FROM DECENTRALIZATION TO CENTRALIZATION: ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS IN FRANCE

The traditional decentralization of interlending services based on the good will of individuals and organizations has created a number of problems in France leading to a fundamental disorganization and inability to provide even a tentative assurance of success. Interlibrary co‐operation depends upon union catalogues and upon a number of specialized centres: the Centre de Documentation Scientifique et Technique (CDST), the Centres d'Acquisition et de Diffusion de l'Information Scientifique et Technique (CADIST) and the Centre Nationale de Prêt (CNP), for example. The unsatisfactory nature of the present system for the user has finally been recognized, and projects are being launched to improve the situation. One of these, the Agence Nationale de l'Information Scientifique et Technique (ANIST), is seen as addressing the major problems by considering the document requirements of different user types. The national body shows the potential to become the required co‐ordinating centre for data‐base support and document supply.