Reviews history of events leading to the Linked Systems Project and describes two major components: communications facility and applications programs. The initial application--sharing of authority data based on the Library of Congress Name Authority Cooperative Project--is discussed, and future applications and their implications are briefly…

Explores some of the problems that will confront librarians and scholars in a paperless society. Highlights include the technological determinants of information survival, the library's institutional role, the stock of knowledge, electronic publishing and the stock of knowledge, and other issues. Seven references are cited. (EJS)

Four artificial intelligence (AI) concepts that have relevance for information retrieval systems are discussed and applied to area of authority control in automated catalogs--pattern recognition, representation, problem solving, learning. Existing automated authority control systems are analyzed using two other AI concepts, augmentation and…

Notes four Ages of Access to published knowledge--Individual, Local, National, and International--and considers impact of computers and electronic technology. Speed of access, automatic catalogs, digital text storage and transmission, need for observance of common standards and procedures, international cooperation, and worldwide system of…