Over the years, FID has been responsible for creating standards for microfiche reproduction; conducting research on the theoretical aspects of information; and promoting research on the impact of information, communications, and knowledge on national economies and society. The International Council on Archives is an alliance of archival institutions, professional associations, and individual professional archivists. Founded in 1948, the ICA is concerned with the management of records and archives in all media and formats throughout their life cycle. The council also facilitates and promotes the use of records and archives by scholars and the general public. Areas of ongoing interest include maintenance of electronic archives, disaster preparedness planning, and automation of archival resources. The ICA has its headquarters in Paris, France. The British Council is the United Kingdom's international network for education, culture, and development services. It has established libraries in many countries of Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa, all managed by local staff. It has also developed an online library based in Helsinki, Finland, that is available to other libraries around the world. The British Council has headquarters in London and Manchester, England. The United States Information Agency is an agency of the U.S. government that maintains about 150 information resource centers in more than 110 countries. The centers feature electronic equipment that can rapidly deliver information promoting U.S. interests to foreign governments, media, and educational institutions. In developing countries, the USIA supports public libraries that encourage study and understanding of American society and institutions. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The International Association of School Librarianship (IASL) encourages the development of school libraries and library programs throughout the world. Founded in 1971, the IASL also promotes collaboration among libraries in all countries, including the lending and exchanging of library materials. The organization maintains headquarters in Seattle, Washington. Private philanthropic organizations also provide leadership in the establishment and maintenance of libraries around the world. In the early 20th century the Carnegie Corporation of New York was instrumental in establishing free public libraries in Africa, Latin America, and the South Pacific, but the organization stopped this program in 1917. Today the Ford Foundation, based in New York City, provides vital financial support for libraries in the developing nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Libraries of all types are experiencing a period of radical change. Technological and social developments that began in the late 20th century have fundamentally altered the ways libraries accomplish their traditional missions of selecting, organizing, preserving, and providing access to information. AGrowth of Information and Technology Electronic sources of information and low-cost microcomputers have introduced unprecedented changes to the services and operations of modern libraries. Computing trends that began in the 1980s have enabled low-cost digital storage of information, rapid transmission of data across computer networks, and sophisticated retrieval and processing of electronic documents and information. These changes-especially the rapid spread of the Internet-have reshaped the feasibility and economics of information distribution so radically that they have permanently altered the ways in which librarians perform their work. Against this background of increased information availability and technological innovation, libraries are developing new, at times revolutionary, methods of providing users with access to an ever-expanding amount of information. A1Automation of Library Functions Libraries first sought to automate their internal operations in the 1960s. The Machine-Readable Catalog project, begun in 1966 by 16 American libraries, established a standard format for electronic versions of the card catalog. Because a number of libraries collaborated to form the MARC standard, they shared the enormous burden of creating records for the electronic catalog. By 1972 libraries around the world were using and contributing to the development of the revised MARC standard, known as MARC II. The potential of saving tremendous amounts of time and money through shared cataloging led to many other cooperative projects among libraries.
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