Mr. YARBOROUGH, from the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H.R. 11702] The Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, to which was referred the bills (S. 2549, S. 2239, and H.R. 11702) to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve and extend the provisions to provide for a program of assistance for medical library and other health information services and facilities, and for related purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably on H.R. 11702 with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and recommends that the bill as amended do pass. SUMMARY H.R. 11702 would extend for 3 years the current program to provide financial assistance for the construction of health library facilities; to support training of health librarians and other information specialists; to expand and improve health library services through the provision of grants for library resources; to support projects of research and development in the field of health communications, and related special scientific projects; to support the development of a national system of regional medical libraries; and to support selected biomedical scientific publications projects. This bill would increase the total authorization for funding for these programs from the current $21 million per year to $25 million in fiscal year 1971, $30 million in fiscal year 1972, and $35 million in fiscal year 1973. In addition, certain technical and clarifying amendments are proposed. BACKGROUND The programs of support which H.R. 11702 would extend and amend are authorized by the Medical Library Assistance Act of 1965 (Public 37-010-69-1 Law 89-291), which this committee also endorsed following its consideration of S. 597 in June 1965. The expanded authorities and resources provided by the Medical Library Assistance Act have permitted the National Library of Medicine to initiate coordinated programs of support for health libraries and health information service and research activities. The committee believes that these programs have already begun to ameliorate the serious shortages of health information facilities and resources, manpower, and technological development which concerned the Congress at that time. HEARINGS At hearings held before this committee on July 31, 1969, all witnesses with the exception of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, urged the extension of these valuable programs for a longer period than the 1 year and emphasized the need for adequate funding if the objectives of the program are to be achieved. The committee agrees that major health library deficits remain to be corrected and that new demands caused in part by the creation and development of new Federal health programs further urge an expanded and creative outlook upon such programs of assistance. Taking into account the progress which has been made and the continuing and new problems which do exist in the area of health communications and information services, the committee has given favorable consideration to H.R. 11702, as reported. THE PROBLEM The September 20, 1965, report of this committee to accompany S. 597 summarized briefly the scope of the health information service deficits which faced the United States at a time when there was increasingly sharp focus on the health needs of this country and the magnitude of the resources which would have to be gathered to meet those needs. Witnesses reported that over $100 million would be needed for construction of medical school libraries alone to provide adequate space for documents, staff, and readers. An equal sum was then required to bring medical library collections up to desired standards. There was also a critical shortage of professional personnel trained to meet the special needs of health science libraries and the medical communities they serve. The Medical Library Assistance Act of 1965 permitted a good beginning toward the solution of health information problems. By improving and strengthening health libraries the Act has assisted faculties, students, and practicing physicians to keep more fully informed on research findings and new developments in the field of medicine and allied subjects. Ultimately, this has meant better health care for the American people. However, the committee is impressed by the magnitude of the problems which remain. The complexity and the mass of health information produced by our advanced scientific society have outstripped our ability to store, retrieve, and deliver information in useable form to the people who need it. At the frontier of interdisciplinary research, traditional information services are no longer adequate. New ways of organizing and presenting information must be developed. Particularly at the educational |