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The New GPO: Preparing for the Next Millenium
Remarks by Francis J. Buckley, Jr.
Superintendent of Documents

Good morning! I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak to you for the last time at our spring meeting in Washington. As many of you know, we are switching around the dates for holding these events. The next time we will be in the Washington, DC area will be in the fall of 2000. Our fall 1999 session will be in Kansas City and we are negotiating arrangements to meet in Newport, RI in the spring of the year 2000.

I’d like to address the overall issue of GPO’s dissemination programs. It is noteworthy that some of the problems we face and the solutions we have put forth are receiving general attention. As an example, the Washington Post had a front page article last month about digital information and preservation concerns that highlighted activities at the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). From that article, I pulled some quotes that I think frame those issues we in the Government and we as librarians are dealing with as we head into the next century:

• "The Information Age, the experts warn, could become a blank spot in human history."

• "The world’s not ending, it’s just becoming incomprehensible."

• "…the Internet is heavily skewed toward recent information, the latest data, with little trace of older material. A person might surf the Web for hours and not encounter anything written before 1995."

• "The worst fear of a librarian is that knowledge will be lost, that the world will somehow see a repeat of the tragedy of the burning of the great library of Alexandria, in Egypt, by the forces of Julius Caesar in 47 B.C." The author of the article goes on to say that, in fact, nobody is quite sure when the library in Alexandria was burned, or by whom or how much information was lost. The problem? There was no definitive information passed down through the centuries that could precisely tell us. So I would wholeheartedly agree with those who are concerned that vital information that we take for granted today might not exist in the coming millennium.

Now, having shared some of these dire statements let me say that we in GPO think that the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is one solution as far as Government information is concerned. The program is evolving to meet the changing methods for information dissemination and participating libraries are evolving to meet the needs of their constituents. Gil Baldwin, who will speak later this morning, will provide you with the specific details of progress in various facets of the depository program.

But on one front, I’d like to say I am very pleased to report that GPO has published the long-awaited Assessment of Electronic Government Information Products. Printed copies of the report are being sent to every depository and it is available on both the GPO and NCLIS Web sites. As you are no doubt aware, this study was commissioned by GPO as a critical component in our transition to a more electronic FDLP. It was intended to provide data about what types of standards and mediums were being used or which Federal agencies planned to use electronic dissemination of their information products.

We established an Interagency Agreement with NCLIS to conduct the assessment since, as an independent Executive Branch agency, it is charged by law to advise the President, Congress, state and local Governments and others on national and international policies and plans for library and information services. NCLIS in turn contracted with Westat, a professional survey firm, to conduct the assessment.

The final report makes 16 key findings. The survey identified the most prevalent mediums used to disseminate Government information, as well as the most prevalent formats, noting that these medium and format standards are "common agency practice rather than agency-mandated." The survey found that the most prevalent types of mediums are the Web, paper, CD-ROM, and bulletin board systems; (and) the most prevalent formats are HTML, PDF, GIF, JPEG, TIFF and ASCII." The survey found that "some…agencies are exploring a range of innovative formats and Web design approaches for electronic Government information products."

But another key finding was that "there is an overall lack of Government information policy guiding electronic publishing, dissemination, permanent public access, or information life cycle management, especially as information policy relates to agency missions. Also, there is lack of overall coordination of these initiatives at the Governmental, branch, or even agency level."

Although not a surprise, the report does state that "the concept of permanent public access is not well understood," and that "there is a lack of understanding of what ensuring authenticity (of Government information in electronic formats) entails."

We are all well aware that the U.S. Federal Government produces an enormous quantity and variety of information. The standards best suited for one type of product or data may be substantially less suited, or even entirely inappropriate, for another. Consequently, there is no single standard in which all Government information products can, or should, be created or disseminated. Nevertheless, it is in the best interests of the Government, and those who use Government information, to achieve a greater degree of standardization than now exists.

You will be getting more details about the study tomorrow morning when Woody Horton, NCLIS consultant and project director, will be speaking to you.

Members of the staff and I have been involved in numerous outreach activities in the last 6 months since the Fall Council meeting and you will hear more about the other speakers’ experiences later this morning.

I have had the opportunity to speak to and meet with individuals at library and information-related conferences, library science classes, various professional association meetings and Government organizations. The farthest my travels have taken me is to Tokyo last November. And on American soil, in February, I went back to Michigan and spoke to groups of special, medical and law librarians in addition to participating in a colloquium at Wayne State University and the Biennial General Meeting of the Michigan Council of Depository Libraries.

Recently, I’ve spoken to the DC Chapter of the Special Libraries Association, the Interagency Council on Printing and Publication Services and at the regional library at the University of Maryland as part of their speaker series.

Upcoming venues for me include the Department of Energy Inforum, the Montana Library Association, the American Library Association (GODORT/FDTF), the American Association of Law Libraries, and the annual meeting of the White House Conference on Library and Information Services.

Last month, I had the honor of representing GPO at a ceremony during which a "Hammer Award" was presented to the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) for the DOE Information Bridge Web site. As I am sure many of you are aware, the partnership that GPO has with OSTI enables the Information Bridge to be made available to the depository program and therefore to the public at large. There will be a presentation tomorrow by OSTI staff about Information Bridge -- and where they are one year later after its implementation.

In another form of partnership, I know you recently received information from me about the Atlas of Understanding that is being developed to present an array of issues facing Americans as we enter a new century. It will be produced under the auspices of an organization called TED, which runs annual Technology, Entertainment and Design conferences. What I have found interesting about the project is their focus on the "now," not, as they point out, "millennial retrospectives or future forecasts." This Atlas is to serve as a public information resource, presented in a bipartisan manner to help the public make informed decisions. Sound familiar? I am sure you would agree that this focus complements the mission of the FDLP. Therefore, I hope that the letter and information you received piqued your interest to take advantage of this new opportunity to promote the services of the depository program.

John Shuler of the University of Illinois at Chicago and Eliot Christian of the U.S. Geological Survey will be discussing this project in more detail on Wednesday afternoon.

Our Sales Program has been experiencing declining sales volumes, changes in buying patterns, reduced number of titles to sell and more competition for the distribution of Government information products as agencies look to public/private partnerships to reduce their cost of publication, in whatever format, and generate revenue for their agency.

However, we are looking at ways to strengthen the program and I am pleased to report that we are more "aggressive," and flexible about getting items into our Sales Program; by fashioning new arrangements and examining different ways of doing business with other groups, both inside and outside of Government. As an example, this year we agreed to purchase copies of the Federal Tax Products IRS CD-ROM from the National Technical Information Service for the GPO Sales Program.

• GPO staff has worked with the Central Intelligence Agency in ensuring that its World Factbook is printed and included in our Sales Program.

• We have reprinted public domain portions of the North American Industrial Classification System.

• We have worked with agencies to publish O*NET and the Export Administration Regulation (EAR).

• We buy copies of Environmental Health Perspectives from the contractor for our Sales Program.

In addition, we have established a program to retain some U.S. Government publications for long-term availability in the GPO Sales Program. An initial group of titles that will not go out of print has been identified, such as volumes of the Congressional Record, Public Papers of the Presidents and other works of historical significance or long-term reference value. There will be a meeting taking place during the conference with Peggy Walker and other volunteers who are giving us advice on the formulation of this program.

The staff of GPO’s Sales Program has been very busy in planning for the implementation of the Integrated Processing System (IPS) that will significantly improve our order processing and inventory operations. It will be a fully integrated on-line real-time system for processing sales orders, inquiries, and complaints. It will replace some 18 mainframe applications. The goals for IPS are to provide world-class customer service and to reduce processing times from days or weeks to a day or less. And I should mention that this system has been certified to be Y2K compliant by the vendor, Northrup Grumman.

And speaking of Y2K, as Mr. DiMario has mentioned, there have been concerns raised on Capitol Hill about GPO’s Y2K readiness. Let me assure you that staff is moving forward on ensuring that systems within Library Programs Service are, indeed, Y2K compliant. We are preparing a transmission to go to the Joint Committee on Printing requesting approval to update the Automated Depository Distribution System; which is our higher-tech name for the lighted bin system.

While these annual depository conferences don’t have a particular theme, this year I would like to say we are a "new GPO" -- one that is more active and aggressive in the collection of Government information products for our information dissemination programs.

There continues to be an increased focus on our responsibility for bibliographic control and cataloging, indexing and locator services. You will be hearing more about these issues over the next few days.

And we continue to pay a great deal of attention to concerns raised by you and your colleagues over permanent public access to Government information products. This is an exciting time to be at GPO as we develop and evolve our systems that will ensure current and permanent public access to as comprehensive a collection of Government information products in all formats as possible.

It is a pleasure to be with you this morning to report on the continuing growth and development of GPO Access. Hopefully, you have had an opportunity to use our new Web pages released last week and to benefit from the improved response time. These improvements are a direct result of your feedback and months of hard work by a number of GPO areas to act upon them. Reaction from the user community has been decidedly positive, and we are very grateful to those who have shared their views with us. While we seldom have any problem getting feedback if something goes wrong, we often must content ourselves with the old saw that says: "no news is good news."

This is by no means an end to the changes on GPO Access. Work is already underway on a number of the lower-level pages in an attempt to utilize the many improvements that have come from the work on our primary pages. Efforts are also underway to continue working on the infrastructure of GPO Access to provide the best possible performance.

We have also spent a considerable amount of time examining usage and the ways in which we measure GPO Access usage. The system changes necessary to improve performance and the growth of information available on GPO Access forced us to change the way in which we capture the number of documents downloaded each month. As a result, an improved process fully capturing all downloads from GPO Access regardless of which piece of the system was involved has been implemented. The first month in which the new method was employed was February and more than 19.1 million downloads were recorded.

Let’s consider the February number for a moment. The 19.1 million downloads translate to more than 680,000 per day, over 28,000 per hour, 475 per minute, and approximately 8 per second, depending on your preferred unit of time. Regardless, this represents heavy usage, particularly in light of the fact that downloads result from a variety of other activities on the site. As the full effect of the system performance improvements are felt in subsequent months, numbers should go even higher. Preliminary numbers currently being evaluated for March indicate that almost 22.2 million downloads were completed in that month. This represents more than twice the number for March 1998.

None of this would have been possible without the dedicated efforts of GPO personnel from many organizations. This includes the Web Committee, the many hardworking men and women in Production and Documents who strive to support the demands placed upon them, and the many people in the user community who give of their time to help GPO Access grow. Although many of these individuals cannot be with us today, and most are back at the office toiling away, they all deserve our thanks for a job well done.

In addition to the improvements already described, there are some other recent and upcoming changes to GPO Access that bear mention. In no particular order, they are:

• The online House Journal is now available. There is a possibility that a Senate version may soon follow.

• A browse feature has been added to the Public Laws application. A similar feature is being developed for Congressional Bills.

• The Congressional Pictorial Directory for the 106^th Congress is available on GPO Access.

• Progress has been made in the development of a site search application for GPO Access. Additional work must be done before testing can begin, but we hope to have it ready in the near future so that it can become a standard feature on all of the primary GPO Access pages. An adjunct benefit of this effort will be an index that will be made available for search engines to use in adding the products and services of GPO Access to their listings.

• A comprehensive effort is under way to improve the sales portion of our site. This effort has begun with today’s release of the initial offering of encryption protection for placing orders. It will be refined as part of an improvement to our shopping cart feature that is being readied for release in the near future. This and other improvements are being prepared under the umbrella of the U.S. Government Online Bookstore that will pull together and enhance access to the many products available through the sales program.

• A new and larger booth has been procured for use in an expanding number of important tradeshows around the country to spread the word about GPO programs.

• A project is underway to provide a page whenever a user clicks on a link provided by GPO Access that causes the user to leave the site. This will also enable us to measure how many times users are referred by GPO Access to other sites housing Federal Government information.

• A new online GPO Access survey is being readied for release. This is a follow-up to the previous online surveys and will be used to judge the progress of our development efforts and to gain insight for further efforts.

• Work is underway to develop a comprehensive privacy notice for GPO Access.

• EIDS staff members are preparing guidelines for the development of GPO Access for consideration by the Web Committee.

• A new Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission Web site is being hosted on GPO Access.

I would like to make note of the fact that in the March 15^th issue of PC World, GPO was recognized as one of the leading public sector technology innovators in the Nation. The magazine contains a special report identifying and ranking "the real world organizations using advanced information technologies in the most innovative ways." Of the 100 State and Federal Government and education sites listed, GPO is ranked ninth. Indeed, of all Federal Government sites alone, GPO is ranked second. It would be an understatement to say that we are very proud of the success of GPO Access.

As you can tell, GPO Access is continuing its rapid evolution. I invite you to take advantage of GPO Access demos to be given over the next few days by EIDS trainers. Introductory sessions will be held this afternoon and on Wednesday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Advanced searching demonstrations will be held on Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. and at 3:45 p.m. I also invite you to participate with me in an open forum on GPO Access to be held on Wednesday, at 10:45 a.m., in the Versailles IV Room. I look forward to discussing with you there, and at any time, the ways in which you feel that GPO Access could be improved.

Good morning, everyone! It’s great to see such a large turnout for our combined Federal Depository Conference and Depository Library Council meeting. This will be the last time we get together like this in the spring; our next combined session will be in the fall of 2000 in a place that many of you may remember, the Holiday Inn Westpark in Rosslyn, VA.

Recently we have been taking stock of where we stand with the transition to a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). In our 1996 study, the Government Printing Office (GPO) included a strategic plan for the FDLP electronic transition. While the strategic plan covered fiscal years 1996 through 2001, 28 specific activities were described and milestones established for FY 1996-1998.

This progress report is an update on actions taken to accomplish these specific milestones. GPO is pleased to report that 86% of the transition activities for the FY 1996-1998 period have been completed or that, while work is still underway, substantial progress has been made. Of the four deferred activities two were dependent upon additional funding from Congress and were not begun since the requested funding was not approved.

While we were pleased about how much has been accomplished, the more critical part of this effort will be to visualize what the program will look like in less than three years, and then to make the necessary mid-course corrections necessary to attain that outcome.

As part of this planning, we have developed a set of assumptions about key Governmental, environmental, and organizational issues that will shape what the program becomes.

Here are some of the key assumptions that we are working with:

• By FY 2002, we will have completed the major portion of the transition. After that the FDLP will continue to evolve in response to developments in information technology, agency publishing practices, and the legislative and information policy environment.

• The statutory basis for the program will not significantly change; there will still be unresolved issues of overall Government information policy.

• The allocation of GPO program resources will continue to shift from acquiring and disseminating tangible products to managing the FDLP Electronic Collection. There will be a parallel trend in depository library operations.

• The mix of depository products will change in tandem with agency publishing practices. When agencies publish both print and electronic versions of a product, GPO’s general approach will be to select the electronic version for the FDLP.

• Demographic changes, advancing technology, and a population more comfortable with computer use will change the perception and expectations of the FDLP among both depository librarians and public users.

Many of these issues will be discussed in Council committee sessions tomorrow afternoon from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Maryland Room. These discussions will involve both the Cataloging and Locator Services Committee and the recently-formed Electronic Transition Committee. Some of our topics for discussion will be whether these assumptions are valid. Are there other relevant assumptions? What actions should GPO take to strengthen the FDLP in light of these assumptions?

In addition to the electronic transition activities, we will also be looking at some bibliographic issues which have come up in the context of building the FDLP Electronic Collection, including:

• Re-examining the need for availability records;

• Eliminating the distinction between serials and periodicals, and

• Enhancing the Periodicals Supplement.

In the 1996 Study, we said that by now we would attain a depository product mix of approximately 30% paper, 20% microfiche, and 50% electronic. When we expressed this target three years ago we wondered just how attainable it was. If anything, we may have underestimated the pace of change in electronic publishing. About a year ago we started routinely enumerating the number of titles in the FDLP Electronic Collection, which gave us the ability to compare apples and apples. We can now make a straight up comparison of the tangible product titles we had always reported and an equivalent number of titles on GPO Access and on the agency sites to which we point. For the first half of FY 1999, the new titles available through the FDLP include about 20% paper, 40% microfiche, 40% online electronic, and just over 1% in CD-ROM. And the trend toward online publishing seems to be accelerating. Compared to last year, tangible product copies and titles in the program have declined 3.5%. For the first time we are seeing CD-ROM publishing dropping off. But the growth area is in the online portions of the Collection. During the first half of the fiscal year over 13,000 online titles were added to the FDLP Electronic Collection. For LPS, and indeed for all of us with a stake in the FDLP, this means that we must continue, and where possible accelerate, the reallocation of program resources from processing, maintaining, and servicing tangible products to equivalent activities in support of the FDLP Electronic Collection.

In our plan, the FDLP Electronic Collection is described as having four components. All along, several of us felt that the most challenging area of the collection is what we called Category 3. This group includes any electronic resource that we bring under some type of bibliographic control, whether through full cataloging or one of the locator services. We were concerned that expanding the scope of the collection in this fashion, without having some degree of control over the electronic products themselves, could lead to difficulties in providing permanent public access to those products. The thrust of our internal discussions was how to "elevate" Category 3 products into Categories 1 or 2, which include products under the direct control of either GPO or one of our program partners. Now we’re exploring ways to do that, by incorporating data archiving into our processing workflow. Initially we are testing archiving on a GPO server, but we are looking toward the day when FDLP electronic products will also be routinely archived at partner sites.

To move forward with building the FDLP Electronic Collection, I have established within LPS a cross-organization team made up of staff from the Office of the Director, the Depository Administration Branch, and the Cataloging Branch. The EC Team is established as an ongoing entity; to operate as long as it’s deemed necessary and effective. We have begun with a core group of some 10 persons, but other individuals may be rotated into service on the EC Team to gain experience in managing elements of the FDLP Electronic Collection.

The purpose of the EC Team is to develop, document, communicate, test, and, when necessary, modify work procedures and related policies for the FDLP Electronic Collection. The scope of this effort should include the full range of activities for products in the collection, including (but not limited to) identification, evaluation, selection, classification, bibliographic control, persistent naming, archiving, and communication with stakeholders. The EC Team will also be the focal point in LPS for tracking such related issues as archiving technology, NARA policies, and similar developments in other agencies and institutions.

The EC Team looks for opportunities to expand the collection and integrate functional activities and services. With the help of GPO’s Production Department, we are test-driving methods of archiving agency information products to make good on the commitment to permanent public access. Judy Andrews from James Madison University, who is one of our Electronic Transition Staffers, and Laurie Beyer Hall, LPS’ supervisory program analyst, have both worked intensively with the EC Team. Laurie and Judy will be on the program tomorrow morning, and they will show you in some detail how we envision processing electronic products for the collection.

Two years ago we proposed to phase out certain FDLP titles which were distributed in microfiche when an official, reliable electronic version was available from the agency. Subsequent discussion revealed that the library community felt our proposal was premature. The principal reason for concern was our inability to guarantee permanent access to the electronic versions. Since then we have affirmed our permanent access responsibility and we are routinely archiving the historical GPO Access products. We are also beginning to archive the Category 3 products that we point to as part of our workflow, so we feel that we are in a position to allay the permanent access issues. This is another direct result of implementing the FDLP Electronic Collection Plan. The criteria we have identified for carrying out these product migrations is covered in one of our handouts, but I wanted to raise the issue again because it is an important piece of the transition process. I want to stress this is not product conversion - we are not taking a print product and using technology to produce an electronic version. These are cases in which there are official, essentially equivalent, versions in both print and electronic media, and we are selecting a version for the FDLP. These decisions are based on expected usage, reliability, completeness, and so on, but our decisions must take into account the expectation of the Congress that this program will become increasingly electronic in nature. But while changing the FDLP dissemination format for existing products is one issue, we also find products new to the FDLP, that are available both from the agency Web site and in print. In these cases, we will generally bring the electronic version into the program, but we are not attempting to secure the print version unless it is of extraordinary value.

At the spring 1998 meeting, the Depository Library Council asked us to provide guidance on retention of tangible publications that are also available in the FDLP Electronic Collection. In response to LPS’ request, GPO’s General Counsel has issued a memorandum opinion concerning the legality of withdrawing tangible formats and replacing them with on-line electronic equivalent versions. We have incorporated this information into a handout entitled "FDLP Guidelines on Substituting Electronic for Tangible Versions of Depository Publications." This is a draft for discussion, and we welcome your input. But I’d like to hit some of the high points.

A depository is permitted to replace tangible versions with electronic equivalents provided the electronic version is complete, official, and permanently accessible. Because of the importance of the permanent access issue, we are focussing first on GPO Access databases. We have put together an initial List of Official GPO Databases that May Be Substituted for Tangible FDLP Products, and these products may be considered for substitution. In addition, electronic versions of publications residing at content partnership sites meet these requirements. In keeping with the free access provisions of the FDLP, Government information in electronic form must be free of charge to the user.

But we’d like to see the substitution process done cautiously. The substitution of electronic versions must follow the general rules and regulations that cover the disposal of any tangible FDLP products. These are covered in some detail in the handout, but I want to emphasize that this is a process that requires care and consideration, needs to follow established procedures, and should be coordinated with the Regional and the other depositories in your service area.

We are updating the 1998 "Recommended Specifications for Public Access Work Stations in Federal Depository Libraries," which was published last June. We have forwarded a draft to Council, and we have put the draft out on GOVDOC-L, MAPS-L, and LAWLIB for comments by May 5. We will be including DVD capability in the recommended configuration for the first time, as we are beginning to see DVD products coming out from certain early-adapter agencies. Please take a look at the draft in the handout and send us your comments. We would be especially interested to hear if this approach, featuring detailed specifications updated on an annual basis, is still useful to you or whether we might come at this another way.

For those who are planning efforts to publicize your depository operations, we have just completed a new brochure about the FDLP, called "Keeping America Informed." We have samples of these here at the hotel so you can see what it looks like, and every depository will get a package of 100 delivered to you later this spring. Then if you want additional copies our Promotions and Advertising Office will provide them to you on request.

Before I relinquish the microphone, I want to say a couple of things about some Library Programs Service personnel and recognize some of the people who are here today. Among the LPS staff there’s about one LPS person for every 12 depository libraries, and we work together to give you the best service that we can. This week over 30 of us are involved in this meeting in one way or another. Please feel free to call on any of us if there’s anything we can do to help you. Would all of the LPS people in the audience please stand up and wave. We have the red stripe on the bottom of our badges for easy recognition.

I’d also like to put in a plug here for joining our Electronic Transition Staff for the 1999-2000 "term." Judy Andrews will be joining us for a second year, and I look forward to continuing to work with her on the NTIS Pilot Project, building the Electronic Collection, expanding partnerships, and other projects. But we are still looking for another person who would like to spend a year in GPO helping us with the work of the electronic transition. We expect that one of the key roles for the next person will be in the area of outreach to agencies, both in terms of spreading the word about the FDLP and permanent public access, and in developing the tools for agencies to notify us about their products. You may have seen my announcement on GOVDOC-L back in January, and there’s a handout here about the opportunity. So don’t be shy – come up and make yourself known.

Agency Outreach & DAB Operations
Remarks by Robin Haun-Mohamed
Chief, Depository Administration Branch

Good morning! I thank you for the opportunity to bring you up-to-date on activities in the Depository Administration Branch. LPS contacts agencies when we find out about fugitive documents, publications, or fee-based Web sites. This is a difficult task as we must make queries about their decision-making matrix, request tangible products that cut into their budgets, or ask for no-fee access to a revenue producing service. Recent inquiries have included requests for access to the GOV.Research Center (GRC) and the NTIS service on Northern Light. At this time libraries do not have access to these services through the FDLP. Some of the resources available through the paid services are available at other sites at no charge. For example AGRICOLA is available from the National Agricultural Library Web site and the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy databases (ERIN) are available from a Department of Energy Web site.

Agency outreach continues to be beneficial in obtaining products for distribution through the FDLP. When we spoke with the U.S. Institute for Peace to ask about a fugitive publication, we also asked to obtain one copy of each of their publications and to be notified before future publications are printed. The agency has provided LPS with one copy of each of its current publications for conversion to microfiche format and distribution to the libraries. Although many people do not want publications in microfiche format, when the products are not available on a Web site, this is still the best way to obtain titles for distribution to the libraries after the publications have been printed. Some examples of titles you will soon see in the libraries are Building Peace, Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies, and Russian Negotiating Behavior: Continuity and Transition.

In the spring and summer of 1998, staff from LPS worked with auditors from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on an NIH audit. The purpose of the NIH initiated audit was to review access of NIH printed products for dissemination to GPO for purposes of distribution to the depository libraries and inclusion in the Cataloging & Indexing program. Here are some of the findings of this March 1999 report, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General:

• Of the 100 random FY97 printing jobs chosen for the audit, 38 items were not subject to distribution to the libraries (internal use only such as letterhead, signs, and administrative forms).
• Of the 62 remaining print jobs, 46 publications were identified in the audit as requiring copies for distribution to the depository libraries. NIH provided sufficient copies to GPO in only 10 instances.
• Although specific components of NIH are exempt from using GPO for printing products, these components are not exempt from the requirements to provide publications to GPO for distribution to the depository libraries.
• NIH did not provide GPO with a listing or copy of every document issued or published by NIH as required under 44 USC §1710.
• Because NIH did not provide copies of publications to GPO for FDLP distribution, depository libraries and the people who use them do not have ready access to documents to which they are entitled; that were printed with taxpayer funding.
• The NIH components improperly printed through commercial vendors items that should have gone through GPO. None of the unauthorized printing jobs that were in the sample were sent to GPO for FDLP or Cataloging & Indexing (C&I) purposes. Had they been printed through GPO, as required by law, the FDLP and C&I requirements would have automatically been met.

Since the beginning of the audit, and indeed through this last week, LPS has seen a significant increase in notification and cooperation in obtaining publications for distribution to the libraries and for inclusion in the Cataloging & Indexing Program. The Review of the National Institutes of Health Printing Program provides strong reinforcement of the value and importance of the FDLP and C&I Programs by an executive branch agency. This was truly time well spent.

Recent discussions with staff at the Central Intelligence Agency have also proved beneficial. The Center for the Study of Intelligence is also providing one copy of each publication for microfiche conversion and distribution to the libraries. Two examples are the CIA and the Vietnam Policymakers: Three Episodes, 1962-1968, and The CIA and the U-2 Program, 1954-1974, which will be distributed to the libraries later this spring. The Handbook of International Economic Statistics will be distributed to libraries in paper format later this spring.

Libraries will begin seeing the FBIS in microfiche again in the libraries for a short time. These are all older issues that were not distributed to the libraries, thus they should fill in most of the gaps in this historical collection. Special thanks go to Sally Burkman, Ruth Davison, Susan Field, Carolyn Kohler, Ann Miller, Sandy Peterson, Barbie Selby, and Julia Stiles for checking on the missing issues, obtaining paper copies, and sending them to GPO for microfiche conversion and duplication.

One final issue with the CIA has to do with the software for the FBIS CD-ROM. Effective with the January-March 1999 issue, the agency has begun using the Folio software for this product. Libraries will need to be sure they are following the agency instructions as last posted in the February 15, 1999 issue of Administrative Notes. To state these limitations briefly, the agency has provided LPS with a copy of the product for use in the depository libraries. But the information on the CD-ROM can only be read—it may not be download or printed. The agency has not yet submitted the November-December or January-March issues to GPO for distribution to the libraries.

LPS has also been involved in outreach to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in relation to the Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office (CEPPO). This is the area responsible for obtaining and maintaining the data from the EPA’s Risk Management Program, including the availability of Offsite Consequence Analysis (OCA) data, which translates into the worst-case chemical accident information. We hope to be part of the network by which the public is able to gain access to OCA data, but there are still several outstanding issues at EPA and we don’t have a definitive answer at this time.

The Risk Management Plan on diskette is one of two products included in Survey 99-001. Survey 99-001 will run from April 15 through April 30, 1999. Risk Management Program, Version 1.0.6 is a free software package for facilities to use in submitting Risk Management Plans (RMP). It consists of a set of four diskettes that must be downloaded to the library’s hard drive. Users must also temporarily store the material on the library’s hard drive. The second title, the USGS Biological Resources Division Gap Analysis Program (GAP) is the primary Federal program for mapping and assessing the status of biodiversity in the U.S. Data for each state will appear on 1 to 4 CDs depending on the size of the state and data complexity.

We are working to resolve problems with obtaining National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) maps for distribution to depository libraries. Although the NIMA map survey last fall provided LPS with current information on map depositories and libraries responded to the survey in a timely manner, so far LPS has been unable to send out NIMA maps under the new distribution plan. The original plan as discussed with NIMA and NIMA’s distribution agent, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), was to send material to GPO for distribution via the LPS Distribution Division. At this time we have some maps to distribute, but we have insufficient copies for full distribution. We are trying to obtain sufficient copies of the maps to make full distribution to the libraries.

Up to now we have given few specifics about the new map distribution plan. We hope the plan will be in effect and that maps will be distributed to the libraries once again by the end of May. Here are some details:

• All NIMA maps that were distributed directly to the libraries from NIMA in the past will now be sent to GPO for distribution.
• The maps will be sent to the libraries in mailing tubes whenever possible.
• Because many libraries have a separate location for maps, a separates shipping list will be prepared and mailed to the separate map location. The depository of record will continue to receive the shipping list also via the regular shipment box.
• The shipping list number format will be: 99-2001-S.
• Map shipping lists will be posted to the U.S. Fax Watch and to the Federal Bulletin Board (FBB).

Because the NIMA map survey last fall went so well, LPS is also developing a USGS survey for all libraries selecting USGS topographic and other maps. The survey will take place early this summer. USGS staff are reviewing the List of Classes for inactive and discontinued titles in preparation for this survey. Librarians are encouraged to review their item selection profile if needed and to make any necessary additions or deletions to their UGSG map collection during the survey. At this time there are no plans to discontinue the distribution of USGS maps from the Denver Warehouse.

The annual item selection update cycle will again be open from June 1, 1999 through July 31, 1999. On April 5, 1999, changes were made to Item Lister and the Amendment program to correct some problems noted earlier in the spring. We checked the system and found it to be working fine, but if you experience something out of the ordinary when you use the system, please contact us by submitting an askLPS inquiry, or contact Joe Paskoski at (202) 512-1698.

LPS continues to work on reviewing the procedures for the microfiche conversion operation. We are in the process of posting a position for a second Micrographics Inspector. An additional inspector will enable us to inspect not only the actual microfiche, but also all other receivables due from the contractor. Recently microfiche with very dark headers were distributed to the libraries. LPS is working with staff from GPO’s Term Contracts and Quality Assurance services to reject these shipments and have them re-filmed and re-distributed to the libraries.

Revision of the Superseded List began earlier this year with 35 volunteers from the depository library community. The information will be put into a database that will be accessible from the FDLP Administration page. We had hoped to have a portion available for viewing during conference, but it is not yet ready for release. Council will be advised of the site when it is available. The database will then be updated as needed and libraries will be able to search from a Web site, or pull the data off the FBB in a .DBF format, similar to the processes now associated with the List of Classes files.

LPS continues to receive many fugitive documents requests from askLPS and our regular e-mail addresses. At this time we have a backlog of 200 askLPS inquiries, mostly dealing with DAB issues. The backlog is due in part to the sheer volume of requests and in part to the change in staffing because of Laurie Beyer Hall's well-deserved promotion. We continue to work on the askLPS backlog daily, with a focus on answering the most recent inquiries and attempting to work systematically through the older inquiries. LPS has also been unable to maintain the regular weekly WEBTech Notes postings to the FBB. They have been sporadic since the first of the year. At this time we are trying to re-establish bi-weekly postings for the summer with a goal of weekly postings once again later this fall.

As Mr. Buckley and Gil have mentioned, the processes associated with the FDLP Electronic Collection continue with the assistance of staff members located throughout LPS. DAB staff play an integral part of this process, including the identification and classification of new online resources, reviewing of existing procedures for acquisition of the tangible depository titles, and modification and application of those processes to the new online resources now found on a daily basis. Since January 1, 1999, over 200 entries have been added to the "What's New" weekly listing of Browse Electronic Titles.

As always, if you have any questions about the Depository Administration Branch, or my presentation, please let me know. Thank you for the opportunity to bring you up-to-date on actions in LPS.

[Handout]

Cataloging Branch Update
Spring 1999 Depository Library Council Meeting
April 12 – 15, 1999

The transition to a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program has produced a complex assortment of interrelated works in all media. During the first five months of Fiscal Year 1999, approximately 10,000 works in various media were received for cataloging. Approximately 11,000 of these works were processed, leaving a balance of approximately 10,000 works, mostly serials, to be processed. We are investigating the feasibility of a contract to procure commercial serials cataloging services to assist in reducing this backlog.

Most works in paper and CD-ROM and those available via the Internet are cataloged within one or two weeks of receipt. A backlog of approximately 300 Browse Electronic Titles (BET) entries remain to be cataloged. Most of the backlog in BET and microfiche consists of serials.

A recently advertised vacancy for a serials cataloger closed on March 19^th. This position was announced on GOVDOC-L, CONSER, and SERIALs discussions lists and on Web sites maintained by the Office of Personnel Management and the Government Printing Office. When hired, the incumbent’s efforts will focus on cataloging Internet related serials.

During March, 1999, a new policy concerning the display of PURLs and URLs in Monthly Catalog records went into effect. This policy requires use of one subfield "u" per 856 field for recording a PURL. This policy also stipulates that, when re-establishing links to records that had been accessible via a URL, the URL that was in effect at the time the PURL was assigned is to be recorded either in the 530 field (multiple format record) or the 538 field (electronic only record). As with other Internet related cataloging policies, we expect to make this policy available for review at our Web site.

We have based this policy on consultation with members of the American Library Association’s Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) Cataloging Committee, members of the Cataloging and Locator Services Committee of the Depository Library Council, and with Jean Hirons, CONSER Coordinator, Library of Congress. We appreciate the advice of distinguished colleagues and expect that the application of this policy will assist people in identifying appropriate access-related data elements in GPO produced Monthly Catalog records.

As members of the Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC), we are actively involved in FLICC-sponsored efforts to investigate the potential that OCLC’s CORC (Cooperative Online Resource Cataloging) project may have for providing access to works published via the Internet. At present, CORC is a research project launched by OCLC staff to investigate the feasibility of producing brief bibliographic records to provide access to Internet related titles. OCLC personnel have advised us that OCLC has extracted data from several thousand GPO produced OCLC records to "seed" the CORC database. We look forward to continued involvement with CORC, especially as it may assist us in identifying opportunities to improve the scope or timeliness of our cataloging and locator services.

The Web edition of the Catalog consists of approximately 115,900 records. Approximately 8,500 of these records contain PURLS and/or URLS. At present, approximately 2,500 Monthly Catalog records contain PURLs. Approximately 6,000 additional older Monthly Catalog records contain URLs. As broken links in records with URLs are re-established, these works are made accessible via PURLs.

The Library Programs Service is devoting increasing amounts of time to restoring electronic access to electronic works. When our PURLs checking routines identify a broken link in a bibliographic record with a PURL, we restore access by updating the PURL lookup table on the GPO PURL server with the active URL. Maintaining access through PURLs resolver software is intended to eliminate the need for most librarians to maintain access by updating address data in GPO produced records in their OPACs.

Preliminary pages to the paper edition of the Monthly Catalog are being revised and are expected to appear in the April 1999 issue. The complete CD-ROM edition of the Monthly Catalog, which consists of two CDs, contains approximately 55,000 records. The combined 1996 and 1997 CD-ROM (with their respective Periodicals Supplements) should be retained for the near future. We expect that the January 1999 issue of the CD-ROM Monthly Catalog edition, which will include all records for 1998 and 1999 to date, will contain the Periodicals Supplements for 1998 and 1999.

A contract for producing the CD-ROM edition was recently re-awarded to American Multimedia, of Burlington, NC. New contract specifications requiring the contractor to receive information for jewel case inserts via electronic means should assist in more rapid product availability than is presently possible.

We expect to have published the 1999 paper edition of the Periodicals Supplement in March 1999.

We estimate that the Congressional Serial Set Catalog for the 103d Congress will be published sometime during the summer of 1999. Approximately 1,200 records are expected to be included in the Serial Set Catalog.

Depository Administration Branch Update
Spring 1999 Depository Library Council Meeting
April 12 – 15, 1999

A Special Offer will begin April 15, 1999 for two products previously distributed through the FDLP:

• The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-1989, Bicentennial Edition, Senate Document 100-34

• Binders for the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Please check the condition of your library’s volume and respond to the special offer located at www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/spec99-1.html> by April 30, 1999.

Survey 99-001 will also run from April 15 through April 30, 1999. Two products will be surveyed:

• EPA’s Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office (CEPPO), has created Risk Management Program, Version 1.0.6. This is a free software package for facilities to use in submitting Risk Management Plans (RMP). It consists of a set of four diskettes that must be downloaded to the library’s hard drive. Users must also temporarily store the material on the library’s hard drive.

• The USGS Biological Resources Division Gap Analysis Program (GAP) is the primary Federal program for mapping and assessing the status of biodiversity in the U.S. Data for each state will appear on 1 to 4 CDs depending on the size of the state and data complexity. The product information and survey form are located at www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/surv99-1.html.

Recent discussions with the Central Intelligence Agency have proved beneficial for the FDLP. The Handbook of International Economic Statistics (PREX 3.16:, Item 0856-A-09 ) will be distributed to libraries this spring in paper format. LPS will also be distributing publications from the Center for the Study of Intelligence in microfiche format. One example is the CIA and the Vietnam Policymakers: Three Episodes, 1962- 1968.

Libraries will also begin to see some older FBIS material arrive in microfiche format under PREX 7.10:, Items 0856-B-03 through 0856-B-10. These are missing issues that were provided by depository librarians to fill in gaps in this historical series.

Software for the FBIS CD-ROM (PREX 7.10/3:, Item 0856-A-11) will change from DataWare to Folio effective with the Jan-March 1999 issue. At that time, FBIS will no longer provide support for a Macintosh platform to access the FBIS on CD-ROM.

O*NET, The Occupational Information Network, 1998, was distributed to libraries on Shipping List 99-0013-S, dated December 30, 1998. It was originally distributed under 0744-G-04, the item number for miscellaneous electronic products for the Department of Labor. This distribution missed many libraries that currently select the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), which O*NET replaces. Therefore O*NET will be re-distributed to those libraries selecting 0780-A-01. This distribution will include the CD-ROM, the Data Dictionary, and the User’s Guide.

NTIS provided copies of the 1999 U.S. Industry & Trade Outlook. It was distributed to libraries under SuDocs C 61.48:999, Item 0215-L-08, on Shipping List 99-0020-S dated March 1, 1999.

The List of Classes (Item 0556-C, GP 3.24:) will change frequency from quarterly to twice yearly, effective with the April 1999 issue, not the March issue as previously reported. Beginning with this next issue only one copy of the List of Classes will be distributed to each library. The online List of Classes is updated on the first Friday of each month. The Federal Bulletin Board (FBB) file is located at http://fedbbs.accessgpo.gov/libs/class.htm.

The Documents Data Miner, which provides Web-based data mining of files available from GPO’s FBB site, including the List of Classes, the Item Lister, the Federal Depository Library Directory, the Government Authors file, and the Inactive and Discontinued Items file, may be found at http://kronos.nia.twsu.edu/govdocs>.

LPS continues to experience problems with obtaining National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) maps for distribution to depository libraries. The NIMA Map Survey last fall provided LPS with current information on map depositories. Libraries responded to the survey promptly, and LPS was able to update this information for the first time in many years. The original plan as discussed with NIMA and NIMA’s distribution agent, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), was to send material to GPO for distribution via the LPS Distribution Division. LPS now has some of these maps but in insufficient quantities for full distribution. LPS continues to work with NIMA and DLA staff to ensure that NIMA maps will be distributed to the depository libraries.

DAB staff work with other members of the Electronic Collection Team on a daily basis to identify and locate new online resources that fall within the scope of the FDLP. Since January 1, 1999, 205 entries have been added to the "What’s New" weekly listing of Browse Electronic Titles.

Depository Services Update
Spring 1999 Depository Library Council Meeting
April 12 – 15, 1999

On July 22, 1999, GPO will host a one-day workshop immediately following the 92^nd annual meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) being held in Washington, DC. Law librarians should consult their Preliminary Program for registration information. On July 18, the Superintendent of Documents and the Director, Library Programs Service will provide a GPO Update at the Government Documents Special Interest Section. Each of the Depository Library Inspectors will speak at other programs.

The fall Depository Library Council meeting will be held from Monday, October 18 through Thursday morning, October 21, 1999. The Radisson Suite Hotel, 106 West 12^th Street, in downtown Kansas City, MO, is the site.

The spring 2000 Depository Library Council meeting will be held in Rhode Island. The contract for the hotel has not been awarded yet. Locations under consideration include Providence, Newport, and Warwick.

The 9^th annual Federal Depository Conference and fall Depository Library Council to the Public Printer meeting will be held from Monday, October 23 through Wednesday afternoon October 25, 2000. The Regional librarians will meet on Sunday, October 22. The Holiday Inn-Rosslyn Westpark, 1900 North Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, VA, is the conference hotel.

A group of volunteers, including a member of the Depository Library Council, regional librarians, selectives, a selective housing site, and Depository Services Staff are reviewing the draft of a revised Self-Study of a Federal Depository Library. The revised Self-Study will be available by summer 1999.

In October 1999, depository librarians and their directors whose depository operations were last inspected in 1994 will be notified to submit a mandatory self-study. The states include Arkansas, California, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The due date for these self-studies will be January 15, 2000. These depository librarians will use the new Self-Study template.

The Findings of the 1997 Biennial Survey was shipped to all depositories on shipping list 99-0172-P, dated 3/18/99, SuDocs class number GP 3.33/4:997, item number 0556-C. Since April 1998, the raw data files, including the survey text, data conversion table, and the responses in comma-delimited format, have been available from the Federal Bulletin Board at http://fedbbs.access.gpo.gov/libs/lps_info.htm.

The Statistical Measurement Committee of the Depository Library Council and Depository Services Staff have prepared questions for the 1999 Biennial Survey of Depository Libraries. The survey will include optional questions to elicit basic cost data of being a depository, e.g., salaries, equipment, etc. So that depository staff may begin gathering figures for the optional cost questions, the text of the Biennial Survey will appear in the May 15, 1999 Administrative Notes. Submission of the Biennial Survey answers via the WWW will occur in fall 1999. Release of the raw data files and the Findings of the 1999 Biennial Survey will occur in 2000.

The draft "Recommended Specifications for Public Access Work Stations in Federal Depository Libraries" have been posted on GOVDOC-L, MAPS-L, and LAWLIB and are available at this meeting. The comment period extends until May 5. The final 1999 specifications will appear in the June 15, 1999 Administrative Notes.

The February 1999 edition of the Federal Depository Library Directory was distributed to all depositories on shipping list 99-0173-P, dated 3/19/99, SuDocs class number GP 3.36/2:999, item number 0556-C.

A new field, to accept the URL of a depository library’s Web page, has been added to the Library Directory module at www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/ldirect.html. The URL should be specific to a "Government information" component, not to the main page of a college or a general library page. While the links to the URLs are checked monthly before the data is loaded to the Federal Bulletin Board and the "Locate Libraries" Web page, depository librarians should review their Library Directory entry regularly and advise GPO of any changes no matter how small.

As of March 22, 1999, there are 1,351 Federal depository libraries, including 53 regionals and 1,298 selectives.

Electronic Transition Staff Update
Spring 1999 Depository Library Council Meeting
April 12 – 15, 1999

After Managing the FDLP Electronic Collection: A Policy and Planning Document (the "collection plan," available at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/ecplan.html was published in late 1998, the next step was to identify and implement the steps that will bring its provisions into practice. This began with an exploratory, cross-organizational team from Depository Administration Branch, Cataloging Branch, Electronic Information Dissemination Services and the Electronic Transition Staff (ETS). The team met for two weeks to define the possibilities, identify the issues and develop strategies for dealing with the issues.

The team was re-configured slightly and officially became the "Electronic Collection Team." This team is examining and evaluating electronic products for inclusion in the Electronic Collection. The team also continues to develop the techniques and procedures to process electronic resources. This includes selection, bibliographic control, persistent naming, archiving and outreach. The collection building activities will be discussed by Laurie Hall and Judy Andrews at the Federal Depository Conference on Tuesday, April 13 at 11:00 a.m.

ETS personnel continue to make presentations on the collection plan, the electronic collection and other facets of the electronic transition. ETS staff spoke at meetings of the Federal Publishers Committee, a group of agency publishing officials, in January, and the Internet Information Management Work Group at the Department of Health and Human Services, in March. Other recent ETS staff contacts include meetings with personnel from the National Transportation Library, the library at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The role of partnerships in providing ongoing access to Government information is evolving. The initial model was a three-party agreement between an agency, a cooperating institution, and GPO, with GPO in the role of facilitator and safety net. ETS is now drafting a new model agreement in which GPO plays a more active role in identifying, "acquiring," providing access to information products, and facilitating permanent storage with an institutional partner such as a library or university. This new model will better position GPO to offer a useful service to agency publishers and to gain the benefits of permanent access for the FDLP and the public.

The NTIS/GPO Pilot Project went live on January 18, 1999. 22 depository libraries have access to a NTIS database of approximately 35,000 image documents. The pilot is scheduled to run for a year. As of mid-March, the search site was averaging 100 visits per week. As the libraries explore the site's potential, they are making excellent suggestions for its improvement. Walter Finch, project director for NTIS, will be speaking about the project at the Federal Depository Conference on Monday, April 12, at 3:45 p.m.

The FDLP/ERIC Pilot Project concluded on December 31, 1998. GPO is analyzing the results of the user surveys and considering options for availability of ERIC reports electronically. A report on the Pilot Project should be issued this spring.

The University of North Texas has taken on permanent access responsibility for the Web site of the National Civil Aviation Review Commission, which ceased operation in late 1997. Based on the model for the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, GPO and the University of North Texas have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that assures permanent accessibility to the Commission materials on the site. Notices have been added to the site advising users of the status of the commission www.library.unt.edu/gpo/ncarc/ncarc.html.

Gil Baldwin and George Barnum represent GPO on a Steering Committee organized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to implement the Framework for the Preservation of and Permanent Public Access to USDA Digital Publications. The "Framework" was developed following a 1997 conference for which GPO was one of the co-sponsors. The Steering Committee meets quarterly to address the issues of inventory and life cycle management of USDA digital publications, technical requirements, and user access and retrieval. Participation in this group has been highly beneficial to the development of the FDLP Electronic Collection.

In its 1996 Study to Identify Measures Necessary for a Successful Transition to a More Electronic Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), the Government Printing Office (GPO) included a strategic plan for the FDLP electronic transition. While the strategic plan covered fiscal years 1996 through 2001, 28 specific activities were described and milestones established for FY 1996-1998.

This progress report is an update on actions taken to accomplish these specific milestones. GPO is pleased to report that 86% of the transition activities for the FY 1996-1998 period have been completed or that, while work is still underway, substantial progress has been made. Of the four deferred activities, two were dependent upon additional funding from Congress and were not begun since the requested funding was not approved. One activity was investigated and found not to be cost-effective, and one other was set aside.

1. Investigate and, if necessary, develop initial standards for the format(s) of electronic Government information products provided through the FDLP. Initiate an assessment of standards for creation and dissemination of electronic Government information through a joint effort with NCLIS (FY1996).
• Investigation completed 1998; results published in 1999.
2. Investigate technical and cost implications of scanning products which would have been distributed in paper or microfiche, when the source data files are not available from the originating agency (FY1996).
• Investigation completed 1996. The findings, principally excessive cost and low user acceptance, are reported in the responses to the Recommendations from the fall 1996 meeting of the Depository Library Council, held in Salt Lake City, UT.
3. Conduct testing and experimentation to identify appropriate applications for scanning a limited number of paper products in cases where the electronic source files are not available (FY1997).
• Tested ASCII, HTML, and PDF applications in 1997.
4. Require all depository libraries to have the capability to provide and support public access to Government electronic information products (FY1997).
• Electronic service guidelines published in 1998. Recommended minimum specifications for public access workstations first published in 1996 and now updated annually.
5. Develop an electronic mechanism for two-way FDLP administrative communication with the depository libraries (FY1997).
• AskLPS service inaugurated in 1998.
6. Restructure the depository inspection program to rely more heavily on self-inspection (FY1997).
• Depository self-study initiated in 1996.
7. Conduct a one-time "invitational" workshop for regional librarians (FY1997).
• A special regional workshop focused on the electronic transition was held in Minneapolis, MN in 1997; special regional sessions added to annual Federal Depository Conference and Depository Library Council meetings.
8. Continue to monitor the technological capabilities of the depository libraries to provide cost-effective public access to electronic Government information products. This will include information about the costs of equipment, software, telecommunications, staff training and other depository library expenses for accessing and utilizing electronic Government information products through the FDLP (FY1997).
• Questions to monitor these issues incorporated into the 1997 and 1999 Biennial Surveys.
9. Pointing to products accessible via agency electronic information services (FY1998).
• Pointing to agency products and sites incorporated into the Catalog and Pathway Services applications.
10. Distributing tangible electronic products, i.e. CD-ROM discs (FY1998).
• Agency publishing on CD-ROM apparently peaked in FY 1998.
11. Having all depository libraries capable of serving the public with electronic Government information products (FY1998).
• By late 1997 88% of libraries had graphical Internet access at public use workstations and another 8% offered mediated access.
12. Attain a depository product mix of approximately 45% paper, 50% microfiche, and 5% electronic (FY1996).
13. Attain a depository product mix of approximately 35% paper, 40% microfiche, and 25% electronic (FY1997).
14. Attain a depository product mix of approximately 30% paper, 20% microfiche, and 50% electronic (FY1998).
• By early 1999 the new titles being made available through the FDLP include about 15% paper, 30% microfiche, and 55% electronic.

Activities in Progress

15. Undertake additional outreach to Federal publishing agencies to improve awareness of how participation in a more electronic FDLP can assist them in fulfilling their missions, and encourage agencies to provide SOD with electronic source files (FY1996).
• Ongoing outreach through Federal Publishers’ Committee, GPO’s Institute for Federal Printing and Electronic Publishing, participation with partner agencies, and selected contacts with publishing agencies. We are revising and will reissue the Government-wide GPO Circular Letter describing the requirements for the inclusion of agency products in the FDLP.
16. Inform the depository library community about the electronic initiatives for the FDLP (FY1996).
• Ongoing activity; Managing the FDLP Electronic Collection published 1998.
17. Identify opportunities to reduce duplication of content by offering only an electronic format where multiple formats now are available. Core paper titles will continue to be distributed as long as they are published in paper. Intended usage and user needs will be considered in the decision process to offer only an electronic format in the FDLP (FY1996).
• Initially announced 1997; action deferred pending development of permanent access plan.
18. Reduce duplication of content by offering only an electronic format where multiple formats now are available. Core paper titles will be distributed as long as they are published in paper. Intended usage and user needs will be considered in the decision process to offer only an electronic format in the FDLP (FY1997).
• Begun in 1999.
19. Enhance the suite of Pathway locator services to ensure the fullest use of World Wide Web or successor indexing technologies to assist librarians and the public in locating and connecting to Government information products on agency electronic information services (FY1997).
• Reevaluation of Pathway services underway to improve utility and reduce required maintenance.
20. Develop a comprehensive approach to cataloging and locating Government information products, through library-standard cataloging or through Pathway locator services such as the browser, indexer, product title list, etc. (FY1996).
• Enhancements underway; Pathway services being reevaluated for possible consolidation.
21. Processing and mounting agency-provided electronic source files on GPO Access (FY1998).
• Service provided by GPO Production and EIDS.
22. Concentrate on obtaining electronic source files from agencies, either voluntarily or through a change in the statute (FY1997).
• In 1998 LPS began testing software and hardware to add agency files to the FDLP Electronic Collection archive.
23. Accelerate utilization of the GPO Access storage facility as a data "repository" (FY1997).
• Historical GPO Access files are routinely maintained for permanent public access.
24. Identify possible candidate institutions for cooperative arrangements for permanent access to FDLP electronic information. Initiate such agreements where possible (FY1997).
• Permanent access partnerships are in place with two depository institutions. New partnership models are being developed.

Activities Deferred

25. If approval of the full FY 1997 funding request seems probable, develop guidelines for one-time technology grants (FY1996).
• Funding not approved by Congress.
26. Initiate application, consideration, and award of the "needs-based" technology grants to depository libraries (FY1997).
• Funding not approved by Congress.
27. Begin to monitor the costs to users for printing, downloading and similar services using depository library equipment (FY1997).
• Activity not scheduled. GPO recognizes that such "cost-shifting" is an important issue in all types of libraries, one that is not unique to the FDLP.
28. Scanning agency print products for mounting on GPO Access or disseminating in tangible format as text or image files (FY1998).
• Not cost effective. In addition, we now see the transition as proceeding in tandem with agency publishing practices.

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Administrative Notes is published in Washington, DC by the Superintendent of Documents, LibraryPrograms Service, Government Printing Office, for the staffs of U.S. Federal Depository Libraries. It is published monthly, onthe 15th day of each month; some months may have additional issues. Postmaster send address changes to: The Editor Administrative Notes U.S. Government Printing Office Library Programs Service, SLLD Washington, DC 20401 Internet access at URL: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/index.html Editor: Marian W. MacGilvray (202) 512-1119 mmacgilvray@gpo.gov