As LC officials prepared for a challenging New Year and a new Congress, they looked at some strong gains in 1994, despite two years of staff cutbacks and severe budgetary constraints.
"Library staff have much to be proud of," said Suzanne Thorin, LC chief of staff. "Time after time, they have risen to the occasion, getting the job done, often facing tight deadlines or sudden changes. And the Library has made long-awaited progress in many key areas."
As she and other Library senior officials saw it, during 1994, LC improved services to Congress and the nation through technology; reduced the backlog of uncataloged items by another 2 million; reached agreement with the Department of the Army for construction of the Library's new secondary storage site at Fort Meade, Md.; set up a new copyright royalty arbitration process; secured a tentative settlement of the Cook case, a class action lawsuit brought by black employees; appointed a new deputy librarian; published the Library's first bimonthly membership magazine; and got a big start on the National Digital Library with $13 million in private funding.
Highlights:
Legislative Support to Congress. The year was noteworthy for complex and controversial domestic legislative proposals, such as those seeking to reform health care, criminal laws and education. For example, during protracted debate over health care reform, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) prepared numerous analytical, technical and legal memoranda and reports; briefed scores of members and staff; helped to develop hearings and draft amendments; and wrote committee report language.
No less fractious were foreign policy debates regarding Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, North Korea and Rwanda. Debates over international trade agreements, both hemispheric and global, were equally contentious, placing an even greater premium on the nonpartisan, timely and confidential support available from CRS.
CRS analysts and attorneys testified before Congress on such topics as a balanced budget amendment, the impact of immigration on welfare programs, school-to-work programs, Forest Service reform, the space station and private property rights. Finally, CRS provided the bulk of research and informational support to Congress as it considered legislation that would address issues identified by the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress.
CRS Innovations in Service Delivery. Congressional offices and committees can now obtain copies of all CRS short reports by directly dialing a new CRS fax server and entering through the phone keypad the number of the CRS short report. The requested items are then automatically sent to the requester's fax machine. This service is available to Congress (Hill offices only) 24 hours a day.
In addition, CRS has placed many of its Reports and Issue Briefs (full text) online through LC MARVEL (Machine-Assisted Realization of the Virtual Electronic Library), available only to members and their staffs. In November 1994, CRS pilot-tested in more than 30 congressional offices the potential for using LC MARVEL as a means for delivering products to Congress.
Other CRS innovations include a Product Distribution Center and a telephone tree for congressional callers that eliminates waiting time during peak hours and permits direct access to CRS analysts and products.
Internet Access. On-line access via the Internet to the Library was enhanced dramatically with the introduction of the Library's World Wide Web Service, which makes it possible to share audio and video materials as well as text. Internet users now have access to six Library exhibitions, six American Memory collections (text, photographs, films, manuscripts and pamphlets), nine country studies (Egypt, Ethiopia, Israel, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Somalia, South Korea and Yugoslavia); more than 40 million computerized records, which include information about books and other materials in the Library's collections; bill summaries; copyright registrations; and summaries of foreign laws, plus bibliographies and a wealth of information about the Library.
Digital Library Visitors' Center. In October, the Library opened the Digital Library Visitors' Center in the Atrium of the Madison Building. The purpose of the center is to demonstrate how the Library suports Congress and the nation through technology.
The center, which is expected to open to the public in 1995, is open by appointment to members of Congress and their staffs, Library staff and visitors. It provides demonstrations and training and has 14 workstations that demonstrate ACCESS (a graphical touch- screen interface to the Library's bibliographic systems), World Wide Web, LC MARVEL (the Library's gopher), American Memory, the Copyright Imaging System (an optical storage system for copyright registrations) and special features to assist persons with disabilities.
Digitization of Core Collections. The Library raised $13 million in private gifts and grants to digitize significant portions of its unique core American history collections and has assembled a team to write an operational plan. To support this effort, the Library has held consultative meetings with technical experts, heads of research libraries, catalogers and corporate executives.
ACCESS System. The Library's ACCESS system, a user-friendly way for patrons to access the Library's information files without training and without reference librarian assistance, was expanded to support a total of 10 reading rooms. New information was made available through ACCESS, including an index to popular magazines and catalog information on serials. Additional features were added for ease of use, such as the Change Search pop-up window and the online request for a book or serial. A dual-language version was introduced in the Hispanic Reading Room, and a prototype system to integrate images and bibliographic descriptions is in operation in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room.
Technology Projects in Test Status. The Electronic Copyright Management System (ECMS), a project sponsored by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) and the Copyright Office, in cooperation with the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, will allow automated copyright registration, electronic deposit of works, access to rights and permissions and recordation of copyright ownership transfer. Status: this year the system was developed and the software programming initiated.
The Electronic Cataloging in Publication (CIP) project is testing the feasibility of the electronic transmission of manuscripts for cataloging via the Internet in lieu of mailing them. Participants include: University of New Mexico Press, HarperCollins, the University of South Carolina Press, the University of Arizona Press, the University of Tennessee Press and Utah State University Press.
These six publishers are working with the Library to improve the timeliness, cost effectiveness and efficiency of cataloging by sharply limiting the number of keystrokes required to create a record, eliminating mail time and postage costs and improving the quality of cataloging.
Status: this year the number of participants increased from three to six; the Library processed 125 manuscripts electronically.
The Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) is a cooperative international network in which nations are contributing statutes to a database hosted by LC's Law Library.
Status: More than 52,000 bibliographic records have been entered into the database; in addition to the initial project members (Brazil and Mexico), 11 other countries have expressed an interest in participating.
Arrearage Reduction. The Library continues to reduce its arrearage of unprocessed materials as demonstrated by another cut of 2 million items during fiscal 1994 -- for a cumulative 36 percent decrease since the project began. Major progress was achieved in processing print materials, including cataloging a record of 279,809 titles, 13,000 more than the previous record set in 1992.
Expanded use of copy cataloging and other processing innovations continue to yield gains in productivity and timeliness. For example, the Library has led in the development of a national Cooperative Cataloging Council. Its aims are to reduce the costs of cataloging while maintaining quality through a well-designed division of labor. As more difficult arrearage goals for 1995-2000 are pursued, the Library continues to implement changes in procedures and technology that will increase productivity and throughput.
Arrearage reduction efforts have most recently made available to researchers unique materials, including Ulysses S. Grant's commission as lieutenant general (March 1864), signed by Abraham Lincoln; two autograph drafts of Jerome Kern's hits, "Old Man River" and "Can't Help Lovin' That Man"; Ira Gershwin's draft lyrics (including rejected versions) for "Long Ago and Far Away," one of his most beautiful and popular songs; Langston Hughes's draft with hand-written revisions of his poem "Freedom's Plow"; and the navigation chart used by Lt. Cmdr. John H. Towers when Seaplane Division 1 made its first transatlantic flight after World War I.
Other treasures include a very rare salesman's dummy of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, with a special advertising broadside to promote sales of the new book, and a Spanish book of 1503 with one of the earliest recorded mentions of the New World and its commercial possibilities.
Secondary Storage. Linked to the Library's arrearage reduction project is the development of a secondary storage site to house properly processed materials and to provide for growth of the collections through the first part of the 21st century. The Library, the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) and the Department of the Army agreed to a plan transferring up to 100 acres of land at Fort Meade, Md., to the AOC for legislative branch storage requirements.
The Library and the AOC are now completing plans for the construction of the first collections storage facility. A Library-wide group has also prepared a plan for the transfer of materials to the new facility, and the Library has started development of a retrieval system. Beginning in fiscal 1996, materials will be identified, labeled and linked into an automated collections control system in preparation for the actual transfer in late 1996.
Collections Security. The Library continued to implement elements of its Plan for Enhancing Collections Security. An electronic access system controlling entry into the book stacks in the Jefferson Building became fully operational in August. Planning began for a similar control system for the Adams Building book stacks. The Library placed antitheft targets in most books acquired during the year, plus some 700,000 older volumes considered to be at greatest risk of theft. This brought the number of targeted volumes to more than 1.7 million.
Preparations began for the installation of electronic detection gates at reading room exits. The automated charging of books removed from the stacks for use within the Library was expanded significantly, a cloakroom was opened in the Jefferson Building so that readers could leave their belongings there rather than bring them into reading rooms, and additional security measures were initiated at the Landover Center Annex.
Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panels (CARPs). The Library set up a new system for administering the functions formerly performed by the Copyright Royalty Tribunal, including developing procedures and regulations for the CARPs that will distribute royalties and set rates. Operating under the new system, the Copyright Office has processed both the DART (digital audio recording tape) and cable claims, published a list of nominated arbitrators and begun the review process to compile a list from which arbitrators may be selected. The first CARP procedure is planned for early 1995 in a new Madison Building hearing room.
Collections Development and Important New Acquisitions. The Library receives millions of pieces each year, from copyright deposits, from federal agencies and from purchases, gifts and exchanges. After many years of planning and development, the Library activated ACQUIRE, its new automated acquisitions system, on Nov. 15. ACQUIRE provides a single system to handle most forms of acquisitions -- purchase, exchange, gift and copyright enforcement. ACQUIRE reduces duplicate acquisitions and gives managers better financial and statistical information. In addition, it interfaces with the new Library-wide automated financial system.
The Library revised a number of its Collection Policy Statements during fiscal 1994 in its continuing efforts to refine acquisitions while maintaining the quality and integrity of the collections. In conjunction with that effort, the Library revised its Approval Plans to make them more effective in developing and maintaining a universal collection in a time of diminishing resources. Notable acquisitions during fiscal 1994 include the papers of W. Edward Deming, the papers of Donald T. Regan, the papers, drawings and designs of Charles Eames, Edward Muybridge's panoramic photograph of San Francisco in 1877 and a collection of 250 Rudyard Kipling works.
Distribution of Cataloging Products and Services. The Cataloging Distribution Service (CDS) released several major new products: (1) Cataloger's Desktop, the full-text, hypertext WINDOWS edition of the Library's most popular cataloging publication on one CD-ROM; (2) Music Catalog on CD-ROM, offering more than 180,000 bibliographic records -- LC's entire music-related database -- including records for the Schatz collection of opera librettos; (3) USMARC distribution of the cataloging files from the national libraries of both Japan and Germany; and (4) the Internet file transfer option for all machine-readable cataloging files. In addition, CDS implemented systems capability to support variable-start subscription services to give CD-ROM customers the opportunity for 12-month service beginning at any time during the calendar year.
Audit of the Blind and Physically Handicapped Program. Clifton, Gunderson & Co., Certified Public Accountants, completed an audit of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) during fiscal 1994. The audit concluded that "the program and functions of NLS are being managed effectively" and "that the patrons were satisfied with the services provided." The audit, conducted from September 1993 through April 1994, included a programwide examination of NLS and Library of Congress legislation, manuals, records and reports. Transaction tests were performed by the auditors, including assessment of the NLS system of management controls. A major recommendation of the audit -- the elimination of flexible discs for magazines -- is a major part of NLS's machine budget strategy for fiscal 1996.
Human Resources Improvement. The Library used its new merit selection process to fill positions and improve its diversity profile by the selection of outstanding minorities and women to key posts, including those of Deputy Librarian; Register of Copyrights; director of Congressional Relations; chief of the Hispanic Division; special assistant for diversity; chief of the Asian Division, and chief of the African and Middle Eastern Division.
The Library also selected 30 Affirmative Action Interns -þ the largest class in the Library's history -þ for eventual placement in various professional job series. The Library approved a reorganization of personnel operations, to improve utilization of staff and accountability for service delivery. Finally, a new performance appraisal plan puts Library managers and supervisors, GS-15 and below, under an evaluation system that holds them accountable through annual reviews similar to those of senior level executives.
Restoration and Renovation. The Architect of the Capitol has virtually completed renovation and restoration of the Thomas Jefferson and John Adams buildings and is making the buildings available for the commencement of pre-occupancy work. The Library is executing a three-year occupancy plan that includes a grand opening celebration in the fall of 1997, which marks the 100th birthday of the Thomas Jefferson Building.
Special Facilities Center. The Little Scholars Child Development Center (LSCDC) has increased its enrollment from a September 1993 charter class of 40 children to 90 children, close to its capacity of 100. Operated by the Library of Congress Child Care Association (LCCCA), the LSCDC provides child care primarily for employees of the Library and other legislative branch offices. A Library-wide planning group worked with the Architect of the Capitol to produce schematic design drawings for the remaining part of the Special Facilities Center, which will be used for training, general assembly and education programs and temporary living quarters for visiting scholars.
Bringing LC Treasures to America. The Library's collections were shared with thousands of Americans through local exhibitions, special events and symposia, traveling exhibitions (at 51 sites in 34 states) and major publications. The Library continues to lead the nation in the presentation of exhibitions online by adding images and text from recent displays.
Major exhibitions included "Old Ties, New Attachments: Italian American Folklife in the West" (cultural history and folklife); "Selections from the African-American Mosaic" (a display depicting African-American research resources at the Library); "Caprices, Grotesques and Homages: Leonard Baskin and the Gehenna Press" (a celebration of publishing and printing); "The White House News Photographers' Association 1994 Annual Awards"; and "In the Beginning Was the Word: The Russian Orthodox Church and Alaskan Cultures."
Some 25 books and other items were produced and distributed, including The African American Mosaic Resource Guide for the Study of Black History; Jefferson's Legacy, the first of three bicentennial publications; and two Library collection guides, Manuscripts and Music, Theater, Dance.
With Poet Laureate Rita Dove, the Library held 13 poetry and literature presentations featuring 36 writers from 16 states and the District of Columbia.
Preservation Improvements. The Library took action during 1994 to improve the preservation of its vast collections by: (1) developing and implementing a selection for preservation methodology; (2) planning and implementing a comprehensive collections care program; (3) introducing automation to the Library binding program, thereby increasing productivity and eliminating the labeling backlog; (4) continuing testing of mass deacidification processes and concluding that an alternative to the diethyl zinc (DEZ) process, known as the Bookkeeper process, demonstrates the potential for meeting the Library's requirements; (5) contributing to the Library's digital effort through technical development of image capture techniques and strategies; and (6) publishing the first comprehensive plan in the United States for preserving the nation's motion picture heritage.
Financial Management Improvement Project. The Library implemented a modern financial system that complies with General Accounting Office (GAO) and Treasury Department accounting and control standards and facilitates the preparation of audited financial statements. The Federal Financial System (FFS), an off-the-shelf software package developed by American Management Systems, was purchased on Dec. 1, 1993, and was activated on Oct. 1, 1994. FFS corrects deficiencies cited in a 1991 GAO audit and improves accountability to Congress.
Library of Congress Magazine. The first issue of the Library's bimonthly membership magazine, Civilization, operated by a private corporation under license from the Library, was launched in November 1994. Initial planned circulation for 1995: 300,000. The magazine is entirely supported by private funds under a plan approved last fall by Congress's Joint Committee on the Library.
Civilization will draw heavily, but not exclusively, on the Library's collections in its illustrations, feature articles and reviews, often to illuminate the present in terms of the past. Under the licensing agreement, the Library must approve editorial content, promotion and advertising. The Library receives a $1 donation for every $20 membership subscription sold, two free pages in each magazine issue, free use of the subscriber list and a seat on the parent corporation's board of directors.