The comments below reference the Deploying Expertise section of the September 2005 Depository Library Council publication The Federal Government Information Environment of the 21st Century: Towards a Vision Statement and Plan of Action for Federal Depository Libraries. Discussion Paper Prior comments on this discussion paper:

• General comments
• Library Roles in the Non-Exclusive Environment
• Adding Value
• Managing Collections and Delivering Content

The Deploying Expertise section of the DLC discussion paper has much to recommend it. It acknowledges that the web hasn't made our expertise obsolete and offers a number of practical ways we can reach out of the "documents ghetto." Continue reading →

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The comments below reference the Managing Collections and Delivering Content section of the September 2005 Depository Library Council publication The Federal Government Information Environment of the 21st Century: Towards a Vision Statement and Plan of Action for Federal Depository Libraries. Discussion Paper Prior comments on this discussion paper:

• General comments
• Library Roles in the Non-Exclusive Environment
• Adding Value

Of all the sections in the DLC discussion paper, Managing Collections and Delivering Content is the most disappointing. This was the place for a ringing endorsement of local, geographically disbursed, deposit of fully functional electronic files free of Digital Rights Management (DRM) that local depositories could make available on the Internet. I hope and pray that such a vision of the future can embrace such a simple, yet essential element. If not by the Depository Library Council, then by ALA GODORT or some other documents-oriented organization. Continue reading →

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The comments below reference the Adding Value section of the September 2005 Depository Library Council publication The Federal Government Information Environment of the 21st Century: Towards a Vision Statement and Plan of Action for Federal Depository Libraries. Discussion Paper Prior Comments on this discussion paper:

• General comments
• Library Roles in the Non-Exclusive Environment

I find "Adding Value" to be the strongest part of this paper. The Depository Library Council (DLC) recognizes that all government information professionals and institutions have an obligation to serve people where they are. They offer suggestions about where our users are including: popular web sites (Google, Yahoo, other search engines); FirstGov, agency web sites, etc. The authors of the paper also point to the promotion of the virtual reference Government Information Online project as an example of the value that we can add. No argument there. Continue reading →

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The comments below reference the Library Roles in the Non-Exclusive Environment of the September 2005 Depository Library Council publication The Federal Government Information Environment of the 21st Century: Towards a Vision Statement and Plan of Action for Federal Depository Libraries. Discussion Paper My general comments on this paper appeared in another blog posting. As I work through each section of the discussion paper, I'll start out with positive aspects and then move onto what I view are problems with the DLC paper. I strongly believe in finding common ground whenever possible. We shouldn't turn this discussion into a "us vs. them" dynamic. The DLC rightly points out that the government information environment is much more diverse than in the past. They also point out correctly in my view that most people's first approach to locating government information is trying the web. The authors also sensibly ask what it means to be a depository library when so much government information is available on the web. Continue reading →

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Today the Depository Library Council (DLC) released this discussion paper: The Federal Government Information Environment of the 21st Century: Towards a Vision Statement and Plan of Action for Federal Depository Libraries. Discussion Paper Prepared by the Depository Library Council September 2005 This paper is an effort to provide a guiding vision for the access, description and preservation of government information and how libraries might fit into this process. I'm sure it was hard work for the DLC, because they had to listen and integrate a chorus of disjointed voices from the depository community. They deserve some praise simply for coming up with anything at all! Whether or not you work in a library, this paper is worth reading. Today I'd like to offer some general comments on this paper. In the coming days, I'll have some comments focused on the main sections of the discussion paper: 1) Library roles in the non-exclusive environment; 2) Adding value; 3)Managing collections and delivering content ; and 4) Deploying expertise. Continue reading →

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