§ Mr. Adam Hunterasked the Minister for the Civil Service (1) what is the total expenditure to date through his Department with the British Library on computerisation of information for science, and the research, capital and preparatory costs for this;
(2) what is the total expenditure to date through his Department with the British Library on on-line computerisation of information for science, and the research, capital and preparatory costs for this.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisExpenditure on work which can be described as computerisation of information and on research, capital and preparatory costs of the British Library system is not undertaken through my Department.
The total of contracts by my Department on behalf of user Departments, with the British Library for all computerised information services to date, is £2,786.60. No record is kept of the proportion of this amount attributable to information for science. The contracts do not specify whether or not the information is to be received on-line but it can be assumed that information is usually provided on-line.