This oversight hearing was held to review the status of the 21-year-old Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) program, which is administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) in the U.S. Department of Education, and to hear administration proposals for the redesign of the ERIC system. This report of the hearing begins with an opening statement by the Hon. Major R. Owens, chairman of the subcommittee, who stressed the importance of the successful management of information and the need for adequate funding for the ERIC system. The report also provides transcripts of statements presented at the hearing and discussion of those statements, as well as prepared statements and testimony submitted to the subcommittee. Statements (and prepared statements) are included from: (1) Chester E. Finn, Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education; (2) Lynn Barnett, Chair of the ERIC Technical Steering Committee; (3) Donald P. Ely, Director of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources; (4) Don Erickson, Director of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children; (5) Leslie Bjorncrantz, curriculum librarian and education bibliographer at Northwestern University; (6) Kenneth S. Tollett, distinguished professor of higher education, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Howard University; and (7) Charles W. Hoover, retired Director of ERIC. Additional testimony and prepared statements are also included from Natalie Felsher, Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools; Paula Montgomery, Maryland State Department of Education; Robert E. Chesley, an educational consultant and former Director of ERIC; and Laurie Garduque, Director of Governmental and Professional Liaison for the American Educational Research Association. (BBM)