- Email: [email protected]
Age of Aquarius—The FDLP in the 21st century
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Government Information Quarterly 25 (2008) 38 – 47
Age of Aquarius—The FDLP in the 21st century Barbie Selby ⁎ Humanities and Social Sciences, Research and Information Services, Alderman Library, University of Virginia, PO Box 400154160 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4154, USA Available online 19 November 2007
Abstract With the appointment of Bruce James as Public Printer of the United States in 2002 (confirmed by the Senate on November 20, 2002),1 the Government Printing Office (GPO) began to forecast and plan for its future in the age of the Internet. During the spring of 2005, the Depository Library Council (DLC), an advisory body to the Public Printer, concluded it was time for depository librarians to play a more active part in envisioning the future of government information. Toward that end, DLC wrote a discussion paper, Knowledge Will Forever Govern: A Vision Statement for Federal Depository Libraries in the 21st Century,2 and with the GPO's support devoted the 2005 Fall Depository Library Council meeting to discussing and refining a vision for the future of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Federal depository library program; Depository library council; 21st century librarianship; Librarians; Government information
⁎ Fax: +1 434 924 1431. E-mail address: [email protected]. 1 News Release, U.S. Government Printing Office, No. 02-25, Bruce James Confirmed by U.S. Senate as Public Printer. Retrieved March 16, 2007, from www.gpoaccess.gov/pr/media/2002/02news25.pdf. 2 Knowledge Will Forever Govern: A Vision Statement for Federal Depository Libraries in the 21st Century. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from www.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/council/dlcvision092906.pdf. 0740-624X/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.giq.2007.09.002
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1. Age of Aquarius—The FDLP in the 21st century Harmony and understanding Sympathy and trust abounding No more falsehoods or derisions Golden living dreams of visions Mystic crystal revelation And the mind's true liberation 1 Aquarius (From “Hair”) lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, music by Galt MacDermot. Copyright 1966, 1968, 1970 (Copyrights renewed). James Rado, Gerome Ragni, Galt MacDermot, Nat Shapiro, and EMI U Catalog, Inc. All Right Administered by EMI U Catalog, Inc. (Publishing) and Alfred Publishing Co. Inc. (Print). Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. 1
In thinking about the future of the provision of government information and the “FDLP (Federal Depository Library Program) vision,” it struck me that for the Government Printing Office (GPO), depository libraries, and librarians to play any part at all will require a great deal of cooperation, education, good will, and “harmony and understanding” on the part of both librarians and the GPO. The pervasiveness of the Internet and the unchanging nature of Title 44 of the United States Code chapter 19 (the law that governs the federal depository library system) will require a leap of faith, hard work, and a spirit of volunteerism in order for the GPO and all federal depository libraries to retain a major role in the provision of government information. 2. Mystic crystal revelation—The meetings at DuPont Circle, Chicago, Reno, and the Fall Federal Depository Library Conference (FDLC) To the experienced government information professional the first three of these meetings will be instantly recognizable as seminal gatherings of “documents librarians” trying to predict, anticipate, exploit, and control the future of government information provision. The fourth, the Fall FDLC, may not have the same name recognition as DuPont and Chicago, but it will in time. Certainly, the members of the 2005 Depository Library Council (DLC) will remember the fall 2005 meeting as one of much work, discussion, hope, visioning, dreaming, and work. By now, every government information professional should have read and be familiar with Knowledge Will Forever Govern: A Vision Statement for Federal Depository Libraries in the 21st Century, a vision for the provision of government information created by federal depository and other libraries. This vision is the culmination of 18 months of work on the part of DLC and a number of dedicated government information professionals concerned about ensuring a place in the government information landscape for both the Government Printing Office and federal depository libraries. Whether or not this effort ultimately succeeds in continued and better access to and awareness of U.S. government information for citizens depends largely on actions taken by the GPO, the GPO federal depository library program (FDLP), government information professionals, federal depository libraries (FDLs), library associations, the Depository Library Council, Internet memory organizations, government agencies, and others. Gone are the days
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when the Government Printing Office and federal depository libraries were the only game in town. How well depositories adjust to and take advantage of the wealth of government information available to Internet users will either damn them or save them as deliverers of that information. Also, gone are the days of the GPO being the sole, or even primary, supplier of government information to libraries or to the public. Again, how depository librarians anticipate and fill users' needs for government information and help them discriminate among the myriad of sources for information will ensure their (our) continued relevance or condemn them (us) to an increasingly irrelevant collection of outdated materials. 3. No more falsehoods or derisions—A place for FDLs? The challenge today is not that the public cannot find federal government information; instead it is that they may find too much, outdated, incorrect, too little, “not quite right,” or misleading government information, and do not realize it nor do they know how to corroborate what they have found. In the “old days” – say, 1995 – depository libraries were still guaranteed some degree of relevance because: • not all agencies were posting their current information and forms to the Internet; • not all U.S. citizens had access to the Internet; and • finding tools were not sophisticated enough to ensure discovery of needed information. The first and last of these conditions no longer apply. Not only are federal and state government agencies operating well-organized, comprehensive, up-to-date Web sites, but they are often discontinuing their print publications. Google, Yahoo, the Memory Hole, and other Internet search and memory organizations are simplifying discovery of current government information on the Internet. Recent Google job advertisements for a Public Sector Content Analyst (http://www.google.com/ support/jobs/bin/answer.py?answer=60361&query=government&topic=&type=government) and a Public Sector Strategic Partner Development Manager (http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/ answer.py?answer=61052&query=government&topic=&type=government) demonstrate that Google plans a presence in identifying and delivering government information. While more households own a personal computer than a dishwasher (United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 2006), there is still a digital divide in this country. Libraries are and should be concerned about this divide and should continue to provide one means of Internet access for non-wired households. However, federal depository libraries should not be content to simply rely on their ability to provide this Internet access or on their ability to provide print access to the non-wired household. If federal and state government information is provided primarily in digital format, then libraries must and will follow suit while also providing print copies when necessary and helpful. The FDLP Vision is an attempt to articulate a central role for federal depository libraries in providing, interpreting, and anticipating needs for government information in the future. The Vision also anticipates a major role for libraries as “trusted” repositories for government information. “The [government] information must be maintained and held in trust in a public
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arena where history can be preserved in an unvarnished form.”3 DLC, as an advisory body to the Government Printing Office, also envisioned a central role for the GPO in the future of government information. 4. Golden living dreams of visions—Versions of a vision Like most documents emanating from the DLC as an advisory body to the GPO, the development of the FDLP Vision was not as free and unfettered as the DuPont or Chicago groups to imagine a future for government information without the GPO. Nor did the Council want to imagine such a future. As they did 15 years ago, the DLC concluded that some centralized and official provider/identifier/organizer/collector/seller/digitizer/printer/standards setter of government information is a good thing. Despite the ubiquity of government information on the Internet, we concluded that a body like the GPO provides a valuable public service in identifying and, to some extent, organizing the mass of information. That said, the final version FDLP Vision was considerably pared down from a much more detailed document that was posted to a wiki for communal editing. For those readers interested in the development and history of this document, the wiki is available at http://wikihost.org/wikis/nextsteps/. (ID – nextsteps/password – fdlp. Due to some hacking and spammed during the fall of 2006, Daniel Cornwall wisely put a login on the site.) I refer to an earlier, more detailed draft (http://wikihost.org/wikis/nextsteps/var/gebo/data/ file/vision_02_27_2006.doc—from the main WIKI page click on Item 12—Goal: Revise Vision Document) not because it is perfect, but because it contained many suggested concrete actions which could be taken up and acted upon by various constituent groups—depository libraries, librarians, library associations, federal agencies, non-depository libraries, public libraries, Internet memory organizations, the GPO, and Congress. Had this visioning process been undertaken by an independent group, rather than by DLC, these “suggested actions” would have been seen as just that – suggestions – rather than as the Depository Library Council trying to dictate to others. Partly to ensure that no one read The Vision as DLC trying to mandate actions the final version is a much broader document and does not include many specific suggested action items. While it was never intended to dictate specific actions to anyone, the suggested “Action Items” in this draft are still quite worthwhile. 5. Sympathy and trust abounding—A “feel good” DLC The fall 2005 DLC meeting, which is part of the larger Fall Federal Depository Library Conference, was devoted to envisioning a future for the federal depository library program. With the aggressive planning on the part of Public Printer Bruce James and Superintendent of Documents Judy Russell for moving the GPO toward the future, it seemed to be a “time for another Chicago conference”, as stated by Council member Duncan Aldrich, meaning a summit on the depository program and the future of government information provision in libraries. During the winter and spring of 2005 depository, librarians were also feeling 3 Knowledge Will Forever Govern: A Vision Statement for Federal Depository Libraries in the 21st Century, p. 2. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/council/dlcvision092906.pdf.
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somewhat disenfranchised, demoralized, and not in control of their future. The GPO was a whirlwind of planning and activity, and the “depository community” did not seem to be a part of this activity. On at least one major issue – print on demand – there was a fairly vocal disagreement between some depository librarians and the GPO. All in all, the summer and fall of 2005 seemed ripe for forward looking depository librarians to make their presence known. A great deal of thought, energy, time, work, discussion, thought, and work went into writing the FDLP Vision discussion paper http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/ dlc_vision_09_02_2005.pdf, presented in September 2005 for discussion at the Fall DLC meeting. Substantial thought went into the format for the presentations, discussions, breakout groups, and the ground rules for the discussions. This meeting was to be a very inclusive discussion focusing on the depository community. Members of the DLC and the GPO staff were, for the most part, to take notes and keep silent. The GPO had been planning its future for the past year very publicly and had been taking a leadership role in planning and conducting the Depository Library Council meetings for the past few years. The DLC members had written a draft of the FDLP Vision, which was the focus of the meeting. This Fall 2005 DLC meeting was time for the depository librarians to be heard and they were! This meeting engendered vigorous debate and empowered participants to plan for the future. 6. And the mind's true liberation—The FDLP “Vision” In its FDLP Vision discussion paper, the four major issues were identified: • • • •
roles of FDLs in the non-exclusive environment of the Internet; managing collections and delivering content; deploying expertise; and adding value.
The discussions, breakout meetings, written comments, and blog comments (http:// dlcvisionoutline.blogspot.com/) from the fall 2005 DLC meeting further identified six overarching themes: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
customer focus; increase flexibility; education; promotion (marketing); collaboration; and innovation.
As members of DLC and volunteers worked on the vision document after the meeting, the additional theme of advocacy for government information dissemination became important to add. The FDLP Vision strongly endorsed many of GPO's actions and plans for its future. To ensure the continuing, and indeed, renewed relevance of the federal depository library
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program, the final FDLP Vision – Knowledge Will Forever Govern – outlined seven goals for the federal depository library program: 1. respond to or anticipate U.S. citizens' need for government information when where it is needed by providing multiple access points to a network of experts; 2. provide access to information in appropriate formats; 3. ensure continuing access to digitally available government information; 4. provide excellent training to deepen and expand knowledge of government information resources; 5. provide high quality descriptive tools for access to all FDLP publications, portals, and information products; 6. enhance collaboration or coordination of effort among federal depository libraries, nondepository libraries, GPO, agencies, and cultural memory organizations that deal with Internet resources; and 7. expand awareness of both the Federal Depository Library Program and government information generally via excellent public relations and marketing. Members of the DLC believe that these goals address the changing reality of libraries and government information in the 21st century. The value of education and training, collaboration, customer-oriented services, marketing, advocacy, flexibility, multiple formats of information, adding value, preservation, and excellent finding and descriptive tools is reflected in these goals. In addition to these goals, the FDLP Vision articulates a number of areas which will require capital investments to better position the federal government and libraries to serve America's information needs: • • • • • • • • • • •
document and metadata standards; centralized coordinating agency; public tools development; electronic deposit; version control; authenticity of documents; supportive legislation; public education; informing and educating library administrators; excellent public service; and preservation of print.
7. Let the sun shine in—Let's get going These meetings provided some excellent discussions of the future of government information and federal depository libraries' part in that future. The DLC proposed overarching goals that every depository library can play a part in attaining. And the work does not stop here; in fact, it has just started.
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While the final FDLP Vision does not include any specific action items, the earlier version on the vision wiki available at http://wikihost.org/wikis/nextsteps/var/gebo/data/file/ vision_02_27_2006.doc (ID – nextsteps/password – fdlp) includes many suggested actionable steps. Highlighted are a few “suggested actions” which are still vital in moving the FDLP relevantly into the 21st century. Some of these “suggested actions” made it into the final Vision paper in a somewhat altered form, some did not. The author intends to give a few concrete examples of actions that can be undertaken by libraries, organizations, and individuals to further the 21st vision for government information provision. I. Together with the DLC, monitor the PEW/Illinois study of how citizens get government information from public libraries and the Internet (see http://www.imls.gov/news/2005/ 100505.shtm and http://lrc.lis.uiuc.edu/web/IMLS.html). This initiative by the PEW Internet and American Life Project and the Library Research Center at the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science could provide invaluable insight into the public's preferred access to government information. While actions are sometimes act based on what we think we know—and some think that the FDLP Vision is an example of just this kind of phenomena, here is an opportunity for the government information community to take data supplied by well-respected research organizations and use it to improve how we do what we do. Some criticisms of the FDLP Vision focused on exactly this point—“How do we know what our users want?” This study should assist us in evaluating user needs for government information and user information seeking behaviors. II. Together with the FDL community establish a network of full FDL collections which will build and permanently house complete collections of FDLP information resources intended for distribution in tangible formats. A full FDL collection may reside in a single institution or in a partnership of several institutions and is an active library collection as opposed to an archival collection. Establishing the full FDL collection network will provide sufficient redundancy of complete FDLP collections to ensure ready, permanent public access to tangible copies. Institutions functioning as part of a full FDL collection partnership – or serving independently as a full FDL collection – will adhere to FDLP stipulations and guidelines (yet to be implemented). This action item is one of the most important recommendations of the final vision paper. GPO is interested in giving regional depositories more flexibility in how they fulfill their mandate to “retain at least one copy of all Government publications either in printed or microfacsimile form” (Depository Library Act of 1962, 44 U.S.C. § 1912, 2002). The vision discussions and subsequent work already have produced results in the quest for alternatives and solutions for the regional depository libraries and their mission of retaining all the printed publications produced by the government. The GPO had proposed the idea of dark and light archives to be hosted by the government, current depository libraries, and possibly other trusted repositories. Government information professionals embraced the idea of a dark archives (or two) to house printed, paper copies of all government publications. These will serve as preservation copies of “last resort.” However, many regional librarians felt that regional libraries already largely serve the light archive role. They proposed that instead of establishing a smaller network of light archives energy should be directed toward enhancing cooperation among the current regional libraries. Toward that end, a number of concrete proposals have been put forward for more shared housing, interlibrary loan, and services
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among various geographically based groups of regional depository libraries. The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL), for instance, is working on a proposal for more shared collections among regional depositories in the southeast. III. Investigate offering automated download of publications based on depository profiles using the Catalog of Government Publications, the FDSys, or some other technology. James A. Jacobs, James R. Jacobs, and Yeo Shinjoung proposed a comprehensive digital deposit program in their paper entitled Government Information in the Digital Age: The Once and Future Federal Depository Library Program (Jacobs, Jacobs, & Shinjoung, 2005). While the government information community is divided on the necessity of comprehensive digital deposit, and our libraries' abilities to store the massive numbers of files involved, there does seem to be some consensus around the need for a few non-government mirror sites for these files. GPO has a pilot project based on the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe) in which about 21 partners (18 depository libraries) are locally storing several federal journals (LOCKSS DOCS; http://lockss-docs.stanford.edu/). A suggestion at the regional library discussion of The Vision even put forward a “LOCKSS and BAGELS” approach—“Big Accumulations of Geographical Electronic Locations for Stuff” (or something like that). GPO asked two questions about digital distribution on its 2005 Biennial Survey (see http://www.access.gpo. gov/su_docs/fdlp/bisurvey/05bsurvey.pdf; Questions 65 and 66) and posted a discussion paper on the topic for the Fall 2006 DLC meeting (http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/council/ fall06/digitaldistribution06.pdf). This issue is not going away anytime soon, nor should it. IV. Consult with dot com, dot org, and dot edu Web service/indexing providers to promote access to government information. Enhancing collaboration among federal depository libraries, non-depository libraries, GPO, federal agencies, and cultural memory organizations is the aim of goal six of the FDLP Vision. The Google Books project, begun in 2004, includes several large depository libraries, and exemplifies the possibilities of libraries partnering directly with cultural memory organizations. The University of Michigan has already scanned many hearings. While not “official” digital copies, and, perhaps, not up to GPO's digital preservation standards, these digital copies of older U.S. documents enhance access to government information, which is the goal of the federal depository library program! The Google Books project also illustrates the complexities of unofficial partnerships for providing government information. Many of the Michigan hearings are available in full text via Google Books, but only those published prior to 1923. The Google Books project provides only snippets of post-1923 hearings. Even though federal government publications are generally not copyrighted, Google has chosen not to provide the full texts of any post-1923 publications, including government publications. Michigan does provide the full text of these federal documents digitized from its collection through its online catalog, MIRLYN (http:// mirlyn.lib.umich.edu). However, the process is automated and if the bibliographic records for these federal publications are not coded correctly, only the snippets will be provided until users spot a problem and initiate a correction. The Google Books project and other digitization projects present an opportunity for government information professionals to work with Internet memory organizations to ensure that valuable un-copyrighted government publications are easily available in full text once they are digitized.
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Another instance of cooperation and collaboration which grew out of the government information community is the Free Government Information Web site (http://freegovinfo.info/). As they say in the “About Us” section of the site: The future of government information is in peril from many economic and political forces. Free Government Information was initiated by Jim A. Jacobs, James R. Jacobs, Shinjoung Yeo, three librarians at University of California San Diego, along with Daniel Cornwall, librarian at the Alaska State Library, and James Staub, librarian at the Tennessee State Library, in order to raise public awareness of the importance of government information and create a community with various stakeholders to facilitate an open and critical dialogue.4 These librarians proactively post-information to this site, promote the site on another major community-based collaboration tool for government information professionals, the GOVDOC-L listserv, solicit contributions to the site, and frame and promote their opinions on government information policy. The position statement they put forth on the FDLP Vision paper (http://freegovinfo.info/DLCvision) and the Jacobs, Jacobs, and Yeo article raise excellent issues, particularly the issue of electronic deposit of digital federal documents. As would be expected, and hoped, many of the recommendations in the FDLP Vision build on existing projects and initiatives. Lest I slight an extremely successful community-led collaboration tool, I should mention and applaud GOVDOC-L's usefulness to anyone working with government information. Begun in 1990 (or at least archived back to 1990—see http:// GOVDOCl.org/), GOVDOC-L has been an invaluable consultation, collaboration, education, and training tool for government information professionals. A more focused listserv for regional federal depository librarians, Regional-l, has fostered communication and information sharing among regional librarians. V. Investigate Web-based training, such as pod-casting and OPAL software, to provide additional training opportunities to those unable to attend in-person training. GPO's recent pilot using the OPAL software for an online training session (http://www.opal-online.org/ GPO20060920.htm) demonstrated a cost effective, online training tool which could be exploited to educate depository librarians, general librarians, and the public about government information and specific research techniques and tools. Agencies could offer training to depository librarians via GPO-administered OPAL training sessions; agencies and depository libraries can register digital projects to GPO's registry; and depository librarians can train one another via OPAL. 8. Harmony and understanding This article began with reference to the Chicago, DuPont Circle, and Reno conferences. Let me end with them as well. After those efforts at plotting a path for the federal depository library program, there was not an implementation plan; GPO did not create a task force to carry out recommendations; the federal depository library program was not radically re-engineered. However, 15 years later, it is apparent that many of the DuPont Circle and Chicago recommendations have been implemented, if not in exactly the originally recommended form. 4
Free Government Information. Retrieved December 12, 2006, from http://freegovinfo.info/about.
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In fact, in order to simply keep up with technological advances the FDLP has, of necessity, evolved and will continue to evolve. Digital deposit will, in some form, almost certainly become a reality. The Internet fosters closer cooperation between subject experts and in the government, libraries, academia, and elsewhere. Government information professionals, whether in depository libraries or not, will operate in much the same way as other subject matter experts—consulting, teaching, creating Internet content, interpreting online information, referring to other experts. Greater understanding of the government, its mission, its flaws, its history, its publishing, its organization, and of the Internet and how people use it will lead to better delivery of service and correct, accurate, reliable, timely, and current information. It is apparent that none of this will happen by changing the law—Title 44. Rather it will happen as it is happened in the past—by the GPO and government information professionals cooperating in “harmony and understanding” with “no more falsehoods or derisions” and “letting the sun shine in.” The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius!
References United States, Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. (2006). Statistical Abstract of the United States, Tables 963, 638. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Depository Library Act of 1962, 44 U.S.C. § 1912. (2002). Retrieved March 5, 2007, from http://frwebgate.access. gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+44USC1912 Jacobs, J. A., Jacobs, J. R., & Shinjoung, Y. (2005). Government information in the digital age: The once and future federal depository library program. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31, 198−208. Barbie Selby is the Reference Services Manager for Alderman Library at the University of Virginia where she oversees the “main” Reference Desks as well as Government Information, Periodicals, Microforms, and Maps areas of the Library. Barbie has worked for the University of Virginia Library in various capacities for 22 years including 5 years at the Law Library.
Government Information Quarterly 25 (2008) 38 – 47
Age of Aquarius—The FDLP in the 21st century Barbie Selby ⁎ Humanities and Social Sciences, Research and Information Services, Alderman Library, University of Virginia, PO Box 400154160 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4154, USA Available online 19 November 2007
Abstract With the appointment of Bruce James as Public Printer of the United States in 2002 (confirmed by the Senate on November 20, 2002),1 the Government Printing Office (GPO) began to forecast and plan for its future in the age of the Internet. During the spring of 2005, the Depository Library Council (DLC), an advisory body to the Public Printer, concluded it was time for depository librarians to play a more active part in envisioning the future of government information. Toward that end, DLC wrote a discussion paper, Knowledge Will Forever Govern: A Vision Statement for Federal Depository Libraries in the 21st Century,2 and with the GPO's support devoted the 2005 Fall Depository Library Council meeting to discussing and refining a vision for the future of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Federal depository library program; Depository library council; 21st century librarianship; Librarians; Government information
⁎ Fax: +1 434 924 1431. E-mail address: [email protected]. 1 News Release, U.S. Government Printing Office, No. 02-25, Bruce James Confirmed by U.S. Senate as Public Printer. Retrieved March 16, 2007, from www.gpoaccess.gov/pr/media/2002/02news25.pdf. 2 Knowledge Will Forever Govern: A Vision Statement for Federal Depository Libraries in the 21st Century. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from www.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/council/dlcvision092906.pdf. 0740-624X/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.giq.2007.09.002
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1. Age of Aquarius—The FDLP in the 21st century Harmony and understanding Sympathy and trust abounding No more falsehoods or derisions Golden living dreams of visions Mystic crystal revelation And the mind's true liberation 1 Aquarius (From “Hair”) lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, music by Galt MacDermot. Copyright 1966, 1968, 1970 (Copyrights renewed). James Rado, Gerome Ragni, Galt MacDermot, Nat Shapiro, and EMI U Catalog, Inc. All Right Administered by EMI U Catalog, Inc. (Publishing) and Alfred Publishing Co. Inc. (Print). Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. 1
In thinking about the future of the provision of government information and the “FDLP (Federal Depository Library Program) vision,” it struck me that for the Government Printing Office (GPO), depository libraries, and librarians to play any part at all will require a great deal of cooperation, education, good will, and “harmony and understanding” on the part of both librarians and the GPO. The pervasiveness of the Internet and the unchanging nature of Title 44 of the United States Code chapter 19 (the law that governs the federal depository library system) will require a leap of faith, hard work, and a spirit of volunteerism in order for the GPO and all federal depository libraries to retain a major role in the provision of government information. 2. Mystic crystal revelation—The meetings at DuPont Circle, Chicago, Reno, and the Fall Federal Depository Library Conference (FDLC) To the experienced government information professional the first three of these meetings will be instantly recognizable as seminal gatherings of “documents librarians” trying to predict, anticipate, exploit, and control the future of government information provision. The fourth, the Fall FDLC, may not have the same name recognition as DuPont and Chicago, but it will in time. Certainly, the members of the 2005 Depository Library Council (DLC) will remember the fall 2005 meeting as one of much work, discussion, hope, visioning, dreaming, and work. By now, every government information professional should have read and be familiar with Knowledge Will Forever Govern: A Vision Statement for Federal Depository Libraries in the 21st Century, a vision for the provision of government information created by federal depository and other libraries. This vision is the culmination of 18 months of work on the part of DLC and a number of dedicated government information professionals concerned about ensuring a place in the government information landscape for both the Government Printing Office and federal depository libraries. Whether or not this effort ultimately succeeds in continued and better access to and awareness of U.S. government information for citizens depends largely on actions taken by the GPO, the GPO federal depository library program (FDLP), government information professionals, federal depository libraries (FDLs), library associations, the Depository Library Council, Internet memory organizations, government agencies, and others. Gone are the days
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when the Government Printing Office and federal depository libraries were the only game in town. How well depositories adjust to and take advantage of the wealth of government information available to Internet users will either damn them or save them as deliverers of that information. Also, gone are the days of the GPO being the sole, or even primary, supplier of government information to libraries or to the public. Again, how depository librarians anticipate and fill users' needs for government information and help them discriminate among the myriad of sources for information will ensure their (our) continued relevance or condemn them (us) to an increasingly irrelevant collection of outdated materials. 3. No more falsehoods or derisions—A place for FDLs? The challenge today is not that the public cannot find federal government information; instead it is that they may find too much, outdated, incorrect, too little, “not quite right,” or misleading government information, and do not realize it nor do they know how to corroborate what they have found. In the “old days” – say, 1995 – depository libraries were still guaranteed some degree of relevance because: • not all agencies were posting their current information and forms to the Internet; • not all U.S. citizens had access to the Internet; and • finding tools were not sophisticated enough to ensure discovery of needed information. The first and last of these conditions no longer apply. Not only are federal and state government agencies operating well-organized, comprehensive, up-to-date Web sites, but they are often discontinuing their print publications. Google, Yahoo, the Memory Hole, and other Internet search and memory organizations are simplifying discovery of current government information on the Internet. Recent Google job advertisements for a Public Sector Content Analyst (http://www.google.com/ support/jobs/bin/answer.py?answer=60361&query=government&topic=&type=government) and a Public Sector Strategic Partner Development Manager (http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/ answer.py?answer=61052&query=government&topic=&type=government) demonstrate that Google plans a presence in identifying and delivering government information. While more households own a personal computer than a dishwasher (United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 2006), there is still a digital divide in this country. Libraries are and should be concerned about this divide and should continue to provide one means of Internet access for non-wired households. However, federal depository libraries should not be content to simply rely on their ability to provide this Internet access or on their ability to provide print access to the non-wired household. If federal and state government information is provided primarily in digital format, then libraries must and will follow suit while also providing print copies when necessary and helpful. The FDLP Vision is an attempt to articulate a central role for federal depository libraries in providing, interpreting, and anticipating needs for government information in the future. The Vision also anticipates a major role for libraries as “trusted” repositories for government information. “The [government] information must be maintained and held in trust in a public
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arena where history can be preserved in an unvarnished form.”3 DLC, as an advisory body to the Government Printing Office, also envisioned a central role for the GPO in the future of government information. 4. Golden living dreams of visions—Versions of a vision Like most documents emanating from the DLC as an advisory body to the GPO, the development of the FDLP Vision was not as free and unfettered as the DuPont or Chicago groups to imagine a future for government information without the GPO. Nor did the Council want to imagine such a future. As they did 15 years ago, the DLC concluded that some centralized and official provider/identifier/organizer/collector/seller/digitizer/printer/standards setter of government information is a good thing. Despite the ubiquity of government information on the Internet, we concluded that a body like the GPO provides a valuable public service in identifying and, to some extent, organizing the mass of information. That said, the final version FDLP Vision was considerably pared down from a much more detailed document that was posted to a wiki for communal editing. For those readers interested in the development and history of this document, the wiki is available at http://wikihost.org/wikis/nextsteps/. (ID – nextsteps/password – fdlp. Due to some hacking and spammed during the fall of 2006, Daniel Cornwall wisely put a login on the site.) I refer to an earlier, more detailed draft (http://wikihost.org/wikis/nextsteps/var/gebo/data/ file/vision_02_27_2006.doc—from the main WIKI page click on Item 12—Goal: Revise Vision Document) not because it is perfect, but because it contained many suggested concrete actions which could be taken up and acted upon by various constituent groups—depository libraries, librarians, library associations, federal agencies, non-depository libraries, public libraries, Internet memory organizations, the GPO, and Congress. Had this visioning process been undertaken by an independent group, rather than by DLC, these “suggested actions” would have been seen as just that – suggestions – rather than as the Depository Library Council trying to dictate to others. Partly to ensure that no one read The Vision as DLC trying to mandate actions the final version is a much broader document and does not include many specific suggested action items. While it was never intended to dictate specific actions to anyone, the suggested “Action Items” in this draft are still quite worthwhile. 5. Sympathy and trust abounding—A “feel good” DLC The fall 2005 DLC meeting, which is part of the larger Fall Federal Depository Library Conference, was devoted to envisioning a future for the federal depository library program. With the aggressive planning on the part of Public Printer Bruce James and Superintendent of Documents Judy Russell for moving the GPO toward the future, it seemed to be a “time for another Chicago conference”, as stated by Council member Duncan Aldrich, meaning a summit on the depository program and the future of government information provision in libraries. During the winter and spring of 2005 depository, librarians were also feeling 3 Knowledge Will Forever Govern: A Vision Statement for Federal Depository Libraries in the 21st Century, p. 2. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/council/dlcvision092906.pdf.
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somewhat disenfranchised, demoralized, and not in control of their future. The GPO was a whirlwind of planning and activity, and the “depository community” did not seem to be a part of this activity. On at least one major issue – print on demand – there was a fairly vocal disagreement between some depository librarians and the GPO. All in all, the summer and fall of 2005 seemed ripe for forward looking depository librarians to make their presence known. A great deal of thought, energy, time, work, discussion, thought, and work went into writing the FDLP Vision discussion paper http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/ dlc_vision_09_02_2005.pdf, presented in September 2005 for discussion at the Fall DLC meeting. Substantial thought went into the format for the presentations, discussions, breakout groups, and the ground rules for the discussions. This meeting was to be a very inclusive discussion focusing on the depository community. Members of the DLC and the GPO staff were, for the most part, to take notes and keep silent. The GPO had been planning its future for the past year very publicly and had been taking a leadership role in planning and conducting the Depository Library Council meetings for the past few years. The DLC members had written a draft of the FDLP Vision, which was the focus of the meeting. This Fall 2005 DLC meeting was time for the depository librarians to be heard and they were! This meeting engendered vigorous debate and empowered participants to plan for the future. 6. And the mind's true liberation—The FDLP “Vision” In its FDLP Vision discussion paper, the four major issues were identified: • • • •
roles of FDLs in the non-exclusive environment of the Internet; managing collections and delivering content; deploying expertise; and adding value.
The discussions, breakout meetings, written comments, and blog comments (http:// dlcvisionoutline.blogspot.com/) from the fall 2005 DLC meeting further identified six overarching themes: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
customer focus; increase flexibility; education; promotion (marketing); collaboration; and innovation.
As members of DLC and volunteers worked on the vision document after the meeting, the additional theme of advocacy for government information dissemination became important to add. The FDLP Vision strongly endorsed many of GPO's actions and plans for its future. To ensure the continuing, and indeed, renewed relevance of the federal depository library
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program, the final FDLP Vision – Knowledge Will Forever Govern – outlined seven goals for the federal depository library program: 1. respond to or anticipate U.S. citizens' need for government information when where it is needed by providing multiple access points to a network of experts; 2. provide access to information in appropriate formats; 3. ensure continuing access to digitally available government information; 4. provide excellent training to deepen and expand knowledge of government information resources; 5. provide high quality descriptive tools for access to all FDLP publications, portals, and information products; 6. enhance collaboration or coordination of effort among federal depository libraries, nondepository libraries, GPO, agencies, and cultural memory organizations that deal with Internet resources; and 7. expand awareness of both the Federal Depository Library Program and government information generally via excellent public relations and marketing. Members of the DLC believe that these goals address the changing reality of libraries and government information in the 21st century. The value of education and training, collaboration, customer-oriented services, marketing, advocacy, flexibility, multiple formats of information, adding value, preservation, and excellent finding and descriptive tools is reflected in these goals. In addition to these goals, the FDLP Vision articulates a number of areas which will require capital investments to better position the federal government and libraries to serve America's information needs: • • • • • • • • • • •
document and metadata standards; centralized coordinating agency; public tools development; electronic deposit; version control; authenticity of documents; supportive legislation; public education; informing and educating library administrators; excellent public service; and preservation of print.
7. Let the sun shine in—Let's get going These meetings provided some excellent discussions of the future of government information and federal depository libraries' part in that future. The DLC proposed overarching goals that every depository library can play a part in attaining. And the work does not stop here; in fact, it has just started.
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While the final FDLP Vision does not include any specific action items, the earlier version on the vision wiki available at http://wikihost.org/wikis/nextsteps/var/gebo/data/file/ vision_02_27_2006.doc (ID – nextsteps/password – fdlp) includes many suggested actionable steps. Highlighted are a few “suggested actions” which are still vital in moving the FDLP relevantly into the 21st century. Some of these “suggested actions” made it into the final Vision paper in a somewhat altered form, some did not. The author intends to give a few concrete examples of actions that can be undertaken by libraries, organizations, and individuals to further the 21st vision for government information provision. I. Together with the DLC, monitor the PEW/Illinois study of how citizens get government information from public libraries and the Internet (see http://www.imls.gov/news/2005/ 100505.shtm and http://lrc.lis.uiuc.edu/web/IMLS.html). This initiative by the PEW Internet and American Life Project and the Library Research Center at the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science could provide invaluable insight into the public's preferred access to government information. While actions are sometimes act based on what we think we know—and some think that the FDLP Vision is an example of just this kind of phenomena, here is an opportunity for the government information community to take data supplied by well-respected research organizations and use it to improve how we do what we do. Some criticisms of the FDLP Vision focused on exactly this point—“How do we know what our users want?” This study should assist us in evaluating user needs for government information and user information seeking behaviors. II. Together with the FDL community establish a network of full FDL collections which will build and permanently house complete collections of FDLP information resources intended for distribution in tangible formats. A full FDL collection may reside in a single institution or in a partnership of several institutions and is an active library collection as opposed to an archival collection. Establishing the full FDL collection network will provide sufficient redundancy of complete FDLP collections to ensure ready, permanent public access to tangible copies. Institutions functioning as part of a full FDL collection partnership – or serving independently as a full FDL collection – will adhere to FDLP stipulations and guidelines (yet to be implemented). This action item is one of the most important recommendations of the final vision paper. GPO is interested in giving regional depositories more flexibility in how they fulfill their mandate to “retain at least one copy of all Government publications either in printed or microfacsimile form” (Depository Library Act of 1962, 44 U.S.C. § 1912, 2002). The vision discussions and subsequent work already have produced results in the quest for alternatives and solutions for the regional depository libraries and their mission of retaining all the printed publications produced by the government. The GPO had proposed the idea of dark and light archives to be hosted by the government, current depository libraries, and possibly other trusted repositories. Government information professionals embraced the idea of a dark archives (or two) to house printed, paper copies of all government publications. These will serve as preservation copies of “last resort.” However, many regional librarians felt that regional libraries already largely serve the light archive role. They proposed that instead of establishing a smaller network of light archives energy should be directed toward enhancing cooperation among the current regional libraries. Toward that end, a number of concrete proposals have been put forward for more shared housing, interlibrary loan, and services
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among various geographically based groups of regional depository libraries. The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL), for instance, is working on a proposal for more shared collections among regional depositories in the southeast. III. Investigate offering automated download of publications based on depository profiles using the Catalog of Government Publications, the FDSys, or some other technology. James A. Jacobs, James R. Jacobs, and Yeo Shinjoung proposed a comprehensive digital deposit program in their paper entitled Government Information in the Digital Age: The Once and Future Federal Depository Library Program (Jacobs, Jacobs, & Shinjoung, 2005). While the government information community is divided on the necessity of comprehensive digital deposit, and our libraries' abilities to store the massive numbers of files involved, there does seem to be some consensus around the need for a few non-government mirror sites for these files. GPO has a pilot project based on the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe) in which about 21 partners (18 depository libraries) are locally storing several federal journals (LOCKSS DOCS; http://lockss-docs.stanford.edu/). A suggestion at the regional library discussion of The Vision even put forward a “LOCKSS and BAGELS” approach—“Big Accumulations of Geographical Electronic Locations for Stuff” (or something like that). GPO asked two questions about digital distribution on its 2005 Biennial Survey (see http://www.access.gpo. gov/su_docs/fdlp/bisurvey/05bsurvey.pdf; Questions 65 and 66) and posted a discussion paper on the topic for the Fall 2006 DLC meeting (http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/council/ fall06/digitaldistribution06.pdf). This issue is not going away anytime soon, nor should it. IV. Consult with dot com, dot org, and dot edu Web service/indexing providers to promote access to government information. Enhancing collaboration among federal depository libraries, non-depository libraries, GPO, federal agencies, and cultural memory organizations is the aim of goal six of the FDLP Vision. The Google Books project, begun in 2004, includes several large depository libraries, and exemplifies the possibilities of libraries partnering directly with cultural memory organizations. The University of Michigan has already scanned many hearings. While not “official” digital copies, and, perhaps, not up to GPO's digital preservation standards, these digital copies of older U.S. documents enhance access to government information, which is the goal of the federal depository library program! The Google Books project also illustrates the complexities of unofficial partnerships for providing government information. Many of the Michigan hearings are available in full text via Google Books, but only those published prior to 1923. The Google Books project provides only snippets of post-1923 hearings. Even though federal government publications are generally not copyrighted, Google has chosen not to provide the full texts of any post-1923 publications, including government publications. Michigan does provide the full text of these federal documents digitized from its collection through its online catalog, MIRLYN (http:// mirlyn.lib.umich.edu). However, the process is automated and if the bibliographic records for these federal publications are not coded correctly, only the snippets will be provided until users spot a problem and initiate a correction. The Google Books project and other digitization projects present an opportunity for government information professionals to work with Internet memory organizations to ensure that valuable un-copyrighted government publications are easily available in full text once they are digitized.
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Another instance of cooperation and collaboration which grew out of the government information community is the Free Government Information Web site (http://freegovinfo.info/). As they say in the “About Us” section of the site: The future of government information is in peril from many economic and political forces. Free Government Information was initiated by Jim A. Jacobs, James R. Jacobs, Shinjoung Yeo, three librarians at University of California San Diego, along with Daniel Cornwall, librarian at the Alaska State Library, and James Staub, librarian at the Tennessee State Library, in order to raise public awareness of the importance of government information and create a community with various stakeholders to facilitate an open and critical dialogue.4 These librarians proactively post-information to this site, promote the site on another major community-based collaboration tool for government information professionals, the GOVDOC-L listserv, solicit contributions to the site, and frame and promote their opinions on government information policy. The position statement they put forth on the FDLP Vision paper (http://freegovinfo.info/DLCvision) and the Jacobs, Jacobs, and Yeo article raise excellent issues, particularly the issue of electronic deposit of digital federal documents. As would be expected, and hoped, many of the recommendations in the FDLP Vision build on existing projects and initiatives. Lest I slight an extremely successful community-led collaboration tool, I should mention and applaud GOVDOC-L's usefulness to anyone working with government information. Begun in 1990 (or at least archived back to 1990—see http:// GOVDOCl.org/), GOVDOC-L has been an invaluable consultation, collaboration, education, and training tool for government information professionals. A more focused listserv for regional federal depository librarians, Regional-l, has fostered communication and information sharing among regional librarians. V. Investigate Web-based training, such as pod-casting and OPAL software, to provide additional training opportunities to those unable to attend in-person training. GPO's recent pilot using the OPAL software for an online training session (http://www.opal-online.org/ GPO20060920.htm) demonstrated a cost effective, online training tool which could be exploited to educate depository librarians, general librarians, and the public about government information and specific research techniques and tools. Agencies could offer training to depository librarians via GPO-administered OPAL training sessions; agencies and depository libraries can register digital projects to GPO's registry; and depository librarians can train one another via OPAL. 8. Harmony and understanding This article began with reference to the Chicago, DuPont Circle, and Reno conferences. Let me end with them as well. After those efforts at plotting a path for the federal depository library program, there was not an implementation plan; GPO did not create a task force to carry out recommendations; the federal depository library program was not radically re-engineered. However, 15 years later, it is apparent that many of the DuPont Circle and Chicago recommendations have been implemented, if not in exactly the originally recommended form. 4
Free Government Information. Retrieved December 12, 2006, from http://freegovinfo.info/about.
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In fact, in order to simply keep up with technological advances the FDLP has, of necessity, evolved and will continue to evolve. Digital deposit will, in some form, almost certainly become a reality. The Internet fosters closer cooperation between subject experts and in the government, libraries, academia, and elsewhere. Government information professionals, whether in depository libraries or not, will operate in much the same way as other subject matter experts—consulting, teaching, creating Internet content, interpreting online information, referring to other experts. Greater understanding of the government, its mission, its flaws, its history, its publishing, its organization, and of the Internet and how people use it will lead to better delivery of service and correct, accurate, reliable, timely, and current information. It is apparent that none of this will happen by changing the law—Title 44. Rather it will happen as it is happened in the past—by the GPO and government information professionals cooperating in “harmony and understanding” with “no more falsehoods or derisions” and “letting the sun shine in.” The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius!
References United States, Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. (2006). Statistical Abstract of the United States, Tables 963, 638. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Depository Library Act of 1962, 44 U.S.C. § 1912. (2002). Retrieved March 5, 2007, from http://frwebgate.access. gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+44USC1912 Jacobs, J. A., Jacobs, J. R., & Shinjoung, Y. (2005). Government information in the digital age: The once and future federal depository library program. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31, 198−208. Barbie Selby is the Reference Services Manager for Alderman Library at the University of Virginia where she oversees the “main” Reference Desks as well as Government Information, Periodicals, Microforms, and Maps areas of the Library. Barbie has worked for the University of Virginia Library in various capacities for 22 years including 5 years at the Law Library.