Bill Gordon/GovDocs
University of North Dakota
Chester Fritz Library
3051 University Avenue
Grand Forks, ND 58202-9000

701-777-4628
Fax 701-777-4811
william_gordon@mail.und.nodak.edu

Good morning, all of you brave people, who have ventured out at oh-dark-thirty to hear the report from the real Magic Kingdom, the land inside the Washington, DC beltway. I expect none of us have had our full caffeine allotment yet today, so I will try to keep this moving. There are three big items I want to cover: the Public Printer nomination, the OMB printing memorandum, and the progress of our appropriations. Then I have some more detailed information about the Depository Library Program and GPO Access, and finally I’ll cover the work of the Electronic Fugitives Working Groups. Then please feel free to ask questions.

Back on March 27, President Bush announced his intention to nominate Bruce R. James of Nevada to be the Public Printer. I’m sure by now you have researched Mr. James’ background, but he may be best known to you as the former CEO of Barclays Law Publishers until his retirement in 1993. As of Friday [July 19], Mr. James has still not been officially nominated, and I cannot predict how long the process will take. [The President nominated Mr. James on August 1.] Given the limited number of legislative days left in this Congress, it is hard to see how the nomination and confirmation process could be concluded. So, for the time being Mike DiMario remains as Public Printer, with Robert Mansker as Deputy and Francis Buckley as Superintendent of Documents. But an interesting wrinkle is that retired Brigadier General Frank Partlow, also of Reno, NV, has been announced in the media as being James’ selection as Chief of Staff for GPO. Should prove interesting to see how this plays out.

Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-02-07, "Procurement of Printing and Duplicating Through the Government Printing Office" (May 3, 2002), is an attempt to transfer printing authority to executive branch agencies themselves. Federal law (section 501 of Title 44 of the United States Code) generally requires executive branch agencies to use GPO for their printing needs.

To circumvent this, the OMB memorandum asks that the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) be revised. FAR revisions are typically preceded by a period of public notice and comment, so the policy announced in the OMB memorandum will not take effect immediately.

When agencies use GPO, they benefit from a package of support services that keeps their printing costs at the lowest possible level. These services are provided by GPO's competitive printing procurement program working with 10,000 - 12,000 private sector printing firms nationwide. Long hailed as one of the Federal Government's most successful purchasing efforts, the program has been described by Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Inc., as "an example of government at its best."

Here are some possible outcomes and trends that will be accelerated by the removal of executive branch printing from GPO:

• Agencies that print elsewhere will fail to provide depository copies to GPO for distribution and will also fail to notify GPO of the existence of new publications.

• The FDLP will experience decreased distribution in print format, and increased effort devoted to identifying and acquiring "fugitive" publications for the program.

• GPO as a whole would be harmed financially, resulting in possible staff reductions and impaired functionality.

After agency publications are printed, GPO also ensures that they are cataloged and indexed and made widely available for the free use of the American public through 1,300 Federal depository libraries around the Nation. The Cataloging Program would be impacted by the removal of executive branch printing. The cataloging of printed publications depends upon a stream of publications, acquired by riding agency print orders, coming to the cataloging staff ready for processing. If the "automatic" flow of executive branch publications ceases, the cataloging program will also become highly dependant upon agency online resources. Cataloging online publications is more complex and resource-intensive, as it involves the discovery, analysis, acquisition, description, and archiving of online publications. In order to fully carry its statutory mandate in the more complex electronic environment, cataloging program FTEs would need to be increased.

However, no matter how much we might need extra FTEs, the reality would be grim. As reported in Roll Call, if GPO lost all of the executive branch work we would have to reduce the GPO workforce by 50%, or 1500 positions. In addition, the executive agencies would be expected to absorb the costs of distributing their publications to depository libraries. In FY 2001 GPO spent about $4.2 million on acquiring executive branch printed products for the FDLP.

The OMB memorandum echoes earlier unsuccessful efforts in 1987 and 1994 to transfer printing authority to executive branch agencies. Congress did not support the change either time because of the strong potential in a decentralized system of printing for:

• significant cost increases in Federal printing;

• lost contracting opportunities by the small businesses that characterize the U.S. printing industry; and

• reduced public access to Government information through Federal depository libraries.

• The big question is: will the OMB proposal happen? It’s hard to predict, but each time this idea comes up, subtle damage is done. Agencies feel more empowered to bypass GPO, thus increasing the potential for fugitive documents, reducing the GPO’s revenues, and harming our ability to keep printing-related functions going.

On July 10, a hearing was held on the OMB proposal before the Joint Committee on Printing. Senator Dayton of Minnesota and Rep. Ney of Ohio heard testimony from Mitch Daniels, Director of OMB; Michael F. DiMario, Public Printer; Julia Wallace, Regional Depository Librarian, representing the various library associations; Ben Cooper, Executive Vice President for Public Affairs, Printing Industries of America; and William Boarman, President, Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector, Communications Workers of America. Only Mitch Daniels spoke in favor of the proposal, with the other speakers emphasizing the probable increased costs of Federal printing and the negative impact on public access to information.

In his testimony, Daniels stated that OMB has "asked the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council … to promulgate a rule requiring printing contractors to submit electronic copies of their documents to the Superintendent of Documents for rapid distribution to the Depository Library Program." Unfortunately, this requirement has not yet appeared in the draft FAR change being circulated around town. The draft FAR revision is silent on the issue of public access through the FDLP.

GPO presented its FY 2003 appropriations request to the Senate Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations on May 8. The Public Printer requested a total of $129.3 million for FY 2003. The request includes $95.2 million for Congressional Printing and Binding and $34.1 million for Salaries and Expenses of the Superintendent of Documents.

That $34.1M, is a $4.4M increase over this year’s level, and includes almost $1.8M to cover GPO’s share of the Administration proposal to increase the agency contributions to retirement benefits. Apparently this proposal has been dropped, so that portion of the request is off the table, leaving $32.3M as our full request. The request includes approximately $2.6 million for the replacement of obsolete formats, servers, and other equipment, and for improvements to enhance online services provided through GPO Access. Approval of this funding will enable GPO to enhance our data archiving capabilities, including data migration activities to refresh essential legislative and regulatory online files.

GPO has requested funds for capital expenditures to handle the increased number of GPO Access users, to improve security, and to modernize obsolete systems components. Three big-ticket items are $1.5M for WAIS/Open Text replacement, $540K for additional servers for GPO Access, and $350K for Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) implementation.

We also requested 3 additional FTE's to assist in the management of the FDLP Electronic Collection. The FDLP Electronic Collection is constantly expanding, at the rate of 1,500 titles or more per month, an amount that is primarily limited by the availability of personnel resources. The additional FTE's would assist in identifying, describing, and archiving online resources in the FDLP.

In the House Report 107-576, the House recommended $29,661,000; an increase of only $22,000 over the current year. They also did not support our request for 3 additional FTEs. But the Senate, in Report 107-209, supported full funding of $32.3M and the additional 3 FTEs. We’ll have to stand by for the Conference Committee to come up with the final numbers.

The Senate report came down hard on the OMB proposal, saying "the Committee strongly opposes the [OMB] plans … to ignore the statutory requirement that the printing and publishing of Government documents must be conducted through the [GPO]." The Committee recognized that "there currently is not mechanism other than GPO to ensure distribution to the 1,300 depository libraries nationwide." And finally, "the Committee directs the administration to abide by the [law]."

The Senate also directed the General Accounting Office to conduct yet another "comprehensive review and assessment of the current state of printing and dissemination of Federal Government information, with special emphasis on GPO’s congressional printing and binding services, the [FDLP] and contracting out executive branch printing." GAO is also to look at "the use of the Internet for ensuring that Federal Government information and publications are widely available to the public." This study, to be done in consultation with GPO and the Librarian of Congress, is to be completed by December 1, 2003.

In order to responsibly manage our scarce resources, we are taking a hard look at FDLP products that are currently available in two or three formats. We will be looking at the costs of distributing some publications in three formats: online, in microfiche, and in paper. By applying SoD 71, the Dissemination/Distribution Policy for the Federal Depository Library Program, in some of these cases, we will reduce the distribution of the paper format.

Americans are increasingly comfortable with obtaining government information online, and the demand is rising. According to a recent study titled The Rise of the E-Citizen: How People Use Government Agencies' Web Sites, published on April 3, 2002 by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, "One of the fastest growing activities online in recent years has been the use of government Web sites."

The study’s Summary of Findings continues: "Web presence is not optional for governments in the United States. Citizens are online and learning to demand answers at Internet speed. … Fully 68 million American adults have used government agency Web sites – a sharp increase from the 40 million who had used government sites in March 2000…"

We see these trends in the use of GPO Access. Last year users downloaded documents from GPO Access at the rate of 31 million per month. The FDLP Electronic Collection is growing to meet the demand. However, this does not mean that the need for GPO or depository librarians is diminished. In particular, I see the need for a centralized Superintendent of Documents program to find and acquire appropriate tangible and electronic information products for the FDLP, to catalog and index them for inclusion in the national bibliography, and to have systems to address the issue of permanent public access. The FDLP program and the Cataloging and Indexing program are complemented by, but not replaced by, newer initiatives for public identification and access to electronic government information.

On June 27 the E-Government Act of 2002 (the Lieberman Bill, or S. 803) passed the U.S. Senate on Unanimous Consent. The "E-Government Bill" would provide $345 million for e-government initiatives during the next four years. But its future is in limbo as it heads to the House.

Some of the issues of interest to librarians include the establishment of an Online National Library, permanent public access, comprehensive directory of Federal URLs, and cataloging and indexing standards. However, most of these ideas seem to be layered onto what already exists, without regard for the work already being done by GPO, NARA, LC, etc.

A spokesman for Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), said, "The Senate deserves kudos for putting together a comprehensive structure for management of information technology." However, Davis, chairman of the Government Reform Committee's Technology and Procurement Policy Subcommittee, is focusing on the Homeland Security Department and the e-government bill would have to stand in line after that.

Now I’m going to turn closer to home for the Library Programs Service news. LPS continues to experience staff shortages, but I am pleased to announce some improvement in the overall outlook. These news bytes are going to cover both personnel actions and projects, because our personnel status dictates our ability to carry out the projects. And the biggest project before us is to acquire and implement an Integrated Library System. Most of you know that LPS does not have any kind of ILS; our IT environment is behind nearly every depository library. We are moving toward purchasing a commercial, off-the-shelf (that’s COTS in Government-speak) ILS. The good news is that we have the money and requisite Joint Committee on Printing approvals. The bad news is that every step takes longer than we would like. But we will get to that promised land someday. We have just completed the review of proposals for a library automation consultant and should have an award to announce in the near future. The consultant will assist with our needs analysis, a review of what’s out there in the ILS marketplace, and recommend a best fit for us.

James Mauldin is now Chief of the Depository Distribution Division. James was a Program Analyst with LPS for several years and he is carrying over that experience into the Division Chief position. New e-commerce applications that the Distribution staff is working on include a tracking system for depository shipments via the online FedEx tracking system. During the next few weeks, LPS will be testing the entire FedEx shipping process. And we just rolled out a new online claims procedure as well. I hope that you’ll use these new services provided by LPS.

The Cataloging Branch has two new section chiefs—Mike Levinson and Jennifer Davis. Both have worked in the LPS Cataloging Branch and we welcome their enthusiasm and expertise. The Cataloging Branch continues to recruit for catalogers. We have been working through a vigorous recruiting process to fill seven cataloging positions, and expect the first two new hires on board soon.

Cataloging is the gateway to bringing online titles into the Electronic Collection. In the primarily electronic FDLP, the demarcation between the FDLP distribution program and the Cataloging and Indexing Program (C&I) has all but disappeared. Effective use of online resources depends upon them being described and organized through the act of cataloging. Just as the FDLP has been transformed to a primarily electronic program, LPS as an organization has evolved to carry out these new functions. LPS has conceptualized methods of managing the FDLP/EC and developed work systems to accomplish those goals. The transformed organization and workflow is very dependent upon the skills of librarians, specifically catalogers. GPO has for several years requested additional FTEs and funding to expand the cataloging operation because of its critical role in an electronic FDLP. The FY 2002 appropriation includes both funding and Congressional approval for additional FTEs to enhance our cataloging operation.

The Web Document Digital Archive (WDDA) Pilot Project with OCLC continues to progress. The first phase involved testing preservation metadata creation tools added to the CORC interface. The phase 2 beta version was delivered on June 3^rd and will be tested for approximately 60 days. It introduces harvest and archived file transfer functionality as well as administrative functions. This is an important project because it gives us another means of preserving Electronic Collection publications.

GPO continues to pursue the use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) in its efforts in support of Federal agency publishers and its dissemination programs. Through a joint effort with the National Archives and Records Administration’s Office of the Federal Register a program is underway to use PKI. This application will allow agency officials authorized to submit notices for publication in the Federal Register to sign them electronically. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has already started signing the notices they submit through PKI and more agencies will start as time permits. GPO Access users will soon be able to use a free software reader to verify that these notices were signed and that they have not been altered since they were signed.

Congress is also making use of PKI to sign bills sent to GPO for printing. In the near future, users of the Congressional Bills application on GPO Access will be able to utilize these signatures to verify that they have downloaded the official version of a bill and that it has not been altered since signing. Hopefully, these files can be made available soon. In the meantime, a test page is being prepared that will provide for the download of the free reader and several examples of bills containing the signature so that users can try it out. As soon as this page is ready, the address will be advertised on the major library community email discussion lists.

GPO is committed to maintaining permanent public access to the information made available on GPO Access and the other components of the FDLP Electronic Collection. In order to protect our electronic assets, it is essential to have a geographically separate backup facility to maintain a secure copy of this important collection and to provide the infrastructure necessary to provide public access to it in the event that the primary and backup systems in Washington, DC should become unavailable. All of the data associated with GPO Access is currently backed up on equipment located in a separate GPO building located across the street from our main building in Washington, DC and public access can be provided from those systems if necessary.

After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, all of the agencies were asked to submit funding requests to beef up their security. GPO’s contingency plans to protect the data and keep it available included a "mirror site" for secure backup. Congress included initial funding for such a facility in the $4 million that it provided this year to GPO for emergency preparedness. As a result of an analysis of GPO facilities in Colorado, a plan was developed to build a backup/mirror site in the GPO Public Documents Distribution Center in Pueblo, Colorado.

The backup site means than if either a minor problem (a single server goes down) or a major disaster occurs (an entire location is lost), the GPO network will adjust itself to the outage and route users to the resources still available.

Work has begun to build a secure and environmentally appropriate computer area within the Pueblo facility. As soon as the initial equipment is operational, GPO will begin transferring copies of the most heavily used GPO Access resources to the facility. GPO will continue to steadily add to these resources until this facility houses all components of the FDLP Electronic Collection not protected through other agreements and it can function as a complete mirror site for GPO Access. This will include the portion of the FDLP Electronic Collection Archive maintained by GPO. The initial implementation effort will require approximately $1.1 million of the $4 million Congress provided to GPO for emergency preparedness. Funding provided by the FDLP portion of the Superintendent of Documents Salaries and Expenses Appropriation will provide for the continued growth and operation of this facility in its service of GPO Access and the other components of the FDLP Electronic Collection.

We have been working successfully with the "Electronic Documents Working Group." Volunteer members of the depository library and law library communities are assisting GPO in its efforts to bring fugitive online documents into the FDLP Electronic Collection (FDLP/EC). Fugitives are those documents of public interest or educational value, and not classified for reasons of national security, which have not been acquired for distribution to Federal depository libraries or made accessible through the Catalog of U.S Government Publications (CGP).

There are two volunteer groups, the American Association of Law Libraries Government Documents Special Interest Section’s Fugitive & Electronic-Only Documents Committee and the American Library Association, Government Documents Round Table, Electronic Documents Working Group. Three of their main functions are to:

• Identify electronic titles that are not yet in the program, and evaluate them for inclusion in the FDLP/EC.
• Identify online titles currently in the program in tangible format for possible migration to "e-only."
• Identify titles/products that are currently in the program that have become fugitive, and determine their status and availability.

Contributors supply some basic bibliographic elements, suggest a SuDocs class stem, and so on. So there’s more involved in this project than just the resource discovery phase. To support that, the various policies and processing guidelines that we use in LPS are available on the FDLP Desktop. So far we have received over 600 submissions. About 62% of these concern serials, which is one of the reasons we keep hiring serial catalogers. But there has been another side effect. Not only are we rounding up fugitive documents, we have been alerted to fugitive agencies as well. (See fugitive docs listing.)

I also wish to join you in publicly thanking our committee’s members: Christopher Anglim, Mark Bartlett, A. Hays Butler, Georgia Chadwick, Cecily Giardina, Gwendolyn Lohmann, Susan Lyons, Susanna Marlowe, Scott Matheson, Caitlin Robinson, Randall Tenor, and Alice Youmans.

The following list provides shortcuts (aliases) that have been established for various GPO Access applications to make the URLs of these applications easy to remember:

The list of GPO Access shortcuts is maintained on the GPO Access help page at

<http://www.gpo.gov/gpoaccess/help/aliases.html>.