Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 108 Part 1.djvu/287

 PUBLIC LAW 103-227—MAR. 31, 1994 108 STAT. 261 section referred to as the "Library"), which shall be maintained by the Department of Education as a governmental activity. (b) FUNCTIONS OF LIBRARY. —The functions of the Library are— (1) to provide a central location within the Federal Government for information about education; (2) to provide comprehensive reference services on matters related to education to employees of the Department of Education and its contractors and grantees, other Federal employ- ees, and members of the public; and (3) to promote greater cooperation and resource sharing among providers and repositories of education information in the United States. (c) MISSION. —The mission of the Library shall be to— (1) become a principal center for the collection, preservation, and effective utilization of the research and other information related to education and to the improvement of educational achievement; (2) strive to ensure widespread access to the Library's facilities and materials, coverage of all education issues and subjects, and quality control; (3) have an expert library staff; and (4) use modern information technology that holds the potential to link major libraries, schools, and educational centers across the United States into a network of national education resources. (d) ONE-STOP INFORMATION AND REFERRAL SERVICE. — The Teie- Library shall establish and maintain a central information and communications. referral service to respond to telephonic, mail and electronic and other inquiries from the public concerning— (1) programs and activities of the Department of Education; (2) publications produced by the Department of Education and, to the extent feasible, education related publications produced by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and other Federal departments and agencies; (3) services and resources available to the public through the Office, including the Educational Resources Information Center Clearinghouses, the research institutes, and the national education dissemination system; (4) statistics and other information produced by the National Center for Education Statistics; and (5) referrals to additional sources of information and expertise about educational issues which may be available through educational associations and foundations, the private sector, colleges and universities, libraries and bibliographic databases. The Library shall maintain and actively publicize a toll-free tele- Ehone number through which public inquiries to the Library may e made. (e) COMPREHENSIVE REFERENCE SERVICES.— (1) IN GENERAL.— The Library shall, to the extent feasible, provide for the delivery of a full range of reference services on subjects related to education to employees of the Department of Education and such Department's contractors and grantees, other Federal employees, and members of the general public. Such services may include— (A) specialized subject searches; (B) search and retrieval of electronic databases;

�