Summarized in this document are the proceedings of a public hearing sponsored by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Board of Regents in order to provide a forum in which publishers, editors, paper manufacturers and distributors, printers, biomedical researchers, librarians, and other professionals concerned with preserving the biomedical literature could share experiences with the use of permanent, acid-free paper; to increase the awareness of the need to publish on such paper; and to discuss means for encouraging its broader use. A brief introduction describes the background of the hearing, and the following hearing presentations are summarized: (1) remarks identifying the deterioration of publications as being of special concern to the health sciences; (2) the keynote address on the importance of medical information exchange and the role of the NLM; (3) a discussion of the preservation of biomedical information at NLM; (4) a discussion of the activities of the Commission on Preservation and Access; (5) remarks on the perspective of medical libraries; (6) descriptions of the making, specifying, buying, and printing of acid-free paper; (7) a presentation on the preservation of medical archives; (8) a panel discussion on the use of permanent paper and the subsequent group discussion; (9) a consideration of the formation of an NLM task force; and (10) closing remarks. The hearing agenda is also provided. (KM)