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.     

Searching FOIA Libraries for government information

FOIA Libraries are the repositories for many documents released under the FOIA¹ (Freedom of Information Act), i.e., “responsive documents,” by federal agencies and their sub agencies. Awareness of search terminology for FOIA Libraries or electronic reading rooms can assist the public and researchers to locate publicly available government information, including responsive documents. Responsive documents are the responses to FOIA requests that can be posted (in full or with redactions) by federal agencies. FOIA responses may not be easily findable by major web search engines. The goal of this article is to educate readers about government and non-government FOIA resources and declassified document repositories for discovery. It is important for researchers, journalists and citizens to use “FOIA Libraries,” “Electronic Reading Room,” or “FOIA tag” to search for documents concerning government activities and operations that are released under the FOIA on the web. In addition to aiding in the research process, access to responsive documents information furthers democratic goals of transparency and supports findability of government information by the public.     

Preserving Electronic Government Information

Abstract

Over the last ten years the Government Printing Office has made a massive shift from print to electronic media as the preferred distribution medium for government documents. Federal agencies over the same period have created large numbers of electronic records that require long-term preservation under the law. This article examines how the National Archives and the Government Printing Office are responding to the technical, financial, legal, and political challenges of providing permanent public access to electronic government information. NARA efforts to collect, appraise, and preserve records following the mandates of the courts in the wake of the PROFS litigation in Armstrong v. Executive Office of the President are discussed. The work of the GPO to develop an electronic archive and develop electronic partnerships with depository libraries and federal agencies is also examined.     

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.     

GPO Gate University of California,San Diego's New Gateway to electronic government information

Over the past year, a team of librarians and computer analysts at the University of California (UC), San Diego developed a new interface for accessing the Government Printing Office's WAIS databases, collectively known as GPO Access. GPO Access has been an important development in the delivery of government information. UC San Diego's new World Wide Web interface, called GPO Gate, provides a powerful, user-friendly method of searching and retrieving full-text government information from GPO access. GPO Gate is now the University of California's system-wide gateway for GPO Access. The GPO Gate team instituted two mechanisms to monitor database usage: a user-tracking system and a user survey. The user-tracking system logs the number of uses, searches, and retrievals by domain type and identifies users by the database used. Since its inception in August 1995, use of GPO Gate has increased dramatically. Much of the increase can be attributed to searches and retrievals from the Federal Register. The largest single user group is composed of commercial users. The increased use of GPO Gate has many implications for public service related to government documents, including an expansion of the number of users, the need for reference providers to better understand computer hardware and software, and confusion among users caused by rapid changes in the delivery of government information.     

A graphic look at GPO depository distribution: 1975–1993

The American Library Association Government Documents Round Table in the early 1980s prepared statistics guidelines for government documents collections. These guidelines suggested that a collection's federal publications be counted and reported in the same manner as similar materials that are nongovernmental. This paper demonstrates how statistics might be maintained on federal publications acquisitions and holdings to describe trends in GPO depository distribution. Such data included in annual reports may be graphically displayed for comparison over a number of years to show how trends in GPO depository distribution have affected budget and space needs.     

Policy implications of a model public information service: the DOSFAN experience

The unique three-way partnership formed by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s federal depository library, the U.S. State Department, and the Government Printing Office (GPO) to deliver and preserve foreign policy information through servers housed at the University’s library offers some critical insights into the assumptions and policies of the GPO’s Federal Depository Library Program. Ultimately, the Internet’s explosive growth, combined with powerful graphical interfaces of the major Web browsers, undermines several recently enacted laws that attempt to standardize (or centralize) effective information resource management within the federal government. Not only has GPO steadily lost political and economic support over the last decade from both legislative and executive leaders for its production and distribution programs, many agencies now consider their “.gov Webspaces” the natural successors to the GPO and its depository library program. As a result, a new model of government information distribution is being forged within the highly decentralized and interactive environment of the World Wide Web.     

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.     

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.     

U.S. government (depository items)

The new frontier of electronic access was fully explored in the past year. Government agency “gophers” proliferated on the Internet, featuring a wide variety of government information previously only available in print. Likewise, many gophers at academic institutions posted significant new government reports in a timely manner. A good example is the National Performance Review's From Red Tape to Results: Creating a Government that Works Better & Costs Less, which was posted on the Internet well before many depositories received their print copies. The one constant is that GPO (Government Printing Office) continues to issue publications containing valuable information. In addition to the National Performance Review, many other important reports were published by GPO this year, including those of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, the National Commission on AIDS, and the ATF Investigation of the David Koresh/Waco incident. This list does not even mention the Clinton Administration's Health Security Act and the full depository release of the Clarence Thomas Hearings. It has been a full year. The documents included in this Notable Documents issue were received by depository libraries from midyear 1993 to midyear 1994. They were selected for their general interest, lasting value, research significance, or timeliness. Most of the documents are available from the Superintendent or from one of the GPO bookstores around the country (see Monthly Catalog for a listing). Those documents that do not list a stock number or price may be available in limited quantities from the issuing agency.     

Congress as publisher: Politics,institutions, and policy

Since the beginning of the federal government, Congress has functioned as its publisher — the manager and director of government printing operations. Initially performed by private printers through lucrative contracts, production was statutorily vested in the Government Printing Office (GPO) in 1860 to assure efficient, economical, and quality printing. Over the past century and a half, however, changes in technology, law, and constitutional relationships have eroded arrangements for the public printing system. Information products printed by GPO in the past may now be agency-generated and made directly available to the public through agency Web sites or social media, with the result that congressional general management of the publication system is seemingly decreasing, at least in terms of GPO workload, publication accountability, and document sales. While it is unlikely that Congress will reduce or vacate its publisher capacity anytime soon, some adjustment of the scope of that role and related management capability may appropriately be in order.     

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.     

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.     

Challenges in the adoption of crisis crowdsourcing and social media in Canadian emergency management

When a disaster occurs, government agencies are responsible for managing the response and recovery efforts of the impacted communities and infrastructure. Crowdsourcing and social media are widely used in disaster response, yet their primary implementation and application are often via non-governmental agencies and private citizens. A review of the literature suggests that government emergency management agencies in Canada have made little documented progress in adopting crowdsourcing or social media for emergency management. Most of the literature around crowdsourcing and social media for emergency management focus on its use or role outside of Canada (e.g. the USA, Australia, etc.). In order for government agencies in Canada to progress, it is important to identify the Canada-specific barriers and constraints. This study offers a new perspective from Canadian government emergency management agencies to address this gap. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with 15 government officials from 14 agencies, this study identifies the primary challenges and constraints faced by Canadian agencies looking to adopt crisis crowdsourcing. Results indicate that organizational factors, policies, and federal legislation in Canada present barriers to crisis crowdsourcing (including crowdsourcing through social media) adoption within agencies at various levels of government. Based on these results, recommendations are made to support the adoption of crisis crowdsourcing amongst Canadian government agencies.     

A Needs-Assessment Process for Designing Geospatial Data Management Systems within Federal Agencies

Many federal agencies face challenges with designing geospatial data management systems. This paper presents and documents a needs-assessment process that can be employed to prioritize agencies’ geospatial information needs; identify agencies’ capacity to manage a centralized geodatabase; determine agencies’ capacity to deliver Web-mapping services to the public; and identify barriers, such as data security and limited financial resources, that constrain agencies’ ability to design and manage a geospatial data management system. The paper details the needs-assessment process and documents its application to the National Park Service (NPS) Conservation and Outdoor Recreation (COR) Branch programs. The NPS COR Branch is comprised of nine disparate programs, such as the National Trails System and the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program, each of which has specific geospatial data management and delivery needs. The needs-assessment process, tested through its application to the NPS COR Branch programs, provides a comprehensive and logical workflow for system developers and administrators to use as they create or refine geospatial data management systems.     

National security controls on information and communication in Australia

National security controls on information and communication have been realized in Australia through various intelligence agencies and acts of the Parliament which, to varying degrees, restrict public access to documents regarded as essential to the “national interest.” This overview describes these entities and laws as well as the role of the Freedom of Information Act. It concludes that, in stark contrast to the United States, there has been a “freeing-up” of national security controls on information and communication in Australia in recent years.     

A field experiment on bureaucratic discretionary bias under FOI laws

The gap between the approval of RTI laws and their implementation leaves room for discretionary bias and discrimination from government officials. This paper explores possible discretionary bias and ultimately discriminatory behavior exhibited by Uruguayan government agencies while answering RTI requests. We explore whether public officials are more likely to respond to requests from citizens that are informed about their right under the RTI law vs regular citizens, as well as from influential citizens (journalists and firm owners). We also assess whether public servants' responses to RTI requests are gender-biased. We conducted a randomized field experiment to test for unequal treatment given to citizens' requests by Uruguayan government officials, considering different citizen categories. We find that only those citizens who know the RTI law and invoke its existence have a greater likelihood of obtaining an answer from bureaucrats. This result is driven mostly by men's requests declaring they know the law when making their request, while invoking the law doesn't make a difference in responses to women. These findings show that public campaigns to promote citizens' awareness of RTI laws and their use, not only would increase requests, but also governments' responsiveness regarding RTI requests.     

US government information: selected current issues in public access vs. private competition

Web information systems are having a profound effect on the way information is being disseminated today. Current technological advances have caused many government agencies to re-evaluate their practice of contracting with private sector vendors who have traditionally repackaged and marketed the agency's raw data. These new opportunities for government agencies wishing to make information publicly accessible have blurred the traditional distinctions between public and private dissemination activities. Low-cost public dissemination of information has resulted in private sector vendors arguing that public electronic distribution and publication creates unfair competition. New partnerships, such as the recent venture between the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) and the commercial search engine, Northern Light, in developing the “usgovsearch” product are also being explored. From another viewpoint, library associations are strongly supporting legislation that would broaden, strengthen, and enhance public access to electronic government information. Key issues to be discussed are: (1) the debate concerning public vs. private access to government information; (2) Does electronic access to government information eliminate the need for printed documents? and (3) Joint efforts — when should the government team up with private sector allies to charge for information services and access?     

Transforming the communication between citizens and government through AI-guided chatbots

Driven by ‘success stories’ reported by private sector firms, government agencies have also started adopting various Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in diverse domains (e.g. health, taxation, and education); however, extensive research is required in order to exploit the full potential of AI in the public sector, and leverage various AI technologies to address important problems/needs. This paper makes a contribution in this direction: it presents a novel approach, as well as the architecture of an ICT platform supporting it, for the advanced exploitation of a specific AI technology, namely chatbots, in the public sector in order to address a crucial issue: the improvement of communication between government and citizens (which has for long time been problematic). The proposed approach builds on natural language processing, machine learning and data mining technologies, and leverages existing data of various forms (such as documents containing legislation and directives, structured data from government agencies' operational systems, social media data, etc.), in order to develop a new digital channel of communication between citizens and government. Making use of appropriately structured and semantically annotated data, this channel enables ‘richer’ and more expressive interaction of citizens with government in everyday language, facilitating and advancing both information seeking and conducting of transactions. Compared to existing digital channels, the proposed approach is appropriate for a wider range of citizens' interactions, with higher levels of complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty. In close co-operation with three Greek government agencies (the Ministry of Finance, a social security organization, and a big local government organization), this approach has been validated through a series of application scenarios.