Before 1870, copyright registration and deposit were functions of several government departments. After the first Federal copyright law was passed in 1790, copyright registration was performed by the clerk in the U.S. district court for the district where the applicant resided, and single copies of copyright deposits were sent to different…

The General Accounting Office reviewed Federal libraries, i.e., executive agency libraries, in Metropolitan Washington to identify problems common to the libraries and to determine how they are being handled. The review revealed that: a central depository could provide numerous benefits; microforms are not used substantially; central direction is…