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SuDocs Letter to Directors: Changes in FDLP
[The following letter was sent to all depository library directors.]
August 25, 2000
Dear Library Director:
I am writing to you in my capacity as administrator of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and because your library is one of the Nation's 1,330 depository libraries.
Over the past few years, there have been important changes in the way in which the FDLP makes Government information available to libraries and to the American public. The most profound of these changes is the FDLP electronic transition, which follows the general trend in the Federal Government to publish and disseminate information in electronic formats. Often this means that information previously provided for your collection in a tangible, printed format is now available via the Internet. During the most recent 12 months, more than 50% of the content provided through the FDLP has been online. However, due to the proposed congressional appropriation for the FDLP, the shift to a primarily electronic program will accelerate.
The Senate and House appropriations conferees have agreed on $27.9 million for the Salaries and Expenses Appropriation (S&E) for the Superintendent of Documents for FY 2001. This appropriation funds the FDLP as well as the Cataloging & Indexing, By-Law Distribution, and International Exchange Programs. The current budget is $29.9 million, and GPO had requested $34.5 million for the S&E for FY 2001. The conference committee proposal is $2 million less than the current fiscal year. The House in particular has directed GPO to emphasize electronic dissemination. This was articulated most recently in House report 106-796, which said "[e]mphasis should be on streamlining the distribution of traditional paper copies of publications, which may include providing online access and less expensive electronic formats."
To operate within the reduced appropriation, GPO will be obliged to curtail some traditional products and services. We are evaluating print products in the Program that are also available electronically and changing their dissemination to libraries to the online electronic version only. The Program is not funded at a level that permits us to continue to make dual format distribution on a routine basis.
Therefore, we are implementing a policy on distribution to Federal depository libraries that will accelerate the transition to a primarily electronic Program. As an operational guideline, U.S. Government publications will be furnished to Federal depository libraries solely in online electronic format unless:
- There is no online electronic version available from the publishing agency.
- The online version is incomplete.
- The online version is not recognized as official by the publishing agency.
- The online version is unreliable; e.g., the content is replaced or overwritten without notice.
- The tangible product is of significant reference value to most types of FDLP libraries. The online version poses a significant barrier to access; e.g., the product is very difficult to use, thus impeding access to data or content.
- The tangible product is intended to serve a special needs population; e.g., publications in Braille or large print.
- There is a legal requirement to distribute the product in tangible format.
- The costs associated with disseminating electronically exceed those for the tangible product, a situation that may arise with certain CD-ROM software licensing or fee-based online services.
GPO will present a draft policy regarding the above exceptions to our Depository Library Council for discussion at the upcoming fall meeting to be held in Arlington, Virginia, October 22-25, 2000.
These changes to a primarily electronic FDLP are of much more than academic interest. This fiscal year, we estimate there will be about 27,000 tangible titles in the Program, down from about 40,000 last year, due to reductions in agency publishing and transition to online access. We are now in the annual process of establishing the requirements for depository copies for many products that will be printed under GPO term contracts beginning in FY 2001. This year, in order to save printing and shipping expenses, we are checking each term contract to see if that title or set of products is available online. Our analysis indicates that up to 40% of the products distributed in tangible format may also have an online version available. If that is the case, and they do not fall into one of these exceptions, GPO is changing the depository dissemination to electronic only. Such changes will be reported in the Administrative Notes Technical Supplement as they become effective.
These changes will impact the budget and operation of the depository program in your institution. Shipments of tangible FDLP products to your library will decline sharply over coming years, reducing your long-term requirements for shelving and space. However, I am concerned that we use the electronic transition as an opportunity to expand public access to electronic Government information products. In order to deliver this information effectively, libraries must take steps to ensure that the technological infrastructure is in place. Together we must address accelerating training and continuing education needs of depository library personnel, so that they may keep abreast of this rapidly changing technological environment.
In the new, primarily electronic environment, GPO will continue to provide Federal depository libraries administrative support, collection development, and access services (identification, evaluation, selection, authentication, organization, and cataloging), as well as systems for permanent accessibility.
Thank you for your continuing support for the FDLP and your library's contributions to the public's right to know about the activities of their Government. If you have questions or concerns about these issues, or wish to discuss any aspect of the Program, please do not hesitate to contact me at 202-512-0571, or by email at <fbuckley@gpo.gov>.
Sincerely,
FRANCIS J. BUCKLEY, JR.
Superintendent of Documents![[ Click Here For Information About the FDLP Desktop ]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090103065447im_/http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/images/fdlpdskz.jpg)
