With the scholarly record growing faster than funds to employ individuals in libraries to process materials for storage and distribution, libraries must use electronic data processing equipment to distribute such information. The electronic world, however, requires that different interinstitutional relationships be established. Although the possibilities for action seem to be many, the limitations are real, e.g., (1) the nation's libraries are dependent on the 80-year old program of the Library of Congress (LC) to catalog the world's literature; (2) existing bibliographic utilities are dependent on the high quality and quantity of LC's bibliographic production; and (3) the utilities have not been able to deliver all the services they say are technically feasible. Thus no single library is independent of LC's bibliographic control, and the electronic distribution of records has roots in the past and future national bibliographic system. Interdependence among libraries is increased by the requirement to communicate bibliographic information; the unanswered question is how this interdependence grows. Does each library proceed on its own and make changes whenever necessary as the national system evolves, or do libraries form an organization for the purpose of sharing development and implementation costs with the expectation of lower costs and work more consistent with the national system? (Author/CMV)