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.     

美国图书馆事业的现状与趋势

近几十年来，美国图书馆有了巨大的变化。本文对图书馆的现状和趋势进行了概述和总结，重点总结了图书馆政策、管理、服务和自动化诸方面的经验。     

U.S. Depository librarians in reality and myth: A framework for a future government information program

How do the librarians in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) plan to perform a role in the electronic environment? Depository librarians must meet the challenge of changing how they think about government information libraries and their mission in order to provide citizen access services in an electronic environment. The new mission is to connect the user with information at the time of need, to instruct citizens in gaining access to government information, and to develop networking applications and programs that will help to put valuable content in the information infrastructure. If the FDLP and depository libraries are to prepare to perform that role, librarians need to take stock of their technological environment, deal with the political realities, and be critical of FDLP ideals that have taken on mythological proportions. A framework for the future of the FDLP can be built if depository librarians take advantage of the new communication technology. Depository librarians can use this technology to develop partnerships and networks of depository libraries, government agencies, commercial publishers, organizations of information professionals, and citizens. In turn, depository librarians could form the virtual associations needed to develop new dissemination programs; create user interface software; consolidate lobbying efforts to develop a nationwide electronic information policy; and provide community information networks with national links. Finally, communications technology could enable depository librarians to form a consortium of depository libraries to manage a government information dissemination library program.     

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.     

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.     

Knowledge for Healthcare: the future of health librarianship

Many people are still not receiving the right care. It is imperative for health care librarians to come together around a common vision to achieve Knowledge for Healthcare so that the right knowledge and evidence is used at the right time in the right place. The authors describe five workstreams within a modernisation programme: Service Transformation, Workforce Planning and Development, Quality and Impact, Resource Discovery and Optimising Investment. Communications, engagement and partnership working are central to success. The development framework sets out principles on which to base decisions, and design criteria for transforming services.     

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.     

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.     

Plan S and purpose: The future direction for UK learned societies

• A group of UK-based learned societies were anonymously interviewed to understand how trends are affecting their missions, strategies, and operations.
• The societies' missions focus on supporting academics and disseminating knowledge, with publishing being a means to achieve those goals rather than an end in itself.
• The responses were concerned about addressing open access (OA) but, particularly in the post-COVID-19 era, this was not necessarily their highest priority.
• The societies expressed reliance on larger corporate publishers on them to navigate the transition to OA publishing.
• The societies' focus is on evolving their missions to meet the changing needs of their academic communities, with issues around premises as a result of COVID-19 being more pressing than publishing industry changes.
• The societies face challenges in adapting to the shift to online and digital operations, particularly in regards to maintaining engagement with their members.

     

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.     

Digital government transformation in turbulent times: Responses,challenges, and future direction

We are living in turbulent times, with the threats of COVID-19 and related social conflicts. Digital transformation is not an option but a necessity for governments to respond to these crises. It has become imperative for governments worldwide to enhance their capacity to strategically use emerging digital technologies and develop innovative digital public services to confront and overcome the pandemic. With the rapid development of digital technologies, digital government transformation (DGT) has been legitimated in response to the pandemic, contributing to innovative efficacy, but it also has created a set of challenges, dilemmas, paradoxes, and ambiguities. This special issue’s primary motive is to comprehensively discuss the promises and challenges DGT presents. It focuses on the nature of the problems and the dilemmatic situation in which to use the technologies. Furthermore, it covers government capacity and policy implications for managerial and institutional reforms to respond to the threats and the uncertainty caused by disruptive digitalization in many countries. To stimulate discussion of the theme of this special issue, this editorial note provides an overview of previous literature on DGT as a controlling measure of the pandemic and the future direction of research and practice on DGT.     

A framework for Internet of Things-enabled smart government: A case of IoT cybersecurity policies and use cases in U.S. federal government

Internet of Things (IoT) is ubiquitous in society. IoT-enabled dynamic capabilities in real-time sensing and responding can spur digital transformation in unlocking the potential of digital government into data-driven smart government capable of delivering policies and services of public interest and public value. However, the literature indicates challenges in IoT cybersecurity and systemic use across the government. There is the urgent need for IoT research on policy and use. This paper developed a framework for IoT-enabled smart government performance. We applied this framework to conduct case study analyses of digital technology policy, IoT cybersecurity policy, and IoT use in major application domains at the U.S. federal government level. The results show that some agencies were strategic and forward-thinking in funding and partnering with sub-national governments in promoting the IoT use. However, there remains a critical need for national IoT policies to promote systemic IoT use across the application domains.     

美国国家档案馆电子文件开发利用探究

本文从电子文件开发利用的内容与形式、电子文件的主要开发模式、检索系统的主要功能和提供电子文件利用的方式等四个方面介绍了美国国家档案馆电子文件开发利用的现状,总结出美国国家档案馆电子文件开发利用的突出特点,并进一步分析其原因,从中总结出对我国电子文件开发利用工作的几点启示.