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Superintendent of Documents Russell to retire
The volunteers at Free Government Information were surprised to learn of the impending retirement of Ms. Judith Russell, Superintendent of Documents at the Government Printing Office (GPO). Although we have disagreed with Ms. Russell on a number of issues, we believe she shared our overarching goal of public access to government information. Our disagreements were on methods rather than core values. As such, we applaud her long-term commitment to the documents community. Here are some highlights of things that happened on her watch that we find especially commendable (we're sure the list is longer, but these immediately come to mind ;-) ):
- Issuing the first ever Biennial Survey to include questions on library's local storage of electronic federal documents.
- Starting up the GPO LOCKSS pilot project.
- The first ever webcasts of Depository Library Council events.
- Surveying libraries on possible future PACER access.
GPO’s Essential Titles List feedback needed by Tuesday, August 1, 2006
Recently, the Government Printing Office (GPO) sent out to various library listservs a proposed revision of the Essential Titles List. We at FGI urge you to read through the documents and spreadsheets and comment to the GPO by Tuesday, August 1, 2006. Unfortunately, at this time, comments are only being accepted from depository libraries, but I'm sure Judy Russell, the Superintendent of Documents, would also appreciate hearing comments from the general public as well -- AND of course you're welcome to leave comments here and we will forward them on! For those unfamiliar with this, digital/online is the primary means of "dissemination" of govt publications to depository libraries these days. However, the Essential Titles for Public Use in Paper Format "remain available for selection in paper format, so long as they are published in paper by the originating agency. These titles contain critical information about the activities of the U.S. Government or are important reference publications for libraries and the public." Essential titles include such items as the "Budget of the United States Government," "Code of Federal Regulations," "County City Data Book," and "Supreme Court Decisions." Before giving your comments, please look over the following documents::
Maybe it’s trains, trucks and planes
In his recent Depository Library Council Plenary Address, Public Printer Bruce James compared the curent changes in the documents world (paper to digital) to the Government Printing Office's switch from steam power to electric power in the early 1900s, and to the abandonment of horse drawn wagons in favor of gas powered delivery trucks. I've been thinking about that a lot, knowing that outside the government documents world, digital takes its place alongside print but hasn't come close to replacing it. Even today, e-books are an insignificant fraction of the $28 billion spent on books in 2004. Maybe we need a new metaphor in thinking about the distribution of government information. Instead of buggies vs. cars, let's think of trains, trucks and planes. As most of us know, the Pony Express was replaced by mail trains in the 19th Century. Horses simply couldn't compete in terms of speed. But when the Post Office aquired trucks in the early 20th Century (or therebouts), they didn't stop using trains. Trains still had a purpose in the postal distribution system. Later in the 20th Century, airplanes became available but that didn't put the trucks or trains (or boats, in Alaska) out of business. Each mode of delivery survived not because of misplaced nostalgia, but because each mode had at least one application not well served by the others. Could that not be a parallel for print and digital? Tell us what you think! Continue reading
GPO eviscerates FDLP
The Government Printing Office (GPO) has decided to gut the federal depository library program. For 150+ years, the federal government has been legislatively mandated to distribute *at no cost* information produced by the federal government to a distributed system of libraries (called the Federal Depository Library Program or FDLP) so that citizens will have access to that information and therefore be better able to participate in our democratic system. The GPO has been in charge of that distribution system. They have decided that, starting October 1, 2005, they will only distribute the titles on their Essential Titles List. Anything else and libraries will now have to pay. Oh, they're setting up a print on demand (POD) allowance ($500/yr for selective depositories and $1500/yr for regional depositories). However, that will barely make a dent. Take for example UCSD. We're a selective depository, but we receive thousands of titles in paper besides what's on the essential titles list. Continue reading
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