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ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES


Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program

PDF version   |   Back Issues
Cumulative Table of Contents Vol. 1 - present [ PDF ] ( includes current issue )


February 15, 2003

GP 3.16/3-2:24/02
(Vol. 24, no. 02)


Summary, 2002 Fall Meeting
Depository Library Council
October 20-23, 2002
Arlington, VA

 

Sunday, October 20, 2002, 7:15 p.m.

Council Members present:

Paul Arrigo, Pennsylvania State University, Shenango;

Daniel C. Barkley, University of New Mexico;

Charlene C. Cain, Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center Library;

Cathy Nelson Hartman (Chair), University of North Texas Libraries;

Doris Small Hefner, California State University, Northridge;

Dena Hutto, Reed College, Portland, OR;

John C. Kavaliunas, U.S. Census Bureau;

Greta E. Marlatt (Secretary), Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA

Michele T. McKnelly, University of Wisconsin - River Falls

John Phillips, Oklahoma State University

Mary W. Prophet, Denison University

Laura Saurs, Newark Public Library

Lynn Siemers, Washington Hospital Center

John A. Stevenson, University of Delaware Library

Barbara J. Ford, Chicago Public Library was excused due to a conflict and arrived Tuesday morning.

Chair Cathy Hartman welcomed everyone and the Council members introduced themselves. John Stevenson volunteered to take notes and give a brief overview at Monday’s plenary session.

Michael F. DiMario, Public Printer

Mr. DiMario said he would continue as Public Printer until the nomination of Mr. Bruce James was completed. He announced that Senator Mark Dayton, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing, would address the plenary session on Monday. Senator Dayton had been involved in hearings regarding the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposal that Executive Branch agencies do not have to use the Government Printing Office. Language requiring agencies to follow the provisions of Title 44 was added to the continuing resolution.

John Kavaliunas asked what the consequences would be if an agency did not use the Government Printing Office, and Mr. DiMario responded that the individual who authorized the outside printing would be personally liable, and that there was some thought about putting that specific language into law.

Francis J. Buckley, Jr., Superintendent of Documents

Mr. Buckley addressed the issue of information security and said agencies were being encouraged to be cautious regarding the release of information. He said GPO was renegotiating the lease of a facility in Pueblo, CO, prior to creating a GPO Access mirror site there.

He spoke about marketing and the development of publicity for the FDLP, and about efforts to recruit new products and negotiate new services for the sales program. He said GPO was creating a backup production line at Laurel, MD.

Gil Baldwin, Director, Library Programs Service

Mr. Baldwin reported that the new annual report was out, and that LPS was recruiting new staff. They are working with consultants from RMG to develop the requirements for a new Integrated Library System (ILS). The new marketing campaign has been launched with the theme "U.S. Government Information: Make the Connection at a Federal Depository Library." He also encouraged everyone to sign up for the new email service GPO-FDLP-L. The Library Programs Service staff will post exclusively to this list to announce time-sensitive information.

T.C. Evans, Director, Office of Electronic Information Services

Mr. Evans indicated they now have the ability to authenticate bills and hope to have the technology ready for use at the beginning of the 108th Congress. They will use PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) technology to authenticate PDF files.

Committee Reports

Electronic Preservation Committee - Paul Arrigo provided Council members with copies of his report. The main issues that are being reviewed include:

  • Congressional text files, some of which have portions of files missing
  • Some PDF files are so large they take forever to load - if at all
  • NTIS (National Technical Information Service) is now charging a fee to download electronic files
  • The need to monitor the progress being undertaken by Delaware, North Carolina and Wyoming’s Archival Electronic Documents program
  • The need to monitor the National Archives and Records Administration’s (NARA) redesign of their Federal records management program.

Mr. Buckley indicated that NARA is trying to encourage the archiving of more formats. John Kavaliunas asked about them not wanting to accept PDF files. Andrea Sevetson attended a meeting where they indicated they were beginning to accept all formats since they are not getting a lot of important information.

Operations Committee - Dan Barkley reported that the CRS microfiche problem has been resolved. The committee has been looking at the recruitment of new depository libraries and the standardization of procedures for withdrawal from the program. He also reported on the Subcommittee on Attrition and Retention (SOAR). 160 libraries have dropped in the past 12 years. The 4 groups within the subcommittee were each assigned various areas of responsibility:

Group 1: establish a profile of those most likely to drop from the program

Group 2: suggest ways GPO could facilitate a program to reach out to Regionals and library directors and provide training and mentoring and encourage housing agreements with Regionals

Group 3: establish a program whereby Council members would serve as liaisons to depository libraries within established areas and encourage support at the local level

Group 4: look at what vendors could provide as "shelf ready" and list which products could be leveraged since they are free only through depository libraries.

Cataloging and Locator Committee - Dena Hutto reported that the committee is evaluating the need to provide more education on cataloging depository materials. They are questioning whether there is any relationship between cataloging requirements and libraries dropping out.

Communications and Information Committee - Charlene Cain indicated the committee is waiting for the confirmation of the new Public Printer before making any more changes to the letter to welcome him. They are monitoring the Federal Enterprise Architecture Program Management Office (FEAPMO). The concept is to apply a business model or framework to improve government. <http://www.feapmo.gov/>

The committee is also revising the Council manual and website and considering whether to revise the old bylaws or incorporate them into the manual. They are also looking at ways to improve media relations and to give Council members guidelines for responding when approached by the media.

Paul Arrigo complimented Chair Hartman for putting together an agenda that didn’t have overlapping committee meeting times, since many Council members are on more than one committee.

Chair Hartman led a discussion of GPO’s responses to the spring recommendations.

Monday, October 21, 2002, Plenary Session, 8:30 a.m.

Council Members present:

Paul Arrigo, Dan Barkley, Charlene C. Cain, Cathy Nelson Hartman, Doris Small Helfer, Dena Hutto, John C. Kavaliunas, Greta E. Marlatt, Michele T. McKnelly, John Phillips, Mary W. Prophet, Laura Saurs, Lynn Siemers, and John A. Stevenson

Opening Remarks

Robin Haun-Mohamed, Chief, Depository Services Branch, welcomed everyone and went over logistics. Chair Hartman called the session to order at 8:35 a.m. She thanked Robin and the GPO staff for putting together a wonderful program and thanked Willie Thompson for all his behind the scenes work. She encouraged the audience to talk with GPO staff and had them stand. Council members introduced themselves.

Chair Hartman announced that Senator Mark Dayton was expected and that it was the first time the Chair of the Joint Committee on Printing (JCP) had been able to attend a Council meeting. She recognized Julia Wallace (University of Minnesota) and Joan Cheverie (Georgetown University) for testifying before the JCP. The usual "Council Aerobics" included first time attendees and a look at the "graying" of depository librarians by eligibility for retirement increments: those eligible in 5 years, 5-10 years, 10-20 years and those who will not retire for more than 20 years.

John Stevenson gave a brief overview of Sunday evening’s meeting.

Welcome and GPO Update by the Honorable Michael F. DiMario, Public Printer

Mr. DiMario expressed his honor at being at the meeting. He confirmed that Senator Mark Dayton, a friend of the Federal Depository Library Program, would be arriving to speak. He recognized the devotion of the depository library community to the program and its willingness to attend the Council and Conference despite last year’s September 11 terrorist attacks and this year’s sniper attacks.

Mr. DiMario gave a brief overview of the status of the Appropriation bills. He also spoke on the status of the OMB’s attempts to bypass GPO for printing. Mr. Mitchell Daniels, OMB Director, sent a memorandum to all executive agencies indicating they no longer had to use GPO for their printing needs as of 1 September. The JCP held a hearing on this proposal.

Regarding the status of Mr. Bruce James’ confirmation as Public Printer, the Rules committee held hearings but had announced no action. Mr. DiMario will continue to serve until the confirmation and appointment of the new Public Printer.

Mr. DiMario thanked everyone for allowing him to continue to serve. He then introduced Senator Mark Dayton, (D-MN) Chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing.

Senator Dayton expressed his honor at being invited to address this conference. He paid tribute to Mr. DiMario for being "extraordinary in steadfastness and loyalty especially in the recent trying times."

Senator Dayton talked about the importance of the government providing information to the public. He said the Founders of our country understood that power/knowledge needed to be protected and that a lack of information cuts off the democratic process. As citizens and taxpayers, we have a right to the information, and this should not be simply at the discretion of those in government, since the law requires wide distribution.

Senator Dayton also spoke about the OMB memorandum that seeks to allow printing outside GPO. He said OMB has made no attempt to change the law administratively or legislatively, but has presumed license to determine what is constitutional, and Congress has taken issue with this and made a pretty emphatic statement, an unusual consensus of Democrats and Republicans agreeing that "the law is the law."

Senator Dayton thanked Mr. DiMario and the GPO staff for doing a great job.

Mr. DiMario thanked Senator Dayton for his comments and support of GPO. He also thanked Matt McGowan, the staff director of the JCP, as well as Andy Sherman, GPO Public Affairs Office, for their support.

Francis J. Buckley, Jr., Superintendent of Documents

See remarks, Administrative Notes, November 15, 2002, (v. 23, no. 14)

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/ad111502.html#5

Gil Baldwin, Director, Library Programs Service (LPS)

See remarks, Administrative Notes, November 15, 2002, (v. 23, no. 14)

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/ad111502.html#6

T.C. Evans, Director, Office of Electronic Information Dissemination Services (EIDS)

See remarks, Administrative Notes, November 15, 2002, (v. 23, no. 14)

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/ad111502.html#7

Information Exchange

Michele T. McKnelly asked when Trade USA was going to be made available.

Robin Haun-Mohamed said STAT USA would be making an announcement later in the conference. [see this link for the announcement -- http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/ad111502.html#3

Cathy Hartman asked T.C. Evans if it would be possible to get information on the number of hits from the PURL servers.

T.C. Evans responded that they would need to get the log files in order to be able to delve down.

Aimee Quinn, University of Illinois, Chicago, asked whether there will be interconnectivity between the ILS and GPO Access.

Gil Baldwin responded that the OPAC part would be presented on GPO Access and the Monthly Catalog as it is now will be replaced.

Nan Myers, Wichita State University, asked if we would be able to see the staff view of the MARC record and would serials be available at the piece level.

Gil Baldwin said it was being considered.

Julie Wallace, University of Minnesota, thanked GPO for the Electronic Sales announcements service and encouraged everyone to sign up for it. She also mentioned the new FDLP announcements service and encouraged everyone to sign up for it as well, since the purpose of GOVDOC-L was not for GPO announcements and they would not be using it to do that any more.

Sandy McAninch, University of Kentucky, commented that old collections are deteriorating and need to be addressed. Some are going to need to move obsolete CDs due to format and software changes.

George Barnum said a partnership was in the works with Indiana University, Bloomington, which has been working on a floppy disk project to access the information that was distributed on floppy disk. However, they still need someone to volunteer to partner for CD-ROMs. [information regarding this project can be accessed at <http://www.indiana.edu/~libgpd/mforms/floppy/floppy.html>.

Ann Miller, Duke University, asked for an update on the status of inspections.

Robin Haun-Mohamed responded that they were back on the road. MN, VA, MD, CA, IL, MI, AZ and GA all have self study inspections coming due. She was not sure where the inspection auditors would go or what they would be looking at. If a library was not inspected last time, they should expect to be this time.

Dan Barkley asked if there would be notice given for the audit inspections and what was the reason for the visits.

Robin Haun-Mohamed said some would be given notice and others would not. She said the scope is wide open. Inspectors will focus on access and whether requirements are being met.

Sharon Partridge, Jefferson County Public Library, commented that some PURLs are not connecting and it is difficult to find the original documents. She thought GPO was archiving the documents.

George Barnum responded that PURLs were begun before GPO began archiving, so there are a lot that predate the archived ones. GPO is looking for partners to help make up gaps.

Tad Downing said there currently are 23,500 PURLs and to let the GPO know if we find dead links. LPS checks weekly, but the software only checks the link, not the content.

Nan Myers, Wichita State University, asked if the RMG ILS report would be made available.

Gil Baldwin said they had not planned to make it available and would have to check with the contract folks to see if it would be legal to release it.

Nan Myers then asked, since Phase I was mentioned, if other phases were being discussed.

Gil Baldwin responded that currently only Phase I was being worked on. Other phases would depend on what choices were made and what the software can or cannot do or provide.

Cathy Amens, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, asked how far the new catalog will go back.

Gil Baldwin said 1976.

Cathy Edward, Nevada State Library and Records, said her institution is concerned about performance indications and how many documents they add. The projected numbers have fallen off this year -- can we get a count of the number of serials?

Gil Baldwin said GPO reports statistics on a gross level. They report the number of copies and titles distributed but cannot give information at the item level.

Kay Collins, University of California, Irvine, asked about the GPO’s cataloging of electronic only pieces. She asked if GPO would catalog the physical piece if libraries are able to get them, so there would be uniformity of the records.

Tad Downing responded that GPO can only catalog what they distribute. He said they are unaware of what is distributed by agencies other than what is sent to GPO, so he suggested that libraries will need to modify their own records.

Kristine McLonis, University of Detroit, Mercy, asked if there were any policies regarding unaccompanied children since her institution has concerns about physical safety and access to porn sites.

Sharon Partridge, Jefferson County Public Library, asked for a progress report on lost documents and new electronic claiming.

Gil Baldwin said there are lots of interesting submissions, and GPO is working with two groups (GODORT and AALL). Most submissions are clearly in scope, so these groups are doing a good job of evaluating. Tad Downing said they have cataloged 528 monographs and 262 serials.

Colleen Parmer, Bowling Green State University, asked about redistricting. As depositories move from one congressional district to another, who is responsible for reporting the change?

Robin Haun-Mohamed said the depositories are and asked everyone to please use the online form to report <http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/tools/ldirect.html>. Anyone unsure of the correct district number should contact GPO and coordinate with the regional. Redistricting changes that result in more than one library per district does not mean anyone will be dropped, rather, they will be grandfathered in.

Monday, October 21, 2002, Council Working Session, 2 p.m.

George Barnum, Manager, Electronic Collections, spoke to Council about the OCLC Digital Archiving Project. The project has moved out of beta to production. One can put a URL into the system and return the information for the metadata. CORC functionality can help build a better bibliographic record. If they want to, they can use the record to create preservation metadata. There are currently 28 elements and they will likely have to make changes to the metadata set eventually. They can grab Digital Objects from agency sites and link preservation data with bibliographic data. The Digital Object will have an XML wrapper of preservation metadata in the archive (storage server). It can be disseminated via FTP to multiple locations.

GPO is considering ways to get this process into its current workflow, as it will not work with the ILS. LPS staff will have to use the records/products within the OCLC system, since they need to have a bibliographic record before they can grab the Digital Object.

Council Cataloging and Communication committees met to work on new recommendations and commendations.

Tuesday, October 22, 2002, Council Working Session, 8:30 a.m.

The Electronic Preservation and Operations committees met to work on new recommendations and commendations. The SOAR subcommittee, as well as the Committee of the Whole, met to discuss the problem of libraries leaving the program.

Tuesday, October 22, 2002, Council Working Session, 2:00 p.m.

Committees reported back to Council and discussed the potential recommendations and commendations.

Tuesday, October 22, 2002, Council Working Session, 7:00 p.m.

Council members wrote the various recommendations, commendations and action items.

Wednesday, October 23, 2002, Council Working Session, 8:30 a.m.

Council completed its work on the draft recommendations to be presented at the afternoon plenary session. Nominations and election of the Chair-elect position took place. Both Dan Barkley and Paul Arrigo were nominated for the Chair-elect position, and Dan Barkley won by majority. Chair Hartman thanked everyone for all their hard work. Charlene Cain thanked the Chair for all her work as well.

Committee assignments were reviewed and updated. The assignments are as follows:

Cataloging

Dena Hutto (Chair)
Paul Arrigo
Doris Helfer
Michele McKnelly
John Stevenson

Communications

Charlene Cain (Chair)
Dena Hutto
Barbara Ford
John Kavaliunas
Lynne Siemers
Electronic Preservation

Paul Arrigo (Chair)
Dan Barkley
Greta Marlatt
John Stevenson

Operations

Dan Barkley (Chair)
Charlene Cain
Greta Marlatt
Michele McKnelly
John Phillips
Mary Prophet
Laura Saurs

SOAR

Dan Barkley (Chair)
Paul Arrigo
Charlene Cain
Greta Marlatt
Michele McKnelly
John Phillips
Mary Prophets
Laura Saurs

 

Wednesday, October 23, 2002, Plenary Session, 2:00 p.m.

Chair Hartman thanked Willie Thompson and Nick Ellis for all their work on the conference logistics, and she thanked Robin Haun-Mohamed for the great program and Marian MacGilvray for providing plenty of handouts. She also thanked Council Secretary Marlatt for her willingness to assume her second year as secretary.

A recognition statement in honor of Sharon Hogan, former Council member who passed away, was read. Council then proceeded to read the recommendations, commendations and action items [for final text, see <http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/council/rfa02.html>.

Chair Hartman opened the floor to the audience for questions.

Ellen Sweet, University of Maryland, asked for some background in Action Item #4 - what is FEAPMO?

Charlene Cain explained that it was created to examine the business flow within Federal agencies.

Julie Wallace, University of Minnesota, had 2 comments. She mentioned the CIC Floppy Disk Project and that the links needed to be added to the GPO record to make the link official. She wondered when this might happen, noting that once they are added it will helpful to have this information communicated to depositories so they can withdraw the floppy disks if they so choose. She also wanted everyone to thank Senator Dayton for coming to speak to us.

Lori Smith, Southeastern Louisiana University, regarding Recommendation #6, suggested the 1994 Rare and Endangered report would be a good starting place.

George Barnum indicated it is still available from ERIC though it is out of date.

Ellen Sweet, University of Maryland, said the 6 months’ notification requirement could be problematic and wondered what the intent was and how it was going to be enforced.

Dan Barkley explained that the intent was to try to provide lead-time for Regionals to try to persuade libraries to stay in the program or else to work with them on the disposition of materials.

Andrea Sevetson, Census Department, commented that since it takes effort to get into the program, it shouldn’t be easy to leave the program. This notification requirement will open a dialog and bring in other players.

Mr. Francis Buckley expressed, on behalf of Mr. DiMario and the staff of GPO, their appreciation for the efforts of Council. He said it was a pleasure to see support and interest in being at the meetings and thanked everyone for being there.

Chair Hartman announced that Dan Barkley was the new Chair Elect and would take over as Chair in fall 2003.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:35 p.m.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Greta E. Marlatt

Council Secretary