ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES
Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program[ PDF version ] [ Back Issues ]
Cumulative Table of Contents Vol. 1 - present [ PDF ] ( includes current issue )
June 15, 2004
GP 3.16/3-2:25/07
(Vol. 25, no. 07)
Recommended Reading, June 2004
As you know, the Government Printing Office (GPO) is working with the federal depository library community on several new initiatives involving access to and preservation of print and digital Federal Government documents. We are also planning for the future of the Sales Program. These initiatives are part of the overall agency strategic planning effort.
The documents listed below will help you understand some of the major initiatives that are going on in the Superintendent of Documents organization and throughout GPO.
Shared Repositories. GPO is encouraging the movement toward shared repositories, or shared housing agreements, that allow libraries to eliminate some of the redundancy among their collections. Though still in the early stages, these initiatives are very important since they assure active preservation of the government documents collections in Federal depository libraries by moving toward a smaller number of comprehensive sets of tangible publications that can be more readily preserved. GPO contracted with Center for Research Libraries (CRL) for the development of a Decision Framework for Federal Document Repositories that can be used to evaluate the level of assurance provided by such repositories based on their physical characteristics, resources, governance and other factors. The discussion draft is available at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/decisionmatrix.pdf
Collection of Last Resort. GPO has developed a draft plan for a collection of last resort - a secure "dark archive" that will become, overtime, a comprehensive collection of tangible and electronic titles that will backstop the regional library collections and future shared repositories. In reviewing other initiatives, like JSTOR, it has become clear that multiple "light archives" are not sufficient to protect these assets. The highest level of assurance comes from a collection of last resort that - as the name implies - is not used unless all other resources have failed. Through this collection, GPO will support permanent public access to U.S. Government publications in all formats. The Collection will include preservation copies of tangible titles as well as preservation and access copies of digital objects. The draft plan is updated with comments received to date: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/clr0604draft.pdf.
Managing the FDLP Electronic Collection: A Policy and Planning Document
GPO's plans for the preservation and access to digital information via the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) are articulated in Managing the FDLP Electronic Collection, 2nd Edition, June 2004, available at: http:// www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/ecplan2004rev1.pdf.
This new edition incorporates advances in the theory, technology, and practice of managing digital collections. The FDLP Electronic Collection (EC) consists of preservation copies in dark archives and access copies maintained by GPO or its partners in light archives for the convenience of reference. Comments are invited on this draft plan, and can be emailed to Judy Russell at: jrussell@gpo.gov.
GPO is currently reviewing its FDLP procedures to identify areas in its Instructions to Depository Libraries needing updating or revision to reflect the impact of an electronic FDLP on their operations.
The National Bibliography of U.S. Government Publications: Initial Planning Statement
GPO's National Bibliography of U.S. Government Publications will be a comprehensive catalog containing descriptions and locations of U.S. Government unclassified publications in all formats. GPO's initial planning statement on the National Bibliography is available at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/natbib0604.pdf.
Comments are invited on this plan, and may be emailed to Gil Baldwin at: ebaldwin@gpo.gov.
Digitization of the Legacy Government Documents Collection. GPO has made a commitment to collaborate with the library community to digitize the entire legacy collection of U.S. government documents - an estimated 2.2 million print publications totaling approximately 60 million pages - in order to make sure that those documents are available, in the public domain, for permanent public access. The intent is to make sure that the entire collection is digitized for preservation purposes, with a variety of access files derived from the digital preservation masters.
In March GPO hosted a meeting of experts on preservation digitization to discuss current specifications for the creation of digital preservation masters. The report on that meeting includes a proposed set of minimum specifications for digitizing documents from the legacy collection. The report is available at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/preservation.html.
Strategic Planning. At the Depository Library Council meeting, the Public Printer presented "Keeping America Informed in the 21st Century: A First Look at the GPO Strategic Planning Process." That presentation has been revised based on input received during the discussion at the Council meeting, and the revised remarks are available at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/proceedings/James.DLC.04192004.revised.pdf . You should note that the title has been amended to include the phrase "A Work in Progress" to reflect the fact that the document will continue to evolve as GPO receives comments from its library partners and other stakeholders.
Future of the GPO Sales Program. In March GPO convened a meeting of representatives from the library community, federal agency publishers and the information industry to discuss the future of the GPO Sales Program. The basic objective of this meeting was to get advice and feedback on how to build a sustainable economic model for the GPO Sales Program that will generate $30 to $50 million in additional revenue for GPO annually. The model must be one that is acceptable to publishing agencies, complements free public access to government information through the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), and avoids inappropriate competition with commercial publishing. The report on the meeting is available at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/econmodel.html
Recent Congressional Testimony: On April 28th, the Public Printer, Bruce R. James, testified before Congress at two hearings. The links below provide the full text of his written statements.
From Public Printer's Office -- STATEMENT BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE U.S. GPO TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF THE 21ST CENTURY: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cr/testimony/oversight.pdf
"There are few posts in the Government and few Federal agencies that have stood the test of time as well as that of the Public Printer and the GPO. My objective is to uphold the tradition of the office while providing the leadership required to guide the GPO into a new era, to ensure that it remains as relevant and necessary to the information needs of Congress, Federal agencies, and the public in the 21st century as it was for the first 140 years of its existence."
From Public Printer's Office -- STATEMENT BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE APPROPRIATIONS ON THE APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST OF THE U.S. GPO FOR FY 2005: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cr/testimony/4_28_04.pdf
"I'm pleased to report that 2003 was an extraordinarily eventful and productive year for the GPO. With funding from the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for 2004 and the approval of the Joint Committee on Printing, we conducted a highly successful voluntary separation incentive program that allowed us to reduce our workforce level by more than 300 positions, or 10%, yielding annual savings of $21.7 million. Together with our efforts to shutter GPO's failing retail bookstores, which will generate savings of $1.5 million in the first year, and the other steps we have taken to better manage our operations, our finances are being restored to a positive basis."
The General Accounting Office (GAO) -- STATEMENT BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE U.S. GPO TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF THE 21ST CENTURY: Statement of Linda D. Koontz, director, information management, entitled: Government Printing Office: Technological Changes Create Transformation Opportunities. It is available at: http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-729T . Highlights are available at http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d04729thigh.pdf.
Recent Speeches of the Superintendent of Documents. Speeches from the spring Depository Library Council Meeting and the IS&T Archiving Conference are available at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/speeches/index.html . Other speeches will be linked from this page from time to time.
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