Administrative Notes 

Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program

Vol. 21, no. 04 GP 3.16/3-2:21/04 February 15, 2000 

New Library Inspector Appointed: Charles Bradsher 

Charles Bradsher has recently joined the Library Programs Service as a depository library 

inspector. Mr. Bradsher came to LPS with 6 1/2 years experience as a library director. Most 

recently he was the Library Director of the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) in 

Bethesda, MD. As the Director of the NMRC Library, Mr. Bradsher worked with the Walter 

Reed Army Institute of Research Library Director to make the largest military research library in 

the Nation. Prior service included four years as the Library Director at Sherman College in 

Spartanburg, SC. Bradsher received his M.L.I.S. from the University of South Carolina and his 

B.A. in History from The Citadel. 

GPO Releases Kids’ Guide to Online Government Information 

Ben Franklin Provides Guided Tour of the Federal Government Using Information 

Resources Available through GPO Access 

The Government Printing Office (GPO) has released an exciting new web site for students, 

parents, and teachers. This powerful resource, called Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids, 

at <http://bensguide.gpo.gov>, provides a fun and educational introduction to how the U.S. 

Government works based on information resources available through GPO Access, GPO's 

acclaimed Internet site, at <www.access.gpo.gov>. 

With Benjamin Franklin as a guide, the kids’ pages cover topics such as the U.S. Constitution, 

how Federal laws are made, the branches of the Federal Government, and what it means to be a 

U.S. citizen. Ben's Guide also includes games and links to other U.S. Government web sites 

created for kids. A service of GPO's Superintendent of Documents, Ben's Guide offers 

instruction in the use of the primary source materials on GPO Access. It includes resources 

tailored to four specific age groups, plus a special set for parents and educators. 

Franklin was chosen as the tour guide through this site because he once held the title of “public 

printer,” the Government's printer, for several of the American colonies. He also helped 

organize one of the first libraries in America. 

According to the current Public Printer of the United States, Michael F. DiMario, “Students in 

this Nation could benefit from greater understanding of how their Federal Government works. 

With Benjamin Franklin's 294th birthday coming up on January 17, 2000, we're making Ben's 
AN-v21-#04-2/15/00 

Guide available to help students understand and appreciate the link between their Government 

 the executive 

ranch to expand access to Internet-based educational resources for children, teachers, and 

e 

children's web site” that “could be useful for reference questions as well,” and 

haracterized it has having “an attention to detail and to readability that is exemplary in web 

design.” 

DS) 

g. Installation and testing caused minimal disruption to 

epository distribution operations. Routine testing will continue to verify that correct data is 

are of recent 

small package 

ber 20, 1999 through early February, 

and the information it produces.” 

Ben's Guide complements the efforts of Federal departments and agencies in

b

parents, following a directive from President Clinton dated April 18, 1997. 

Since its release, Ben's Guide has been received positively by the library community. A 

prototype of Ben's Guide was critiqued at the American Association of School Librarians 

conference in November 1999, where it received excellent reviews. The Newsletter of th

Documents Interest Group of Oregon (December 1999) described Ben's Guide as a “welldesigned 

c

Automated Depository Distribution System Successfully Updated 

The testing phase of the Y2K update of the Automated Depository Distribution System (AD

has been successfully completed. The changes include new hardware, programming, and 

procedures, as well as staff trainin

d

being processed through ADDS. 

Shipments Delayed; Please Do Not Claim 

Thanks to the prompt notification from depository libraries, GPO has been made aw

shipment delays. Some of the delay is a result of severe snow and ice storms, which closed 

Federal Government buildings in the Washington metropolitan area for a few days. 

However, excessive delays in the receipt of shipments have again been caused by the improper 

processing of outgoing shipments by Potomac Business Center (PBC), our 

delivery carrier. GPO’s procurement office is currently handling the situation and is committed 

to having shipments at the contractor’s facility sent by Friday, February 4. 

Please postpone claiming missing shipments dated Decem

2000. All of these shipments should be delivered to depositories by February 14. Please do not 

send claims for these shipments until after February 14. 

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LPS appreciates your cooperation in identifying shipment delivery performance problems. 

Pleas , 

epo

l 

e highest value on the 

ents Data Miner, 

A during the week of October 22-25, 2000. 

If you would like to volunteer as a speaker or can identify potential speakers or topics, please 

ontact Sheila McGarr by telephone ail 

Update on NTDB 

he Department of Commerce has supplied the following update to the information given in 

tp site is <ftpserv.esa.doc.gov>. 

STAT-USA has developed the NTDB Quick Start Manual, which will be loaded to an ft

located at <f

Instea tch. 

om>, and access it that way. Use <ntdb> for both the user name and password to access the 

e continue to report delayed, missing, or irregular shipments to Ms. Vicki Barber, Chief

D sitory Distribution Division, at (202) 512-1014, or by e-mail at <vbarber@gpo.gov>. 

You Can Help Plan the 2000 Federal Depository Conference 

Once again, the Library Programs Service is seeking assistance from the depository community

to identify topics, potential agencies, speakers, and information products for the 2000 Federa

Depository Conference. 

The participants in the 1999 Federal Depository Conference placed th

Federal agency presentations, especially the latest information on their electronic products and 

services. The one-hour orientation to the Conference/Council on Sunday afternoon and the 

three-hour brainstorming session with experienced documents librarians and GPO staff on 

Monday afternoon were hits as well. Hints on writing the self-study, Docum

depository management, and tours were very popular. 

Your ideas are needed to create another successful Federal Depository Conference. The 2000 

conference, regional meeting, and Depository Library Council will be held at the Holiday InnWestpark in Arlington, V

c on (202) 512-1119; by fax on (202) 512-1432; or by e-m

on <smcgarr@gpo.gov> no later than May 5. 

[T

Administrative Notes, v. 20, # 18, 12/15/99.] 

The userid and password are for accessing the Commerce/ESA ftp site, not WS_FTP's web site. 

The f

p server, 

tpser.esa.doc.gov>. To access this site you cannot use your Internet web browser. 

d, use a stand-alone program like WS_FTP, available for free from <http://www.ipswi

c

site. 

3 
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Still Time to Register for Interagency Depository Seminar 

 register for the 13th Annual Interagency Depository Seminar 

 from May 31 through June 7, 2000. Presentations will focus on 

 products and activities as they relate to Federal depository 

 U.S. Department of Energy 

icipants at the St. James Hotel. The hotel is 

ble occupancy. The extra person 

l 

02) 457-0500 or (800) 852-

. Please tell the reservation clerk that you are attending the GPO seminar and quote the 

above room rate. If you are interested in sharing a suite with 1 or 2 librarians attending the 

seminar, Sheila McGarr at LPS will try to match up roommates. You may contact her by 

telephone on (202) 512-1119 or via e-mail at <smcgarr@gpo.gov>. 

There is still room and time to

being held in Washington, DC

various agencies' information

libraries. Presenters include:

 Bureau of the Census 

 Copyright Office 

 Library of Congress 

 Office of the Federal Register 

 Patent and Trademark Office 

 Government Printing Office 

For a preliminary agenda and other details see Administrative Notes, v. 20, no. 15 (10/15/99). It 

may be viewed at <www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/ad101599.html>. 

Accommodations 

A block of suites has been reserved for seminar part

located at 950 24th Street NW, Washington, DC, one block from the Foggy Bottom Metro 

station. Attendees can take the Metro train from Washington’s Reagan National Airport to the 

hotel and to Union Station, which is about a block from GPO. The Library of Congress can be

reached by Metro or by walking from GPO. 

A suite (bedroom, kitchen complete with china and cookware, and dining area) is available for 

the government rate of $132.00 per night for single or dou

charge for triple occupancy is $20.00. The room rate is subject to additional Washington, DC 

taxes that are currently 14.5%. Overnight parking is $17.00. If you wish to reserve a suite at the 

St. James Hotel, you should call as soon as a seminar reservation is confirmed by GPO. Hote

reservations must be made no later than April 14, 2000. 

The phone number of the reservation desk at the St. James Hotel is (2

8512

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2000 Interagency Depository Seminar 

REGISTRATION FORM

Mail to: Chief, Library Division Mail by: March 13, 2000

Library Programs Service (SLLD) 

U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington, DC 20401 

 I would like to attend the May 31 - June 7, 2000 Interagency Depository Seminar. 

I need lodging and will contact the hotel directly. 

 

I have not previously attended this GPO-sponsored seminar. 

Enclosed is my check for $17.00 payable to "GPO Cafeteria Service." 

Please type or print clearly: 

_____________ 

Depository # 

________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Name 

________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Institution Name 

________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Library Name 

________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Street Address 

City/State/Zip Code+4 

________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Telephone (include area code) 

________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Internet E-mail Address 

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Michael F. Dimario 

Public Printer

Prepared Statement before the 

Subcommittee on Legislative Appropriations

Committee on Appropriations 

House of Representatives 

On 

Appropriations Request for Fiscal Year 2001 

Tuesday, February 1, 2000 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I am pleased to be here to present the 

appropriations request of the Government Printing Office (GPO) for FY 2001. 

FY 2001 Appropriations Request 

For FY 2001, we are requesting a total of $121,251,000. The request includes $80,800,000 for 

the annual Congressional Printing and Binding Appropriation and $34,451,000 for the annual 

Salaries and Expenses Appropriation of the Superintendent of Documents. It also includes 

$6,000,000 for GPO’s revolving fund, to remain available until expended, for extraordinary 

expenses associated with the replacement of our air-conditioning system. 

The Congressional Printing and Binding Appropriation is critical to the maintenance and 

operation of our in-plant capacity, which is structured to serve Congress’s information product 

needs. This appropriation covers the costs of congressional printing such as the Congressional 

Record, bills, reports, hearings, documents, and other products. Each year, a substantial volume 

of this work is requisitioned. In FY 1999, more than 800 million copy pages of congressional 

products were produced at an average cost of about 7.4 cents per page, inclusive of all prepress 

work, printing, binding, and delivery. This appropriation also covers database preparation work 

on congressional publications disseminated online via GPO Access, our Internet information 

service. 

The majority of the Superintendent of Documents Salaries and Expenses Appropriation is for the 

Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). While some of the funding for this program is for 

salaries and benefits, most is for printing and disseminating publications (including publications 

in CD-ROM and online formats) to depository libraries. This appropriation also covers other 

statutory distribution responsibilities, such as cataloging and indexing and international exchange 

distribution of U.S. Government publications, and provides the majority of funding for the 

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operation of GPO Access. GPO’s other major distribution functions, the sales program and 

agency distribution services, are funded by revenues earned and receive no appropriated funds. 

Congressional Printing and Binding Appropriation 

The items covered by our request of $80,800,000 for the Congressional Printing and Binding 

Appropriation are as follows: 

Estimated

Category Requirement 

Congressional Record $17.8 million

 (including the online Record, 

 the Index, and the bound Record) 

Committee hearings $16.9 million

Miscellaneous Printing and Binding $15.8 million 

 (including letterheads, envelopes, 

 blank paper, and other products) 

Bills, resolutions, amendments $10.3 million 

Miscellaneous Publications $ 6.8 million 

 (including the Congressional Directory, 

 the U.S. Code, and serial sets) 

Committee Reports $ 4.1 million 

Details to Congress $ 2.3 million

Documents $ 2.2 million 

Committee Prints $ 1.8 million

Business and Committee Calendars $ 1.8 million 

Document Envelopes and Franks $ 1.0 million

Total $80.8 million 

Part of the increase in our request over the current year is due to changes in product prices. Price 

increases are anticipated to increase our funding requirements by $2,283,000 over the current 

year base, due to the increased costs of employee compensation and benefits (based on existing 

wage contracts), utilities, maintenance, materials, and supplies. 

The majority of the increase in our request is due to projected workload, or volume, increases. 

An increase of $5,220,000 over the current year base is required due to anticipated workload 

increases, based on historical trend data. Most of this increase, or $2,880,000, is projected for 

miscellaneous publications due primarily to the reprinting of the U.S. Code, which is done every 

six years. In addition, there is an increase of $1,045,000 in miscellaneous printing and binding to 

provide for the restoration of projected workload to a level requisite to meet historical demands. 

Based on historical data, we also project increased workloads for bills, resolutions, and 

amendments, hearings, committee reports, documents, details to Congress, and committee prints. 

A partially offsetting workload reduction is projected for business and committee calendars. 

While these estimates are based on historical factors and represent our best estimates as to the 

projected workload for the first session of the 107th Congress, actual workload may vary. 

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Salaries and Expenses Appropriation

The programs covered by our request of $34,451,000 for the Salaries and Expenses 

Appropriation of the Superintendent of Documents are as follows: 

 Estimated 

Program Requirements 

Federal Depository Library Program $29.8 million 

Cataloging and Indexing Program $ 3.3 million 

International Exchange Program $ .9 million 

By-Law Distribution Program $ .5 million 

Total $34.5 million 

Mandatory pay increases and price level changes represent $926,000 of the total requested 

increase. Mandatory pay increases account for $403,000 of this amount. We are requesting 

$523,000 to cover price level changes calculated at the assumed rate of inflation for the year, or 

2.1 percent. 

A total of $3,409,000 over the current year base is requested for workload changes, primarily for 

expenditures associated with the FDLP. Of this amount, $1,624,000 is requested under 

miscellaneous services to fund expenses primarily associated with GPO Access operating and 

hardware costs, resulting from the continuing addition of new products and capacity to GPO 

Access as well as ensuring permanent public access to the FDLP electronic collection. A total of 

$1,029,000 is requested under depository and international exchange printing to fund increases in 

depository printing expenses, as the result of the reprinting and distribution of the U.S. Code. An 

increase of $582,000 is requested under personnel compensation and benefits to fund 5 

additional depository library program positions (3 for GPO Access support, development, and 

new product outreach; 1 for library inspections; and 1 for FDLP electronic collection 

development), and 4 additional catalogers in the cataloging and indexing program. The balance 

of the requested workload increase, or $214,000 less anticipated offsetting reductions of $40,000 

in travel and transportation costs, is for materials and supplies, primarily to support the 

continuing expansion of GPO Access. 

We are also requesting an increase of $244,000 in depreciation due to an increase in asset 

acquisitions, again primarily in support of GPO Access. 

Transition to More Electronic Dissemination. The transition to a more electronic FDLP is 

continuing, as projected in the Study to Identify Measures Necessary for a Successful Transition 

to a More Electronic Federal Depository Library Program (June 1996), as required by Congress 

in the Legislative Appropriations Act for FY 1996. In FY 1999, 46 percent of the new titles 

made available were disseminated electronically. So far in FY 2000, 67 percent of the new titles 

available to the public through the FDLP have been online. Because of electronic information 

dissemination, the FDLP now delivers more products than ever before. In FY 1999, 70,340 new 

titles were disseminated through the FDLP. That was the second highest amount ever, and there 

is no end in sight to the potential program growth of electronic titles. 

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Status Report on GPO Access. We recently submitted the second Biennial Report to Congress 

on the Status of GPO Access, as required by section 4103 of Title 44, U.S.C. As the report 

notes, GPO Access now serves as one of the leading online sources of free, official Government 

information for the public. Its resources, covering all three branches of the Federal Government, 

provide public access to more than 104,000 titles on GPO servers and an additional 62,000 titles 

on Federal agency web sites. The public currently uses GPO Access to retrieve approximately 

21 million Federal documents each month, and user feedback is highly positive. Moreover, the 

cost to operate this system has been significantly less than was originally projected. Overall, 

GPO Access has been a highly successful undertaking, and promises to continue serving as one 

of the public’s primary sources for electronic access to Government information. 

Revolving Fund 

FY 1999 Performance. After two consecutive years of year-end net income, GPO completed 

FY 1999 with an under-recovery of $5 million on $765 million in total revenues, a margin of 

approximately six-tenths of one percent. The under-recovery was financed by retained earnings 

and did not place GPO in an anti-deficiency position or require additional appropriations. 

The primary cause of the under-recovery was in our sales program, which is funded entirely by 

revenues earned on sales of publications. The free availability of publications on GPO Access 

and other Government web sites has contributed to reduced sales of printed products, although 

other factors, including reduced agency publishing and competition from other sales 

organizations, both public and private, are also contributory factors. We also experienced an 

under-recovery in our printing procurement program. We have made price adjustments in both 

programs to increase cost recovery in the future, and we are reviewing additional options to 

restore the sales program to a sound financial basis. During the year, an audit of GPO’s financial 

reports and systems for FY 1998 was conducted by KPMG Peat Marwick, Inc., under contract 

with the General Accounting Office. The audit resulted in a clean opinion for GPO. 

Air Conditioning System. Our appropriations submission includes a request for $6,000,000 for 

the revolving fund, to be available until expended, to cover the cost of necessary improvements 

to GPO’s air conditioning system, which is in critical need of replacement. Without a direct 

appropriation, financing this extraordinary capital expense through the revolving fund will 

require us to reimburse the fund through rate adjustments. As this expense is not directly related 

to the provision of printing and information product services, its impact on our rate structure will 

be detrimental to our ability to carry out our mission to provide cost-effective and economical 

products and services. The installation of our air conditioning system in the early 1970’s was 

funded by direct appropriations to the revolving fund, and we request that this extraordinary cost 

be funded similarly. 

FTE Level. We are requesting a statutory ceiling on employment of full-time equivalents 

(FTE’s) of 3,285. GPO is now at its lowest employment point in this century. We have reduced 

employment levels by 35 percent over the past decade, and by more than 33 percent since the 

beginning of FY 1993. This FTE level will allow us to hire for essential positions. 

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Additional Issues 

Legislative Changes. We are requesting two legislative changes to Title 44, U.S.C., as part of 

our appropriations submission. 

We are requesting a change to section 303 of Title 44, regarding the pay of the Public Printer and 

the Deputy Public Printer, to maintain pay parity with other comparable legislative branch 

officials as well as appropriate comparability with senior congressional staff. 

We are also requesting a change in section 1708 of Title 44, regarding the pricing of sales 

publications, to provide us with greater flexibility in pricing documents for sale, including the 

setting of sales discounts at rates comparable to the private sector in order to attract greater 

commercial interest in the resale of Government publications. 

Strategic Plan. At the request of the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing, we are 

preparing a strategic plan for GPO. The plan will chart our course for providing information 

reproduction and dissemination services to the Government and the public over the next six 

years, from 2000 to 2005. Although GPO is not covered by the Government Performance and 

Results Act, our plan is being designed consistent with the requirements for strategic plans 

contained in that Act and in Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-11, section 210, 

Preparation and Submission of Strategic Plans. We have consulted with staff of the Joint 

Committee on Printing in the development of the plan. 

From our perspective, GPO currently plays—and will continue to fulfill—the Government’s 

leading role in the provision of information products and services. The 1998 management audit 

by Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Inc., found strong support in Congress for GPO’s in-house 

production operations for congressional printing, “universal support” among executive branch 

agencies for GPO’s printing procurement program, and strong support for the FDLP. In 

addition, the audit recommended that GPO make an increasing amount of government 

information available electronically, free of charge, over the Internet. 

Our strategic plan is based on our assessment of the future of the Federal information product 

environment, an environment once dominated by traditional printing and information 

reproduction processes but now changing rapidly and forever from the impact of e-information 

technologies, especially the Internet. GPO is already a major player in this environment with 

GPO Access and related e-information capabilities. We will continue to fulfill a leadership role 

in the Government in the provision of innovative, efficient, and effective e-information products 

and services. 

At the same time, GPO will continue to meet the ongoing needs of the Government and the 

public for information products and services in traditional formats. Over the next six years, the 

Government will produce more than $1 billion annually in printing and reproduction services. 

Printing continues to serve as an effective safeguard for ensuring that those without access to 

computers can still use Government information, and for guaranteeing both the authenticity of 

official Government information as well as permanence. While we envision a gradual decline in 

GPO’s size as the mix of electronic and traditional work we produce changes over time, 

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maintaining a well-equipped and expertly staffed printing and dissemination capability for the 

foreseeable future will give us an important tool to manage this transition. 

Audit Recommendations Status Report. Consistent with the requirement contained in House 

Report 105-734, accompanying H.R. 4112, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for Fiscal 

Year 1999, we have submitted the second annual report on the status of actions to implement the 

recommendations contained in the management audit of GPO, conducted in 1998 by Booz-Allen 

& Hamilton, Inc. 

As with last year’s status report, the latest report shows that GPO either plans to act, is currently 

acting, or has acted affirmatively on more than 75 percent of the recommendations contained in 

the Booz-Allen & Hamilton final audit report. These include recommendations on planning, 

program modernization, ensuring financial stability, promoting intra-agency communications, 

and improving information technology capabilities as well as ensuring preparedness for the Year 

2000. We will continue to utilize the Booz-Allen & Hamilton recommendations to make 

management improvements to GPO operations. 

Update on Superintendent of Documents Programs

Remarks by Francis J. Buckley, Jr.

Superintendent of Documents 

Before the Federal Documents Task Force 

Government Documents Round Table 

American Library Association 

San Antonio, TX 

January 15, 2000 

Introduction 

Good morning. It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to talk with you here in San Antonio and 

provide an update on the Superintendent of Documents programs. 

As some of you might have heard me mention at the Depository Library Council meeting this 

past October, a few days before that meeting, I participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for 

PubScience with Department of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. In his extemporaneous 

remarks he complimented the work of GPO and noted we were often not recognized for all the 

important work we do, but that we were doing the Lord's work. Well, I extend that to the FDLP 

and all libraries providing access to government information to people all across the country. 

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Electronic Transition 

As we enter the new millennium, we in GPO are pleased that we continue to provide more and 

more access to more government information in a variety of formats to more people than ever 

before! The methods and mediums are evolving and changing, but the overall purpose of 

informing the nation is being fulfilled. In FY 1999, the FDLP distributed over 16 million copies 

of 40,000 tangible publications to depository libraries, an increase of 1.37% in titles over FY '98 

and an 11.5% increase in copies over the same period. GPO Access provided access to another 

30,000 titles, increasing the electronic collection of in-house databases and agency electronic 

publications to over 150,000 titles, which are currently being used at the rate of more than 21 

million times a month. And in the Sales Program, we distributed over 19 million copies of the 

more than 12,000 publications available. 

While the times and our programs are changing, we are achieving a high level of information 

dissemination. As an example, let me describe developments in the Consumer Information 

Center (CIC) programs and our distribution center in Pueblo, CO. In FY 1999, the number of 

orders processed declined slightly from the previous year from 2.03 million to 1.98 million. The 

number of publications mailed dropped from 7.6 million to 6.3 million. But the number of items 

used on the CIC web site, which has all of the publications available for free access, increased 

from 6.5 million to 9.5 million. Thus the total number of consumer publications distributed 

increased to a record setting 15.8 million. This is wonderful, but this changing paradigm of use 

and the consequent issues of funding are driving a study of the future programs and services of 

the Pueblo Distribution Center. 

The growth in electronic technology in some ways provides more and better access to 

government information products, but I think we can all agree that it has created problems, too. 

It has become more difficult for GPO, librarians and the public to acquire data in the 

decentralized environment of Federal web sites that are being established without any 

coordination, standards or guidelines. There are a number of public and commercial efforts 

underway to provide indexing and retrieval programs for the government information on the 

Internet. There are various approaches by search engines such as GovBot, Yahoo, Lycos, Alta 

Vista and Google, and some services are establishing specialized programs or portals such as 

Northern Light and America Online. 

Within the government in the last couple of years, there have been proposals for a master 

web.gov site, and currently there are discussions about a partnership-based clearinghouse for 

Federal government information. Through it all, GPO Access has continued to grow and 

develop. GPO continues to provide data to the Thomas web site at the Library of Congress and 

to other information redisseminators. And we have removed the robot exclusion so our site can 

be indexed by other search engines and retrieved by people performing general searches as well 

as by those performing searches specifically on GPO Access. 

Of course this gets back to our concern (as Mr. DiMario has mentioned) about permanent public 

access to agency data that can disappear with the click of the "delete" key. In fact, I am sure that 

many of you have heard about the problem that was recently reported about the loss of 43,000 emails at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). What makes the incident 

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most unfortunate is that the e-mails are gone without a trace; there was no back-up system in 

operation at the time this happened last summer. How the messages disappeared is really not the 

issue. The fact is that they are gone and that is happening to other government agency 

information. It is imperative that there be safeguards in place to ensure that government 

information from the late 1900's not wind up in a black hole in cyberspace. 

Benefits of the FDLP 

I also want to take this opportunity to discuss the importance of the Federal Depository Library 

Program (FDLP), especially in this electronic age. 

We have seen a small decline in the numbers of libraries in the program. At this time last year, 

there were 1,353 libraries in the program; there are now 1,342, a decrease of 11 libraries, less 

than one percent. Not earth-shattering but, indeed, libraries are leaving the program. There are 

certainly many reasons for this decrease; lack of resources, less staff, housing issues, to name a 

few. But one reason that has been mentioned by some libraries is the assumption that 

"everything they need is on the web" and that there's no need to go to all the trouble of handling 

the tangible documents. Without sounding like a Luddite, I must disagree that all government 

publications are "out there" in an electronic format. 

We are continuing to see a variety of formats used for government information dissemination. 

Most material published in tangible formats is not also online and is not even available for sale. 

We foresee a mixed format environment in the future, and I believe that many thinkers in the 

library world agree with me. Indeed, I do believe that librarians and archivists agree that we 

must consider the formats we are using to save, capture, preserve, and archive information. 

An article in the July 12, 1999 issue of Newsweek was titled, "History: We're Losing It." The 

subheading says, "They told us digital data would last forever. They lied. How do we save the 

past before it all disappears?" Perhaps we have not been lied to. But as new and snazzier 

formats come along in this web-driven world, few of us actually know how long these media 

might actually last or be useable. 

Although the benefits of the FDLP are getting less tangible there are several key points in the 

program: 

 Depository libraries continue to provide an essential service to their primary clientele and the 

American public by serving as centers for access to Federal government information. 

Although it is now estimated that 130 million households own computers, 130 million do not. 

Of those with computers, there is no estimate of how many are connected to the Internet and 

how many people have the skills and knowledge to find the government information they 

may need. 

 The FDLP provides both tangible publications, many not on the web, and access to some 

electronic publications not freely available. It provides backup services, and a support 

system through the network of regional and selective depositories for reference and retrieval 

of government information. 

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Last summer, as I was preparing to speak at the American Association of Law Libraries annual 

conference, I followed an online discussion that took place on AALL's Professional 

Development Committee's discussion list about the role of law libraries in the depository 

program. When asked why law libraries should stay in the FDLP, responses included: 

 “...receiving the documents themselves is the biggest advantage, even if there is alot of chaff 

with the wheat.” 

 “...creating good will in the community is always a plus.” 

 “I have...found that depository status has brought my institution positive attention from our 

congressional delegation.” 

 “With so many problems with commercial legal publishers in these days of mergers and 

buyouts - billing problems, discontinuing titles, poor service - GPO as a publisher is starting 

to look better and better!” 

 open 

um 

berg, a printer, was hailed as a major figure and in 

me cases, THE person of the millennium! 

iennial Survey 

iennial survey, I would like to take a moment to discuss 

me of the results with you here. 

As of December 10, 1999 we had received 1298 responses. 

Federal Depository Libraries," by having at least one Pentium level PC for Internet access. 

e 152 do not. We hope that those libraries without such a policy consider 

producing one. 

and library-wide local area networks (260), in 

rculating them to patrons (743). 

That last comment is my favorite, although I might be a bit biased. 

This is not to say that the FDLP is not moving towards an electronic future. With more

access to digital information we must be cognizant of information in cyberspace AND 

information in tangible formats. We should not forget that in the Y2K hype and millenni

madness of a mere few weeks ago, the invention of movable type was hailed as a major 

achievement of the last 1,000 years and Guten

so

B

Although a handout has been provided by the Depository Services Staff that highlights 

preliminary results from the 1999 B

so



 Of that number, we are pleased to note, over 95% of the respondents said that their library 

meets the requirements for "Public Access to Electronic Information Provided through the 

 1141 depositories have a written collection development policy for U.S. depository 

documents, whil

 We are encouraged that most libraries make depository CD-ROMs accessible from standalone workstations (1143), the Internet (278), 

addition to ci

14 
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Sales Program 

 to incur losses. We are experiencing dramatic 

ductions in sales due to a number of reasons: 

Changing government printing practices, both in quantity and format 

Changing customer purchasing patterns 

ition for products and markets from other government sales programs and 

the private sector 

ther government agencies) has put some of its sales publications on the 

web for free access 

ros and 

ut 

ucts 

lications we have in the Sales Program can reach a wider 

udience using the World Wide Web. 

would like to conclude with some comments about developments in GPO Access. 

iennial Report 

ade available in electronic 

rmat only at the following URL: <www.gpo.gov/biennialreport>. 

ser Survey 

. 

d satisfaction with the 

meliness of information, online user aids, and web site organization. 

I would like to briefly talk about the other major dissemination program I oversee -- the Sales 

program, which in this past fiscal year continued

re





 Increasing compet

 GPO (like so many o

Indeed, as I noted earlier, the advent of new technologies such as the Internet, has both p

cons. With free online access to some of our best sellers, such as the Federal Register, 

Congressional Record, etc., our sales are declining. In fact, two-thirds of our decline in revenue 

from 1998 to 1999 was due to reduced sales revenue from the Code of Federal Regulations. B

in this electronic world, we must look at things in a new and different way. We are currently 

enhancing our online bookstore to better assist users in finding Federal information prod

available for sale through GPO. And Sales staff is working with both amazon.com and 

barnesandnoble.com to see that the pub

a

I 

B

On December 31, 1999, we released our Biennial Report to Congress on the Status of GPO 

Access. This publication reported the growth in content, popularity, and capability that GPO 

Access has experienced over the last two years. The report is being m

fo

U

Over the last three months, the Office of Electronic Information Dissemination (EIDS) 

conducted a user survey on GPO Access. Preliminary results from December 15, 1999 showed 

that of 213 respondents, nearly 20% use GPO Access daily and 35% use it at least once a week

With regards to finding information on the site, 98% of respondents indicated that they found 

what they were looking for, with 58% having found it either "easy" or "very easy" to find the 

information they wanted. A vast majority of respondents also displaye

ti

15 
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Ben's Guide 

On December 1, 1999, we released "Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids." With Benjamin 

Franklin as a guide, the site provides a locator service to age-appropriate online educational 

resources about government for students in grades K-12, parents, and teachers. In addition, 

"Ben's Guide" provides tips for using GPO Access and links to other Federal Government web 

sites for kids. 

Since its release, "Ben's Guide" has received excellent feedback. The Newsletter of the 

Documents Interest Group of Oregon described the site as "a well-designed children's web site" 

that "could be useful for reference questions as well" and described it as having an "attention to 

detail and to readability that is exemplary in web design." 

I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the GPO staff members who have worked so 

hard to bring Ben's Guide to "life"-- they are Cindy Etkin and Steve Kerchoff of LPS (he is here 

at the conference) and Karen Sieger from EIDS. 

Davis-Bacon Act 

This coming March, we are hoping to make government documents' librarians' lives easier by 

posting the General Wage Determinations Under the Davis-Bacon Act on GPO Access. An 

agreement has been reached between GPO and the Department of Labor that will allow the 

information to be posted on GPO Access with no usage restrictions and at no charge to our users. 

We are still finalizing implementation details with Labor, but we plan to begin by mounting the 

2000 basic manual as a searchable database and then add new Determinations in weekly batches. 

Electronic Collection 

Later this morning, George Barnum and Steve Kerchoff will discuss the FDLP Electronic 

Collection and related issues. I am very pleased that we've set some specific objectives for this 

program. In FY 2001, GPO will have at least 500 "at-risk" electronic titles stored in the FDLP 

Electronic Collection archive. In each subsequent fiscal year, GPO will select, acquire, archive, 

and provide access to an additional 500 electronic titles. By FY 2003, we plan to develop a plan 

for avoiding technological obsolescence of the files in the FDLP/EC archive. 

Conclusion 

As you can see we are very busy. But we certainly want your comments, questions and 

suggestions about our programs. There are a number of GPO staff here who are available for 

consultations, including Mr. DiMario, Gil Baldwin, Sheila McGarr, T.C. Evans, Tad Downing, 

Robin Haun-Mohamed, George Barnum and Steve Kerchoff. I also look forward to talking with 

you in the coming days here. 

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Update on Depository Administration Branch Operations 

Remarks by Robin Haun-Mohamed

Chief, Depository Administration Branch 

Before the Federal Documents Task Force 

Government Documents Round Table 

American Library Association 

San Antonio, TX 

January 16, 2000

Good morning! It’s always nice to be asked to speak before GODORT. My name is Robin 

Haun-Mohamed and I am Chief of the Depository Administration Branch (DAB) of the Library 

Programs Service (LPS). My area is responsible for acquiring and classifying all publications, 

regardless of format, disseminated through the Federal Depository Library Program. This 

morning I have a little of this and a little of that to relay. As we announced in December, the 

Davis-Bacon General Wage Determinations will be available on GPO Access this spring. The 

Department of Labor is providing the data and LPS will make it available in a WAIS database as 

part of the FDLP Electronic Collection. Currently this information is disseminated to the 

libraries in paper format, as a basic manual with weekly paper updates that libraries must 

interfile as they are received. The electronic database will be easier to use and libraries will save 

time by not having to interfile the updates each week. We expect the database to be available 

sometime in March. Please continue to check “What’s New on GPO Access” and the 

Administrative Notes for notification when the database is available. 

I am pleased to announce the completion of the revision of Circular Letter 456, Guidelines for 

the Provision of Government Publications for Depository Library Distribution. This was last 

issued to agencies in 1990 as Circular Letter 320. We use these Guidelines extensively to do 

outreach to agencies for publications. And because it has been reissued as a circular letter, it has 

also been distributed by e-mail to all agency printing officials that have requested copies of GPO 

circular letters. Thus, current information about the program has reached many printing officials 

and program officers who might not otherwise be aware of the FDLP. 

In addition to the revision of the Guidelines, we have also issued Circular Letter 457, 

Notification of Intent to Publish and Circular Letter 458, Disseminating Electronic Government 

Products to the Public Through the Federal Depository Library Program (better known as the 

Internet Product Notification form). Each of these circular letters includes information on how 

to submit publishing notification electronically to GPO. We hope the agencies find these forms 

useful. All of the newly issued circular letters are now available on the World Wide Web from 

GPO’s Customer Service page. And the Notification of Intent to Publish is available from the 

Main GPO home page. 

For DAB, this is a success story. From one DOE contractor using the new online 3868 

notification form process, I have had notice of ten publications that otherwise would be fugitive 

17 
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documents! And I have had contact with several other agencies that wish to be sure their 

products are included in the FDLP. 

For many years the Country Studies have been prepared by the Federal Research Division of the 

Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the 

Department of the Army. In FY 1998, the Department of the Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff for 

Plans and Operations decided to terminate funding for the Program. GPO is working with the 

Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress to publish the next two country studies in a 

physical format. If all goes well, two studies, the Dominican Republic and Haiti and the Cuba 

Country Studies will be distributed to the libraries in paper sometime in the late spring or early 

summer. 

In another project, GPO has been working with EPA to coordinate dissemination of the 

information in the “Off-site Consequence Analysis Information” (OCA) portion of the EPA 

Chemical Accident Prevention Risk Management Program to the libraries in the FDLP. At this 

time we are discussing dissemination options, including E-Books, for the depository libraries. 

Under the Clean Air Act of 1990, facilities that use large amounts of extremely hazardous 

substances must prepare Risk Management Plans (RMP), including worst-case accident 

scenarios. But in S.880, Congress directed EPA to prevent full disclosure of the OCA data via 

RMP databases on the World Wide Web. EPA was directed to establish an information 

technology system that provides for the availability to the public of the OCA data through a 

central database that contains information that users may read, but that provides no means by 

which an electronic or mechanical copy of the information may be made. I’ve probably said 

more than I should on this topic as Lisa Jenkins from EPA is a scheduled speaker here today and 

I am sure she has a great many more details for you on this project. 

In June, the State Department announced the decision to discontinue publishing Dispatch 

magazine, effective with the December 1999 issue. According to the agency, every speech, 

testimony, and briefing made available to Public Affairs is provided to the public via the World 

Wide Web. Because Dispatch provides a narrow selection of speeches and testimonies per 

month, the State Department believes this is the time to focus resources on the area in which they 

can economically reach the most readers. On a brighter note, the Background Notes will 

continue to be distributed to the libraries in paper format. Although the State Department is no 

longer going to print the Background Notes, GPO will obtain the information from State and 

make them available for sale and distribute them through the FDLP in paper format. 

Since I am speaking about all the “good stuff” I’d like to make a plug for Ben’s Page. I really 

want to take credit for this terrific product, but since I can’t, I’d like to thank my co-workers, 

Cindy Etkin, Steve Kerchoff, and Karen Sieger for their efforts. For those of you who haven’t 

seen the page, go to <http://bensguide.gpo.gov/>. I even brought it to the attention of some 

teachers in our local school and they like it too! When I asked one teacher what he thought of 

the page, he responded, “I can see one problem—they’re going to fight over who gets to do the 

puzzles.” 

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OK, back to the more traditional fare. In late December we received the copies of the daily 

Congressional Record and Federal Registers that were missing due to the change from direct 

mail to shipping in the shipment boxes. You should have received all the issues by this time. 

We have been placing these titles in the Congressional shipment boxes to allow them to go out 

ahead of regular shipment boxes. Then, as I was preparing this speech, we realized the List of 

Sections Affected and the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents also had delivery 

problems. (The September, October November issues of the LSA and Weekly Comp from issue 

43 +) So, we are going to obtain copies of the missing paper issues. Please let us know if you are 

still having problems with receipt of any of the titles that used to be sent directly to your library. 

And while I am speaking about the congressional shipments, let me give you an update on the 

rebinding project for the defective bound Congressional Record volumes. At this time the 

Bindery Division continues to have more material to process than they have staff. I am hoping 

the volumes will be sent back to the libraries by mid-March. This is significantly longer than 

you expected to have the volumes out of your library and I apologize for the delay. I appreciate 

your continued patience with this project. 

Quite some time ago, we took on the project of updating the Superseded List. As most of you 

know, this is a joint project between LPS staff and the librarians who use the material, because 

LPS does not have a physical collection of depository material. For the material distributed to 

the libraries in a physical format, our processing copies go to Cataloging and then to NARA as 

scheduled every four years. 

When the Superseded project was first mentioned, there were some who wished to concentrate 

on the tangible electronic products. We thought this would be useful and began with that plan in 

mind. But once the reviewers started their agencies’ review, it was determined to be easier to do 

all formats, not just focus on the CD’s and floppies. So, we have 35 volunteers who have done a 

great job in reviewing the material—almost all of the initial review has been done. The next 

process is to compare the new entries against a database of the 1996 edition and reconcile any 

conflicts. Then we will convert the data to an SGML database that will be accessible via the 

web, similar to the WEBTech Notes database. While we are not there yet, I did want to assure 

you we continue to work on this project. 

LPS continues to update WEBTech Notes on a weekly or twice monthly basis. The most up-todate information on classification numbers and item numbers is found in WEBTech Notes. We 

send our thanks to those librarians who check the database before submitting their askLPS 

inquiry. It really does help keep the numbers down. Of course, it also makes it more difficult to 

process the inquiries, because there are very few easy ones, only the “challenging” ones are left. 

For the askLPS service for this year, LPS has received 818 inquiries and processed 1132 (boy 

have we been working on some backlogs!). 

There are a few reminders I’d like to make at this time. When submitting an askLPS inquiry, 

please always include your e-mail address. Sometimes libraries submit the inquiry and there is 

no way to determine who sent it, because the library number and email address fields are not 

filled in. Occasionally you may see a response that begins with, “I hope this is going to the right 

place...” because the only return address information included on the inquiry was the library 

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number. One further thing on askLPS, we can’t always answer the inquiries in the order we 

receive them. Because some inquiries are very complicated or if we have to contact the agency 

to verify information, the answer will take more time than a straightforward, “there was a typo 

on SL 2000-0020-P.” 

The Administrative Notes Technical Supplement (ANTS) will continue to be distributed to 

libraries in paper format. In the May 15, 1999 issue of Administrative Notes, the Library 

Programs Service (LPS) proposed changing the ANTS from a printed product to an electronic 

only product. This proposal was one response to a fall 1998 recommendation from the 

Depository Library Council to the Public Printer to continue the transition to a more electronic 

Federal Depository Library Program by discontinuing or consolidating "traditional" tangible 

products and services. 

LPS received numerous comments and expressions of concern over this proposed change. Many 

of these comments concern the difficulties of producing a complete and satisfactory printed 

version of ANTS from the HTML pages on GPO Access. In light of these comments, LPS is 

investigating ways to improve the WEBTech Notes application. Until such changes can be 

accomplished, LPS will continue distributing ANTS in paper format. 

Lastly, I’d like to close with an update on the classification backlog in the Depository 

Administration Branch. For physical products, we have 3108 pieces to be processed in the 

Branch. We have 837 products awaiting conversion to microfiche format and 389 microfiche 

publications that need to be duplicated and sent to the libraries. Electronic product identification 

and classification continue to be our greatest challenges. We are working on additional training 

for Internet searching skills and online systems to refresh staff on the Internet polices already 

established over the last couple of years. We are also working on a process to systematize the 

discovery, classification, and cataloging practices associated with online resources that will 

allow for all our staff to participate in finding resources for the electronic collection. 

I do have a few stories to relate to you about DAB activities—this is probably the part I enjoy the 

most, except when I have to tell you we missed the opportunity to ride the requisition for the 

Surgeon General’s Mental Health Report. The good news, because we were looking for it when 

it came into GPO for the Sales program, is that we were able to work with Customer Service and 

the agency to obtain sufficient copies for distribution to the libraries. We sent out the IRS tax 

forms on CD-ROM earlier this week. They are being mailed to the libraries as a separate from 

the mailing contractor. And the 1998 Statistical Abstract in paper has finally arrived and was 

also sent to the libraries from the separates mailing contractor in late December. 

Finally, I’d like to tell you about my favorite new publication just because I have the podium and 

a captive audience. Take a look at My History is America’s History; 15 Things You Can Do to 

Save America’s Stories. It was distributed to libraries on shipping list 2000-0081-P dated Dec. 

16, 1999. It’s a four color, spiral bound publication with lots of pictures, interesting text, 

timelines, and tips on projects and preservation of material. 

 

I thank you for your time and hope that you have a successful conference. 

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[Handout] 

Cataloging Branch Update, January 2000 

GPO Produced an OCLC Gold Record 

Monograph cataloger Robert Luoma produced OCLC record number 43 million on December 

14, 1999. An experienced cataloger of congressional publications, Robert produced a record for 

the Federal Royalty Certainty Act: hearing before the Subcommittee on Energy Research, 

Development, Production, and Regulation of the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources...” Several years ago, cataloger Eileen Seremeth also earned an OCLC GPO “gold 

record.” Catalogers share in these achievements and appreciate the recognition that “gold 

records” bring to the Federal depository library community. 

Participation in OCLC’s CORC Project 

GPO recently signed an agreement with OCLC to become a Cooperative Online Resource 

Catalog (CORC) participant. We are using CORC software on an experimental basis, along 

with some 150 other CORC institutions, in assisting OCLC to develop its CORC applications. 

Our membership in CORC also allows us to evaluate the potential that CORC may have for 

selected LPS applications, particularly for cataloging resources disseminated to depositories 

solely in electronic format. At present, we do not anticipate modifications to current operations, 

policies, standards, or procedures. 

Experience with using CORC software is essential to developing informed judgements as to the 

potential that CORC applications may have for LPS operations. As we use CORC, we will 

confer closely with the depository community regarding any potential suitability that CORC may 

have for bibliographic control of “online only” resources in online public access catalogs. 

OCLC will continue to extract data from GPO’s OCLC WorldCat records for online resources 

for inclusion in the CORC database. At present, GPO has contributed approximately 4,000 of its 

OCLC records for inclusion in CORC. 

Cataloging Production 

During calendar year 1999 Cataloging Branch personnel received 33,041 pieces of work and 

processed 33,255 pieces of work. 23,208 records were produced in OCLC for inclusion in the 

Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications and the electronic Catalog of United 

States Government Publications on GPO’s web site. 

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Cataloging Backlog 

A backlog count of all pieces of work within the Cataloging Branch indicates that 7,268 pieces 

of work await review, processing and/or cataloging. Nearly 5,000 pieces of this total consist of 

serials distributed to depositories in microfiche. Because most works of current interest are 

published as online or paper versions, our efforts are focused on timely cataloging of as many 

online or paper serials, maps, and monographs as possible. We continue to reduce the 

accumulated microfiche serials backlog when additional time for this task is available. 

PURLs Maintenance 

One Cataloging Branch librarian works approximately half time on efforts to restore links via the 

LPS PURLS server. Broken links may be reported to askLPS or directly to Theodore Defosse at 

<tdefosse@gpo.gov>. 

Web Edition of the Catalog 

As of January 3, 2000, the web edition of the Monthly Catalog of United States Government 

Publications contains approximately 136,000 records produced from the beginning of 1994 

through the end of 1999. Approximately 10,000 of these records contain hot links. 

Approximately 4,000 hot linked records are accessible via PURLs. Records are added to the 

web application within 24 hours after being produced in OCLC. 

Monthly Catalog Data Distributed via Commercial Vendors 

Libraries with commercial tape services should be receiving tape loads in accordance with 

routine schedules. The Cataloging Distribution Service of the Library of Congress receives 

Monthly Catalog data according to established schedules and makes data available in a timely 

manner. 

Scheduled distribution of CD-ROM and paper editions of the Monthly Catalog of United States 

Government Publications: 

 By mid-January, libraries should have received paper and CD-ROM editions of the 

Monthly Catalog for January through August 1999. As previously reported, priorities 

associated with Y2K have made it difficult for GPO technical personnel to process data 

according to established schedules. 

Congressional Serial Set Catalog 

Libraries should receive copies of the Congressional Serial Set Catalog for the 103rd Congress 

during March or April 2000. 

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[Handout] 

Depository Administration Branch Update January 2000 

Davis-Bacon Online from GPO Access

General Wage Determinations Issued Under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (item 0777-B-04 

through 0777-B-10, L 36.211:), will become available via GPO Access early this spring. The 

Department of Labor is providing the official data and the Superintendent of Documents is 

making the information available in a searchable WAIS database as part of the Federal 

Depository Library Program Electronic Collection. Davis-Bacon on GPO Access will be 

available to depository libraries and public users at no charge, and with no restrictions on reuse 

or redissemination of the data. 

STAT-USA Password Change 

Libraries registered to access the STAT-USA paid database through the FDLP will need to use 

their new password, beginning February 1, 2000. Information on the global password change 

was distributed to the libraries in the shipment boxes during the week of January 3- January 10, 

2000. If you do not receive the password change information, please contact Robin HaunMohamed by e-mail at <rhaun-mohamed@gpo.gov>. Libraries are reminded they must abide by 

the agreement with STAT-USA for depository access to the paid database. The user must be in 

the library to access the database and the library is limited to one user at a time on the database. 

USAPAT on DVD 

USAPAT on CD-ROM (item 0260-E, C 21.31:) is still scheduled for conversion to DVD format, 

but the change will not occur with the first issue of 2000 as initially announced last fall. 

Libraries will continue to receive the CD-ROM version until the DVDs are ready for 

distribution. At that time the agency will redistribute the information on a DVD to insure the 

whole year is available in the new format. 

Microfiche Contract Default 

GPO has declared a default on Wilkins Systems, Inc. for programs B354-S and B562-S. All the 

titles originally sent to Wilkins for microfiche conversion have been returned to GPO for 

reprocessing. Some of the material has already been processed and distributed to the libraries 

but it is not clear from Wilkins records which specific titles have already been distributed. 

Therefore, some libraries may receive duplicate copies of these publications. Treat the 

duplicates as secondary copies and process as directed in the Instructions to Depository 

Libraries. 

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[Handout] 

Depository Services Update January 2000 

New Inspector Hired 

A new library inspector, Charles Bradsher, has joined the Depository Services Staff as of January 

10, 2000. Mr. Bradsher comes to LPS from the Naval Medical Research Center Library in 

Bethesda, MD. He received his MLIS from the University of South Carolina, where he also 

worked in the Thomas Cooper Library. 

1999 Biennial Survey 

The 1999 Biennial Survey of Depository Libraries was issued in October, 1999, and as of 

December 16, 1298 depositories had successfully entered their responses via the web application. 

The remaining depositories have been contacted by e-mail or fax to submit the mandatory survey 

immediately. The regional librarians were very helpful in expediting the prompt return of the 

survey from those selectives under their purview. 

A substantial amount of data correction is still required, especially on the "free form" answers. 

In late spring 2000, LPS will post the raw data files on the Federal Bulletin Board for 

downloading and later will issue a written report on survey results. 

Here are selected preliminary results based on 1,298 responses: 

 1293 libraries wish to remain in the FDLP. Five small depositories plan to relinquish 

depository status, preferring to rely on the Internet and selective purchases of government 

information. 

 1141 depositories have a written collection development policy for U.S. depository 

documents while 152 do not. 

 439 libraries are substituting some official online resources for tangible depository material 

while 854 are not. 

 The processing of depository receipts is integrated into the processing unit for other library 

materials in 558 depositories, while 735 libraries maintain a separate operation. 

 621 libraries have computer equipment that uses assistive technologies for the physically 

challenged; 672 do not. 

 855 depositories have a written access policy for the depository collection and 438 do not. 

 527 depositories have a written policy regarding public services for Government information 

in electronic formats and 766 do not. 

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 505 libraries have a written policy for FDLP Internet use and 788 do not. 

 504 libraries report having records for Internet-accessible Federal electronic Government 

information products with active hyperlinks in their library's catalog. 

Self-Studies 

In late January 2000, depository librarians and their directors in Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, and 

Virginia will be notified to submit a self-study by May 1. In May, depository librarians and their 

directors in Arkansas, California, and Florida will be notified to submit a self-study by 

September 1. In September, depository librarians and their directors in Indiana, Massachusetts, 

Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania will be notified to submit a self-study 

by January 2001. 

Outreach 

The spring 2000 Depository Library Council meeting will be held from April 10-12. The 

DoubleTree Islander Hotel, Goat Island, in Newport, RI is the meeting site. The preliminary 

agenda and registration form appeared in the January 15, 2000 issue of Administrative Notes. 

There are still slots available to attend the 13th annual Interagency Depository Seminar that will 

be held from May 31-June 7, 2000 at the U.S. Government Printing Office. The preliminary 

agenda and registration form appeared in the October 15, 1999 issue of Administrative Notes and 

the registration deadline is March 13, 2000. 

The 9th annual Federal Depository Conference and fall Depository Library Council meeting will 

be held from Monday, October 23 through Wednesday afternoon, October 25, 2000 and the 

Regional Librarians meeting will be held on Sunday, October 22. The Holiday Inn-Rosslyn 

Westpark, 1900 North Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, VA, is the conference hotel. The preliminary 

agenda will appear in the June 15, 2000 issue of Administrative Notes. 

Federal Depository Library Directory 

The February 2000 edition of the Federal Depository Library Directory will be distributed to all 

depositories in late March. Depository librarians should review the entry for their institution on 

the online database at <www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/ldirect.html> and notify LPS of 

corrections by February 11. 

Please note that the URL in the online database entry should be for a site that has a direct link to 

specific government information page(s) or significant mention of the library’s depository status. 

A URL for a general library site, with no reference to documents or depository status, should not 

be included. 

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[Handout] 

Electronic Transition Activities Update January 2000 

Prototype Electronic Archive 

LPS and GPO's Production Department have built a prototype electronic archive to be used 

specifically for publications added to the FDLP Electronic Collection (FDLP/EC). During this 

prototype phase, LPS is developing procedures, based on the principles outlined in Managing the 

FDLP Electronic Collection: A Policy and Planning Document for identifying, capturing and 

organizing electronic resources for the electronic archive. Initial efforts are focused on capturing 

electronic publications for which no tangible equivalent has been located or identified by LPS for 

distribution. 

The initial hardware configuration includes twin DEC Alpha 1200 computers running at 533 

Mhz with 1.088 GB each of RAM and 58 GB of storage. The twin machines will be operated as 

mirrors to provide necessary redundancy for security purposes. The configuration is very 

flexible, and can be immediately expanded from GPO stock by 18 GB. 

The initial phase has included the setup and testing of the hardware configuration, development 

and implementation of communication procedures between LPS and the Production Department 

for the transfer of data and operation of the system, and initial experimentation with methods and 

routines for capture, documentation, and processing of titles for the archive. We anticipate that 

we will move from prototype to full production in the first half of calendar 2000. 

The lifecycle of electronic publications in the archive has been outlined thus far: At the 

evaluation phase in the acquisition process, remotely served electronic publications will be 

identified as candidates for the archive based on attributes described in the collection policy. 

Content will be captured as part of the accession process, and reference is made (in the BET 

description or successor database) that an archival copy is being preserved. When the PURL is 

assigned, users will be directed to the official agency site. At the point that the official site is 

found to be no longer available, the PURL will be modified to direct the user to the archive copy, 

with a notice appearing detailing the date of archiving and other pertinent information. 

Migration from Microfiche to Online Distribution

LPS is evaluating titles that are currently distributed in microfiche format for migration to online 

dissemination. Most of the titles under consideration are selected by fewer than 500 depository 

libraries. If an official, reliable version of the publication is available online, LPS will decide if 

it is appropriate to make only the digital version available to depository libraries. A primary 

consideration is whether permanent public access to the product can be assured, typically by 

including the online publication in the GPO electronic archive. 

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Electronic Transition Staff Appointment

Steven Kerchoff joined the LPS staff as an Electronic Transition Specialist for a one-year term in 

October 1999. Kerchoff, a librarian from the Library of Congress Federal Library and 

Information Center Committee (FLICC), will use his extensive knowledge of Federal libraries 

and information resources to assist in increasing awareness about GPO's Electronic Collection 

activities and in developing additional partnership opportunities with agencies. 

Electronic Collection Manager

George Barnum returned to the Library Programs Service (LPS) in late September in his new 

position as Electronic Collection Manager. He is responsible for all initiatives related to the 

FDLP/EC and permanent public access to electronic resources in the collection. He is 

continuing to develop the partnership concept for the FDLP. 

Partnership Activities

Libraries in the FDLP continue to express interest in becoming FDLP partners. The Electronic 

Collection Manager has been concentrating on developing contacts within agencies with which 

to build partnership agreements. Excellent discussions have taken place with staff from the 

Census Bureau, U.S. Institute of Peace, National Library of Education, and others. Among 

existing projects are: 

 NTIS

Based on the very positive response of participants, the NTIS Pilot Project has been 

continued indefinitely. 

 NRC

LPS has worked with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to produce a 

cooperative plan to ensure public access to a body of NRC information (previously 

distributed by NRC in microfiche) that would no longer be accessible through the NRC 

Local Public Documents Room (LPDR) program as of September 30, 1999. In August, 

the Superintendent of Documents accepted the legacy microfiche collections from LPDR 

libraries into the FDLP. LPS and NRC staff have been working with the librarians at the 

18 regionals receiving materials, and transfers are nearly complete. NRC's ADAMS 

document retrieval system became publicly available during the Fall, and NRC staff will 

give training at the fall 2000 Federal Depository Conference. 

27 
AN-v21-#04-2/15/00 

[Handout] 

GPO Access and Office of Electronic Information 

Dissemination Services Activities Update January 2000 

GPO Access Statistical Measures 

 Currently, GPO Access is averaging about 21 million document retrievals per month. 

 GPO Access now contains more than 104,000 electronic titles and points to more than 68,000 

others. 

 There are more than 1,300 databases available through more than 80 applications on GPO 

Access. 

 On October 5, 1999, a user survey was placed on GPO Access. Because EIDS just took it

down at the beginning of 2000, final results are not yet available. However, preliminary 

results from December 15, 1999, showed that, of 213 respondents, 19% use GPO Access

daily. With regard to finding information on the site, 9% consider it "very easy" and an 

additional 49% indicated that they find it easy to do so. Users also displayed satisfaction 

with the timeliness of information, online user aids, and web site organization. 

ystem Performance 

 when additional capacity is needed. The existing 

T1 lines will back up the new equipment. 

hat's New on GPO Access 

"Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids" <http://bensguide.gpo.gov> 

e Status of GPO Access 

case against the Microsoft Corporation 

Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States (1997, vol. 1; 1996, vols. 1 and 2) 

Transitional web pages (or "exit pages") are being added to all points from which users can 

ess through links to other web sites. 

S

 GPO has contracted for an expansion of its Internet bandwidth. Upon completion, this 

enhancement will more than double GPO's guaranteed rate of bandwidth, to 12 mbps, and 

will allow for rapid expansion to 45 mbps,

W



 1999 Biennial Report to Congress on th

<http://www.gpo.gov/biennialreport> 

 "Findings of Fact" in the antitrust 

<http://usvms.gpo.gov> 



<http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/pubpaps/srchpaps.html> 



exit GPO Acc

28 
AN-v21-#04-2/15/00 

U.S. Fax Watch

 The Office of Electronic Information Dissemination Services (EIDS) has recently assumed 

responsibility for managing and administering the U.S. Fax Watch service, available through 

sers to receive documents via e-mail, in addition to fax. 

ctories to improve the ranking of GPO Access web pages. This effort 

ided with the coding of more than 100 GPO Access web pages with keyword and 

eta tags. 

S, Library Programs Service, Document Sales Service, and the 

Production Department prevented any major mishaps from occurring due to the Y2K bug. 

ng corrected, the overall transistion into 2000 has 

been a smooth one. 

pcoming Products and Site Enhancements

Deschler's Precedents of the U.S. House of Representatives 

fice of the Federal Register is in progress that will 

ode of Federal Regulations 

EIDS staff has been in discussion with EPA about making Offsite Consequence Analysis 

format 

or file copying. If adopted, it is anticipated that an E-Book reader would 

be provided to each selecting depository library. 

ontracting for DVD-ROM replication of patent awards with the Patent and 

Trademark Office. 

the Superintendent of Documents. This service is still available at (202) 512-1716. 

 New software will soon allow u

Search Engines and Directories

 Since removing the robot-exclusion protocol on GPO Access in September 1999, EIDS has 

made an effort to publicize its online resources by contacting webmasters and editors of 

search engines and dire

has coinc

description m

Y2K Effort

 A joint effort by EID

Apart from a few minor glitches that are bei

U



 A Statutes at Large application 

 e-CFR: A pilot project with NARA's Of

provide a more frequently updated electronic version of the C

 A web site for the U.S. Supreme Court

 A prototype site to host declassified State Department cables 



data available using E-Book technology. By law, this data may not be provided in a 

that allows printing 

 GPO is c

29 
AN-v21-#04-2/15/00 

30 

ty is being added to sales pages that enables 

w searches from partially filled order forms to add to their orders. 

d let users select topics of interest (based on 

eceive e-m ts in the 

Upcoming Travel Events

 PO Access Booth Exhibits 

rary Association National 

harlotte, NC, March 28-April 1, 2000 

il 

eeting 

0 

exas Library Association 

 2000 

Special Libraries Association 

Philadelphia, PA, June 12-14, 2000 

ALA Annual Conference 

 PO Access Training Sessions 

, IA, March 2000 – 

ENDING 

000 – 

ENDING 

ources 

ouncil 

Buffalo, NY, May 11, 2000 

Interagency Depository Seminar 

Washington, DC, June 1, 2000 

Chicago, IL, July 6-13, 2000 

 Electronic access to General Wage Determinations Issued Under the Davis-Bacon Act, by 

March. 

 We anticipate that the FY 2001 Federal Budget Publications and the 2000 Economic Report 

of the President will be released on GPO Access on February 7, 2000. A CD-ROM of the 

FY 2001 Federal Budget Publications will be released on the same day as the printed Budget, 

but will not contain the 2000 Economic Report of the President. 

 EIDS continues to enhance our customers' ordering experience on our Online Bookstore. In 

addition to the Sales Product Catalog, functionali

customers to perform ne

Also in development is an application that woul

Subject Bibliographies) and r

fields they select. 

ail notification of the release of new produc

G

Public Lib

Conference 

C

Spring Depository Library Counc

M

Newport, RI, April 10-12, 200

T

Houston, TX, April 11-14,

G

Drake University 

Des Moines

P

Fort Worth Public Library 

Fort Worth, TX, April/May 2

P

Western New York Library Res

C
AN-v21-#04-2/15/00 

Library Programs Service Contacts 

February 2000 

Name Voice Fax E-mail 

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR 

Gil Baldwin – Director 202-512-1002 202-512-1432 ebaldwin@gpo.gov 

Debbie Ellis – Secretary 202-512-1114 202-512-1432 dellis@gpo.gov 

George Barnum – Electronic Collection 

Manager 

202-512-1114 202-512-1432 gbarnum@gpo.gov 

Laurie Hall – Supervisory Program Analyst 202-512-1114 202-512-0877 lhall@gpo.gov 

Steven Kerchoff – Electronic Transition 

Specialist 

202-512-1114 202-512-1432 skerchoff@gpo.gov 

Sandy Morton-Schwalb – Program Analyst 202-512-1114 202-512-1432 smortonschwalb@gpo.gov 

William Thompson – Program Analyst 202-512-1114 202-512-1432 wthompson@gpo.gov 

DEPOSITORY DISTRIBUTION DIVISION 

Vicki Barber – Chief 202-512-1014 202-512-1429 vbarber@gpo.gov 

DEPOSITORY PROCESSING BRANCH

Colleen Davis – Chief 202-512-1007 202-512-1429 cdavis@gpo.gov 

Depository Claims Office 202-512-1024 202-512-1429 

LIBRARY DIVISION 

Sheila McGarr – Chief 202-512-1119 202-512-1432 smcgarr@gpo.gov 

CATALOGING BRANCH

Thomas A. Downing – Chief 202-512-1121 202-512-1432 tdowning@gpo.gov 

DEPOSITORY ADMINISTRATION BRANCH

Robin Haun-Mohamed – Chief 202-512-1071 202-512-0877 rhaunmohamed@gpo.gov 

Yvonne Washington – Publications 

Management Specialist 

202-512-1131 202-512-0877 ywashington@gpo.gov 

Acquisitions & Classification Section 

John Tate – Chief 202-512-1129 202-512-1432 jtate@gpo.gov 

Micrographics Section 

Michele Harris – Chief 202-512-1060 202-512-0877 mharris@gpo.gov 

DEPOSITORY SERVICES

Charles Bradsher – Inspector 202-512-1119 202-512-1432 cbradsher@gpo.gov 

Cynthia Etkin – Inspector 202-512-1119 202-512-1432 cetkin@gpo.gov 

Thomas Oertel – Inspector 202-512-1119 202-512-1432 toertel@gpo.gov 

Gail Snider – Inspector 202-512-1119 202-512-1432 bsnider@gpo.gov 

31 
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32 

Table of Contents 

New Library Inspector Appointed: Charles Bradsher .................................................................. 1 

GPO Releases Kids’ Guide to Online Government Information.................................................. 1 

Automated Depository Distribution System Successfully Updated ............................................. 2 

Shipments Delayed; Please Do Not Claim ................................................................................... 2 

You Can Help Plan the 2000 Federal Depository Conference ..................................................... 3 

Update on NTDB .......................................................................................................................... 3 

Still Time to Register for Interagency Depository Seminar ......................................................... 4 

Public Printer Statement: House Committee on Appropriations .................................................. 6 

Update on Superintendent of Documents Programs, Remarks / Buckley .................................. 11 

Update on Depository Administration Branch Operations, Remarks / Haun-Mohamed ........... 17 

Cataloging Branch Update, January 2000 .................................................................................. 21 

Depository Administration Branch Update January 2000.......................................................... 23 

Depository Services Update January 2000 ................................................................................. 24 

Electronic Transition Activities Update January 2000 ............................................................... 26 

GPO Access and Office of Electronic Information Dissemination Services Activities 

 Update, January 2000................................................................................................................ 28 

Library Programs Service Contacts, February 2000................................................................... 31 

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