A preliminary plan is presented for the selection, acquisition, intellectual organization, and storage of the information which will underlie the Information Services Operation of the National Standard Reference Data System, as well as for methods of locating desired information items in storage, retrieving, and displaying or communicating them. Questions of the use of computers for these purposes are discussed, including selection of equipment, arrangement of digital storage, input format, remote access, and the economics of choosing certain functions of the system for mechanization.Also, an interim system, based on conventional and, in the main, manually operated files, is described. (Author).

The report summarizes the status of activities of the NBS Office of Standard Reference Data of April 1968. It provides a detailed review of the data compilation activities within the seven broad categories of the technical scope of the program:(1) nuclear data, (2) atomic and molecular data, (3) solid state data, (4) thermodynamic and transport data, (5) chemicalkinetics, (6) colloid and surface properties, and (7) mechanical properties.Progress in data systems design and development and in information services are reviewed.Certain problem areas of the program are identified.The appendix includes:(1) a listing of information and data centers associated with the Office of Standard Reference Data, (2) publications of the National Standard Reference Data System, and (3) a listing of organizations, groups, or individuals compiling or evaluating data.(Author).

Includes subject, agency, and budget indexes.