The Library of Congress is so unprepared to serve as a national information repository in the digital age that it risks becoming a book museum, the National Academy of Sciences contends. The library still plays a vital role in building collections of national and worldwide importance, but it cannot go on as before, the academy concluded in a report released last month. Chartered 200 years ago, the library also houses the Copyright Office. It focuses on print materials although more information is now being created, stored and distributed digitally.
Some problems found by the academy are basic.
For example, not all library staff members have access to e-mail. Other problems are more arcane. For instance, the legality of collecting copies of U.S. Web sites under copyright deposit law is uncertain. And still other problems require congressional action. The library s training budget, for example, needs to be doubled or tripled, the academy said.