Approved-By:  go <RAED@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.govdoc-l
Date:         Wed, 26 Aug 1992 13:18:03 CDT
From:         gregory lawrence <GLX%CORNELLC@PSUVM.PSU.EDU>
Subject:      OMB A-130 Comment

----------------------------Original message----------------------------

Albert R. Mann Library, at Cornell Univerity, has prepared a reply to OMBs
call for comments on Circular A-130, which is listed below. I put it
here on GOVDOC-L urging other depository libraries to do the same. This
reply is the joint effort of my supervisor, Janet McCue, my director,
Jan Olsen, and myself. Don't hesitate to show this to your boss(es) to
enlist their aid. Also, feel free to use this comment as a template for
your own reply - JUST DON'T COPY IT VERBATIM. OMB has plenty of experience
with form letter, and treats those leters with the proper respect. Keep
in mind, comments must be received by the close of business tomorrow,
August 27th. At this point it's probably best to send your reply via
the Internet to:omba130@nist.gov. (It's ironic that OMB, which is
attempting to establish federal electronic information policy, hasn't
its own internet address).

If your reply isn't ready by tomorrow, that's not neccessarily the end
of the world. Your Senators and Representatives can use the privilege
of their Office to make comment on A-130 after tomorrow. Call the offices
of your elected officials and talk with her/his staff to have your reply
forwarded to OMB with a cover letter noting his/her support for your
position in this matter.

If there is any way I can be of assistance, feel free to call, e-mail,
or fax a message. I'll try to respond ASAP.

*******************************************************************************


                                                August 26, 1992


Mr. Bruce McConnell
Chief, Information Policy Branch
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Management and Budget
Room 3235, New Executive Office Building
Washington, D.C.  20503

Dear Mr. McConnell:

     As the Government Information Librarian at Cornell
University's Albert R. Mann Library, I have a keen interest in
the current revision of OMB Circular A-130. Mann Library serves
the students, faculty and staff of the Colleges of Agriculture
and Life Sciences, and Human Ecology. Our federal documents
collection vigorously supports our research and instruction in
the most important areas of the applied biological and social
sciences. On behalf of our academic community, I am pleased to be
able to comment on your proposed changes to federal information
policy.

      Many of the policy changes found in the 1992 revision of OMB
Circular A-130 (57 FR 18296-18306) are strongly supported by the
staff at Mann Library. We are encouraged by policy revisions
which diminish the previous emphasis on privatizing government
information, encourage the electronic dissemination of federal
agency information, and provide for public comment when agencies
initiate, modify or cancel a government publication. However, we
have significant reservations about the unnecessary redefinition
of the term "government publication".

      OMB has taken the position that the definition of a
government publication as described in 44 U.S.C. 1901, excludes
electronic data products and services. The major support for this
argument is derived from the phrase "...published as an
individual document..." and from 44 U.S.C. 1711, "...a catalog of
government publications which shall show the documents printed
during the preceding month...". We believe this policy position,
based upon the OMB interpretation of Title 44, is erroneous. 44
U.S.C. 1901, when examined, does not contain text which excludes
new information formats, nor does it seem its authors intended
the rule to create new barriers to government information. As
information mediums have evolved from printed paper to microfiche
to microcomputer, the means of disseminating government
information have kept abreast. In the past, a government document
has always been determined by the provenance of its information,
not by its medium. The introduction of new technology into the
process of disseminating government information has never before
required a new definition of "government publication". We at Mann
Library believe it is unnecessary to do so now.

      In the Circular, OMB speaks highly of the federal Depository
Library program, identifies it as "...a mechanism for wide
distribution of government information that guarantees basic
availability to the public.", and states"...as a matter of
policy, many such [electronic] products should be made available
to the depository libraries in the same manner as printed
materials..." However, because of its narrow interpretation of
"government publication", OMB has concluded it is "not clear that
agencies at present have a legal obligation to make electronic
information products available to depository libraries." Again,
we would like to assert our belief that the physical medium of
government material should not be the issue. The text of 44
U.S.C. 1902 is very clear about the type of material which can be
excluded; and this exclusion is contingent upon the content of
the information, not the physical medium. "Government
publications, except those determined by their issuing components
to be required for official use only, or for strictly
administrative or operational purposes which have no public
interest or educational value and publications classified for
reasons of national security, shall be made available to
depository libraries..."

      In such a sweeping, precedent setting document as Circular
A-130, OMB cannot afford to appear to be straddling the fence.
OMB must recognize the essential role the Depository Library
program plays in the dissemination of all forms of government
information to the public. As the legally-mandated system to
store and provide access to federal government information, the
Depository Library program provides over 1400 professionally
staffed, service oriented, barrier-free local sources of
government information available to the general public. OMB must
indicate in the Circular that for any federal agency to
successfully disseminate electronic information to the public,
the Depository Library program must be included in the
distribution plan.

     Circular A-130 attempts to address a wide range of issues
involving public access to government information, and OMB is to
be commended for continuing the dialogue as the policy evolves.
As our nation prepares to enter the 21st Century, we hope to see
a vital, coherent, and flexible Federal information policy play a
key role in managing the information resources which are so vital
to the interests of our nation.


                                          Sincerely,


                                          Gregory W. Lawrence

******************************************************************************

Gregory Lawrence
Albert R. Mann Library
Cornell University
GLX@CORNELLC
607 255-3242
607 255-0850 (fax)
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