Readers Exchange
 
        Art Carpenter, depository librarian and Associate Professor of
Library Science at Weber State University in Ogden, UT, writes:
 
        In my daily work as depository librarian, two things became
increasingly clear: 1) that Government publications were being
underutilized in proportion to their value, and 2) that effective
promotion, understanding, and utilization of Government publications
require a local team effort.
 
        In the article below he shares his idea of using subject
librarians as assistants to the depository librarian in making effective
use of depository information products.
 
 
THE SUBJECT BIBLIOGRAPHER
AND THE UTILIZATION OF GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS
 
by Art Carpenter
Weber State University, Ogden, UT
 
        One of the persistent challenges which the Federal Depository
Library Program has had to face is the underutilization of Government
publications, especially in proportion to their value.  One could cite
several causes, many of which are the result of a shortage of skilled
intermediaries.  Depository librarians are, of course, the most qualified
for this role, but under-staffing inhibits their effectiveness.
 
        Since approximately two-thirds of all Federal depositories in the
United States are located on college campuses, they have a special
opportunity to influence the utilization of Government publications,
especially if the academic library's organizational structure includes
subject librarians, sometimes referred to as subject bibliographers.  If
these specialists could, as part of their assignment, act in partnership
with the depository librarian as his/her assistants, the pool of
intermediaries could be enlarged considerably.
 
        The possibilities of this sort of teamwork to positively affect
utilization are intriguing.  Generally, it would divide the labor involved
in managing a medium-to-large-sized depository library.  One of the
greatest benefits could be realized in collection management.  The
responsibility for maintaining the depository's item selection profile
could be divided among the several bibliographers according to the subject
expertise of each.  Within the List of Classes one finds many "subject
fits."  For example, the business/economics bibliographer could have
stewardship over most of the "IC" and "L" classes, and the
science/technology bibliographer over most of the "A," "E," "EP," and
"NAS" classes.  The depository librarian would be responsible for
interdisciplinary items and any parts of the selection profile where no
clear-cut subject match exists.
 
        Bibliographers skilled in Government publications could have a
dramatic influence on the user's ability to understand the value and
organization of Government information if instruction in Government
publications were to be integrated by the bibliographers into their
discipline-specific bibliographic instruction.
 
        Bibliographers could assist with the daunting, yet necessary task
of conducting studies to assess user needs, evaluate the collection, and
analyze existing utilization patterns and problems.
 
        As bibliographers become trained and knowledgeable in the use of
Government publications in all its formats, expertise within their
individual subject specializations will grow, and they become the complete
information broker for their subject specialty.  At this level, they are
prepared to act as that critical human interface, the expert who can
identify, locate, access, interpret, customize, and utilize Government
information.
 
        Bibliographers with the will, and library administrators with the
commitment, can transform availability into use toward a more productive,
more culturally enriched, and more democratically involved America.