From lpsmail@access.digex.netMon Jul 22 18:02:06 1996 Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 11:33:58 -0700 From: Shipment Reply to: Discussion of Government Document Issues To: Multiple recipients of list GOVDOC-L Subject: ADNOTES: SUDOCS REMARKS AT FEDERAL LIBRARIANS ROUND TABLE THE MESSAGE BELOW IS FROM ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES, VOL. 17, #10 (July 25, 1996) PANEL DISCUSSION BEFORE THE FEDERAL LIBRARIANS ROUND TABLE (FLRT) REMARKS BY WAYNE P. KELLEY Superintendent of Documents 1996 Annual ALA Conference New York, NY July 6, 1996 Thank you for the opportunity to join this distinguished panel to discuss the emerging "virtual" library. Those of us gathered here this morning have a lot in common. We are Federal employees. We are responsible for providing access to information. And we face the challenge of managing change in a difficult environment. I'm going to tell you a little bit about what we are doing at the Government Printing Office to make a transition to a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program. Then, I'm going to suggest some things we might do to help each other. As you know, the Federal Depository Library Program has served the American public for more than 100 years, making a broad range of Federal Government publications available locally, through libraries in virtually every Congressional district. Today, there are 1,382 libraries in the program--including 72 Federal agency libraries. This system of free, timely and convenient access is the chief guarantor of the public's right to be informed about the activities of their Federal Government. The GPO collects publications in print or microfiche, reproduces them at no cost to the agency, and distributes them to libraries which house them and provide free access to users. Most libraries select only those titles of interest to their communities. But 53 regional depositories receive and preserve all titles in the program. In recent years GPO has included larger numbers of titles in electronic formats such as CD-ROMS. Since June 1994 we have provided information online over our GPO Access Service. GPO Access is available free, contains more than 40 databases, including the Federal Register, the Congressional Record, Congressional Bills and Reports. Documents are being downloaded at the rate of 2 million per month. Last August, GPO, at the direction of Congress, undertook a cooperative Study to Identify Measures Necessary for a Successful Transition to a More Electronic Federal Depository Library Program. The Public Printer established a working group of representatives from GPO, Congressional committees, the Congressional Research Service, the Office of Management and Budget, the National Archives and Records Administration, the Federal Publishers Committee, the Interagency Council on Printing and Publication Services, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and the depository library community. He also invited a number of private sector and library organizations to designate representatives to serve as advisors. I served as chair of the Study and Judy Russell of GPO was chair of the working group. The Study was issued last week. Here are some of the conclusions: 1. On the Cost of Electronic Information Dissemination. While there are many benefits inherent in the use of electronic information, including more timely and broader public access, there is no conclusive data at this time to support the assertion that it will result in significant savings to either depository libraries or the Government. Costs to libraries and the public may increase in the short run. Government costs may increase when agencies assume some of the responsibility currently held by regional libraries for ensuring permanent public access to Government information. 2. On Permanent Access to Official and Authentic Information. To ensure permanent public access to official electronic Government information, all stakeholders (information producing agencies, GPO, depository libraries and the National Archives) must cooperate to: (1) Establish the authenticity of official information; (2) Provide persistent identification and description of Government information products, and; (3) Arrange for long-term access. 3. On Standards for Electronic Information Products. There is no single standard in which all Government information products can, or should, be created or disseminated. Nevertheless, it is in the best interests of the Government, and those who use Government information, to achieve a greater degree of standardization than now exists, and to develop recommended standards for each major type of Government information product in order to facilitate the exchange and use of that information. The Study Report is about 300 pages. We did our best to accurately reflect the views of all participants. You can request a copy by phone, fax or e-mail. [Voice: (202) 512-1114; Fax: (202) 512-1432; e-mail: direclps@access.digex.net; the report has been distributed to all depository libraries.] For the GPO, one of the best things to come out of the study was the opportunity to talk candidly on a personal basis with a wide range of participants over a 10-month period. We feel we learned a lot. And what we learned was incorporated in a Strategic Plan. We were under pressure from our House Appropriations Committee for a very rapid conversion to an all-electronic program. The Study gave us an opportunity to test this idea using a two-year time frame. Virtually no one saw this as practical. Agencies weren't ready. Libraries weren't ready. Users weren't ready. Even the technology, rapidly changing almost monthly, was not ready since it would be entirely different within 24 months. Here are the essentials of our Strategic Plan: The transition to a more electronic program will take place over a five to seven year period. The preferred method for incorporating additional electronic information into the Federal Depository Library Program will be to point and link to electronic information services provided by Federal agencies. When this is not possible, GPO will obtain electronic source files from agencies for mounting on GPO Access. Tangible Government information products will continue to be distributed to libraries, including CD-ROM discs, diskettes, paper or microfiche, as appropriate to the needs of users. GPO will work with stakeholders to coordinate a distributed system that provides continuous, permanent public access to Government electronic information. When the originating organization cannot provide permanent access, GPO will seek to do so, or make other arrangements through cooperative agreements. GPO will catalog and index electronic Government information products available over the Internet. Monthly Catalog World Wide Web records are being linked by URLs to electronic titles at Government Internet sites. Let me pause here, and ask you a couple of questions related to locating electronic documents at your agency. 1. How many of you have a good knowledge of electronic titles published at your agency's Web site? (A show of hands, please.) 2. How many are routinely advised when new titles go on the Web site? When they are removed? 3. How many are personally acquainted with the agency's Web master? 4. How many work at an agency which produces Anglo-American Cataloging Rules records for titles it publishes? Looks like we are all faced with some interesting challenges. Well, here is a way you can help us. Please ask your Web master and your publication officer to work with us in identifying their electronic titles. The number for our Depository Administration Branch is (202) 512-1071. How will we help you? We'll catalog your electronic titles. We'll make your agency's information available via GPO Access without charge. We'll work with your agency to make sure electronic information is maintained permanently for use by your agency and the public. We will assist you in every way we can to make your library and your services a recognized and indispensable asset to your organization. I hope that the Federal Librarians Round Table will consider creating a task force to explore cooperative initiatives with the Federal Depository Library Program. You need not be a depository. In this virtual environment, we are all as one. Which brings me to a few observations about "virtual libraries." --What will become more virtual is the collection, as we move from on-site ownership of physical items to remote electronic access. --Other defining characteristics of libraries will remain--or become--even more important: * The role of the trained professional "navigator" to find the right information and separate the wheat from the chaff. (James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, recently used the term "knowledge navigator.") But I like one from an essay in the Christian Science Monitor even more. The piece was based on a study of corporate libraries at Apple Computer and Hewlett-Packard Research Labs. "Librarians are more than technicians," the authors said. "They are, it seems, information therapists who analyze problems as well as find answers." * Also certain to remain a library function is cataloging and organizing information, which enables users to find what they need. And when they find it, to present it in a logical fashion. As your library becomes more virtual, do it for the right reasons. To provide better service. To make available information you otherwise could not. To preserve content which would otherwise be lost. Don't do it to save money. You probably won't. At the beginning of my remarks, I said that we are all responsible for managing change in a difficult environment. It is a time when there is popular sentiment for making the Federal Government smaller. But little appetite for giving up most of the things Government does. I was talking to a good friend at the General Accounting Office last week. She is in charge of the library, distribution and records. In 1993 she had 71 employees. This year she has 34. But she still has all the same functions to perform. I was reminded of one of those glib, but oh-so-true, management quotes I heard when I ran a company in the private sector. There is good, there is fast, and there is cheap. But you can only have two at the same time--even in the Government. When I think of change these days, I am not thinking of structural change, or cyclical change, incremental or sweeping change. I see only two kinds: good change and bad change. Good change is when the public is well served, by functions best performed by the Government--when the pain of change is temporary, and the people who survive feel a sense of pride in their activities. Bad change is when there is no measurable benefit to the public, although there may be to certain groups with narrow interests. When the pain of change is of long duration, or crippling to those involved, and the survivors feel inadequate in their new roles. As professionals, we are all being asked to manage change. We must be as creative and enterprising as we can. Professionals are used to working in teams. We can network with each other, exchange ideas, and cooperate where we have common interests: in effect, forming a human version of the local area network. Managed properly, virtual libraries in the Federal Sector will be a very good change. Thank you again for this opportunity to share a few thoughts.