This first in a set of three reports presents the findings of Australia's Community Information Sharing Service (CISS) study designed to (1) collect data on public libraries in New South Wales which currently offer or contribute to a community information service; (2) analyze that data to assess the extent to which library involvement in community information is influenced by the library's degree of cooperation with other agencies, its methods of collecting and updating information, the structure of its indexing and classification systems, the quality of its promotion of services, and the measures of evaluation of its services; (3) develop guidelines for cooperation between libraries and other agencies, collecting and updating information, organizing a satisfactory indexing system, publicizing and promoting the services, initiating, expanding, and evaluating the services; and (4) communicate and promote these guidelines to public librarians and other community information workers. Survey methods and limitations of the study are described, and appendices include copies of the CISS cover letter, the collated questionnaire, Chi-square analyses, and a bibliography. (FM)