion a year, and here we are talking of less than 

 $40 million for the ocean scientific portion, and the oceanographic pro- 

 gram, and yet there are countless voices that are always telling us that 

 oceanography and the exploration of the seas is equally important with 

 exploration of space. 



Of course, I am not attempting to focus any blame on you people 

 here, because you have a certain assignment in this thing, and a certain 

 area where you can operate, and a certain amount of resources. 



But I do think that in general all of us ought to ponder that rela- 

 tionship a little bit, because it is somewhat farfetched, in light of the 

 importance that is attached to oceanographic research. 



I think further that this may explain a little bit why some of us 

 have an impression that this program is a kind of scattered program. 



