From jrussell@gpo.govSat Feb 17 09:05:38 1996 Date: Fri, 16 Feb 1996 13:52:40 -0800 From: "Judith C. Russell" Reply to: Discussion of Government Document Issues To: Multiple recipients of list GOVDOC-L Subject: FDLP Study: Task 7: AGENCY CD-ROM PUBLISHING STUDY TO IDENTIFY MEASURES NECESSARY FOR A SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO A MORE ELECTRONIC FEDERAL DEPOSITORY LIBRARY PROGRAM (FDLP) PRELIMINARY REPORT: TASK 7: SURVEY OF AGENCY CD-ROM PUBLISHING As part of the Study, a task force surveyed Federal agencies concerning CD-ROMs which they publish that are not currently included in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) to determine reasons for non-participation. This task force was led by Gil Baldwin, GPO Library Programs Service, with the assistance of Glenn Schlarman, Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This preliminary report of the task force is being made available for review and comment. Comments should be submitted by Friday, February 23, 1996, 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. ***************************************************************** Task 7: Survey Federal agencies concerning CD-ROMs which they publish that are not currently included in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) to determine reasons for non-participation. METHODOLOGY Contacting Federal publishers concerning their CD-ROM publishing has been a shared effort by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Government Printing Office (GPO). OMB requested information from the executive branch publishing agencies, and GPO queried selected legislative and judicial branch publishers. Respondents were asked to include detailed information about their CD-ROM publishing activities since FY 1993 and to provide reasons for inclusion or non-inclusion of any of CD-ROM titles in the FDLP. The OMB memorandum was done in conjunction with their effort to gather data for the National Information Infrastructure initiative. This task group hoped to identify specific reasons for participation and non-participation in the FDLP, in order to learn what motivates agencies. The responses were not sufficient to support a statistical analysis, but some general conclusions can be drawn from the responses. These results are based on replies from 24 executive branch agencies, 2 legislative branch agencies, and 2 judicial branch organizations. Survey letters were sent to 35 executive agencies, including all cabinet level agencies. All cabinet level agencies except State Department responded, although State does have at least one CD-ROM title that is in the FDLP. However, the responses from many cabinet level agencies were obviously incomplete. For example, both the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and Bureau of the Census responded to the survey, but not other Commerce agencies such as NTIS and NOAA which have major CD-ROM publishing programs. In order to gain additional perspective on the agency responses, GPO gathered additional data from two sources. Records on CD- ROM titles in the FDLP were extracted from GPO's Acquisition, Classification, and Shipment Information System (ACSIS) and this information was compared with the CD-ROM titles reported by the agencies, in order to determine if GPO had distributed any CD-ROMs which agencies reported as not in the FDLP. GPO staff also reviewed records from the 1995 SIGCAT Compendium, a voluntary listing of CD-ROM titles, most of which are published by Federal Government agencies. Although the Compendium data is not directly comparable to the results from the OMB and GPO survey because of a different time period and other parameters, it did provide another means to assess the agency responses. SURVEY RESULTS 215 CD-ROM titles were identified in the survey responses. The agency responses identified only 91 (42.3%) as being distributed to depository libraries. An additional 27 titles (12.6%) were identified by GPO as being included in the FDLP, even though the publishing agencies stated that those title were not included. Therefore, altogether, 118 (54.8%) of the 215 titles identified by publishing agencies are in the FDLP. Three agencies, the Census Bureau, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and the Department of Education, accounted for 71 (78.0%) of the 91 CD-ROMs reported by agencies as included in the FDLP. GPO records indicated that another 16 of the titles reported by these three agencies were actuaaly in the FDLP, raising the total to 87 of a possible 118 (73.7%). Census reported providing 42 out of 66 CD-ROM titles, or 63.6% of its CD-ROM titles. According to GPO records, Census actually provided 56 of its 66 CD-ROM titles (84.8%). DHHS provided 16 out of 25 CD-ROM titles reported, or 64.0%, and GPO's records confirmed this report. Education acknowledged providing 13 out of 33 CD-ROM titles reported, or 39.3%. According to GPO records, it actually provided 15 titles (45.5%). No reasons for participation in the FDLP were expressed by any of respondents. No reasons for non-participation were provided for 65 of the 117 titles (55.6%) identified by agencies as not included in the FDLP. Eight CD-ROM titles not included in the FDLP do have comparable titles in the program in paper, although it was not possible to determine if the content is identical. The two most frequent reasons given for non-participation were that the software license imposes a limit on the number of copies distributed (21 responses) and that title was produced or is available through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) (14 responses). Other reasons include: forthcoming title (4); commercially developed and distributed (4); public availability under review (4); contains restricted or confidential information (2); distributed by another agency (1); and an offer to arrange to include the title in the FDLP (1). Several responses included more than one reason. Judiciary and legislative branch responses indicated little to no CD-ROM publishing activities to date. However, both the Supreme Court and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts mentioned an interest in future CD-ROM development. The Library of Congress response included a list of eleven CD-ROM titles, all of which were bibliographic in nature and all of which were excluded from the program as cooperative publications and/or due to licensing restrictions. LC did not report any of its American Memory discs or other CD-ROM titles. Agency Name Number of Number of Number of Titles Titles Title in Reported in 1995 Reported FDLP SIGCAT CD-ROM Compendium - ---------------------------------------------------------------- EXECUTIVE Agency GPO Reported Confirmed Agriculture 13 0 0 13 Commerce/BEA 2 2 2 0 Commerce/Census 66 42 56 104 Defense 8 3 3 14 Education 33 13 15 9 Energy 5 1 3 0 EPA 5 0 3 6 FCC 11 0 0 0 FDIC 1 0 0 0 Health 25 16 16 17 HUD 0 0 0 1 Interior/USGS 13 1 8 67 Justice 1 1 1 2 Labor 6 3 4 3 NARA 1 1 1 2 NASA 0 0 0 107 NRC 0 0 0 0 NSF 1 0 0 0 OMB 0 0 0 0 SBA 0 0 0 0 Transportation 9 5 5 2 Treasury/IRS 2 2 2 1 USIA 0 0 0 0 Veterans 2 1 1 0 JUDICIAL Supreme Court 0 0 0 0 Admin. Office Courts 0 0 0 0 LEGISLATIVE GAO 0 0 0 0 LC 11 0 0 3 - ----------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL 215 91 118 351 ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS Some Executive agencies with significant CD-ROM publishing activities did not respond to the survey, or responded that they have no CD-ROM titles when other information suggests that have many. For example, a search of the 1995 SIGCAT CD-ROM Compendium database identified 107 CD-ROM titles issued by NASA, which reported no CD-ROM titles in response to the survey. A similar search identified 104 titles from NOAA and 54 from NIST, althoguh neither agency responded to the survey. In discussions not related to this Study Task, agencies have identified other reasons for not including their CD-ROMs in the FDLP. These reasons included a lack of awareness of the Program or its benefits; miscellaneous software licensing issues; or that their CD-ROMs were cooperative publications which must be sold in order to be self-sustaining, as defined in 44 U.S.C. 1903. ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED Agency Responsibilities for Dissemination Through the FDLP Some agencies believe that making their products available through NTIS satisfies their public dissemination obligations, although OMB Circular A-130 states that it is good public policy to include agency electronic information products in the FDLP. There is unresolved disagreement between various Program stakeholders as to whether current law requires CD-ROMs to be in the FDLP. This issue hinges on the definition of a publication codified in 44 U.S.C. 1902. Software Licensing Restrictions arising from software licensing arrangements effect not only the cost, but the availability of CD-ROM products. All information products provided through the FDLP, including CD-ROMs, remain the property of the Government, so FDLP copies can fall within contractual language that restricts the software to "government use." Agencies may need to consider FDLP requirements and include appropriate language in their contracts in order for their CD-ROMs to be included in the FDLP. GPO can (and has) contracted for software licenses for sales and depository copies when agency licenses do not cover GPO dissemination. Awareness of the FDLP/Communications Since CD-ROMs may be produced by agency personnel unfamiliar with traditional printing arrangements there can be a lack of communication within the publishing agency which results in CD-ROMs not being included in the FDLP. In addition, all relevant personnel within the agency may not be aware of how their information products reach the public. Thus, even agencies like Census and Education that work closely with GPO and are committed to distributing their information through the FDLP don't always know which of their titles are and are not in the program. A program of improved communication or outreach to agencies may be necessary to ameliorate this situation. ***************************************************************** Judy Russell Comments should be submitted by Friday, February 23, 1996, 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.