The Spring 1994 Depository Library Council (DLC) meeting was held April 25-27, 1994 in the Rosslyn Ballroom of the Rosslyn Westpark Hotel, Arlington, VA. Council members in attendance: Beth Duston, Chair; Jack Sulzer, Chair-Elect; Kay Schlueter, Secretary; Miriam Drake (Monday and Tuesday), John Weiner (Monday), Carol Gordon, Judith Rowe, David Hoffman, Cynthia Etkin, Linda Kennedy, Wilda Marston, Daniel O'Mahony, Bobby Wynn.

Monday, April 25, 1994

Beth Duston, Council Chair, introduced Wayne Kelley, Superintendent of Documents, to give the welcoming remarks. He welcomed everyone to the Conference and recognized how much work there was to do. The accelerated pace of change at this point in time puts us in danger of going very fast but not having a clear view of where we are going. Therefore, advice to Public Printer is extremely important at this time.

Beth Duston, Council Chair
Opening Remarks

Beth Duston provided some opening remarks. She restated the purpose of the Council which is to give advice to the Public Printer on policy matters dealing with the Depository Library Program as provided by Title 44. After last fall's meeting, seventeen recommendations were presented to Mr. DiMario and Council received responses a few weeks ago. We will be discussing those this afternoon and we will provide a new set of recommendations at the close of this meeting.

There is so much going on that it creates a difficult situation. We can only advise in a linear fashion--react to things that have happened since the last meeting. It puts the Council and the program in a reactive mode. In an attempt to be more proactive, to better understand the issues. and to be a serious player in the information world, Dr. Toni Carbo Bearman, a member of the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Board, has been invited to address the Council. She will give Council a global picture of the information world and U.S. information policy and her vision of how depository libraries fit into that picture.

Beth recognized that this is the first time in recent history that depository libraries have received a lot of attention. An example is the specific mention of depository libraries in the President's 1995 budget. The value of depository libraries is beinq recognized and we should leverage as much of that attention as possible in order to get more funding and attention for depository libraries.

In a spirit of cooperation, the NTIS Advisory Board invited Jack Sulzer, Jay Young, and Beth Duston to their last board meeting. Jay Young proposed a plan for work on an interagency agreement with NTIS regarding depository libraries. Duston noted that this was a historic moment for both GPO and NTIS to be working together on such a project. This afternoon Dr. Hal Shill, a member of the NTIS Advisory Board, will speak with us.

Duston emphasized three guiding principles of the depository library program:

• With certain specified exemptions, all government publications shall be made available to depository libraries;

• depository libraries shall be located in each state and congressional district in order to make government publications more widely available, and,

• these government publications shall be made available for the free use of the general public.

She noted the parallels being drawn between the interstate highway system built in the fifties and the information superhighway being planned today. In order to improve speed and access, the interstate highway system developed a finite set of controlled entrances onto the system. The information highway will have its own requirements such as hardware and software, which will make some libraries obsolete. Due to budget cuts, equipment needs, and lack of staff training some depository libraries will be in a position to watch activity on the information highway but not be a participant on it.

Quoting from the "Alternatives to Restructuring the Depository Program" report submitted to the Public Printer and the Superintendent of Documents by the Council last year, Ms. Duston reminded the audience of the unique niche of the depository library system. The system "embodies the obligation of a democracy to keep all its citizens informed; it provides the framework for agencies to have an effective means of disseminating information, as well as providing citizens with a means of gaining access to federal information."

Wayne Kelley, Superintendent of Documents
Sales Update

Wayne Kelley, Superintendent of Documents, provided an update on the GPO Sales Program. The Sales Program is tied to dissemination of information with GPO staff selecting items that might have a public market and making them available at the lowest possible cost. In 1995, the Sales Program will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Printing Act of 1985 and of the program being placed in the Government Printing Office. The Sales Program today involves various activities. There are direct sales to the public. Also, sales are available through consigned agents -- government agencies who want to sell documents, usually of a technical or specialized nature, that won't be placed in the general sales program area. Another activity is the Consumer Information Center located in Pueblo, Colorado. That center is run by the General Services Administration. A reimbursable program allows agencies to store materials in a GPO warehouse and request the materials as they need them. Agencies are charged just "'for the' cost of handling, storing and sending documents to them.

1993 figures were used to illustrate the financial side of the program. The program must be self-sustaining--sales must recover costs. In 1978, GPO was told they could no longer subsidize the program with appropriations. For 12 straight years, the program has recovered costs. In 1992 the financial figures were very close. The program only made about $500,000. In 1993, the program had a sales revenue of $84.1 million. The total net income. nal report before the end of their two year term in order to get feedback before a final edition is issued.

Mike DiMario, Public Printer
Legislative Update

Mike DiMario, Public Printer, presented an overview of some-of the current legislative proposals involving GPO. He began with the National Performance Review initiative (H.R. 3400). In a meeting with Mr. DiMario, NPR staff conceptualized the "reinventing government" as empowering people in government to make their own decisions. In the printing area, their review focused on the issue of what they considered the ridiculous position of managers not being able to acquire low-cost publications in a variety of ways. They centered their discussion on the $1,000 limitation in the P.L. 102-392, sec. 207 language and expressed concern that there was too much oversight by GPO and JCP. When the draft services section report of the NPR came out, it focused on reorganizing GPO. H.R. 3400 was introduced to carry forward the NPR proposals. The original H.R. 3400 kept all components of GPO together, it transferred out all publication at the $2,500 level. After two years, GPO would have been in a competitive position with other federal agencies as far as printing. The bill was not passed in that form.

Various amendments to H.R. 3400 were proposed. Congressman Rose amended the bill to close down all agency printing plants and put printing with GPO. His bill abolished JCP and put a great deal of power in the Public Printer's Office. It kept the Depository Program within GPO and transferred all of GPO to the executive branch. In order to affect a compromise, Congressman Rose split the documents function from GPO, placing it with the Library of Congress. Congressman Hoyer introduced an amendment that brought GPO--the printing segment--back to the legislative branch but kept the Superintendent of Documents function in the Library of Congress. The Hoyer version is the bill that passed.

Simultaneous with that action are several actions focusing on the reorganization of Congress. These abolish the Joint Committee on Printing and the Joint Committee on Libraries. S. 1824 by Senator Boren does away with both committees but doesn't create a new Joint Committee on Information Policy as some other plans have. S. 1824 proposes $1,500 (72% of publications would go away from GPO) as the level at which agencies can go outside of GPO for printing. S. 1824 and H.R. 3400 are currently being considered by the Senate Rules and Administration Committee. The Committee staff and the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, are currently in negotiations over these proposals. S. 1824 is not the only bill in the Senate. S. 1843, introduced by Senator Dole, essentially takes H.R. 3400 as it passed the House and places it before the Senate.

All of this activity means that we really have a policy that is totally undefined at the moment. The variety of players must come together and put issues into a single bill if it is going to be meaningful and affect change in the way government printing is organized, the way government information--both electronically and in existing paper products--is organized, and how ultimately it is disseminated. All of the bills are very supportive of the depository library program. The dialogue seems to have resulted in a greater understanding about the needs of the various constituencies. It does not seem likely that any final legislative action will take place this year.

In the interim, there are several things going on that also affect GPO. The General Services Administration asked the Justice Department, Office of Legal Counsel for an opinion on whether or not they had independent authority to print government publications. The Justice Department issued an opinion stating this authority was not supported by the law. General Services came back and requested to know if the 207 section language in P.L, 102-392 covered duplicating. The opinion on this request stated that JCP regulation and authority was purely advisory and suggested that with respect to duplicating, agencies would not need to come to GPO. JCP defines duplicating and places a volume ceiling of 25,000 copies. That ceiling can now be exceeded with this opinion. The agencies are still bound by the depository law and should still deposit publications with the Superintendent of Documents for distribution. There is some move in Congress to rectify the language problem in section 207 through the current appropriations process.

Another bill to keep in mind is S. 681 by Senator Glenn. This bill would reauthorize the Paperwork Reduction Act. The bill would permanently create The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget. There was a sunset provision in the previous law and this office currently exits primarily through appropriations continuations. Some provisions of that bill are very positive for GPO.

Mr. DiMario closed with the statement that we need to continue in our effort to inform the policy makers about the variety of users and uses of government information. It is hoped that with this information, a rational, defined information policy will come out of all of the various proposals currently under review.

April 26-27, 1994
Council Working Sessions

Council discussed various issues which have been set forth in separate reports: a listing of recommendations, a listings, of commendations, and a listing of action items for future Council work.

GPO Access Demonstrations

GPO staff demonstrated various prototypes of the GPO ACCESS Systems components on Tuesday night. These included the Congressional Record and Federal Register products, the Federal Bulletin Board, and the GPO Locator. Information Sheets on these products and services were provided to the audience. These sheets are also reprinted in Administrative Notes- v. 15, #7, 5/20/94.

Submitted by Kay Schlueter
Secretary, Depository Library Council

Input from Administrative Notes, v. 15, no. 10, July 25, 1994