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depends on a study of the final results. MARKETING. It is foreseeable that our libraries will be called upon more and more in the future by local business people for help in guiding them to facts, figures, methods and services which will open to them the means of getting answers to their individual prob- lems. They are finding out that there is a significant relationship between knowing what customers need and want, inventory and profits, where the customers are located, in what numbers; what their incomes might be, their ages and the type of products or mer- chandise to offer them; what new products will sell and at what prices. Answers to questions like these are found in a scientific ap- proach which is termed marketing. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. In 1950 Congress set up the Office of Tech- nical Services in the Department of Commerce. This office func- tions as a clearinghouse for the collection and dissemination of sci- entific and technical information to business, industry, state and lo- cal governments, other federal agencies and the general public. This is accomplished by the fur- nishing of specific reports on a particular technical problem. The enormity of this nation's techno- logical advancement may be slight- ly grasped when we realize there are over 250,000 technical ideas now on file in OTS with more be- ing added each month. Some $2 billions yearly are spent by the Government for research in finding answers to such ques- tions as the best ways to fabricate metals and in discovering new ma- terials and ways to use them. New conditions often require research
to meet new problems encountered by our military establishments, Atomic Energy Commission, and civilian branches of the Govern- ment. Many new ways to do old jobs and eliminate wasteful meth- ods have been found. As this research is completed in our factories, laboratories and edu- cational institutions, declassified information is prepared for prof- itable used by business, industry and the general public. The Commerce Department's Field Offices are constantly ac- quainting both business and the general public with this treasure house of technical know-how avail- able to them as their own inheri- tance. EXAMPLES OF FIELD OFFICE SERVICES. A young G. I., trying to orient himself after military service, visited one of the Texas Field Offices of the Department of Commerce to determine if a prod- uct he had in mind was being pro- duced here and if so, in what quan- tity. With the help of staff per- sonnel a check was made of the Census of Manufactures. Research revealed that his product was prac- tically non-existent in this area. The end result was the develop- ment of a new industry using au- tomatic equipment to produce his product, now in ever-growing quantities. Marketing research is now be- ing carried on in an effort both to maintain current production and also to get a check on ultimate po- tential for his product. A number of firms are now working on projects to determine the market potential of the areas in which they operate and further to determine the extent of cover- age they are getting in relation
Index to volume 18 of a journal about library issues in Texas including collection development, programming and activities, managements, and other topics of interest.
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