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____ Enclosed is my check for $17.00 payable to "GPO Cafeteria Service."

Please type or print clearly:

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Internet E-mail Address

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I am pleased to be here to present the appropriations request of the Government Printing Office (GPO) for FY 2001.

For FY 2001, we are requesting a total of $121,251,000. The request includes $80,800,000 for the annual Congressional Printing and Binding Appropriation and $34,451,000 for the annual Salaries and Expenses Appropriation of the Superintendent of Documents. It also includes $6,000,000 for GPO’s revolving fund, to remain available until expended, for extraordinary expenses associated with the replacement of our air-conditioning system.

The Congressional Printing and Binding Appropriation is critical to the maintenance and operation of our in-plant capacity, which is structured to serve Congress’s information product needs. This appropriation covers the costs of congressional printing such as the Congressional Record, bills, reports, hearings, documents, and other products. Each year, a substantial volume of this work is requisitioned. In FY 1999, more than 800 million copy pages of congressional products were produced at an average cost of about 7.4 cents per page, inclusive of all prepress work, printing, binding, and delivery. This appropriation also covers database preparation work on congressional publications disseminated online via GPO Access, our Internet information service.

The majority of the Superintendent of Documents Salaries and Expenses Appropriation is for the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). While some of the funding for this program is for salaries and benefits, most is for printing and disseminating publications (including publications in CD-ROM and online formats) to depository libraries. This appropriation also covers other statutory distribution responsibilities, such as cataloging and indexing and international exchange distribution of U.S. Government publications, and provides the majority of funding for the operation of GPO Access. GPO’s other major distribution functions, the sales program and agency distribution services, are funded by revenues earned and receive no appropriated funds.

The items covered by our request of $80,800,000 for the Congressional Printing and Binding Appropriation are as follows:

Part of the increase in our request over the current year is due to changes in product prices. Price increases are anticipated to increase our funding requirements by $2,283,000 over the current year base, due to the increased costs of employee compensation and benefits (based on existing wage contracts), utilities, maintenance, materials, and supplies.

The majority of the increase in our request is due to projected workload, or volume, increases. An increase of $5,220,000 over the current year base is required due to anticipated workload increases, based on historical trend data. Most of this increase, or $2,880,000, is projected for miscellaneous publications due primarily to the reprinting of the U.S. Code, which is done every six years. In addition, there is an increase of $1,045,000 in miscellaneous printing and binding to provide for the restoration of projected workload to a level requisite to meet historical demands. Based on historical data, we also project increased workloads for bills, resolutions, and amendments, hearings, committee reports, documents, details to Congress, and committee prints. A partially offsetting workload reduction is projected for business and committee calendars. While these estimates are based on historical factors and represent our best estimates as to the projected workload for the first session of the 107^th Congress, actual workload may vary.

The programs covered by our request of $34,451,000 for the Salaries and Expenses Appropriation of the Superintendent of Documents are as follows:

Mandatory pay increases and price level changes represent $926,000 of the total requested increase. Mandatory pay increases account for $403,000 of this amount. We are requesting $523,000 to cover price level changes calculated at the assumed rate of inflation for the year, or 2.1 percent.

A total of $3,409,000 over the current year base is requested for workload changes, primarily for expenditures associated with the FDLP. Of this amount, $1,624,000 is requested under miscellaneous services to fund expenses primarily associated with GPO Access operating and hardware costs, resulting from the continuing addition of new products and capacity to GPO Access as well as ensuring permanent public access to the FDLP electronic collection. A total of $1,029,000 is requested under depository and international exchange printing to fund increases in depository printing expenses, as the result of the reprinting and distribution of the U.S. Code. An increase of $582,000 is requested under personnel compensation and benefits to fund 5 additional depository library program positions (3 for GPO Access support, development, and new product outreach; 1 for library inspections; and 1 for FDLP electronic collection development), and 4 additional catalogers in the cataloging and indexing program. The balance of the requested workload increase, or $214,000 less anticipated offsetting reductions of $40,000 in travel and transportation costs, is for materials and supplies, primarily to support the continuing expansion of GPO Access.

We are also requesting an increase of $244,000 in depreciation due to an increase in asset acquisitions, again primarily in support of GPO Access.

Transition to More Electronic Dissemination. The transition to a more electronic FDLP is continuing, as projected in the Study to Identify Measures Necessary for a Successful Transition to a More Electronic Federal Depository Library Program (June 1996), as required by Congress in the Legislative Appropriations Act for FY 1996. In FY 1999, 46 percent of the new titles made available were disseminated electronically. So far in FY 2000, 67 percent of the new titles available to the public through the FDLP have been online. Because of electronic information dissemination, the FDLP now delivers more products than ever before. In FY 1999, 70,340 new titles were disseminated through the FDLP. That was the second highest amount ever, and there is no end in sight to the potential program growth of electronic titles.

Status Report on GPO Access. We recently submitted the second Biennial Report to Congress on the Status of GPO Access, as required by section 4103 of Title 44, U.S.C. As the report notes, GPO Access now serves as one of the leading online sources of free, official Government information for the public. Its resources, covering all three branches of the Federal Government, provide public access to more than 104,000 titles on GPO servers and an additional 62,000 titles on Federal agency web sites. The public currently uses GPO Access to retrieve approximately 21 million Federal documents each month, and user feedback is highly positive. Moreover, the cost to operate this system has been significantly less than was originally projected. Overall, GPO Access has been a highly successful undertaking, and promises to continue serving as one of the public’s primary sources for electronic access to Government information.

FY 1999 Performance. After two consecutive years of year-end net income, GPO completed FY 1999 with an under-recovery of $5 million on $765 million in total revenues, a margin of approximately six-tenths of one percent. The under-recovery was financed by retained earnings and did not place GPO in an anti-deficiency position or require additional appropriations.

The primary cause of the under-recovery was in our sales program, which is funded entirely by revenues earned on sales of publications. The free availability of publications on GPO Access and other Government web sites has contributed to reduced sales of printed products, although other factors, including reduced agency publishing and competition from other sales organizations, both public and private, are also contributory factors. We also experienced an under-recovery in our printing procurement program. We have made price adjustments in both programs to increase cost recovery in the future, and we are reviewing additional options to restore the sales program to a sound financial basis. During the year, an audit of GPO’s financial reports and systems for FY 1998 was conducted by KPMG Peat Marwick, Inc., under contract with the General Accounting Office. The audit resulted in a clean opinion for GPO.

Air Conditioning System. Our appropriations submission includes a request for $6,000,000 for the revolving fund, to be available until expended, to cover the cost of necessary improvements to GPO’s air conditioning system, which is in critical need of replacement. Without a direct appropriation, financing this extraordinary capital expense through the revolving fund will require us to reimburse the fund through rate adjustments. As this expense is not directly related to the provision of printing and information product services, its impact on our rate structure will be detrimental to our ability to carry out our mission to provide cost-effective and economical products and services. The installation of our air conditioning system in the early 1970’s was funded by direct appropriations to the revolving fund, and we request that this extraordinary cost be funded similarly.

FTE Level. We are requesting a statutory ceiling on employment of full-time equivalents (FTE’s) of 3,285. GPO is now at its lowest employment point in this century. We have reduced employment levels by 35 percent over the past decade, and by more than 33 percent since the beginning of FY 1993. This FTE level will allow us to hire for essential positions.

Legislative Changes. We are requesting two legislative changes to Title 44, U.S.C., as part of our appropriations submission.

We are requesting a change to section 303 of Title 44, regarding the pay of the Public Printer and the Deputy Public Printer, to maintain pay parity with other comparable legislative branch officials as well as appropriate comparability with senior congressional staff.

We are also requesting a change in section 1708 of Title 44, regarding the pricing of sales publications, to provide us with greater flexibility in pricing documents for sale, including the setting of sales discounts at rates comparable to the private sector in order to attract greater commercial interest in the resale of Government publications.

Strategic Plan. At the request of the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing, we are preparing a strategic plan for GPO. The plan will chart our course for providing information reproduction and dissemination services to the Government and the public over the next six years, from 2000 to 2005. Although GPO is not covered by the Government Performance and Results Act, our plan is being designed consistent with the requirements for strategic plans contained in that Act and in Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-11, section 210, Preparation and Submission of Strategic Plans. We have consulted with staff of the Joint Committee on Printing in the development of the plan.

From our perspective, GPO currently plays—and will continue to fulfill—the Government’s leading role in the provision of information products and services. The 1998 management audit by Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Inc., found strong support in Congress for GPO’s in-house production operations for congressional printing, "universal support" among executive branch agencies for GPO’s printing procurement program, and strong support for the FDLP. In addition, the audit recommended that GPO make an increasing amount of government information available electronically, free of charge, over the Internet.

Our strategic plan is based on our assessment of the future of the Federal information product environment, an environment once dominated by traditional printing and information reproduction processes but now changing rapidly and forever from the impact of e-information technologies, especially the Internet. GPO is already a major player in this environment with GPO Access and related e-information capabilities. We will continue to fulfill a leadership role in the Government in the provision of innovative, efficient, and effective e-information products and services.

At the same time, GPO will continue to meet the ongoing needs of the Government and the public for information products and services in traditional formats. Over the next six years, the Government will produce more than $1 billion annually in printing and reproduction services. Printing continues to serve as an effective safeguard for ensuring that those without access to computers can still use Government information, and for guaranteeing both the authenticity of official Government information as well as permanence. While we envision a gradual decline in GPO’s size as the mix of electronic and traditional work we produce changes over time, maintaining a well-equipped and expertly staffed printing and dissemination capability for the foreseeable future will give us an important tool to manage this transition.

Audit Recommendations Status Report. Consistent with the requirement contained in House Report 105-734, accompanying H.R. 4112, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1999, we have submitted the second annual report on the status of actions to implement the recommendations contained in the management audit of GPO, conducted in 1998 by Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Inc.

As with last year’s status report, the latest report shows that GPO either plans to act, is currently acting, or has acted affirmatively on more than 75 percent of the recommendations contained in the Booz-Allen & Hamilton final audit report. These include recommendations on planning, program modernization, ensuring financial stability, promoting intra-agency communications, and improving information technology capabilities as well as ensuring preparedness for the Year 2000. We will continue to utilize the Booz-Allen & Hamilton recommendations to make management improvements to GPO operations.

Update on Superintendent of Documents Programs
Remarks by Francis J. Buckley, Jr.
Superintendent of Documents

Before the Federal Documents Task Force
Government Documents Round Table
American Library Association
San Antonio, TX
January 15, 2000

Introduction

Good morning. It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to talk with you here in San Antonio and provide an update on the Superintendent of Documents programs.

As some of you might have heard me mention at the Depository Library Council meeting this past October, a few days before that meeting, I participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for PubScience with Department of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. In his extemporaneous remarks he complimented the work of GPO and noted we were often not recognized for all the important work we do, but that we were doing the Lord's work. Well, I extend that to the FDLP and all libraries providing access to government information to people all across the country.

As we enter the new millennium, we in GPO are pleased that we continue to provide more and more access to more government information in a variety of formats to more people than ever before! The methods and mediums are evolving and changing, but the overall purpose of informing the nation is being fulfilled. In FY 1999, the FDLP distributed over 16 million copies of 40,000 tangible publications to depository libraries, an increase of 1.37% in titles over FY '98 and an 11.5% increase in copies over the same period. GPO Access provided access to another 30,000 titles, increasing the electronic collection of in-house databases and agency electronic publications to over 150,000 titles, which are currently being used at the rate of more than 21 million times a month. And in the Sales Program, we distributed over 19 million copies of the more than 12,000 publications available.

While the times and our programs are changing, we are achieving a high level of information dissemination. As an example, let me describe developments in the Consumer Information Center (CIC) programs and our distribution center in Pueblo, CO. In FY 1999, the number of orders processed declined slightly from the previous year from 2.03 million to 1.98 million. The number of publications mailed dropped from 7.6 million to 6.3 million. But the number of items used on the CIC web site, which has all of the publications available for free access, increased from 6.5 million to 9.5 million. Thus the total number of consumer publications distributed increased to a record setting 15.8 million. This is wonderful, but this changing paradigm of use and the consequent issues of funding are driving a study of the future programs and services of the Pueblo Distribution Center.

The growth in electronic technology in some ways provides more and better access to government information products, but I think we can all agree that it has created problems, too. It has become more difficult for GPO, librarians and the public to acquire data in the decentralized environment of Federal web sites that are being established without any coordination, standards or guidelines. There are a number of public and commercial efforts underway to provide indexing and retrieval programs for the government information on the Internet. There are various approaches by search engines such as GovBot, Yahoo, Lycos, Alta Vista and Google, and some services are establishing specialized programs or portals such as Northern Light and America Online.

Within the government in the last couple of years, there have been proposals for a master web.gov site, and currently there are discussions about a partnership-based clearinghouse for Federal government information. Through it all, GPO Access has continued to grow and develop. GPO continues to provide data to the Thomas web site at the Library of Congress and to other information redisseminators. And we have removed the robot exclusion so our site can be indexed by other search engines and retrieved by people performing general searches as well as by those performing searches specifically on GPO Access.

Of course this gets back to our concern (as Mr. DiMario has mentioned) about permanent public access to agency data that can disappear with the click of the "delete" key. In fact, I am sure that many of you have heard about the problem that was recently reported about the loss of 43,000 e-mails at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). What makes the incident most unfortunate is that the e-mails are gone without a trace; there was no back-up system in operation at the time this happened last summer. How the messages disappeared is really not the issue. The fact is that they are gone and that is happening to other government agency information. It is imperative that there be safeguards in place to ensure that government information from the late 1900's not wind up in a black hole in cyberspace.

I also want to take this opportunity to discuss the importance of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), especially in this electronic age.

We have seen a small decline in the numbers of libraries in the program. At this time last year, there were 1,353 libraries in the program; there are now 1,342, a decrease of 11 libraries, less than one percent. Not earth-shattering but, indeed, libraries are leaving the program. There are certainly many reasons for this decrease; lack of resources, less staff, housing issues, to name a few. But one reason that has been mentioned by some libraries is the assumption that "everything they need is on the web" and that there's no need to go to all the trouble of handling the tangible documents. Without sounding like a Luddite, I must disagree that all government publications are "out there" in an electronic format.

We are continuing to see a variety of formats used for government information dissemination. Most material published in tangible formats is not also online and is not even available for sale. We foresee a mixed format environment in the future, and I believe that many thinkers in the library world agree with me. Indeed, I do believe that librarians and archivists agree that we must consider the formats we are using to save, capture, preserve, and archive information.

An article in the July 12, 1999 issue of Newsweek was titled, "History: We're Losing It." The subheading says, "They told us digital data would last forever. They lied. How do we save the past before it all disappears?" Perhaps we have not been lied to. But as new and snazzier formats come along in this web-driven world, few of us actually know how long these media might actually last or be useable.

Although the benefits of the FDLP are getting less tangible there are several key points in the program:

• Depository libraries continue to provide an essential service to their primary clientele and the American public by serving as centers for access to Federal government information. Although it is now estimated that 130 million households own computers, 130 million do not. Of those with computers, there is no estimate of how many are connected to the Internet and how many people have the skills and knowledge to find the government information they may need.

• The FDLP provides both tangible publications, many not on the web, and access to some electronic publications not freely available. It provides backup services, and a support system through the network of regional and selective depositories for reference and retrieval of government information.

Last summer, as I was preparing to speak at the American Association of Law Libraries annual conference, I followed an online discussion that took place on AALL's Professional Development Committee's discussion list about the role of law libraries in the depository program. When asked why law libraries should stay in the FDLP, responses included:

• "...receiving the documents themselves is the biggest advantage, even if there is alot of chaff with the wheat."

• "...creating good will in the community is always a plus."

• "I have...found that depository status has brought my institution positive attention from our congressional delegation."

• "With so many problems with commercial legal publishers in these days of mergers and buyouts - billing problems, discontinuing titles, poor service - GPO as a publisher is starting to look better and better!"

That last comment is my favorite, although I might be a bit biased.

This is not to say that the FDLP is not moving towards an electronic future. With more open access to digital information we must be cognizant of information in cyberspace AND information in tangible formats. We should not forget that in the Y2K hype and millennium madness of a mere few weeks ago, the invention of movable type was hailed as a major achievement of the last 1,000 years and Gutenberg, a printer, was hailed as a major figure and in some cases, THE person of the millennium!

Although a handout has been provided by the Depository Services Staff that highlights preliminary results from the 1999 Biennial survey, I would like to take a moment to discuss some of the results with you here.

• As of December 10, 1999 we had received 1298 responses.

• Of that number, we are pleased to note, over 95% of the respondents said that their library meets the requirements for "Public Access to Electronic Information Provided through the Federal Depository Libraries," by having at least one Pentium level PC for Internet access.

• 1141 depositories have a written collection development policy for U.S. depository documents, while 152 do not. We hope that those libraries without such a policy consider producing one.

• We are encouraged that most libraries make depository CD-ROMs accessible from stand-alone workstations (1143), the Internet (278), and library-wide local area networks (260), in addition to circulating them to patrons (743).

I would like to briefly talk about the other major dissemination program I oversee -- the Sales program, which in this past fiscal year continued to incur losses. We are experiencing dramatic reductions in sales due to a number of reasons:

• Changing government printing practices, both in quantity and format

• Changing customer purchasing patterns

• Increasing competition for products and markets from other government sales programs and the private sector

• GPO (like so many other government agencies) has put some of its sales publications on the web for free access

Indeed, as I noted earlier, the advent of new technologies such as the Internet, has both pros and cons. With free online access to some of our best sellers, such as the Federal Register, Congressional Record, etc., our sales are declining. In fact, two-thirds of our decline in revenue from 1998 to 1999 was due to reduced sales revenue from the Code of Federal Regulations. But in this electronic world, we must look at things in a new and different way. We are currently enhancing our online bookstore to better assist users in finding Federal information products available for sale through GPO. And Sales staff is working with both amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com to see that the publications we have in the Sales Program can reach a wider audience using the World Wide Web.

I would like to conclude with some comments about developments in GPO Access.

On December 31, 1999, we released our Biennial Report to Congress on the Status of GPO Access. This publication reported the growth in content, popularity, and capability that GPO Access has experienced over the last two years. The report is being made available in electronic format only at the following URL: <www.gpo.gov/biennialreport>.

Over the last three months, the Office of Electronic Information Dissemination (EIDS) conducted a user survey on GPO Access. Preliminary results from December 15, 1999 showed that of 213 respondents, nearly 20% use GPO Access daily and 35% use it at least once a week. With regards to finding information on the site, 98% of respondents indicated that they found what they were looking for, with 58% having found it either "easy" or "very easy" to find the information they wanted. A vast majority of respondents also displayed satisfaction with the timeliness of information, online user aids, and web site organization.

On December 1, 1999, we released "Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids." With Benjamin Franklin as a guide, the site provides a locator service to age-appropriate online educational resources about government for students in grades K-12, parents, and teachers. In addition, "Ben's Guide" provides tips for using GPO Access and links to other Federal Government web sites for kids.

Since its release, "Ben's Guide" has received excellent feedback. The Newsletter of the Documents Interest Group of Oregon described the site as "a well-designed children's web site" that "could be useful for reference questions as well" and described it as having an "attention to detail and to readability that is exemplary in web design."

I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the GPO staff members who have worked so hard to bring Ben's Guide to "life"-- they are Cindy Etkin and Steve Kerchoff of LPS (he is here at the conference) and Karen Sieger from EIDS.

This coming March, we are hoping to make government documents' librarians' lives easier by posting the General Wage Determinations Under the Davis-Bacon Act on GPO Access. An agreement has been reached between GPO and the Department of Labor that will allow the information to be posted on GPO Access with no usage restrictions and at no charge to our users. We are still finalizing implementation details with Labor, but we plan to begin by mounting the 2000 basic manual as a searchable database and then add new Determinations in weekly batches.

Later this morning, George Barnum and Steve Kerchoff will discuss the FDLP Electronic Collection and related issues. I am very pleased that we've set some specific objectives for this program. In FY 2001, GPO will have at least 500 "at-risk" electronic titles stored in the FDLP Electronic Collection archive. In each subsequent fiscal year, GPO will select, acquire, archive, and provide access to an additional 500 electronic titles. By FY 2003, we plan to develop a plan for avoiding technological obsolescence of the files in the FDLP/EC archive.

As you can see we are very busy. But we certainly want your comments, questions and suggestions about our programs. There are a number of GPO staff here who are available for consultations, including Mr. DiMario, Gil Baldwin, Sheila McGarr, T.C. Evans, Tad Downing, Robin Haun-Mohamed, George Barnum and Steve Kerchoff. I also look forward to talking with you in the coming days here.

Update on Depository Administration Branch Operations
Remarks by Robin Haun-Mohamed
Chief, Depository Administration Branch

Good morning! It’s always nice to be asked to speak before GODORT. My name is Robin Haun-Mohamed and I am Chief of the Depository Administration Branch (DAB) of the Library Programs Service (LPS). My area is responsible for acquiring and classifying all publications, regardless of format, disseminated through the Federal Depository Library Program. This morning I have a little of this and a little of that to relay. As we announced in December, the Davis-Bacon General Wage Determinations will be available on GPO Access this spring. The Department of Labor is providing the data and LPS will make it available in a WAIS database as part of the FDLP Electronic Collection. Currently this information is disseminated to the libraries in paper format, as a basic manual with weekly paper updates that libraries must interfile as they are received. The electronic database will be easier to use and libraries will save time by not having to interfile the updates each week. We expect the database to be available sometime in March. Please continue to check "What’s New on GPO Access" and the Administrative Notes for notification when the database is available.

I am pleased to announce the completion of the revision of Circular Letter 456, Guidelines for the Provision of Government Publications for Depository Library Distribution. This was last issued to agencies in 1990 as Circular Letter 320. We use these Guidelines extensively to do outreach to agencies for publications. And because it has been reissued as a circular letter, it has also been distributed by e-mail to all agency printing officials that have requested copies of GPO circular letters. Thus, current information about the program has reached many printing officials and program officers who might not otherwise be aware of the FDLP.

In addition to the revision of the Guidelines, we have also issued Circular Letter 457, Notification of Intent to Publish and Circular Letter 458, Disseminating Electronic Government Products to the Public Through the Federal Depository Library Program (better known as the Internet Product Notification form). Each of these circular letters includes information on how to submit publishing notification electronically to GPO. We hope the agencies find these forms useful. All of the newly issued circular letters are now available on the World Wide Web from GPO’s Customer Service page. And the Notification of Intent to Publish is available from the Main GPO home page.

For DAB, this is a success story. From one DOE contractor using the new online 3868 notification form process, I have had notice of ten publications that otherwise would be fugitive documents! And I have had contact with several other agencies that wish to be sure their products are included in the FDLP.

For many years the Country Studies have been prepared by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the Department of the Army. In FY 1998, the Department of the Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations decided to terminate funding for the Program. GPO is working with the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress to publish the next two country studies in a physical format. If all goes well, two studies, the Dominican Republic and Haiti and the Cuba Country Studies will be distributed to the libraries in paper sometime in the late spring or early summer.

In another project, GPO has been working with EPA to coordinate dissemination of the information in the "Off-site Consequence Analysis Information" (OCA) portion of the EPA Chemical Accident Prevention Risk Management Program to the libraries in the FDLP. At this time we are discussing dissemination options, including E-Books, for the depository libraries.

Under the Clean Air Act of 1990, facilities that use large amounts of extremely hazardous substances must prepare Risk Management Plans (RMP), including worst-case accident scenarios. But in S.880, Congress directed EPA to prevent full disclosure of the OCA data via RMP databases on the World Wide Web. EPA was directed to establish an information technology system that provides for the availability to the public of the OCA data through a central database that contains information that users may read, but that provides no means by which an electronic or mechanical copy of the information may be made. I’ve probably said more than I should on this topic as Lisa Jenkins from EPA is a scheduled speaker here today and I am sure she has a great many more details for you on this project.

In June, the State Department announced the decision to discontinue publishing Dispatch magazine, effective with the December 1999 issue. According to the agency, every speech, testimony, and briefing made available to Public Affairs is provided to the public via the World Wide Web. Because Dispatch provides a narrow selection of speeches and testimonies per month, the State Department believes this is the time to focus resources on the area in which they can economically reach the most readers. On a brighter note, the Background Notes will continue to be distributed to the libraries in paper format. Although the State Department is no longer going to print the Background Notes, GPO will obtain the information from State and make them available for sale and distribute them through the FDLP in paper format.

Since I am speaking about all the "good stuff" I’d like to make a plug for Ben’s Page. I really want to take credit for this terrific product, but since I can’t, I’d like to thank my co-workers, Cindy Etkin, Steve Kerchoff, and Karen Sieger for their efforts. For those of you who haven’t seen the page, go to <http://bensguide.gpo.gov/>. I even brought it to the attention of some teachers in our local school and they like it too! When I asked one teacher what he thought of the page, he responded, "I can see one problem—they’re going to fight over who gets to do the puzzles."

OK, back to the more traditional fare. In late December we received the copies of the daily Congressional Record and Federal Registers that were missing due to the change from direct mail to shipping in the shipment boxes. You should have received all the issues by this time. We have been placing these titles in the Congressional shipment boxes to allow them to go out ahead of regular shipment boxes. Then, as I was preparing this speech, we realized the List of Sections Affected and the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents also had delivery problems. (The September, October November issues of the LSA and Weekly Comp from issue 43 +) So, we are going to obtain copies of the missing paper issues. Please let us know if you are still having problems with receipt of any of the titles that used to be sent directly to your library.

And while I am speaking about the congressional shipments, let me give you an update on the rebinding project for the defective bound Congressional Record volumes. At this time the Bindery Division continues to have more material to process than they have staff. I am hoping the volumes will be sent back to the libraries by mid-March. This is significantly longer than you expected to have the volumes out of your library and I apologize for the delay. I appreciate your continued patience with this project.

Quite some time ago, we took on the project of updating the Superseded List. As most of you know, this is a joint project between LPS staff and the librarians who use the material, because LPS does not have a physical collection of depository material. For the material distributed to the libraries in a physical format, our processing copies go to Cataloging and then to NARA as scheduled every four years.

When the Superseded project was first mentioned, there were some who wished to concentrate on the tangible electronic products. We thought this would be useful and began with that plan in mind. But once the reviewers started their agencies’ review, it was determined to be easier to do all formats, not just focus on the CD’s and floppies. So, we have 35 volunteers who have done a great job in reviewing the material—almost all of the initial review has been done. The next process is to compare the new entries against a database of the 1996 edition and reconcile any conflicts. Then we will convert the data to an SGML database that will be accessible via the web, similar to the WEBTech Notes database. While we are not there yet, I did want to assure you we continue to work on this project.

LPS continues to update WEBTech Notes on a weekly or twice monthly basis. The most up-to-date information on classification numbers and item numbers is found in WEBTech Notes. We send our thanks to those librarians who check the database before submitting their askLPS inquiry. It really does help keep the numbers down. Of course, it also makes it more difficult to process the inquiries, because there are very few easy ones, only the "challenging" ones are left. For the askLPS service for this year, LPS has received 818 inquiries and processed 1132 (boy have we been working on some backlogs!).

There are a few reminders I’d like to make at this time. When submitting an askLPS inquiry, please always include your e-mail address. Sometimes libraries submit the inquiry and there is no way to determine who sent it, because the library number and email address fields are not filled in. Occasionally you may see a response that begins with, "I hope this is going to the right place…" because the only return address information included on the inquiry was the library number. One further thing on askLPS, we can’t always answer the inquiries in the order we receive them. Because some inquiries are very complicated or if we have to contact the agency to verify information, the answer will take more time than a straightforward, "there was a typo on SL 2000-0020-P."

The Administrative Notes Technical Supplement (ANTS) will continue to be distributed to libraries in paper format. In the May 15, 1999 issue of Administrative Notes, the Library Programs Service (LPS) proposed changing the ANTS from a printed product to an electronic only product. This proposal was one response to a fall 1998 recommendation from the Depository Library Council to the Public Printer to continue the transition to a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program by discontinuing or consolidating "traditional" tangible products and services.

LPS received numerous comments and expressions of concern over this proposed change. Many of these comments concern the difficulties of producing a complete and satisfactory printed version of ANTS from the HTML pages on GPO Access. In light of these comments, LPS is investigating ways to improve the WEBTech Notes application. Until such changes can be accomplished, LPS will continue distributing ANTS in paper format.

Lastly, I’d like to close with an update on the classification backlog in the Depository Administration Branch. For physical products, we have 3108 pieces to be processed in the Branch. We have 837 products awaiting conversion to microfiche format and 389 microfiche publications that need to be duplicated and sent to the libraries. Electronic product identification and classification continue to be our greatest challenges. We are working on additional training for Internet searching skills and online systems to refresh staff on the Internet polices already established over the last couple of years. We are also working on a process to systematize the discovery, classification, and cataloging practices associated with online resources that will allow for all our staff to participate in finding resources for the electronic collection.

I do have a few stories to relate to you about DAB activities—this is probably the part I enjoy the most, except when I have to tell you we missed the opportunity to ride the requisition for the Surgeon General’s Mental Health Report. The good news, because we were looking for it when it came into GPO for the Sales program, is that we were able to work with Customer Service and the agency to obtain sufficient copies for distribution to the libraries. We sent out the IRS tax forms on CD-ROM earlier this week. They are being mailed to the libraries as a separate from the mailing contractor. And the 1998 Statistical Abstract in paper has finally arrived and was also sent to the libraries from the separates mailing contractor in late December.

Finally, I’d like to tell you about my favorite new publication just because I have the podium and a captive audience. Take a look at My History is America’s History; 15 Things You Can Do to Save America’s Stories. It was distributed to libraries on shipping list 2000-0081-P dated Dec. 16, 1999. It’s a four color, spiral bound publication with lots of pictures, interesting text, timelines, and tips on projects and preservation of material.

I thank you for your time and hope that you have a successful conference.

[Handout]

Monograph cataloger Robert Luoma produced OCLC record number 43 million on December 14, 1999. An experienced cataloger of congressional publications, Robert produced a record for the Federal Royalty Certainty Act: hearing before the Subcommittee on Energy Research, Development, Production, and Regulation of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources…" Several years ago, cataloger Eileen Seremeth also earned an OCLC GPO "gold record." Catalogers share in these achievements and appreciate the recognition that "gold records" bring to the Federal depository library community.

GPO recently signed an agreement with OCLC to become a Cooperative Online Resource Catalog (CORC) participant. We are using CORC software on an experimental basis, along with some 150 other CORC institutions, in assisting OCLC to develop its CORC applications. Our membership in CORC also allows us to evaluate the potential that CORC may have for selected LPS applications, particularly for cataloging resources disseminated to depositories solely in electronic format. At present, we do not anticipate modifications to current operations, policies, standards, or procedures.

Experience with using CORC software is essential to developing informed judgements as to the potential that CORC applications may have for LPS operations. As we use CORC, we will confer closely with the depository community regarding any potential suitability that CORC may have for bibliographic control of "online only" resources in online public access catalogs.

OCLC will continue to extract data from GPO’s OCLC WorldCat records for online resources for inclusion in the CORC database. At present, GPO has contributed approximately 4,000 of its OCLC records for inclusion in CORC.

During calendar year 1999 Cataloging Branch personnel received 33,041 pieces of work and processed 33,255 pieces of work. 23,208 records were produced in OCLC for inclusion in the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications and the electronic Catalog of United States Government Publications on GPO’s web site.

Cataloging Backlog

A backlog count of all pieces of work within the Cataloging Branch indicates that 7,268 pieces of work await review, processing and/or cataloging. Nearly 5,000 pieces of this total consist of serials distributed to depositories in microfiche. Because most works of current interest are published as online or paper versions, our efforts are focused on timely cataloging of as many online or paper serials, maps, and monographs as possible. We continue to reduce the accumulated microfiche serials backlog when additional time for this task is available.

One Cataloging Branch librarian works approximately half time on efforts to restore links via the LPS PURLS server. Broken links may be reported to askLPS or directly to Theodore Defosse at <tdefosse@gpo.gov>.

As of January 3, 2000, the web edition of the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications contains approximately 136,000 records produced from the beginning of 1994 through the end of 1999. Approximately 10,000 of these records contain hot links. Approximately 4,000 hot linked records are accessible via PURLs. Records are added to the web application within 24 hours after being produced in OCLC.

Libraries with commercial tape services should be receiving tape loads in accordance with routine schedules. The Cataloging Distribution Service of the Library of Congress receives Monthly Catalog data according to established schedules and makes data available in a timely manner.

Scheduled distribution of CD-ROM and paper editions of the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications:

• By mid-January, libraries should have received paper and CD-ROM editions of the Monthly Catalog for January through August 1999. As previously reported, priorities associated with Y2K have made it difficult for GPO technical personnel to process data according to established schedules.

Libraries should receive copies of the Congressional Serial Set Catalog for the 103^rd Congress during March or April 2000.

General Wage Determinations Issued Under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (item 0777-B-04 through 0777-B-10, L 36.211:), will become available via GPO Access early this spring. The Department of Labor is providing the official data and the Superintendent of Documents is making the information available in a searchable WAIS database as part of the Federal Depository Library Program Electronic Collection. Davis-Bacon on GPO Access will be available to depository libraries and public users at no charge, and with no restrictions on reuse or redissemination of the data.

Libraries registered to access the STAT-USA paid database through the FDLP will need to use their new password, beginning February 1, 2000. Information on the global password change was distributed to the libraries in the shipment boxes during the week of January 3- January 10, 2000. If you do not receive the password change information, please contact Robin Haun-Mohamed by e-mail at <rhaun-mohamed@gpo.gov>. Libraries are reminded they must abide by the agreement with STAT-USA for depository access to the paid database. The user must be in the library to access the database and the library is limited to one user at a time on the database.

USAPAT on CD-ROM (item 0260-E, C 21.31:) is still scheduled for conversion to DVD format, but the change will not occur with the first issue of 2000 as initially announced last fall. Libraries will continue to receive the CD-ROM version until the DVDs are ready for distribution. At that time the agency will redistribute the information on a DVD to insure the whole year is available in the new format.

GPO has declared a default on Wilkins Systems, Inc. for programs B354-S and B562-S. All the titles originally sent to Wilkins for microfiche conversion have been returned to GPO for reprocessing. Some of the material has already been processed and distributed to the libraries but it is not clear from Wilkins records which specific titles have already been distributed. Therefore, some libraries may receive duplicate copies of these publications. Treat the duplicates as secondary copies and process as directed in the Instructions to Depository Libraries.

[Handout]

A new library inspector, Charles Bradsher, has joined the Depository Services Staff as of January 10, 2000. Mr. Bradsher comes to LPS from the Naval Medical Research Center Library in Bethesda, MD. He received his MLIS from the University of South Carolina, where he also worked in the Thomas Cooper Library.

The 1999 Biennial Survey of Depository Libraries was issued in October, 1999, and as of December 16, 1298 depositories had successfully entered their responses via the web application. The remaining depositories have been contacted by e-mail or fax to submit the mandatory survey immediately. The regional librarians were very helpful in expediting the prompt return of the survey from those selectives under their purview.

A substantial amount of data correction is still required, especially on the "free form" answers. In late spring 2000, LPS will post the raw data files on the Federal Bulletin Board for downloading and later will issue a written report on survey results.

Here are selected preliminary results based on 1,298 responses:

• 1293 libraries wish to remain in the FDLP. Five small depositories plan to relinquish depository status, preferring to rely on the Internet and selective purchases of government information.

• 1141 depositories have a written collection development policy for U.S. depository documents while 152 do not.

• 439 libraries are substituting some official online resources for tangible depository material while 854 are not.

• The processing of depository receipts is integrated into the processing unit for other library materials in 558 depositories, while 735 libraries maintain a separate operation.

• 621 libraries have computer equipment that uses assistive technologies for the physically challenged; 672 do not.

• 855 depositories have a written access policy for the depository collection and 438 do not.

• 527 depositories have a written policy regarding public services for Government information in electronic formats and 766 do not.

• 505 libraries have a written policy for FDLP Internet use and 788 do not.

• 504 libraries report having records for Internet-accessible Federal electronic Government information products with active hyperlinks in their library's catalog.

In late January 2000, depository librarians and their directors in Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, and Virginia will be notified to submit a self-study by May 1. In May, depository librarians and their directors in Arkansas, California, and Florida will be notified to submit a self-study by September 1. In September, depository librarians and their directors in Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania will be notified to submit a self-study by January 2001.

The spring 2000 Depository Library Council meeting will be held from April 10-12. The DoubleTree Islander Hotel, Goat Island, in Newport, RI is the meeting site. The preliminary agenda and registration form appeared in the January 15, 2000 issue of Administrative Notes.

There are still slots available to attend the 13^th annual Interagency Depository Seminar that will be held from May 31-June 7, 2000 at the U.S. Government Printing Office. The preliminary agenda and registration form appeared in the October 15, 1999 issue of Administrative Notes and the registration deadline is March 13, 2000.

The 9^th annual Federal Depository Conference and fall Depository Library Council meeting will be held from Monday, October 23 through Wednesday afternoon, October 25, 2000 and the Regional Librarians meeting will be held on Sunday, October 22. The Holiday Inn-Rosslyn Westpark, 1900 North Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, VA, is the conference hotel. The preliminary agenda will appear in the June 15, 2000 issue of Administrative Notes.

The February 2000 edition of the Federal Depository Library Directory will be distributed to all depositories in late March. Depository librarians should review the entry for their institution on the online database at <www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/ldirect.html> and notify LPS of corrections by February 11.

Please note that the URL in the online database entry should be for a site that has a direct link to specific government information page(s) or significant mention of the library’s depository status. A URL for a general library site, with no reference to documents or depository status, should not be included.

LPS and GPO's Production Department have built a prototype electronic archive to be used specifically for publications added to the FDLP Electronic Collection (FDLP/EC). During this prototype phase, LPS is developing procedures, based on the principles outlined in Managing the FDLP Electronic Collection: A Policy and Planning Document for identifying, capturing and organizing electronic resources for the electronic archive. Initial efforts are focused on capturing electronic publications for which no tangible equivalent has been located or identified by LPS for distribution.

The initial hardware configuration includes twin DEC Alpha 1200 computers running at 533 Mhz with 1.088 GB each of RAM and 58 GB of storage. The twin machines will be operated as mirrors to provide necessary redundancy for security purposes. The configuration is very flexible, and can be immediately expanded from GPO stock by 18 GB.

The initial phase has included the setup and testing of the hardware configuration, development and implementation of communication procedures between LPS and the Production Department for the transfer of data and operation of the system, and initial experimentation with methods and routines for capture, documentation, and processing of titles for the archive. We anticipate that we will move from prototype to full production in the first half of calendar 2000.

The lifecycle of electronic publications in the archive has been outlined thus far: At the evaluation phase in the acquisition process, remotely served electronic publications will be identified as candidates for the archive based on attributes described in the collection policy. Content will be captured as part of the accession process, and reference is made (in the BET description or successor database) that an archival copy is being preserved. When the PURL is assigned, users will be directed to the official agency site. At the point that the official site is found to be no longer available, the PURL will be modified to direct the user to the archive copy, with a notice appearing detailing the date of archiving and other pertinent information.

LPS is evaluating titles that are currently distributed in microfiche format for migration to online dissemination. Most of the titles under consideration are selected by fewer than 500 depository libraries. If an official, reliable version of the publication is available online, LPS will decide if it is appropriate to make only the digital version available to depository libraries. A primary consideration is whether permanent public access to the product can be assured, typically by including the online publication in the GPO electronic archive.

Steven Kerchoff joined the LPS staff as an Electronic Transition Specialist for a one-year term in October 1999. Kerchoff, a librarian from the Library of Congress Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC), will use his extensive knowledge of Federal libraries and information resources to assist in increasing awareness about GPO's Electronic Collection activities and in developing additional partnership opportunities with agencies.

George Barnum returned to the Library Programs Service (LPS) in late September in his new position as Electronic Collection Manager. He is responsible for all initiatives related to the FDLP/EC and permanent public access to electronic resources in the collection. He is continuing to develop the partnership concept for the FDLP.

Libraries in the FDLP continue to express interest in becoming FDLP partners. The Electronic Collection Manager has been concentrating on developing contacts within agencies with which to build partnership agreements. Excellent discussions have taken place with staff from the Census Bureau, U.S. Institute of Peace, National Library of Education, and others. Among existing projects are:

• NTIS

• NRC

[Handout]

GPO Access and Office of Electronic Information
Dissemination Services Activities Update January 2000

• Currently, GPO Access is averaging about 21 million document retrievals per month.

• GPO Access now contains more than 104,000 electronic titles and points to more than 68,000 others.

• There are more than 1,300 databases available through more than 80 applications on GPO Access.

• On October 5, 1999, a user survey was placed on GPO Access. Because EIDS just took it down at the beginning of 2000, final results are not yet available. However, preliminary results from December 15, 1999, showed that, of 213 respondents, 19% use GPO Access daily. With regard to finding information on the site, 9% consider it "very easy" and an additional 49% indicated that they find it easy to do so. Users also displayed satisfaction with the timeliness of information, online user aids, and web site organization.

• GPO has contracted for an expansion of its Internet bandwidth. Upon completion, this enhancement will more than double GPO's guaranteed rate of bandwidth, to 12 mbps, and will allow for rapid expansion to 45 mbps, when additional capacity is needed. The existing T1 lines will back up the new equipment.

• "Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids" <http://bensguide.gpo.gov>

• 1999 Biennial Report to Congress on the Status of GPO Access <http://www.gpo.gov/biennialreport>

• "Findings of Fact" in the antitrust case against the Microsoft Corporation <http://usvms.gpo.gov>

• Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States (1997, vol. 1; 1996, vols. 1 and 2) <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/pubpaps/srchpaps.html>

• Transitional web pages (or "exit pages") are being added to all points from which users can exit GPO Access through links to other web sites.

• The Office of Electronic Information Dissemination Services (EIDS) has recently assumed responsibility for managing and administering the U.S. Fax Watch service, available through the Superintendent of Documents. This service is still available at (202) 512-1716.

• New software will soon allow users to receive documents via e-mail, in addition to fax.

• Since removing the robot-exclusion protocol on GPO Access in September 1999, EIDS has made an effort to publicize its online resources by contacting webmasters and editors of search engines and directories to improve the ranking of GPO Access web pages. This effort has coincided with the coding of more than 100 GPO Access web pages with keyword and description meta tags.

• A joint effort by EIDS, Library Programs Service, Document Sales Service, and the Production Department prevented any major mishaps from occurring due to the Y2K bug. Apart from a few minor glitches that are being corrected, the overall transistion into 2000 has been a smooth one.

• Deschler's Precedents of the U.S. House of Representatives

• A Statutes at Large application

• e-CFR: A pilot project with NARA's Office of the Federal Register is in progress that will provide a more frequently updated electronic version of the Code of Federal Regulations

• A web site for the U.S. Supreme Court

• A prototype site to host declassified State Department cables

• EIDS staff has been in discussion with EPA about making Offsite Consequence Analysis data available using E-Book technology. By law, this data may not be provided in a format that allows printing or file copying. If adopted, it is anticipated that an E-Book reader would be provided to each selecting depository library.

• GPO is contracting for DVD-ROM replication of patent awards with the Patent and Trademark Office.

• Electronic access to General Wage Determinations Issued Under the Davis-Bacon Act, by March.

• We anticipate that the FY 2001 Federal Budget Publications and the 2000 Economic Report of the President will be released on GPO Access on February 7, 2000. A CD-ROM of the FY 2001 Federal Budget Publications will be released on the same day as the printed Budget, but will not contain the 2000 Economic Report of the President.

• EIDS continues to enhance our customers' ordering experience on our Online Bookstore. In addition to the Sales Product Catalog, functionality is being added to sales pages that enables customers to perform new searches from partially filled order forms to add to their orders. Also in development is an application that would let users select topics of interest (based on Subject Bibliographies) and receive e-mail notification of the release of new products in the fields they select.

• GPO Access Booth Exhibits