Against a background of widespread interest in national information systems, the American Institute of Physics is developing such a system for physics. This program pivots on the design of a new classification system for physics which is to be used, in conjunction with free-language index terms, for the intellectual organization of the physics literature. Classifying, indexing and abstracting are to be done by the authors under the scrutiny of referees and editors. The AIP journals--a significant portion of the world's physics journal literature--are to be produced by computer-aided photocomposition. The requisite computer tape furnishes, as a byproduct, the input to a computer store of information about the AIP-generated primary physics literature. Another byproduct of the same tape is input to Physics Abstracts; and in exchange, computer-readable information on non-AIP journals is to be obtained from Physics Abstracts. The computer store contains bibliographic information, classification, index terms, citations and possibly abstracts. From this store a variety of services can be derived, including published indexes and bibliographies, copies of computer tapes, remote on-line access to the computer store, selective dissemination of information, and special searches on demand. A report on "A Faceted Classification Scheme for Physics" by A. Hirschman and others is appended. (Author)