The progress of research and development, funded from government sources, during the last three decades is reviewed, together with forms of sponsorship and support. The Office for Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) functioned from 1965 to 1974 and concentrated on developments for bibliographic and information analysis services. When transferred to the British Library (with the title of the R&D Department) the scope was widened. The trend has been to more applied, more commissioned research reflecting national priorities. Current broad areas of concern attracting financial support are: information technology for library and information services, implications of information being treated as a tradeable commodity and the effects of economic and social constraints on services.