This post, all earlier postings in this series, and my “not a lawyer” disclaimer can be found at http://freegovinfo.info/title44 or through our library under Nonlawyer's Journey through Title 44. When I first considered today's subject, 44 USC 1913:

TITLE 44--PUBLIC PRINTING AND DOCUMENTS CHAPTER 19--DEPOSITORY LIBRARY PROGRAM Sec. 1913. Appropriations for supplying depository libraries; restriction Appropriations available for the Office of Superintendent of Documents may not be used to supply depository libraries documents, books, or other printed matter not requested by them, and their requests shall be subject to approval by the Superintendent of Documents. (Pub. L. 90-620, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1286.) Historical and Revision Notes Based on 44 U.S. Code, 1964 ed., Sec. 85a (June 27, 1956, ch. 453, Sec. 101, 70 Stat. 369).

my first reaction was “Huh?” and my second reaction was “What?” I was puzzled because a plain reading of this statute seemed to imply that Federal Depository Libraries should never get anything they do not select, except for regionals who by definition, must get everything that the Government Printing Office (GPO) produces. Since GPO does send some items to all libraries, like the 9/11 commission report, I decided this couldn't be the right interpretation of the law. But what to make of it? Fortunately I was able to turn to a REAL expert on Title 44, Bernadine Abbott Hoduski, who worked on GPO's oversight committee the Joint Committee on Printing for many years, and wrote the book on advocating for government information. This is what Ms. Hoduski had to say about sec. 1913, which makes sense to me:

The section on GPO not sending publications that libraries have not requested is based on the 1962 depository law. Before that all libraries had to receive everything, there was no selection process. Once it was determined that only regionals would receive everything, GPO had to design a distribution system based upon consent. JCP has a certain amount of discretion and can authorize GPO to send out publications that are high visibility and needed asap in order to be useful. GPO does that on a limited basis.

I did not realize that the current system of regional depositories only came into existence in 1962 and that prior to that EVERY library had to keep EVERYTHING. Even with my love of geographic duplication, I don't think we needed more than a 1000 libraries keeping all publications. Yet another reason to love regionals. Finally, after I consulted Bernadine Abbott Hoduski, I remembered that in the current item selection system used by GPO, all libraries must select item 0556-C which GPO uses to distribute certain high-profile items. So, after all my confusion, libraries never get items not in their selection profile. Whether the selection profile meets their needs is not a Title 44 question. I wasn't sure whether I should share my uncertainty and confusion with you regarding this section of depository law. But in the end I thought it would be useful for you, the FGI reader, to know that some things about government information are difficult to understand even to those of us who devote their non-work hours to it. It's also good to realize that all of us, no matter our knowledge level, have people to turn to. Make the most of that. Next week we conclude our consideration of the chapter of Title 44 dealing with the Depository Library Program with another short section of depository law that appears to be more straightforward "Sec. 1914. Implementation of depository library program by Public Printer." Continue reading →

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Hi all. I'm at the Govt Documents Roundtable (GODORT) update in New Orleans! here's a stream of consciousness blog report. I make no assurances that I've caught everything that was said: Superintendent of Documents Judy Russell is giving an update as we speak. As I walked into the room, she was talking about GPO's Z39.50 server and how it'd be operational later this summer. This excited me because I've recently been looking at Library Thing. LT is a nice little web service that uses Z39.50 to get bibliographic records for books and then displays them in a nice way. Check it out. I'm' planning on using LT to highlight our collections, have a "govt document of the week" or a "reference book of the week." One GODORT member mentioned how certain law publishers are printing off Web DoJ documents that used to be distributed via FDLP and SELLING them to law libraries. I think this is a growing problem (and not just for legal documents!) that needs to be dealt with. Another member mentioned that regional libraries are only receiving 1/2 of what they used to receive (I'll get numbers later but it was drastic!). He pointed out that libraries can no longer check with their regionals to be certain of document publications. If you feel that GPO should be forcing agencies to uphold Title 44 in order to keep up the bibliographic record for US documents, contact Judy Russell and tell her your concerns. Another GODORT member brought up the issue of broken purls. She mentioned that there are at least 2000 broken purls. She asked Ms. Russell if those documents have been captured? Ms Russell mentioned that there is phased documentation of purls to assure that documents are indeed harvested and on the GPO server. Each week, @ 1/4 of purls are checked and harvested. Those documents will be harvested and cataloged. Now George Barnum from GPO is talking about FDSys. He's also coming to the Govt Information Technology Committee (GITCO) meeting on sunday so I'll blog more about that later. Stay tuned... Continue reading →

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On June 30, 2006, the National Press Club will host a panel discussion on the future of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in celebration of the 40th anniversary of this important tool of accountability. The discussion will include talk of FOIA's future. Today saw two stories on how FOIA is being used now. Serious problems at one of the few manufacturering plants for flu vaccine were revealed, thanks to a FOIA request from the San Francisco Chronicle. Although the ability of companies to produce flu vaccine is of intense interest to a nation worried about pandemic influenza, this isn't a report the government would have released on its own. When were we supposed to find out? The other FOIA story of note is one from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press exploring the interaction of Texas' State FOIA law with the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Apparently under some seemingly justifiable circumstances, the state's open records act trumps HIPAA. Continue reading →

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The government information world is abuzz with talk of Google's new govt search (FGI, blogged about it here). Well, now Peggy Garvin of LLRX.com has written an analysis of google govt entitled "The Government Domain: Google's New U.S. Government Search". One of the most interesting pieces of information that she puts forth is that the new google govt search expands on the old "google uncle sam" search by indexing more than just the .gov and .mil domains. Google's new search redefines the government Web space to include important government and quasi-government sites that use .us, .edu, .org, and .com suffixes -- like the USDA Forest Service and HUD User. And our own Daniel Cornwall is quoted as saying:

"There are many more high-value services that they could have linked to. Why didn't they? Maybe because they're not experts in government information."

Thanks Peggy for the in-depth article! Continue reading →

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Our government podcast directory adds a new entry for the first time in months and it's an unusual one. It's the Army Racing Podcast. There isn't a formal "about us" link on the larger site, but this blurb from the home page gives some flavor of the site:

The Army Racing program is in high gear for 2006. The line-up includes the NASCAR Number 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet driven by “Front Row” Joe Nemechek. Tony “The Sarge” Shumacher who pilots the U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster, and 190 mph rocket riders, Angelle Sampey and Antron Brown on their pro stock motorcycles. --All three teams combine speed, power and technology to be the best representing the best. GO ARMY!

The podcasts are short (approx 4 minutes) bits of news on Army racing teams in NASCAR. Along with the racing are notes about how Army values can help you in real life. Along with highlighting our latest podcast, I'd like to ask FGI readers to stay alert for other government podcasts, especially those from state or local agencies. FirstGov has a subject-based directory for federal podcasts, but no one else I'm aware of tries to maintain links to state and local podcasts. Happy Listening! Continue reading →

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