Readers Exchange

[Presented at the 2002 ALA Annual Meeting in Atlanta]

Most of the resources below are not aimed directly at government documents librarians. Making use of them will require looking at the techniques offered and comparing those to the concerns in your department/library. No one technique works for everyone.

• American Library Association home page <www.ala.org>, has a link for Library Advocacy and Support:

This page includes, among other materials, links to the following sites:

• Libraries & the Internet Toolkit
• A Library Advocate's Guide to Building Information Literate Communities
• Library Advocate's Handbook
• Quotable Facts
• Say the Right Thing: Winning Strategies for Talking to the Press
• Smart Voting Starts @ your library
• Fact Sheets

• Campaign for America's Libraries PowerPoint (Updated Spring 2003. Use with the script below.)
• Campaign Overview: Script for Presenters (Updated Spring 2003)
• Library Examples PowerPoint (Updated Spring 2003. This PowerPoint contains samples of how local libraries of all types and library organizations throughout the country are involved in the @ your library campaign. Please customize the PowerPoint for your audience.)
• Principles of Crisis Communication: After 9/11 prepared for ALA by Brian Specht. (ALA 2002 Annual Conference
• Principles of Crisis Communication: After 9/11, prepared for ALA by Howard Opinsky. (ALA 2002 Midwinter Meeting)

Readers Exchange

Auraria Library Celebrates 25 Years as a Depository

On April 2, 2003, the Auraria Library in downtown Denver, Colorado, celebrated 25 years as a depository library. The Auraria campus was formed in 1976 to combine the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver, and the University of Colorado at Denver students onto one campus, but remaining as 3 separate schools, with one Library, funded by all three.

The designation process was a complex one, involving the redesignation of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley from Senatorial to Congressional and then designation of Auraria by Senator Floyd Haskell in 1978. Strengths of the present collection include Census, Congressional, Justice, and statistical publications.

T.C. Evans, Deputy Superintendent of Documents, spoke to the assembly of librarians, faculty, staff, and students about the importance of free access to government information and of depository libraries to facilitate access. He then presented Dean David Gleim with a certificate commemorating the anniversary.

Attendees enjoyed refreshments at a reception sponsored by LexisNexis following the ceremony. Attendees left with packets of information about the depository program, notepads, and pens from GPO and the Denver GPO Bookstore. A library display, next to the U.S. flag, of information about the depository program together with some of the library’s publications formed a backdrop for the ceremony.

Envisioning the Future of Federal Government Information

The spring 2003 meeting of the Depository Library Council to the Public Printer, held April 6-9, 2003 in Reno, Nevada, was something more than business as usual. The newly appointed Public Printer of the United States, the Honorable Bruce R. James, and the Superintendent of Documents, Judy Russell, asked Council to devote one and a half days of this meeting to developing a vision of what the Government Printing Office (GPO) and the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) should become, not just in the next few years, but over the next century.

As Mr. James pointed out in his opening remarks at Reno, "The nineteenth century isn’t coming back to the GPO." Council agrees with Mr. James that, while there is much worth preserving in the collaboration between GPO and Federal depository libraries, the partnership that now exists is based on nineteenth century models of government printing and library collections. The transition to a more electronic FDLP, much discussed during the past ten years in the library community, is nearly complete. Electronic dissemination of Federal government information is becoming the rule, rather than the exception. For the public to continue to enjoy the benefits of centralized, mediated, and no-fee access to Federal government information, GPO and libraries must develop new models that are appropriate for and sustainable in this century.

When Mr. James invited Federal depository library directors to send representatives to the Depository Library Council's spring meeting in Reno to participate in the visioning process, approximately 300 depository librarians or their designees from every type of depository library came. Representatives from the American Association of Law Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, and the Special, Medical, and Public Library Associations, former Depository Library Council members, and library administrators attended as well.

GPO arranged for Fynette Eaton of the National Archives and Records Administration to serve as facilitator for our discussions. Council devoted Sunday afternoon and evening to developing a series of broad statements of our vision of the future of Federal government information to be used as a starting point for discussion with the Public Printer. The official opening of the meeting on Monday morning was a plenary session in which Mr. James and Council discussed and expanded on these statements. This was followed by an afternoon session with Mr. James in which attendees expressed their comments, ideas, thoughts, and concerns about the morning discussion and the visioning process. Throughout the remainder of the meeting, through discussions with GPO staff and focus groups, a coherent vision of how the library community believes the new GPO and FDLP should develop in the 21^st century began to emerge. The following statements summarize that vision.

The Government Printing Office, in partnership with Federal depository libraries, meets the needs of the public for no-fee access to official government information. Government information is a strategic national resource owned by the people and held in trust jointly, for the public good, by GPO and by Federal depository libraries. Together, these institutions provide stewardship for government information throughout its life cycle, ensuring timely access, as new information is produced, and permanent public access in the future.

The new era of partnership between GPO and Federal depository libraries should retain the best aspects of the existing system while incorporating new technologies and services to provide a higher degree of dispersion of government information to the public. During the print era, the process of printing and distributing government information placed GPO in the position of a centralized government information agency with the authority to distribute information to libraries. As we move into a future where the primacy of the printing process is diminished, it is vital that GPO maintain its centralized role in dissemination of Federal government information. Other Federal agencies have come to rely on GPO to fulfill the role of central disseminator of government information, and the public has come to rely on depository libraries to serve as local distributors of that information. The library community sees a continuing role for GPO as the centralized agency ultimately responsible for provision of no-fee permanent public access and the creation of metadata and bibliographic records. Partner libraries should continue to fulfill their mission of providing services to the public.

A new more flexible FDLP must be developed to meet institutional missions of partner libraries. Because some libraries consider ownership of digital content vital while others only want to manage it, a flexible system of GPO partnership with libraries should provide for the needs of both types of institutions. A variety of partner libraries could provide a multitude of entry points, ensuring the public’s ability to access no-fee Federal information.

GPO should become an aggregator for Federal information. GPO’s role in information dissemination should include use of state-of-the-art technology to harvest and manage Federal information, an active role in working with agencies to develop widely usable information products, and cooperation with both partner libraries and private information providers in the creation of databases and other products. This aggregator role is essential to ensuring that Federal information is widely accessible to the public. GPO should serve as a driver of new information technologies for its partner libraries, whose role is to use their knowledge of public, academic, and research users of government information to assist with the development and use of government aggregators.

Partner libraries should become facilitators in the Federal information dissemination process rather than repositories of printed government publications. Through the FDLP, libraries should participate in decisions that affect the Federal information life cycle, from development of valued-added products to provision of permanent public access. Key aspects of this joint venture entail collection, description, and no-fee permanent public access to Federal information in all formats. Libraries can assist GPO in its mission by helping to meet the information needs of underserved and disadvantaged members of the public, including those facing technological, economic, cultural, and physical challenges. Libraries also can help to meet the needs of specialized user communities, such as scholars, scientists, and public advocates.

The traditional library role of facilitator to no-fee public access to Federal information remains key. No-fee library services improve the public’s utilization of Federal information resources and provide agencies with local responders to information requests. The GPO-library partnership should be broadened to include other agencies, thereby improving the products and service that the FDLP has to offer. Because the costs of providing access to this strategic national resource cannot be borne by nonprofit libraries alone, government agencies should assist them by providing no-fee access to information products for GPO’s partner libraries.

• GPO should expand its partnerships with the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration, and other Federal agencies that can help it achieve its goals in the centralized management of Federal government information. GPO is uniquely positioned to provide public access to Federal information, but many other agencies with related missions play key roles in the life cycle of government information and should partner with GPO to the benefit of both government efficiency and public access.
• GPO should explore information product development that is focused on value-added services. Federal information is notoriously complex and difficult to use, and technological advances have given government agencies the ability to make vast amounts of information available that can require knowledge of not just government processes, but statistical analysis, geographic information systems and other advanced methods of information manipulation. GPO should be encouraged to develop value-added information products in order to address these issues. In addition, GPO should make its information resources available to commercial aggregators to provide greater value-added access to government information to all libraries, depository and non-depository, that wish to pay for those services.

• GPO should provide services for varied communities of users. GPO should recognize that there are different types of partner libraries whose needs vary according to their user communities. In order to help librarians provide appropriate services for diverse groups, GPO must be aware of varying levels of user needs.

• GPO should focus on marketing and training in the use of government information services. GPO increasingly provides training in online government information services, particularly in its role as a driver of new technologies for libraries. This is a role that GPO should continue and expand.

• Libraries must act as service providers rather than warehousers. The old depository model, which sought to distribute copies of most government printing to libraries around the nation, does not necessarily work in the electronic age. The emphasis in many libraries has shifted from building collections, which may or may not be used, to providing information to users in a timely fashion. With an increasing number of government information titles being disseminated in electronic-only formats, superior service rather than volume counts will become the distinguishing hallmark of GPO’s partner libraries.

• The role of regional Federal depository libraries should be reexamined. Not all states have regional libraries within their boundaries, and the economic realities of state funding mean that some areas are better served by regional libraries than others. New ways of supporting FDLP libraries should be explored that are tailored to meet local needs and economic realities.

• Libraries, in their role as facilitators between government agencies and the public, should share their knowledge about providing information services with GPO and other agencies. As institutions, libraries make it a priority to understand their user communities and to provide effective information services for those communities. Libraries should share their expertise by working with government agencies in order to improve the usefulness and accessibility of information products and services.

Despite the many points of consensus reached during the visioning process, both Council members and attendees of the Reno meeting expressed concern that the current FDLP’s mission and benefits not be lost in a rush to implement 21^st century models. Council wishes to clarify the following principles as GPO moves forward in the planning process:

• Libraries are partners, not customers, of GPO in the dissemination of Federal government information. While Council recognizes and applauds GPO’s efforts to modernize its working relationship with the Federal government agencies it serves, the business model cannot be extended to Federal depository libraries. As nonprofit institutions dedicated to facilitating the public’s access to no-fee information, libraries are and should continue to be regarded as partners of GPO.

• Libraries must have no-fee access to Federal government information. In order for libraries to fulfill their mission of providing no-fee access to the pubic, GPO must continue to provide partner libraries with no-fee access to Federal government information, including value-added products developed in partnership with the private sector.

• Authentication, not official publication, should define the universe of Federal government information available to the public. As GPO develops and expands its technical capabilities, public access should be expanded to encompass not just official publications, but all authoritative and authenticated Federal government information within the scope of the FDLP.

• Current regulations governing the FDLP should be changed only in consultation with participating libraries. For libraries, the costs and benefits of Federal depository status are a careful balance. The impact of any regulatory changes to the FDLP should be thoroughly reviewed by the library community.

During the Reno meeting, Mr. James stated that GPO is engaged in a three-year planning process. The current year is devoted to gathering information for the visioning process. The second year will be spent developing a model based on the vision of the future that emerges from the information gathering process. In the third year, GPO plans to implement that model.

The results of the discussions that occurred during the Reno meeting will be condensed and reviewed by Council, GPO staff, the depository community, and other stakeholders in Federal government information dissemination and access. These notes will be widely distributed throughout the depository and library communities and will be made available at the Depository Library Council web site <http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/council/index.html> on GPO Access <http://www.gpoaccess.gov>. Superintendent of Documents Judy Russell is holding a series of conference calls with Council, regional depository librarians, and other groups from the library community during the summer. GPO plans to present preliminary findings from its information gathering activities at the next Depository Library Conference, scheduled for October 19-22, 2003 in Arlington, VA.

Recommendations and Commendation
Depository Library Council Meeting
Spring 2003, Reno, NV

1. Online MoCat

Council recommends that the Government Printing Office suspend publication of the printed version of the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications and its Serials Supplement as soon as it is possible to replace these tools with dynamic online versions. The United States Congressional Serial Set Catalog’s Numerical Lists and Schedule of Volumes, however, should continue to be published in the printed version.

Rationale: The expense of producing and printing the paper version of the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications and its supplements far outweighs its usefulness to libraries and the public. The new Integrated Library System, when implemented, will allow the Government Printing Office to create timely, dynamic lists of bibliographic records produced by the Government Printing Office by any time interval or format, which could then be printed, downloaded, or used online. This dynamic online version would meet the spirit of the statutory requirement mandating monthly publication of a list of government documents available to the public and indeed would exceed the usefulness of the current printed versions. Because of the unique value of the United States Congressional Serial Set Catalog’s Numerical Lists and Schedule of Volumes for reference and collection management, these products should continue to be published in the printed version.

2. United States Library of Public Information

Council recommends that as the Government Printing Office pursues its initiative in creating a United States Library of Public Information, the Government Printing Office, along with members of the depository library community, develop a cogent, flexible collection that is:

1. Comprehensive in scope and content
2. Fully cataloged
3. Widely accessible
4. Permanently archived

Rationale: In today’s increasingly electronic environment, the need for a United States Library of Public Information providing permanent public access, full cataloging records, widely accessible and comprehensive in scope becomes more of a national need. GPO’s pursuit of this library will address the current and future needs of the new depository environment.

Council commends Bonnie B. Trivizas upon her retirement after more than twenty years of Federal service, including that with the Library Programs Service from 1985 to 1992 and 2001 to 2003. Ms. Trivizas has served in several capacities at the Government Printing Office, including service as director of the Library Programs Service from 1990 to 1992 and twice serving as Chief of the Library Division of the Library Programs Service. In addition, she has been involved with many important Government Printing Office activities, from the early development of GPO Access and the Federal Bulletin Board to the current procurement process for an integrated library system. Council thanks Ms. Trivizas for her dedication and wishes her well in her future endeavors.

Stay with the Program
Benefits of Being a Member Library of the FDLP

Some libraries are considering dropping their depository status; their reasons for doing so can vary. However, library administrators and documents coordinators should consider the many benefits of depository status before they decide to drop depository designation. Some of the reasons for continuing in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) are outlined below.

Depository libraries benefit because the Federal Depository Library Program:

• Enhances the status of the institution through:

• greater service to & resources for the entire community
• political good will of the Congressional delegation
• a public collection of government information, employing knowledgeable people to serve that collection

• Raises the level of visibility and status of the entire library locally, regionally, and nationally
• Provides primary source material that is invaluable to researchers
• Links a community of government information professionals who understand governmental organizational structure, the information publishing practices of governmental agencies, and the multiple contexts in which these agencies produce this information
• Provides a centralized process for locating, acquiring, cataloging, and disseminating information produced by the various government entities
• Automatically distributes publications that libraries may otherwise find difficult to obtain, due either to price or availability
• Pushes member libraries to the forefront of technology
• Raises the service level of the library in order to comply with FDLP standards
• Produces guides such as the "Recommended Specifications for Public Workstations" that help to ensure that library workstations are always up-to-date
• Provides information & training with programs such as the Interagency Seminar and the Depository Library Conference
• Extends limited book budgets by providing valuable material at no cost
• Supplies materials that support various curriculum areas
• Distributes regular updates on government information issues from the GPO, other government agencies, and other entities
• Enables libraries to have input in the policies and procedures of the Federal Depository Library Program
• Allows indefinite retention of the Federal depository collection, whereas libraries leaving the program may be required to dismantle it

Upcoming Events 2003 Interagency Depository Seminar May 27–June 4 Washington, DC Federal Depository Conference/Fall Council Meeting Oct. 19–22 Arlington, VA