Electronic Government Information Dissemination

SUMMARY

The federal government, “the largest single producer, consumer, collector, and disseminator of information in the United States,”¹ has begun to disseminate most of that information electronically. Legislation and more economic production and dissemination of government information have produced changes in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and federal agency dissemination. This chapter examines the dissemination of electronic government information from the Government Printing Office (GPO) through the FDLP and executive branch agencies and discusses the impact that this has on users, libraries, and government information specialists.     

U.S. government printing office,no more

Changes in electronic technology and publishing and distribution patterns are affecting how government agencies are making information available. These factors, as well as the Government Printing Office's (GPO) monopoly-like status, its inability to transform its operations as described in GPO/2001: Vision for a New Millennium, its historical inefficiency, and its potential violation of the separation of powers doctrine require new institutional arrangements for the distribution of government information to the public. This author recommends that GPO be abolished and its printing authority be transferred to the General Services Administration (GSA). In addition, the author recommends that the Superintendent of Documents be transferred to the Library of Congress, an Office of Congressional Printing Management be established, and the GPO work force be reduced and then relocated to other agencies. In addition, a statutory policy should be articulated by Congress to disseminate government information to the public and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should be directed to implement this policy.     

Providing Perpetual Access to Government Information

Abstract

The past few years have seen the Government Printing Office (GPO) move from managing predominantly paper based government publications to collecting, organizing, and disseminating government information electronically. Serious concerns have been raised about perpetual access and authentication of government information in the new digital environment. This article focuses on GPO's plans to preserve both electronic and tangible government information resources and the initiatives being taken by GPO in collaboration with the library community and other stakeholders to address these matters.     

How the GPO Got Its Groove Back

Abstract

In the last decade, the Government Printing Office has dealt with two major problems of this revolution. First, GPO has had to master the various aspects of the electronic age. Second, they have had to deal with the “under-the-gun” mentality of a government totally enamored of the “apparent” efficiency and accuracy of electronic information. GPO's struggle with these problems has been neither easy nor comfortable. From top to bottom in the government documents world nearly everyone has some degree of apprehension, misgiving, or outright suspicion concerning the future of the accessibility of government information. Despite these difficulties GPO has made important strides toward implementing the apparatus of electronic information, while at the same time striving to ensure the quality and coherency of the end product available to the nation's citizens.     

The Way We Work Now

Abstract

As the Government Printing Office completes its transition to an electronic distribution system for government information, reference services within the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) are changing as well. In addition to meeting new user needs and using new resources to do so, many government information librarians find themselves working in new environments within their libraries. Throughout the 1990s, many FDLP institutions reorganized reference services in order to provide government information assistance at the library's main reference service point. This article reports the results of a survey of FDLP institutions identifying the factors contributing to the reorganization of services, the process and success of reorganizing within these libraries, and the pros and cons of these service arrangements.     

A window on the politics of the government printing office electronic information access enhancement act of 1993

This article discusses political interests and maneuvering that went on among professional trade associations, government agencies, and public interest groups and the ultimate effects that it had on the outcome of the Government Printing Office Electronic Information Act of 1993, also known as the WINDOW bill. Insight is provided into the increasingly contentious politics of information in the United States. With the trend toward the explosive growth in availability of and access to government information in electronic formats, it is recognized that access to and control of government information has tremendous economic and political rewards for libraries, businesses, and politicians alike.     

Storage of electronic files of federal agencies that have ceased operation: a partnership for permanent access

For more than a century, federal depository libraries and the Government Printing Office (GPO) have acted as partners to provide permanent access to government information in tangible media. These partnerships have evolved in the last few years. Built on a century of tradition, new partnerships offer permanent access to electronic files of federal agencies published in nontangible media. This article describes one partnership to store and provide access to the electronic files of agencies that have ceased operation. As the only Web contact for an agency, unique challenges arose when historical publications were frequently requested. Digitized historical publications, bibliographies, and an agency history enhance services for researchers.     

FEDWORLD,THOMAS, AND CBDNET:: United States Federal Government Information Dissemination in the 1990s

The National Technical Information Service’s development of the FedWorld Internet site, the Library of Congress’s development of THOMAS, and the Government Printing Office’s development of CBDnet illustrate the many forces impacting federal government information dissemination in the 1990s. These forces include budgeting, congressional inconsistency, technology, political agendas, and competition. While information dissemination policy discussion and legislation, including the American Technology Preeminence Act of 1991 (the foundation for FedWorld) and the Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993 (the foundation for GPO Access) aim to provide comprehensiveness and single point access to government information, the actual products developed show little coordination or cooperation among agencies. The products are agency driven, and provide multiple points of access. This highly decentralized information reality reflects the decentralized nature of the federal government itself. The reality is removed, however, from the goals of a singularly consistent federal government information dissemination policy.     

Technology,public policy,and the changing nature of federal information dissemination: Overview of a new office of technology assessment study

Use of information technology—such as electronic document filing, computerized databases, optical disks, electronic mail, electronic remote printing, and electronic bulletin boards—could revolutionize the public information functions of the Federal government. Technology is providing many new opportunities for Federal information collection, maintenance, and dissemination, but is also raising new issues, as well as exacerbating old ones, such as equity of access to Federal public information, the private sector role in Federal electronic information activities, and institutional responsibility for Federal information collection and dissemination.Two congressional committees have asked the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) to study relevant technology and policy issues, including possible future roles for the Government Printing Office, Federal executive agencies, libraries, and private firms. The OTA study process includes in-depth research and extensive outreach, and provides several opportunities for the participation of individuals and organizations interested in these topics.     

Government Publications in Media Subjects

The Report of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography (Bantam/New York Times Book, $1.65)

Your're On Camera...In Color (Government Printing Office No. A 1.60:914, 45¢)     

New from the Government

Violence and the Mass Media: A Staff Report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence (Government Printing Office, $2.50). Written primarily by Robert K. Baker and Sandra J. Ball     

Partners on the net: FDLP partnering to coordinate remote access to internet-based government information

In June 1996, the Government Printing Office (GPO) published a plan for its transition to a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). This plan assumes that federal information policy requires that the FDLP provide permanent public access to remotely-accessible electronic government information products and indicates that such access will be provided through a network of partnerships comprised of the GPO, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), federal agencies, and FDLP libraries. GPO has established its first library partnership in this FDLP network with the University of Chicago at Illinois' Richard J. Daley Library and the Department of State (DOS) to ensure that DOS materials will be available for permanent public access through the FDLP. To extend the partnership network to publishing agencies, a partnership has been arranged with the Department of Energy (DOE) to ensure direct FDLP access to technical reports maintained on a DOE World Wide Web site.     

Old solutions in a new age: Cataloging and the future of access to government information

The availability of U.S. Government Printing Office bibliographic tapes for copy cataloging or for loading directly into online catalogs may have lulled documents librarians into believing that the problem of bibliographic control for documents collections has been solved. Others may believe that with the move to an electronic distribution system for United States government information, creating and loading bibliographic records for government publications into local library catalogs is becoming an anachronism. This article discusses the functions of cataloging in light of continuing needs and current developments in access to government information. Recommendations are made for ways that the library community, providers of government information, and automation specialists can work together to reexamine bibliographic standards, expand tape loading to non-U.S. depository documents collections, link useful bibliographic databases with library catalogs, and use cataloging of Internet resources to show relationships between physical collections and remotely accessible government information.     

GPO Regional Depositories

This article profiles the 54 regional libraries serving in the depository program administered by the U.S. Government Printing Office. In addition to noting problem areas, the authors encourage the library community and the Federal government to find ways to provide the necessary financial and other support for the depository library program in an electronic and information age.     

Standardized American Indians: The “Names of Indian tribes and bands” list from the Office of Indian Affairs

The inconsistent spelling of American Indian tribal names at the end of the nineteenth century led in part to the development within the Office of Indian Affairs of an array of 270 standardized identifiers, ranging from Absaroka to Zuñi. These efforts paralleled the simultaneous improvement of a large suite of relevant terms by the United States Board on Geographic Names. Both compilations were included in style manuals published by the Government Printing Office beginning in 1900 and approved for the use of federal agencies. In 1903 and 1904, Charles J. Kappler, in the preparation of his multi-volume Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, made particular use of this orthography when he created new individual titles for the recognized treaties between the federal government and the Indian Nations. Even with these coordinated attempts, however, versions of the “Names of Indian tribes and bands” register during the last century suffered both exclusions from, and an addition to, the original document from the Office of Indian Affairs.     

Helping the public find information the U.S. Government Information Locator Service (GILS)

As part of the National Information Infrastructure, the U.S. federal government is establishing a Government Information Locator Service (GILS). GILS will identify and describe public information resources throughout the federal government and provide assistance in obtaining the information. It will be decentralized and will supplement other agency and commercial information dissemination mechanisms. The public will use GILS directly or through intermediaries, including the Government Printing Office and the National Technical Information Service, as well as federal depository libraries, other public libraries, and private sector information services. Direct users will have access to a GILS Core accessible on the Internet without charge. Intermediate access may include kiosks, 800 numbers, electronic mail, bulletin boards, FAX, and offline media such as floppy disks, CD-ROM, and printed works. GILS will use network technology and the American National Standards Institute Z39.50 standard for information search and retrieval so that information can be retrieved in a variety of ways. Direct users may have access to many other major federal and nonfederal information resources, linkages to data systems, and electronic delivery of information products. An Office of Management and Budget Bulletin in 1994 will provide implementing guidance to agencies. The National Institute of Standards and Technology will also establish a Federal Information Processing Standard specifying a GILS Profile and its application for agencies establishing information locators.     

Partners in Collaborative Cataloging: The U.S. Government Printing Office and the University of Montana

Collaboration is a necessity in the current library environment where time, money, and resources are limited. This is particularly noticeable for institutions housing federal government documents. In addition to keeping up with the influx of current publications, federal depository libraries must address historical documents for which bibliographic records are not readily available. This report discusses how the United States Government Printing Office and the University of Montana Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library are working together to increase access to pre-1976 United States Forest Service publications and gray literature within the same subject area.     

GPO recalls of depository documents A review

Since the very early 1980s, various government agencies have increasingly issued requests to depository libraries directly or through the Government Printing Office (GPO) to destroy or return certain distributed documents. This article cites recalled documents and explores the reasons for their recall. Most recalls fall into one of five problem categories: military security, administrative and operational security, falsified data, outright censorship, and environmental security. Specific reasons for recall are seldom given and must be inferred by examining specific titles. Librarians have shown little published interest in the subject of recalls, but an informal survey indicated general compliance with the recall requests. The GPO also has said little except to ask agencies to direct the recalls through the federal Depository Library Program. It is concluded that the GPO should take a more active role in reviewing agencies' requests, since many recall requests have been of doubtful value, and that government documents librarians should assess recalls on a case-by-case basis.     

NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND OLD-FASHIONED ECONOMICS:: Creating a Brave New World for U.S. Government Information Distribution and Use

New technologies, including the ability to distribute government information globally across the Internet, are creating a need for new ways to view the U.S. Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). The changing needs and roles of government information’s five stakeholders: federal agencies, the Government Printing Office (GPO), the depository libraries, the commercial sector, and the American public will need to change drastically in reaction to improved technologies and to the pure economics of information dissemination. The concept of the FDLP network may have outlived its relevance. Experiments should begin to explore new ways to provide users with assistance in locating government information in a timely and economically feasible manner. Shoring up a program that has outlived its relevance in today’s world is not an option.     

Information on Native Americans in U.S. Government Publications

Abstract

This article is a selective annotated list of print and electronic sources that provide information on Native Americans and the United States Government. While most of these are issued by the federal agencies, there are also some commercially published works that cover government resources or describe and interpret federal activities. The bibliography is arranged in broad subject areas; headings include finding tools, federal policy, federal laws and regulations, treaties, statistics, history and culture, and contemporary issues.