Researchers continue to miss useful references because of unsystematic methodology and because on-going efforts at systematic bibliography have not utilized some key resources. Although no combination of available resources guarantees comprehensive bibliographic coverage for technical communication, composition, or rhetoric, researchers can significantly improve their personal efforts by using citation indexes and a few other databases.

The copyright reform bill should become law in January, 1978. Among its major revisions are the extension of protection for life plus fifty years and the mitigation of penalties for either omission of notice or “innocent infringement.” For the first time the law specifically identifies “fair use” and certain other copying practices as user rights. The issues of integrity of text and the use of protected text within computer systems have not been treated. The law's text itself remains general in the hope that it will prove to be a flexible vehicle for the future. An era of informal agreements and litigation between publishers and users can be anticipated. Scientific and technical publishing must be recognized as a special area within the publishing community on the verge of change.