Monday, 10 April 1995

Chair, Jack Sulzer welcomed everyone to the first joint meeting of the Depository Library Council and the Federal Depository Conference. Jack encouraged conference attendees to participate in Council's deliberations and open forums. He announced that the agenda was full, with Tuesday night being the time for deliberations on recommendations to the Public Printer. By Wednesday all would be aware of the sense of the recommendations.

Next Jack introduced members of the Depository Library Council and the GPO staff. Acknowledgments were given to Wayne Kelley, Jay Young, Judy Russell, Gil Baldwin, Sheila McGarr, Tad Downing, and Robin Haun-Mohamed for all their planning and participation in Council's activities. A special thanks was given to Willie Thompson for making all the local arrangements for the meeting. The Chair then introduced Michael DiMario, the Public Printer of the United States.

Mr. DiMario, Public Printer of the United States, began his remarks by saying that he was pleased to see attendance at the conference from all over the country. As this was their last meeting, he thanked Judith Rowe and Jack Sulzer for their hard work for the depository program. DiMario took this opportunity to announce the new appointments to the Depository Library, Council: Eliot Christian, USGS; Dan Clemmer, US Department of State Library; Lynn Walshak, Georgia Southern University; Anne Watts, St. Louis Public Library; and Richard N. Werking, US Naval Academy Library Director. It was also announced that Maggie Parhamovich will be accepting a temporary position at GPO, beginning in July, to work on the Pathfinder Project. This will result in her resigning from the Depository Library Council. Dave Hoffman, retired Director of the State Library of Pennsylvania, will fill the remaining two years of Parhamovich's term.

Other announcements by DiMario included the addition of the GAO Reports to GPO Access beginning today and the formation of a Task Force on the World Wide Web that he will be chairing. A prototype page is up and running, it will be expanded and made part of the Program. GPO is committed to this operation and it will be on a fast track with a demonstration planned for ALA in Chicago this June.

DiMario then provided a legislative update. A number of proposals have been put forward by the 104th Congress. The Klug (WI) Resolution, HR 24 (originally HR21), gives, a sense that legislation needs to be drafted that would result in a decentralized structure, much like the proposed HR3400 from the 103rd Congress. Jennifer Dunn (WA) introduced HR1024 which keeps GPO in the legislative branch, but does away with GPO in-plant printing and shuts down printing in the Executive Branch. A common thread among the legislation is to do away with the Joint Committee on Printing. A recision bill proposes that $600,000 be taken away from GPO's FY95 budget for the library program. A House recision bill proposes that Congressional printing and binding be reduced by $3 million. A Senate bill has increased the amount by $2 million. This will go to Conference. Given all this, the landscape is strange and it is not sure where we are headed. DiMario's prognostication is that we will survive the year but will be significantly injured in appropriations. Not in appropriations on the depository side, but rather the printing side. In spite of all this, DiMario stressed that we are moving forward. He also said that every proposal supports the depository program, the program has become the hallmark of GPO and the Superintendent of Documents Office.

DiMario also announced that GPO was the recipient of the Madison Award, given by the Coalition of Government Information and the American Library Association. GPO also received the 1994 leadership award given by Government Executive magazine.

Bernadine Abbott Hoduski, retiring from the Joint Committee on Printing staff, was recognized by the Public Printer for her many years of hard work dedicated to public access to government information and support for the Federal Depository Library Program. She was presented the Public Printer's Distinguished Service Award, GPO's highest honor.

Wayne Kelley, Superintendent of Documents, said we are in a period of great change, with an emphasis on cutting costs and tendency to regard technology as a solution rather than a tool. Some people, including people on "The Hill" think that digitized information can or should replace all print. There's a belief today that privatization can solve problems that government has failed to solve. There's a belief that control of tax dollars by states will produce better results than program guidelines in DC. Some of this may be true. Kelley cautioned that we must keep a few things in mind, some roots, foundations to cling to in these times of change. There are principles worth defending, one of which is the right to free access of government information for citizens. Results that we want to achieve must be defined before reinventing the process. We should not privatize the responsibility of policy and oversight. People need to be reminded that libraries are essential to every community. They are storehouses of knowledge, places to learn and explore, cultivate community and promote civility. It must be recognized that in this new world of electronic information, librarians are more important than ever before. Information may be global but training and support for users will still be largely at the local level. Meaningful change requires thought and priorities. We need to ask for rationale and look at the likely results. Otherwise, we are likely to become a society that knows the cost of everything and the value of very little. GPO is doing everything to make sure that we are doing those things to bring its programs and the Federal Depository Library Program into the electronic era in a thoughtful and constructive way. Kelley urged that each of us do everything we can to play a role in the process of change, and not to let others change us without consultation.

Jay Young, Library Programs Service Director, began by announcing that the next Council meeting will be in Memphis, TN, October 16-18. Young also recognized the new Council appointments.

Because of the electronic highway Young sees the FDLP as a partnership, more now than ever before. In the paper and microfiche environment there was a break in the process. With GPO Access online there is a direct connection between GPO, the library, and the user. Roles are changing dramatically. GPO must now provide user support and continuous system development and maintenance. The role of the library is changing as well. Libraries will need more equipment and technical capability. Librarians will become more of an intermediary. Young believes that connectivity has strengthened the partnership and is the strength of the program. He urged that we exert peer pressure and offer assistance to those libraries not yet connected to GPO Access. Connectivity of 1,391 sites around the country will make the FDLP the Government Information Infrastructure of the Nation.

The Federal Depository Library Program and the Cataloging and Indexing Program have embarked on a thoughtful period of transition to expand the use of electronic media. There are many challenges that face us during this time of transition into the electronic age:

1. The need to catalog and distribute both traditional and electronic formats to serve diverse needs;

2. Political and financial trends dictate moving rapidly to an on-demand delivery of government information products through depository libraries;

3. The nature of electronic information offers the capability to go beyond the walls of the library, thus providing more equitable access than ever before;

4. With the rapid proliferation of government information on bulletin boards, CDs, and the Internet, there must be an increased emphasis on the content and usability of the information;

5. There is a need to maintain electronic information for continuing public access should the originating agency no longer make it available; and

6. There is a need for direct assistance to the public in identifying, locating, and sorting through the massive amount of electronic information.

To meet these challenges GPO must maintain traditional program support functions (acquisitions, classification, format conversion, distribution, cataloging, and inspecting), provide the capability to deliver electronic information to depositories and the public, and develop and provide support services and tools to depositories so that they may more effectively perform the intermediary role of assisting the public.

On-demand delivery will become one of the most critical elements of the depository program of the future. Some members of Congress have expressed interest in having all depository materials delivered in electronic formats. Although electronic delivery of information offers potential future economies for GPO and libraries, electronic formats are not preferable in every case. Nor is there standardization or consensus about file format or structure of stored electronic information. In the near term we are grappling with defining, planning, and designing this service. GPO needs better information on the needs, expectations, and capabilities of depositories. GPO intends to conduct an analysis of libraries' requirements for on-demand delivery service.

To date there are nine Model Gateway Libraries that provide the GPO Access services beyond the walls of their libraries. GPO has a goal to have a gateway in each state. The visibility of GPO Access is expanding. Jay Young, Wayne Kelley, and Judy Russell made a presentation at COSLA and encouraged them to support gateways in their states. Notices will be sent to Senators and Representatives to inform them that electronic government information is available in their districts. A new electronic logo was unveiled. The depository eagle resides on the screen of a PC. An electronic depository logo will be distributed to all libraries that register for the GPO Access services.

Depository libraries can participate in the national electronic meeting, May 1-14: "People and Their Governments in the Information Age," sponsored by OMB, NPR, NTIA, and NTIS. The meeting is intended to gain opinions and discussion about information technology by government, and the public's expectations for an electronic government. GPO is providing pre-conference registration and general information. Young encouraged depository libraries to be Public Access Sites to enable the public to participate in the online meeting.

The GPO Locator will soon be available to depositories for testing and comment. The Locator provides records from the Monthly Catalog, and the Publications Reference File, and it provides a registry of information resources from other federal agencies. The user will be directed to the nearest depository library or provided with the necessary information to acquire the document through the GPO Sales Program.

A "Pathfinder Service," is under development at GPO. This will provide depository libraries a tool to assist the public in finding government information available via the Internet. The development of the Pathfinder falls under GPO's mandate to collect and catalog US government information. This service will be dynamic and require constant updates. The service will focus on the needs of depository librarians who are acting as intermediaries for the public in search of government information. GPO will use the expertise of documents librarians. GPO will maintain and operate the Pathfinder, provide training, and do the necessary liaison work with federal publishers. Maggie Parhamovich will be working on this Pathfinder project.

GPO Personnel Notes:

The inspection team has two new librarians, Carole Callard and Gail Snider. Stevie Gray has been promoted out of micrographics and LPS, into Employee Relations. Nick Ellis will be working in micrographics.

Notes on Traditional Services:

Efforts to develop a CD-ROM version of the Monthly Catalog are continuing. Tad Downing and the Cataloging Branch are currently testing retrieval software packages. In order for the CD to save costs, the printed version will have to be downsized.

Regionals will be able to deselect one of dual format items with this upcoming annual selection update. Regionals will continue to receive both formats if they do not respond to the survey.

By June 1, 1995 a new contract will be in place to. convert to microfiche the bound volumes of the Congressional Record from 1985 to the present.

Separate shipment problems are the results of contractor problems. They have not followed routine instructions, have shipped improperly collated material, and several shipments have been delayed. Fifty per cent of claims have been for publications handled by this contractor. They have been given 30 days to improve service or the contract will be voided. The TanData InMotion parcel manifest system was recently purchased and installed in the Depository Distribution Division. This is an improvement to the lighted bin system. It automatically scans the barcoded shipping labels on each box and through box weight and zip code, determines which bulk shipment carrier will deliver that package at the lowest cost. This will reduce shipping costs, the amount of human labor needed, and will speed up the process of getting shipments on the way.

Judy Russell, Electronic Information Dissemination Services Office Director, said "electronic information is permeating discussions at GPO at all levels. " Russell further discussed the new database on GPO Access, the GAO Reports. This is the first database not created at GPO to be included in Access. GAO is continuing to support free access to government information by underwriting the costs to all users. The reports are available within 24 hours of publication. It is hoped that this will be true of other agencies in the future. The GAO Reports run under a new version of WAIS server software. It is anticipated that the rest of the databases will be using the new version by 24 April. Data are being reformatting and fields have been added. The new version of the software will not affect users who choose not to use the new features. That is, the new software enhances searching (for example date ranging is possible) but the old method of searching is still usable. GPO has a test database of Senate and House documents and reports. A prototype database of House and Senate Calendars is also being worked on. There will be a new version of the GPO Access Users Manual out by the end of month. It will be a loose-leaf format. Many requests for speeches and training for GPO Access have been received. As much as they would like to say yes to all the offers, it is not feasible. EIDS is developing a Power Point slide show and other tools that can be sent and used locally. Judy solicited suggestions for items to be included on GPO's WWW site. It is intended that one will be able to access the Model Gateway Libraries from the WWW page. An underlying objective of anything that is produced at GPO is to have it GILS compliant. Similarly, anything GPO produces must be compliant with the American with Disabilities Act. Because of GILS and ADA, GPO sees production in multiple tiers, so that the low end user does not get left behind.

REPORTS OF COUNCIL COMMITTEES - OPERATIONS

Monthly Catalog Working Group

Dave Hoffman, Chair, reported for the Working Group: Cindy Etkin and Bobby Wynn from Council, Dena Hutto (Pennsylvania State University) and Jill Moriarty (University of Utah) from Off-Council, and Tad Downing, the GPO Liaison. The Working Group had a meeting this morning and will have a recommendation ready for this Council meeting. The responses to the Data Elements report that was published in Administrative Notes totaled only four. These four responses supported the revision of the Monthly Catalog.

Revision of Depository Library Guidelines Working Group

Jan Fryer, Chair, reported for the members of the Working Group, from Council: Susan Dow, Bobby Wynn, from off-Council: Andrea Sevetson (UC Berkeley), Pat Grace (Seattle Public), Ann Bregent (Washington State Library) Ridley Kessler (UNC), from GPO: Sheila McGarr. It was reported that the Working Group is in the process of reviewing the guidelines and choosing those that should take precedence. Training, staffing, collection development, and access issues are coming to the forefront. They will meet later this week and hope to have a draft revision by this summer and have a final report for the Fall 1995 Council meeting.

Revision of SOD #13 Working Group

Steve Hayes, Chair, reported for the Group: Susan Dow and Maggie Parhamovich from Council, Robin Haun-Mohamed from GPO and Debora Cheney (Penn State) from Off-Council. It was reported that the Working Group has sent a draft report to Robin Haun-Mohamed at GPO. The charge of the Working Group was to incorporate electronic formats into the paper to microfiche conversion policy already in existence (SOD #13). This is only to affect GPO publications. GPO has no authority over publications from other agencies. Two additional elements for consultation are being put forward: "Priorities for Disseminating Electronic Products and Service from the U.S. Government Printing Office," DttP: Documents to the People. 20(2):78-79 (June 1992). Online and CD are of particular concern. The Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries, Summer 1994 (GPO, 1995) should be used as a yardstick for migration to electronic format. A third element being proposed is that there be a partnership with library organizations in selecting future items for conversion. The Working Group is suggesting that GPO should act as a spokesperson between depositories and agencies, in trying to get agencies to migrate their publications to electronic format. The Working Group is also attempting to introduce a migration effort toward electronic products. Multiple formats could be selected during a clearly defined interim period, and then other formats will go away. The only area that is being proposed as a reversal of SOD #13 is in the area of statistical publications (section I). The Working Group is recommending a case by case review for conversion of statistical publications back to paper from fiche.

Testimonial Work Group

Cindy Etkin reported for the Working Group, Judith Rowe, Dan O'Mahony, and Jack Sulzer, on the testimonial letters project. To date 140 letters from all but 8 states have been received. The letters represented all categories of users from all types of libraries. Letters were received from the commercial sector, faculty, students, researchers, non-profit organizations, citizens, and state and local government agencies. "Federal Depository Libraries, Your source for yesterday's, today's and tomorrow's government information," the first of what is hoped to be many products resulting from the collected letters is now available. It was completed in time for dissemination at Freedom of Information Day. Another product, a compilation of all the letters with additional text, is also in the works. Subject-based pamphlets is also an idea that has been considered. As this is to be a continuing project, please continue to submit letters. It is the intent of Council to maintain a clearinghouse of letters and additional materials such as newspaper articles relating to depository libraries and gateways so that information will be on hand for various uses. Already some letters have been shared with the ALA Washington Office for preparing testimony for hearings.

Hearings

Judith Rowe. We had hoped to hold hearings to get across the message that although we are moving in the direction of online access, we are also making available obscure documents that will never be digitized or privatized. The idea has not been abandoned totally, and we now have names of people that could immediately be called up. It is a major concern that many believe that there are "10 winning documents and the world stops there." The letters that were collected indicated otherwise. We still hope for an opportunity to hold hearings.

Title 44 Linda Kennedy. HR24 (Scott Klug) and HR1024 (Jennifer Dunn) legislation affecting Title 44

ALA passed a number of resolutions, at the mid-winter conference in Philadelphia, that provide good information about the depository program, "Reaffirmation of the Government Printing Office," "Resolution on the Federal Depository Library Program for the 104th Congress," and "Resolution Regarding Continued Unimpaired Access to Government Information." They may be used in communicating with members of Congress. Linda reminded us that there are many new members of Congress and they must be informed as to what depository libraries are and what role depository libraries play in the dissemination of government information.

Depository Library Council Handbook

Dan O'Mahony reported that the final version will be available after this meeting and will be distributed to depository libraries through regular shipments. Dan congradulated GPO for their quick response to Council's recommendation and for taking advantage of the ALA Mid-winter Conference to communication with library administrators.

Compilation of Depository Library Council Recommendations

John Phillips reported that he is continuing to unearth more recommendations of Council and responses from the Public Printer. To date 460 recommendations, from fall 1978. There are 49 instances of responses with no recommendations. John would like to maintain this information on the Oklahoma State Web Site, and later, transfer the information to the Library site. John is now working on indexing this information. Ridley Kessler suggested that John check with the University of Illinois to see if missing years can be found.

AD HOC COMMITTEES

Preservation and Archival Ad Hoc Committee

Dan Clemmer, Chair. Other members of the Committee from Council include Phyllis Christenson and Wilda Marston. Judy Russell is the GPO liaison from the Committee and John Shuler is the Off-Council member. Dan described this issue as a many-headed monster, with the whole life cycle of information involved. The problems are many. How can we be sure what is online today will be available 5, 10, or 15 years from now? Knowledge for preservation of paper, film, and fiche is there. The information for preserving digitize data is unknown. The National Archives is prepared to preserve electronic information. They may have to reformat or migrate to another platform. Suggestions in the report include consideration of formats for long-term preservation of information. It may well be that we will have a mixture of formats. Perhaps the only way to ensure the preservation of government information is to give the information to the, National Archives immediately so that they may begin to preserve it or migrate it to another format.

NTIS Preview Committee

Maggie Parhamovich, Chair. Other members of the Committee are Phyllis Christenson, Linda Kennedy, Jay Young (GPO Liaison), and Arlene Weible (Willamette University). A survey was conducted in March of participants in the NTIS Preview Project. They were asked about their perceived value of service. Librarians believe there is a benefit of identifying technical reports through NTIS, particularly fugitive documents. Potential for receiving NTIS documents through the program is supported. Current a delivery system is nonexistent. Only one library out of nine received documents from Preview. At this time the database is limited, it would be of more value if the entire NTIS database could be searched. Reports may be of limited appeal, but depositories still need to be able to identify them for patrons. The recommendations of the Committee to Council are that the Depository Library Council continue to urge the GPO to pursue a cooperative agreement with NTIS in the identification and delivery of technical reports. Urge the use of DOE agreements as a model. This should be extended to NTIS. The Committee wanted to clarify the perception that the reports at NTIS are all technical reports. They do have some documents that have broad based appeal, e.g., an SBA publication. Regardless of content, inclusion within the Depository Program is based upon Title 44, not a market approach. Support GPO in identifying delivery methods for NTIS publications. "Just in time" options would be acceptable. An effective identification and timely delivery system would have to be in place for this to be successful. The Committee encourages Council to encourage GPO to expand the NTIS database for broader appeal for identifying and delivering technical reports through NTIS.

Ad Hoc Committee on Regional Restructuring

Dan O'Mahony reported for Gary Cornwell, Chair.

Members of the Committee are: from Council, Dan O'Mahony, Cindy Etkin, from Off-Council: Paul Patwell (New Jersey State Library), Gregg Lawrence (Cornell University), Maureen Harris (Clemson), Tom Anderson (California State Library) and from GPO: Jay Young and Sheila McGarr. The Committee was established in" October 1993. Dan thanked all members for their efforts. The Committee was established to look at alternatives to the current regional system, to address problems within the structure as it is, and to look at regional services in an electronic information environment, The Committee will meet in the morning to present specific proposals and an opportunity to respond. The meeting will be facilitated by Duncan Aldrich. The comments from this meeting will be the basis for recommendations. The March 15, 1995 Administrative Notes was devoted to regional issues as background. The afternoon meeting will be a continuation of the ongoing discussion of the Committee meeting. Dan O'Mahony will facilitate the afternoon meeting.

Linda Kennedy raised the issue of titles being automatically sent to libraries based upon other item selections. Linda asked that this be discussed further at the general forum.

ELECTION OF SECRETARY OF COUNCIL:

Susan Dow was elected secretary of the Depository Library Council. She will assume this responsibility at the end of September.

Mary Redmond, representing ALA GODORT, addressed the Council. Among the GODORT activities of interest to this body were the establishment of National Action Alert Network (NAAN). Mary encouraged education of legislators by inviting Senators and Representatives to visit depository libraries and encouraged librarians to visit offices and attend town meetings. Activities such as this are important and must continue. Other GODORT actions included providing a list of fugitive documents in "Documents to the People, " letters sent to Commerce Secretary Ron Brown addressing concerns over the demise of the Industrial Outlook, and to the Library of Congress about the discontinuation of the Monthly Checklist of State Publications. In closing Redmond encouraged membership and participation in GODORT.

The afternoon was devoted to an open panel discussion about GPO Access. Ridley Kessler (UNC) moderated the panel. GPO Gateways are providing fabulous access that we never dreamed of. The first week of April the University of North Carolina had 350 users, 60% of whom were from off campus, 10% from the library, 15% from on campus, and 15% were dial-in users. For the first time depositories will have to expand their boundaries of administration beyond the library. Cooperation was necessary from other departments on campus. This is a new world for depository librarians. Members of the panel were Gil Baldwin, GPO; Derek Rodriguez, University of North Carolina; George Barnum, Case Western Reserve; Greg Lawrence, Cornell University; and T.C. Evans, GPO.

Gil Baldwin. The expansion of GPO Access began last summer. GPO was looking for a way to provide free access that would capitalize on the strengths of the depository system. A team was established at GPO to look at these issues. It is an interdisciplinary group: LPS, EIDS, Production services, and the telecommunications area are all represented. Gil encouraged experimentation with GPO Access. Do whatever works for you. Work with freenets, or use selective housing agreements. This is one way to go beyond the ten IP address limit. There are different levels of service that can be provided: fundamental level with mediated search services, a public workstation, and the next level is to become a gateway.

Derek Rodriguez (UNC). The computing center at the University of North Carolina seized the opportunity to provide GPO Access services. Initial contacts were made in August of 1994. The goals of the project were to provide WAIS service within confines set by GPO. They wanted to look forward yet still provide low-level users access. UNC chose an open model of computing, using a web client (lynx) capable of WAIS searching. Access is provided to users who telnet or dial-in. This model is quite easy to maintain. Although this does not support graphics, the advantages of using this are:

1. minimizes load on GPO Server
2. accommodates most hardware
3. remote access is possible

UNC is now working on moving to the next level, being able to provide the graphics. They are looking at a Netscape client with an acrobat reader to web-WAS gateway while maintaining the remote text terminal (90% of users).

GPO is making a clear statement for the future: libraries must get an electronic information librarian. Success with Access was indicated by one week's statistics: 350 users: 1 0 % from inside library, 15 % dial-in, 15 % from campus, and 60 % from remote users.

George Barnum (CWRU) described SWAIS access to GPO Access. At Case Western Reserve the environment doesn't allow for thinking about electronic resources as being available for just one workstation. If something cannot be on networked it is looked at very skeptically at CWRU. This has had a profound affect on how day-to-day operations are handled. The future is now. Because of this he responded immediately to the call for Gateway Libraries. After exploring options with the computer people on campus, the only option appeared to be to use SWAIS. After having used SWAIS for a program for Ohio GODORT, George relayed that there is nothing inferior about SWAIS. He refers to this as his "conversion in Dayton." At about this same time CWRU was asked, by their online catalog vendor, to be a test site for their new service, Gateway. Gateway allowed for scripted logins to remote databases from their online catalog. This permitted an opportunity to merge the two gateway projects. Two systems are running simultaneously, one system if on campus, another if using remote dial-in. As of this date, CWRU has been an active gateway for two weeks. The response has been remarkable. The first week there were 140 logins, 5 more than OCLC WorldCat. They are currently using 4 simultaneous users; this will be increased right away. Within the year they are looking at 18 simultaneous users (the law school has ten to add through a shared housing agreement). George is pleased about the decision to provide access to Access through the online catalog. Future possibilities also include working with cataloging to provide bibliographic control. George has forged blindly ahead, but he is very pleased with the results.

Gregg Lawrence (Cornell) said Mann Library has chosen not to select the GPO Access services. But there is another depository on the Cornell campus. Being aware that providing information online is a very time consuming job that demands a lot of staff and institutional resources, Gregg asked, "Should GPO Access be a required resource for most or all depository libraries?" There was concern that his library might be seen as out-of-step by GPO and his colleagues who are embracing GPO Access. Who is Mann library? Mann Library is the New York State land grant library for life sciences, agriculture and human ecology. Their mandate is to provide a centralized resource for the citizens of New York to access agricultural and related information. Information is to be made available through education and research. Their major contact with the public is via Cornell Cooperative Extension office. As a selective depository they select heavily in agriculture, education, health and human services, and interior. They also act as an interlibrary loan coordinator for USDA for the northeastern United States. Depository digital agricultural information has not mushroomed. By choice, they are becoming an unofficial agriculture depository library. They manage a gopher server for USDA. A new service, time-sensitive commodity reports, will be available within an hour of release. They average 350 users a day. With the new commodity reports, they expect that this will double or triple. Gregg questions whether they should deviate from their policy to focus on providing agricultural and natural resources information and shift resources to provide access to GPO Access. It might be better to leave legislative information to another library. Another question: is the information within GPO Access redundant? There already are se:-vices that provide this same information (Thomas, Counterpoint, CQ Alert, DIALOG). Although they are not asked for this kind of information very often, Mann library will remain committed to provide legislative information support through a commercial product, for two reasons. First, patrons are accustomed to features of the commercial vendor that are not available via GPO Access, and second, it was very easy to network CQ Washington Alert. Gregg is uncertain if the university community's government information needs will really be enhanced if GPO Access were provided. For the public, he questions if GPO Access is the superior free service to meet their needs. At this point Mann Library, from a philosophical approach, cannot move back to a one workstation, one IP address environment. Providing a networked collection is expensive and making products more user friendly puts demands on resources. These demands must be kept to a minimum. Mann Library has an Electronic Resources Council which reviews Internet resources to be networked. The Committee is moving toward providing "plug and play" resources. Most are gopher or web based, as telnet-based services do not seem to meet the criteria to pass through the Committee. For each of the three points mentioned, the purpose of his institution, redundancy of information, and issues involved in facilitating network access, are questions and problems that he faces when trying to decide if and when to advocate access to GPO Access. These concerns are very institution-specific. But similar concerns may have arisen in other institutions represented at this conference. Is a chicken in every pot or GPO Access in every depository is realistic or feasible? Gregg worries that GPO Access will become the centerpiece of an electronic depository program and will begin to overwhelm other pieces of an emerging electronic depository library system. A greater diversity of networked depository initiatives needs to be promoted. It is time to declare GPO Access a success and begin to develop other core groups of information to serve as networked resources.

T.C. Evans, GPO. The core element of the GPO Access services is to provide broad public access to government information. This does require an enormous commitment for libraries if they choose to become a gateway or provide a single user station. All participants are deserving of applause in terms of commitment. Although Gateway Libraries must meet certain criteria, creativity is encouraged in the program. GPO Access gateways must be able to serve all levels of the bell curve of computer ability. People who do not have equipment are using depositories to get information, dial-in users, telnet, client-server with WAIS client, and web browsers. The GAO database was just added. This is the first agency sponsored database to become part of the GPO Access services. Last Friday GPO lost its Internet connectivity. The first people heard from were from Gateway Libraries. This was a learning experience. An early warning system will be developed and put in place shortly. Gateways will be contacted immediately, should GPO lose its Internet connection. TC addressed Gregg's question of redundancy. GPO Access is not redundant. A variety of alternatives are necessary, and not all are free.

QUESTIONS:

How is the help line working? How many people? Eight people, the GPO Access User Support Team ' are scheduled to answer phones and respond to e-mail messages. With e-mail messages, there are six periods during the day when messages are checked. This is rotated among the User Support Team. They are responding within 24 hours. They are receiving 300 phone calls each day and 40-60 e-mail messages.

What is the advantage of using WAIS over SWAIS at the University of North Carolina, if no graphics are available? None, it is just another option.

How will the phase II software change GPO Access through the Gateway Libraries? GPO is uncertain, but the current system is a very good foundation.

How often are users calling depositories for help? Ridley Kessler: UNC developed help screens and used him as a guinea pig, thinking that if Ridley could understand, anyone could. Each screen has a message to contact the documents section for help. Cheat sheets have been developed. They are trying to eliminate questions before they can be asked. In six weeks there have been three phone calls. George Barnum: The documents section is also handling questions. The number of questions has not been high. He created a pathfinder from the search guides from EIDS. Jack Sulzer: at Penn State they point people to their gopher, which points to the UNC help screens.

Have Gateway Libraries noticed an overload on their systems? Does GPO intend to hold to the limitation of ten simultaneous users? UNC: recently upgraded to a machine will last for ten years, no strain was noticed as they implemented the gateway service. Gil Baldwin: Limitation of 10 subscriptions is a step to where they want to go. This is being defined by financial limitations. One of the good things to come out of the ten limitation is that it forces creativity and partnerships in the community to pull resources. Ridley Kessler: the UNC system allows for 350 simultaneous users but the most they have had at one time using GPO Access is six. Jack Sulzer: Penn State has three ports into the mainframe. If they offered 10 simultaneous users they would use up half of remaining ports. They limited use from the OPAC and point their gopher to other gateway sites.

Dan O'Mahony: Do not let the ten simultaneous users block you. GPO has been very cooperative in entertaining creativity. On April 26 the Ocean Front Freenet will provide access to GPO Access. There Will be local dial-up from five phone numbers. Depositories are pooling their resources, two passwords from twelve depositories which will allow twenty-four simultaneous users. User support is shared with other libraries and the technical people at the Freenet.

Tuesday, 11 April 1995

Tuesday began with an open forum for discussing issues raised by the Ad Hoc Committee on Regional Structure Report. Duncan Aldrich acted as facilitator for the discussion. The overarching question was, "What is the future role for Regional Federal Depository Libraries, particularly in the electronic environment?" Discussion was divided into three propositions with questions and possible solutions offered for each.

PROPOSITION 1:

Recent trends, particularly the increasing demands of technology, have forced Regional Libraries to reassess the support services they provide to Selective Depository Libraries.

Question: What administrative support services should Regional Depository Libraries provide?

Solution 1: Regionals should only provide those services that are required by statute.

Solution 2: Regardless of format, Regionals should provide those services that are required by statute and those services that traditionally they have elected to provide in their region.

Solution 3:. Regionals should continue to provide all statutory and traditional services that are currently expected of them. In addition, Regionals should also provide a wide array of services for electronic information.

Comments ranged from solution three because it comes with the territory, to we can't be expected to do all because of staffing and financial constraints. Librarians from selective depositories mentioned that they do not expect Regionals to be able to do everything. Persons from the Regional public library sector indicated that they would feel uncomfortable with having to take the lead in the technological environment, they don't have the computer support services that most academic institutions have. It was also pointed out that the problems of the emerging technologies are not unique to Regionals, Selectives are making decisions every day about whether they will do such things as download and print on demand. Options that allow Regionals and Selectives to work together need to be explored.

PROPOSITION 2:

Archiving and preserving Federal information in all media, particularly electronic formats, remains an unresolved and troubling issue for Regional libraries and the FDLP.

Question: Should Regionals serve the primary role among depositories in archiving all Federal publications for the purpose of preservation for access?

Solution 1: Regionals would archive government information for the purpose of access in accordance with the provisions of Title 44.

Solution 2: Regionals would meet existing statutory requirements for archiving depository materials. In addition, they would set up mechanisms to guarantee all libraries within their region access to in-house and remote government information.

Solution 3: Regionals would meet existing statutory requirements for archiving depository materials. They would guarantee all libraries within their region access to government information by becoming remote storage and retrieval sites for electronic government products.

Comments from the forum began with questioning the definition of archives Before any solutions can be identified, we must know whether we mean archive for the life of the material or archive to preserve. We should archive for access, we are not in the archiving business, we are in the access business. It must be remembered that the only agency that is federally mandated to archive material is 's the National Archives and Records Administration. Electronic information should be turned over to NARA immediately, they have the means to preserve and to migrate to other levels. Information available via the Internet is not depository, therefore we have no obligation to store or access it. Electronic information should be viewed as fugitive documents in another format. Jay Young stated that GPO is committed to identifying electronic government information, that is what the Pathfinder Project is all about.

Finite electronic information will be stored by GPO. Dynamic databases need to remain in the hands of the agency. In these cases GPO will identify the databases and indicate how they may be accessed. Information identified by Pathfinder falls within the parameters of Title 44 and depositories are obligated to provide access, but not obligated to store.

PROPOSITION 3:

The current structure of Regional libraries within the FDLP must be examined and revised to ensure the Program's future effectiveness in the electronic information arena.

Question: What vision do librarians share for a revised Regional structure that would ensure the future effectiveness of the FDLP?

Solution 1: Maintain the status quo and apply the existing regional model to electronic information.

Solution 2: Revise the Regional library network based on proposed models, electronic Regionals, multi-state Regionals, subject-based Regionals, shared regional responsibilities within a state, or super Regionals. Solution 3: Regional libraries, in conjunction with the GPO and selective depository libraries, would be responsible for coordinating efforts both nationally and regionally to ensure the -future effectiveness of the FDLP.

If you are trying to change the structure of the Regionals, you have to look at the entire program. Selectives would have to change as well. In actuality changes are taking place now, whether we like it or not, whether we want it or not. The system will have to change from the bottom up. The National Performance Review and the Contract with America are changing the program. The creation of the GPO Gateways is another example of change taking place. Our priorities have been defined as service first, collections second. This will continue in the new electronic environment. Regionals do not have, to be within state boundaries, a multi- state approach would be reasonable. No one library can do it all, there must be flexibility and cooperation. State plans would be a mechanism to define local practice. Trying to fit an electronic environment into a paper and fiche based structure will not work. Does there have to be just one system? Can there be a Regional for paper and fiche-based collections and another Regional for electronic information? The Ad Hoc Committee thought there would be discussion about developing minimum standards for services provided by Regionals or to the public. But the discussion has indicated that the print-based responsibilities of the Regionals must be maintained, but the Committee should look at standards and other services that might be provided in an electronic environment. These would be services not necessarily provided by the Regional, but they would be defined in a state plan.

Wednesday, 12 April 1995

After discussions, open forums, and deliberations from the previous two days, the Depository Library Council presented its draft recommendations to the Public Printer of the United States and action items for Council to pursue. The recommendations numbered seventeen and dealt with disappearing depository publications, Monthly Catalog, pagination of the Congressional Record, regional structure, cooperation with NTIS, item number selections, depository inspections, communication with other organizations, non-GPO produced electronic information, GPO Access database enhancements, training for new documents librarians, new electronic initiatives, and disposition of documents policy. Action items for Council include an ongoing effort to collect testimonial letters and related items, encouraging participation in the National Electronic Open Meeting, monitoring opportunities to hold public hearings, cooperation with non-profit organizations, and completing the revision of the Depository Library Council Handbook. The status of the Serial Set recommendations from last fall, the Congressional Record CD-ROM, and the marketing plan for the storage facility will be addressed in the cover letter of the recommendations to the Public Printer.

With the official Council business completed, Jack Sulzer thanked Council for their dedication and hard work over the past year. He then passed the gavel and responsibilities of Council Chair to Dan O'Mahony.

Wayne Kelley recalled the contributions of the outgoing class of Council and welcomed Maggie Parhamovich to GPO. Kelley recognized Judith Rowe, saying that she has brought knowledge and wisdom to these proceedings, a willingness to speak out, and has embodied the spirit and enthusiasm of this Council. Judith was then presented a certificate. Jack Sulzer, has been demanding but fair, faced tough issues with patience and good humor. He has the ability to pull together the talent of the Council to come up with thoughtful recommendations and to give them fair and equitable review in public forums. The Depository Library Council and GPO are both better because of their association with Jack. He, too, was presented with a certificate.

Dan O'Mahony, on behalf of Council, thanked Judith and Jack for their commitment and guidance. The depth of their expertise was critical to the work of this Council. Willie Thompson, John Tate and Sheila McGarr were recognized for their efforts in planning the first joint Depository Library Council/Federal Depository Conference. Dan then adjourned Council until the fall meeting in Memphis, Tennessee.

Respectfully submitted,

Cynthia Etkin, Secretary
Depository Library Council
Mon, 02 Oct 95

Input from Administrative Notes, v. 16, no. 10, October 25, 1995