More notes from EPA Q&A sessions
I'm still getting my notes together from the several sessions in which EPA officials fielded questions from librarians at GODORT sessions. The notes below are from the session presided over by the ALA Committee on Legislation Subcommittee on Federal Libraries. Over the coming days, I'll be posting more notes from others who were there. Please leave comments and/or recollections. One of the most potent points made at this session was about precedent. The questioner was extremely worried that EPA's decisions would set a precedent for other federal libraries (and we already know that other federal libraries are planning closings etc.). By leaving your comments (remember they can be anonymous), you'll be adding your voice to the discussion. And now to the notes. As always, these are my notes based on my own memory, hearing and poor typing skills ;-) Any errors are completely my fault. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
EPA meeting sunday 1/21/07 ALA Committee on Legislation Subcommittee on Federal Libraries EPA staff: Mike Flynn, Rick Martin and a few others who's names I didn't catch During EPA's introduction, you mentioned that you had a number of takeaways from the various meetings during the ALA conference. What are the most important things that you've "taken away" from these talks? EPA: Concern about loss of documents and information. EPA's collections are critical to so many operations. We must make sure we don't lose critical materials in the digitization process. Concern about the digitization process, make sure there is proper metadata, they will make available the technical specs of the process and will have an independent review of that process. There's a need to continue to communicate, a sense from the stakeholders that there has not been enough communication with those that are affected by this shift. We need to do more outreach outside our (EPA) community and a stronger connection inside the network. Information access is our primary job. Libraries and librarians are a key part of that. Concern about the physical closures and loss of physical presence. Contract librarians have been dropped. We will go back and look at that and make sure there is enough support for public services. Question: Transparency is key to this process and that includes posting specs etc on your website. There are MANY other stakeholders (academics, law librarians etc). Transparency is above all of the previous items listed in the last question. The Questioner looked at the statutory provisions (PLA?) and EPA manual to see if these changes are in compliance with those provisions. How does this apply to the closing of libraries to the public? EPA: Delivery is shifting and we're still committed to doing access electronically. Trends in regional offices is such that there have been less walkins. Questioner: Do you have statistics on walkins for the regionals that have closed for the last 5 years? EPA: It's not that there are none, but walkins have dropped off. Our intentions are not to go and shut the remaining 20 some EPA libraries. There is a consistent pattern of less walkins. There are other public access avenues depending on the region. There may be a public information center/officer in addition to or instead of a librarian. Some places integrate the services and make multiple uses of the people. Question: All of us work in libraries with undiscovered collections. We're worried about the precedent that EPA sets in terms of the closing of *other* federal libraries. In Chicago, a lot of the federal regional libraries are looking at this. As the only expert in the area, this person was negatively affected by the number of users who were now going to the university for research assistance because they could no longer get help from EPA. EPA: We are sensitized to the issues and concerns. We're not just closing down but are shifting and helping to set a new model. Question: 3 comments. This person is also concerned about the precedent setting. Part of that precedent is that there was no communication and dialog with user communities before the process went forward. Depository libraries will take all comers and want to have access to materials. 3rd, the real question is, what will you do with those walkins? Will you refer them somewhere else? EPA: All regions have a public intake process and those things will continue. Walkins in need of information and research will be referred. Question: You mentioned email reference question. Is there a system of email question management? how is email reference done at EPA? EPA: We have automated the process and have created a knowledge base and FAQ. But each of the areas/programs deal with email. There are a number of professional librarians who are answering email and phone questions. Regional offices are in the process of putting a research assistance process is in place. We're making sure there is information for the public on how they can get help.Continue reading
Remembering Ridley
Ridley R. Kessler, Jr., retired documents librarian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, died in Durham, N.C., on Jan. 11, 2007, of congestive heart failure. He was 65. I meant to post on Ridley earlier than this, but for some reason I've been very slow reacting to the death of colleagues and relatives of friends this past year. But Ridley Kessler deserves to be written about in many venues. One eloquent tribute I've seen is at Chapel Hill and can be found at http://www.lib.unc.edu/spotlight/kessler.html. I did not know Ridley well, although I met him at several documents conferences. I considered him to be one of the deans of our field, even when I felt I needed to disagree with him. I believe that our main differences were on tactics. Ridley believed in electronic information. He wanted to break down the walls of the depository library. As I perceived him, he wanted librarians to "stop whining" about the loss of print and embrace the opportunities of the future. His full embrace of an electronic future seems to be untypical of his generation. While I see the ideal (and to a certain extent the actual) future as one of mixed media, I agreed with Ridley that electronic information has tremendous potential and that librarians need to do more to realize that potential. Like Ridley, I didn't think that government documents could afford to hide behind physical depository walls. And while I wouldn't use the expression "whining librarians", I think Ridley had a point that too many depository librarians are focused on what they can't do as opposed to what they can do or could do if they joined with other libraries. Some of us are fearful of the future and bless Ridley for making us face that in that gruff way of his that I observed at conferences. While I and a few others challenged Ridley on whether the electronic portion of our future should be centralized with the government or decentralized with libraries, I think the government information have lost a champion this month. If you have memories of Ridley Kessler, won't you either leave a comment here or send an e-mail to dnlcornwall AT alaska.net for me to post for you? Continue reading
Digital Democracy Agenda from CDT
The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) has posted CDT's Congressional Agenda for the 110th Congress. Executive Summary, January 22, 2007. In addition to sections on Free Expression, Consumer Privacy, Security & Freedom, Internet Neutrality, and Digital Copyright it has a section on Digital Democracy. That section advocates:
- Congress Should Enact the Open Government Provisions in the Ethics Reform Package
- Congress Should Adopt Electronic Filing of Campaign Finance Reports
- Congress Should Enforce Open Government Obligations and Close Gaps in FOIA
- Congress Should Make Congressional Research Reports Available to the Public
New Whitepaper advocates better broadband policies
The Communications Workers of America have issued a a new forty page whitepaper, Speed Matters: Affordable High Speed Internet for All [PDF, 330kb] In it they note that Americans pay far more for much slower speeds than most other developed countries. The Japanese, for example, "have 8.5 times the speed at 1/12 of the cost." A summary of the paper is on the SpeedMatters blog: New Report: Speeding Up Our Internet and Our Economy (January 22, 2007) More about SpeedMatters in our earlier post, The Digital Divide: Speed Matters Continue reading
2006 elections & the internet
The Pew Internet & American Life Project has once again released a thorough report: this time on a study of the Net's role in the 2006 elections. Here's the summary:
Twice as many Americans used the internet as their primary source of news about the 2006 campaign compared with the most recent mid-term election in 2002. Some 15% of all American adults say the internet was the place where they got most of their campaign news during the election, up from 7% in the mid-term election of 2002. A post-election survey shows that the 2006 race also produced a notable class of online political activists. Some 23% of those who used the internet for political purposes actually created or forwarded online original political commentary or politically-related videos.The full report adds a lot of context to this, of course. For example, 31% of Americans gathered info about the races online and talked about the elections via email. And for those under 36 who have broadband, 35% said the Internet was their main source of information about the races. And Republicans and Democrats were equally likely to rely on the Net for campaign news... In looking through their list of reports, there were several others of interest including:
- Robo-calls in the 2006 campaign
- More Americans turn to the internet for news about politics
- The Internet and Campaign 2004
- The Internet as a Resource for News and Information about Science
- The Future of the Internet II