From jrussell@gpo.govTue Apr 30 08:34:54 1996 Date: Mon, 29 Apr 1996 17:37:44 -0700 From: "Judith C. Russell" Reply to: Discussion of Government Document Issues To: Multiple recipients of list GOVDOC-L Subject: FDLP Study: NCLIS Statement STUDY TO IDENTIFY MEASURES NECESSARY FOR A SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO A MORE ELECTRONIC FEDERAL DEPOSITORY LIBRARY PROGRAM (FDLP) On April 18th there was a meeting of the FDLP Study working group and advisors in order to provide the advisors with an opportunity to present their preliminary reactions to the draft Report to Congress. The minutes of the meeting were posted separately. Supplemental statements were submitted by NCLIS, the Depository Library Council and the library associations. IIA is not submitting a supplemental statement at this time. The NCLIS statement is provided below. The others will be posted separately. Public comments on the draft report are still welcome, but should be submitted NOT LATER THAN Friday, May 24, 1996. Comments may be submitted by Internet e-mail to study@gpo.gov, by fax to FDLP Study at (202) 512-1262, or by mail to FDLP Study, Mail Stop SDE, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20401. Please be sure to include sufficient information to identify yourself and enable us to contact you for additional information or clarification (e.g. name, affiliation, telephone number, e-mail address). ************************************************************************** Draft Study to Identify Measures Necessary for a Successful Transition to a More Electronic Federal Depository Library Program Preliminary Comments Joan R. Challinor, Member U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science 628 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. April 18, 1996 2:00 p.m. A. Introduction The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) is pleased to provide these preliminary comments on the draft Study Report(1). Jeanne Hurley Simon, Chairperson of the National Commission regrets that she is not able to be here this afternoon to offer these comments. Jeanne is in Illinois today participating in a program at Southern Illinois University. Our comments result from an initial review of the draft Study Report by the members of the Commission's Information Policies Committee, chaired by Commissioner Carol K. DiPrete of Providence, Rhode Island. Because the members of the National Commission have not yet had the opportunity to fully review and discuss the draft Study Report, these preliminary comments do not reflect NCLIS' official endorsement. NCLIS will submit additional comments in the next several weeks, once the full Commission has had a chance to review and discuss the issues included in the Report. The National Commission appreciates the opportunity to comment on this draft Study Report. Congress displayed strong leadership in directing the Public Printer to study the potential of new electronic technologies for improving public access and use of government information. Actions based on the study's results and conclusions, however, should balance Congressional concerns for cost efficiencies with basic principles regarding the creation, access, use, and dissemination of government information. The draft Study Report represents a significant contribution to the future of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). The Government Printing Office (GPO) and the Working Group are to be commended for their efforts to address complex issues related to effective public access to government information. The draft Study Report reflects a thoughtful review of the opportunities for enhancing public access to government information. Although the Study was conducted within strictly mandated time constraints, implementation planning requires careful planning and analysis to ensure effective public access government information. Collaborative transition planning involving Congress, GPO, and the National Commission could serve as a model for improving and enhancing public access to Federal government information. The Commission's comments address the following areas: 1. The National Commission's Principles of Public Information; 2. Results of recent NCLIS surveys of public library Internet involvement; 3. The Commission's interest to assist with a FDLP implementation study; 4. NCLIS' general concerns about citizen access to federal information. As background, first let me give you an quick overview of NCLIS' statutory purpose and some information about the Commission's role in developing the Principles of Public Information. B. Background on the Commission The National Commission was established in 1970 (P.L. 91-345) as an independent Federal agency to advise the President and the Congress on national and international policies and plans related to libraries and information services. The Commission consists of 14 members who are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for five-year terms. Only five NCLIS members are professional librarians or information professionals, the remainder are those persons having special competence or interest in the needs of our society for library and information services. The Librarian of Congress serves as the 15th Commission member. NCLIS is a small micro-agency, with an annual federal appropriation of less than $1 million a year. The Commission receives additional support for cooperative programs with the Department of Education and the State Department. The Commission's mission as stated in the enabling legislation has been broadly interpreted in our 25-year history. By law, NCLIS develops plans and recommendations for the implementation of national policies related to library and information services adequate to meet the needs of the people of the US. Commission activities are designed to assure optimum and effective utilization of the Nation's educational and information resources. The National Commission does not represent the interests and concerns of the library and information community. As a citizens' advisory body, NCLIS represents the public's interest. C. Principles of Public Information Throughout the Commission's history, national information policy issues have occupied NCLIS. In the 1970's, NCLIS published the Rockefeller report on National Information Policy.(2) This 1976 report called for the development of a coordinated national information policy. The rationale for this report was stated as follows: "A great number of public policy questions are being generated by advances in computer and communications technology, by shifts in the United States economy from a manufacturing to an information base, and by citizen demands for clarification of their rights to have and control information." These same concerns are reflected in GPO's March 1996 draft Study Report. Over the last two decades NCLIS has studied many of the public policy questions presented in the Rockefeller report. As a result, the Commission developed the Principles of Public Information in response to a 1988 Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) report titled Informing the Nation: Federal Information Dissemination in an Electronic Age.(3) This report addressed opportunities to improve the dissemination of federal information by highlighting problems of maintaining equity of public access to federal information in electronic formats and by defining the respective roles of federal agencies and the private sector in the electronic dissemination process. After an NCLIS-sponsored public forum held in 1989 to review policy issues raised in the OTA report, the Commission worked to develop a consensus among interested parties as to the basic, underlying principles that should shape all decisions in and out of government regarding information policies, procedures and practices. These principles were developed to provide guidance for the formulation of national information policies. The Commission's work resulted in a statement of Principles of Public Information, adopted by NCLIS July 29, 1990. I will not review these eight statements because they are included as Attachment E to the March 1996 draft study Report. The eight principles were constructed as an interrelated whole. They are intended to form a foundation for decisions and policies throughout the federal government. Each principle should be considered in relationship to all the others; one is not more important than another. As a means of providing comparative information about government information principles the Commission has prepared a handout for distribution. It's a chart showing the Commission's Principles of Public Information, the Principles of Government Information and Services from A NATION OF OPPORTUNITY, the final report of the NII Advisory Council(4), and the Principles for Federal Government Information from the present draft study report on the FDLP(5). The chart illustrates the similarity between these three different sets of principles. Each articulation underscores important concerns about the accessibility, usability and reliability of government or federal information resources. Also, these three sets of principles reflect the same values that form the basis for our democratic society. What is critical about each of these statements of principles related to public or government information is the focus of attention on the needs of the user or the public. The principles underlying the dissemination of federal information are formed from the perspective of the user or the citizen who requires and is entitled to have "open, timely, and uninhibited" access to public information. This user perspective and orientation are essential to guide plans for a successful transition to a more electronic future program. D. Findings from NCLIS studies of public libraries and the Internet An overview of the results of several recent studies(6) that the Commission has sponsored on public libraries and the Internet provides background. Our first study, in 1994, found that 20.9% of the nation's libraries had Internet connections. Our 1996 study shows that percentage has increased to 44.6%. Public Library Internet Connectivity by Population Served 1994-1996 Population of % Public Libraries Connected Legal Service Area(7) 1994 1996 1 million + 77% 82% 500,000-999,999 64% 93.1% 250,000-499,999 76% 96.1% 100,000-249,999 54.4% 88.2% 50,000-99,999 43.7% 75% 25,000-49,999 27.6% 73.1% 10,000-24,999 23.2% 53.1% 5,000-9,999 12.9% 40.6% Less than 5,000 13.3% 31.3% Total Public Libraries Connected 20.9% 44.6% The 23.7% increase in public library Internet connectivity between 1994 and 1996 provides strong evidence of the rapid pace of change that is characteristic of electronic networked information and communication technologies. Plans for a transition to a more electronic FDLP must address this extremely rapid pace of change. The rapid pace of change is further reinforced by public libraries responding to the 1996 NCLIS survey question regarding their plans for connecting to the Internet over the next 12 months: Public Library Internet Connectivity Plans by Population Served 1996 Population of % Planning Connections Legal Service Area Yes/Staff Yes/Public No Plans 1 million + 0% (8) 0% 0% 500,000-999,999 2.4% 6.9% 0% 250,000-499,999 2% 4.2% 0% 100,000-249,999 4.7% 12.9% 0.9% 50,000-99,999 7.5% 13.4% 4.3% 25,000-49,999 9% 12.5% 8.1% 10,000-24,999 10.4% 20.6% 16.9% 5,000-9,999 11% 26.8% 22.2% Less than 5,000 8.3% 26.6% 31.3% Public Library Connectivity Plans 16.3% 40.4% 39.6% Of those public libraries that reported no Internet connection in 1996, 16.3% indicate that they plan to establish connections in the next 12 months for library staff use only. In addition, 40.4% of public libraries with no Internet connection in 1996 report that they are planning to provide public access Internet services in the next year. From these survey results it appears that public library Internet connectivity could well reach between 60% and 75% by 1997. For those public libraries that provide public access to Internet services in 1996, institutions serving larger populations were more likely to provide public access to WWW graphical services than libraries serving smaller communities. NCLIS 1996 survey information about the types of Internet services provided by public libraries to the public is summarized in the following table: Public Access Internet Services Provided by Public Libraries 1996 Population E-mail NewsGroup WWWtext WWWgraphic Gopher Svcs 1 million + 13.9% 13.0% 33.8% 54.6% 32.9% 500,000-999,999 11.3% 11.3% 46.3% 44.7% 45.7% 250,000-499,999 10.0% 8.8% 39.8% 33.9% 35.0% 100,000-249,999 10.3% 20.3% 37.9% 42.7% 34.8% 50,000-99,999 4.8% 15.5% 28.5% 29.2% 29.4% 25,000-49,999 9.2% 13.2% 25.1% 28.1% 24.3% 10,000-24,999 9.8% 13.6% 23.0% 27.6% 24.8% 5,000-9,999 10.0% 5.7% 15.9% 17.5% 14.4% Less than 5,000 12.1% 9.6% 15.7% 13.9% 17.8% Overall 9.9% 11.6% 22.2% 23.6% 22.6% Those public libraries that provide public access to Internet and that serve smaller legal service area populations are less likely to offer advanced WWW graphical services. This finding has important consequences for planning a more electronic FDLP. It would appear that states with more rural populations served by smaller public libraries will have greater dependence on depository libraries to offer electronic access to government information. In addition to the 1994 and 1996 surveys of penetration of Internet access, in 1995 the Commission studied the costs of public library connections to the Internet. The NCLIS Internet cost study showed that public libraries are establishing Internet connections for one-time costs that vary between $1,475 and $266,375, with recurring costs between $12,635 and $154,220. With investments and annual costs of this magnitude, it is important to consider the investments required for depository libraries to implement a transition to a more electronic FDLP. Focusing attention on the costs of the transition is critical since depository libraries will have to address public needs for accessing federal information in print, microformat, as well as electronic media. The National Commission plans to provide additional information regarding the costs of public library Internet connectivity in subsequent comments on the draft Study Report in the next few weeks as the results of the NCLIS 1996 public libraries and the Internet survey are analyzed and made available. These three NCLIS studies provide information useful in developing plans related to the transition to a more electronic federal depository library system. As dissemination of government information increasingly involves electronic technologies, libraries will be required to receive, interpret, and research that information for their constituents. Depository library costs associated with this transition may not be comparable to current contributions and investments, and may require additional commitments from a restructured FDLP. The Commission will provide additional pertinent details from the 1996 survey of public libraries and the Internet when further comments are submitted on the draft Study Report in the next few weeks. E. Implementation study of transition to a more electronic FDLP The access needs of the general public for federal information should guide the development of transition plans and strategies. Successful plans and strategies require current, reliable, and consistent information about federal agency and depository library capabilities, as well as information about how the public's need for convenient and inexpensive access to government information can be effectively addressed with electronic technologies. The fast pace of technological change presents challenges for successful transition planning. This need for planning information can be addressed by collaborative efforts involving the National Commission, Congress, and GPO. Survey information about current agency and depository library capabilities are needed to provide assistance and coordination in identifying appropriate technical implementation assistance for transition to a restructured FDLP. Planners need assistance in gathering survey data and performing related analysis as background information for successful plans. In this regard, the Commission finds that a two-year transition period is insufficient to ensure successful transition. Such an abbreviated implementation period would risk serious impediments for public access to government information. The rapid pace of change, both in network communications technologies and in library adoption of advanced electronic information services, requires a longer transition period. A more reasonable implementation planning period for such a transition would be five years, from 1996 to 2001, as has been proposed in Federal Depository Library Program: Information Dissemination and Access Strategic Plan, FY 1996 - FY 2001. F. Evaluation of how well the public's need for access to public information is being met The draft Study Report provides a valuable planning document to provide the American public with greater access to government information in electronic form through a restructured FDLP. It is important to consider these plans within a broad government-wide context. As individual agencies, offices, and programs make expanded use of the Internet and World Wide Web publishing capabilities, mounting home pages and opening sites, challenges related to preservation, authenticity, access, cost, and locator service increase. This decentralized proliferation of government information dissemination and publishing has a direct impact on public access. There must be evaluation of how well the publics' need for access to public information is being addressed through the federal depository library program, in relation to the publics' use of the GPO Access Service, the Library of Congress' THOMAS system, through agencies Government Information Locator Service (GILS), through agencies Internet gopher sites, World Wide Web (WWW) home pages, and by other electronic means. Cooperative projects involving the National Commission could study and analyze these contextual issues relating to public access to government information and services in order to recommend plans that address the user's needs for access. In this area, NCLIS has explored plans for evaluating the effectiveness of GILS over the past year in meeting the public's need for locating and accessing government information from a variety of different sources. While concerns regarding dissemination format are justified, the future structure, design, and effectiveness of a more electronic FDLP need to be seen from the user's perspective. The transition from a legacy of paper and microfiche to digital transmission will have important consequences on patterns of access to government information. The transition to a more electronic FDLP involves more than a single dimension of change from ink-on-paper document distribution to document transmission via electronic networks. Understanding the implications of this transition on public use of government information is critical for the future. We must work to assure the right and responsibility of every American to be informed as Thomas Jefferson identified in 1816. (1) US Government Printing Office. Report to Congress: Study to Identify Measures Necessary for a Successful Transition to a More Electronic Federal Depository Library Program. (Draft) Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1996. (2) Domestic Council Committee on the Right of Privacy, Honorable Nelson A. Rockefeller, Chairman. National Information Policy: Report to the President. Washington, D.C.: NCLIS, 1976. (3) Office of Technology Assessment. Informing the Nation: Federal Information Dissemination in an Electronic Age. Washington, D.C.: OTA, 1988. (4) US Advisory Council on the National Information Infrastructure. A Nation of Opportunity: Realizing the Promise of the Information Superhighway. West Publishing, 1996. (5) US Government Printing Office. Report to Congress: Study to Identify Measures Necessary for a Successful Transition to a More Electronic Federal Depository Library Program. (Draft) Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1996. (6) McClure, Charles R., John Carlo Bertot and Douglas L. Zweizig. Public Libraries and the Internet: Study Results, Policy Issues, and Recommendations. Washington, D.C.: NCLIS, 1994. Electronic version: http://www.nclis.gov; and McClure, Charles R., John Carlo Bertot and John C. Beachboard. Internet Costs and Cost Models for Public Libraries: Final Report. Washington, D.C.: NCLIS, 1995. Electronic version: http://dataserver.syr.edu/~macbeth/Project/Faculty/ McClure.NCLIS.Report.html (7) Population of legal service area is the number of people in the geographic area for which a public library has been established to offer services and from which (or on behalf of which) the library derives income, plus an areas served under contract for which the library is the primary service provider. (8) Those public libraries that are not now connected to the Internet and did not respond or responded that hey are not planning to connect to the Internet are represented by 0%. [Note: The table comparing the NCLIS Principles of Public Information with the Principles of Government Information and Services from Nation of Opportunity and the Principles for Federal Government Information from the FDLP Study will be provided when a machine readable copy obtained by GPO.] Submitted by: Peter R. Young Executive Director U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science 1110 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Suite 820 Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 606-9200 Fax (202) 606-9203 Internet: py_nclis@inet.ed.gov