AALL ACTION ALERT
January 26, 2005
Stop GPOs Abrupt Decision to Eliminate Print Distribution of Important
Government Information to Our Nations Federal Depository Libraries
BACKGROUND ON GPOS PLAN TO ELIMINATE PRINT DISTRIBUTION OF IMPORTANT
GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
Although the Government Printing Offices appropriations bill for FY
2006 has not yet been introduced in Congress, Superintendent of
Documents Judith C. Russell announced during the recent ALA Midwinter
Conference in Boston that GPO has requested level funding in their FY
2006 appropriations for the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP),
plus cost of living increases. As a result of this action, Ms. Russell
also announced that the following changes in the distribution of print
materials to our Nations federal depository libraries will take effect
October 1, 2005.
First, GPO will produce and distribute only the 50 titles listed on the
Essential Titles for Public Use in Paper Format. This will have a
profound negative impact on access to authentic government information
in formats most usable to the American public. The Essential Titles List
(http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/estitles.html), last
revised in 2000, does not include important materials including maps,
geological information, administrative decisions and other legal
materials, as well as Senate and House reports, documents, and hearings
that inform the citizenry of the workings of Congress.
Second, GPO will initiate a Print on Demand (POD) Allowance Program of
$500 for selective depository libraries and $1500 for the 53 regional
depository libraries to purchase titles that are not on the Essential
Titles List. Since depository libraries will only receive the few
Essential Titles distributed in print, GPO is in effect asking
Congress to support a new fee-based Print on Demand Program that has not
yet been established or tested. Further, depository libraries will have
to expend significant funds from their own budget to cover
administrative costs associated with this new program and purchase print
titles, formerly distributed through the FDLP at no cost, when print is
the appropriate and needed format for their user communities. GPO admits
that POD technology is not archival and that the materials depository
libraries purchase through this new service will have a shelf life of
only 20 to 30 years.
Third, there will be a small amount of money to distribute a handful of
important titles that occur unexpectedly in any given year, such as the
2004 9-11 Commission Report.
As FDLP partners, the depository library community has historically
provided GPO with feedback on how to successfully manage the FDLP to
meet the needs of all user groups. Unfortunately, the library community
was not consulted about this latest move. GPO has alluded to other
possible options but only announced this one. And although
Superintendent of Documents Judith Russell informed us in Boston that
alternative options could be discussed at the Spring Depository Library
Council meeting in Albuquerque this April, we believe that will be too
late to affect the FY 2006 appropriations process that Congress is
beginning to undertake right now.
GPOs plan, which has not been approved by Congress, represents a major
disruption to the FDLPs role of ensuring no-fee, permanent access to
government information for the American public. GPO has not yet
established a reliable system ensuring delivery, version control,
authenticity, permanent public access and preservation of government
information products they disseminate and make available online. Until
such a system is fully functional and GPO can ensure permanent, no-fee
and ready public access to electronic government information, GPO should
not gut its print distribution program.
These changes will deprive citizens of their ability to access important
authentic government information in the most usable format that will
best meet their information needs. Further, many citizens are
economically or technologically disadvantaged and cannot make use of
necessary technological infrastructure to access electronic government
information. It is important to remember that the goal of the FDLP is to
provide government information to the American people in a convenient
and useable formatnot to make it convenient for the administrative
agency responsible for that dissemination.
Public Printer Bruce James notes in his recently released strategic plan
that GPO must change with the times and that the GPO of the 21st Century
must use the technologies of today and tomorrownot yesterdayto keep
this vision alive. The library community has long embraced the move to
digital technologies and libraries are on the front lines of developing
systems that provide the public with easy, reliable and permanent access
to authentic government information. During the past decade, the library
community has consistently applauded GPOs move toward a more electronic
FDLP. A number of libraries have established formal partnerships to
assist GPO when their technological infrastructure proved unable to
provide sufficient access to certain types of electronic government
information. Librarians embrace technologies that enhance the ability of
Americans to access government information more easily from their
library, their home or their business.
But we have also cautioned Congress, most recently in the joint
testimony (http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash/st04282004.html) on
behalf of five national library associations for the April 28, 2004
hearing on GPO oversight before the House Committee on Administration,
that we should not eliminate completely print distribution because at
this time the difficult challenges of the digital life cycle remain
unresolved: the authentication, permanent public access to and
preservation of electronic government information. It is important that
the government recognize the need to validate the authenticity and
integrity of an electronic document, whether it is available through GPO
Access or located on agency, congressional or court web sites. It is not
enough to disseminate and preserve digital documents; users must be
assured that the electronic government information that they locate and
use is authentic.
IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED
Superintendent of Documents Judy Russell has announced a plan that
effective October 1, 2005 all government documents with the exception of
the Essential Titles List will be disseminated in digital format only.
While the library community has been very supportive of the GPO move to
digital formats, the issues of version control, authenticity and
permanent public access to digital government information have not been
addressed. Your help is needed to ensure that libraries and the American
public continue to have access to authenticated government information.
Please contact your congressional delegation immediately, by email or
fax, to tell your representatives about GPOs plan to eliminate almost
all print distribution to depository libraries and its impact on access
to authenticated legal and government information.
If you work in a law depository library, please alert your director to
this abrupt and significant change in the FDLP distribution program
because it is essential that everyone in your institution understand the
serious long-term implications of this action on your users and contact
their representatives.
If you are a law library user, your help is especially needed in
contacting Congress because the purpose of the depository library system
is to provide you with ready, local, no-fee permanent access to
authenticated legal information.
Whether youre a law librarian, law library director, law professor or
student, or a concerned citizen, please contact your representatives and
make sure they understand the unique value of a depository library and
its collections. Tell them how these changes will impact your ability to
access government information and be sure to include examples of
publications that you need in print for legal research.
Since this latest threat to the depository library program comes from
GPO officials, its also very important that they hear your concerns
firsthand. Please send a copy of your letters to Public Printer Bruce
James (bjames@gpo.gov / FAX: 202-512-1347) and Superintendent of
Documents Judith C. Russell (jrussell@gpo.gov / FAX: 202-512-1434).
GENERAL TALKING POINTS:
" GPOs plan to limit print distribution to federal depository libraries
to only the 50 titles on the Essential Titles List
(http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/estitles.html);
effectively impairs public access to key authenticated government
titles, including Senate and House reports, documents and congressional
hearings needed by the legal community and the public.
" GPO is taking this abrupt action before it has established a reliable
system ensuring delivery, version control, authenticity, permanent
public access and preservation of electronic information products they
disseminate and make available online. In fact, research and information
technology standards and best practices have not yet been developed to
the point of ensuring authenticity and preservation of electronic
information products.
" GPO is initiating a fee-based Print on Demand (POD) Program that has
not yet been established and is asking Congress to fund it through a
minimal allocation for each depository library. Libraries will have to
expend significant funds to purchase print titles formerly distributed
through the FDLP at no cost. Worse yet, GPO admits that POD technology
is not archival and that the materials depository libraries purchase
through this new service will have a shelf life of only 20 to 30 years.
ASK YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES TO:
1) Urge GPO to allocate its FY 2006 appropriations to provide government
information in appropriate formats, including print titles as identified
by the depository library community that meet the needs of the American
public.
2) Urge members of the House and Senate appropriations committees to
increase GPOs FY 2006 budget request to maintain the current production
and distribution levels of print materials to depository libraries.
3) Urge members of the Joint Committee on Printing, the Senate Rules and
Administration Committee and the Committee on House Administration to
hold oversight hearings on GPOs new initiatives and changes to the
Federal Depository Library Program.
4) Remind your representatives that the FDLP is their program and that
it has proven to be a very successful partnership among Congress,
federal agencies, the courts, the Government Printing Office (GPO),
depository libraries, and the American public in ensuring the publics
right to know.
If your representatives are on any of these important committees, please
urge them to take a leadership role in supporting their local depository
library because these changes will deprive their constituents of their
ability to access important authenticated government information.
Thank you!
Mary Alice Baish
Associate Washington Affairs Representative
American Association of Law Libraries
==============================
Mary Alice Baish
Associate Washington Affairs Representative
American Association of Law Libraries
E.B. Williams Law Library
Georgetown University Law Center
111 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001-1417
PH: 202-662-9200
FAX: 202-662-9202
EMAIL: baish@law.georgetown.edu
www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash
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