LRL-—L INFORMATION INTEGRATION PROJECT
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be ambiguous). More important is the consideration that reading and
abstracting the literature is a valuable training aid and that this training is lost unless it is applied to the problems of science. Knowledge
gained should be knowledge used; we need sources of knowledge, not
information cesspools.
INTRODUCTION
Lawrence Radiation Laboratory—Livermore program objectives
include (1) more-adequate predictive models to allow prediction of
the distribution of radionuclides within the biosphere subsequent to
their release under any credible circumstance regardless of the location and (2) countermeasures that will prevent either their access to
man or their accumulation or retention in the vital organs and tissues
of the body.
To accomplish the objectives of the overall mission, three separate, yet necessarily closely integrated, projects have been established
within the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory—Livermore (LRL—L) program: Experimental, Theoretical, and Information Integration. Since
this paper is concerned with the Information Integration Project, we
will not discuss the other two here except to state that in nature and
purpose
they
are
experimental and theoretical approaches to the
problems.
INFORMATION INTEGRATION PROJECT
General Aspects
The purpose of this effort can realistically be described as the
development of a research tool to facilitate the solution of problems in
the shortest period of time with optimum utilization of personnel. It is
intended that the Information Integration Project will accomplish the
‘goal by allowing us to complement rather than duplicate current and
past research both within and outside U. S. Atomic Energy Commission
(AEC) installations. A vast amount of work remains to be doneonall
aspects of the overall problem of entry into and interaction with the
biosphere of radionuclides from whatever source. At the same time a
vast amount of work has already been done in various areas; unfortunately the data have never been assembled so that the whole could
be analyzed and integrated. Although in some limited cases it may be
expedient to do an experiment without consulting the literature, such
an approach is unrealistic for a problem of the magnitude contemplated
in the LRL-L program. A thorough search, abstraction, and analysis
of the past and, on a continuing basis, the current worldwide literature
are essential to the program for several reasons: