The Superintendent of Documents and American Libraries: A Liaison Approach

A base of interests and operations characterizes two of the largest library related enterprises in the United States: the work of the Superintendent of Documents1 and the card distribution of the Library of Congress. Both maintain sales and distribution programs which run into millions of items at an annual income which measures up to that of a major industrial or business corporation; they serve a similar clientele—libraries, individuals, cultural and research agencies, scholars; in the final analysis, both are expected to provide the key which will unlock the resources of libraries—whether such key be a catalog entry, an index, a list, a bibliography, or other aid. T h e economies in cataloging and the services of many libraries have, in large measure, become dependent upon these two central enterprises of the federal government. Other significant features of identity exist in the internal mechanism of each agency, as evidenced in a recent comparative job analysis and positionclassification survey made by the author. Incidentally, both face the same hazards of annual requests for appropriations before Congress—with the same difficulties in planning long-range development and the same pressures inherent in a contracting economy in federal expenditures.