Administrative Notes 

Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program

Vol. 20, no. 10 GP 3.16/3-2:20/10 June 15, 1999 

Sheila McGarr Named Chief, Library Division 

The Library Programs Service (LPS) is pleased to announce that Ms. Sheila McGarr has been 

appointed as Chief of the Library Division, effective June 7, 1999. Her new duties include 

managing the Depository Administration Branch, Cataloging Branch, and the Depository 

Services Staff and advising the Director, LPS on program-related matters. 

In December 1981, Sheila began her career at GPO as a depository library inspector. From 

1987-1992, she served as Chief of the Depository Administration Branch. Since September 

1992, she has been Chief of the Depository Services Staff. For the time being she will continue 

to supervise the depository library inspectors and organize the annual Federal Depository 

Conference and the Interagency Depository Seminar. 

Prior to joining GPO, Sheila worked at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, 

and before that she was employed at the North Shore Community College in Beverly, 

Massachusetts. She received her M.S.L.S. from The Catholic University of America and her 

B.A. from Merrimack College. 

Annual Selection Update Cycle 2000 Running June & July 

Schedule: 

June 1, 1999 "Selection Update Cycle 2000" begins. Information about the Update 

Cycle will be in Administrative Notes, askLPS FAQs & News, 

GOVDOC-L and DocTech-L. 

Note: There will be no separate mailing in conjunction with Selection 

Update Cycle 2000. 

June-July Depository libraries evaluate selections. 

July 31, 1999 Deadline for submission of all additions. 

Oct. 1, 1999 New selection profiles become effective. 

Drops will be recorded and activated as soon as they are entered. 
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Selection Update Cycle 2000 will take place electronically on the Web. Libraries will be 

responsible for entering their own amendments to selections using the Web site "Amendment to 

Item Selections" on the FDLP Administration page at: 

www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/amendment.html 

Instructions for the Selection Update Cycle are located at: 

www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/updatein.html 

On the Web site, you will control the input, and the changes will be recorded instantaneously. 

You will need your depository library number and INTERNAL PASSWORD to submit your 

additions or deletions. 

If your library does not have Web access, please contact: 

Joe Paskoski 

e-mail: jpaskoski@gpo.gov 

fax: 202-512-0877 

phone: 202-512-1698 

or 

Yvonne Washington 

e-mail: ywashington@gpo.gov 

fax: 202-512-0877 

phone: 202-512-1131

Survey 99-002 Issued 

Survey 99-002 has been assigned to shipping list 99-233-P dated May 24, 1999. The survey will 

run from May 24, 1999 until June 4, 1999. All depository libraries, selectives and regionals, 

must respond to this survey. 

Libraries will not receive a paper copy of this shipping list. The survey is available online only

at: <www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/surv99-2.html>. 

Two products will be surveyed: 

 Administrative Office of U.S. Courts will issue Court Testimony and Miscellaneous 

Information on CD-ROM. Page counts and software requirements will vary upon 

release. 

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 The Patent and Trademark Office is discontinuing the use of CD-ROM format and 

converting to DVD-ROM format. Several titles will be combined. Frequencies will 

vary, but all titles will supersede. These DVD-ROM products are due to start with the 

September/October, 1999 issues. 

Only the DVD-ROM product “Trademark REGISTERED and Trademark PENDING” 

contains the same information as the online version, at 

<www.uspto.gov/tmdb/index.html>. All other DVD-ROM products contain material in 

addition to the information posted on the website for those titles. 

USAPAT and USAMark will also change to DVD-ROM format, but not before 2000. 

These titles will be surveyed in the near future. 

The following PTO titles are affected: 

1) Patents BIB (C 21.31/2:) and Patents SNAP (C 21.31/6:) will be combined. New 

class will be C 21.31/16:, item 0154-H-01. 

2) Patents ASSIGN (C 21.31/4:) and Trademarks ASSIGN (C 21.31/9:) will be 

combined. New class will be C 21.31/13:, item 0154-H-02. 

3) Trademarks REGISTERED (C 21.31/7:) and Trademarks PENDING (C 21.31/8:) 

will be combined. New class will be C 21.31/14:, item 0154-H-03. 

4) Patents CLASS (C 21.31/3:) Title and class remain the same. New item: 0154-H-04 

5) Trademark ASSIST (C 21.31/10:) Title and class remain the same. New item: 0154-

H-05. 

6) Patents ASSIST (C 21.31/5:) Title and class remain the same. New item: 0154-H06. 

NOTE: Regional libraries that are also Patent depository libraries are not 

required to select these PTO titles. 

If your library was unable to respond to 

this survey during the 2-week time frame, 

you may add the items during the annual 

item selection update cycle which concludes 

on July 31. 

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Lighted Bin Updates 

As a part of Y2K compliance efforts, several changes have taken place recently within the 

Lighted Bin System. First, the Lighted Bin System has a new name: Automated Depository 

Distribution System (ADDS). In addition, bin locations changed during the week of May 16, 

1999. These changes should be transparent to depository libraries. 

If your library experiences any major problems with shipments, please contact: 

Vicki Barber 

Chief, Depository Distribution Division 

phone: (202) 512-1014 

e-mail: <vbarber@gpo.gov> 

Claiming Procedures Reminder 

When claiming materials in paper or electronic formats, including separates, mail a copy of the 

original shipping list to the following address: 

U.S. Government Printing Office 

Library Programs Service (SLDM) 

Paper Claims 

Washington, DC 20401 

For “Direct Mail” claims, use the “Depository Library Inquiry Form” and send it to the address 

for paper format claims. 

To fax claims to GPO, including those for direct mail, use (202) 512-1429. Please do not use 

any other fax number. Using other fax numbers delays the processing of your claim. 

Mail microfiche claims directly to the contractor’s address on the shipping list. 

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LPS Now Shipping NIMA Maps 

LPS began shipping National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) maps to depositories in 

mid-May. These maps had previously been distributed directly to the libraries from NIMA. 

Because many libraries have a separate location for maps, a separates shipping list will be 

prepared and mailed to the separate map location. The depository of record will continue to 

receive the shipping list also via the regular shipment box. The shipping list number format is: 

99-2001-S. Map shipping lists are posted to the U.S. Fax Watch and to the Federal Bulletin 

Board (FBB) in .dbf format. 

Materials Selected under Old Item Numbers 

May Be Distributed under New Item Numbers 

New item numbers are assigned when new material enters the Federal Depository Library 

Program, when groups of materials are split out from existing item numbers, and when 

publications already in the program are altered in ways that make a new item number necessary. 

In the Administrative Notes Technical Supplement, new item numbers are listed in the column: 

Update to the List of Classes: New Item Numbers. These changes are posted weekly in the GPO 

Access Web site, in WEBTech Notes, at: <www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/webtech.html>. 

As noted in the Technical Supplement and in WEBTech Notes, materials previously selected 

under an old item number will continue to be distributed under the new item number unless the 

library deselects the new item. Materials received under these new item numbers must be 

processed and retained in depository collections in the same way as if received under the old 

item number. 

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1999 Recommended Specifications for Public Access Workstations 

in Federal Depository Libraries 

These recommended specifications are intended to assist depository librarians who are planning 

purchases of new personal computers (PCs) for public use in Federal depository libraries. This 

document supersedes the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) "Recommended 

Specifications for Public Access Work Stations in Federal Depository Libraries" (Administrative 

Notes, v. 18, no. 9, June 15, 1998). 

RECOMMENDED NEW WORKSTATION CONFIGURATION

COMPUTER 

Processor 

IBM-compatible Pentium chip, 333 MHz Pentium II processor minimum. Consider 450 

MHz. System board should be "ATX" form factor. 

Memory (RAM) 

64 MB (expandable) minimum - 128 MB (expandable) recommended. 

Ports 

One (1) Serial 

One (1) Universal Serial Bus (USB) 

One (1) Parallel 

One (1) P/S-2 Mouse 

One (1) SVGA Video (If video is built into system board.) 

I/O bus 

PCI. Should have at least four available PCI or shared PCI/ISA slots after system is 

configured for delivery. 

Video 

64 or 128 bit PCI interface SVGA controller. Should come with 4MB Windows RAM 

(WRAM) or Video RAM (VRAM), and be expandable to at least 8MB WRAM or 

VRAM. Recommend the selected device provide MPEG hardware acceleration. 

 FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: 64 or 128 bit PCI interface SVGA controller 

with 8MB WRAM or VRAM. 

Audio 

Sound Blaster 16 or better, or compatible (only if appropriate for library setting). 

Drive Bays 

One (1) 3.5" half-height (HH). 

Three (3) 5.25" HH Externally Accessible. 

Two (2) 3.5" HH Internal. 

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DISK DRIVES AND STORAGE 

Hard Disk Drive 

8.4 gigabytes (GB) or greater capacity, partitioned into smaller drives for quicker access 

time. IDE or SCSI interface. 

 FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: 9.0 GB or greater capacity, or network 

connectivity that provides the same. 

Removable/External Storage 

3.5" 1.44 MB drive. Use an older system for 5.25" floppy conversion. 

Also, strongly recommend additional external and/or exchangeable drives, especially 

drives such as Zip or Jaz drives for downloading files too large to fit on a regular floppy 

disk, and tape drives for periodic backup. 

DVD Drive 

4.8X speed minimum, 5X recommended. Ensure compatibility with CD-ROM, CD-R, 

DVD-ROM, DVD-Rs. Must have a MPEG-2 decoder card for video. 

 FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: 5X speed (comparable to 32X CD-ROM). 

Single platter or changer design. Should support all available standard CD formats. 

Avoid proprietary I/O designs. 

PERIPHERALS 

Monitor 

17" Super VGA (SVGA) Multimedia monitor, 0.28 dpi or smaller. May want to consider 

rotatable displays if in a technical services area or if users do a lot of word-processing. 

 FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: 21" monitor, Super VGA (SVGA), with at 

least 70 MHz vertical refresh rate at 1024x768 resolution non-interlaced, 0.28 or 

smaller dot pitch; display card which supports 1024x768 resolution at 70 MHz or 

faster. 

 Printer 

Ink Jet or laser printer. Must support PostScript. 10MB Memory, minimum. More 

recommended if using PostScript or color. 

 FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: Color ink jet plotter, 36", 600 dpi, 68 MB or 

more memory, or access to a comparable networked printer. 

 Keyboard and Pointing Device 

Microsoft-compatible keyboard, plus mouse or other compatible device. Strongly 

recommend ergonomically-designed products. 

 Internet Connectivity 

Local Area Network with TCP/IP (Strongly Recommended) 

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or 

Dial-up SLIP/PPP connection using 56 Kbps or better Modem (internal modem would be 

advisable to reduce cabling and power requirements) 

SOFTWARE 

 Operating System 

Microsoft Windows 95b (OEM release which includes "FAT-32" and their fixes), 

 or 

Microsoft Windows 98 

or 

Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation 

 

Communications 

Package which supports multiple file transfer protocols; several terminal emulations such 

as ANSI-BBS, TTY, VT-100. Data transfer rates up to 56 Kbps. Supports Hayes "AT" 

compatible modems; manages telnet sessions. Must have ability to "script" log-on files. 

 Client Software 

World Wide Web graphical browser with forms support. Java-enabled browsers such as 

Internet Explorer 4 or Netscape Navigator 4 are required for use of some online databases 

(for example, the DOE/GPO Information Bridge partnership). Also recommend consider 

EINet winWAIS 2.06 customized for use with GPO Access WAIS databases. 

 Viewers 

WWW graphical browser (see above) will handle both GIF and JPEG graphics. 

Additional PDF viewer and MPEG player; strongly recommend viewers for other file 

formats such as TIFF. 

 FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: GEOTIFF file viewer. Viewing software for 

raster data, such as Photo Shop or Print Shop. 

 Applications Software 

Consider getting an integrated "office suite" product such as Microsoft Office or Corel 

WordPerfect8 Suite. Otherwise: 

Database 

dBASE file format compatible or dBASE and ASCII comma delimited file 

importing database management software; useful to have fixed field format (SDF) 

import ability. 

Spreadsheet 

Lotus .WK1 file format compatible software; support for other formats such as 

Excel and Quattro Pro. 

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Word Processing 

Software capable of importing major text file formats (Microsoft Word, 

WordPerfect, WordPro, etc.) and ASCII text files. 

Mapping Software 

 FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE: Data manipulation package, such as 

ArcView 3.0 or higher, Landview, MapInfo 4.5 or higher, or other similar 

packages. 

DVD AS A PERIPHERAL 

A DVD external drive may be purchased to add to an existing workstation. However, 

here are some cautionary notes about this. Most of these products are first and second 

generation DVD drives and not all of them read CD-ROMs. If you want the flexibility to 

use this as an additional CD-ROM drive, verify its compatibility with CD-ROMs before 

purchasing. External drives are available only at 1X and 2X speed. This is equivalent to 

9X or 18X speed CD-ROMs and slower speeds than were recommended in last year’s 

specifications. Most external DVD models use a SCSI or PC card interface. Macintosh 

machines and many recent PCs have a SCSI interface. Make sure your system has a 

compatible interface. It must also have a MPEG-2 decoder card for video. 

Y2K 

Depository librarians are reminded to check computer and network configurations and 

software to ensure Y2K compliance. Most software developed in the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 

and to a lesser extent the 90s, was not designed to be operable into the 21st century. If 

you are using any application programs (database management, spreadsheets, word 

processors, etc.) to administer any part of the depository operation, verify their Y2K 

readiness and upgrade or migrate to a new program if necessary. 

RELATED ISSUES AND CONSIDERATIONS

These specifications are intended to assist depository staff in making informed purchases which 

will best achieve the goal of providing public access to Federal Government information in a 

variety of electronic formats. 

These guidelines are aimed at providing reasonably robust workstations which should provide 

years of service before they become obsolete, but LPS encourages the purchase of equipment 

that exceeds these specifications if at all economically feasible. The speed at which computer 

capabilities are evolving indicates that the higher the initial outlay, the longer the useful life for 

the equipment. If a higher end system is not affordable, look for flexibility and expandability in 

the system that will allow for enhancements and upgrades at a later date. 

As of this writing the Pentium III was just released. LPS believes it is too soon to recommend its 

purchase for depository libraries. At this early stage not much software supports the Katmai 

New Instructions (KNI) of the Pentium III that make it a more powerful and speedy processor. 

Of greater concern is the unique ID number associated with each chip that has potential security 

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risks. Intel is going to release software that allows the ID number to be turned on and off. When 

this problem is eliminated and if your software supports KNI, consider purchasing a 500 MHz 

Pentium III. 

Depository libraries must have computer equipment sufficient to allow timely and equitable 

public access to Government electronic information products and should allow printing or 

downloading information selected by the user. During a depository library inspection LPS will 

use a functional approach to determine compliance with this requirement. 

LPS cannot anticipate or address every possible depository library computer scenario and 

depository libraries are encouraged to adapt this menu of specifications to fit their local 

situations. Depositories may require multi-purpose single workstations, electronic access in 

networked environments, or a combination of both. Given the large variation in the size of 

Federal depository libraries and the numbers of users served, LPS cannot recommend a universal 

standard for the number of public access workstations in any given library. However, when 

assessing workstation needs, librarians should consider such local factors as: 

 the amount of information provided over the Internet compared with the amount from 

CD-ROM 

 whether and how the workstations are networked 

 to what extent users are permitted to perform additional information processing at the 

public access workstations 

 whether users are experiencing extended waiting times at library peak service hours, etc. 

When configuring workstations bear in mind that some government CD-ROM products now link 

to the web to update information on the CD-ROM. This means that for the user to get the newer 

information and the full benefit of the product at least one workstation must have both CD-ROM 

capability and Internet accessibility with a graphical browser. 

Additional or different capabilities may be desirable for workstations used by library staff. Some 

libraries may elect to add applications software, such as spreadsheet, word processing, or data 

base software, to their public access workstations, but this is a local resource management 

decision. 

Many depository libraries have existing computer equipment that is no longer "state of the art." 

These specifications should not be applied retrospectively to existing equipment, although they 

may assist in determining the appropriate time for replacement or upgrading. 

LPS has deliberately not provided specifications for Apple Macintosh (Mac) or UNIX 

workstations. Based on responses to the 1995 and 1997 Biennial Surveys, Mac's are the 

computer of choice for a small minority of the depository libraries. However, depository 

libraries that have a Mac or UNIX environment should assess their functional capabilities in light 

of these specifications. 

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LPS works with the Cartographic Users Advisory Council (CUAC) to develop any additional 

specifications which support GIS applications. These are included in the recommendations with 

the indicator “ FOR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA USE:”. 

For additional information, or if you have any questions about these specifications, please 

contact Cynthia Etkin, Depository Library Inspector, at <cetkin@gpo.gov> or by voice at (202) 

512-1119. 

Related guidelines: 

 “Public Access to Electronic Government Information Provided Through Federal Depository 

Libraries,” Administrative Notes, v. 17, #7 (May 15, 1996). 

 “Depository Library Public Service Guidelines for Government Information in Electronic 

Formats,” Administrative Notes, v. 19, #11 (September 15, 1998). 

 “FDLP Internet Use Policy Guidelines,” Administrative Notes, v. 20, #2 (January 15, 1999). 

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12 

Table of Contents 

Sheila McGarr Named Chief, Library Division............................................................................ 1 

Annual Selection Update Cycle 2000 Running June & July ....................................................... 1 

Survey 99-002 Issued.................................................................................................................... 2 

Lighted Bin Updates ..................................................................................................................... 4 

Claiming Procedures Reminder .................................................................................................... 4 

LPS Now Shipping NIMA Maps.................................................................................................. 5 

Materials Selected under Old Item Numbers May Be Distributed under New Item Numbers .... 5 

1999 Recommended Specifications for Public Access Workstations in Federal 

 Depository Libraries .................................................................................................................. 6 

Administrative Notes is published in Washington, DC by the Superintendent of Documents, Library 

Programs Service, Government Printing Office, for the staffs of U.S. Federal Depository Libraries. 

It is published on the 15th day of each month; some months have additional issues. Postmaster send 

address changes to: The Editor, Administrative Notes 

 U.S. Government Printing Office 

 Library Programs Service, SLLD 

 Washington, DC 20401 

Internet access via World Wide Web at URL: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/adnotes.html 

Editor: Marian W. MacGilvray (202) 512-1119 mmacgilvray@gpo.gov