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Toward a definition of “virtual depository”
virtual: 1. Existing or resulting in essence or effect though not in actual fact, form, or name. 2. Existing in the mind, especially as a product of the imagination. 3. temporarily simulated or extended by computer software.A recent post on govdoc-l regarding virtual depositories, piqued my etymological interest. please bear with me as I explore the meaning of "virtual depository." It should be obvious that the two words "virtual" and "depository" are oxymoronic, like jumbo shrimp or military intelligence. The word "Depository" infers that something (money, govt documents...) is actually given to a trusted entity (a bank or library) to be stored for safekeeping. But how can something that's not actually there but only hinted at or pointed to, something simulated and not tangible, be placed in the care of some trusted entity? The term "virtual depository" then, is a misnomer. Putting aside this perplexity for the time being, let's look at "virtual depository" within a library context. The Govt Printing Office (GPO) has been experimenting with "virtual depositories" since 2002 when they teamed up with the University of Arizona for a pilot virtual depository in which the library selected online resources instead of printed/tangible items. Basically, the project substituted actual deposit of paper documents in the library's collection for links in the library's online catalog to digital documents housed on GPO servers. The FDLP community has been steadily moving toward "virtual depositories" since then as more and more government documents become born digital with no paper equivalent. As many of our loyal readers know, we at FGI have long advocated for GPO to actually deposit digital documents in depository libraries. Actual deposit (as opposed to virtual deposit) of digital documents, we feel, is an important way to assure access to and preservation of government information (see "Government Information in the Digital Age: The Once and Future Federal Depository Library Program"). A search of current depository management publications failed to turn up any formal definition of a "virtual depository", much less management procedures. So, since there appears to be no official definition of "virtual depository," I'd like to take this opportunity to propose one:
Usage note: When virtual was first introduced in the computational sense, it applied to things simulated by the computer, like virtual memory; that is, memory that is not actually built into the processor. --from Dictionary.com Depository: 1. a place where something is deposited or stored, as for safekeeping: the night depository of a bank. 2. a depositary; trustee. 3. of or pertaining to a depository or depositories.
--from Dictionary.com
Virtual depository: a collection of digital government documents published by the Government Printing Office (GPO) and/or various government agencies and distributed to and hosted on the local servers of FDLP libraries so as to adhere to Title 44 of the US code and assure the provision of no fee and fully-functional access, distributed digital preservation and better and more expanded services to government information.This is of course a definition in progress meant to open discussion on what exactly it'll mean to be a depository library in the digital future. I realize that I've proposed a definition after showing it to be meaningless; however, the term has already been released into the wilds of the govt documents community lexicon (and GPO, I assume, will continue to use the term). I thought it best to define it in order to highlight the core roles of libraries (collecting, organizing, preserving and giving access to information). "Digital depository" might be a more meaningful term, so community members may want to start using that instead. The first step is of course to define our terms clearly and succinctly and hopefully I have done that here. We'd greatly appreciate any comments you may have. And if you can coin a better term, please leave that in the comments as well. Continue reading
Hundreds of libraries waiting for digital deposit
The Government Printing Office (GPO) presented an update of their recent work to a Mid-Winter meeting of the American Library Association last week in San Antonio. As part of that update, Superintendent of Documents Judy Russell made partial results of the biennial survey of federal depository libraries public. Ms. Russell shared the results of two questions related to digital deposit of federal electronic publications, based on 987 responses to the biennial survey. There are approximately 1250 libraries in the program, so at least 261 libraries have not yet been heard from. By law, all depository libraries must complete this survey, so I expect full results later this spring. On to the questions themselves and their results. Question 65 was related to current depository efforts at local collection of federal electronic publications. Currently there is no distribution mechanism, so depositories have to actively gather and store materials.
65: My library systematically downloads, stores online publications identified from GPO Access or through GPO-created PURLS, and makes them accessible to the general public from local servers. This past year my library downloaded the following number of digital publication files (this does not include shipping lists, Web pages, or datasets): 0 = 823 libraries 1-25 = 90 26-100 = 25 101-500 = 26 501-1000 = 7 1001-5000 = 11 More than 5000 = 4Even in the absence of a distribution system for federal electronic publications from GPO, 163 libraries are storing local copies of federal pubs. Based on a depository community of 1,250 libraries, this represents 13% of all depository libraries. One in ten libraries are already doing more than what GPO is asking of them. The other "digital deposit" question asked libraries how many digital documents they might be willing to store and serve locally, if GPO provided them. No distribution mechanism was proposed.
66. My library is willing to receive Federal digital publication files on deposit from GPO, store them, and make the accessible to the general public from local servers. My library is willing to receive the following number of digital publication files per year (this does not include shipping lists, Web pages, or databases): 0 = 652 libraries 1-25 = 176 26-100 = 56 101-500 = 41 501-1000 = 26 1001-5000 = 14 More than 5000 = 21This question tells me that 334 libraries are willing to at least make a trial of storing and serving electronic materials locally. These libraries represent more than a quarter of the depository community. Surely this should be a call to establish a formal deposit system for electronic publications for depositories to try. Even without a formal digital deposit proposal, over a hundred libraries are willing to store and serve more than 100 documents per year. Even if these hundred libraries are the only ones to step forward, that's a far higher level of backup and redundancy than the current system has. I believe that's worth GPO committing to a system of local, distributed system of electronic deposit such as the one described in Government Information in the Digital Age: The Once and Future Federal Depository Library Program, today. Continue reading
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