ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES NEWSLETTER OF THE FEDERAL DEPOSITORY LIBRARY PROGRAM Vol. 19, no. 07 GP 3.16/3-2:19/07 May 15, 1998 RENEWED COMMITMENT TO PUBLIC ACCESS REMARKS BY FRANCIS J. BUCKLEY, JR. Superintendent of Documents U.S. Government Printing Office Before the Depository Library Council and Federal Depository Conference Monday, April 20, 1998 Arlington, VA Good morning. I am pleased to be speaking to this large gathering of the depository community. Although I made some brief remarks at the Fall Depository Library Council meeting last October, I was not yet "official." This is, therefore, my "maiden" speech to the council as the Superintendent of Documents. As many of you know, I had the opportunity to serve on and chair the Depository Library Council in the late 70's. What has struck me is that 20 years later, we are discussing many of the same issues; of course using different acronyms and some terms that were not in our vocabularies then, such as the Internet and World Wide Web. We were talking about cataloging, indexing, formats, mediums, and of course information policies. But what remains the overarching concern of the community is access to information -- to ensure that it is equitable and easily available, for no or low fee. Role of Superintendent What I hope to bring to bear in my administration as Superintendent of Documents is my public service orientation and experience in actually finding or trying to find Government information to answer questions from the public. I consider the Superintendent of Documents role as one of the most visible and longstanding demonstrations of the U.S. Government's commitment to keeping the public informed. The mission of the GPO is to produce and procure information products for the Federal Government and to disseminate them to the public through several channels. I oversee a number of important programs as the Superintendent of Documents: * The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), through which libraries receive Government information products at no cost in return for making them available to the public at no charge; * The no-fee electronic Federal information service GPO Access ; * The nationwide Sales Program, that includes 24 bookstores, a central order service, and the Consumer Information Center in Pueblo, CO; * The International Exchange Program (IES) through which we distribute U.S. Government information products to foreign national libraries, as designated by the Library of Congress, which in turn agree to send copies of their country's official publications to the Library on a reciprocal basis; and * Distribution of publications on behalf of Federal agencies, which in turn reimburse GPO for warehousing and dissemination services. My goal is to ensure that these programs operate efficiently, complement each other and are coordinated to provide effective public access to Government information in tangible and electronic mediums, on a current and long-term basis. During my four months at GPO, I have found it a challenge to manage these areas not only from a policy perspective, but operationally as well. The size and scope of the programs is massive, and the complexities of operating the programs within the policies and procedures of GPO, the Joint Committee on Printing (JCP) and the Government is a whole new world. It even has been a challenge to learn the organizational structure with its hundreds of good people to manage the various tasks involved in the acquisition, indexing, classification, and dissemination of Government information products. I would like to comment briefly on some of the SuDocs programs, to give you an overview of the operations and the issues we face. They will be amplified by succeeding speakers. Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) In regard to the FDLP, some current statistics illustrate the range, scope and vitality of the program. As of January 31, 1998, there were 1,365 libraries in the depository program. Of that number over 50% were four-year academic institutions, 20% were public libraries, and 11% were in accredited law school libraries. The remaining depositories are found in two-year community colleges, Federal agencies, state libraries, state courts, special libraries, Federal courts and military service academies. In fiscal year 1997, 13.4 million copies of 44,820 tangible products were distributed to depository libraries and approximately 30,000 items were catalogued to produce the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications. The recently completed Biennial Survey of Depository Libraries found that the number of users being served by depositories each week averages 188,000 or nearly 10 million each year. We are serving many people well with access to Government information in tangible and electronic mediums. In addition, it indicated that over 89% of depository of depository libraries have a publicly accessible computer workstation for access to the Internet and another 4% of the remaining libraries have staff access. GPO Access We continue to be pleased with the success of GPO Access and the fact that it is one of the leading sites on the Internet. I know that T.C. Evans will provide more details, but I like to tout our good news. We are seeing an ever-increasing amount of use. Statistics for March show that more than 13.5 million documents were downloaded, up from 10.5 million documents in just several months. In an effort to quantify the successful implementation of the electronic transition of the FDLP, we have developed statistics that show how much depository material is available electronically via GPO Access. >From 1994 to date we have a cumulative total of 65,342 titles on GPO servers. These include issues of the Congressional Record, Federal Register, CFR's, the Budget and many other titles. In addition, we provide links to another 44,204 titles on other Government agency servers through MoCat links, and partnership agreements. This totals over 109,000 titles. GPO Access has drawn praise from a variety of sources, including the library community. In December 1996, in a guest column in Roll Call, representatives of the Congressional Accountability Project and the Heritage Foundation, each representing very different ends of the political spectrum, together called GPO Access "an enormous success." In January 1997, OMB Watch released a report on Government Information Locator Services (GILS) which noted that "GPO Access has become the largest single location for GILS services and records in the Federal Government," and that "GPO should be seen as an example to agencies that are struggling with their GILS implementation." The March 23 Federal Computer Week had an article titled, "GPO's Web Site Muscles Up on Links to Federal Documents." It notes: "In a Web environment overrun by sites that are the equivalent of a Hollywood movie set where style takes precedence over substance, the GPO site stands out as an unassuming, information-rich offering." I hope that some of you had a chance to read the full article since it was mentioned in a number of GOVDOC-L messages last month. Needless to say, we have been quite pleased with this good press. Through GPO Access, we are attempting to provide a comprehensive point of access to official Federal Government electronic information products for your libraries and the public. Outreach/Public Relations We are also attempting to increase our efforts at outreach and public relations. When I was appointed, Mr. DiMario asked me to emphasize the role of spokesperson for public access to Government information. Since coming on board at GPO or to be factual, even before I was sworn in, I began to receive a number of invitations to speak and write about my new role as Superintendent of Documents. Prior to starting at GPO I was interviewed by Leonard Kniffel, editor of American Libraries for an article in their December 1997 issue. During my second week at the agency, I was interviewed by Susan Tulis, former documents librarian at the University of Virginia law library and currently one of "those" information consultants, for the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) newsletter, the Spectrum. That interview appeared in the March 1998 issue. I have participated in our Congressional appropriations and oversight hearings this year; made presentations to the Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) annual forum and the University of Connecticut InForm Colloquium; and was a guest lecturer at Syracuse University's Federal Information Policy Class here in DC. I have been interviewed for an upcoming issue of Library Journal and have submitted articles for publications of the Oregon and Ohio Library Associations as well as writing an "On My Mind" editorial for American Libraries. I have visited bookstores in Denver and Pueblo and toured the depository collections at Yale University and Law School Libraries. In the next few months, I will be speaking to members of the Federal Publishers Committee, the Library of Congress Collection Development Committee, and the Ohio GODORT; attending the annual meetings of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) and AALL and of course I will participate in the American Library Association (ALA) meeting that will be held in beautiful downtown Washington, DC in the height of summer. We want to expand our reach and visibility by attending and exhibiting at a wide array of information-related conferences. GPO's display booth has made appearances this year at the ALA Mid-Winter meeting in New Orleans, the SLA Winter meeting and Computers in Libraries Conference as well as the Public Library Association in Kansas City this past March to demonstrate GPO Access as well as to distribute information about the depository and sales programs to a wider audience. We will be exhibiting at the upcoming Special Interest Group for CD-ROM applications and Technology (SIGCAT) in May; National Online Meeting in New York City in May; SLA in Indianapolis in June, ALA annual conference here in June, AALL in Anaheim in July, and Online World here in DC in October. Within the next few months GPO will have a larger booth so that there will be room for information about the many facets of the Superintendent of Documents program. In addition, when and where possible, staff from LPS and the Sales Program will work in the booth along with those from the Electronic Information Dissemination Service (EIDS). We want to be able to showcase our sales products along with those we provide for free. Integrated Processing System (IPS) At the Fall Depository Library Council meeting, Jay Young talked about the Integrated Processing System or IPS, that has been in the works for several years to upgrade our Sales Program. IPS should greatly improve customer service and document delivery by using one central database for transactions; streamline the ordering process, utilize scanning and imaging technology to maintain records of orders, improve research, inventory management and forecasting tools, and have state-of-the-art warehouse management technology. We think this will enhance quality of service and marketing opportunities for the Sales Program. It has taken longer than anticipated to develop the system and for us to prepare for implementation. We want to be very sure that "all systems are go" before we make such a major change to our Sales Program. We are hoping to have the system up in the summer. Although IPS will initially focus on the central ordering process, we are evaluating its application to GPO bookstores and other areas. After implementation we will evaluate the possible integration of other existing legacy systems in Library Programs Service to move them off the mainframe and into an integrated client-server environment. Collection Plan As a librarian taking over the Superintendent of Documents programs, I was very pleased that the development of a collection management plan for online information was already underway, thanks to the efforts of Duncan Aldrich during his tour of duty with GPO as an expert consultant last year. I would like to expand the scope of this collection concept to include the FDLP print and sales collections, but our initial plan will address the various electronic Government information products we make available to depository libraries and the public as a library-like collection. You will be hearing about the plan in more detail from Gil Baldwin and George Barnum. Partnerships As many of you know, LPS staff has been working diligently to forge new partnerships to provide current and permanent public access to Government information products. A number of these partnerships will be showcased here this week. One new, exciting venture will be "rolled out" by the Department of Energy (DOE)/Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) this week. Sandy Schwalb will provide more details about the project, but I wanted to recognize the Director of OSTI, Dr. Walter Warnick, for his hard work and great sense of cooperation to make this project happen. The DOE electronic dissemination vehicle, called "Information Bridge" will be made accessible via GPO Access. It will provide on-demand access to electronic versions of some 15,000 reports annually that were previously provided to depository libraries in microfiche until 1996. Actually, when Information Bridge opens to depositories this week, there will be more than 25,000 sci-tech documents in electronic format dating back to January 1996. Dr. Warnick, I want to thank you and your staff for your efforts to making this partnership a reality. Would you please stand and be recognized? I hope you, in the audience, have an opportunity to hear Dr. Warnick discuss the project at a Federal Agency Update Session on Tuesday afternoon from 3:45 to 5:00 in the Decatur-Farragut Room. On Wednesday morning from 8:30 to 10:00 there will be a demonstration of the Information Bridge in the James Room. We look forward to continuing our good working relationship with you, Dr. Warnick. We also are in the initial stages of a pilot project with the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) which will provide depositories with digital images of Federal Government scientific, technical, and business reports from the NTIS collection on demand and for free. We are pleased to be involved in this historical partnership. You will be hearing more about the project later this morning. Fugitive Documents We are all too aware that there are many Government information products that fail to be included in the FDLP. Their absence from depository library collections impairs effective public access to a great deal of vital Government information. While many studies of the fugitive documents problem have been conducted, the exact amount of material outside of the FDLP has been difficult to isolate. Four major factors have contributed to losses of key general interest publications for the FDLP: 1) electronic information dissemination via agency Web sites without notification to the FDLP; 2) decreasing compliance with statutory requirements for agencies to print through GPO or to provide copies of publications not printed through GPO to the FDLP; 3) the increasing trend for agencies to establish exclusive printing arrangements with private sector entities that place copyright or copyright-like restrictions on the products involved in such agreements; and 4) increasing use by agencies of language in 44 U.S.C. 1903 that permits publications to be excluded from the FDLP if they are "so-called cooperative publications which must necessarily be sold in order to be self-sustaining." When an agency uses GPO for production or procurement of a publication (defined in section 1901 of Title 44 as "informational matter which is published as an individual document at Government expense, or as required by law"), GPO ensures that distribution to the libraries is made. If a publication is produced elsewhere than GPO, the publishing agency is required by section 1903 to supply the requisite number of copies to GPO, at its own expense, for dissemination to depositories. Some agencies want more independent control of their printing and have challenged the requirements to use GPO, a legislative branch agency, under the separation of powers doctrine. Others, such as the Department of Defense/Defense Automated Printing Service (DAPS) are operating with economic motives. They have just announced a merger with the General Services Administration (GSA) to do general printing in regional defense printing plants to have a higher volume of business to support their operations. All of the examples of agency independent printing programs have been replete with fugitive documents not provided to the FDLP. Another compliance issue involves publications in electronic formats. The Executive Branch has taken the position that Title 44 does not apply to Government information in electronic formats. OMB's Circular No. A-130, "Management of Federal Information Resources," requires agencies to cooperate with GPO for print publications, but only "encourages" cooperation for publications in electronic formats and provides agencies with a rationale for exempting electronic information products from the FDLP based on cost. We believe that the spirit and intent of the law since the founding of the FDLP has been to make information produced at taxpayer expense available to the public through depository libraries regardless of format. In 1990, GPO's General Counsel stated, "[i]t is our opinion that Congress did not intend to carve a distinction based upon the technology employed to disseminate the Government publication and that Title 44 U.S.C. Sec. 1903 governs regardless of whether the publication is in the traditional ink-on-paper format or some new medium." Congress itself created GPO Access in large part to provide for online dissemination of Government information to depositories. While we make every effort to work closely with agencies to ensure the inclusion of their information products in the FDLP in all formats, the continuing agency practice of not providing electronic products to the FDLP by many agencies, through ignorance or intent, is creating gaps in information availability to the public and creating potential problems for permanent public access to that Government information in the future. In order to be proactive in regards to fugitive Government information products, within GPO, we are discussing a proposal for a team dedicated to getting more content into the FDLP. We have come to the understanding that we must reach out to the agencies to resolve the fugitive problem. The team will utilize notices that GPO staff receive from librarians when a Government information product is discovered to exist outside of the FDLP as well as lists of agency publications that will be checked for depository distribution. Such notices will act as a trigger for discussions between GPO and agencies to get the material into the FDLP, GPO Access or the Sales Program as appropriate. We certainly appreciate help from those of you in the depository community who advise us about fugitives. Management Audit As you can see, we are extremely busy at GPO, but a General Accounting Office (GAO) management audit, being conducted by Booz-Allen, Hamilton, will present us with more new challenges to work through. The theme or perspective Booz-Allen indicated they would take in their evaluation of GPO was competitiveness with business, rather than evaluating us as a service. As it turns out there were many positive comments in their report about GPO's printing and procurement services, as well as the depository library program and GPO Access. Among the recommendations for the FDLP are suggestions that we refine the goals of the program to include target dates for completing the transition to a more electronic program; to develop additional depository partnerships; to expand marketing efforts to all potential stakeholders; to pursue changes to Title 44 to require agencies to provide all documents, especially electronic documents, to the FDLP; and to hold an information campaign to make agencies aware of their compliance responsibilities. Most of these are already ongoing programs. Other recommendations were to consolidate functions in the library program and the sales program and to reduce staff; increase training; provide managers with more authority over personnel decisions; and institute a formalized quality control system for FDLP processing activities. A number of the recommendations have a textbook quality, but they will each need to be evaluated carefully and responses developed. There were many more critical findings and recommendations regarding the sales program. Because Booz-Allen does not regard the sales program as an inherently Governmental activity, they suggested it could be outsourced or privatized. Although they recognized the imminent implementation of IPS, which "offers the potential for dramatic productivity improvements in order processing and inventory management," and which will involve a more efficient and more customer-friendly system with a new staffing pattern, they recommended a new staffing pattern, a more rigorous customer service program, and a complete overhaul of the retail sales central ordering processing operation. All of which are underway! They suggested a reorganization of the Superintendent of Documents organization, revamping the process for selecting, pricing, and promoting products; and being more proactive in seeking cooperative ventures to package, promote and sell publications. Again not much new, the report could be viewed positively or negatively. We prefer the former as you can tell from the news release. Conclusion In so many of the speeches I have made recently, I have said much about the depository program. But this is certainly the one place where I know I am "preaching to the converted" and that you understand so well how much the public and the Government benefit from the efficiencies afforded by this centralized indexing and distribution system that we call the FDLP. You have my assurance that GPO will continue working to develop and evolve our systems so that citizens--your users--will have permanent access to Federal Government information well into the next century.