ABSTRACT
This is a pleasure for me. I have on several occasions in the recent past engaged in communication with people interested in the management of library and information systems in universities. And I found it to be an extraordinarily interesting group, not at all like Marion the librarian in The Music Man. So I’m hoping that we can at least foment some interesting discussion. My title is vague and my duty here vaguely described. The progression through the three talks for this panel is supposed to be from the more general to the more specific about managing the information resources of universities and research institutions. I would like to start off by looking at the basic economics research that has been undertaken in the past ten years about the role of research and development in universities as well as the role basic research institutions play in American national growth.
