This document is one of a series describing the background, functions, and utilization of the Regional Information System (RIS) developed by the Michigan-Ohio Regional Educational Laboratory (MOREL). The continuing history of the field of librarianship and information services is reviewed in this report. The first part covers ancient times to the invention of movable type; the second extends from the advent of print to the end of the nineteenth century; and the third summarizes the period from 1900 to the present. The first two parts deal almost exclusively with library history, although the work of documentalists becomes a stronger and stronger trend from the last of the nineteenth century onwards. The emphasis in the last part is on the accelerating activities of the information services area as operationalized by those engaged in documentation, information retrieval, and the emerging discipline of information science. Appended are descriptions of the information service efforts of four regional educational laboratories: the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development, the Michigan-Ohio Regional Educational Laboratory, the Central Midwestern Regional Educational Laboratory, and the Southwestern Cooperative Educational Laboratory. (Author/JB)