Depository libraries are encouraged to adapt this menu of specifications to fit their local situations. Depositories may require multi-purpose single work stations, electronic access in networked environments, or a combination of both. LPS cannot anticipate or address every possible depository library computer scenario. Rather, these specifications are intended to assist depository staff in making informed purchases which will best achieve the goal of providing public access to Federal Government information in a variety of electronic formats.

Computer equipment in depository libraries must be sufficient to allow timely and equitable public access to Government electronic information products and should allow printing or downloading information selected by the user.

Given the large variation in the size of Federal depository libraries and the numbers of users served, LPS can not recommend a universal standard for the number of public access work stations in any given library. However, when assessing work station 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 work stations are networked, to what extent users are permitted to perform additional information processing at the public access work stations, whether users are experiencing extended waiting times at library peak service hours, etc.

LPS has deliberately not provided specifications for Apple Macintosh (Mac) or UNIX work stations. Based on responses to the 1995 Biennial Survey, Macs are the computer of choice for a small minority of the depository libraries. However, depository libraries which have a Mac or UNIX environment should assess their functional capabilities in light of these specifications.

Many depository libraries have existing computer equipment which 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.

These specifications are not intended to describe a "best possible" work station. Instead, they are the baseline specifications which should be considered when purchasing new stand-alone public access work stations. LPS encourages the purchase of equipment which exceeds these specifications if at all economically feasible. The speed at which computer capabilities are evolving suggests that a higher initial outlay will result in an extended useful life for the equipment.

For additional information, or if you have any questions about these specifications, please contact Lee Morey, Electronic Transition Specialist, at dmorey@gpo.gov or by voice at (202) 512-1698.

.

The Government Printing Office is happy to announce an addition to the GPO Access Pathway Services: List Federal Agency Internet Sites. The List is based on agency entries in the U.S. Government Manual and links users to those agencies' Internet sites.

A partnership between GPO and the Louisiana State University, LSU Libraries has made this new Pathway Service possible. LSU Libraries developed and maintain the agency listing. The partnership with GPO should give this excellent agency list increased visibility as it joins the suite of Pathway Services on the GPO Access Web site.

To get to this new service at GPO:

1. Go to the Superintendent of Documents Web page, at: http://www.ac cess.gpo.gov/su_docs/index.html 2. Scroll down to the third subcategory, Locate Government Information Products. List Federal Agency Internet Sites will be the second item listed or: 3. You can go directly to its location at http: //www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/agencies.html

GPO extends its thanks to Louisiana State University, specifically to Mary Jane Ledvina, Government Documents Librarian at LSU Libraries, who maintains this list.

The List of Federal Agency Internet Sites is one of several partnerships GPO has entered into during the past six months. GPO anticipates entering into additional partnerships in the future to leverage the skills of the depository library community.

Two FAQs regarding FDLP partnerships are:

What are FDLP Partnerships?

FDLP Partnerships are working agreements between GPO and one or more depository libraries or other service institutions to work jointly on projects that expand or enhance the capabilities of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP).

What kinds of activities can constitute an FDLP Partnership?

FDLP partnerships are of two types:
1. Content Partnerships - These partners host remote Internet sites for official FDLP electronic collections.

2. Service Partnerships - These partners engage in service activities which enhance the FDLP.

Phone: 202-512-1698
Fax: 202-512-1432
E-mail: ets@gpo.gov

[Text prepared by NTDB staff.]

First time installers should proceed to the "How to Install the NTDB CD-ROMs" and "How to Run the NTDB CD-ROMs" sections below.

Other users should follow the appropriate instructions according to the month of issue.

• Users who have already installed the February '97 (or later) issues don't have to install the current discs to use the NTDB. You should proceed to the "How to Run the NTDB CD-ROMs" section. If the current discs contain a new software release, the New Version button in the NTDB opening screen will be activated. Click on that button for an automatic update to the new release.

• Users who have previously installed the December '96 or January '97 issues (only) must install both current discs. The new software will create separate icons for each disc.

If you have previously purchased network and/or extract licenses and are installing the current discs, you must install to the same directory as before, and respond "no" to the network and extract licensing questions. The installation software will retain the necessary licensing information from your previous installation.

How to Install the NTDB CD-ROMs: 1. Insert disc 1 into your CD-ROM drive.

2. Run the SETUP program:

a. Using Windows File Manager or MS Explorer:
• Open the Windows File Manager or MS Explorer and choose your CD-ROM drive (usually D: or E:).

• Find the program SETUP.EXE in the ROOT directory of the CD-ROM and double click on its associated icon.

b. Using RUN command line:
Choose the Run command line option from the File pull-down menu and type in the drive and full path directory location of the SETUP program (e.g., d:\SETUP.EXE) in the appropriate field, where d = drive letter associated with your CD-ROM drive.

3. Follow the prompts through the setup process. The SETUP program will prompt you for network and extract license serial numbers. If you are installing the NTDB on a network drive, then you must click on the Yes' button and provide both a valid network license, in the format xxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxx, and a fully qualified path to a directory within your network where information can be written to by the software. If you are installing on a stand-alone PC, then click on the No' button. Additionally, if you plan to use the NTDB batch extraction facility, then you must click on the Yes' button and type in a separate license key in the format xxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxx.

Before the installation of disc 1 is completed, the SETUP program will:

• copy the NTDB.EXE program to the C:\NTDB directory (default directory can be changed to any other valid directory name)

• copy the NTDB.INI file to the Windows directory
• add a shortcut icon for disc 1 to your desktop, if supported by your operating system.

5. Run the SETUP program - follow the instructions as in step 2 above.

6. Follow the prompts through the setup process. Before the installation is completed, the program will add a second shortcut icon for disc 2 to your desktop, if supported by your operating system.

7. Eventually, your Program Group called STAT-USA will have two Program Items:

• NTDB(CD 1), which can be invoked to access disc 1
• NTDB(CD 2), which can be invoked to access disc 2

1. Insert the NTDB disc 1 (or disc 2) into your CD-ROM drive.

2. Click on the NTDB icon for disc 1 (or disc 2).

3. Click on the Options button if you wish to change the default values for the maximum number of documents that you can retrieve, colors and index order.

4. After exiting the Options window, a search for documents can be initiated through the Basic Search, Structured Search and Free Form Search buttons. Single documents can be viewed and entire information programs can be extracted by clicking on the Browse by Program button.

[This is an edited and updated version of an article that first appeared in the March 1996, Volume 24, No. 1, Documents to the People, titled "A Congressional District Level Documents Group: Empowerment at the Grassroots," by Irene Herold, Robert Conklin, Charlet Key, Tiina Kurman and Sheila Nollen.]

You might ask yourself, what do a public library, a community college, a private four-year liberal arts college and a mid-sized public university have in common? They are all members of the 17th U.S. Congressional District in the State of Illinois, and they are all Federal depository libraries. These widely different libraries have found common ground through group meetings, helping each other through recent depository library inspections, teaching each other about emerging technologies and resources in the Federal Depository Library Program, assisting patrons better through understanding the individual institutions' collections and services, and garnering the attention of our local Member of Congress and his staff.

In the fall of 1993, Irene Herold, a second-year public services librarian in charge of Federal documents at Monmouth College, contacted Sheila Nollen, head of government publications at Western Illinois University in Macomb, about arranging for a site visit. Ms. Nollen suggested including the documents librarian, Robert Conklin, from Galesburg Public Library in Galesburg. This first gathering proved very informative and useful for the attendees. They toured the government publications floor, discussed common concerns, especially an upcoming, but yet-to-be-scheduled Federal depository library inspection, and what that would mean in terms of preparation, and decided to create a Union List of documents for the three depositories. They discussed having a meeting every quarter with the site rotating among the libraries, and inviting Charlet Key from Black Hawk College, in Moline, to the next meeting, so all of the Federal depository libraries from the 17th Illinois U.S. Congressional District would be present. Thus started the 17th U.S. Congressional District Federal Depository Librarians Group, or the Group for short.

During the next few years, the Group started preparing for Federal depository library inspections and then completed them. The Group co-wrote brochures about depository materials on the topics of history, education, business, tax, statistics, travel, nutrition and consumer information, besides one on what is a depository in general. Several group members distributed these brochures in the community. Ms. Herold spoke at a local junior high about the depository, using the brochures as visual aids, while Ms. Nollen used them with the League of Women Voters and Business and Professional Women. When visiting each library during the course of the year, demonstrations were given of electronic depository products and Internet access--first, telnet and gopher sites, later of Web sites. Each library has had slightly different Internet access, and being able to see what could be done encouraged other libraries to utilize available resources. Cooperative housing agreements were made between the group members, and nondepository products that index depository information have been demonstrated. When Ms. Herold went on an unexpected leave two months before Monmouth's Federal depository library inspection in May of 1995, the interim library director attended the Group. Because of the cooperation and collaboration of the previous year and a half, the other Group members were able to assist him in completing the draft self-study in preparation for the inspection.

As part of their outreach, the Group decided to inform, by sending meeting minutes, and invite the 17th U.S. Congressional District Representative and his staff to the meetings. After a year of invitations, two staff from the Member of Congress local office now attend the meetings, usually at a rate of one or two a year. The Group has discussed with these staff what depository libraries are and can provide in the way of printed and electronic materials. The staff members were impressed with the Internet access, and expressed that they had not realized how much information was available through the World Wide Web. Staff members in later meetings have also expressed their appreciation about knowing what is available in the depository libraries in their district so they can redirect constituents appropriately. They have stated that being at the Group's meeting has been useful to them. Lane Evans, the 17th U.S. Congressional District Representative, visited Monmouth College in August of 1996, toured the depository operation and held a joint press conference with Ms. Herold to discuss the impact of a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program. This press conference was covered by three local newspapers and two local radio stations.

Others who have attended the Group's meetings include the documents coordinator from the regional at the Illinois State Library. The Group has decided that it has been very useful to meet and that they will continue the quarterly meetings, even though the next depository library inspection, which was a driving force in the creation of the Group, will be far in the future. There have been many benefits to the individual librarians and libraries that constitute the Group. For further information about starting your own group, please contact Irene Herold at Irene@wpoff.monm.edu.

[Entered into the record of the Senate Rules Committee hearing on Title 44 revision and compliance, held 5/22/97. Printed in the Congressional Record, 5/22/97, by Rep. Hoyer (D-MD), p. E1045-E1046.]

The Scope of the Problem

According to 44 U.S.C. Sec. 1902, "Government publications, except those determined by their issuing components to be required for official use only or for strictly administrative or operational purposes which have no public interest or educational value and publications classified for reasons of national security, shall be made available to depository libraries through the facilities of the Superintendent of Documents for public information." Depository libraries make these publications available for free use by the public. Traditionally, most Government publications of general interest, including legislative, regulatory, business, and consumer titles, as well as many scientific and technical reports and studies, have been distributed through the GPO's Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP).

Many publications produced by the Government fail to be included in the FDLP. Documents that belong in the Program, but which are excluded, are known as fugitive documents. Their absence from depository library collections impairs effective public access to Government information.

Although no study has resulted in a definitive answer, we estimate that more than 50 percent of all tangible Government information products are not being made available to the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). Of these, we estimate that there are about 55,000 scientific and technical documents and reports which are neither printed through GPO nor furnished by the issuing agencies to the FDLP as required by law. The issuing agencies do, however, provide either a printed copy or an electronic image file of each of these documents to the National Technical Information Service (NTIS).

In FY 1996, NTIS took in about 160,000 scientific, technical, and business-related titles, most but not all of which were published by the Government. We estimate that about 70 percent, or 112,000, of NTIS's total intake belongs in the Program. Compared with the 57,000 titles in the FDLP in FY 1996, this leaves at least 55,000 fugitive titles which should have been provided to GPO by the publishing agencies. NTIS provides bibliographic access to the publications it takes in through its abstracting and indexing activities. This makes them available to the public and to depository libraries on an on-demand basis from NTIS, but at a significant cost.

In addition, there is an unknown number of fugitives which are primarily general, public interest materials produced by agencies using avenues other than GPO. It is virtually impossible to estimate the total number of these titles, but they may well number in the thousands and include, but are not limited to, the publications of Federal District Courts and Courts of Appeal, Federal Election Commission financial disclosure statements, and Library of Congress Congressional Research Service reports.

Recently, four major factors have contributed to increasing losses of key general interest publications to the FDLP. These are: (1) electronic information dissemination via agency Web sites without notification to the FDLP; (2) the decreasing compliance with statutory requirements for agencies to print through GPO or to provide copies of publications not printed through GPO to the FDLP; (3) the increasing trend for agencies to establish exclusive arrangements with private sector entities that place copyright or copyright-like restrictions on the products involved in such agreements; and (4) increasing use by agencies of language in 44 U.S.C. Sec. 1903 that permits publications to be excluded if they are "so-called cooperative publications which must necessarily be sold in order to be self-sustaining."

Even in cases where the FDLP learns about such fugitive general interest publications, extensive negotiations and even Congressional intervention have proved necessary to ensure compliance with the depository library provisions of Title 44. The following list includes some particularly egregious examples of failure to comply with statutory requirements. It should be noted that OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has not provided any significant assistance to GPO in detecting or resolving these problems.

U.S. International Air Travel Statistics

U.S. International Air Travel Statistics was published by the Department of Transportation using data derived from the Immigration and Naturalization Service and distributed to the FDLP. In FY 1996, Congress transferred the collection and dissemination of this data to the Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration (ITA). According to ITA, this publication is available for sale from ITA's Tourism Industries office, is a self-sustaining publication not fully funded by Federal monies, and is exempt from distribution to the FDLP.

Handbook of International Economic Statistics

For many years, this publication was printed and published by the CIA as the Handbook of Economic Statistics, sold by the Superintendent of Documents Sales Program and distributed to the FDLP. After 1992, the CIA no longer made it available to the sales or depository programs. It is now sold by NTIS and paper copies are not being offered to the FDLP. The 1996 edition of the CIA's World Factbook CD-ROM includes an electronic version of the Handbook, but for such standard reference works, the preferred format for depository distribution is paper.

Precursor Systems Analyses of Automated Highway Systems

This CD-ROM product is being sold by the Department of Transportation and is not being provided to the FDLP. Although FDLP may be receiving some of the printed reports that form the basis of the CD-ROM, it is probably not receiving all of the data included.

Order Now CD-ROM

This NTIS CD-ROM product includes two years' worth of abstracts and indexes not available elsewhere. NTIS has expressed a willingness to make the CD-ROM available as a benefit to the public and as a promotional tool for their sales program, provided GPO paid the retrieval software fees, but has stated that "[a]t no time did we consider this to be a question of compliance with Title 44," apparently based on the fact that the publication in question is electronic rather than print.

Toxic Substance Act Chemical Substance Inventory

The last material associated with this EPA product that was received by the Depository Program was the 1990 Supplement to the 1985 edition. It is now available exclusively through NTIS. When contacted, EPA said that it supplied data to NTIS, not a finished product, and for this reason was not responsible for depository copies. NTIS has not furnished copies for the Depository Library Program.

Creating a Government That Works Better but Costs Less: Status Report CD-ROM

This series has been distributed by the Sales and Depository Programs in print but the CD-ROM, which includes additional information, is available only from NTIS. NTIS has not responded to requests for depository copies.

Export Administration Regulations

Despite a request in writing to the Bureau of Export Administration requesting a copy of this database for mounting on GPO Access, the agency has not responded. The agency has, however, entered into an exclusive distribution agreement for both print and electronic versions of the EAR with NTIS, and has paid NTIS to mount the database. A year ago, the Superintendent of Documents wrote to Bruce McConnell of OIRA to request an OMB review of the agreement between NTIS and the Office of Export Administration but did not receive a response. Several months of discussion with NTIS, as well as intervention by the Joint Committee on Printing, were required before it agreed to provide print copies of this product.

Big Emerging Markets

Developed by the International Trade Administration and printed by a private firm in a joint venture with NTIS, this product was originally offered to the FDLP in microfiche format. This was unsuitable due to the presence of color charts in the product. Only after several months of discussion and Congressional pressure did NTIS provide print copies.

Journal of the National Cancer Institute

This periodical is now published by Oxford University Press under the terms of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRDA) with the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Initially the FDLP was told by NCI that this arrangement rendered the Journal a non-Government product, even though editorial work is still being performed by NCI employees. After NCI officials discussed the matter with the Joint Committee on Printing, Oxford University Press agreed to furnish depository copies. NCI has not, however, returned calls made by FDLP for the purpose of setting up a mechanism to accomplish this.

Hispanics-Latinos; Diverse People in a Multicultural Society

This title was first published by a private sector trade association based in Washington, DC. Although the data was gathered and prepared at public expense, it was provided to this private group, which then copyrighted the publication and sold it for $10 per copy. Because Hispanics-Latinos was not printed through GPO, it was not initially available to the Depository Program. When this situation was brought to the attention of the Census Bureau through Senate Rules Committee hearings, the Bureau reprinted the book through GPO so depository copies would be available.

A Nation of Opportunity/KickStart Initiative The United States Advisory Council on the National Information Infrastructure issued two reports that were initially published by West Publishing, a major private sector seller of legal publications and databases, although they were prepared by the Commission at public expense. Initially these publications were not made available to either the Superintendent of Documents Sales or Depository Programs.

Once the Joint Committee on Printing was apprised of this situation it contacted the Commission. As a result, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the Department of Commerce reprinted the publications through GPO in a much less elaborate black-and-white format and both the Sales and Depository Programs acquired copies.

Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990

This Census publication was printed by NTIS rather than through GPO. Through what was described by Census as a "handshake agreement," NTIS asked that Census not make this publication available to either the Depository or Sales Programs for its first six months so as not to hurt its exclusive sale by NTIS. As a result of Senate Rules Committee hearings, GPO obtained a copy from Census shortly after its publication by NTIS. The Depository Program printed copies for its use and Sales acquired copies for sale to the public.

Solutions to the Fugitive Documents Problem

Since nearly all fugitives involve titles not printed or procured through GPO, the simplest and most cost-effective solution would be for agencies to obtain all of their tangible information products through GPO. This would afford the FDLP the opportunity to ride for depository copies. Any agencies not obtaining their information products through GPO would be in compliance with Sec. 1903 if:

• The agency provides the requisite depository copies to the FDLP, free of any encumbrances such as software licensing fees or copyright-like restrictions
• In the case of online services, the agency provides no-fee access to the FDLP

The Costs of Compliance

If delivered to the Superintendent of Documents (SoD) in print format, these formerly fugitive titles would represent a significant new workload that neither the SoD or the libraries in the FDLP have adequate resources to handle. We estimate that, based on the current mix of paper, microfiche, and electronic formats being disseminated by the FDLP, providing these fugitives in a similar mix would increase costs by approximately $8 million. This, however, is an unlikely scenario.

In our view, it is more plausible that the migration of printing to electronic publishing already in evidence will continue to grow. This scenario provides a unique opportunity to bring additional information into the FDLP for no-fee public use. When the source information is in electronic format, the agency can either make it available on their own Internet Web site, or can ask GPO to make it available via the GPO Access service. Either of these approaches would enable the FDLP to provide more information to the public, while limiting the increased costs to the Government. In this scenario, the projected decline in the amount of printed material would gradually reduce the costs to the Program.

When an agency publishes via the Web, the major SoD cost increases are for the provision of cataloging and locator services so users can find the information; and for permanent access services to ensure that the electronic content is maintained for use in the future. We believe that these costs should be funded out of the SoD appropriation. If an agency provides electronic content for disseminating via GPO Access, there will be costs associated with processing that information and mounting it on the system. These "developmental" costs may be borne by the originating agency, by the SoD, or by a combination of the parties. In any case, we would expect some cost savings to the Government and the SoD from this electronic approach when compared to the all-print scenario.

A low-cost solution for the FDLP may be at hand which would make the scientific and technical information held by NTIS available on a no-fee basis to depository libraries through the use of electronic imaging technology. We are presently participating in a pilot project whereby NTIS will provide depository libraries access to these image files at no cost. An issue that still needs to be resolved is that NTIS is considering restrictions on the redissemination of these files by depository libraries to prevent any adverse effect on NTIS sales. Before the NTIS solution can be viewed as a workable approach for large quantities of fugitive information, NTIS' copyright-like restriction on redissemination of the electronic version of the information must be eliminated.

In addition, it is critical that any revision of Title 44 make clear that an agency's obligation to provide their information to the FDLP is not overtaken by other requirements, including any mandate to operate on self-sustaining or cost-recovery basis. For example, when an agency charges users for access to Government information at its Web site, there needs to be statutory language that clearly directs the agency to provide no-fee depository access. Revisions to Chapter 19 of Title 44 must also provide for advance notification of the FDLP by agencies when information products are initiated, modified, or terminated on agency Web sites, define Government information products so as to include in the FDLP any publications produced under agreements with private sector entities, and delete the current exemption for "cooperative publications."

.New Phone Numbers, E-mail Addresses in LPS As the renovation of the Library Programs Service offices proceeds, more phone numbers and e-mail addresses have changed. The chart on the next page shows the current contact points for LPS staff.

Library Programs Service Directory Revised June 1997
Name	Voice	Fax	E-mail
DIRECTOR'S OFFICE
James Young	202-512-2332	202-512-1432	jyoung@gpo.gov
William Thompson	202-512-1125	202-512-1432	wthompson@gpo.gov
LIBRARY DIVISION
Gil Baldwin	202-512-1002	202-512-1432	ebaldwin@gpo.gov
DEPOSITORY ADMINISTRATIONBRANCH
Robin Haun-Mohamed	202-512-1071	202-512-1636	chiefdab@access.digex.net
Mike Clark	202-512-1619	202-512-1636	mclark@gpo.gov
Michele Harris	202-512-1060	202-512-1636	lpsmail@access.digex.net
Laurie Hall	202-512-1062	202-512-1636	lhall@gpo.gov
Earl Lewter	202-512-1063	202-512-1636	elewter@gpo.gov
DEPOSITORY SERVICESSTAFF
Sheila McGarr	202-512-1119	202-512-1432	smcgarr@gpo.gov
Gail Snider	202-512-0883	202-512-1432	gsnider@gpo.gov
John Tate	202-512-1119	202-512-1432	jtate@gpo.gov
CATALOGING BRANCH
Tad Downing	202-512-1121	202-512-1432	tdowning@gpo.gov
ELECTRONIC TRANSITIONSTAFF
Duncan Aldrich	202-512-1698	202-512-1432	daldrich@gpo.gov
Sandy Schwalb	202-512-1698	202-512-1432	sschwalb@gpo.gov
Lee Morey	202-512-1698	202-512-1432	dmorey@gpo.gov
Joe Paskoski	202-512-1698	202-512-1432	jpaskoski@gpo.gov
DISTRIBUTIONDIVISION
Vicki Barber	202-512-1014	202-512-1432	lpsmail@access.digex.net
Colleen Davis	202-512-1007	202-512-1429 (claims) 202-512-1432 (other) 202-512-1636 (backup)	lpsmail@access.digex.net