Administrative Notes 

Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program

Vol. 21, no. 10 GP 3.16/3-2:21/10 July 15, 2000 

FDLP Desktop Begins in July 

The new FDLP (Federal Depository Library Program) Desktop was unveiled in July 2000 

and can be found at <www.gpo.gov/fdlpdesktop/>. Formerly known as the FDLP 

Administration page, this is a new and improved Internet resource comprised of more than 

700 pages of information to be used by depository library staff, Federal agency personnel and 

members of the general public interested in the services provided by the FDLP. The new 

look with easier access to the most frequently used services, better navigation tools, and a 

comprehensive site index, came about, in part, due to the valuable feedback from users of the 

FDLP Administration page. All users are invited to send comments and/or questions about 

the new site to: <asklps@gpo.gov>. 

Unauthorized Survey about Bills on Microfiche 

One aspect of the transition to a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) 

involves discontinuing the physical format distribution of some publications when an official and 

reliable online version is available. As reported in the spring 2000 meeting of the Depository 

Library Council, the Library Programs Service (LPS) will discontinue distribution of the 

Congressional Bills on microfiche effective with the last bills of the 106th Congress Bills. Bills 

are permanently accessible on GPO Access beginning with the 103rd Congress. We estimate 

that eliminating the bills on microfiche will save over $200,000 per year. 

House and Senate Bills on microfiche are produced and distributed for the FDLP by Court 

Reproduction Service (CRS) of Philadelphia, PA. On June 19, 2000, LPS and the Office of 

Congressional, Legislative, and Public Affairs began receiving inquiries and responses to a 

preference survey concerning the dissemination of Congressional Bills. This unauthorized, 

unofficial survey was apparently developed and mailed by CRS without the prior knowledge or 

consent of the Government Printing Office or LPS. 

Depository libraries are under no obligation to respond to this survey. 

If you have questions about the Congressional Bills or other FDLP issues please contact us at 

<askLPS@gpo.gov>. 
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Two NLM Titles Added To Substitution List: 

Official FDLP Permanent Full-Text Databases 

In May, the Government Printing Office (GPO) and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) 

signed an agreement that assures permanent public access to a number of NLM electronic titles 

that had previously been in the Federal Depository Library Program in paper and/or microfiche 

format. As a result of this agreement, new item numbers and SuDocs classifications have been 

established for two titles (see below) and those items are now being added to the “Substitution 

List: Official FDLP Permanent Full-Text Databases” (see revised list, p. 4). Those two 

electronic publications, which are familiar sources to many librarians, are Pub Med (tm) and 

NLM LocatorPlus. They replace eight titles that were previously in paper or microfiche. 

A complete listing of the NLM printed publications covered by the agreement and their 

electronic replacements follows. Users should be aware that in nearly all cases, the electronic 

publications that supersede the earlier publications are entirely new in form. All the content 

from the earlier publication is included, but the presentation is completely changed. 

PRINTED PUBLICATION ONLINE LOCATION 

Item 508-E 

HE 20.2612: 

Cumulated Index Medicus, 1966 - 

Internet Pub Med

http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS4708 

Item 508-F-04 

HE 20.3627:INTERNET 

Item 508-E 

HE 20.2612/2: 

Cumulated Abridged Index Medicus, 1970 - 

http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS4708 

Item 508-F-04 

HE 20.3627:INTERNET 

Item 508-E-3 

HE 20.3612/4: 

List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus 

http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS4708 

Item 508-F-04 

HE 20.3627:INTERNET 

Item 508-J 

HE 20.3609/3: 

National Library of Medicine Current Catalog 

(1966-1993) 

NLM LOCATORplus 

http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS4582 

Item 508-F-04 

HE 20.3626: 

Item 508-J 

FS 2.216/3: 

NLM Catalog (1955-1965) 

http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS4582 

Item 508-F-04 

HE 20.3626: 

NLM Catalog Supplement (microfiche) 

(1985-1993) 

http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS4582 

Item 508-F-04 

HE 20.3626: 

National Library of Medicine Audiovisuals 

Catalog (1978-1993) 

http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS4582 

Item 508-F-04 

HE 20.3626: 

National Library of Medicine AVLINE Catalog 

(1977) 

http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS4582 

Item 508-F-04 

HE 20.3626: 

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Because these titles are now listed on the “Substitution List: Official FDLP Permanent Full-Text 

Databases,” selective depositories are free to withdraw tangible copies of the publications from 

their collections, using standard discard procedures. Regionals may also discard their holdings 

of these titles, provided that at least one copy remains in tangible format (paper or microfiche) in 

the state(s) served. See Administrative Notes, v. 20 no. 9, May 15, 1999, p. 2, or <www.access. 

gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/coll-dev/subguide.html> for guidelines on substituting electronic for 

tangible versions. The URL for the substitution list is <www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/colldev/substitutions.html>. 

Please note that only issues of Cumulated Index Medicus and Abridged Cumulated Index 

Medicus from 1966 forward may be substituted. NLM has advised us that certain elements of 

earlier issues are not represented in the online version. 

In signing the agreement, NLM has acknowledged the FDLP as one of its dissemination partners 

and has agreed to keep the online publications available indefinitely. In the event of some 

unforeseen circumstance that would alter their ongoing availability, NLM will turn the electronic 

files over to GPO for continuing access. 

Provision of permanent public access to Government information has been a mandated part of 

the FDLP for nearly half a century. This agreement helps to bring the FDLP another step into 

the online age while retaining access that is vital to the American public. 

GPO is grateful for the leadership that NLM has provided in seeking and concluding this 

agreement. 

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Substitution List: Official FDLP Permanent Full-Text Databases

Revised July 2000 

Database Database Tangible Product 

Title Coverage SuDocs Item 

Federal Register 1994- AE 2.106: 0573-C 

0573-D 

LSA, List of CFR Sections Affected 1997- AE 2.106/2: 0573-C 

0573-D 

Code of Federal Regulations 1997- 

1996 (part) 

AE 2.106/3: 0572-B 

0572-C 

United States Government Manual 1995- AE 2.108/2: 0577 

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents 1993- AE 2.109: 0577-A 

Public Laws 1995- AE 2.110: 0575 

Commerce Business Daily 1996- C 1.76: 0231-G-03 

Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications 

(discontinued paper version) 

1994- GP 3.8: 0557 

Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications 1994- GP 3.8/7: & /8: 0557-C 

0557-D 

Monthly Catalog of U.S. Govt. Publications 

Periodicals Supplement 

1994- GP 3.8/8-8: 0557-D-01 

Shipping lists [paper, microfiche, separates, 

electronic] 

Shipping lists [maps] 

FY1997- 

1998- 

GP 3.16/3: 0556-C 

Administrative Notes 8/96- GP 3.16/3-2: 0556-C 

Administrative Notes Technical Supplement 7/96- GP 3.16/3-3: 0556-C 

Subject Bibliographies Current 

edition only 

GP 3.22/2: 0552-A 

Sales Product Catalog (formerly PRF) Current 

edition only 

GP 3.22/3: 0552-B 

Proceedings of the Annual Federal Depository 

Library Conference 

1996- GP 3.30/3: 0556-C 

NLM LocatorPlus 1966 - 1993 

1985 - 1993 

1978 - 1993 

1955 - 1965 

HE 20.3609/3: 

HE 20.3609/3-3: 

HE 20.3609/4: 

FS 2.216/3: 

0508-H-05 

0508-J 

Internet Pub Med 1966 - HE 20.3612/3: 0508-E 

Supreme Court Decisions (preliminary prints) 1992- JU 6.8/A: 0740-B 

Supreme Court Decisions (individual cases) 1992- JU 6.8/B: 0740-A 

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Database Database Tangible Product 

Title Coverage SuDocs Item 

Economic Report of the President 1995- PR 42.9: 0848 

Budget of the U.S. Government 

Appendix 

Citizens Guide 

FY1996- PREX 2.8: 0853 

Budget of the U.S. Government FY1996- PREX 2.8/1: 0853-C 

Analytical Perspectives FY1996- PREX 2.8/5: 0855-B 

Historical Tables FY1996- PREX 2.8/8: 0853 

Budget System and Concepts FY1997- PREX 2.8/12: 0853 

Congressional Record (daily) 1994- X 1.1/A: 0994-B 

Congressional Record Index & History of Bills 1983- X 1.1: 0993-B 

House, Senate & Treaty Documents (partial 

holdings) 

1995- Y 1.1/3: /4: & /7: 0996-A 

0996-B 

House, Senate & Executive Reports (partial 

holdings) 

1995- Y 1.1/5: /6: & /8: 1008-C 

1008-D 

Calendar of the U.S. House of Representatives 1995- Y 1.2/2: 0998-A 

United States Code 1994- Y 1.2/5: 0991-A 

0991-B 

Senate Calendar of Business 1995- Y 1.3/3: 0998-B 

Congressional Bills 1993- Y 1.4/1: to /9: 1006-A 

Economic Indicators 1995- Y 4.EC 7:EC 7 0997 

Congressional Directory 1995- Y 4.P 93/1:1 0992 

Congressional Pictorial Directory 1997- Y 4.P 93/1:1 P 1004-C 

Annual Selection Update Cycle 2001 Ends July 31, 2000 

The Annual Selection Update Cycle 2001, which began June 1, 2000, runs through July 31, 

2000. Drops are effected immediately; adds will be activated at the start of the new fiscal year, 

on October 1, 2000. 

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Update on GPO Activities 

Remarks by Francis J. Buckley, Jr. 

Superintendent of Documents 

Before the Federal Documents Task Force 

Government Documents Round Table 

American Library Association 

Saturday, July 8, 2000 

Chicago, IL 

Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here in Chicago on the heels of our nation’s 224th birthday. 

Indeed, 224 years ago today, in Philadelphia, the Liberty Bell rang out from the tower of 

Pennsylvania's old State House, calling citizens to hear the first public reading of the Declaration 

of Independence by Colonel John Nixon. Four days earlier the historic document had been 

adopted by the Continental Congress, but the Liberty Bell was not rung until the Declaration of 

Independence returned from the printer on July 8 – now there’s some irony for you! 

The Declaration of Independence, a government document that remains even today in its original 

printed format, is available for all to read and see. It is ironic that in this fast-paced age of 

technology we are not sure that government documents produced today in electronic formats will 

be accessible or available in another 224 years. 

The FDLP’s Role 

In a recent depository publication (yes, I do look at and read depository items) from the National 

Institute for Literacy titled “Equipped for the Future Research Report,” there is an interesting 

analysis of the four purposes for learning. This report is only available in paper by the way. To 

quote from the report the purposes of learning are for people: 

 To have access to information and orient themselves to the world; 

 To give voice to their ideas and opinions and to have the confidence that their voice will 

be heard and taken into account; 

 To solve problems and make decisions on their own, acting independently, as a parent, 

citizen, and worker, for the good of their families, their communities; and their nation; 

 To be able to keep on learning in order to keep up with a rapidly changing world. 

uilding the Framework, 1992-1997 by Juliet 

Merrifield. March 2000 Y3.L71:2EQ5/4) 

(Equipped for the Future Research Report: B

6 
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The Equipped for the Future project objective is to identify what adults need to know and be able 

to do to fulfill their roles as parents, citizens, and workers, as key roles for public policy. The 

citizen role is described as taking action to make a difference in terms of voting and participation 

in the democratic process as well as local steps such as taking part in a community clean-up or 

volunteering in schools. 

The areas of responsibility in the citizen role are to: 

 Become and stay informed 

 Form and express opinions and ideas 

 Work Together 

 Take action to strengthen communities 

ccess 

c 

 by the Federal Government at taxpayer expense for education, business, 

r personal interests. 

eeds of 

ng and indexing, depository library 

nd GPO Access legislative mandates require that we do so. 

unding Issues 

es 

e 

’d like 

ocation for the Legislative Branch was lower, much 

wer, than the current year’s appropriation. 

tinue 

rogram expenses reflective of the growing demands 

ue to the high rates of use of our programs. 

over 60% to $11.6 million, providing funds only for the cataloging and indexing program and 

By now I’m sure you can see where I’m headed. As we’ve said repeatedly, equal, ready, a

to government information is a basic necessity for people to participate in our democrati

society, as well as to enrich their lives by using the vast range of information collected, 

compiled, or produced

o

Although I’m preaching to the choir here, I wanted to emphasize that fulfilling the basic n

the public for access to Federal Government information is the objective of GPO and the 

Superintendent of Documents Programs. In fact, our catalogi

a

F

But to accomplish our mission, we must have adequate resources. This year the FY 2001 

appropriations process has involved us all in extensive discussions and debate over the Salari

and Expenses appropriation that funds the FDLP, the Cataloging and Indexing Program, th

International Exchange Service (IES), and the By Law Distribution Program. Although I 

presume, and hope that you have all been following our appropriations process closely, I

to briefly review what has happened thus far. As a result of budget resolutions limiting 

expenditures to save money for social security and tax cuts, and directing over half the remaining 

discretionary funds for defense, the House all

lo

We had asked for an increase in the S&E appropriation from $29.9 to $34.5 million to con

our transition for the FDLP to a more electronic program (over half the items now being 

distributed are online), to hire additional catalogers, and additional staff to bring resources onto 

GPO Access, as well as to provide for other p

d

However, as I am sure you are aware, in order to stay within the budget allocation, the House 

Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee reported a bill (HR 4516) cutting the S&E by

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GPO Access and effectively closing down the remaining operations. The GPO’s Congressional 

Printing and Binding Appropriation was cut by nearly $8 million. 

In particular, the committee cut funds for the administration of the FDLP, distribution of 

materials in tangible media, the IES and the By Law Distribution, with the philosophy that all 

government information was online, or soon would be! 

In H. Report 106-635, the committee also proposed the transfer of Superintendent of Documents 

functions to the Library of Congress and directed the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to 

initiate a study of how such a transfer might be accomplished. (As an aside, two such previous 

studies have not recommended this action.) 

In addition, the committee did not provide funding for publication of the U.S. Code, Our Flag, 

the Congressional Directory, Serial Sets, and other publications “not absolutely essential to the 

day-to-day operations and legislative activities of the House and Senate” (their words, not ours.) 

By contrast, the Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, working within a 

higher budget allocation, proposed essentially level funding for the S&E appropriation. The 

$30.3 million they recommended is just about $300,000 over the current year, not nearly enough 

to cover all of our anticipated $900,000 in price increases and contractually required wage 

increases in FY 2001. 

In late June, the full House voted on the Legislative Branch appropriations and approved an 

amendment restoring $13.6 million to the S&E for distribution of documents only in physical 

form and nearly $500,000 for January 2001 cost of living (COLA) increases. In addition, they 

restored $1.6 million for the Congressional Printing and Binding COLAs, $1.7 million for 

printing Inaugural materials, telephone directories and miscellaneous publications, $130,000 for 

treaties and international agreements and $728,000 for the Congressional Directory. They did 

not provide funds for dual distribution of any online titles, for the International Exchange Service 

Program (IES), By Law Distribution, or printing of the U.S. Code. 

We understand the Senate is working on a package of amendments to the House bill to reflect 

their funding proposal. Once that is passed, both bills will be referred to a conference 

committee. Mr. DiMario has already sent a detailed letter to the potential conferees urging 

adoption of the Senate figures and a number of other items, which Larry Romans posted on 

GOVDOC-L last week. Time is passing rapidly. Congress will only be in session until late July. 

They will then take an “August recess” and will not be back until after Labor Day. We may not 

see a resolution to this process until September, the last month of the fiscal year, unless, of 

course, there is an impasse and we have to operate under continuing resolutions at the beginning 

of the next fiscal year. 

The amendment to the House bill restoring funds for the S&E appropriations is due in large 

measure to constituent concerns about the abrupt transition to a completely online program and 

the elimination of tangible products from the program, many of which are not online. ALA, 

AALL, ARL, NCLIS, and other organizations, depository libraries and depository librarians, and 

public interest groups have been weighing in on these issues. On behalf of Mr. DiMario and the 

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Government Printing Office, I want to thank you, members of the library community, for your 

staunch support for the FDLP as our funding was threatened. Indeed, it was librarians who have 

helped to protect the core of the depository program. 

In fact, the June 21 issue of Roll Call reported: 

“The extra money [in the House bill] represents a partial victory for advocates of the Federal 

Depository Library Program, which catalogs and indexes government publications and 

distributes copies of the U.S. Code to 1,337 libraries around the country. The House's original 

GPO budget eviscerated the program, with some Republican appropriators arguing that it was 

not necessary, now that the GPO puts so much information online. But after a lobbying 

campaign that included letters to lawmakers from groups such as the American Association of 

Law Libraries, some of the funding for the FDLP has been restored. An aide involved in the 

negotiations said the extra money will be enough for the GPO to continue to distribute paper 

copies of publications that are not put online. But the agency will no longer be able to print 

items that are already on its Web site.” 

The FDLP and other Superintendent of Documents programs are your programs. We welcome 

your advice, comments, suggestions, and participation. We appreciate that you are active 

citizens, speaking out to us and to your legislators to get what you want. 

Gil Baldwin will have more to say about the program changes we are making and those we are 

considering in order to live within our appropriations this year and next. 

In the time remaining, I would like to talk briefly about a few other concerns. 

Sales Program 

I know that many of you here this morning are not only constituents of the FDLP, but are also 

customers of GPO’s Sales Program. As I have mentioned to you on other occasions, the Sales 

Program is continuing to lose money. We are putting in place a number of cost-cutting 

measures, but in order to make up some of the deficits we are facing, we will be implementing a 

general price increase in the next few months. 

We continue to place more titles with dot.com booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes and 

Noble and are seeing some benefits from this arrangement. In talking to you, those who buy our 

wares or who have users who do, I want to tell you that we are looking at our order processing 

and ways in which to improve customer service issues. 

Indeed, all current trends point towards the fact that our customers want to be able to quickly and 

easily search for, locate, and order Federal Government publications. We are investigating ways 

to facilitate these needs by improving the ability of customers to find exactly what they are 

looking for at the U.S. Government Online Bookstore. Also, we are working on integrating 

ordering capabilities with GPO Access online “publications” that have purchasable counterparts. 

Most importantly, we want to take steps to process customer orders as quickly as possible. T.C. 

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Evans will provide you with more details about these improvements in his speech later this 

morning. In addition, T.C. will report on a number of other electronic initiatives in government. 

But I would like to comment on the recent announcement of a new firstgov.gov web portal to 

Federal Government online information. This project is based on a voluntary proposal from Eric 

Brewer, co-founder of Inktomi, to develop a free search service covering all Federal web pages. 

He is working with the President’s Management Council, the Chief Information Officers 

Council, GSA, and NPR, the National Partnership for Reinventing Government. It is part of the 

initiative to develop e-government. It would initially be run by a non-profit organization 

currently being established. After it has been operational for a couple of years, Mr. Brewer 

proposed to turn it over to the government to run. 

Permanent Public Access 

I have mentioned previously that GPO has been hosting meetings of participants representing 

U.S. Federal agencies, the national libraries, Congressional committees, public interest groups, 

and other organizations interested in issues regarding the preservation of, and access to, 

Government information published electronically. 

We are now holding quarterly meetings. In March staff from the National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA) gave a presentation about their Electronic Records Archives Program 

Building the Archives of the Future. George Barnum and Steve Kerchoff from the Library 

Programs Service provided an update on the implementation of GPO’s Electronic Collection 

Plan and our nascent digital archive. 

There were some new faces at the June roundtable meeting, which brought some new 

perspectives to the discussion. It also helps to have a mix of people from both within and outside 

of the government including Daniel Greenstein, of the Digital Library Future Federation. I was 

pleased that John Stevenson, an incoming member of the Depository Library Council, was able 

to attend the meeting on June 19. John will be monitoring permanent public access issues for the 

council, so I am sure he will continue to participate (when he can) in these discussions. 

Staff from the Library Programs Service and the Office of Electronic Information Dissemination 

Services (EIDS), in conjunction with our Production Department, have set up a public website on 

GPO Access that includes information about the group and its members, its goals, and links to 

resources relevant to the topic. I hope you will take a look at the site, which can be found at 

www.gpo.gov/ppa. I believe that the activities related to these permanent public access meetings 

and creation of the website will put GPO on the map as a leader in this area. 

Depository Library Council 

I know that Maggie Farrell, incoming chair of the Depository Library Council to the Public 

Printer, will be talking with you about the successful council meeting that was held in Newport, 

RI this past April. The Council put forth a number of recommendations which members of my 

staff will be responding to in the coming months. I know that Maggie will discuss those 

recommendations and related activities with you. 

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FDLP staff is preparing for the big Federal Depository Conference and Fall Council meeting that 

will be held October 22-25 at a familiar spot to many of you, the Westpark, now a Holiday Inn, 

in Rosslyn, VA. We expect another great turnout for this meeting and as usual, there is a terrific 

line-up of speakers in addition to the council meeting. 

Conclusion 

Let me conclude by recognizing another recent GOVDOC-L posting, this one from Melody 

Kelly from the University of North Texas, noting that the Depository Program has historical 

antecedents going back to the Declaration of Independence: 

“Did you know that (the) mission of our Depository Libraries is connected to one of the charges 

made against King George III in the Declaration of Independence? As I listened to the annual 

July 4th NPR reading of the Declaration yesterday on "Morning Edition," the word "Depository" 

caught my attention. 

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and 

usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over 

these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world... 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and 

distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing 

them into compliance with his measures... 

Ms. Kelly went on to say: “Of course the Founders were thinking of ready access to public 

records for the legislative representatives themselves, but I believe a case could be made that 

permanent, convenient access to public records for all citizens was the intent. After all the 

placement of congressional materials in local libraries began in 1813. 

As the current Congress considers GPO budget cuts and rushes to embrace the Internet without 

making adequate provision for the publishing, distribution, and preservation of their own 

legislative materials, we should remind them that the Revolution was fought to ensure ready 

access to essential public records of governmental activities.” 

All I can add to that is “well said,” and thank you for this opportunity to speak with you this 

morning. 

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The [Electronic] Future Is Now 

Remarks by Gil Baldwin 

Director, Library Programs Service 

Before the Federal Documents Task Force 

Government Documents Round Table 

American Library Association 

Saturday, July 8, 2000 

Chicago, IL 

Good morning, everyone. It really is a pleasure to be here–or maybe I should say to still be here. 

It’s been quite a memorable three months since the Council meeting in Newport, Rhode Island, 

and it feels like we’ve been on a roller coaster. Our wild ride began in early May when the 

House Appropriations Committee reported out their proposal for our funding for FY 2001. Since 

then we’ve tried to visualize what parts of the Federal Depository Library Program or the Library 

Programs Service would be left intact with the funding cuts the House of Representatives 

originally proposed, or even by the Senate’s not-quite level funding proposal. Everyone in this 

room has a lot invested in the program we know as the FDLP. It’s gained some name 

recognition over the years, so even as we evolve into an Internet-age program we want to retain 

the acronym. But clearly it needs some updating to be in touch with what Congress seems to 

want. So perhaps we should rename it FDLP the Fundamentally Digital Library Program. Or 

maybe it’s just the Funding Deprived Library Program. 

It’s amazing how the threat of budgetary extinction can sharpen up your vision and your reflexes. 

As we re-examine the FDLP, it has become clear the perceived basis of the Program is changing 

in a very basic way. As we move toward completing the transition to a predominantly electronic 

program, some libraries have questioned the value or utility of the FDLP. Put bluntly, the 

question is “If we don’t get free publications from GPO, what do we get?” The answer, at least 

in terms of the Government to libraries interaction, is that the basis of this Program is shifting to 

one of added-value services. LPS, in administering the FDLP, is adding value to the 

innumerable Government publications on the Internet. We do this through updated versions of 

several of our traditional functions: we identify, evaluate, select, organize, and catalog electronic 

Government information products, and assure that they remain permanently accessible to the 

public. 

But the most important considerations remain the same: providing free and unrestricted public 

access to the published works of the U.S. Government, both today and into the future. And the 

mission of the Program remains to make Government information accessible to the public 

through a network of depository libraries. Our trip is not to a different destination, but we’re 

going to arrive a lot sooner than we thought. 

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Who Wants to be a Millionaire? 

Now I thought we might play a game; a short version of “Who wants to be a millionaire?” I’m 

going to read you a quote, and you get four choices to identify the source. Here goes: 

[T]he public availability of government information is a basic right of every 

American citizen that must be maintained. The Superintendent of Documents 

performs an important role in making government information available to the public 

through the administration and operation of the sales, international exchange, 

electronic dissemination, and depository library programs. 

Here, without any lifelines, are your choices. Please indicate your choice by a show of hands: 

a) James Madison 

b) Francis Buckley 

c) Al Gore 

d) House Appropriations Committee 

Is that your final answer? Well, of course it’s D, from the House Report 106-635, reporting out 

the bill to cut our funding by 62% below the current fiscal year. I wish I had known when I 

wrote this that “Survivor” was going to be such a hit. Somehow it seems a bit more relevant to 

our situation. 

Deja Vu All Over Again 

Each year GPO submits a “full-needs” funding request for enough money to operate the best 

possible programs. GPO proposes, but Congress disposes, and it looks as if there will at least 

about a $4 million gap between what we need and what we will get. And if the House version 

prevailed that gap could be nearly $9 million. 

Much of what has happened in the Congress this year reminds me of the proposals set forth in 

1995, and ultimately led to GPO producing the 1996 study on the transition to a more electronic 

FDLP. In 1995 the House proposed an immediate shift to an all-electronic program and reported 

out a bill that would have cut our funding significantly. Ultimately, the Senate view to maintain 

level funding prevailed. But the point is that such radical proposals inevitably result in changing 

the Program. Even though five years ago we ultimately received the funding we needed, the 

wheels of fundamental change were set in motion. 

The E-Teams 

Change is inevitable, and we must either move forward with it, or be swept aside. It is clear that 

online electronic resources are going to be the core of the FDLP, and our role is to organize and 

manage them to facilitate current and future public access. Recently, as part of the transition, 

LPS managers held a very intense meeting to design the workflow for processing online-only 

resources. We are in the process of changing the old, stovepipe LPS operation that for years has 

been based on a physical product workflow. Instead we will move toward giving top priority to 

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processing online resources. We will devote more staff, time, and resources to searching out, 

acquiring, classifying, cataloging, and archiving online resources. As a first step we are going to 

establish two or three cross-organization teams that perform the complete range of processing for 

online electronic resources. Each team will consist of a combination of catalogers, publications 

management specialists, and a program analyst. They will work full-time on e-resource 

processing, and handle the electronic products from identification, evaluation, and selection, 

through classification, PURL assignment, and archiving, and cataloging and locator services. 

They will reach out to the publishing agencies, and will manage the cessation of the related 

tangible products. This pilot will begin in August and run through December. This effort will 

identify practical issues that must be addressed in this changeover, such as training needs, 

hardware and software requirements, and performance measures, and will provide a forum for 

resolving policy and workflow issues. 

Predictions 

Although it feels like we’ve been transitioning forever, we have completed just four years of that 

five-to-seven year transition. When major systems change you often have a time of parallel 

processing, operating your old system while testing and debugging the new one. In this parallel 

processing mode we often distributed both print and online versions of the same products. But 

driving slowly in the right lane of the information highway is about over; it’s the express lane 

from here on out. 

Last year we conducted a management review of the various action items outlined in the 1996 

study’s strategic plan. In that 1999 review we asked, what would the FDLP look like in 3 years? 

As we speculated on that question we made some educated guesses about the FDLP of the 

future. We predicted that: 

 More information will be provided solely electronically 

 More users will download more content 

 There will be more emphasis on cataloging and locator services 

 There will be more electronic acquisition and archiving 

 There will be more reliance on partnerships 

It’s no fun to be right for the wrong reasons. I had predicted these changes taking place as a 

continuing evolution, but instead it’s going to be a period of rapid and unsettling change. We 

have had four years of moving steadily toward the electronic future in tandem with the 

technology and dissemination changes made by the publishing agencies. Clearly, we no longer 

have that luxury, and we are making some tough choices for the FDLP. And these choices are 

primarily driven by economic considerations. 

Hard Truths 

What follows is eyewitness reporting on what’s happening to the FDLP right now. 

We have been trying to plan and re-engineer our workflow in the face of three budget proposals: 

the House’s initial draconian cut down to $11.6 million, the House managers’ amendment at 

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about $25.6 million, or the Senate proposal at about $30.3 million. What do these three 

proposals have in common? They are all inadequate to support the FDLP. Even under the most 

positive scenario, with the essentially level funding proposed by the Senate, we will be obliged 

to curtail some traditional products or services, particularly the distribution of multiple formats. 

The continued pattern of level funding is more and more of a problem for us and, as the Public 

Printer has mentioned before, level funding over the long haul strangles the program. 

Constrained funding prevents us from undertaking everything that you or we would like to do. 

You may recall that we had actually requested $34.5 million for FY 2001. Most of that increase 

was earmarked for improving the public’s ability to identify, access, and to permanently access 

electronic resources. These are essential functions of the FDLP of the future. 

There are many difficult decisions that we must consider because we simply do not have dollars 

or the human resources to do everything that we know you would like to have done in this 

Program. These decisions are taking place in the context of a zero-sum game. That means that to 

do more in one area, we are obliged to do less of something else. 

For example, we are going to have to reduce the amount of time and money we spend on 

exception processing of tangible distribution products. We have already eliminated reprinting 

shortages when there is an electronic version available, and we are thinking about eliminating all 

of the processes related to shortages, including the administratively resource-intensive “rain 

checks.” 

As I have reported to you before, LPS is phasing out the physical distribution of certain FDLP 

microfiche titles and migrating to the online version, when an official, reliable electronic version 

is available. Therefore LPS will discontinue distribution of the Congressional Bills on 

microfiche effective with the last of the 106th Congress Bills. Bills are permanently accessible 

on GPO Access beginning with the 103rd Congress. We are aware of the issue concerning the 

official status of the electronic bills, and we are working to resolve that, but the potential cost 

saving of eliminating the microfiche is just too large to ignore. We estimate that eliminating the 

bills on microfiche will save us over $200,000 per year. 

When we migrate from the dissemination of a physical format to relying upon the online version, 

we have tried to make the break as clean as possible. For serials, we tried to stop the physical 

format distribution at the end of a volume or a year. However, experience has shown that even 

with the best intentions these clean breaks are rarely possible. There are so many factors 

involved; most of which LPS does not control. This was one of the key lessons of the 

changeover of direct-mail products last year. For example, many products are printed on yearlong term contracts, and once the depository rider amount is set it’s nearly impossible to change 

or stop it until the contract comes up for renewal. And often the contracts, which cover various 

12-month periods, do not line up with volumes or annual runs. Making the change to onlineonly dissemination for any given title takes considerable research, judgement, effort, and 

coordination. In order to effect any cost-savings, we must make these changes quickly and move 

on. So we will migrate to online-only and change the quantities when we can, even if it does not 

result in completing a serial’s run of issues. 

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Many of our operations are still based upon the distribution of print publications. For example, 

last year we distributed a little less that 12,000 paper titles; yet we have over 7,000 active item 

numbers to characterize physical items. The complexity of the item number system is out of 

proportion to the amount of tangible products left in the FDLP. We need to find a way to 

simplify the administration of the item number system, especially as it is applied to online 

resources. 

Another example is inquiry processing. I realize the value of keeping the lines of 

communications open, and we want to know about issues that affect your ability to manage your 

depository operations or to serve the public. But last year we answered over 4,000 askLPS 

inquiries, and about 80% of these involved the whereabouts or classification of tangible 

products. Answering these inquiries is a major workload element for our staff, the same staff 

who could otherwise be processing online resources for the electronic collection. If we are to 

make progress in identifying, classifying, cataloging, and ensuring permanent public access for 

e-titles, it’s clear to me something has got to give. We are strongly considering a moratorium on 

responding to inquiries dealing with tangible products. 

By now, you’re probably rocking back in your chairs thinking, “What’s GPO doing to us?” But 

here are some things to remember about these changes: 

 Technological advances, resource limitations and congressional direction drive these 

changes and decisions. 

 But it is our job to manage the Program within the resource limits and direction we are 

given. That includes LPS making decisions about what formats are made available to the 

libraries, and what work to prioritize. 

 Even though we strive to provide equitable public access, more and more, these decisions 

are being driven by short-term economic considerations. 

 No doubt some of these changes make you uncomfortable. Many of the changes make us 

uncomfortable as well. In an ideal world we would have the resources to do things 

differently, so that every library could choose any and all of the formats offered. But 

that’s not what’s happening, and we have to manage this Program within the real-world 

boundaries that we are given. 

New Titles in the FDLP 

After four years of transitioning, online information is already the predominant dissemination 

medium in the FDLP, amounting to about 55% of new titles added this year. At the same time, 

the distribution of tangible products continues to decline compared to FY 1999. Paper makes up 

about 20% of the program titles, while microfiche has declined to 24%. Tangible electronics, 

CD-ROM and the as-yet few DVDs, are hanging in at about 1%. 

Our analysis indicates that about 40% of the titles that we distributed in a tangible format may 

also have an online version available. We are actively searching out these online versions to 

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bring them into the FDLP Electronic Collection, and in most of these cases distribution of the 

print version will be discontinued. 

This is why we put a caveat in the instructions for the annual item selection update. We pointed 

out that the dissemination format for some Government publications will change from the 

physical distribution of tangible products (paper, microfiche, or CD-ROM) to online access only. 

In the coming months these changes will affect FDLP products currently available in multiple 

formats, particularly those available in both paper and online versions. In some cases the 

discontinuation of physical distribution will affect titles that you may wish to add during this 

update cycle, or even titles that you currently select. Changes in distribution format will be 

announced in WEBTech Notes as they occur <www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/ 

webtech.html>. 

Announcing “New Electronic Titles” 

At the recent Council meeting in Rhode Island we presented the results of our extensive review 

of our cataloging and locator services and made several proposals for adjusting and enhancing 

these services. One of those proposals involved reinventing the Browse Electronic Titles service 

into a current awareness tool for new electronic products in the FDLP. Named New Electronic 

Titles (NET), this tool has replaced the Browse Electronic Titles (BET) locator service. Each 

week the NET contains a list of online U.S. Government information products. The entries are 

linked to information products on GPO Access, Federal agency websites, FDLP partnerships and 

the FDLP/EC archive. 

As part of this service, LPS will announce the availability of all new congressional hearings that 

are being placed on GPO servers and made available through GPO Access. NET entries appear 

in a true title arrangement, instead of BET’s current arrangement by agency. After four weeks 

the oldest NET list will be moved to a NET archive. 

Full bibliographic information for the new titles will be available in the Catalog of U.S. 

Government Publications (CGP). Through this arrangement, users are encouraged to search the 

CGP as the prime resource for identifying, locating, and accessing both tangible and online U.S. 

Government information products. 

FDLP Desktop 

I hope that most of you are regular users of the FDLP Administration Web pages on GPO 

Access. As you know there’s a lot of content there, in fact about 700 pages’ worth, and we’ve 

heard that sometimes it was hard find the article, product, or service that you wanted. An LPS 

team has redone all of these pages and reorganized the content. We demonstrated the prototype 

design for the new FDLP Desktop at the spring Council meeting, and we’ve done some 

additional fine-tuning based on your feedback. Now we are nearly ready for prime time and by 

the middle of July the site will be ready for you to use. You can find the URL in the LPS 

handout, and I hope you’ll take the URL home and try it out. We’ve particularly tried to bring 

together the cataloging and locator services and to showcase the elements of the Electronic 

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Collection. We hope that the FDLP Desktop will make your lives easier, and we welcome your 

feedback for continuous improvement. 

Lessons from the NPR 

One of our permanent public access initiatives is to preserve the electronic products of agencies 

that are being sunsetted out of existence. With all due respect to Cathy Hartman, several of these 

dead agency websites are being preserved through a partnership with the University of North 

Texas (UNT). GPO has been talking with the NPR, the National Partnership for Reinventing 

Government, which is scheduled to go out of business on December 31, 2000. Since we might 

end up hosting the NPR site on GPO Access or at the UNT “cyber cemetery”, I decided to spend 

some time checking it out. According to the NPR site “This [Government reinvention] is all 

about doing more with less.” I think all librarians can relate to that! Apparently we in the 

Government information business, having done so much with so little for so long, are now 

qualified to take it to the next level, and do everything with nothing. 

But we’re not just passively feeling sorry for ourselves. We are actively looking around for 

ways to stretch our funding. And we’ve found some new “best practices” in other parts of 

Government that may be applicable. For example, this idea comes from the President’s 

Management Council as a funding mechanism for the WebGov portal, a “one-stop shopping” 

website under development for nearly two years. As reported in the May 15 issue of Federal 

Computer Week, “the Council has said it will fund WebGov with several million dollars through 

a “pass-the-hat” method.” 

Invitation 

While that’s happening, I want to mention that in October, barring a Government shutdown, we 

will once again host the Federal Depository Conference, which will run in parallel with the fall 

meeting of the Depository Library Council. The Conference and Council will be in the Holiday 

Inn Rosslyn Westpark, in Arlington, Virginia, from October 22 through 25, and we look forward 

to seeing you there. As usual, Sheila McGarr has planned a great program, and you’ll also get to 

enjoy Washington in October, our best weather month. 

By then we should know where our FY 2001 funding stands, and we can discuss proposals for 

future changes with you and the Depository Library Council in greater detail. 

Thank you all for coming today, and I want you all to know how much we at GPO appreciate 

your active support for the FDLP. 

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[Handout]

Library Programs Service Update 

ALA 

July 2000 

FDLP DESKTOP

The Library Programs Service (LPS) of the U.S. Government Printing Office is pleased to 

announce the new FDLP (Federal Depository Library Program) Desktop, which will be unveiled 

in July 2000 at <www.gpo.gov/fdlpdesktop>. Formerly known as the FDLP Administration 

page, this is a new and improved Internet resource comprised of more than 700 pages of 

information to be used by depository library staff, Federal agency personnel and members of the 

general public interested in the services provided by the FDLP. 

The new look with easier access to the most frequently used services, better navigation tools, and 

a comprehensive site index of the FDLP Desktop came about, in part, due to the valuable 

feedback from users of the FDLP Administration page. 

All users are invited to send comments and/or questions about the new site to: 

<asklps@gpo.gov>. 

NEW ELECTRONIC TITLES

New Electronic Titles (NET) replaces Browse Electronic Titles (BET) in July at 

<www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/locators/net.html>. NET is a new accessions list of electronic 

Government information resources coming into the Federal Depository Library Program's 

Electronic Collection. Entries will be posted weekly in a title arrangement. Each week, NET 

will contain a list of new titles, including all new congressional hearings on GPO Access. After 

four weeks, each NET weekly list will be moved to a NET archive. Access will be provided by 

the Catalog of U.S Government Publications web application at <www.gpo.gov/catalog>. 

PERMANENT PUBLIC ACCESS WEBSITE

Permanent public access, or PPA, is an essential element of a responsible electronic information 

dissemination program. LPS is taking on the issue of PPA for the FDLP Electronic Collection in 

a number of ways. LPS has worked with other agencies and public interest groups to raise 

awareness about this issue. In September 1999, the Public Printer began a series of meetings 

with representatives of the national libraries, other Federal agencies with major information and 

dissemination programs, and information-related organizations to discuss measures to advance 

the goal of keeping electronic Federal Government information products available to the public 

permanently. These meetings have been held on a quarterly basis, and participants have included 

the national libraries, NARA, the Council on Library and Information Resources, executive 

departments, Congressional staff, NCLIS, and others. GPO now hosts the PPA Working Group 

website, located at <www.gpo.gov/ppa>. Take a look at it! It includes the Working Group's 

goals, participants' list, meeting reports, and related resources from the participating 

organizations. 

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FDLP ELECTRONIC COLLECTION AGENCY AGREEMENTS

GPO and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) have reached an agreement that assures 

permanent public access to many of NLM’s most popular and important titles. Included in the 

agreement are PubMed and NLM Locator Plus, online resources that will take the place of at 

least eight titles formerly represented in the program in paper or microfiche. Complete details on 

this transition and substitution of electronic for tangible items will appear in an upcoming issue 

of AdNotes. The agreement is actually the result of a depository librarian query to both LPS and 

NLM, and the outcome is very positive for the Electronic Collection. 

Similar agreements are under review with the Census Bureau, General Accounting Office, 

Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) has become a partner with LPS to bring completely Internet 

based publications into the FDLP Electronic Collection. A group of USIP “born digital” 

publications is serving as a testbed for improving metatagging and new cataloging practices. 

The project will continue for the next several months, and a progress report is anticipated at the 

Federal Depository Conference in October. 

DIGITAL ARCHIVING

LPS and OCLC, Inc. are at work on developing high-level user requirements for a system to 

locate, identify, process, describe, catalog, and archive electronic publications. The proposed 

system will incorporate a mix of new and existing solutions in an effort to refine and integrate 

LPS workflow and routines for processing and storing e-titles for the long term. 

LPS’ own archive of electronic publications continues to evolve and grow, and we expect that 

the effort of the E-teams will expand its holdings significantly. Candidates for this “in-house” 

solution remain agency publications that are primarily textual or images of text, and which have 

no tangible cognate in the FDLP. Currently two PURLs are directed to archival copies on the 

GPO server. For information on the operation of the FDLP/EC Archive, see The FDLP 

Electronic Collection at <www.gpo.gov/ppa/resources.html>.

DEPOSITORY ADMINISTRATION BRANCH UPDATE

The 2001 Update Cycle is now in full swing! From June 1 through July 31, 2000, libraries may 

add item numbers to their item selection profile via the online Amendment of Item Selection 

form at <www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/amendment.html>. Drops made for the library’s 

item selection profile go into effect immediately. Additions go into effect October 1, 2000. 

Changing to a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) continues. The 

dissemination medium for some Government publications will change from the physical 

distribution of tangible products (paper, microfiche, CD-ROM) to online access only. In the 

coming months, these changes will affect FDLP products currently available in multiple formats, 

particularly those available in both paper and online versions. In some cases the discontinuation 

of physical distribution will affect titles that you may wish to add during this update cycle, or 

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even titles that you currently select. Changes in distribution format will be announced in 

WEBTech Notes at <www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/webtech.html> as they occur. 

The National Trade Data Bank (NTDB) (C 1.88:, item 0128-L) on CD-ROM will no longer be 

sent to libraries effective with the October 2000 disc. In August 1999, LPS signed an 

Interagency Agreement with STAT-USA to provide funding directly to STAT-USA for the new 

NTDB software, with the understanding that FY 2000 would be the final year the NTDB was 

issued in a tangible format to Federal depository libraries (see Administrative Notes, vol. 20, no. 

16, 10/25/99, p. 13). In this agreement, LPS and STAT-USA agreed to work toward increasing 

online access to the STAT-USA database. Effective October 1, 2000, depository libraries will 

have two free subscriptions to the STAT-USA online service. Libraries do not need to register 

for the increased access from one user to two simultaneous users in the library. The current 

passwords in use by libraries registered for this service will allow the extra user to access the 

database. To register for this service, complete the registration form at <ww1.access.gpo.gov/ 

GPOAccess/su_docs/dpos/statusaf.html>. Look for information on a future survey about the 

NTDB from STAT-USA in the August issue of the Administrative Notes. 

The future of USA Trade (C 1.88/3:, item 0128-L-01) CD-ROM is still under negotiation. LPS 

is negotiating a new licensing agreement for this CD-ROM. A new paid portion of the STATUSA database, USA Trade Online, with the detail level equivalent to the CD-ROM product is 

not included under the agreement for free depository access. When STAT-USA ends the free 

trial period, depository libraries wishing to access USA Trade Online on the STAT-USA website 

must pay for access under terms set by STAT-USA. Information contained in the USA Trade 

CD-ROM is also available on the monthly U.S. Imports of Merchandise (C 3.278/2:, item 0154-

D) and the monthly U.S. Exports of Merchandise (C 3.279:, item 0154-D). 

In January 2000, LPS announced that the General Wage Determinations Issued Under the DavisBacon and Related Acts (L 36.211:, item 0777-B-04 through 0777-B-10), would be available in 

an online database on GPO Access in early spring 2000. This announcement was premature. 

The paper basic volumes and weekly supplements that had not been distributed for the year 2000 

are in the process of being shipped to libraries. We apologize for the inconvenience associated 

with this delay in making the material available in the libraries. 

NEW INFORMATION PRODUCTS

National Commission on Terrorism's publication entitled Countering the Changing Threat of 

International Terrorism, (Y 3.2:T 27/2000018493, item 1089), is disseminated ONLINE ONLY 

at <w3.access.gpo.gov/nct/>. 

Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2000, (A 1.77:232/2000, item 

0011), is disseminated ONLINE ONLY at <www.usda.gov/cnpp/DietGd.pdf>. 

U.S. Department of Justice's Investigation of Recent Allegations Regarding the Assassination of 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., (J 1.2:K 58/2, item 0717) is disseminated ONLINE ONLY at 

<www.usdoj.gov/crt/crim/mlk/part1.htm>. 

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U.S Industry and Trade Outlook, 2000 (C 61.48:2000, item 0215-L-08) was distributed on 

shipping list 2000-0024-S dated 5/26/2000. 

CATALOGING BRANCH UPDATE

With its recent membership in BIBCO (BIBliographic Cooperative Program), the U.S. 

Government Printing Office is now a full member of all national cooperative cataloging 

programs and is fully vested in the national Program for Cooperative Cataloging. Membership 

in these programs provides GPO with standards that catalogers apply to assure that GPO 

cataloging records are accepted by the online public access catalogs (OPACs) of the nation’s 

libraries. 

OCLC (Online Computer Library Center, Inc.), the world’s largest bibliographic utility, has 

recently granted National Enhanced Status to GPO catalogers. National Enhanced Status, which 

is held by only several dozen libraries, means that GPO catalogers are authorized to modify all 

OCLC records, including those that are produced by the Library of Congress and other national 

libraries. 

As an early participant in OCLC’s CORC (Cooperative Online Resource Catalog) project, 

Cataloging Branch personnel continue to advise OCLC on the development of CORC software 

for use in large-scale cataloging operations. 

MAINTENANCE OF PURLS AND ACCESS TO ONLINE PUBLICATIONS

Cataloging Branch personnel currently maintain access to approximately 4,500 online titles using 

OCLC’s PURLs (Persistent Uniform Resource Locators) software. Approximately 10,000 

online titles are accessible via a combination of PURLs (more recent records) and URLs (older 

records). As broken links are re-established, older titles initially made accessible via URLs are 

brought under the control of PURLs. Maintenance of hot-links via GPO’s PURLs server allows 

more time for catalogers to devote to producing new cataloging records than would be possible if 

access were maintained by frequently changing URLs in GPO produced records. 

Cataloging Branch staff are now correcting records, eliminating duplicate records, and updating 

records on the online Catalog of U.S. Government Publications. Our objective is to maintain this 

catalog according to standards that prevail at many institutions for their online public access 

catalogs.

SELF-STUDIES

The previously announced schedule for submitting self-studies to the Library Programs Service, 

which appeared in Administrative Notes, October 25, 1999, <www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/ 

dpos/ad102599.html#9>, has been postponed until further notice. Staff vacancies and the 

uncertainty of the FY 2001 budget provide a temporary respite to documents librarians at 

depository libraries that were last inspected in 1994 in Arkansas, California, Florida, Indiana, 

Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. 

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OUTREACH

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, registration, and hotel information appeared in the June 15, 2000 issue of Administrative 

Notes (v. 21, #9) <www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/ad061500.html>. 

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24 

Table of Contents 

FDLP Desktop Begins in July 2000.............................................................................................. 1

Unauthorized Survey about Bills on Microfiche .......................................................................... 1 

Two NLM Titles Added to List of Official GPO Permanent Full-Text Databases...................... 2 

Substitution List: Official FDLP Permanent Full-Text Databases, Revised July 2000................ 4 

Annual Selection Update Cycle 2001 Ends July 31, 2000 ........................................................... 5 

Update on GPO Activities / Buckley, ALA, 7/00......................................................................... 6 

The [Electronic] Future Is Now / Baldwin, ALA, 7/00 .............................................................. 12 

Library Programs Service Update, ALA, 7/00 ........................................................................... 19 

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