Herrick describes DLC Digital Distribution Session
Thanks to Washington State Regional librarian Herrick Heitmann for providing this summary of the recent Depository Library Council discussion on digital distribution to depository libraries.
Oct. 25, 2006 DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION DEPOSITORY LIBRARIES The discussion was facilitated by Ted Priebe, Director of Library Planning and Development at GPO. A handout (see attached) gave a brief background of the issue, listed general assumptions underlying the topic, and posed questions for the Depository Library Council and the audience to consider. The Council and audience response to the first question (access) was “yes†to all three parts. The value of local digital copies was usually discussed in terms of preservation through “significant redundancy†(Judy Russell’s phrase). (Along with depository libraries, the National Archives and non-government organizations are seen as preservation partners.) Although it was said that FDSys is designed to deliver content in the requestor’s preferred format, the first choice in formats seems be electronic. The second question was about sufficient local infrastructure for hosting electronic documents and supporting public access to them. People want guidelines to show to their Information Technology folk. The FDSys group is working on “system size†demands for local hosting/storing files. The guidelines might have to vary depending on how much digital content a depository will be hosting—the example given was crashing your local system while trying to deliver a large file with streaming video. It was also felt that guidelines should include naming conventions and file formats. The third question had to do with the responsibility Regionals would have to accept digital documents. The question whether Regionals should have to accept and locally maintain all digital publications from GPO was greeted with laughter and eye rolling. That’s the sort of unfunded—or, at best, underfunded—mandate that could drive libraries out of Regional status. Also, while LOCKSS is seen as a good thing, the need for over 50 mirror sites to the GPO servers was questioned. The fourth question was about the distribution of metadata. Depositories want it. The part of the question about what types of metadata depositories want showed me how little I know about the different flavors of metadata. It’s time for Metadata 101. The fifth question was about selectivity or, more precisely, format options. When should a selective/regional select only the digital version. For selectives, whenever they want. For Regionals, it’s a trickier question, especially until the long talked about dark and light archives are up and running. After all, the LOCKSS model can be applied to tangible documents too. The sixth question was on version issues and synchronization, especially what to do about superceded versions. The feedback was that libraries need to provide appropriate versions and sometimes a superceded version is the appropriate one, but the user needs to know it is outdated. Earlier the matter of the FDSys having an automatic update feature was brought up. This was seen as a policy question, not a how-to question. “Significant version control†is being built into FDSys. The final question dealt with ownership. Are digital documents still property of the U.S. Government? Well, yes. They’re much harder to control than tangible documents and usually in the public domain, but they’re still government property. What about recall of digital documents? Procedures for recalling documents are in place at the GPO level, and Judy Russell has told agencies that once something is issued digitally, it’s virtually impossible to expunge it from cyberspace. On the other hand, you have to consider the interagency relationship between GPO and the agency that issued the document. People were uncomfortable with GPO being able to send out automated “delete†commands. The 5 year retention rule was also brought up. Judy Russell explained that rule has its roots in the cost of printing and shipping tangible documents. GPO didn’t want to pay for items that somebody could toss the day after they received it. There is also a service aspect to retaining items—the commitment to making government information readily available.
If you have summaries, notes or impressions of any activities of the Fall 2006 Depository Library Council, we'd love to post them! Please send your DLC items to admin at freegovinfo dot info and we'll post them. Continue reading
Amnesty International campaign to combat censorship
Amnesty International is launching a campaign to oppose censorship on the internet:
The Internet is a new frontier in the struggle for human rights. Governments – with the help of some of the biggest IT companies in the world – are cracking down on freedom of expression. Amnesty International, with the support of The Observer UK newspaper, is launching a campaign to show that online or offline the human voice and human rights are impossible to repress.
The Irrepressible site has a pledge on internet freedom that you can sign online. You can also get a snippet of code that will "publish irrepressible fragments of censored material" on your own blog or other web site:
(While our usual focus here at FGI is on U.S. government information, we are interested in issue of freedom on information world-wide.)
Continue reading2 new transportation options in NM
One of these is really new, the other an attempt to revive some of what was once the backbone of travel in the U.S. Both of them have generated some interesting public reactions and both deserve to be closely watched to see how their success or failure might affect their respective industries. I'll talk about the newest one first, and then later point you to a fun download for the other. New Mexico's new spaceport is now in operation in the arid plains about 25 miles southeast of Truth or Consequences (the official site is Upham, but neither Google Maps nor the Census Gazetteer search engine can find that). The inaugural launch on September 26 was less than inspiring, as the 20-foot Spaceloft XL rocket from UP Aerospace only reached about 42,000 feet (far short of its intended 70 miles) before corkscrewing off course and crashing in the southern NM desert. The state has embarked on a highly visible partnership with multi-billionaire Richard Branson, whose Virgin Galactic will be the anchor tenant of the spaceport. Branson hopes to launch paying customers from the spaceport into suborbital rocket rides at $200,000 per person. In addition, plenty of people in the state are hoping that lots of additional high-tech tenants follow Branson and make southern NM a hub of future aerospace development. Will it be an economic booster or a boondoggle? It seems like a risky bet in times of tight hydrocarbon fuel supplies, but time will tell. Dan's comment on my last posting referenced a study on Alaskan railroads, which brings me to the other new transportation project, which is more down-to-earth and an attempt to help save some of those fossil hydrocarbons. New Mexico's Rail Runner Express launched this past summer with service from downtown Albuquerque north to suburban Bernalillo in Sandoval County. Some delay with rails and other material deliveries has postponed service south to Belen for now. The state hopes to bring the Rail Runner to Santa Fe by 2008. But while folks seem fine with the idea of the spaceport, the public reception to passenger rail has been mixed. The problem: a quirk of history led to the main line of the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroad (of Harvey Girls fame) bypassing the actual city of Santa Fe and going a few miles to the east (it's since merged with the Burlington Northern to form the BNSF) A later spur line built to downtown Santa Fe is inefficient as it adds quite a few miles to the Albuquerque-Santa Fe trip, so the state wants to build brand-new track branching from the main line south of the city into Santa Fe. Several alternative routes have been proposed and public comments are being gathered. This makes many homeowners anxious. They seem to fear noise, pollution and the idea that the terrible vibrations of a passing train will undermine their homes. Personally, I would love having a train into town to pass within shouting distance of my door, but that's just me. Oh yeah, now for the fun -- you can download a nifty Rail Runner screensaver from the New Mexico Dept. of Transportation website. It comes in two versions: with our without soundtrack. The latter has guitar music in a soft, easy-listening beat (it may become sort of repetitious after a while, but would be good to nap to) and occasional clanky-clattery rail-crossing noises. They also put out a cool refrigerator magnet, but I'm afraid I can't send you one of those over the web! Continue reading
Federal Trade Commission technology blog
Tech-ade blog (Federal Trade Commission)
Welcome to the Tech-ade blog, your gateway to continuous coverage of all aspects of the Federal Trade Commission’s upcoming hearings on Protecting Consumers in the Next Tech-ade. This blog will explore new technologies and their impact on products and business practices, with emphasis on the implications such developments will have for the consumer over the next ten years.A story about the blog: FTC creates blog to chronicle series on Internet tools by Aliya Sternstein. FCW (Oct. 25, 2006) Continue reading
Google to index government deep web?
Google seeks better access to government information By Daniel Pulliam, GovExec (October 25, 2006).
As much as 40 percent of the content on agency Web sites is invisible to Google's crawlers, [J.L.] Needham [a strategic partner development manager at Google] said, which means that for a majority of Internet users who do not know how to look beyond a search engine site, that information is effectively invisible. Needham said he is meeting with a variety of undisclosed agencies to discuss how the information housed in their databases can be made available in the search results from engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN. One method would be to use Google Sitemaps..Perhaps of even greater interest is this:
A Dec. 16, 2005, memorandum from Clay Johnson, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, states that all agencies must set up their public information so that it is searchable by Sept. 1, 2006. It states that "increasingly sophisticated Internet search functions" can "greatly assist agencies in this area." Agencies also were required to provide all public data in an open format that allows the public to aggregate "or otherwise manipulate and analyze the data to meet their needs" by Dec. 31, 2005, according to a separate OMB memorandum signed by Johnson on Dec. 17, 2004.Continue reading