Information Technology Serving Society

154 Pages·1979·2.808 MB·English

by  Robert Lee Chartrand and James W. Morentz (Eds.)

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
SERVING SOCIETY
Edited by:
ROBERT LEE CHARTRAND
JAMES W. MORENTZ, Jr.
Based on a seminar series given in the spring of 1977
Sponsored by:
THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
INTERGOVERNMENTAL BUREAU FOR INFORMATICS
PERGAMON PRESS LTD.
PERGAMON PRESS
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publishers
First edition 1979
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Information technology serving society.
1. Information storage and retrieval systems
2. Information services - United States
I. Chartrand, Robert Lee II. Morentz, James W., Jr.
029.7 Z699 79-40352
ISBN 0-08-021979-9
Printed in Great Britain by Biddies Ltd., Guildford, Surrey
FOR
JOHN BRADEMAS AND
THE LATE WILLIAM ALBERT STEIGER
STATESMEN OF VISION AND INTEGRITY,
ESTEEMED FRIENDS AND COUNSELORS
GUEST SPEAKERS
PROFESSOR PAULINE A. THE HONORABLE GILBERT
ATHERTON GUDE
School of Information Studies Director
Syracuse University Congressional Research Service
Library of Congress
JOSEPH BECKER
DR. CARL HAMMER
President
Director, Computer Sciences
Becker and Hayes, Inc.
Sperry Univac
DR. JACK W. CARLSON HARRY S. HAVENS
Vice President and Chief Economist Director, Program Analysis Division
Chamber of Commerce of the United States US General Accounting Office
MARY GARDINER JONES
ROBERT LEE CHARTRAND
Vice President, Consumer Affairs
(SEMINAR CHAIRMAN) Western Union Telegraph Company
Senior Specialist in Information Sciences
Congressional Research Service DR. JOHN M. RICHARDSON
Library of Congress
Director
Center for Technology and Administration
DR. RUTH M. DAVIS The American University
Director, Institute for Computer Sciences
and Technology THE HONORABLE CHARLIE ROSE
National Bureau of Standards US House of Representatives
ix
PARTICIPANTS
MAJ. DUANE A. ADAMS KENNETH W. HUNTER
Computer Systems Analyst Associate Director
Office of Planning and Evaluation Program Analysis Division
Office of the Secretary of Defense US General Accounting Office
ROBERT F. JONES
DR. ELIZABETH BYRNE ADAMS
Director
Associate Professor of Management
Robert F. Jones Associates
School of Government and Business
Administration
The George Washington University SELMA C. KUNITZ
Assistant Chief
Systems and Programming (OBENINCDS)
COL. ANDREW A. AINES* National Institutes of Health
Senior Staff Associate
Division of Science Information LORENA F. LEMONS
National Science Foundation
Principal Technical Associate
Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Inc.
BOYD L. ALEXANDER
Special Assistant for Information Systems ALBERT H. LINDEN, JR.
Committee on House Administration Deputy Assistant Administrator for
US House of Representatives Data Services
Federal Energy Administration
CHARLES L. CAVE*
RICHARD G. MAYNARD
Chief, Networking/Security Branch
Senior Information Systems Specialist
ADP Management Division
House Information Systems
Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
US House of Representatives
WILLIAM R. FLURY DR. WILLIAM J. O'CONNOR
Department Staff, Metric Division President
MITRE Corporation Cecil Community College
W. WALLACE FRANCIS* ORLANDO B. POTTER*
Staff Director
Director, Information Systems Office
Federal Election Commission
US Department of State
JAMES R. PRICE
ANTHONY L. HARVEY Coordinator, Major Issues System
Senior Systems Analyst Congressional Research Service
Subcommittee on Computer Services Library of Congress
Committee on Rules and Administration
US Senate JOAN M. VAN HORN
President
DR. LOWELL H. HATTERY* VIP Systems Corporation
Professor of Management and Public
Administration PAUL G. ZURKOWSKI*
College of Public Affairs President
The American University Information Industry Association
* Participants in 1969 AU-Pergamon Seminar
χ
SPECIAL OBSERVERS
MR. RUSSELL L. ABOLT MR. MELVIN S. DAY
General Manager Deputy Director
National Association of Bedding National Library of Medicine
Manufacturers Bethesda, Maryland
Washington, DC
MR. JEAN PAUL EMARD
MR. JAMES Β. ADLER Analyst in Information Sciences
President Congressional Research Service
Congressional Information Service Library of Congress
Bethesda, Maryland Washington, DC
MRS. LOUISE G. BECKER MR. HOWARD E. FURNAS
Analyst in Information Sciences Educator
Congressional Research Service Windsor, Vermont
Library of Congress
Washington, DC
MR. JACK HIGHT
President
MR. JOHN J. BOYLE
Corporate Policy Services, Inc.
Deputy Public Printer
Palm Beach, Florida
US Government Printing Office
Washington, DC
DR. HERMAN P. HOPLIN
DR. MARILYN C. BRACKEN Adjunct Professor
The American University
Associate Department Head
Washington, DC
The MITRE Corporation
McLean, Virginia
DR. FOREST W. HORTON, JR.
DR. LEE G. BURCHINAL Commission on Federal Paperwork
Director Washington, DC
Division of Information Science
National Science Foundation
Washington, DC MR. DWIGHTA. INK
Director
Sponsored Research and Continuing Education
MRS. ELEANORS.
College of Public Affairs
CHARTRAND The American University
Educator Washington, DC
Chevy Chase, Maryland
DR. PHILIP H. JORDAN
MR. KEVIN C. CHARTRAND
President
Kenyon College Kenyon College
Gambier, Ohio Gambier, Ohio
DR. M. WILLIAM COLLINS
Dean, College of Public Affairs MRS. CAROL O. KARPOFF
The American University Linguist
Washington, DC Bethesda, Maryland
xi
xii Special Observers
MS. JUANDA KIRK MR. KURT SALMON
Commission on Administrative Review Honorary Chairman
US House of Representatives Kurt Salmon Associates
Washington, DC Washington, DC
MR. R. BOYD LADD MS. JUDITH SCHNEIDER
King Research, Inc. Temporary Select Committee
Rockville, Maryland to Study the Senate Committee System
US Senate
Washington, DC
MR. DENNIS L. LITTLE
Futures Research Group
COL. RAY C. SHRECKENGOST
Congressional Research Service
Chief
Library of Congress
Information Science Center
Washington, DC
Central Intelligence Agency
Arlington, Virginia
MS. CAROL MARSH
National Archives and Records Services
MS. JANE BORTNICK
General Services Administration
Analyst in Information Sciences
Washington, DC
Congressional Research Service
Library of Congress
MR. GRAHAM T. T. MOLITOR Washington, DC
General Mills, Inc.
Washington, DC MR. SIDNEY WEINSTEIN
Executive Director
Association for Computing Machinery
DR. JAMES W. MORENTZ, JR.
New York, New York
Research Alternatives, Inc.
Washington, DC
MR. BRUCE G. WHELAN
The MITRE Corporation
HONORABLE CHARLES A. McLean, Virginia
MOSHER
Executive Director MS. THORA M. WORRELL
Committee on Science and Technology Manager, Public Affairs Research
US House of Representatives B. F. Goodrich and Co.
Washington, DC Akron, Ohio
FOREWORD
Early in the annals of time, the wisdom of Man was embodied in the judgment that
"where there is no vision, the people perish". Most certainly, the cascading complex-
ities of contemporary life underscore the need for communicating key information
between governments and societies. Ours is, indeed, the "Age of Information", and
implicit in that recognition is a concomitant commitment to understanding the need for
policies, exchange programs, and man-machine systems which broaden and intensify
global transfer and sharing of information.
Nearly a decade ago our organization co-sponsored with The American University a
series of seminars which resulted in a volume entitled Computers in the Service of
Society. The perceptions of the contributors to that reflection on the influences of
electronic computers and systems methodology offered a "window" on a world little
known and often misunderstood. So valuable was the commentary in this milestone
book that a current, comparative look, as suggested by Robert Chartrand who had
conceived of the initial endeavour, seemed both timely and of high value to govern-
mental and private sector leadership alike. Once again, the selection of speakers, the
cadre of regular participants, and special observers was of the highest order, for the
essence of such an undertaking resides in the quality of its complement.
Emerging throughout the recent sessions was a maturity of views regarding the
present and potential roles of information technology. In some instances, the high
hopes or fears of yesteryear simply did or could not materialize. Juxtaposed with that
was the evolution of new capabilities—as found both in sophisticated mechanisms and
improved means of devising and managing advanced information systems—which had
not been foreseen. And, not surprisingly, there were such residual considerations as
those which I noted in that earlier book:
Can the multiple roles of the computer be comprehended by the decision-makers of our times? Can the
vast potential—and limitations—of automatic data processing be conveyed to the public-at-large?
The answers to those queries, and many others of similar significance, lie in the future.
Here, then, is an exposition of thoughts, experiences, and forecasts derived from
some of the finest minds available. As we prepare to enter the 1980s, Information
Technology Serving Society not only mirrors man's continuing struggle with change but
even more importantly emphasizes the importance of his mastery over technology
through the judicious use of information and knowledge.
Robert Maxwell
xiii
CHAPTER 1
INFORMATION TRANSFER IN A GIFTED AGE
ROBERT L. CHARTRAND
Our recent bicentennial celebration has been the cause of much reflection about our
origins, the many progressions from then to now, and where we find ourselves today.
Perhaps even more importantly, the awareness that the past is prologue has resulted in
introspection designed to better prepare this nation for an uncertain future.
The recent, unsettling traumas are, hopefully, behind us. Out of that cacophony of
distress and dissonance one can hear a gentle, but perceptible symphony of hope! Not
long ago a cartoon appeared which showed the patron of a bar inquiring why the
rumpled, white-bearded fellow at his elbow kept murmuring, "I can't hear America
singing". Corollary to that is the expression of fear that our society is stagnating. For a
number of years after the last Great War, it was the fashion—again by expressing a
long-forgotten concept—to speak glowingly of "frontiers". I would argue that they're
still there, and nowhere more so than in the burgeoning area of information and its
technology.
Inherent in the phrasing of one of Edna St. Vincent Millay's sonnets penned in 1941 is
an implied challenge for those of us who would harness information for the greater
public good:
. . . upon this gifted age, in its dark hour rains from the sky a meteoric shower of facts; . . . they lie
unquestioned, uncombined; wisdom enough to leech us of our ill is daily spun, but there exists no loom to
weave it into a fabric.
Benefits and Risks in this Man-Machine World
This seminar group is made up of professionals—the conceptualists, the gatekeepers,
the emancipators of ignorance, and the beneficiaries of our own creations. Who is
better equipped to fathom the benefits and risks in this man-machine world? And who
in all candor can better determine when mastery over technology exists and in what
circumstances man's servitude to the system has been allowed?
Eight years ago a similar group was convened. The tempo of the times was somewhat
different but many of the problems involved in the creation and exchange of informa-
tion were quite the same. Even then, information and the role of communicators were
gaining increased cognizance throughout government and society. Many listened when
President John F. Kennedy said that:
The more people I can see, or the wider I can expose my mind to different ideas, the more effective I can
be [as President].
At that time, the seminar participants, some of whom now help constitute this group,
were called upon to discuss such concepts as the "computer utility" and "augmented
ι
2 Information Technology Serving Society
man", as well as information handling problems which dated from antiquity. In
retrospect, the recurring themes of those sessions, as enunciated in Robert Maxwell's
"Foreword" to the book resulting from that series, are still worthy of consideration
today.
What has been the response of thinking man to this new technology?
Can the multiple roles of the computer be comprehended by the decision-makers of our times?
Can the vast potential—our limitations—of automatic data processing be conveyed to the public-at-
large?
In shaping this seminar, it was important to take into consideration the remarkable
expansion in information technology and, of equal criticality, the growing sophistica-
tion of user groups throughout the country. So complex has become our civilization,
and so ponderous the machinery by which we attempt to govern, that there may be a
dangerous inclination to relegate many vital functions to a machine-oriented set of
processes. There is undeniably an increasing reliance on technology and the scientific
specialist or technologist. Yet, there remains a critical need for the intuition of the
individual, who must be the ultimate synthesizer and judge. The melding of the
capabilities of the human being and the machine must not be seen as contradictory, but
rather complementary. In that nonpareil exposition of information handling before and
during the Second World War, entitled A Man Called Intrepid, the statement is made
that "intelligence [i.e., information] was the key, the nervous system and brain of
strength". All of us realize that in peace, as in war, there must be an orchestration of
innovative technology with extant policies and practices.
A Multi-Dimensional Context
Thus, as the options for the seminar scope and substance were defined, a multi-
dimensional context began to emerge. First, in order to establish a somewhat uniform
framework of reference for this diverse group, some of the evolutionary achievements
in technology would be noted. How far we have come since the miracle of the code-
cracking "Bronze Goddess" and other mastodon machines of that earlier age to the
contemporary hardware capable of amazing subtleties! And comparable improve-
ments are being unveiled, year by year, in the realms of telecommunications, micro-
graphics, videotechnology, and specialized peripheral devices.
Secondly, although much of the money and effort related to information services
continues to be concentrated on time-honored modes of operation, there is definitely a
need for developing an array of specially tailored information products and services—
featuring easy-to-read formats, the essence of the key topics, and timeliness of
response—that will be used. It is generally conceded that our bibliographic systems,
both paperform and automated, have reached a fairly high degree of maturity. Far
less thought has been given to those systems which must support decision makers,
at any level, who have unflagging time constraints. Sometimes one feels like the
"incredible shrinking man" who unwillingly sank through successive strata to ever
more unfamiliar and insoluble problems. Oftentimes, we tend to become immersed in
problems (and projects) so convoluted and detailed that the needs of those "at the
top" are forgotten.
And finally, in all of its poignancy, there is the dilemma of the individual citizen,
buffeted by forces beyond his control, who sees on every hand the onslaught of