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Depository Library Public Service Guidelines For Government Information in Electronic Formats |
[ Originally published in Administrative Notes, v. 19, #11 - 9/15/98 ] |
Background The Depository Library Public Service Guidelines for Government Information in Electronic Formats (Guidelines) are the result of nearly three years of discussion and work on the part of the Depository Library Council and depository librarians concerned with providing public access to the increasing amount of Federal Government information available in electronic formats. The Council began discussing this issue at its fall 1995 meeting in Memphis, TN, after the Congress directed GPO to investigate ways of making the Federal Depository Library Program almost entirely electronic. Subsequently, at its fall 1996 meeting in Salt Lake City, UT, Council held two focus sessions on the whole array of electronic information issues confronting depository libraries. A report on the focus groups' discussions was presented at the spring 1997 Council meeting in Arlington, VA. The Council then appointed a working group to draft public service guidelines for electronic Government information in depository libraries. The draft guidelines were presented, discussed, modified, and adopted by Council at its spring 1998 meeting in Arlington, VA. The Library Programs Service (LPS) participated in these discussions. These guidelines set forth performance goals for Federal depository libraries in providing access by the public to Government information in electronic formats. The General Counsel and the Public Printer have approved the guidelines, which fit within the statutory framework of Title 44. Depository libraries have a statutory obligation under section 1911 to make paper and microformat publications "available for the free use of the general public," and these guidelines articulate the logical extension of that historic obligation into the electronic information era. The General Counsel states that "any library selecting items in electronic formats must maintain a capability to allow for unimpeded use of those documents by its public patrons." Guidelines
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