Fiscal Year 1997 Susan M. Tarr, Executive Director
Highlights Quarterly Meetings Working Groups During Fiscal Year 1997, the Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC)
worked to meet the changing professional and service needs of the federal library and
information center community. FLICC's annual information policy forum featured expert
panelists exploring how changes in policy and advances in technology and the
telecommunications industry are moving federal information providers toward new devices and
content, and how these advances will affect the quality of information. FLICC also held its
annual information technology update, this year focusing on agency Intranets and how librarians
can participate in their development. FLICC reconstituted two previous working groups: the
Policy Working Group and the Personnel Working Group. Other FLICC working groups
continued working with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to complete the
final publication from the 1994 nationwide survey of federal libraries and information centers;
developed new educational initiatives in the areas of acquisitions, cataloging, advocacy, library
technician training, and distance learning; issued surveys to members on education programming
and fees and analyzed their responses; and expanded access to resources through the FLICC Web
site. FLICC sponsored 31 seminars and workshops for 1413 participants. Staff also conducted
113 OCLC and Internet training classes for 820 students.
FLICC's cooperative network, FEDLINK, continued to enhance its fiscal operations, successfully
passing the Library of Congress Financial Audit of Fiscal Year 1996 and closing Fiscal Year
1997 with the highest service dollars total in its history. In Fiscal Year 1997, FEDLINK
provided its members with $55.4 million in transfer pay services and $72.3 million in direct pay
services, saving federal agencies more than nine million dollars in cost avoidance and millions
more in vendor discounts.
FEDLINK Network Operations (FNO) and FLICC Publications and Education Office (FPE)
revised and expanded the FLICC/FEDLINK Web site (http://lcweb.loc.gov/flicc), including lists
of FLICC and FEDLINK executive and advisory boards, information about working groups,
links to FEDLINK member and vendor home pages, and referrals to other sites of interest to
federal librarians.
Also in Fiscal Year 1997, FEDLINK contracted with Abacus Technology Corporation to
perform a strategic review of the program in the following areas: program cost/benefit analysis;
development of a formal five-year business plan; and program cost allocation/accounting for
transfer pay and direct pay activity. FEDLINK program managers collectively reviewed and
approved the Abacus reports; staff will implement a number of the Abacus recommendations in
Fiscal Year 1998. FEDLINK completed the year with 96 vendors, including expanded technical
processing services and on-line services.
FLICC Quarterly Membership Meetings
The first FLICC Quarterly Membership meeting featured guest speaker, James Matarazzo, Dean
of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College, on the topic of
outcome measurement. This presentation concluded a series that focused on advocacy for
libraries through demonstrating results to agency management.
The second FLICC Quarterly Membership meeting was host to two guest speakers, Jane
Bortnick Griffith, Specialist in Information Technology Policy, Science Policy Research
Division, LC/CRS, and Glenn Schlarman, Policy Analyst for Information Policy and
Technology, Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Griffith gave a legislative update on the
105th Congress, while Schlarman reported on new OMB policy initiatives. Members also
reviewed and approved the new FLICC Bylaws.
The third FLICC Quarterly Membership meeting centered around participatory/break-out
discussions on the FEDLINK 5-year business plan and the role of FEDLINK within the FLICC
mission. The meeting highlighted standard FLICC Working Group updates and reports from LC
and FLICC/FEDLINK managers. Members reviewed, discussed, and approved the FLICC Fiscal
Year 1998 Budget.
The fourth quarterly membership meeting was held in early Fiscal Year 1998.
FLICC Budget and Finance Working Group
The FLICC Budget and Finance Working Group began meeting in January to develop the Fiscal
Year 1998 FEDLINK budget and fee structure. Before their first meeting, FEDLINK had
Abacus Technology Corporation review all FEDLINK cost centers and evaluate the FEDLINK
methods of calculating and allotting program costs. That review concluded that more staff time
was spent on technical assistance for the direct pay interagency agreements (IAGs) than had
previously been estimated and that the allocation of costs between direct and transfer pay
accounts needed revision. Based on that study, FEDLINK modified its direct pay service fees
for Fiscal Year 1998. After four years of level fees, the working group proposed that the direct
pay account fees increase from $800 to $1200 for all accounts; the supplemental fee increased to
0.6% on accounts exceeding $100,000. Transfer pay fees remained at Fiscal Year 1997 levels.
Members of the working group called 30 of the largest direct pay account holders to gauge their
reactions to the proposed fee increases. The issue was also the topic of a Web site survey.
Responses to both the phone survey and the Web survey were positive; most of the members
who responded said they could weather the proposed direct pay fee increases.
Working group members first presented the budget proposal to FEDLINK and FLICC
memberships and then mailed the proposal to all FEDLINK and FLICC members. The FLICC
voting members unanimously supported the Fiscal Year 1998 budget proposal.
FLICC Education Working Group
During Fiscal Year 1997, the FLICC Education Working Group developed or supported more
than 30 programs in the areas of library advocacy and marketing, acquisitions, technician
training, and federal library advocacy. The working group also developed, issued, and analyzed
the results of a member survey to gain a clear perspective on the educational needs of member
libraries and librarians.
In December 1996, the working group sponsored "Getting the Word Out: Marketing Your
Library's Information Service," with speakers including: Stephen Abrams, Director of Corporate
and News Information, Micromedia Limited; Barbara Smith, Smithsonian Institution Libraries;
Annette Gohlke, Library Benchmarking International; and Herb White, Indiana University.
Nearly 80 federal librarians joined together at this program to discuss the necessity of library
advocacy and to consider various techniques of marketing the services offered in their respective
libraries.
During the winter months FLICC continued its commitment to continuing education initiatives
for librarians and library technicians education by hosting satellite down links to two popular
teleconference series, Soaring to... Excellence and Dancing with... Change, both sponsored by
the College of DuPage. A week-long institute at the Library of Congress in August 1997
continued to focus on educating library paraprofessionals. Federal and academic libraries
joined FLICC professionals to offer "The Federal Library Paraprofessional Institute" which
focused on various areas of librarianship, including acquisitions, cataloging, reference, and
automation. FLICC received overwhelmingly positive evaluations from participants. The
working group intends to repeat this program next summer so that more library technicians can
attend. The working group also sponsored a week-long institute on federal acquisitions in July.
The program included speakers from the federal, academic, and vendor communities, and offered
participants a chance to network and share experiences.
The working group continued to sponsor a number of tours of other federal libraries as part of
the "FLICC Orientation to National Libraries" program. Featured libraries included: The Library
of Congress, the National Agricultural Library, the Government Printing Office, the National
Archives and Records Administration, the National Library of Medicine, the National Library of
Education, the Defense Technical Information Center, the National Technical Information
Service, and the Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
FLICC Information Technology Working Group
In Fiscal Year 1997 the Information Technology Working Group continued to address three areas
members had identified as having the greatest importance: making informed choices about new
technology and automation issues, facing the challenges of constant technology change, and
developing Web sites and resources. To promote information sharing on technology issues
among federal librarians, the working group developed an assessment instrument to gather
information about systems that the libraries are using. The results of this informative
questionnaire will be accessible through the FLICC/FEDLINK Web site, and will allow federal
librarians to assess the level of automation in their libraries by comparing their agency's use of
technology with other agencies' library profiles.
The working group also sponsored a series of guest articles in the FLICC Newsletter, asking
former federal librarians to share their thoughts on how technology change will affect federal
libraries in the future. To assist federal librarians in the use of Internet technologies in their
agencies, the working group sponsored the 1997 FLICC Information Technology Update,
entitled "Spinning the Intranet Web." This day-long discussion, held in January 1997, featured a
hands-on presentation of the how's and why's of Intranets. A dynamic result of this program
was the development of an ongoing series of Internet-focused brown bag sessions.
In Fiscal Year 1997, the working group also created two new subgroups: one to focus on
maintenance contracts for integrated library systems, and another on consortium purchasing of
electronic products among federal agencies and how FEDLINK might play a role in facilitating
those purchases.
FLICC Membership and Governance Working Group
In Fiscal Year 1997, the working group completed its revisions of the bylaws. The FEB voted
unanimously to endorse the revised bylaws in its November 1996 meeting. The FLICC
membership subsequently approved the revised bylaws, and FLICC Chair Winston Tabb signed
them in February 1997. Since the major change in the bylaws affected the election process, the
working group also worked closely with FLICC staff as they revised the election procedures for
the FLICC Nominating Working Group.
FLICC Nominating Working Group
The FLICC Nominating Working Group oversaw the 1997 election process for FLICC Rotating
Members, the FEDLINK Advisory Council, and the FLICC Executive Board. Librarians
representing nearly 20 federal agencies agreed to place their names in nomination for these
positions. The working group also presided over the review and revision of two documents:
"FLICC Nominating Working Group Mission Statement" and the "Annual Nomination/Election
Procedures and Schedules."
FLICC Personnel Working Group
The Personnel Working Group met twice in Fiscal Year 1997. The working group held their first
meeting in June 1997 to discuss the status of the Office of Personnel and Management's (OPM)
test for qualifying non-MLS personnel as librarians and to consider the influence a previous
FLICC document, "Qualification Needs for Federal Librarians," may have had on OPM's
consideration of the MLS as a positive education requirement for the 1410 series.
The working group's second meeting, held in September 1997, continued to clarify issues raised
during the first meeting. Steve Perloff, OPM, attended as a guest speaker to answer questions
and provide suggestions for projects that will be useful in improving requirements for the 1410
series. Perloff stated that OPM does not presently consider the MLS degree to be a positive
minimal education requirement for the 1410 series. He reported that at present, candidates for
librarian vacancies may be qualified either by possession of an MLS degree, by other degrees, by
experience, or by some combination of these elements. Given this situation, OPM has advised
the working group that particular effort is needed to develop knowledge, skill, and ability
statements within vacancy announcements that fully reflect the professional qualifications that
are required to meet specific position vacancies. In response to this discussion, FLICC staff, with
OPM's concurrence, is now preparing a notice for federal librarians that states that OPM no
longer administers the qualifying test for the librarian series.
The working group continued its efforts to develop sample knowledge, skill, and ability
requirements for job vacancy announcements. These samples will be adaptable for specific
announcements and will help attract qualified applicants. The group will also attempt to
determine how many staff members without MLS degrees are currently employed in the 1410
series in federal libraries.
FLICC Preservation and Binding Working Group
In Fiscal Year 1997, the FLICC Preservation and Binding Work Group reviewed preservation
resources on the Web and selected sites for links to the FLICC Web site. Members of the group
also worked with the Government Printing Office to review its library binding contract. During
the year the working group helped to promote many local preservation training opportunities
sponsored by the National Archives and Records Administration, the Library of Congress
Preservation Directorate, and CAPNET, a local preservation organization. The latter part of the
year was spent working with FEDLINK staff and others to develop vendor lists, guidelines, and
possible contracts for various preservation services such as box enclosures, preservation
photocopying, collection assessment, and book repair.
FLICC Survey Working Group
Organized in Fiscal Year 1991 to update 1978 federal library statistics, the FLICC Survey
Working Group continued its efforts with the NCES to interpret Fiscal Year 1994 census data of
federal libraries and information centers. (The working group published the first product, the
survey tabulations and highlights, in July 1996.) In August 1997, the working group released
The Directory of Federal Libraries and Information Centers, a compilation of libraries identified
through the survey. Arranged by branch of government, independent agency, and other
categories, it lists libraries and information centers by state, offering addresses, contacts,
telephone numbers, and types of libraries and information centers. The document is available
from GPO and at the NCES Web site. The group also reviewed and revised the third and final
product, an extended analysis of selected topics, prepared by consultants, which they will publish
in December 1997.
FLICC Publications and Education Office
Publications: In Fiscal Year 1997, the FLICC Publications and Education Office (FPE)
supported an ambitious publications schedule with the help of a new editor-in-chief and
education coordinator and the addition of a permanent writer/editor in August. During Fiscal
Year 1997, FPE produced 12 issues of FEDLINK Technical Notes: October 1996 (12 pages);
November 1996 (16 pages); December 1996 (16 pages); January 1997 (16 pages); February
1997 (16 pages); March 1997 (16 pages); April 1997 (12 pages); May 1997 (12 pages); June
1997 (12 pages); July 1997 (8 pages); August 1997 (16 pages); and September 1997 (12 pages);
and four issues of the FLICC Quarterly Newsletter: Fall 1996 (8 pages); Winter 1997 (16 pages);
Spring 1997 (8 pages); and Summer 1997 (12 pages). FPE also published a 48-page summary of
the 1996 FLICC Forum, "The Public's Information: Striking a Balance Between Access and
Control." FPE published expanded and enhanced materials to support the FEDLINK program
including the 63-page Fiscal Year 1998 FEDLINK Registration Booklet; a 63-page update and a
175-page complete revision of the looseleaf FEDLINK Member Handbook, with index, tabs, and
binder; the FLICC Bylaws; the 130-page Vendor Services Directory; 13 FEDLINK Information
Alerts; and a FEDLINK new member brochure. FPE also produced the minutes of the Fiscal
Year 1997 FLICC Quarterly Meetings and bimonthly FEB meetings and all FLICC Education
Program promotional and support materials including the FLICC Forum announcement, Forum
attendee and speaker badges, press advisories, speeches and speaker remarks, and Forum
collateral materials. In addition the office produced 31 FLICC Meeting Announcements to
promote FLICC Education Programs, FEDLINK membership, vendor, and OCLC User
Meetings, and three education institutes along with badges, programs, certificates of completion,
and other supporting materials.
FPE and FNO also worked diligently throughout 1997 to revise and expand the
FLICC/FEDLINK Web site. The site now contains a variety of information resources, member
information, links to vendors and other members, listings of FLICC membership, access to on-line account management, event calendars, and an on-line registration system that is updated
nightly. Contract and FLICC staff converted all publications, newsletters, announcements,
alerts, member materials, and working group resources into HTML format, uploading current
materials withing days of their being printed.
Education: In conjunction with the FLICC Education Working Group, FLICC offered a total of
31 seminars, workshops, and lunchtime discussions to 1413 members of the federal library and
information center community. The Fiscal Year 1997 FLICC education schedule underscored
cooperative relationships as FLICC sponsored programs with other organizations in the library,
education, and association community including: CAPCON Library Network, Learning
Resources Center and Library Technical Assistant Program at the College of DuPage; the metro
Washington area chapters of the Special Libraries Association, the American Society for
Information Science; Federal Librarians Special Interest Section of the Law Librarians Society of
Washington, D.C.; Potomac Valley Chapter of the American Society for Information Science;
DC Library Association; and DC Online Users Group.
FLICC also provided organizational, promotional, and logistical support for FEDLINK meetings
and events including: the FEDLINK Fall and Spring Membership Meetings; two FEDLINK
OCLC Users Group meetings; the FEDLINK Fiscal Year 1997 Vendor Briefing; and a program
on How to Use FEDLINK in Fiscal Year 1998 in August 1997.
FLICC continued and expanded its videotaping of FLICC programs and, through its arrangement
with the National Library of Education, made more than 30 FLICC video tapes more readily
available to federal libraries through interlibrary loans.
FEDLINK (Federal Library and Information Network)
In Fiscal Year 1997, FEDLINK gave federal agencies cost-effective access to an array of
automated information retrieval services for online research, cataloging, and interlibrary loan
(ILL). FEDLINK members also procured technical processing services and publication, serials,
electronic journals, CD-ROMs, books, and document delivery via LC/FEDLINK contracts with
major vendors.
The FEDLINK Advisory Council (FAC) met monthly during Fiscal Year 1997 except in
November, July, and August. During the year, the FAC approved the Fiscal Year 1998
FEDLINK budget and spent several meetings interacting with representatives of Abacus
Technology Corporation to develop a mission statement and a business plan for the organization.
The Fall FEDLINK Membership meeting of November 5, 1996, featured Erik Jul, Manager of
Custom Services and Project Manager of the Internet Cataloging Project. He spoke on the
subject of "Cataloging Internet Resources: Emerging Strategies." The FEDLINK Spring
Membership meeting of May 2, 1997 centered around reviewing and discussing the proposed
1998 FLICC/FEDLINK budget. The program included a briefing on the Internet by Marie
O'Mara from DTIC and reports from working group chairs and staff.
FEDLINK Network Operations -- OCLC Network Activity
During the first quarter of the fiscal year, the OCLC team briefed 55 federal librarians at the Fall
OCLC Users Meeting. In addition to a review of enhancements to the online systems, cost saving
opportunities in interlibrary loan, and the Users Council Update, staff outlined OCLC's plans for
upgrading its telecommunications networks. On November 8, Susan Olson, OCLC Director of
Network Relations, visited FEDLINK to conduct the annual review of joint activities. Claudette
Watson, an OCLC staff member who helps federal libraries in their equipment and
telecommunications orders and configuration changes, accompanied Olson during the review.
Watson met with FEDLINK staff and visited key FEDLINK members.
Staff attended quarterly meetings at OCLC in December, March, June, and September where
OCLC briefed and trained them on new services and software, such as the Interlibrary Loan
MicroEnhancer for Windows. Beyond shifting software to the Windows environment, OCLC
began offering TCP/IP-based telecommunications options via phone lines for those libraries
where Internet access is not viable or cost effective. The OCLC team learned to install and use
these new options during the second quarter and continued to inform members about the changes
in newsletter articles, mailings, and phone consultations. In the second and third quarter, they
cooperated with OCLC in a project to help small libraries analyze their telecom usage and
migrate to the most cost effective method, which was usually the Internet. Throughout the year,
staff consultations and visits to libraries often involved helping members as they ordered and
installed Windows-based software and more efficient telecommunications methods. FNO
developed new classes for the fourth quarter: a basic overview of Windows to complement the
current Passport for Windows class and an advanced ILL class.
The Spring OCLC Users Meeting, held on May 2, included an overview of OCLC's new
electronic journals program. Librarians from the National Agricultural Library and the
Smithsonian Institution Libraries explained their experience as test libraries of the new e-journal
interface. The 65 attendees also heard briefings by FNO staff on continuing enhancements to the
OCLC systems and the status of software and telecommunications upgrades.
Outreach to members throughout the year supported effective use of OCLC in the changing
environment. FEDLINK staff joined OCLC in site visits to FEDLINK member libraries
throughout the year including the US Naval Academy Library, the Pentagon Library, Walter
Reed Institute for Research, and the US Geological Survey Library. FNO staff helped each site
analyze their current use of OCLC and plan improvements, for example in their use of
FirstSearch, ILL, and cataloging work flows. FNO also worked extensively with the US Courts
Library Program to extract archival OCLC records in the most effective manner for use in their
new integrated library system. At the American Library Association (ALA) and Special Library
Association (SLA) conferences, FEDLINK staff joined OCLC in meetings with their joint
members to provide updates and assistance in planning for effective use of OCLC.
Executive Director Susan Tarr attended the quarterly meetings of the Regional OCLC Network
Directors Advisory Council (RONDAC) and began a one-year term as RONDAC chair in July
1997.
FEDLINK Internet/Technology Program
In Fiscal Year 1997, FNO and FPE focused on Internet training, worked with FPE on revising
and expanding the FLICC/FEDLINK Web site, and continued to guide its members on "using the
Web as a tool." Staff conducted 30 Internet classes in the DC area and three in the field. FNO
also participated in three special projects: 1) in April, staff provided a FEDLINK Internet
Overview and Demonstration at the Law Librarians Seminar in Washington, D.C. for eighty law
librarians and paraprofessionals from 73 U.S. Attorneys' offices throughout the United States and
in August 1997 staff conducted more in-depth Internet training for the U.S. Attorney's non-library personnel in Florida; 2) during November 1996, staff traveled to Moscow, Russia, with
three other LC staff members to train 50 Russian librarians on legislative systems on the Internet;
and 3) in March, staff provided Internet training to visiting Eastern European librarians who were
participating in the Soros program. Other FNO staff also made presentations at local conferences
on various technology issues.
Staff collaborated with FPE on revisions of the FLICC/FEDLINK Web site including:
implementation of online registration for training and educational programs; addition of a subject
index for the FEDLINK Services Directory; listing of FLICC Working Group members; access
to FAC minutes; creation of web versions of FLICC program materials; and conversion of many
documents to HTML language, including the FEDLINK MemberHandbook.
Staff made significant progress on the Information Technology Working Group's technology
survey. While they completed the content, staff arranged for LC's Information Technology
Services Office to mount the survey on the FLICC/FEDLINK Web site. FNO staff also worked
with the FLICC Information Technology Working Group to plan and execute the 1997 FLICC
Information Technology Update, "Spinning the Intranet Web" on January 29, 1997.
Exhibits Program
FLICC/FEDLINK exhibited at four events in Fiscal Year 1997: the Online World Conference
in Washington, D.C. in October 1996; the DTIC Users' Meeting in November 1996; the ALA
Midwinter Conference in Washington, D.C. in February 1997; and the SLA Conference in
Seattle in June 1997.
FEDLINK Training Program in Fiscal Year 1997
Staff conducted 111 OCLC, Internet, and related classes for 820 students. Of the 111 OCLC classes held, 55 were at field sites, as part of the Air Force's
continuing effort to train its libraries on the Pacific Rim. FEDLINK staff conducted training
sessions in Korea, Japan, Okinawa, Guam, Alaska, and Hawaii. In addition other network
contract training provided through FEDLINK reached 255 members during Fiscal Year 1997: 24
by OCLC Pacific, 205 by CAPCON, 1 by MLC, and 25 by SOLINET. FNO staff also facilitated
two FLICC training programs in April by making the arrangements and preparing the purchase
order requests and the relevant statements of work. The two events were a position description
writing workshop for federal librarians in the Norfolk area and a benchmarking workshop for the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. FNO staff worked closely with working group members to
sponsor the first FLICC Acquisition Institute in July 1997, the first FLICC Paraprofessional
Institute in August 1997, and a four-day subject cataloging workshop in September 1997.
Procurement Services
In Fiscal Year 1997 FEDLINK wholly revised its solicitation for electronic information retrieval
services to reflect the changes in the information industry. The services in this category, which
include online databases, CD-ROM publications, electronic serials, gateway services, and
document delivery, are used by most federal libraries and account for a large percentage of the
service dollars spent through FEDLINK in Fiscal Year 1997. The revised solicitation included
several firsts for FEDLINK: it specifically addressed electronic serials; it identified the federal
community's preferred terms for licensing of electronic publications; it allowed vendors to offer
print publications associated with their electronic offerings, thereby consolidating sources for
members; and it allowed vendors to make customer-specific offerings of their electronic
materials and associated research services.
Another noteworthy aspect of this year's solicitation was the way it accommodated new
procurement regulations and simplified procedures mandated by the Federal Acquisitions
Streamlining Act (FASA) and Federal Acquisitions Reform Act (FARA). For example,
FEDLINK did not issue the solicitation in paper, but made it available electronically through
Internet file transfer protocol and through the FLICC web site. FEDLINK lessened the burden
on vendors by allowing them to respond using standard commercial materials where appropriate.
Finally, in the most cutting-edge contractual change for the procurement, FEDLINK allowed
vendors to make oral presentations as part of their technical proposals. FEDLINK received and
reviewed 57 proposals. Where appropriate, FEDLINK included members in the technical
review, asking LC's CRS, for example, for input on the proposals from the legal database
vendors.
In another significant development, FEDLINK has been working with LC's Office of General
Counsel to develop a model licensing agreement for electronic databases and publications and to
identify specific points for negotiation regarding the licenses offered by the largest FEDLINK
vendors (Knight- Ridder Dialog, Lexis-Nexis, Westlaw, Chemical Abstracts, etc.). The model
licensing agreement provides baseline language that federal libraries can propose as an
alternative to the standard commercial language vendors expect in the licenses. This will save
individual agencies the effort of developing language to address the licencing concerns of the
federal government and a library's concerns with user and site definition, access, and
preservation issues.
In Fiscal Year 1997 FNO staff worked to regularize and simplify procedures for conducting
competitions for individual members among the five contractors who provide copy cataloging,
original cataloging, retrospective conversion, and physical processing under FEDLINK's
Technical Processing Services program. Keeping in mind those libraries that have small
cataloging requirements and those federal organizations that need bibliographic control but have
no professional catalogers on staff, FEDLINK developed a set of standard specifications that can
be used as the basis of a request for quotation on the member's requirement. FEDLINK
published these standard specifications and offered instructions for conducting lowest price and
best value source selection and for establishing and monitoring technical processing services
accounts through FEDLINK in the FEDLINK Technical Processing Kit. In addition, FEDLINK
helped the National Library of Education contract for its quarter-of-a-million-dollar project for
copy cataloging, original cataloging, and retrospective conversion.
Other FEDLINK basic ordering agreements (BOAs) for serials subscription services,
bibliographic utilities, interlibrary loan fee payment, copyright clearance, and training were
renewed during Fiscal Year 1997. FNO staff reviewed new products and services vendors
proposed adding to their BOAs, and participated in cost evaluations for renewal contracts and
new products. As Contract Officer's Technical Representatives (COTRs), FNO staff followed
up on the Vendor Evaluations Forms issued to customers with accounts over $100,000 to resolve
any problems the customers were having.
During Fiscal Year 1997, FEDLINK enjoyed its biggest year ever in terms of total service dollars
spent under FEDLINK BOAs. To support this record-breaking volume, Fiscal Operations
(FFO): processed 10,140 member service transaction requests for current and prior years,
representing $55.4 million in current year transfer pay, $8.8 million in prior year transfer pay,
$72.3 million in current year direct pay, and $100,000 in prior year direct pay service dollars,
saving members more than $9 million in cost avoidance and millions more in vendor discounts;
issued 54,866 invoices for payment of current and prior year orders; incurred virtually zero net
interest expense for late payment of FEDLINK vendor invoices; completed Fiscal Year 1992
member service dollar refunds to close out obligations for expired appropriations; successfully
passed the Library of Congress Financial Audit of Fiscal Year 1996 transactions performed by
KPMG Marwick LLP; successfully completed work associated with Fiscal Year 1996 task
orders for Abacus Technology Corporation to perform strategic reviews of the FEDLINK
program to enhance customer service, program planning and execution; ensured that
administrative expenditures/obligations did not exceed program fee projections; and
implemented plans to develop requirements for the successor automated financial system
(SYMIN) and improve the efficiency of FEDLINK's financial processes.
FEDLINK Vendor Services
Total FEDLINK vendor service dollars for Fiscal Year 1997 alone comprised $55.4 million for
transfer pay customers and $72.3 million for direct pay customers. Database retrieval services
represent $15.4 million and $58.2 million, respectively, for transfer pay and direct pay
customers. Within this service category, online services comprise the largest procurement for
transfer pay and direct pay customers, representing $14.0 million and $56.5 million, respectively.
Publication acquisition services represent $33.5 million and $14.0 million, respectively, for
transfer pay and direct pay customers. Within this service category, serials subscription services
comprise the largest procurement for transfer pay and direct pay customers, representing $26.1
million and $14.0 million, respectively. Library support services represent $6.4 million and $0.1
million, respectively for transfer pay and direct pay customers. Within this service category,
bibliographic utilities are the largest procurement representing $5.0 million and $0.1 million,
respectively, for transfer pay and direct pay customers.
Accounts Receivable and Member Services
FFO accounts receivable processed Fiscal Year 1997 registrations from federal libraries,
information centers and other federal offices that resulted in 744 signed Fiscal Year 1997 IAGs.
In addition, FFO processed 2,932 IAG amendments (1,327 for Fiscal Year 1997 and 1,605 for
prior year adjustments) for agencies that added, adjusted, or ended service funding. These IAGs
and IAG amendments represented 10,140 individual service requests to begin, move, convert, or
cancel service from FEDLINK vendors. FFO executed service requests by generating 9,823
delivery orders that LC/Contracts and Logistics issued to vendors. For Fiscal Year 1997 alone,
FEDLINK processed approximately $55.4 million in service dollars for 2,836 transfer pay
accounts and approximately $72.3 million in service dollars for 219 direct pay accounts.
Included in the above member service transactions are 782 member requests to move prior year
(no-year and multi-year) funds across fiscal year boundaries. These no-year and multi-year
service request transactions represented an additional contracting volume of $3.2 million
comprising 1,280 delivery orders.
The FEDLINK Fiscal Hotline responded to a variety of member questions ranging from routine
queries about IAGs, delivery orders, and account balances, to complicated questions regarding
FEDLINK policies and operating procedures. In addition, FFO email continued to offer
FEDLINK members and vendors 24-hour access to fiscal operations. FFO continued the practice
of scheduling appointments with FEDLINK member agencies and FEDLINK vendors to discuss
complicated account problems and assigned senior staff to concentrate on resolving complex
current and prior year situations. FEDLINK ALIX-FS maintained 2,836 accounts in Fiscal Year
1997 and continued to provide members early access to their monthly balance information
throughout the fiscal year. FFO prepared monthly mailings that alerted individual members to
unsigned IAG amendments, deficit accounts, rejected invoices, and delinquent accounts.
Transfer Pay Accounts Payable Services
For transfer pay users, FFO issued 54,866 invoices for payment during Fiscal Year 1997 for both
current and prior year orders. FFO accounts payable efficiently processed vendor invoices and
earned $500 in discounts in excess of interest payment penalties levied for the late payment of
invoices to FEDLINK vendors. FFO continued to maintain open accounts for three prior years to
pay publications service invoices ("bill laters" and "back orders") for members using books and
serials services. FFO issued 91,671 statements to members (27,158 for the current year and
64,513 for prior years) and continued to generate current fiscal year statements for database
retrieval service accounts on the 30th or the last working day of each month and publications and
acquisitions account statements on the 15th of each month. FFO issued final Fiscal Year 1992
statements in support of closing obligations for expired Fiscal Year 1992 appropriations. FFO
issued quarterly statements for prior fiscal years including Fiscal Year 1993 and supported
reconciliation of Fiscal Year 1993 FEDLINK vendor services accounts.
Financial Management
FFO completed all unfinished work associated with reconciling Fiscal Year 1992 vendor
obligations and payments and collaborated with LC/Financial Services to refund member
remaining account balances. This facilitated member agency compliance with statutory
requirements for retiring obligations associated with Fiscal Year 1992 expired appropriations.
FEDLINK successfully passed the Library of Congress Financial Audit of Fiscal Year 1996
transactions done by KPMG Marwick LLP. FFO completed the limited review of FEDLINK's
automated financial system for the Library of Congress financial audit. FFO invested time and
effort to support the audit including: (1) financial systems briefings, (2) documented review and
analysis of financial system, (3) testing and verification of account balances in the central and
subsidiary financial system,(4) financial statement preparation support, (5) security briefings and
reviews, and (6) research and documented responses to follow-up audit questions and findings.
Strategic Reviews
During Fiscal Year 1997, FEDLINK contracted Abacus Technology Corporation to conduct
strategic reviews of the program in the following areas: program cost/benefit analysis;
development of a formal five-year business plan; and program cost allocation/accounting for
transfer pay and direct pay activity. FEDLINK program managers collectively reviewed and
approved the Abacus reports, and some of the recommendations are scheduled for
implementation in Fiscal Year 1998.
Budget and Revenue
During Fiscal Year 1997, FEDLINK ensured that administrative expenditures and obligations
did not exceed the program fee projections. As Fiscal Year 1997 ended, FEDLINK service
dollars and fees were approximately 1 percent above Fiscal Year 1996 levels for the same time
period. FEDLINK earned 103 percent of its Fiscal Year 1997 operating budget in fee revenues
from signed IAGs. The surplus was spent on high priority automation projects that the FLICC
Budget and Finance Working Group and FAC approved, on behalf of the membership.
Financial Management Systems
FEDLINK carried out plans to develop requirements for a new automated financial system that
would replace the current SYMIN system and improve the efficiency of FEDLINK's financial
processes; with year-end funding, FLICC executed a contract with Price Waterhouse to develop a
systems requirements analysis for the replacement financial system. FLICC management and
systems staff actively supported automation vision development meetings using facilitative
management techniques to determine the best strategy to administer this activity. FFO staff also
exploited year-end funding to contract for an AMS billing automation/improvement project and a
document imaging and archiving system.