GPO and the Office of Management and Budget announced a new printing procurement agreement on June 6, 2003. Under the agreement, OMB will choose a single Federal agency for a one-year demonstration project which will begin in October 2003. GPO will establish contracts that allow the participating agency to purchase printing services directly from a variety of contractors. A "win-win" solution, these contracts will allow the agency more flexibility in contracting for printing while reducing the number of fugitive documents.

Public access to Government information should be enhanced by improving compliance with the requirements of Title 44 U.S. Code. The agreement provides a long-sought compliance mechanism by making the provision of print and electronic copies to the Superintendent of Documents a requirement for payment of the printing contractor. GPO's news release and the text of the GPO-OMB "compact" follow.

Public Printer of the United States Bruce R. James and Office of Management and Budget Director Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. today jointly announced an innovative agreement that will free executive branch agencies to choose their own printers while saving taxpayer dollars. The agreement will also empower the GPO to maximize public access to Federal information.

"Today's announcement is a victory for the American taxpayer," said OMB Director Daniels. "It builds on a competitive experiment that led GPO to print this year's Federal budget at a savings of 23 percent. Federal agencies will now be empowered to select printers that provide the best deal for the taxpayers' dollar. At the same time, this agreement strikes a blow against the long-standing 'fugitive documents' problem, in which roughly half of all government documents currently do not make it into the Federal Depository Library Program."

"We are extraordinarily pleased to join in this agreement with OMB," said Public Printer James. "It frees Federal agencies to competitively choose their own printers and creates a system to provide the American public with better access to more government information than ever before. The government is now moving the way private sector has been moving, relying increasingly on electronic information technology to create and disseminate information products. The agreement we've reached with OMB recognizes this trend by using technology to increase public access to information while providing a system for efficiently managing the buying of the government's declining printing needs, within the framework of current law."

"On behalf of researchers and library users in all types of libraries, the American Library Association welcomes ideas that can improve permanent public access to government information, eliminate fugitive documents, and enhance the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). We believe this agreement will lead to more and better access to the important information published by the Federal government," said Dr. Carla Hayden, the incoming President of the American Library Association and Director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland.

Private sector printers also welcomed the joint announcement. Ben Cooper, Executive Vice President of Printing Industries of America, said, "The Printing Industry of America is pleased with the agreement that the GPO and OMB have worked out to address Federal printing and print procurement. We have worked closely with OMB and Public Printer James on a new print procurement model and we believe this announcement marks a new era in Federal printing policy and information distribution. We look forward to working with GPO during this transition period to assure the industry serves the taxpayers' needs.

________________________

COMPACT

between the Office Of Management and Budget and the U.S. Government Printing Office

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) share certain common goals. Both agencies seek to develop a mechanism that will allow Federal agencies direct access to printing vendors for the purpose of placing printing orders, while at the same time enabling the GPO to meet its statutory requirements. Both agencies seek to reduce the cost of Federal printing and to ensure the permanent public access to all non-classified government publications.

In furtherance of these goals OMB and GPO agree to take the following steps:

By October 1, 2003, GPO will develop a demonstration print procurement contract, similar to a GSA Federal Supply Schedule, for a Federal department or agency of OMB's choosing. The contract will feature a front-end electronic system utilizing the World Wide Web that will allow Federal customers a one-stop, integrated, print ordering and invoicing system for all print jobs. Any registered printer in the country would be free to submit a price quote on any job placed in the system. The Federal customer would then select a printer, using either lowest price or best value techniques.

In support of this contract, GPO will register and qualify printers for participation in the contract and offer 24/7 customer and printer support. In addition, GPO will offer, on a cost recovery basis, additional printing procurement services, including responsibility determination, specification development, technical and design assistance and press inspections.

Agencies will have authority to address issues of quality, time of delivery, and other performance issues directly with the printers they select. Payments will be routed through GPO to private printers, with agencies approving them before they are made.

Vendors participating in the contract would pledge to provide their "most favored customer pricing" to Federal customers and offer a 3% trade discount, during the demonstration project, to fund the operating costs of the contract. The amount of the trade discount once deployed government wide will be reviewed for possible future reduction. The Superintendent of Documents, at its expense, will continue to have access to publications produced under this contract for public distribution. As a condition of payment, vendors would be required to provide GPO with one electronic version of every document ordered under the contract in a format acceptable to GPO and two paper copies, in order to meet the requirements of Chapter 19 of Title 44. U.S. Code.

To ensure that agency printing work is channeled through the new competitive procurement process, the Executive Branch will substantially limit the circumstances where agencies may rely on in-house or other Executive Branch printing operations. OMB will seek audits and, where appropriate, review by Inspectors General.

A demonstration project will begin in FY2004, and the competitive procurement process will be deployed government-wide in FY2005.

OMB and GPO will work with the FAR Council to ensure that appropriate regulatory changes are made to reflect these new arrangements.

To document the benefits to libraries of being in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), the Library Programs Service (LPS) has launched a new "Stay With The Program" campaign. A variety of materials are available on a new Web page, at the URL noted above. The campaign was coordinated with the Depository Library Council's Operations Committee, Subcommittee on Attrition and Retention (SOAR).

This site includes links to 2 new SOAR publications: "Suggested Responses to Frequently Cited Reasons for Leaving the Depository Library System," and "Benefits of Being a Federal Depository Library." A discussion of benefits from a public library perspective, presentations at Depository Library Council meetings and at Federal Depository Library conferences, discussions of costs and savings resulting from participation in the program, and substantive messages posted to the GOVDOC-L discussion list are also included.

Additional materials will be added as they become available. LPS encourages anyone in or out of the FDLP community to submit additional material to this resource, via a form on the Web page. LPS will post all appropriate and useful submissions.

Council Meeting Video Now Showing on GPO Access

A video showing a portion of the Spring 2003 meeting of the Depository Library Council to the Public Printer is now available for viewing on GPO Access, at <http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/council/sp03dlc_videos.html>. The videotaping was undertaken as a pilot project to bring the Council deliberations to a wider audience.

The Council meeting was held in Reno, NV, on April 6-9. The video was taken on Monday, April 7. The Public Printer, Bruce James, asked the Council and the entire depository community to visualize a new Federal information dissemination process to meet the government information needs of the general public and the depository libraries in the 21^st century. Animated discussion on "Visualizing the Depository Library of the Future" then ensued. As the participants contemplated a future in which almost all government information would be in digital form, questions and debates arose on a wide range of issues.

A link for downloading RealPlayer, if needed, is provided on the Web page.

An e-mail form for questions or comments is available at <http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/council/sp03dlc_videos.html>, or send your comments to <asklps@gpo.gov>.

2003 Recommended Specifications for
Public Access Workstations
in Federal Depository Libraries

These recommended specifications (RS) are intended to assist depository librarians who are planning purchases of new personal computers (PCs) for public use in Federal depository libraries. This document supersedes the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) "Recommended Specifications for Public Access Workstations in Federal Depository Libraries" (Administrative Notes, v. 23, no. 8, June 15, 2002).

In accordance with Depository Library Council action at its Spring 2000 meeting, these RS will become requirements October 1, 2004.

Processor

• FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: 3 GHz processor minimum

• FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: 1 GB DDR SDRAM

Ports

I/O bus

Video

• FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: 64 or 128 bit PCI interface SVGA controller with 128 MB DDR VRAM.

Audio

Hard Disk Drive

• FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: 160 GB or greater capacity, or network connectivity that provides the same.

Removable/External Storage

DVD Drive

• FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: 16x DVD. Single platter or changer design. Should support all available standard CD formats. Avoid proprietary I/O designs.

CD-RW Drive

• FOR CARTOGRAPHIC USE: 48X24X48X

Monitor

• FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: 21" monitor, Super VGA (SVGA), with at least 85 MHz vertical refresh rate at 1024x768 resolution non-interlaced, 0.28 mm or smaller dot pitch; display card which supports 1024x768 resolution at 70 MHz or faster.

• FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: Color ink jet printer, 36", 600 dpi, 80 MB or more memory, or access to a comparable networked printer

Client Software

• FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: GEOTIFF file viewer. Viewing software for raster data, such as Photo Shop Pro, Print Shop or Mr. Sid Viewer.

• FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: Data manipulation package, such as ArcView 3.1 or higher, Landview, MapInfo 4.5 or higher, or other similar package.

Related Issues and Considerations

These specifications are intended to assist depository staff in making informed purchases that will best achieve the goal of providing public access to Federal Government information in a variety of electronic formats.

These guidelines are aimed at providing reasonably robust workstations that should provide years of service before they become obsolete, but LPS encourages the purchase of equipment that exceeds these specifications if at all economically feasible. The speed at which computer capabilities are evolving indicates that the higher the initial outlay, the longer the useful life for the equipment. If a higher end system is not affordable, look for flexibility and expandability in the system that will allow for enhancements and upgrades at a later date. As these guidelines address minimums, ensure compatibility among chosen components before purchasing.

Depository libraries must have computer equipment sufficient to allow timely and equitable public access to Government electronic information products and should allow printing or downloading information selected by the user. During a depository library inspection LPS will use a functional approach to determine compliance with this requirement.

3.5 and 5.25 floppy drives: If your library still has depository materials on 3.5" and 5.25" floppy disks, you must have the equipment for patrons to access these products. Alternatively, depository libraries may "substitute" floppies in their collection for online editions located at the CIC Government Publications Task Force Floppy Disk Project (FDP), hosted by Indiana University Library in partnership with Library Programs Service. The site is located at: http://www.indiana.edu/~libgpd/mforms/floppy/floppy.html. Check online holdings prior to substituting. If the FDP does not have the title you wish to substitute, you must provide access to the product by maintaining older equipment or converting these products to a new platform.

LPS works with the Cartographic Users Advisory Council (CUAC) to develop any additional specifications that support GIS applications. These are included in the recommendations with the indicator ● FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE. All depositories are not required to meet the cartographic specifications. They are meant to assist with planning purchases for those libraries that support and provide data services using spatial data and GIS applications. The "regular" specifications will allow for basic mapping applications. Census maps will be available in multiple formats, including PDF, so large-scale equipment will not be necessary, though consideration should be given to purchasing a color printer.

Viewers versus full working versions of applications software: If viewers are available on computers to allow access to Government information in the various formats this is acceptable and the library will meet the minimum technical requirements. While providing applications software and/or staff support to help patrons manipulate data or create reports is desirable, it is optional. This position is consistent with Depository Library Public Service Guidelines For Government Information in Electronic Formats at:

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/mgt/pseguide.html.

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (August 7, 1998) amended §508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to require "individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal department or agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities." Federal depository libraries must provide hardware and software to allow this or accommodate users in some other manner. Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards; Final Rule was published in the December 21, 2000 (pp. 80499-80528) issue of the Federal Register and became effective June 21, 2001. Further guidance on these issues is available from:

CD-RW drives can be purchased as either internal or external drives. With a CD-RW the discs can be reused, unlike those of the CD-R that can only be used once. The other major difference between CD-Rs and CD-RWs is that CDs created from a CD-R can sometimes be read in older CD-ROM drives while those created from a CD-RW can only be read from MultiRead drives. This is something to consider particularly if you are creating circulating copies and want to meet the needs of most of your users. Be sure to check compatibility with your operating system.

LPS cannot anticipate or address every possible depository library computer scenario, and depository libraries are encouraged to adapt this menu of specifications to fit their local situations. Depositories may require multi-purpose single workstations, electronic access in networked environments, or a combination of both. Given the large variation in the size of Federal depository libraries and the numbers of users served, LPS cannot recommend a universal standard for the number of public access workstations in any given library. However, when assessing workstation needs, librarians should consider such local factors as:

• the amount of information provided over the Internet compared with the amount from CD-ROM
• whether and how the workstations are networked
• to what extent users are permitted to perform additional information processing at the public access workstations
• whether users are experiencing extended waiting times at library peak service hours, etc.

When configuring workstations bear in mind that some government CD-ROM products link to the web to update information on the CD-ROM. This means that for the user to get the newer information and the full benefit of the product at least one workstation must have both CD-ROM capability and Internet accessibility with a graphical browser.

Additional or different capabilities may be desirable for workstations used by library staff. Some libraries may elect to add applications software, such as spreadsheet, word processing, or database software, to their public access workstations, but this is a local resource management decision.

Many depository libraries have existing computer equipment that is no longer "state of the art." These specifications should not be applied retrospectively to existing equipment, although they may assist in determining the appropriate time for replacement or upgrading. Libraries should also consider keeping this equipment in order to access electronic products that cannot be read with newer hardware and software.

For additional information, or if you have any questions about these specifications, please contact Cynthia Etkin, Program Analyst, at cetkin@gpo.gov or by voice at 202-512-1114.

Related Guidelines

• "Depository Library Public Service Guidelines for Government Information in Electronic Formats," Administrative Notes, v. 19, #11 (September 15, 1998). Revised March 2003. <http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/mgt/pseguide.html>

• "FDLP Internet Use Policy Guidelines," Administrative Notes, v. 20, #2 (January 15, 1999). <http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/mgt/iupolicy.html>

• "FDLP Guidelines on Substituting Electronic for Tangible Versions of Depository Publications," Administrative Notes, v. 20, #09 (May 15, 1999). <http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/coll-dev/subguide.html>

Remarks by Judy Russell
Superintendent of Documents
Before the Association for Research Libraries
May 15, 2003
Lexington, KY

I’m delighted to be here with you today. I very much appreciate your hospitality and the effort that Prue Adler made to arrange this opportunity for me to speak with you. It is an exciting time to return to GPO, and I am truly honored to be the second librarian and first woman Superintendent of Documents.

Many of you are directors of Federal depository libraries. My staff tells me that 104 of the ARL libraries are depository libraries. In addition, 22 of you are directors of regional depository libraries, which receive and keep every government publication that GPO distributes. I am sure that even those of you who are from libraries that are not part of the Federal Depository Library Program have staff and clients who use GPO Access and other services of the Government Printing Office. I hope some of you use GPO Access yourselves.

Knowing that some of you are from Canada, I asked my staff for some data on use that originates there. Each month, there are thousands of visitor sessions from Canada and referrals from websites using the country code for Canada. At present it is only about 1% of our total traffic, but it is growing – and obviously, there are very likely many more sessions and referrals that cannot be easily identified as Canadian in origin.

We are very proud that GPO Access is a worldwide resource, delivering an average 37 million government documents per month to its users.

I know that Prue has shared with each of you a summary of our recent Depository Library Council meeting in Reno, Nevada, which focused on the future of the Federal Depository Library Program. This is a time of great change for GPO and for the FDLP. Practically from the moment we shipped the first CD-ROM to a depository library, we have discussed and debated the future of the program and how we would meet the challenges of a more electronic FDLP.

We have all learned a lot in the intervening years. Together GPO and its partner libraries have managed unprecedented changes in the program. But our work is far from over. The greatest challenges remain ahead of us.

The new Public Printer, Bruce James, has challenged us to look at ourselves critically and evaluate the changes that we must make to prepare for the future. To do that, he has embarked on what he characterizes as a "fact gathering" effort to determine where GPO is now and to identify our assets and liabilities. Even more importantly, he has asked us to talk with our partners in the publishing agencies and the library community to see where they expect to be in the future and what services they will require from GPO. Once we all agree on the facts, we will work together to develop a plan for the future, including any necessary revisions to Title 44, and I am sure that some revisions will be required.

This process is likely to take 18 to 24 months, although we wish it could be shorter. In addition to librarians and publishing agencies, we must involve our employees, the 23 unions that represent them, the printing and information industries, and others with an interest in and concern for permanent public access to government information. There are a lot of people to be consulted.

Bruce frequently says that he did not come to Washington to run a printing plant. He came to address the challenges of public access to government information. He sees GPO's primary mission as information management and dissemination, with printing as one way to accomplish that mission, but by no means the only way.

He frequently marvels at the wisdom of the Founding Fathers, who in 1813 created the initial law requiring the deposit of Federal government information throughout the country. To guard against the potential for a tyrannical central government, they insured that all citizens could exercise their rights to know about the actions of their government and at the same time benefit from the information compiled and created by their government. Their vision created a system that has lasted almost 200 years and has served us very well.

However, that system was created before modern means of transportation and communication – before automobiles, trains, airplanes changed our ability to move rapidly from one part of the country to another; before radio, television and the Internet transformed the way we obtain and share information instantaneously.

Our challenge is to re-examine the mission of the Federal Depository Library Program and ensure that there is a viable program for the next hundred years that acknowledges and utilizes the new technologies to support democracy and inform our users. It is a lofty, but achievable goal and one that is well worth the effort that it will require to shape it.

Each of your institutions has an important role to play in the process. GPO is not going to redesign the program in Washington and impose a new structure on the depository library community. GPO administers the program on behalf of the participating libraries and the public we jointly serve. That community must drive the decisions about what the program should be in the future. We cannot do it without you – and, even if we could, we do not want to, or intend to, do it without you.

Together we must re-examine the services that GPO provides to the public directly and through the depository libraries. We must define the services that are required now and in the future to support the mission. We must address the fundamental question that we have been asking each other since 1995: Why be a depository library when you can obtain "everything" (or virtually everything) free on the Internet without being part of the program?

We must "get out of the box" and take a fresh look at the mission we share and determine the best means to accomplish it. We should not limit ourselves to incremental changes to the current system, but seek a new vision, which respects the foundation of the current program, but is not constrained by it.

We are rapidly approaching a critical time in the program. The FDLP has always been a delicate balance between the self-interest of the library in obtaining publications without cost and the public interest in access to the information. This year only 40% of the titles selected for inclusion in the FDLP will be shipped in paper, microfiche or some other tangible format. 60% will be made available on GPO Access or through links to electronic publications on agency or other websites. The trend is clear and the change is accelerating. The balance on the scales is tipping dangerously. Within a few years, perhaps as few as five, there will be very few tangible products distributed to depository libraries, other than those that we collectively decide to preserve in paper.

Together we must determine what services GPO can offer exclusively to depository libraries that will be sufficient to keep libraries in the program when they can obtain "everything" free on the Internet. We must identify services that are of value of you as library directors. I know that you are challenged daily to accomplish more with fewer resources. The depository libraries represented in this room invest far more resources in the Federal Depository Library Program than GPO does – some past estimates suggest that each of your libraries spends $10 for each $1 worth of publications you receive, and that may be conservative. We must find a way to rebalance the scales so that libraries are willing to continue to expend resources on public access to government information.

Let me share with you some of the things that we are working on that may be part of the solution.

We often hear user concerns for "official" and "authentic" government information. There is a great need for information that is reliable because it is from a trusted source.

GPO is negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). This contract will make GPO an official "archival affiliate" and all of the GPO Access databases will be considered the official archival copies, as if they had been transferred to NARA, but GPO will continue to maintain them for permanent public access.

At the same time, GPO is preparing to implement digital signatures on Congressional bills, Federal Register documents and eventually on all GPO Access files. These digital signatures will allow future users of downloaded files to determine that the files are unchanged since they were "authenticated" by GPO.

As I mentioned, Bruce James has indicated that the first year of his term as Public Printer will be spent gathering facts about where GPO and its partners are and what we anticipate for the future, as a basis for a strategic planning process. When he asks for facts, Bruce does not mean merely opinions, even well informed opinions. He has encouraged GPO to work with the community to develop demonstration or pilot projects, which will test ideas about services that we may wish to offer in the future and provide facts about how such services should be implemented. GPO will also conduct surveys both to support data gathering and analysis of the pilot projects and to gather more general information about the FDLP and its users.

We have a number of pilot projects that are underway or contemplated; I won’t list them all, but I would like to share a few of them with you.

• The Department of Energy (DOE) has been a long time partner of GPO and the FDLP. As part of its "Information Bridge", DOE has developed two new capabilities that it will test with depository libraries. One is a means to establish a profile based on search strategy or list of key words, so that every new document that is added to the database that matches the profile of the library will result in an e-mail notification of availability with a link to review or retrieve the document – a totally new way to do electronic item selection. The other is a means to identify categories of documents, much like the categories that were previously used to select subsets of the DOE microfiche, and all new electronic documents fitting each category would be placed in a holding area from which the selecting library could FTP the copies to store and use locally. These items would be placed in a pre-determined folder at regular intervals and held for several days to provide an opportunity to the library to download the files. The content would be removed at scheduled intervals and replaced with newer material matching the profile.
• Another project exploring affirmative dissemination of electronic content to depository libraries utilizes the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) software developed at Stanford. 40 ARL libraries are participating in the beta test of the LOCKSS software. In addition, GPO and 9 partner depository libraries (5 of which are ARL libraries) are exploring applying the LOCKSS technology towards an e-FDLP program. As most of you know, LOCKSS allows individual libraries to take custody of stable content in all formats delivered via HTTP and safeguard their community's access. With the assistance of an NSF planning grant, this project is exploring technical, economic, social and legal issues. GPO thinks this effort is a promising one that is worth pursuing for government content.
• The University of Arizona is engaged in a project to become the first all-electronic selective depository library. They are working with GPO to identify electronic counterparts for all of the items that they select and systematically substituting those items for tangible products. This will help us examine the characteristics and service requirements for depository libraries in the future when all, or virtually all, of the material available through the FDLP is electronic.
• We have identified at least 4 academic law libraries for a similar project to test the feasibility and characteristics of an all-electronic academic law depository library.
• We are encouraging depository libraries to seek digitization and preservation grants for retrospective conversion of materials from their Federal documents collections. GPO will work with the libraries to see that all converted items are cataloged; to establish standards for digitization that will result in searchable files; to ensure that the digitized materials are part of the FDLP and available for permanent public access; and to serve as a clearinghouse for information about digitization projects so that we can eliminate redundancy. Retrospective digitization will not only improve access to the older materials, it will enable the libraries that need or wish to do so to weed their collections and substitute the electronic titles. Depository libraries have already approached us to discuss digitizing Congressional hearings, the Serial Set and the Code of Federal Regulations, among other items.
• We expect to replace the microfiche contracts as they expire with contracts for digitizing documents. GPO will work with the community to develop specifications and standards that will result in searchable, useful electronic files, and where we cannot locate a born digital copy, we will create an electronic file.
• The regional depository libraries have been asked to develop proposals for pilot projects to test a new concept for inspections. We would like to establish locally based "consultants," who would be assigned responsibility for approximately 40 to 60 depository libraries in a geographic area. They would visit each of those libraries at least once per quarter, some for only a few hours and others for a day or more, depending on the need. They would offer training and attend local, state and regional documents meetings to speak and answer questions. They could assist with self-studies, help train new documents librarians, and advise on problems related to item selection, collection development policies, and the like. The idea is to recruit from the community people who would serve in the community for a year or two and then return to work in a depository library. We have asked regional libraries to consider providing a home base for such consultants, including office space, and mentoring/ supervising them. We are expecting three or four proposals that will test various approaches to replacing inspectors based in Washington with consultants based in the field.
• GPO is also seeking library partners to assist us with the development of virtual reference services and web-based training. We have an enormous need for tools to facilitate training and make it easier to use government documents, and much of the expertise in these areas is already available in your libraries. We want to build on that experience.

If you or your staff have a proposal for a specific pilot project or would like to participate in one of the projects I have described, I encourage you to get in touch with me at <jrussell@gpo.gov>.

We are also considering establishing shared facilities into which collections can be de-duplicated to reduce burdens of the large historical collections on our regional depository libraries and other large selectives – on many of you in this room. We do not wish to take anything away from you that you want to keep on your shelves, but we do want to provide alternatives for little used materials that could be available "just in time" if and when they are needed. In the 1960s we went from requiring every depository library to keep everything in perpetuity to requiring only regional depository libraries to keep everything forever. It is time to look at that issue again and find ways to reduce the burdens of the large collections, without losing the value of having a distributed system that protects these assets and ensures permanent public access. We want to work with you on expanded digitization, preservation, retrospective cataloging, and other services to better mange the retrospective materials and make them more accessible to users in and outside of your libraries.

I attended the recent Center for Research Libraries meeting in Chicago and listened with great interest to the presentations on three models for cooperative collection management and shared collections. We need to examine these and other options to determine the options that best meet your needs. Again, one size does not need to fit all. We may end up implementing several different models to meet needs of different geographic areas or types of libraries.

As Prue mentioned in her summary, I am emphasizing strongly with my staff and the community the idea that "one size does not fit all" in the Federal Depository Library Program. We are beginning to re-evaluate procedures, policies and regulations to determine what is best for each size and type of depository library. The core collection for a small public library will be very different from that of an academic research library or an academic law library. The technical requirements for a library with a large information commons will be quite different than those for a small library, which will need one or more dedicated workstations for access to Federal government information. Similarly, the list of titles that should always remain in paper is probably different for different sizes and types of libraries.

I have been having a series of conference calls with documents librarians from different types of libraries and will continue to do that as a means to explore the barriers to and incentives for participation in the FDLP, now and in the future. I encourage every one here to talk to your staff and among yourselves and then to provide feedback to me on the changes that you would like to see. I welcome opportunities to visit your libraries and talk with you and your staff about ways that we can serve you better and make this program a valuable asset and essential part of your services to your users. I am happy to receive an e-mail message (jrussell@gpo.gov) or a phone call (202-512-0571) from you at anytime.

Several of you have already suggested that ARL arrange for meetings with smaller groups of ARL directors to discuss the future of the program, as well as facilitating meetings with library directors and their depository librarians to assist in acceptance and implementation of the changes that are sure to come, much as ARL did for the Interlibrary Loan project a few years ago. Prue has agreed to arrange those meetings for us. I know they will be extremely valuable.

Let me address one final topic before I conclude my remarks and take your questions. We are reorganizing the Superintendent of Documents staff to better address the issues I have identified by creating a structure that is arranged in functional areas. This will align our staff to reduce duplicative efforts and provide better service to our library partners and our other customers.

The reorganization will allow us to focus more attention on establishing a comprehensive national bibliography as required by the statute. We are in the final stages of contract negotiations for an integrated library system. This is an essential tool that will make it possible for the first time to expand the current Catalog of Government Publications by incorporating bibliographic records from other agencies and partner libraries.

Many years ago GPO turned over its historical collection to the National Archives and almost immediately we began to regret the absence of a tangible collection. We have decided to re-establish a comprehensive collection of tangible and electronic documents as a collection of last resort for the program, and the new organization will dedicate staff resources to that effort.

Agency printing is no longer the primary source of publications for the FDLP, so we need to increase our focus on acquisitions through web harvesting, outreach to publishing agencies and other means. The new organization will help us to focus increased resources and attention on acquisition of content for the FDLP and the sales program.

These changes will result in new positions and promotional opportunities for current staff, and we hope that some government documents librarians will consider applying for positions at GPO and coming to help us improve our current services and prepare for the future.

In closing, I want to encourage each of you to work with one another and with GPO to determine the mix of content and services that GPO must offer in the future to make it worthwhile for libraries to participate in the FDLP. We want you to help define the program that you want and need. It is particularly important to identify services that can be offered exclusively to depository libraries, so there are some substantial, tangible benefits to participation when all or virtually all of the material can be obtained free from the Internet without the obligations of being a depository library.

Together we can, and we must, re-evaluate and reshape the Federal Depository Library Program to make sure that the program is as strong a means of public access to government information in the next hundred years as it has been for the past two hundred years. This is a great challenge, but I one I welcome. I look forward to working with you to meet this challenge.

Bruce R. James
Public Printer

Opening Remarks
Before the
Subcommittee on Legislative Appropriations
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We’re very happy to be here today to present the GPO’s budget request for FY 2004. I also want to compliment you and the Members of the Subcommittee on the excellent staff you have in Liz Dawson and Chuck Turner; we really look forward to working with them.

With me at the table are Bill Turri, Deputy Public Printer; Judy Russell, Superintendent of Documents; and Frank Partlow, Chief of Staff.

My prepared statement has been submitted for the record. I would like to make just a few brief remarks summarizing what we are doing at the GPO and how our appropriations request relates to our objectives.

Mr. Chairman, the GPO has a proud history, one built on a singular dedication to meeting the printing needs of the Federal Government and the information needs of the American people.

But GPO’s middle name tends to obscure our true mission, which is keeping America informed by distributing the official information products of the Government. This is a mission that traces its origins to our Founding Fathers.

Just as the GPO’s middle name gets in the way of understanding our true mission, the nature of what we do—printing—has been eclipsed by revolutionary changes in electronic information technologies, especially the Internet.

While printing will not disappear in our lifetime, its role in our lives—and in the lives of GPO’s customers—has been forever changed.

We need to sort out what continues to belong in print and what best belongs in information retrieval systems. We need to allow the public to define their own information needs, then search against databases of information that we construct to retrieve only what they need, only when they need it.

Therein lies the challenge for GPO. Like every other manufacturing business in America, GPO must reinvent itself if it is to remain relevant and viable for the future. As Public Printer, I am leading this effort.

Our first step is to determine the facts regarding GPO’s strengths and weaknesses and the problems and opportunities facing us. We are already doing this by participating in a GAO study of Federal printing and information policy ordered by Congress. When this study is concluded later this year we will have a factual basis on which to build a strategic plan.

Once the plan is developed, our next task will be to gain support from Congress, the Administration, our customers, the library and information communities, the printing industry and the labor unions, and from all those who have a stake in the future of Federal information policy.

Then we must carry out the plan to transform the GPO into an information service equipped and staffed to meet the information demands of the 21^st century.

Since I took office in early December, we’ve begun several initiatives to transform our operations:

• We’ve implemented a new organizational model for the GPO that will be more responsive to the needs of our customers and employees.

• We’ve taken a number of actions to improve conditions for our employees:

• We’ve implemented the first new employee incentive program at GPO in over a decade.

• We’ve expanded our workforce development budget to ensure that no one is left behind as we transform our operations.

• We’re expanding the use of digital communications internally to provide employees with the information they need to do their jobs effectively.

• We’ve begun recruiting efforts at colleges and universities around the country to reverse the decades-long drain on GPO’s talent.

• At the same time, we’ve implemented a buy-out program for up to 300 employees who are eligible to retire. This will generate cost savings and create opportunities to transition our workforce to new technologies and business practices.

• To tell everyone that we’re leaving the past behind, we’ve redesigned GPO’s logo to create a new image for the 21^st century.

• I’ve been meeting with Members of Congress, key congressional staff, Federal agency heads, the library and information communities, the printing industry, and others to win support for the GPO and increase our business.

• I’ve also been meeting with the top management of our suppliers—from printing companies to equipment manufacturers—to explore the opportunities for the GPO to assume a leadership position in technological innovation in the digital information era.

• To deal with the printing issues raised last year by the Office of Management and Budget, I’ve kept up a dialog with OMB officials about their concerns. But rather than blowing apart a system of printing set up generations ago, I’ve asked OMB to walk forward with me to devise a new approach for Federal printing and information policy that fits the 21^st century.

• I’ve challenged the library and government information communities to help us in developing a new depository library program model. More than 50% of the information coming into the program is now only in electronic form, never reaching ink-on-paper.

• Last but not least, we’ve set up a contingency planning effort to prepare ourselves to protect our employees and carry out continuity-of-government operations in the event of an emergency. We’re doing this in concert with similar planning efforts ongoing in the House and the Senate, in Federal agencies, and in the District of Columbia.

Mr. Chairman, the transformation of the GPO is well underway. In order to make it happen, however, the GPO needs funding not only to continue product and service provision, but to begin making the investments we know are needed now to position us for the future.

Our appropriations request for FY 2004 is targeted at these two objectives: maintenance of product and service quality, and investment in necessary technology improvements and critical workforce restructuring:

• For the Congressional Printing and Binding Appropriation, we are requesting $91.1 million for FY 2004, an increase of just 1.7% over the funding that was approved for FY 2003. This amount will cover all estimated congressional printing requirements for FY 2004, as detailed in our budget submission.

• For the Salaries and Expenses Appropriation of the Superintendent of Documents, we are requesting an increase of 3%, or $871,000, over the amount approved for FY 2003 to cover mandatory pay and benefits increases as well as price level changes.

To begin essential investment in GPO’s future, we are requesting additional funds above the levels required for continuation of services. These funds, amounting to slightly less than 2% of GPO’s total annual budget, represent a new point of departure for GPO.

• We’re asking for $4.1 million for the Salaries and Expenses Appropriation to replace obsolete technology used by the GPO Access system, now nearly a decade old. Congress and the public are increasingly dependent on this system, and we need to upgrade it provide the service they have come to expect.

• We’re also asking for $10 million for our Revolving Fund to fund the extraordinary expense of our buyout program. This amount is needed in order to avoid spending funds we have earmarked for essential technology improvements.

Along with our appropriations request we are seeking two technical legislative changes to Title 44, U.S.C:

• A change in the pay levels for GPO’s top executives will improve our ability to attract and retain leadership talent.

• Another to give us the authority to accept contributions of equipment and services as well as transfer or donate surplus equipment to appropriate entities. We have briefed the Joint Committee on Printing on both these changes and have their support for them.

We’re also requesting an increase for GPO’s representation fund to help us promote the concept of changing the GPO. These changes will help us in transforming the GPO.

Mr. Chairman, GPO’s appropriations request for FY 2004 represents a new departure for this agency in preparing for the future. GPO desperately needs to move forward aggressively to seize the opportunities that can be provided by marrying new technology with best practices found throughout the private sector. Our budget request will help us take those forward steps.

I thank you for your support and encouragement of change at the GPO, and I look forward to working with you and the Members of this Subcommittee in your consideration of our request.

This concludes my remarks, and I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

The City of Mesa Library, main branch, has been a depository library since 1983 and currently selects approximately 48%. The Mesa library system consists of a main library (located in downtown Mesa) and two branches to support a city population of almost 400,000. 34% of the population within an approximate 3-mile radius of the main library is Hispanic (10% of the Spanish speakers speak English "not well" or "not at all"), so the library has a nice collection of materials in Spanish to meet the needs of the citizens who are more comfortable reading and viewing materials in Spanish.

In March 2002, we decided to move all of the Spanish language Federal documents to the part of the library that houses the rest of the Spanish language materials. There are many good documents in Spanish that never get used because non-English speaking patrons typically don’t use the library catalog. We gradually located the Spanish language documents by browsing through various agencies where we knew Spanish language documents were located. Now as we weed or add documents, we pull out the Spanish materials as we find them.

When setting up the display area, we decided to put the documents near the non-circulating reference materials with a sign in Spanish indicating the materials were to be used in the library. We also mark the Spanish documents with a stamp indicating they are not to be checked out. Some of the documents are displayed on slanted periodical shelves and others are in magazine boxes. We do not attempt to keep the documents in order, as we want the collection to be used. Every few days, we rearrange the documents so the collection looks refreshed.

It is very evident that the collection is being used, as the documents always need to be straightened up. Recently we had a Spanish-speaking patron ask how to get copies of several of the health documents that were on display, so we know we are doing our job of meeting the needs of the patrons we serve and we are meeting the responsibility of promoting the use of Federal documents in the community. We also recently added several Spanish language document posters to the area.

Another method we used to make Federal government information available to Spanish speakers in our community was to develop a library web site in Spanish. From this section of our site, we link to many Federal web sites that have information in Spanish <http://www.mesalibrary.org/espanol/enlaces/gobierno.htm>.

In January 2001, the library undertook the planning process, Planning for Results. The end result was a 3-5 year development plan for the City of Mesa Library. The plan consisted of several goals and objectives. Our separating and moving the Spanish documents to the area where the Spanish language materials are, helped the library meet several of the goals and objectives outlined.

We are very happy with the success of our endeavor and will continue to try to come up with ways to serve our Spanish speaking community better.

Readers Exchange

Opportunistic Promotion for Documents
Lisa A. Ennis, Documents Coordinator
Austin Peay State University

Government Documents is one of the most misunderstood areas in libraries. Publications come in a variety of formats, are organized using a different classification scheme, have special rules for processing and organization, and non-documents librarians tend to avoid them, which is a real shame considering the value and scope of government publications. So, the question becomes what can we do as Documents Librarians to help others better understand the value and importance of the collection?

Well, over the past year I have seen first hand the impact proactive library promotion and outreach can have. Kimberley Barker, the Coordinator of Promotions and Programs at Georgia College & State University, built a systematic outreach program that has increased the library’s visibility on campus, resulting in a higher gate count, higher reference statistics, and an increase in instruction requests. Now, here is the thing, I’m not very good at heading up the kind of events Kimberley creates, but what I could do was piggy back on her events.

For instance, Kimberley organizes events surrounding themes and highlights items from the collection that match the event’s theme. One such event is "Your Library Loves You Day" in February. She sets up a table somewhere on campus and we give away pencils, copy cards, and have hot chocolate --- the students love it! All I have to do is ask if I can put up a Documents flyer and pull an item or two from the Documents collection for the display. Kimberley also organized a monthly rotation for "Staff Picks" --- when it came to my month I highlighted the Department of Defense materials.

From my experience with Kimberley and her outreach efforts, I’ve started to keep an eye out for other opportunities to piggy pack on projects. For instance, our Serials Librarian, Donna Bennett, organized our subscription to Serials Solutions <www.serialssolutions.com).

which creates an alphabetical list of the library’s journal holdings in both print and electronic formats. Presently, the documents serials kept in the Gov Docs area are not included in that list --- but they certainly can be! Serials Solutions will allow for the Journal Locator to link to a library’s online catalog, PURLs, or to a locally maintained Web page. You’re really only limited by how much work can be done in a day! Not only can Gov Doc serials be listed with all the library’s other serials, but they can retain their designation as being received through the FDLP, which can often be very illuminating for administrators on a variety of levels.

Does anyone in your library create a new titles list? If so, ask if you can include new government document titles and be sure to designate they came through the FDLP. Ask people in other areas of the library to link to your government document page--especially from any subject guides or reference and instruction pages. Be creative and take advantage of what other departments in your library are doing! And lastly publicize your outreach and promotions --- create a simple Web page to keep a record of what you have done, like <http://library.gcsu.edu/~govdocs/outreach.html>. Even with just a teeny budget and the smallest amount of time you can help raise awareness! And don’t forget you can order promotional material from <http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pr/order.html> for free.