The present state and main trends in the development of scientific and technical information in Poland

Abstract

The organized form of scientific and technical information in Poland may be characterized by the slightly separated work of information units
in the individual branches of the national economy, in central offices and councils, resp.
in the following institutions: the Polish Academy of Sciences, Ministry of General and Higher Education, Ministry of Culture and Arts, Ministry of Health and Social Security.
In the course of development the following types of information centres have been established in the economic branches:
company information centres (at present in some 2000 companies);
specialized informatioc centres (165);
branch information centres (25).
The activities of three regional information centres (in voivodships) are of experimental nature.
Information units belonging to the second group are of a less uniform type and are mainly active within the libraries of higher educational institutes and research institutions. Their co-ordination with the first group may be qualified as insufficient.
The leading and national co-ordinating agency of scientific, technical and economic information, is CIINTE. This agency carries on - among other activities - experimental and methodological work to elaborate basic principles for a uniform national automated information system. Remarkable practical results have been already achieved by using computers in information work. Experiments are scheduled to be oompleted for 1970, and in the same year a national system will be designed aiming the large scale mechanization and automation of information processes.
Certain principles and concepts have already taken shape. Thus, e.g., the present organization of scientific, technical and economic information will in all probability remain unchanged. At the same time, the system will be improved by the elimination of the excessive atomization of the subject fields of specialized centres in order to avoid the existing shortcomings and defects. The integration of information work carried on in the economic units and in scientific or other fields will be organized so as to avoid any overlapping activity in the future. The organization of information centres within industrial companies will strongly be encouraged and particular attention will be given to information activities in institutions playing an important role in technological development. To ensure the efficiency of information, new services, methods, and forms will be developed.This work will be extended to cover ever more new sources (e.g. research reports, trade literature, materials related to planning and designing etc.). The mechanization of information work will be gradually introduced.
According to the plans, in large centres the secondary, "content" information will be stored in the memory units of computers, while the primary sources will be kept either in their original forms or on microfilms. The secondary documents will be acquired mainly through international co-operation.
The uniform national information system in Poland is going to form an active link in the international information system of the COMECON countries.