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FDLP Electronic Collection FAQQuestions
Answers1. What makes up the Federal Depository Library Program Electronic Collection?The Federal Depository Library Program Electronic Collection (FDLP/EC) is a virtual library comprised of the following elements:
For information about the basic categories of electronic Government publications and how the collection is being built see Managing the FDLP Electronic Collection: A Policy and Planning Document . 2. How is "electronic Government publication" defined?"Informational matter which is published as an individual document at government expense or as required by law" (44 U.S.C. § 1901). This encompasses electronic titles, whether online or conveyed on a tangible medium such as CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. 3. How are resources selected for the FDLP Electronic Collection (FDLP/EC)?Electronic resources in the FDLP must meet the same basic criteria as traditional products in the program. They must have public interest or educational value, are not intended strictly for internal use in the issuing agency, and are not classified for reasons of national security. Resources are evaluated by Library Programs Service staff using these criteria. Staff also consider criteria in Superintendent of Documents Policy Statement 71 (SOD 71) in cases which require a choice between formats. 4. Many electronic publications that GPO identifies and adds to the collection also have a printed version. How is the decision on which format will be selected made?The online version will be the primary version for the FDLP, except in a limited set of circumstances. Among the criteria are :
See SOD 71 for further information. 5. What is the strategy for archiving publications in the FDLP/EC?The strategy for archiving is multi-layered:
6. If a publication is included in the FDLP in both tangible and online form, will the electronic form be archived?Not necessarily. The tangible form will remain the form to be preserved for the purposes of the FDLP. In the case of the core legislative and regulatory information on GPO Access, the electronic form will, as a matter of course, be archived as well. 7. What is the coverage of the FDLP/EC Archive?Answer: The FDLP/EC Archive at GPO came online in January 2000, for material remaining on agency sites, and where a documented agreement is not in place, GPO's partnership agreements for selected publications began in 1997. 8. Is the FDLP Electronic Collection archive an independent, searchable, or browseable collection?No. Because the FDLP/EC Archive is only one piece of the larger archiving and permanent public access picture, it exists in the background. Users seek publications from the FDLP/EC using the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) or the other cataloging and locator tools on the FDLP web site. When a publication is no longer available from its originating site, users will be alerted and directed to the archived copy. This redirect will occur seamlessly, via the Persistent Uniform Resource Locator (PURL). 9. What are PURLs?Persistent Uniform Resource Locators (PURLs) are a bit like a nickname that cannot be changed. They provide a systematic approach to managing resources on the Web. Instead of pointing directly to the location of an Internet resource, a PURL points to an intermediate resolution service. The resolution service associates the PURL with the actual URL and returns that URL to the client, which can then complete the transaction in the normal fashion. PURLs have a number of functions in GPO's current cataloging, locator, and archiving practices. For much more information on PURLs go to GPO's PURL page . 10. To what publications are PURLs being assigned?PURLS are assigned to all online resources cataloged in the CGP. 11. What kind of cataloging can we expect for the FDLP Electronic Collection?GPO's Cataloging and Indexing Program will provide the same level of high-quality bibliographic description and subject cataloging as has been our practice for tangible formats. This bibliographic information will be available in the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) and through the dissemination of bibliographic records for local public access catalogs via the Cataloging Distribution Service of the Library of Congress and various commercial vendors. 12. How are additions to the FDLP Electronic Collection announced?New Electronic Titles (NET) consists of links to online publications that are new to the FDLP. In general, titles listed in NET are those disseminated through the FDLP solely in online format, except in the case of Congressional publications, which are listed in NET and continue to be distributed in both paper and electronic form. 13. What about announcements of electronic titles that have previously been in the FDLP in tangible format?"Migration" announcements, notices to the depository community that a product formerly available in a tangible format is changing to solely online dissemination, are not in scope for NET. Migration announcements are included in WEBTechNotes . 14. What is NET's relationship to the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP)?The NET weekly list is a "new accessions list" for brand-new FDLP online titles. In many cases it will serve as the notice to the Cataloging Branch that a title is ready to catalog. Often, however, titles have already appeared in CGP when NET is published. The two resources are meant to complement one another, and all NET listings will eventually appear in CGP. 15. Will NET listings always have PURLs?Yes. NET listings are linked to the online resource by a PURL. 16. If a title appears in NET, does that mean that no paper or microfiche version is available anywhere?No. It means that only the online version is being included in the FDLP (with the exceptions noted in 4 and 12 above). 17. Will NET or other FDLP locators give information for obtaining the print versions?No, because the information is not consistently available to the Library Programs Service at the time the NET list or other record is created. Consult the Sales Product Catalog for information on items for sale by GPO Sales. The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications also records GPO stock number and price at the time of cataloging of the item. |
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