Science Services was created in 1920 to popularize science. It was sponsored by AAAS, NAS, and NRC and funded by E.W. Scripps, a newspaper publisher. Edwin Slosson was the first editor of Science Services and became director in 1925. Watson Davis became director in 1928. Science Services offered a weekly science page, daily feature articles, short news items, and a feature series to newspapers and magazines. It started several publications including Science News. It also had a radio program series. It had a big impact from WWI-WWII but then began to fade.

In 1926, Slosson and Davis wrote "Plan for Film Record" discussing the possibilities for 3 new services utilizing microfilm technology. One of these services focused on using microfilm copies to fulfill ILL requests. This idea was expanded and became Bibliofilm Service in 1934. In 1936, Science Services took over operation of the Bibliofilm Service from the USDA. In 1941, Bibliofilm Service came to an end.