Computer-based bibliographic services are a response to a combination of trends and developments that are forcing major changes in the way libraries operate. With the financial encouragement of the National Science Foundation's Office of Science Information Service, there are now at least 40 abstracting and indexing services covering scientific and technical literature, as well as over 100 distinct data bases available for computer searching. Data bases offer many benefits to their users, but shortcomings also exist in the form of high costs and the continuing need to locate the full texts of documents cited in the data base. The data base industry consists of three major sections: the publishers of data bases; the organizations which provide access to those bases; and the users, mainly academic and special libraries. The industry faces a number of challenging problems, including redundant coverage of the core literature, copyright complications, and equipment malfunctions, but there are indications that these problems will be resolved. Important signs for the future are technological advancements which are reducing costs and increased resource sharing, proceeding now to the international level. Included in the appendixes to this report is a directory of data base publishers, distributors, and information centers. (Author/SL)