College and Research Libraries RAYMOND E. D U R R A N C E Implications for Libraries of the National Sea Grant College and Program Act of 1966 The National Sea Grant College and Program Act of 1966 provides that $20,000,000 will he spent for the development of Sea Grant Col- leges. Congressional approval of this act characterizes a general aware- ness of the need for development of marine resources and recognition that institutions of higher learning are the best agents for training manpower and conducting basic research in this field. The educational and library implications are far reaching. T H E N A T I O N A L S C I E N C E F O U N D A T I O N i s presently considering proposals from a number of institutions which possess the necessary laboratory facilities, re- search vessels, and curriculum develop- ment to qualify for receipt of Sea Grants. The effect upon the institutions desig- nated as Sea Grant Colleges will b e felt immediately in a proliferation of re- search projects and marine science cur- riculum development. Under the National Sea Grant College and Program Act of 1966, P L 89-688, the National Science Foundation is charged with administering $20,000,000 in federal funds through the fiscal year ending June 1968, for the establishment and de- velopment of Sea Grant Colleges and research programs in the fields of marine science, engineering, and related dis- ciplines.1 According to the Act, devel- opment of marine resources includes conservation and economic utilization of 1 U.S. Statutes at Large, L X X X , 9 9 8 . Mr. Durrance is Librarian of the Fisheries- Oceanography Library in the University of Washington. natural resources; development of ma- rine commerce and engineering; ocean- ography; and study of the economic, legal, medical and sociological prob- lems arising out of the management and control of t h e natural resources of the marine environment. T h e Act defines the marine environment as the oceans, the continental shelf, and all submerged lands to a depth of two hundred meters, as well as the Great Lakes, and all simi- lar submarine areas adjacent to the United States and its territories. T h e proposal for a Sea Grant College was first introduced in 1963 at the nine- ty-third annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society.2 T h e term " S e a Grant College" was used to draw a parallel between the present need for ocean re- source development and the need for de- velopment of land at the time of the Morrill Act of 1862 which established the Land Grand Program. T h e idea at- tracted support and resulted in the Con- ference on the Concept of a Sea Grant University at Newport, Rhode Island, in 2 American F i s h e r i e s Society. Transactions, X C I I I ( 1 9 6 3 ) , 1 2 0 - 2 1 . 210/ Sea Grant College and Program Act of 1966 / 211 O c t o b e r 1965.3 At this conference the concept crystalized and the process of developing the enabling legislation be- gan as more than two hundred delegates from thirty states, representing institu- tions of higher learning, private industry, and state and federal governmental agencies discussed the need for and promise of development of marine re- sources. T h e long-range implications of the Act are far broader than first examina- tion might indicate. T h e past two dec- ades have witnessed a proliferation on a world-wide scale of an awareness of the vast potential of the seas and their pro- found effects upon the land. Improving the efficiency of fisheries, control of water pollution, mining the sea floor, experiments with undersea dwellings, farming the sea, desalination of sea water, and weather modification are but a few of the areas in which research is presently being conducted. This trend toward development of marine resources and exploration of the seas can only b e expected to continue to increase, and virtually every field of science is likely to conduct research related to the marine environment. T h e true significance of the National S e a Grant College and Program Act of 1 9 6 6 lies not in its relatively modest be- ginning of funding a few more research projects, but rather in the fact that the Congress has shown by its enactment an awareness of a need for developing t h e potential of the oceans and further- more has rightfully placed the respon- sibility for this development, especially t h e training of manpower and basic re- search, upon the shoulders of the insti- tutions of higher learning. At the present time there are sixty- four institutions of higher learning with curricula oriented toward the marine sci- 3 Proceedings of the National Conference on the Concept of a Sea Grant University. K i n g s t o n , R h o d e I s l a n d : U n i v e r s i t y o f R h o d e I s l a n d G r a d u a t e S c h o o l o f O c e a n o g r a p h y , 1 9 6 5 . 9 6 p . ences.4 Thirty-four offer programs lead- ing to a P h D degree in either ocean- ography, marine science, ocean engineer- ing, or fisheries; thirty-five offer mas- ter's degree programs, and fourteen offer bachelor's degrees. Forty-seven institu- tions offer marine sciences courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels which may be applied to related degrees, but do not offer degrees specifically in the area. In the next decade we may expect a very large increase in the number of graduate and undergraduate level courses being taught relating to the ma- rine environment, as well as an increase in the number of institutions teaching them. T h e development will affect many parts of the university curriculum. Courses can be expected to b e developed in areas now generally considered to b e unrelated to the marine environment and to extend into such diverse fields as medicine, law, sociology, economics, po- litical science, and business, as well as engineering and the traditional sciences. Library collections will, of course, b e expected to keep pace in order to sup- port the teaching and research result- ing from this new thrust seaward. A considerable increase may b e expected in the volume of publication in the field. In addition to the usual problems asso- ciated with acquiring and processing this expected flood of publications, the problem of easy access to library materi- al must b e solved. Consolidation and improvement of bibliographic control over the technical reports, translations, and government documents, as well as over trade books and journals will b e a necessity. T h e in- dexing is presently scattered throughout many sources and is often inadequate. T h e r e is a need for a rapid information- transfer network such as is currently 4 U . S . N a t i o n a l C o u n c i l on M a r i n e R e s o u r c e s a n d E n g i n e e r i n g D e v e l o p m e n t , University Curricula in the Marine Sciences Academic Year 1967-68. W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . : U . S . I n t e r a g e n c y C o m m i t t e e on O c e a n o g r a p h v P a m p h l e t No. 3 0 , 1 9 6 7 , 1 5 7 p . 212 / College b- Research Libraries • March 1968 being developed in the medical sciences. Finally, methods for supporting teaching and research at a growing number of coastal marine research institutes and stations, often hundreds of miles from the parent institution, either through col- lection duplication or rapid transmission of information, must be developed. While on-site research is not unique to marine science, it is, by the very nature of the subject, characteristic of it. T h e National Sea Grant College and Program Act of 1966 is significant legisla- tion which will probably alter the di- rection of curriculum development and research in many institutions of higher learning. T h e extent to w h i c h this is true is, of course, dependent upon the continuation of the current trend for the federal government to support de- velopment of marine resources. All indi- cations seem to b e that this trend will both continue and increase. UGANDA (Continued from page 209) as university library buildings from the start, are a far cry from the inadequately planned development of the physical plant at Makerere, which remains noth- ing more than a small residential college library. Moreover, one cannot help con- trasting the enthusiasm and high morale in these two libraries with the cloud which has hung over the Makerere li- brary during the last year or two. If one accepts as fundamentally sound the following statement made by the university grants committee in England as far back as 1924, he can make his own deductions accordingly from the in- formation adduced herein. Commenting on the condition of university libraries in England, the committee expressed itself thus: " T h e character and efficiency of a University may b e gauged by its treat- ment of its central organ—the Library. W e regard the fullest provision for li- brary maintenance as the primary and most vital need in the equipment of a University. An adequate L i b r a r y is not only the basis of all teaching and study; it is the essential condition of research, without which additions cannot be made to the sum of human knowledge." I t seems hardly worth pointing out that the University Grants Committee was not composed of librarians. However one looks at it, t h e future of Makerere University College is integral- ly tied to what it does with its library. In this respect, it would hardly seem unfair to conclude that the B i g Brother of universities in eastern Africa has b e - come a doddering reactionary, sitting at a fork in the road, looking backward over the way he has come and muttering foolishly about his own supposed great- ness, while his more vigorous and pro- gressive younger brothers overtake and stream past him up both forks of the road.