Electronic initiatives of the federal depository library program

The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is in a period of transition from dissemination of primarily print government publications, to an expanded program including distribution of and access to electronic government information. In an electronic FDLP, the traditional roles of producing, acquiring, and disseminating government publications are expanded with additional roles of providing ongoing, long-term access to selected documents, and increasing the level of services to depository libraries. FDLP has already undertaken the transition with electronic initiatives. Additional projects are being developed which will facilitate access to electronic government documents. A more electronic FDLP implies significant changes for Library Programs Service and depository libraries. The goal of the transition is to improve the depository library program and continue to support public access to government publications.     

The federal depository library program in transition: A perspective at the turn of a century

The basic legal framework covering government information procurement, production, and dissemination has been in place for over 100 years. Congress is currently developing revisions to Title 44 of the United State Code in order to reform this system. Fundamental principles of public access to government information, embodied in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), must guide these revisions. The strategic planning process, currently underway by federal agencies, must give due consideration to the entire life cycle of government information, particularly the dissemination and public access responsibilities.     

Providing access to local government information: The nature of public library activity

This article focuses on the problems associated with providing access to local government information. The research on which it is based is from a 1986 survey conducted by the author of 265 public libraries in six library systems in northern Illinois, the largest comparative study of public library providers of local government information conducted to date. Fifty-five active providers of local government information (those that received requests for this information at least every two weeks) were identified: the findings are based on telephone and group interviews with key staff of those libraries. The article examines a variety of methods that might be used to increase access to local government information. It analyzes the nature of requests received and the types of responses given by these libraries. It examines the major problems associated with providing access to local government information and discusses the reasons given by librarians for providing access to local government information sources. The article concludes that a serious local government information gap exists and that librarians who seek to over-come it must articulate a role that addresses the serious barriers that must be overcome before a library can provide meaningful access to local government information.     

A model for a new approach to federal government information access and dissemination

The potential of electronic technologies to reduce costs, increase access, and decentralize federal information dissemination activities has sparked several legislative reorganization proposals. Congress has also called on the U.S. Government Printing Office to plan for a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). Realizing that developments to data were only opening salvos, the American Library Association President convened a Forum on Government Information Policy in July 1995. Representatives of several library associations developed a “Model for New Universe of Federal Information Access and Dissemination.” This article discusses the New Universe model, which includes two preliminary proposals: to reconceptualize federal information access and dissemination responsibilities and to reinvent the FDLP as a federal/ state/local library partnership program.     

The GPO and the depository library program as structured are needed: Views of a selective depository librarian

This article addresses issues previously discussed as perceived problems with the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and the Government Printing Office (GPO) relative to a floundering program, electronic capabilities, costs to participating libraries, inept and inefficient service, and accountability requirements. The author believes that unfavorable images have resulted and been used by various advocacy groups in their arguments intended to bring the GPO, the FDLP and program libraries into a disadvantaged position. Such issues may have a bearing on whether the institution at which this writer is employed will continue to have the opportunity to participate as a depository library.     

Implications of harmonizing the future of the federal depository library program within e-government principles and policies

For more than 150 years, the United States Government Printing Office (GPO), along with its Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), has supported an informed citizenry and democracy by ensuring access and preservation to a broad swath of federal government information. This collaborative national public information program between local libraries and the national government, if it is to survive beyond its second century of service, must overcome profound challenges within a rapidly evolving complex of e-government policies and principles. The FDLP can (and must) find a way to serve its traditional values – permanent and public access to government information – that allows for growth and change within the demands of a dynamic electronic environment between the governors and the governed.     

The impact of electronic access to government information: what users and documents specialists think

This article discusses the results of a survey designed to assess the current state of electronic access to government information from both the specialist and the user viewpoint. The first survey, designed to determine the government documents staffs' level of commitment to and opinions of electronic access to government information, was distributed in electronic format to subscribers of GOVDOC-L, a listserv for specialists dealing with government documents. The second survey, designed to provide insight into the user's point of view, was conducted at the University of Illinois Documents Library. This article synthesizes earlier studies and articles on the topic to show that while the consensus is that electronic access represents a positive, beneficial move toward providing access to government information to a wider audience, there is also an acknowledgment that there are many inherent problems that have not been addressed adequately.     

Creating the electronic collection of a university library: criteria for selecting online access resources

The process is described and the basic models are distinguished of a university library’s acquisition policy. The parameters of evaluation and structured scheme of requirements to subscribed resources are considered.     

The federal government and information technology standards: Building the national information infrastructure

For many years, standards have been important considerations in the Federal government's policies for the use of information technology. The Computer Systems Laboratory (CSL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology develops and issues technical standards that are used by the Federal government in its information technology systems. The new Federal initiative for the National Information Infrastructure (NII) and the National Performance Review (NPR) make information technology an agent for change and emphasize standards as a means for achieving connectivity of computer and telecommunications technologies and for easy access to information. The Federal government will be challenged to address the technical, organizational, and policy issues that affect the development of the standards needed for future information systems.     

Preserving perpetual access to electronic journals: A Korean consortial approach

This study describes the key findings of the Korean Electronic Site License Initiative (KESLI), established by the National Digital Science Library to develop a digital archive of electronic journals in Korea. Research and relevant activities included developing a system architecture, suggesting journal selection criteria and publisher selection criteria, choosing a set of metadata elements, and addressing stakeholders' concerns. Recommendations for further tasks have been made in order to have the system fully operating by December 2007.     

Improving access to Japanese scientific and technical literature in the United States: The role of the Federal government

Currently, the United States lacks a clear and consistent information policy defining and regulating the Federal role in collection and dissemination of Japanese scientific and technical information (STI) to users in the public and private sectors. One long-term consequence of this situation involves negative impacts on American scientific and technological innovation and on competitiveness in the global economy.After a discussion of the existing legislative and regulatory environment shaping the Federal government's approach to Japanese STI activities, the article presents five policy options, each of which describes a different role for the Federal government. Finally, the article recommends a combination of two options that will create the basis for a Federal information policy designed to support a self-sustaining STI infrastructure in the United States. That infrastructure will efficiently access and disseminate Japanese STI to public and private sector users.     

The hospital library: access to information for rural health professionals

This article examines some recent literature about the low physician-population ratios in rural areas. In an attempt to discover those factors which seem to preclude successful health care delivery in rural areas, it discusses a definition of the city as the place where the maximum lines of communication converge. A new concept, the "invisible city," is proposed, and the health care community in the United States is seen as an example. The library of the rural hospital, then, is defined as the location of the rural health professional's primary entrance into his own invisible city by means of professional communication through the biomedical literature.     

The right to know: Public access to federal information in the 1980s

This article is based on a symposium held at the University of California, Berkeley, and sponsored by the Library, University of California, Berkeley; the Librarians Association of the University of California (Berkeley Division); and the School of Library and Information Studies, University of California, Berkeley. The author examines government information controls in the context of the constitutional and statutory tradition of open access to government information in the United States. He discusses the restrictive climate in which the Reagan administration views public access and warns that restrictive national security policies may actually curtail economic growth, retard defense programs, and undermine the Constitution.     

Remote access to electronic library services through a campus network

The Health Science Library at University of Tennessee (UT), Memphis has taken advantage of a campuswide network for the purpose of providing enhanced access to library services. With a terminal or microcomputer, members of the UT Memphis community can use an electronic menu system to complete photocopy, interlibrary loan, and computer literature search request forms; leave messages or sign up for library workshops; use electronic mail to receive citations and abstracts from computer literature searches; use an electronic bulletin board to scan the library's new acquisitions lists, library hours, services, and policies; and use bibliographic retrieval software to search the library's locally mounted databases. Remote access to library services and electronic resources, which is available twenty-four hours a day, could potentially save users time and the institution money. Remote access, however, is intended to supplement, not to supplant or discourage, in-house library use.