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.     

U.S. depository library council electronic transition report

The Electronic Transition Committee (ETC) of the U.S. Depository Library Council examined GPO’s progress on its transition to a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). The ETC is generally pleased with GPO’s progress in the transition, but encourages GPO to expand its services and training beyond the FDLP. The ETC also recommends that GPO review and consolidate online bibliographic tools on GPO Access to be more intuitive and functional. The ETC is confident that GPO can enhance its role as key federal resource in the electronic environment.     

Documents librarianship II: Current and future direction of automation activities for U.S. government depository collections

This article reviews the current status of government documents automation and identifies major problems associated with documents automation. These serve as background for a proposed research agenda concerned with the development and implementation of a broad-based documents control system. The proposed agenda, if implemented, would result in the design of full-function, automated documents systems, suitable for depository library collections.     

General characteristics of private academe and public U.S. federal depository libraries

Do public federal depository libraries located in private colleges have paradoxical characteristics? Private academe may have an aura of exclusivity, but federal depository library status ensures that the public has access to government materials. In the first segment of this two-part study, general depository and institutional characteristics are profiled. Comparisons are made between public and private academic depositories and depositories as a whole. Most private academic depositories are located in religiously affiliated small colleges with higher than average tuitions. Due to the small size of many private academic depositories, many may rely on the larger public institutions. Although the average GPO item selection for private academe is far less than the average public academic counterpart, if item selection is compared to student enrollment, private depositories select more than their share. Depository promotion and issues of public access will be further explored in the second article in this study.     

Identifying unidentified U.S. government reports

The Library of Congress last published Popular Names of U.S. Government Reports in 1984. In its appendix this helpful reference work lists 108 unidentified reports. This article discusses sources and methods used to identify some of these reports, emphasizing the benefits of using standard reference sources in conjunction with more specialized tools and electronic databases to verify the existence, location and correct citation of government publications. For those reports the authors have further identified, they provide bibliographic information and notes.     

Assessing U.S. federal government websites

The exponential growth of federal Websites is outpacing federal information management policy guidelines. Federal Websites are potentially rich information resources, and the Web may well become the preeminent channel for disseminating federal information. Legitimate policy issues associated with the use of this new information dissemination channel should be assessed. This article provides an overview of information policy issues which affect federal Websites and introduces assessment techniques which federal Website designers and administrators could use to evaluate the design and management of their Web-based information resources.     

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.     

Progress and problems in declassifying U.S. government records

For the first time ever, Executive Order 12958 signed in 1995 established a process to greatly reduce the huge number of classified federal records accumulated since world war II. Although some progress was made under it, subsequent orders and legislation significantly decreased its effectiveness. The U.S. government must take certain actions now to reverse this trend.     

U.S. Agricultural statistics on the Internet: Extending the reach of the depository library

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economics and Statistics System is a shared venture between Albert R. Mann Library and the three USDA economic agencies. For almost two years, this successful service has made a growing collection of government-produced agricultural statistics available free of charge via the Internet. The Library provides a value-added service by organizing the data, providing reference support to the information, and preserving the information for future access. Methods for incorporating electronic information into the day-to-day activities of the depository collection are discussed, including staff training, bibliographic control, and reference support. This service is presented as a model to facilitate discussion about a future electronic depository program.     

(1) U.S.A.

The authors of this study assess the attitudes and perceptions of academic librarians at three university libraries in China regarding library services for international students and scholars. The study directs particular focus on librarians at Shaanxi Normal University in Xi’an, Fudan University in Shanghai, and Wuhan University of Technology, China, and follows logically upon a study conducted in 2008 that explored the perceptions of international students at two Chinese universities regarding the effectiveness of library services and collections for their research needs. In particular, this study documents information about Chinese academic librarian perceptions regarding services for international students and attitudes toward future outcomes. The ultimate goal of the study is to lay a foundation for developing strategies for improving library services and resources for international students and scholars in Chinese academic libraries in particular, which in turn can serve to improve services for international students world-wide. The results support the assumption that academic librarians in China are strongly interested in improving services for international students and scholars while continuing to face challenges and trying to find ways to fulfill the information needs of international students and scholars.     

Alternative user survey and group process methods nominal group technique applied to U.S. depository libraries

Understanding user needs need not be based on guesswork, yet there may be shortcut data collection alternatives to traditional expensive and timeconsuming library user surveys. Depository libraries are required to select useful materials to provide government information meeting the needs of area users. Assessing user needs is vital to library planning and to the development of library collection and public services policies. In any planning or assessment process, it is critical to define the specific planning purpose before determining the data to be collected and the methods of collection. There are various qualitative techniques for obtaining user information. Community surveys, published documents, library internal reports, and databases also yield user information. Alternatives to traditional user surveys provide the increased utility of improving communication among area information users and providers. A group process, which allows participants to hear each other, may be more effective and efficient than a written survey. The Nominal Group Technique (NGT), creates a listening forum, providing library administrators with information for planning.     

Integrating records management into information resources management in U.S. government agencies

This article presents several key issues facing federal agencies with regards to electronic records management practices. The article identifies selected management, technology, implementation, and definitional barriers that agencies encounter when considering how to create and maintain an electronic records management process. A key question for federal agency technology managers is: If an enterprise creates and manages virtually all of its information in an automated information technology systems environment, does it make any sense to manage its records in a manual environment? Based on research conducted by the author, the article reviews various federal agency electronic records management processes and the implications for those practices.     

Social media adoption and resulting tactics in the U.S. federal government

In 2009, the departments in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government received the presidential marching order to “harness new technologies” in order to become more transparent, collaborative and participatory. Given this mandate, this article sets out to provide insights from qualitative interviews with social media directors to understand the factors that influence internal adoption decisions to use social media applications, such as Facebook, Twitter, or blogs. Three distinct factors influence the adoption decisions of social media directors: information about best practices in their informal network of peers, passive observations of perceived best practices in the public and private sector, and “market-driven” citizen behavior. The resulting adoption tactics include: (1) representation, (2) engagement, and (3) networking. The findings point to the need for higher degrees of formalized knowledge sharing when it comes to disruptive technology innovations such as social media use in highly bureaucratic communication environments. Recommendations based on the lessons learned are provided for practitioners and social media researchers to develop social media tactics for different organizational purposes in government.     

U.S. state government websites demonstrate better in terms of accessibility compared to federal government and commercial websites

State government websites are a main information portal for people. The primary objective of this study is to examine 50 U.S. state government websites to evaluate the status of their accessibility in comparison with federal government and randomly selected commercial websites. The results show a significant difference among the three groups (F(2, 101) = 11.81, p < 0.001) with respect to accessibility. In particular, the state and federal government websites provide more accessible service to their users than the commercial websites (p < 0.01). The most frequent barriers to accessibility found on state government websites are also listed here for web designers and developers to enable them to improve their quality of service in the future.     

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.     

Open government,closed stacks: Onsite storage of depository materials

Storage of growing collections is an ongoing problem for libraries. Past attempts at using the industrial solution of automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) ended in failure. However, improvements in these mechanisms, especially computer control and the ability to interface with online library catalogs, make them a viable option for libraries. Questions remain about the appropriateness of treating intellectual material like industrial parts. In addition, access is still an issue especially in regard to government depository documents. A literature review shows that while there is a tremendous amount of research available on the design of AS/RS. little is written about its application in libraries.