A directory of public services: Utopian notes

摘要

In the context of a general critique of the present system for providing information about public services, librarians are proposed as producers and deliverers of a file of “administrative publicity” for such services—particularly those affording opportunities, as opposed to relief from distress. Political rapport between libraries and other public agencies is seen as essential if maldistribution of information is to be overcome. Fourteen characteristics of an ideal file of administrative publicity are set forth, in an attempt to set standards by which maldistribution and shortcomings of present files may be judged. Practical models for an ideal file include the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance; the structure and indexing of these models are discussed. The essay as a whole is related to recent writings on libraries as community information centers, on cable television and libraries, and on the politics of information in the United States.