F e d e r a l D e p o s i t o r y L i b r a r y P r o g r a m ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program --------------------------------------------------------------------- June 15, 2002 GP 3.16/3-2:23/08 (Vol. 23, no. 08) --------------------------------------------------------------------- RECOMMENDATIONS, COMMENDATIONS, AND ACTION ITEMS SPRING 2002 DEPOSITORY LIBRARY COUNCIL MEETING MOBILE, AL RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Standardization of Procedures Council recommends that the Government Printing Office review and standardize procedures for the termination of depository status. Procedures should include: * the creation of a timetable that allows for consultation time between the library requesting the termination of status and the Regional Depository Library and the Government Printing Office; * terminating libraries' responsibilities to other depositories. Rationale: Currently, there is no required communication to the Regional or the Government Printing Office prior to the decision to terminate status on the part of the library. Communication between program partners would be beneficial for all parties to understand the library's circumstances, and might possibly mitigate or forestall the termination decision. An additional issue that must be remedied is that termination procedures vary from state to state and library to library depending on the Regional Depository Library. This leads to variance in how the libraries dispose of the depository collection and the amount of time and effort a library spends in this process. 2. Congressional Redistricting Council recommends that the Government Printing Office develop a list of Congressional Districts with their related depository libraries for the purpose of identifying districts without Federal Depository Library Program libraries. This list should be shared with Council and the library community at the Fall 2002 Federal Depository Library Conference and Council meeting. Rationale: Redistricting after Census 2000 presents new opportunities to reach out to Congress and others about the values and benefits of the Federal Depository Library Program, to bring new libraries into the Federal Depository Library Program, and to re-evaluate state plans. Sharing the information broadly increases the opportunities for new Federal Depository Library Program libraries. 3. Outreach to New Depository Librarians Council recommends that the Government Printing Office send a letter of welcome to newly appointed depository librarians outlining a willingness to assist in the development of the program within their institutions and directing them to other resources in their area, including their regional depositories. The letter might also include a description of training opportunities and services provided by the Federal Depository Library Program. A copy of the letter should be sent to the Regional Depository Librarian. Rationale: Council believes that additional outreach efforts are needed to make new librarians aware of the responsibilities and benefits involved in managing depository library collections and to introduce them to resources and mentoring available within the depository library community. 4. Format Migration Notification Council recommends that the Government Printing Office communicate to the depository community in a more timely and efficient manner titles that migrate from paper to an electronic format and provide information on availability through the US Government Online Bookstore. Rationale: Council believes that many in the depository community continue to use tangible products. At a time when the depository community is witnessing a rapid transition of tangible depository products to an electronic format, it is important that a communication mechanism be developed to alert the depository community of these changes. Many in the depository community would like to purchase a title in a tangible format when the depository copy is distributed electronically. Council views this as an opportunity to enhance communication with the depository community, increase demand in the US Government Online Bookstore, and improve access for all users of depository libraries. 5. Electronic Depository Library Logo Council recommends that the Government Printing Office make available an electronic depository library logo, including the statutory language on public access that depository libraries may use on their web sites. Rationale: The depository logo, including the public access language, is the most recognizable symbol of the program. Availability of the logo and the language, in a format and size that will provide optimum visibility and communication of information, will assist depository libraries that wish to include this information on their web sites. 6. Removal of Information from the Web After reviewing SOD 72, Agency Request to Withdraw Information Products from Superintendent of Documents Program, the Council recommends that the Government Printing Office create a system to notify depository libraries of those specific documents an agency has removed from the Federal Depository Library Program's Electronic Collection. Rationale: Federal depositories are very concerned about having bibliographic records in their catalogs that contain links that no longer point to the original document. Notification of titles will support depository libraries in catalog and web page maintenance. 7. Retention and Recruitment of GPO Catalogers Council recommends that the Public Printer take action to ensure that the Government Printing Office Cataloging staff attains career ladder parity with national libraries as well as other professional positions in the Government Printing Office. Rationale: The Government Printing Office's ability to fulfill the statutory mandates of the Cataloging and Indexing Program is in jeopardy due to a crisis of librarian recruitment and retention. Not only is the Library Programs Service's Cataloging Branch losing experienced catalogers at an unprecedented rate, but the recruitment process, as it is currently configured, cannot bring in new staff quickly enough to keep up with attrition, much less enlarge the operation as authorized by Congress. Council believes that this situation threatens access to government information and compromises the ability of the Government Printing Office to carry out its mission with regard to the Federal Depository Library Program. Cataloging is a gateway to bringing online titles into the Electronic Collection. The Library Programs Service's acute staffing problem means that countless opportunities are being missed to ensure permanent public access to online titles published by U.S. government agencies. Online access has already substantially replaced the distribution of tangible products to the federal depository libraries, but the Federal Depository Library Program Electronic Collection is not being developed at a pace that even approximates the rate with which agencies publish titles via the Internet. Unless promptly discovered, cataloged, and archived, online titles may disappear from the agency servers and never be added to the Electronic Collection. In the electronic information age, the Government Printing Office's inability to fully staff the Cataloging Branch is becoming the primary cause of fugitive documents. 8. Integrated Library System Council recommends the Government Printing Office consider all of the following issues in their procurement of a new integrated library system to ensure the system meets the needs of the Government Printing Office and its users. The system must support or allow for: a. Current AACR II cataloging rules b. Current MARC and Dublin Core standards c. Current MARC serials standards d. Serials management e. Manipulation of the data without going through the Integrated Library System f. The Government Printing Office to own and / or customize the source code g. Attachment of digital objects and easy linking to web sites Rationale: This recommendation was done at the request of the Government Printing Office to outline some of the concerns of depository libraries. 9. Electronic Holdings Management Council recommends that, in the course of acquiring and implementing an Integrated Library System (ILS), the Government Printing Office Cataloging Branch give attention to the problem of holdings management for electronic serials and other multi-part items in the Federal Depository Library Program Electronic Collection. Rationale: In cataloging tangible government documents, the Government Printing Office does not deal with holdings management issues because the actual volumes, microfiche, CD-ROMs, etc. are maintained in the depository libraries. However, holdings management becomes an issue that the Government Printing Office can and should address in the Federal Depository Library Program Electronic Collection. The Government Printing Office's automated systems currently do not provide the ability to maintain serial and multi-part holdings, but this type of activity could be facilitated and should be planned for as the Government Printing Office acquires and implements an Integrated Library System. COMMENDATIONS A. Council commends the Government Printing Office for its quick response in developing a quality marketing plan as a result of a recommendation at the Fall 2001 Depository Library Council meeting. Council encourages the Government Printing Office to be alert to marketing opportunities and to update the plan on an ongoing basis. B. Council commends the Government Printing Office on the development of email list services for the delivery of the Federal Register table of contents, Merit Systems Protection Board decisions and studies, and especially the development of New Titles by Topic lists as part of the US Government Online Bookstore. Council encourages the Government Printing Office to pursue additional update services with this email list software. C. Council commends the Government Printing Office for taking a proactive stance to ensure open access to government information in light of recent attempts to restrict access. Activities that Council commends include: o Responding to attempts by unofficial agents to restrict access to Federal Depository Library Program/Nuclear Regulatory Commission microfiche collections. o Updating of policy documents on the removal of materials from Federal Depository Libraries and from the Federal Depository Library Program Electronic Collection. Council also commends the efforts of the Government Printing Office to educate the public about the Government Printing Office's role in providing permanent public access to information products in the Federal Depository Library Program by aggressively responding to misinformation in the media. D. Council commends the efforts of the Electronic Documents Working Group (EDWG) and the American Association of Law Libraries Government Documents Special Interest Section's (AALL GD-SIS) Fugitive & Electronic-Only Documents Committee for their efforts in bringing online titles into the Federal Depository Library Program. Their efforts in discovering titles, examining OCLC records, assigning SuDocs classification, and analyzing appropriate distribution format in accordance with SOD 71 and other collection policies allow GPO's Cataloging Branch staff to expeditiously acquire and catalog many new online titles into the Federal Depository Library Program's Electronic Collection. E. Council commends the Government Printing Office and the Superseded List Committee volunteers for their efforts in producing the 2002 edition of the Superseded List, a born-digital web resource designed to be updated incrementally as new titles are identified for inclusion. ACTION ITEMS 1. Council will maintain contact with Library Programs Service staff regarding the Self-Study process and will monitor data and evaluation findings to determine the effectiveness of the self-study mechanism. 2. Council will follow-up with the Government Printing Office regarding their efforts to foster awareness and market the Federal Depository Library Program to library directors. Such outreach efforts might include invitations to meetings with the Government Printing Office staff and individualized letters to new library directors (upon advice and consent of the institution's depository librarian). 3. Council will forward a letter to the next Public Printer reaffirming the values of the Federal Depository Library Program in the digital age. The letter will emphasize the key role of the Federal Depository Library Program in assuring no-fee public access to federal government information and highlight the defining contributions of the Federal Depository Library Program towards this end, the functions of the Council, and issues and opportunities facing the Federal Depository Library Program in the next several years. 4. Council will work with the Government Printing Office staff to identify ways to foster networking between depository libraries at the state and local levels, such as a conference program on successful state documents librarians' groups. 5. The Operations Committee hereby creates the Subcommittee on Attrition and Retention (SOAR). This subcommittee will develop different techniques to encourage and support depositories to remain active in the Federal Depository Library Program. This subcommittee will investigate and analyze the following possibilities: o Establish profiles of the libraries most likely to drop their depository status o Encourage the Government Printing Office to facilitate programs at the Depository Library Council meeting to train the Regionals how to reach out to library directors in their states. (The recent Georgia experience is one example.) o Appoint Council members to act as liaisons to regions across the country o Encourage depository support through local professional organizations o Improve the communication from and to Regionals o Provide training and mentoring for new regional librarians o Inform new library directors of the value of the Depository Library Program + Have library patrons provide testimonials to Library Directors on how the depository has helped them o Encourage more States to have more than one regional library o Encourage Regionals to consider selective housing agreements with selected libraries to reduce the strain on the regional depository o o Define and publicize the benefits of being a depository library o Work with vendors to provide "shelf ready" materials o Provide additional flexibility to libraries (e.g., allow small depositories to become predominately virtual) o Leverage products that are exclusively available to depository libraries 6. Council will work with the Government Printing Office to offer guidelines, or examples of best practices, for display of serial titles on agency web sites hosted by the Government Printing Office.