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.     

Assessing the Diffusion and Impact of Grey Literature Published by International Intergovernmental Scientific Groups: The Case of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment

Although many governmental and intergovernmental organizations publish vast quantities of grey literature, the importance of the diffusion and impact of this literature are rarely studied. Evidence from an investigation of the grey literature output of GESAMP, the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (sponsored by the UN and several of the UN-family of organizations), indicated that the literature reached scientific readers and was cited. To determine whether that evidence was representative of international intergovernmental bodies, another intergovernmental organization devoted to marine environmental issues, namely, the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment (GOMC) was studied. GOMC, an American–Canadian partnership, has been working since 1989 to maintain and enhance environmental quality in the Gulf of Maine. Through its own publications and others resulting from studies conducted under contract or in cooperation with other organizations, GOMC provides a complex publishing history for investigation. Over 300 publications were identified and over 500 citations were located after extensive searching using several citation tools. Citation patterns for GOMC publications mirror the findings of the study of GESAMP; grey literature is cited over lengthy periods, but grey literature tends to be cited primarily by other grey literature. Although digital alerting and access tools are increasing in number and coverage, a reliance on grey literature as the primary means of publication continues to pose hurdles for influencing scientific research, public policy, and public opinion. While grey literature is common to organizations such as GOMC and GESAMP, the impact of this literature can be muted because of the limitations of its dissemination and perceptions of its quality.

Serials Automation

This is a review of the literature and a selective, annotated bibliography on serials automation from 1976 to 1984 with an emphasis on recent English language publications. The bibliography is subdivided by topic: bibliographies; reviews and collections; bibliographic control, including ISBD(S), ISDS, ISSN, NSDP, CONSER, and AACR2; serials control, including chcck-in, claiming, binding and routing; systems and vendors; standards; union catalogs; fiscal control, and the organization of serials work. The selection of 150 citations highlights important events and trends and describes some lesser known developments. This review is written from the point of view of the working technical services librarian. Subjects for further research are suggested.     

Government Publications and Gray Literature in Turkey

This paper investigates bibliographic control of government publications and gray literature in Turkey, in order to determine what further measures are needed to support researchers in both Turkey and abroad. It reports the circumstances surrounding the creation of The Bibliography of Government Publications prepared in 1971, and outlines how gray literature was collected in various bibliographies and thesis centers according to types and made available to researchers. The development of systems for publication and access to government publications and gray literature are evaluated in the context of current studies and past endeavors to provide for bibliographic control and access to these sources.     

Human Trafficking in the United States. Part I. State of the Knowledge

This article, the first of a two-part series, introduces the topic human trafficking in the United States. Based on the literature review, the author delineates definitions of “human trafficking,” the extent and types of human trafficking in the United States, characteristics of trafficked victims and perpetrators, the human trafficking data reporting system, and examples of cases in the United States and its territories. The goal is to provide an introduction to this topic for library staff to use in their research and instruction services. Part II, to follow, is a survey of United States government web resources on human trafficking in the United States for publications and data.     

The effects of open access on un-published documents: A case study of economics working papers

The use of scholarly publications that have not been formally published in e.g. journals is widespread in some fields. In the past they have been disseminated through various channels of informal communication. However, the Internet has enabled dissemination of these un-published and often unrefereed publications to a much wider audience. This is particularly interesting seen in relation to the highly disputed open access advantage as the potential advantage for low visibility publications has not been given much attention in the literature. The present study examines the role of working papers in economics during a 10-year period (1996–2005). It shows that working papers are increasingly becoming visible in the field specific databases. The impact of working papers is relatively low; however, high impact working paper series have citation rate levels similar to the low impact journals in the field. There is no tendency to an increase in impact during the 10 years which is the case for the high impact journals. Consequently, the result of this study does not provide evidence of an open access advantage for working papers in economics.     

The use of government publications: The case of social scientists at the university of botswana

The authors surveyed 101 social scientists at the University of Botswana to determine their use of government publications. Citation studies were also employed as a complement to the survey. The findings reveal that most of the respondents (97.3 percent) used government documents in some fashion. Moreover, most users attached a high importance to the use of government publications for research (89 percent) and teaching (86 percent). The study also suggests that social scientists prefer to borrow government publications from their colleagues and obtain personal copies rather than depend on the University of Botswana Library. It is recommended that government documents be more accessible to the establishment of government publications distribution centers as the inaccessibility of these documents is a national problem. Another recommendation is that the University Library should provide current awareness services on government publications to its users.     

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.     

For a few dollars more: a future for scholarly books in Australia?

Australia's universities have seen significant growth in government research funding, with more to come, but this is not reflected in the output of research monograph publications; structural barriers stand between creation and dissemination of research. This is especially a problem for those working on Australian topics. The author has proposed a new model for funding scholarly publishing in Australia, which may well be applicable to other countries: just a small proportion of the funds committed by the Australian government to research inputs could ensure the publication of research outputs. This would deliver major gains in impact and productivity for government, universities, and individual academics alike.     

Technology & U.S. government information policies: Catalysts for new partnerships

Technology, moving faster than policy development, has left U.S. government information programs resting on uncertain foundations. This article, an abridgement of a report by the ARL Task Force on Government Information in Electronic Format, is the result of an effort to develop a framework for understanding—philosophically, functionally, and fiscally — the patterns that exist for government information today, and the shifts in those patterns resulting from the introduction of government information in electronic formats. Four questions are identified that should be considered by government agencies and libraries as decisions are made about how to provide the public with government informtion in electronic format. The report points to be need for a clearer picture of how government responsiblities for public availability of government information in eictronic formats might be fulfilled in partnership with the private sector without the loss of the characteristics that make this information distinctive: the absence of restrictions on use, including for basic government information, absence of a fee.     

Using Targeted Distributed Collections to Enhance Government Depository Collections at a Regional Level: The ASERL Collaborative Federal Depository Program

The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries is exploring options for collaborative services and collection analysis for federal government publications in order to improve public access to those collections. The Collaborative Federal Depository Program has developed “Centers of Excellence” (COE), representing multiple complete collections of publications for each federal agency. Working together to create a distributed print retention program, southeastern depository libraries agreed to collect, maintain, and provide access to publications for specific government agencies. The authors discuss the development of the COE model and the expected impact of a regionally based distributed print archive for government documents, and provide an implementation case study.     

In This Issue:

The number of periodicals dealing with alcohol and drug abuse has increased markedly since the 1960's. The following trends regarding them are discernable: broadening of coverage to include all substance abuse; growing amount of international and interdisciplinary coverage; devoting more attention to all sides of drug problems; emerging self-help publications; emerging "underground" publications; growing interest in research in drug education; increasing government interest in drug problems; growing number of publications with multiple types of formats; expanding resaerch and treatment modalities; increasing number of review publications; increasing number of newstype publications. There is considerable overlap of coverage in the periodicals of the field, but each has unique features.     

Open government data from a legal perspective: An AI-driven systematic literature review

While the applicable legal framework is often identified as one of the key factors in the success or failure of open government data (OGD), the concrete impact of ‘OGD law’ on actual practices of OGD is often overlooked or hardly addressed in-depth. This contribution therefore aims to disentangle this legal impact based on an AI-driven systematic literature review combining legal and public administration (PA) publications. First, the review shows that OGD law has many faces and cannot be reduced to one single piece of ‘OGD legislation’. Instead, OGD law covers a wide range of topics, dealing with access to information, re-use of information, and conflicting interests (e.g. privacy or copyright). Secondly, the article identifies three main dimensions that structure the assessment of the impact of OGD law on OGD practices: topics of OGD law, sources of OGD law, and levels of OGD law. Finally, the review shows that there is no clear and univocal evidence to answer the question of what regulatory constellation is successful in fostering OGD practices and what is not, partly due to a lack of available empirical research. At the same time, the literature reveals some promising avenues for future research on OGD law in action.     

Developing the Librarians' Role in Supporting Grant Applications and Reducing Waste in Research: Outcomes From a Literature Review and Survey in the NIHR Research Design Service

ABSTRACT

Librarians and information specialists' involvement during the development of grant applications for external funding can save researchers' time, provide specialist support, and contribute to reducing avoidable waste in research. This article presents a survey of information specialists working for the National Institute for Health Research's Research Design Service within English applied health services research and a scoping review to identify other examples of librarians supporting grant applications. The survey found that support included: verifying proposed research has not already been performed; searching literature to provide background for the project; and advising on or writing systematic review methods. The scoping review found three examples where librarians were involved: in writing sections of the application; conducting reviews, and becoming a co-applicant. We recommend librarians engage with researchers by checking whether search requests are to support an application and by becoming familiar with resources and techniques to support grant proposal development.     

Recent literature on government information

The purpose of this column is to provide government information scholars and students with a broad overview of recent publications about government information from the literature of librarianship, archives, information technology management, public policy, and law. Given the volume of literature produced in this field, a columnist cannot claim comprehensive coverage. This column seeks to provide a broad, representative survey of literature that illustrates significant trends in the field.Entries were identified through searches of bibliographic databases such as Library Literature, PAIS International, Ebsco Academic Elite, The Index to Legal Periodicals and Books, Science Direct, Westlaw's JLR database, WorldCat, and from manual scans of journals, newsletters, and Internet sites. Citations are to monographs and serials, journal and periodical articles, books, newsletters, and Internet sites. Coverage for this edition of the column includes items from both 2001 and 2002. Each citation is listed once under its primary topic and annotated if its content cannot be adequately determined from the title. Book reviews and Internet site reviews are generally excluded.     

Scientific book literature in a digital society

blishing in a digital society are analyzed. The concept of the e-book is described. The role and functions of publishing houses focused on the publication of scientific literature are reviewed. The differences between the use of copyrights for scientific literature and all other types of publications are specified. In those cases where the government contributes to the funding of scientific literature through research foundations, it is proposed to limit the role of publishing houses to technical functions related to layout design and thus ensure the subsequent inclusion of scientific publications in open free access. The possibility of expanding the list of scientific literature items that can be supported publicly is justified. The need to legally support the digitalization of scientific literature published in the Soviet Union and its subsequent inclusion into open access is discusse.     

Government Periodicals and the Reference Librarian:

Government publications in serial form provide timely, authoritative information on a range of subjects but reference librarians are not always aware of what is available in these sources. In libraries with separate documents departments, reference staffs may abrogate all responsibility for government publications, relying upon commercial sources to fill information needs more appropriately met with government periodicals. Documents librarians and reference librarians can facilitate the incorporation of govemment information in serial form into the general reference process. Benefits will include improved service to library patrons and an expanded user base to support the continued publication and distribution of government periodicals.     

国图收藏的美国政府出版物及其开发利用研究

介绍了美国政府出版物的出版发行概况，中国国家图书馆国际组织与外国政府出版物组对其的采集、管理及收藏情况。分析了馆藏文献的载体形式特征，重点讨论了其内容特征及重要文献。以便读者更好地利用之。