Proceedings of the

4th Annual Federal

Depository Library

Conference

April 1 1 - 14, 1 995

Library Programs Service U.S. Government Printing Office

Wasliington, DC 20401
U.S. Government Printing Office

Michael F. DiMario, Public Printer

Superintendent of Documents

Wayne P. Kelley

Library Programs Service

James D. Young, Director

Depository Services Staff

Shieila M. McGarr, Chief
Proceedings of the 4th Annual

Federal Depository Library

Conference

April 11-14, 1995

Rosslyn Westpark Hotel

Arlington, VA

Library Programs Service U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington, DC 20401

1995
Marian W. MacGilvray

Editor

Any use of trade, product, or firm names in tliis publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement

by tlie U.S. Government.
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Table of Contents

Preface v Agenda, 1 995 Federal Depository Conference vi

Federal Electronic Information: The Promise and the Peril from an End-User's

Perspective: Bruce Maxwell 3 Information Technology: Management Issues: Cost or Investment? Thomas C. Tate . 8 Maps in Transition, the Digital World, and the Future of CIS: Vivienne R. Roumani-Denn 13 Paper to Pixels: A Transition in Census Maps: Frederick R. Broome 17

Preservation of U.S. Government Documents: The 1909 Checklist and Beyond:

Laura Saurs 20

Effective Media and Community Relations: Kathryn McConnell 27

Bureau of the Census Products and Programs: Lars johanson 36 Many Ways to S-WAIS and WAIS: The New Mexico Experience: Clark McLean ... 40

Community Information Organizations: The Chicago Model: John A. Shuler 45

Mining the Electronic Documents for Local Collections: Raleigh Muns 53

National Library of Education: Electronic Initiatives: Keith M. Stubbs 67

GAO: Access to Information: Phyllis Christenson 73 The Department of Energy Virtual Library: Today and the Vision for the Future: David Henderson 83 Automated Records Project: Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office: Linda Brooks 90 The National Digital Library: Herbert Becker 93

iii
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Environmental Information to Go: Update on Products, Services and New

Electronic Initiatives: Rachel Van Wingen 99

National Center for Health Statistics: June Gable 101 WINGS, the Electronic Government Gateway: Carolyn Youngblood and Velma McCuiston 106

Extending the Outreach: Documents Libraries and The Department of State: Peter A. Knecht 109

Electronic Information Dissemination to the Public by the U.S. Treasury

Department: Serena H. Eriksen 113

IRS Federal Tax Forms CD-ROM: Dan Solar! 115

Printing Operations at the Treasury Department: Keith Lee 117 A Universe of Information: An Introduction to NASA Electronic Resources: Susan M. Hawman 119 Permanent Paper: Bonnie Rose Curtin 121

U.S. Code on CD-ROM and on the Internet: Elliot Chabot 122

Public Libraries and the Internet/Nil: Peter R. Young 125

Contributors 129

iv
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Preface

This volume presents the papers given at the 4th Annual Federal Depository Conference,

joining the Proceedings of the 3rd Conference, published in 1994. Papers of the first two

conferences were published in Administrative Notes, Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program, in various issues of vol. 13 (1992) and vol. 14 (1993).

All available papers from the 1995 conference are included. Some presentations consist of the material shown as overhead projections or other audio-visual displays. The Library Programs Service thanks all those who contributed to the success of this conference: speakers, presenters of demonstrations, and all those who put in many hours behind

the scenes to plan the entire program.

V
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Agenda

1 995 Federal Depository Conference

April 1 1 - 14, 1995

Rosslyn Westpark Hotel

1900 N. Ft. Myer Drive

Arlington, Virginia

Tuesday, April 1

1

10:30 Federal Electronic Information Policy: The Promise and the Peril from the End

User's Perspective

• Bruce Maxwell, author

11:15 Information Technology Management Issues: Cost or Investment?

• Thomas Tate, Department of Agriculmre

2:00 Maps in Transition, the Digital World, and the Future of GIS

• Vivienne Roumani-Denn, Head, Earth Sciences and Map Library,

University of California, Berkeley

• Hedy J. Rossmeissl, Assistant Division Chief, Information Services, National Mapping Division, U.S. Geological Survey

• Barbara S. Poore, Federal Geographic Data Committee Secretariat, U.S. Geological Survey

• Frederick Broome, Cartographic Specialist, Bureau of the Census, Geography Division 4:00 Option 1: Documents Preservation: The 1909 Checklist and Beyond

• Laura Saurs, Assistant Department Head, Newark Public Library, NJ

Option 2: Effective Media and Community Relations: Tips for Depository

Librarians

• Kathryn McConnell, Creative Services Manager,

Advertising and Promotion Branch, GPO

vi
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Wednesday, April 1 2

11:00 Option 1: Department of Commerce

• Lars Johanson, Chief, Statistical Abstract Section, Statistical Compendia Staff, Data User Services Division

• Ken Rogers, Director, STAT-USA, Economic and Statistics Administration Option 2: GPO Access Demonstration: GPO Locator

• Judith Russell, Director, EIDS

12:00 Lunch

2:00 Option 1: Many Ways to S-WAIS and WAIS: The New Mexico Experience

• Clark McLean, University of New Mexico

Option 2: GPO Access Demonstration: Federal Register

• Judith Russell, Director, EIDS

3:00 Option 1: Community Information Organizations: The University of Illinois at Chicago Experience

• John Shuler, University of Illinois at Chicago

Option 2: GPO Access Demonstration: Bills, Public Laws, and U.S. Code

• Judith Russell, Director, EIDS

4:00 Option 1: Mining the Electronic Documents for Local Collections

• Raleigh Muns, University of Missouri at St. Louis Option 2: GPO Access Demonstration: Congressional Record, Calendars, Reports and Documents

• Judith Russell, Director, EIDS

5:00 Adjourn

vii
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Thursday, April 13

Federal Agency Updates on Products, Services, and New Electronic Initiatives

8:30 Option 1: National Agricultural Library

• Gary McCone, Head, Database Administration Branch

Option 2: Bureau of Labor Statistics • Mary McMichael, Supervisory Economist, Office of Publications Option 3: National Library of Education

• Keith Stubbs, Acting Director, Resource Sharing and Cooperation Division Option 4: General Accounting Office

• Phyllis Christenson, Director, Information Services Center

8:30 - Option 5: GPO Access Demonstration: All databases 10:30 • Judith Russell, Director, EIDS

Option 6: Department of Energy

• David Henderson, Technical Information Specialist, Office of

Scientific and Technical Information

9:30 Option 1: National Agricultural Library

• Gary McCone, Head, Database Administration Branch

Option 2: Bureau of Labor Statistics • Mary McMichael, Supervisory Economist, Office of Publications Option 3 : National Library of Education

• Keith Stubbs, Acting Director, Resource Sharing and Cooperation Division Option 4: General Accounting Office

• Phyllis Christenson, Director, Information Services Center

10:30 Break

11:00 Option 1: Bureau of Land Management

• Linda Brooks, General Land Office Records Automation Project Manager

Option 2: The National Digital Library

• Herbert S. Becker, Director, Information Technology Services, Library of Congress

Option 3: Environmental Protection Agency

• Rachel Van Wingen, Office of Information Resources Management

viii
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Option 4: National Center for Health Statistics • June Gable, Chief, Information Services Section, Data Dissemination Branch

Option 5: GPO Access Demonstration: GPO Locator

• Judith Russell, Director, EIDS

12:00 Lunch

2:00 Option 1: Bureau of Land Management

• Linda Brooks, General Land Office Records Automation

Project Manager

Option 2: The National Digital Library

• Herbert S. Becker, Director, Information Technology Services, Library of Congress

Option 3: Environmental Protection Agency

• Rachel Van Wingen, Office of Information Resources Management

Option 4: National Center for Health Statistics • June Gable, Chief, Information Services Section, Data Dissemination Branch

Option 5: GPO Access Demonstration: Federal Register

• Judith Russell, Director, EIDS

Option 6: Department of Energy

• David Henderson, Technical Information Specialist, Office of

Scientific and Technical Information

3:00 Option 1: U.S. Postal Service Kiosk Program

• Carolyn Youngblood, Applications Development Manager

• Velma McCuiston, State Liaison Option 2: State Department

• Peter A. Knecht, Deputy Director, Office of Public Communication

Option 3: U.S. Department of the Treasury

• Keith Lee, Chief, Printing Management Branch, Printing and

Graphics Division

• Dan Solari, Printing Specialist, Multi-Media Production Division,

Internal Revenue Service

• Serena Erickson, Telecommunications Specialist, U.S. Dept. of the Treasury

Option 4: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

• Susan Hawman, NASA Headquarters Library

ix
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Option 5: GPO Access Demonstration: Bills, Public Laws, and U.S. Code

• Judith Russell, Director, BIDS

4:00 Option 1: U.S. Postal Service Kiosk Program

• Carolyn Youngblood, Applications Development Manager

• Velma McCuiston, State Liaison Option 2: State Department

• Peter A. Knecht, Deputy Director, Office of Public Communication

Option 3: U.S. Department of the Treasury

• Keith Lee, Chief, Printing Management Branch, Printing and

Graphics Division

• Dan Solari, Printing Specialist, Multi-Media Production Division,

Internal Revenue Service

• Serena Erickson, Telecommunications Specialist, U.S. Dept. of the Treasury

Option 4: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

• Susan Hawman, NASA Headquarters Library

Option 5: GPO Access Demonstration: Congressional Record, Calendars, Reports and Documents

• Judith Russell, Director, BIDS

5:00 Adjourn

Friday, April 14

8:30 Open Forum

• LPS and BIDS staff

9:15 Permanent Paper

• Bonnie R. Curtin, National Archives and Records Administration 9:30 United States Code on CD-ROM and on the Internet

• Blliot Chabot, Legal Support Project Leader, House Information Systems, U.S. House of Representatives

10:15 NCLIS, the Internet, and Depository Libraries

• Peter Young, Executive Director, U.S. National Commission on

Libraries and Information Science 11:00 The White House Online: What's Next?

• David Lytel, Office of Science and Technology Policy 12:00 Adjourn

X
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

1 995 Federal Depository Conference

U.S. Government Information. .

.

ELECTRONICALLY

1
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

2
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Federal Electronic Information: The Promise

and the Peril from an End-User's Perspective

Bruce Maxwell

Author

Falls Church, VA

I feel a bit like the fellow who took coals

to Newcastle, since many of you in the audience have been involved in electronic access issues for years. Some of you even run

Internet systems that I've written about in my

latest book.

I'm going to speak today as an end-user of electronic information and of government documents in general. I am not a librarian, although I was smart enough to marry one. I also am not affiliated with any company,

institution, or group, so the opinions I express

are solely my own. My opinions are based on my heavy use

of government documents ever since I became

a journalist more than a decade ago, and

especially on the two years I've spent exploring hundreds of Federal Internet sites and BBSs while writing my books. My research has convinced me that we now stand at a point of unprecedented

promise in regards to expanding public access

to government information, yet also of unprecedented peril. The promise is apparent virtually every time I turn on my computer, because it seems

like there's always a new Federal BBS or

Internet site going online. Today, I conservatively estimate that the Federal Government has at least 250 BBSs and other

types of dial-in systems and at least 500 to 750 Internet sites. In my definition of Federal

site, I include sites operated by the Federal

Government itself and those operated by

universities and private individuals that offer substantial collections of Federal documents.

So today we have online approximately

1,000 sites offering free, public access to a wide range of government information. Depository libraries are playing a big role in fulfilling the promise of online access, since most are hooking up to the Internet and

training their librarians in how to use it so that the librarians can then turn around and help

their users explore and utilize the wonders of cyberspace. Some libraries are going a step further. In addition to serving their core constituencies,

they're also serving the entire world by

making government documents available on

the Internet for free. There are numerous

examples of this, but I'd like to cite three:

• First, a growing number of libraries are providing free online access to the Congressional Record, the Federal

Register, the text of all bills introduced

in Congress, and other databases through the GPO Access program.

• Second, the University of Michigan

library provides free access through its gopher to all of the files from the Commerce Department's fee-based Economic Bulletin Board. Each day,

the Michigan librarians download the new files from the Economic Bulletin Board, which normally costs between

3
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

$3 and $24 per hour to access, and

upload them to the gopher. I should

note that the University of Michigan

also has put the U.S. Government

Manual online for free.

• Third, librarians at the University of Missouri-St. Louis have extracted files from government CD-ROMS such as the National Trade Data Bank and

posted the files on the university's gopher. The librarians have provided

free access to the U.S. Industrial Outlook, the Occupational Outlook Handbook, Army Area Handbooks for numerous foreign countries. State Department country reports, and a wide range of other valuable documents. These are just three examples of what

depository libraries have done in addition to serving their core constituencies.

In a perfect world, it would be great if other depository libraries that have the necessary resources could follow in the

footsteps of these libraries. For example, it would be neat if a group of depository

libraries got together and said, "OK, these are the top 10 or 50 or 100 government

CD-ROMS. I'll extract the files from the first CD-ROM and put them online, you extract the

files from the second and put them online," and so on. So there are many examples of the

potential that BBSs and the Internet present for expanding public access to government

information. That potential is being at least partially fulfilled by some Federal agencies and libraries, although much still remains to be done.

All in all we live in a very exciting time, a time when innovations in technology are

greatly increasing the ability of people all over

the world to access key American Government documents.

That's the good news. The bad news is there also are threats today that have the

potential to imperil not only the public's access to electronic government information, but to government information in any form at

all. I'd like to touch on three of these. The first threat comes from government

policy makers and others who have T-1 connections, or direct connections, to the

Internet, and who forget that the rest of the world isn't always so fortunate. These policy makers forget that only a small portion of the American public is Internet savvy, yet advocate and make policy as if everyone in the country was connected. Here are two

examples:

• A well-known professor from Syracuse

University is publicly advocating

shutting down all of the government's

BBSs. The professor contends that BBSs are unnecessary in this day of the

Internet. The professor ignores the fact that lots of people in the United States who own modems do not have

Internet connections. The BBSs give these folks electronic access to selected government documents, which to me is a valuable service because it expands public access to government information.

• Second, within the last week or so the Census Bureau quietly announced that two series of publications from the Government Division will no longer be published in hard copy, but will only be posted on the agency's

Internet sites. The two series are Government Employment and Government Finances.

At first blush, putting documents on the

Internet instead of printing them sounds like a

great idea. For starters, it lowers costs for the

originating agency because the agency doesn't have to pay for printing the documents.

Secondly, it saves money for depository

libraries because they don't have to keep

adding expensive shelf space to hold an

4
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

ever-growing collection of paper documents

and they don't have to pay someone to process the documents.

Yet from an end-user perspective, eliminating printed documents is a lousy idea - at least for now. We've already seen a big

shift, caused by financial constraints, from

paper documents to microfiche. While this move saved money, it certainly made life harder for end-users, since microfiche is harder to use than a printed document. Making documents available only on the

Internet and not in printed form unleashes a whole host of problems. First, as I noted a moment ago, a very small portion of the American public owns computers and

possesses the skills needed to access the

Internet. So those people must come into your library to access the document using your computers. Many of these people will not know how

to use computers, so they'll need you to either

find the document or show them how to do

so. I don't know what the situation is now,

since I have not visited a depository in some

time. But when I was last in depositories, there frequently was not a documents librarian present or the only person available was a student on work-study. If the patron happens

to wander in when no one is on duty and

doesn't know how to use the computers, he's out of luck. This isn't necessarily the case with paper documents. And what about the patron who says, "I want printed transcripts of all congressional

hearings for the last three years about the Food and Drug Administration." Now, you

can hand the patron a pile of paper documents and/or microfiche and he's all set. But if we go to a print-on-demand system as many advocate, will you be willing to print thousands of pages of documents for this patron? The second issue involves cataloging. Today, there is no system in place for cataloging information on BBSs and the

Internet. While I and others, including

depository librarians, have prepared lists of

Federal Government BBSs and Internet sites, those lists are incomplete and cannot list every document that's available from every

site.There are now efforts underway to develop catalogs of electronic documents. GPO is developing a locator system, others

are developing the Government Information

Locator Service, and OCLC has a contract to catalog the Internet's resources.

It remains to be seen whether any of these

efforts will actually succeed. I doubt it, primarily because the decentralized nature of the Internet and the rapid changes inherent in the Internet make it virtually impossible to successfully catalog the network. Maybe these systems will work one day, but we should not be planning a government information dissemination program around them now. The third issue involves the very nature of research itself. One of the benefits of paper documents from a researcher's perspective is that once you locate a document you need in an open stack, you can look around it to see if there are related documents that would be

useful. While computers allow you to follow connections between sites and documents

through the World Wide Web, they don't provide anything like the experience of wandering through open stacks of printed documents. The fourth issue involves availability of electronic information. There's no law telling the Census Bureau or anyone else how long it must make a particular document available

online. Thus, as a new edition of a document

becomes available, an agency might be

inclined to simply remove the old version, even if the old version had value from a

historical and research perspective. The GPO

is now apparently working to create a central storage facility for these old files, but again I would prefer to see it in operation before

relying on it to maintain the nation's memory.

5
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

The fifth issue involves data integrity. If the only public copies of a document are electronic versions on a server or two, it would be very easy for a government official to alter those copies for whatever reason. It also would be possible for hackers to alter the documents, since determined hackers seem to have little or no trouble breaking into Federal computer systems. By contrast, if there are hundreds of printed copies of a document

sitting in depository libraries nationwide, it's much harder for someone to alter the document. The last issue I'd like to mention involves the present and future of the Internet itself. I would guess that even five years ago, most

people in this room had not even heard of the

Internet, let alone used it. And none of us can

accurately predict what shape the Internet will have in another five years, or even whether it may have been replaced by some other computer network by then. What we do know now is that the Internet

is getting so clogged with traffic that you

cannot access some of the most popular

Federal Internet sites for long periods because

all their ports are taken. This clogging of the

Internet shows every sign of getting much

worse before it gets better. Thus, with so much uncertainty about the

Internet's future, it seems dangerous to base much of the government's information dissemination program on the network -

especially if the backup of printed documents

is eliminated. The second threat comes from certain members of the administration and Congress

who talk a good game about public access but do not produce. The most obvious example

of this is Newt Gingrich, who ever since the

election has portrayed himself as a champion

of public access but has yet to produce.

Sure, he got lots of media hype by starting up the THOMAS server in conjunction with

the Library of Congress, but there's nothing

available on THOMAS that wasn't already

available elsewhere on the Internet before THOMAS. The Congressional Record, the

Federal Register, and the text of bills were all available through the GPO Access system, and

all the House calendars and other House

documents were already available through the gopher and WWW site operated by House

Information Systems. The net result is Mr. Gingrich got lots of

credit for work done by others. And

meanwhile, the Republicans are targeting GPO despite a total lack of evidence that GPO's job could be performed better or cheaper by another agency.

I'm not saying that GPO is perfect. I think everyone in this room probably has a list of things they wish GPO would do differently. My personal peeve is with GPO's BBS, which

is without exception the worst designed

Federal BBS among the 250 or so now

available.

But missing from the debate I've heard on

the Hill is any discussion about figuring out

what's right and wrong about GPO and

determining how the agency can do its job

better. Instead, all we hear about is chopping

the whole agency. A second example of problems with Congress was reported last week. It seems

that NTIS had gotten $8 million appropriated

for improvements to FedWorld, which Is the

largest and best Federal BBS now online. Then Congress decided the Defense Department needed some more money -

probably for more gold-plated toilets on all those new Seawolf attack submarines we need

to battle the communist menace - and

decided to rescind at least part of the appropriation for FedWorld. The Senate voted to rescind $7.6 million

of the $8 million appropriation, while the House voted to rescind $4 million. The issue

is now reportedly before a conference

committee. Both the House and the Senate

said that if NTIS wanted more money for FedWorld, it should start charging user fees.

6
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Obviously, the imposition of user fees would

sharply reduce the number of people using FedWorld. All this makes it hard to swallow

claims by Newt Gingrich and others that they

favor public access to government

information. The third threat comes from the commercial information industry. The

industry continues to fight tooth and nail to keep the Federal Government from placing online for free documents and databases that the industry charges hefty fees to access. We saw an example of this fight earlier

this year when Congress started working to update the Paperwork Reduction Act. West

Publishing, a major legal publisher, tried to get a provision inserted in the bill that would

have had the potential to give government

contractors broad powers over Federal information. The provision also would have

subverted the Freedom of Information Act, at least according to the Department of Justice.

Fortunately, the public interest and library communities mobilized to fight the provision and won, but there will continue to be battles.

In my view there is an important role for the commercial information industry to play in adding value to government information, but

the days when commercial firms had monopolies on raw government data are coming to an end.

In conclusion, I'd like to leave you with two thoughts. First, what I've basically tried to say is that I believe we're placing too much

reliance on the Internet too soon as the major

tool for disseminating Federal information. In my view, the Internet is simply one tool for disseminating and accessing government

information, along with printed publications, CD-ROMS, commercial databases, BBSs, and

other tools. The Internet has advantages and

disadvantages, as have all of the other tools.

I realize that my call for disseminating the same information through both the Internet and printed publications, at least for the time

being, may be wishful thinking given the

current economic and political realities. Nonetheless, I still cling to the notion that the

real role of the Internet and BBSs in disseminating government information is to expand access, rather than to save a buck. I would hate to see this wondrous technology

used in a way that actually limits access. My second thought is that with all of the

battles now being fought over public access, both the GPO and depository libraries must do a much better job of publicity. When

Internet-literate people think about accessing

congressional information today, most

automatically think about THOMAS because THOMAS got all the media hype. GPO

created the databases that are on THOMAS,

but hardly anybody knows that. Most folks have never heard of the GPO

Access program, and most don't know about

all the hard work depository librarians around

the country are doing to broaden public

access to electronic information. They also don't know about all the electronic services available to them through many depository

libraries. That story needs to be told. I'm trying to

tell it through my books. Now it's your turn.

7
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Information Technology

Management Issues: Cost or Investment?

Thomas G. Tate

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Washington, DC

Management Challenges at USDA

Down size work force Close facilities Reduce budgets Remoteness of customers

Do We Know The Answers? What is our business? Who are our customers? What do they want from us? When do they need it? Where do they need it? Can we do it better? Cheaper?

Millions of customer transactions (1 10 Customers:

million in 1993)

Rural Economic Development

Maintain/improve customer service Producers

Processors Consumers

National Meeting Being Held On-Line Communities

Focus on U.S. services to be offered by

computer Town hall meeting without town hall National electronic open meeting

Asking the customer May 1-14 (24 hours) 50,000 expected to participate Access points call 1-800-881-6842 between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. EDT

Are you involved?

Management Challenge Customer Service How Often?

• 1 10 million times per year

• How do we maintain/improve customer service with less resources?

Re-invent? Re-engineer? Our Mission? WHO? WHY?

WHAT? HOW?

WHERE? HOW MUCH?

WHEN? WHO CARES?

How about a re-invention laboratory?

Re-Invention Laboratory

For the sake of Science! Learn! Experiment! Evaluate! Apply what works!

8
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Can Information Technology Help?

What do we need to try?

• Digital Library (Convert priority information)

• National Network

• Community Access Sites

• Literate Access Cooperators

Current Situation?

1/3 of our customers have own computer

2/3 of our customers use computers

$75,000 + plus family income - 70%

have computer in home (haves) < $10,000 family income 7% have computer in home (need access to public access terminal with assistance) (have nots)

HISTORY: 1950's/1960's

Interstate highway model

Towns/communities without access (on/off ramps). Died economically. Communities had little choice/suffered consequence

CURRENT: 1990's

Information highway model Towns/communities without access (on/off ramps)

Risk economic death

Cooperative Partnerships

WHO CARES?

Office of Vice President - National Performance Review

U.S. Dept. of Commerce - National

Information Infrastructure

Small Business Administration (1,200) 70 + Federal Government (Agriculture, Commerce, Education, U.S.P.S ... )

State/Local Governments Community networks/freenets

Federal depository libraries (1,400)

State land grant universities County Cooperative Extension Services

(2,400)

How Can We Make It Work?

Mobilize local communities to establish terminals Community on/off ramps to/from information highway

AMERICANS COMMUNICATING

ELECTRONICALLY (ACE)

Vision:

"Interactive Access to Government

Information Electronically by all citizens." ACE

Citizens in every state working to build

local community access to Federal,

State, and local government

information.

9
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

• Community Networks

• (e.g., Columbia, Missouri's COIN

Project)

• Seattle Public Library

• 450 + communities:

FreeNets; BBS's, Community Info Servers; Public Info, terminals.

Kiosks; available to local citizens, especially "information have nots"

• Citizen Participation Centers

Community Communication Corps

# Local facilitators to assist communities in adopting and implementing information technology , , • Volunteers lined to other ACE resources

ACE: Electronic Methods • Network servers providing access to local and distant databases , # Electronic Mail

• Electronic discussion groups and

Action Teams

* Technical Assistance to Members

* Becoming an Electronic Information provider

* Community Outreach

ACE: Retrieval Methods • NETSCAPE/MOSAIC - and other World Wide Web (WWW) Browsers, MultiMedia

(text, sound, pictures ... ) • LYNX - WWW Browser (Text Only) • GOPHER - Menu Based browsing and

retrieval • ALAMANAC - e-mail based retrieval access to remote data bases

ACE Membership

Volunteers from:

• 70+ Federal agencies in executive,

legislative and judicial branches

• State and local government units in 50

states

ACE: Current Effort • Government Agencies have e-mail addresses that public can use to interact • E-mail addresses on business cards, stationery and directories • E-mail on every desk top - million plus addresses

ACE: Concepts: # Electronic Democracy

# Electronic Health Assistance # Electronic Commerce # Electronic Manufacturing

# Distance Education

ACE: • Information available through ACE

electronically • Electronic mail accessible catalog of government-wide content:

• send e-mail to: alamanac@ace.esusda.gov

• in the text of the e-mail type: send acscatalog • ACE World Wide Web Home Page - Under Construction

http://ceres.esusda.gov/homeace/ace.htm

10
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

ACE Gopher Server (Menu based access to

full text documents)

gopher ace.esusda.gov

ACE: Electronic Democracy

Electronic town meetings

National Electronic Summits Needs and concerns identified Proposed legislation and regulations shared interactively Interaction between citizens and decisions makers

• Congressional Databases

• Congressional Electronic Mail

• Citizens Interactive Handbook-Access

to Agencies

ACE: Electronic Health Assistance

ACE: Progress 2,400 + community locations usmg e-mail

Federal, State and local groups

cooperating on implementing the ACE

public access vision

Millions of pages shared electronically

ACE: Success Stories

Flood Crisis Hurricane Assistance Earthquake Assistance

Inner City Networks

Indian Reservations Helping Government Agencies Modernize

Their Delivery Systems

K-12/Senior Citizen Links

Access to distant expertise and information with emphasis on wellness and prevention

ACE: Electronic Commerce

Local businesses advertising and doing

business with customers electronically in the world-wide electronic market place

ACE: Electronic Manufacturing

Major manufacturing centers distributing cad/cam work load to distributed small scale manufacturers in rural areas.

ACE: Distance Education

Best Teachers shared electronically

Best learning tools shared electronically Learning possible when and where the learner

is ready to learn (school, home, work...)

ACE: Finding Out More

Send e-mail to: info@ace.esusda.gov ACE auto-responder will send back

details via e-mail to requester.

ACE: To Join Send e-mail message to: letters@ace.esusda.gov

Tell ACE your interests, vision, and what you

have to offer your community.

ACE Point of Contact: Thomas G. Tate

National Program Leader

Information Technology

USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service Room 3901 South BIdg. Washington, DC 20250-0900

11
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Internet: ttate@reeusda.gov

Voice: 202-720-2727

Fax: 202-690-2975

ACE Hosts: USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service Ace Electronic Servers: ace.esusda.gov

Small Business Administration Monthly Meetings in Washington at SBA 8th Floor Conference Room

Contact: Diane Gannon at SBA

Ace Voice Mail: 301-277-5085
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Maps in Transition, the Digital World, and

tlie Future of GIS

Vivienne R. Roumanl-Denn

University of California, Berlceley

The session on Maps, the Digital World, and the Future of GIS addressed the future of map collections, the Federal Depository

Library Program as it relates to maps and data, and the role of GIS (geographic information

systems) in libraries. We were fortunate to have three knowledgeable and experienced

speakers who have been working directly with

the depository program and distribution issues, and the printed versions of their papers in this volume are most informative. This paper, which records my introductory remarks at the symposium but without the accompanying

graphics, outlines some of the development

and current issues. From Paper, to Microform, to Digital

I would like to start with a brief overview

of trends in map collection, most of which are guided by other than local forces; the most

recent guidance is from the top, by executive

order. The President's press release of 1

1

April 1994 dictates the establishment of a "National Spatial Data Infrastructure to support

public and private sector applications of geospatial data..." and the "National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse.. .a distributed network of geospatial data producers, managers, and users linked electronically" assuring public access to data. The standard

to be used is established by the Federal Geographic Data Committee. Subsequently we have seen announcements from the Census Bureau, which is putting TIGER maps

on the Web, and the USGS, which is moving

its information to automated systems. (Automation was first designed for high-end

users, but it is increasingly being produced for a more general audience, and we want to encourage the continuation of this change.) The National Agricultural Library (NAL) has

"designated electronic information the

preferred medium for library materials" (ARL

178 January 1995 p. 3). Even the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA),

in a change of policy, now accepts Federal agency files in electronic form (although they

convert CD-ROMs to magnetic tape for archival purposes). It is clear that the

transition from traditional print to electronic format is a fact of life, with all its benefits and

disadvantages.

This new electronic infrastructure, driven by recent developments in computer

technologies and remote-sensing satellites, is intended to save money by coordinating

production and distribution of maps and data,

to utilize up-to-date mapping technology, and

to assure widespread access. Maps are visual objects, so I would like to begin by looking at some images of the evolution of maps. We all know how a

printed map looks and functions, and we

understand the advantages and disadvantages

of this medium. The accuracy is generally not questioned, both graphics and text are usually

clear (there are preservation issues, but I will not address them here), and large size is rarely problematic for analysis; size, in fact, adds to the legibility and detail of the map. However,

the printed map can only be accessed by one

person at a time, it requires a large amount of storage space, and it is difficult to handle for

13
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

viewing, processing, shelving, and

photocopying. We then started collecting some maps in microform, often Federally- distributed and converted to this format by commercial vendors; the space saving was a

great advantage, but the preservation issues are of concern and size may be problematic,

since microfiche is often too small and

unclear. With the sudden popularity and

widespread use of the Internet, and easier access to the information on the Net due to the introduction of sophisticated viewing and

searching software, we are beginning to see more digitized maps and data over the

Internet, distributed by government agencies and individuals or organizations of all types. Unfortunately, the heavy use and the demands

of a digital image on the system make

transmission very slow. Even with compression these maps require a substantial amount of computer space, a concern that future technologies will undoubtedly solve. Resolution is often an issue in the use of a

digitized map. It is possible to access some

electronic maps easily through the Internet; one access point is our Web page

{http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/MapCollect

ions.html), where we have a link for selected electronic maps. One problem for users is that large maps

cannot be viewed in whole on the screen with adequate resolution for most uses. An

interesting Columbia University study on

preservation and access techniques for oversize, color images associated with text provides useful insight into resolution. (Klimley, Susan: http://www.columbia.edu/

imaging/html/largemaps/oversized.html). They

scanned five maps from brittle volumes at different resolutions. Overall, with the exception of the slow transmission time and some color shifts in the reproduced maps, the study concluded that the resolution was

acceptable for "all but the largest and most

complicated map." The project was successful

in that it brought preservation and large-map

digitization issues to the surface, and it has

resulted in other follow-up projects.

We are also collecting maps and data (much of it through the Federal Depository

Library Program) on CD-ROMs, which is a very convenient format. At Berkeley, many CDs of data we receive through the depository program are mounted on a server at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory; they are

available through the Internet, and they are

heavily used, especially the TIGER files (http://cedr. I bl .gov/cd rom/doc/cdrom . html). CD-ROMs do present problems. Software is not standard, often making it difficult to mount CDs on a multiple player without major

reprogramming. There are concerns about

preservation, which is why NARA is presently converting permanent records received on CD-ROMs to magnetic tape. Unless the same CD is mounted on several machines or networked, requiring a licensing agreement

and adequate network software, it is only

available to one person at a time. In addition, few libraries have access to color printers, making it impossible for the user to walk away

with the printed image, but this problem is likely to become less severe as the price of

large color printers decreases. What we have seen thus far are maps that are now sometimes called "dumb" because

they are not true CIS, in that they lack "georeferencing": the attributes attached to the

spatial image. CIS

CIS (Geographic Information Systems) is an integrated cartographic system for collection, storage, manipulation, access, and

analysis of geographical data. It is a combination of hardware, software, data, personnel, and a spatial image. Federally- provided maps and data bases are a primary

source for this exploding technology. When

discussing GIS, two terms are commonly

encountered: raster and vector images. Raster images are represented by grids, with each

grid or cell corresponding to a particular value, representing a feature; remote-sensing

data are collected in raster format. Vector images represent different features by lines, polygons, and points. What has

14
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

revolutionized the digitization of maps is the data attached to each particular cell or polygon and the ability to manipulate and

analyze these data quickly - thus CIS. Though CIS has become very popular, and

is a powerful tool that crosses many

disciplines, there are numerous problems in this still-evolving technology: accuracy of data, space to store data or even manipulate data

stored elsewhere, slow access, non-standard

file structure, lack of standardization, the dynamic nature of the data, and archiving. Undocumented file structures are a particular problem for inexperienced users. To address the issues of accuracy, there is a push to produce metadata, or "data on the

data," which is a more detailed catalog record

of the data. But researchers want to spend

their time doing research and recording data, not cataloging it, and it is not clear they will comply with creating metadata, that they would use the accepted FGDC standard, or

that they will produce accurate metadata. Pursuing metadata may be our job, for better or (most of the time) for worse. In addition to the accuracy of the data itself, there have been problems with inaccuracies resulting from

referencing new data on old spatial images. CIS is a difficult technology to learn, but

the rapid acceptance in a variety of fields and by government agencies at all levels makes it clear that there is a great demand for integration of data with our more traditional view of maps. Libraries need to prepare for

this transition. What are libraries doing about CIS?

I would like to refer you to a well-written

article that answers this question in detail. (McGlamery, Patrick and Melissa Lament, "Geographic Information Systems in Libraries," Database 17(6)(Dec. 1994):35). Libraries cover the entire spectrum, from providing some access to electronic maps and data to having a complete GIS lab which collaborates with academic departments and computer

centers on campus and with government and

local agencies. Everything from high- to low- end technologies is used; the one major

consensus is "get a machine as fast as possible." Approximately seventy U.S.

libraries currently participate in the ARL/GIS

Literacy Project, which is a program to enhance delivery of GIS services.

I posted a question on the Net discussion group Maps-L. (I am sure you know there are many worthwhile discussion groups that address map and GIS issues, but beware not

to oversubscribe-it will take all your time.) I asked libraries what plans they have in place

for electronic maps and GIS, and I received a

small but diverse sei: of responses. One

university was just beginning to get involved

in GIS, and another had no plans to create

electronic access to data and maps. UCSB, on

the other hand, has begun the Alexandria

Project, an NSF-funded digital libraries

initiative entailing collaboration with other

universities, government agencies, and

commercial companies to provide easy access

to a large collection of maps and images (for more information consult

http://alexandria.sdc.ucsb.edu). One

institution in the UK was purchasing digital maps and GIS for the school of Geography

and Earth Resources to support research

projects, and they are concerned with issues of access to the data, training users and library

staff, and copyright. What is Berkeley doing? The Earth Sciences & Map Library became

involved with the ARL/GIS project about one

year ago. Activity has increased during the

past few months, following the library administration's positive response to a start-up proposal to determine whether and how GIS

technology can be made available to the

public. Two branch libraries are involved.

Earth Sciences and Map and Environmental

Design. A UC Berkeley GIS Coordinating Task Force was created, and a Web Page is being created focusing on GIS activities and

resources at Berkeley and elsewhere. The

goal is to coordinate the many (sometimes

15
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

unknown) CIS activities and encourage

collaboration. Another goal at Berkeley is to establish the

role of the library with respect to CIS. We are not planning to be a laboratory, but we may

collaborate with one, leaving us with the need

for public service access to CIS viewing

software and data. At first we considered acquiring Unix

workstations, but decided to upgrade the two

PCs involved in the experiment with the

justification that this is the market to which

future CIS software will be appealing. We

have 32 MB of RAM. The upgrade consisted

of a 17" Color Monitor; a good 1280 X 1024

video card (Hercules Dynamite 2MB VLB); connecting a 540MB hard drive to the existing hard drive to give us approximately 800MB of disk space; and installation of a double-speed

CD-ROM. We also installed X-Windows,

which allows us to access software and data from one campus CIS lab, and we hired a researcher from the same lab for training as we study how to provide access to this technology. We are also experimenting with

using local software and accessing remote

data.

After a period of six months we will evaluate the various ways of access-locally, remotely, or a mixture of the two~and the

level of hardware and make

recommendations. With all the calls for "get a machine as fast as possible," is what we have enough? For this experiment it seems to be

working well, but it is too soon to tell. Conclusion When we perfect these new technologies we will realize great advantages. In the meantime, as we continue our efforts to make

electronic access truly available to the public

for which the Federal Depository Library Program was created, we must ensure that the

distribution of material continues, electronic

or otherwise. During the transition it is especially important that we consider the needs of that part of the public without access

to computers, except perhaps from their

libraries. Convenient future access will be enhanced by standardizing file structures and

providing complete information and

documentation for CIS or other formats.

Finally, we must undertake a major

educational effort to acquaint our colleagues and patrons about the changes taking place and the potential of the new technologies.

16
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Paper to Pixels: A Transition in Census Maps

Frederick R. Broome

U.S. Census Bureau Washington, DC

A little over ten years ago a revolution in census mapping began. Management at the

U.S. Bureau of the Census ordered that the heretofore fully manual field and publication map production systems be converted to fully automated systems. The field maps are the ones used by enumerators and others in support of the data collection operations. The

publication maps are the maps that accompany or support the data dissemination

operations. By the time of the 1 990

Decennial Census, all the field maps were

being produced by fully automated means, and an interactive publication mapping system was in place.

Palau. Maps that showed the boundaries of each of these blocks had to be made to accompany the increase in detailed data. Automating mapping, however, requires a

digital geographic data base. It was the desire on the part of Census Bureau management to improve the quality and quantity of the geographic coverage and to assure that the maps reflect the correct codes and names to match to the increased data detail that led to the creation of the Census Bureau's geographic data base known as TIGER. Without TIGER automating, map production would have been difficult at best.

For the first time in history, over 98

percent of the maps were generated first as electronic files then sent to plotters to produce

the paper copy. In terms of numbers, over

1.3 million field maps and several thousand

publication maps were generated by

automation in less than three years. This is more than a thirty fold increase in the number

of maps over the number produced manually

for any previous census. The sheer numbers alone have had an impact on libraries. But the increased numbers were not just a result of technology. They sprang as much from improvements in the level of geographic detail. For the 1990

census, data were collected and tabulated at the census block level for all of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the

Virgin Islands of the United States, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and

TIGER stands for Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing. The TIGER System includes the TIGER data base and all the software, hardware, and

procedures necessary to support the geographic needs of the Census Bureau. The TIGER data base contains digital information on every street, stream, railroad, political and

statistical boundary, address range, place name, geocode, and so forth in the areas covered by the census.

It should be noted that the TIGER System

is not a Geographic Information System (CIS) and is not a digital map. It is a digital data set serving both of these activities. The TIGER

data base is the digital data set used by the Census Bureau's mapping programs. TIGER

data can, and does, serve as the foundation for many commercial and government GISs. The TIGER data base itself is not released outside

17
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

the Census Bureau. It contains some

infornnation that is held to be confidential under Title 13 of the U.S. Code. The data set generally referred to as TIGER is a subset of the total TIGER data base. This subset is the TIGER/Line data set that is released to outside

users. Indeed, at last count, the TIGER/Line

data sets have been a key to the services and

products provided by over 120 private connpanies. The TIGER data base has been and will continue to be the source of geographic

information for census mapping into the year 2000. Because the publication maps are the ones most commonly found in libraries, they

are the ones that will determine the form of

future depository services. For the 1990

census, five types of maps were produced to accompany data tabulations. The numbers

and types are as follows: 1990 County Block Map Series and Indexes - (180,000) A comprehensive, multi-sheet, county- based reference map series. The maps portray and identify most geographic entities for which the Census Bureau tabulates data. Census block numbers are shown. Most street and road names are shown. Two versions were produced; about 90,000 sheets in each

version. The last omitted the voting district boundaries and were designed to accompany

the printed 1990 census reports and STFs. Census Tract/Block Numbering Area Outline Maps - (4,200) A full-sized (36 x 42 inches), county-based map series. Identifies MCD/CCDs,

incorporated places/CDPs, AI/ANAs, and CT/BNAs. Only those geographic features coincident with CT/BNA boundaries are

identified. County Subdivision Outline Map and Indexes

- (550) A state-based map series, generally

available in two forms: as a single sheet (100)

and as a multi-sheet insert with published data

(450). Identifies MCD/CCDs, incorporated

places/CDPs, and AI/ANAs.

Urbanized Area Outline Map, with selected base feature - (400 +

)

A fullsize, UA-based map series with state, county, MCD/CCD, incorporated place/CDP,

AI/ANA, and UA boundaries and names

identified and selected geographic features such as major water bodies. The publication category alone would

require space and storage for about 100,000 map sheets just for this one census. Assuming

that each sheet was 32 x 36 inches, can be

stacked 100 per map drawer, 25 drawers per

stack, and each stack taking 36 x 48 inches

plus 36 X 48 inches for pull-out space, then a

library would need about 40 stacks and the

floor space of a moderate house, about 2,000

square feet. This also means handling almost two tons of paper!

But the number of sheets is not the whole

problem with automated map production. Most of the maps are produced on

electrostatic plotters (rough'/ equivalent to a very large office laser printer.) The quality of the paper is not equal to that of a printed map, and more significantly, the image is not bonded to the paper the way ink penetrates paper during printing. Therefore, these maps

will not take as much use as a printed sheet and a library must consider replacement

problems.

When one looks at the cartographic

products from the 1990 Decennial Census, it is clear that the user has been better served in many ways, but that for those providing the

service, some problems have increased. But

are these problems the fault of the automation

or the fault of the human ability to handle the technology? The 1990 census proved that automation can be used to make maps and to publish the data, but the user and the libraries providing support to the users have generally continued requesting and using the maps in a manually oriented way. Therein seems to be

18
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

the problem. The transition from paper to pixel maps needs to be completed so that the product presented to the user is an electronic map, and, on those occasions where it is required, a hardcopy paper map can be produced from all or part of the map image. The Census Bureau's plans for the year 2000 census are even now being formulated and will soon be tested in the upcoming

pretest. It is certain at this point that the TIGER data base will continue to be updated and will be the geographic foundation for the year 2000 census. Also certain is that the

larger majority of the maps will be available

in electronic form, not just as copies plotted from the electronic files. Does this mean that libraries have to become geographic data processing centers? Not necessarily. As the microfiche machine

changed the way some information was

distributed, scanned, used, and copied, so will the computer change the way maps are handled. As the xerographic copier changed

the way printed materials could be duplicated and disseminated, so the plotter will change

the way maps are handled. As the map

cabinets served to hold the hardcopy maps, so

the disk trays of CD-ROMs or networked data

servers will to hold the electronic images of the maps. In short, same job, same concepts

of service, same types of information, but

different technology.

What evidence is there for user interest in this means of data dissemination? A tally of

sales by media type for 1994 by the Census

Bureau gave the following results: Computer tapes 723 Maps (paper) 567

Microfiche 117 CD-ROMs 8,135

Tech. documentation 614

Others (video, disk...) .... 840

This indicates that the users are

increasingly looking for electronic data sets.

The solution to the problems associated with a full transition from paper to pixels is in how one configures the service. The

following is an analysis of what this may

involve. Space

Current:

Digital:

almost 2,000 square feet and '2 tons of paper one file for about 200 CD- ROMs and a few map drawer

stacks for frequently requested

plots (and at significantly less weight.) Equipment

Current: layout tables, light tables, copiers, photo-service

Digital: layout tables, computer

SkillsCurrent:

Digital:

terminals, plotter-service

those required by a librarian those required by a librarian The technology has changed to the point

that the space required for a color ink-jet plotter of adequate resolution takes up about

the same space as a large copier, and costs about the same. Likewise, PCs, networks, and

so forth are becoming commonplace in libraries. There is little reason to believe that the trend toward less expensive and more

user-friendly equipment and systems will not

continue. The Census Bureau is committed to full utilization of electronic maps for all our data

collection and dissemination activities for the year 2000 census. We are producing our map

files in a non-proprietary format and providing

public domain viewing software for PCs. We

are providing the map images on CD-ROM as well as through other means. We are providing public domain map plotting software that will output to a few of the most common plotting devices, and are publishing

the map image format for commercial vendors

to use in their software. We are completing

the transition of census maps from paper to

pixels.

19
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Preservation of U.S. Government

Documents: The 1 909 Checklist and Beyond

Laura Saurs

Newark Public Library Newarl<, N]

The Newark Public Library has been a

Federal depository since 1906 and a regional since 1963. Preservation needs to be an

integral part of operations at Newark because

regional depositories must hold documents in perpetuity. I hope, however to show that preservation is relevant to all depositories, not

just large or old ones. When I tell people that I'm working on a project to preserve old government

documents, they often ask me "why?" The

most common objection I hear to collecting and preserving older documents is that they

are not used enough to warrant the effort. There is a growing realization, however, at least among government documents librarians, that many of these publications are in demand, and that some may be rare and

valuable. In the experience of Newark Public

Library, we usually get a few requests per month for 1909 Checklist items, and many

requests for other non-current documents. The retrospective body of government

publications is obviously an abundant source

of information on United States history, but it also contains important documents relating to the history of other disciplines. The histories of science and technology, medicine,

education, the military, and other fields are amply represented, and government

publications are cited in the literatures of these fields. Even those interested in UFO

research find themselves turning to depository

libraries! Aside from the demand for non-current publications by researchers, some

documents are in demand by collectors. Such documents become targets for theft and

vandalism if not properly protected. The Newark Public Library has not suffered much

with this problem, primarily because the documents are housed in closed stacks. Other preservation skeptics argue that any demand for old documents is easily met. I have been told that 19th century government documents can't be rare or valuable because

the government printed so many copies of them. Now, this person was not an

information professional and probably didn't

realize that most of the copies of these documents residing in libraries have likely been weeded, lost or just worn out. One

doesn't even have to look all the way back to the 19th century for examples of documents

which are hard to find. I have also been told

that these documents are available on

microfiche. This is true, and the microfiche

collections themselves are a valuable form of preserving the publications, but they are not a

perfect one. Color illustrations are not reproduced in color, and the nature of the paper and bindings cannot be seen on the

microfiche. The microfiche must also be

purchased as a set: libraries can't choose only

those documents which suit their collection development policies. For small or special

libraries, or others who collect very

selectively, it may be more practical simply to preserve those documents they have- documents which presumably fall under their collection development policy.

20
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Organized preservation efforts began at Newark after the interlibrary services office and the reference desk, in close succession, asked for policies regarding old and fragile items which had been requested. They were

justifiably worried about the effects that transportation or photocopying might have on

the books. The documents staff was forced to take another look at the collection and decide what could be done to protect it and keep

everything in the most useable condition. We

began with some interim measures, and in 1993 were fortunate enough to get a $15,000

grant from the New Jersey State Library to do

a more thorough job. One of the particular problems of preserving a government documents

collection, as opposed to other types of library collections, and one of the reasons an overall preservation strategy is important, is that all types of materials are placed on the shelf together. If a library files the paper collection

in strict SuDocs order, the old documents are mixed in with the new documents, and documents of all formats-books, booklets, pamphlets, single-sheet leaflets, looseleaf binders, etc.-are shelved together. Although

the focus of the grant project is on 1909

Checklist items, some steps were taken to protect the collection as a whole. Shields were purchased and placed on the fluorescent

lights in the documents area to filter out harmful ultraviolet rays. These rays cause documents to fade and accelerate the aging

process. Two "hygrotherms" were purchased. These combination hygrometer/thermometer

devices were used to measure daily fluctuations in temperature and humidity in the documents area. After a year we had an

overall picture of the type of environment which prevails in the documents area. The main goal of the grant project is to place all of the 1909 Checklist holdings in custom-fitted boxes. These boxes protect the books from light, dirt, and mechanical damage, and can slow down the effects of moisture or temperature changes. They also provide support for weak books and hold

together books with loose pieces to prevent

the pieces from becoming lost or damaged

further. Since the collection is so large we

decided to take the most economical route of making the boxes ourselves. There are binderies and companies which will make

custom-fitted boxes: they cost about $10 for "phase" boxes, the type in use at Newark, and

considerably more for the sturdier, more

attractive "clamshell" boxes. Precut and

prescored boards can be ordered, allowing a

library to construct boxes for about three

dollars for a 6 X 9 inch book. The cost of materials to make phase boxes "from scratch" comes to about one dollar per box. Even with

the cost of equipment for box-making, more

books can be treated with the grant money

than if we were to order the boxes or precut boards from a commercial supplier.

Before documents can be placed in boxes

they must be cleaned. Dust and dirt are great contributors to the decay of a book and one

doesn't want to lock the book inside the box

with the dirt. The most basic method of cleaning is to brush the dust off the book with

a soft brush. A dust-attracting cloth can also be used. If the document is missing its covers, or has a paper cover, the outside is cleaned with powdered eraser. Powdered

eraser is sprinkled on the surface to be

cleaned, and picks up dirt as it is rubbed over

the paper in a circular motion. If the book

has leather covers which are in relatively good

condition, we at Newark treat them with Renaissance Wax leather dressing. Since this process is not reversible-the dressing cannot be removed once it is applied-librarians should consult a conservator before using this treatment in their collections. We decided to use it at Newark because none of the leather bindings in the documents collection are

valuable, and the dressing keeps the bindings

cleaner and makes them easier to handle.

Leather dressings cannot be used on leather which is very powdery; nothing, in fact, can be done for leather in this condition, jackets made of acid-free tissue-paper are placed on

books with powdery leather bindings to contain the mess.

21
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

After the book has been prepared, a box

is made for it. A phase box is a wrapper in the shape of a cross: the "arms" of the cross are

flaps which fold around the book. The two

outermost flaps attach to each other to hold

the box closed. At Newark we make the boxes with 20 point acid-free board which is two or three times thicker than the cardboard

used in a typical manila folder. First, the two

cross strips are cut. Measurements for the

strips are obtained simply by placing the book

on the board and marking it at the edge of the book. When the strips are cut, the book is placed at the center of the vertical strip and

the strip is folded around the book. The folds are creased using a bone folder. The book,

still wrapped in the vertical strip, is then wrapped in the horizontal strip, and that strip

is creased. The book is then removed and the two strips joined at the center using double

sided tape. The corners of the flaps are rounded and a tab and slot are cut in the two

outermost flaps to hold the box shut. Other

fastenings for phase boxes include button and

string arrangements and velcro tabs. At Newark we decided to use the tab-and-slot arrangement because it is the least expensive,

and, unlike the buttons and velcro, it rests flat. A small sheet detailing handling instructions is placed, using double sided tape, on the top

inside flap where a patron will see it when the box is opened. The book is placed in the

finished box and the box is labeled using a waterproof, lightfast pen.

Besides the boxing of regular documents, two other preservation operations were

undertaken. 224 volumes of the Geologic

Atlas of the United States were cleaned using

powdered eraser, interleaved with alkaline buffered tissue paper and placed in pre-made

boxes. The Geologic Atlas consists of large 18 1/2" by 21 1/2" softcover volumes ranging

in date from 1894 to 1929. All contain

colorful geologic maps and some contain photographs. Because of their awkward size and fragile construction, they are very easily damaged. Some encapsulation of maps is also being done. Encapsulation consists of enclosing a map or other single-sheet item between two sheets of an inert plastic such as

mylar. Newark has only a few 19th century maps: the main items being encapsulated are

a set of transportation maps from the 1920's and '30's.

At some point during the treatment

process, an information sheet is filled out for each item. The sheet records the SuDocs number of the item, its title and series, publication date, size, whether it is illustrated,

its condition, and what treatments were used. There is also a note space for information which is not applicable to every document: when, for instance, the document has an

individual author, a publisher other than GPO,

or a personal signature. The bibliographic information from these sheets will be input

into a database. We hope to distribute this database and have the selective depositories in New Jersey add to it to form a union list. The

condition and treatment information can be

referred to if, in the future, we want to take

further preservation measures with the

collection. We also hope to create an index, probably in electronic format, of references to New Jersey found throughout the collection. Using the 1909 Checklist project as a starting point, we hope to continue inventorying and

preserving the collection year-by-year.

Large amounts of money, such as the

grant received by Newark Public, can make

preservation much easier and more

sophisticated, but significant preservation

efforts can be accomplished with little or no

money. One of the most important things a depository can do to preserve its materials, old

or new, is simply to teach staff, and patrons if possible, proper handling techniques. Another important step which requires no

money, but can be time consuming, is to inventory those items which need special treatment. Libraries with large retrospective

collections, for instance, might want to

identify 1909 Checklist materials or all materials over a certain age. Documents do

not need to be "old," however, to fit into this process. Most libraries will want to identify materials relating to important historical events, however recent. Even those

depositories which weed faithfully every five

22
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

years receive some items they wish to keep

permanently. Any such document which the

library plans to keep permanently is a candidate for special treatment, even if the document is very new. As these items are being inventoried, they should be

distinguished in some way from the non-permanent collection. Before receiving the grant, we at Newark identified special materials by means of an acid-free bookmark. Marking the documents lets reference staff know that the item is to be handled with extra

care. If, at a later date, preservation funds become available, marking also allows the

librarian to quickly retrieve those materials which need treatment. Ideally, the librarian would identify items of permanent value as they arrived and mark the documents for preservation measures immediately. This

practice would help to prevent the library from later having to deal with very

deteriorated materials. Improved shelving is something else a

library may be able to accomplish for free. Simple steps, such as ensuring that documents

are not packed too tightly or too loosely on

the shelves, or that they are not shelved on

their fore-edges, can prevent a great deal of wear. If space permits, librarians may want to separate items by format, as is done in many

special collections. Most depositories already do this to a certain extent, placing microforms, maps and posters, and electronic documents

in separate cases. Pamphlets, forms and other single-page items, and oversized items can

also be shelved separately or placed in file cabinets. If oversized shelving is not

available, as is the case at Newark, oversized

items may be housed on top of map or microform cases. This solution keeps the shelves neater, and protects some of the more

vulnerable types of materials. Unfortunately,

it is not a practical solution for many libraries because keeping track of the various locations

is too time consuming. At Newark we use

this practice only in a limited manner. Also if space permits, librarians may wish to separate

their more valuable documents from the rest of the collection. Valuable documents could be placed in closed stacks if the main

collection is in open stacks, or they could be

placed in a small, enclosed room where the environment would be easier and cheaper to

control. With a little creative recycling. Federal

depositories have several sources of acid free materials which can be used for preservation. The plastic Tyvek envelopes GPO uses to ship separate items are considered archival ly sound. They can be relabelled and used to house fragile documents. Although Tyvek

envelopes don't offer any support to the document, they can prevent minor mechanical damage, such as scrapes, and they protect

against dirt, light, and moisture. The envelopes

can also be cut up to make dust jackets or bookmarks. The white paper envelopes in which some items are shipped are also usually

acid-free, as are microfiche envelopes. If you

are able to spend a little money, a Ph testing pen can be purchased for less than five

dollars. The pen can be used to determine which materials can safely be used with documents collections.

If you are able to spend even a little money, preservation possibilities expand

greatly. It would be impossible to describe every possibility, but I have summarized some

areas librarians can examine in their own

collections. The environment is considered one of the most important factors with regard

to the deterioration of books. Excessive heat and light, excessive or insufficient humidity, and polluted air all increase the speed of deterioration in library materials. Unfortunately, environment is one of the most

expensive and difficult preservation factors to control. One free environmental control

librarians can use is simply to turn off the

lights in the collection whenever possible.

Ultraviolet filters, which help prevent fading and other damage, can be purchased for fluorescent lights and for windows. The cost

of the filters, of course, depends on the number of lights or windows in the collection

area, but a small room may need less than $100 worth of filters. Portable air-purifiers would benefit staff as well as the collections.

23
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Handling and storage is the next area to look at. As I have already described,

significant improvement can be made in these

areas without spending any money. Librarians should also check to make sure that storage

furniture, such as shelving and cases, is made

of materials which will not harm the documents. Replacing inappropriate storage

furniture is, of course, expensive. A less expensive, but less effective, solution would

be to line the shelves of drawers with acidfree paper or inert plastic to keep the documents from touching the harmful

surfaces. Cleaning is another important

preservation consideration. Most libraries are probably already doing all they can to keep

the collection areas as clean as possible. If documents were not so well cared for in the

past, a battery of cleaning products can be

purchased for less than $100. For example,

dust attracting cloths and soft brushes can be

used to clean the outsides of documents. Powdered eraser can be used to clean maps or any soiled paper surface. Solvents can be

purchased to remove residues of tape or other adhesives.

After these general conditions have been

considered, the librarian can start to think about individual treatments for documents.

Special enclosures are probably the easiest and cheapest type of preservation treatment. Boxes, folders, envelopes and binders are available in many price ranges for all types of

library materials, and supplies can be purchased to make custom enclosures. If the

library has a lot of money to spend on

preservation, the librarian can also send the documents out to have custom enclosures made. Special enclosures protect materials from environmental, storage, handling and

cleanliness conditions which are less than

ideal, but they are also completely reversible

if you should change your mind about wanting them.

Deteriorated documents can also be

repaired or restored. Tears can be mended,

detached pages or bindings can be reattached.

books can be rebound, acidic paper can be

deacidified. There are many procedures which can help keep a document in useful condition or restore it to its former glory. Most of these procedures are, however,

difficult or impossible to reverse and should be done only with the consultation of a

conservator. A final consideration is disaster planning.

Librarians can familiarize themselves with

their library's overall plan and/or make a plan

just for their own departments. The actual planning costs no money. The librarian simply evaluates the types of disasters and

minor emergencies that might occur and the

ability of the collection to stand up to those emergencies.

This summary doesn't begin to cover all of the possibilities for documents preservation, but I hope it has shown that these possibilities are very flexible. To choose the specific

strategy that would be best for your library you'll still have to read preservation literature on your particular problems and browse

through catalogs from archival suppliers. I hope, however, I've shown that, even with

limited resources, documents preservation is not only worthwhile, but also feasible.

24
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Preservation References Available at Depository Libraries United States. Department of the Interior. Conserve O Gram. Washington: GPO, 1993.

(I 29.100:993 - Relates mainly to museum

collections, but has sections on disaster preparedness, agents of deterioration, and

preservation of leather, textiles, paper, books and magnetic media.) United States. Library of Congress. Boxes for the Protection of Books: Their Design and

Construction. Washington: GPO, 1994. (LC

1.2:B 69/994)

Main Suppliers of Preservation Materials Used in the Newark Public Library's Preservation Project The Hollinger Corporation 1-800-634-0491

Light Impressions 1-800-828-9859

University Products 1-800-762-1165

Walsh, Jim, Barbara Hulyk, and George

Barnum, eds. Rare and Valuable Government

Documents: A Resource Packet on

Identification, Preservation, and Security Issues

for Government Documents Collections. American Library Association, 1993.

(Very comprehensive. Besides information

specifically related to rare government

documents, contains a bibliography, sources

of preservation supplies and assistance, instructions for handling documents and making enclosures, emergency management

information and much other basic preservation

information.)

25
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS

DO NOT PHOTOCOPY ! Stiff Binding

Fragile Binding

No Covers

Brittle: Handle With Care

Loose Pages

Powdery Leather: May get on Hands and Clothing

PRESERVATION INFORMATION

SuDocs#:

Title: Date:

Size:lensth width: Illustrated? (Ym

Condition:

Treatment: Surface Cleaned{ } , Wrapped in Tissue { }, Extra Support (covers missing) { } Renaissance Wax { }. Phase Box { }. Other:

Notes:

26
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Effective Media and Community Relations

Kathryn McConnell

U.S. Government Printing Office

Wasliington, DC

Good afternoon. I'm Kathryn McConnell,

Manager of Creative Services in the Superintendent of Documents' Promotion and

Advertising Branch, formerly the Office of Marketing. Creative Services supports both

the Documents Sales Program and the Depository Library Program.

It's an honor to be part of your conference

this year, and a pleasure to be here with all of you to talk about using media and community

relations to tell the public about your services. One hundred years ago, the office of the Superintendent of Documents became part of the Government Printing Office, with

responsibility for cataloging and disseminating

Federal Government information. Over the years, SuDocs and depository

libraries have worked together to make

government information easily accessible to the public all across the United States and its territories. This long partnership in providing

access to government information is one of the best "good news" stories about the public

sector. But one that perhaps not enough

people know about - or fully appreciate. My own appreciation of accessible government information goes back several

years, beginning with when I was a journalism

student at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. I felt that the university's Wilson

Library-a regional depository-was such a wonderful and amazing collection of so many

types of information, that I was happy to have

the chance to work there part-time during my

junior year. Many years later-in fact, in the five years before I moved to Washington-I worked for another Federal agency in downtown

Minneapolis, just one block from the city's main public library, also a depository. It's not

difficult to imagine where I often went for answers to questions that came up in my job, and by then, in my studies as a graduate

business student. More recently, my appreciation of easy

access to government information reached a

higher, almost idealistic level.

For four months last year I took a leave-of- absence from SuDocs to work as a volunteer

consultant in Moldova, one of the 15

successor states of the former Soviet Union. My job was to help Moldova's nongovernmental organizations-or NGOsdevelop within the context of a democratic

society transitioning to a free-market economy.

Daily, I interacted with NGO leaders, as well as with Moldovan government officials and journalists. And I learned that one

obstacle they all continue to face is a lack of information. Up until 1991, each regional government sent real and fabricated social and economic statistical information to Moscow,

which then developed central plans for the

entire Soviet Union. There were no

subsystems for local governments, much less citizens, to access the information input into

27
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

the central planning systems. Or systenris to access information developed outside the

Soviet Union.

Today, NGO leaders and businesspersons

in the newly independent states face the task of trying to develop their organizations with

very limited access to substantiating information. As we all know, trying to plan without back-up information is a problem.

For NGOs in these young nations, it means

trying to develop a competitive funding

proposal-without the back-up information that funders require. One day in Moldova I received from my

Creative Services office a copy of our latest sales catalog. The amazement of my

Moldovan staff at the fact that so much and so many types of U.S. Government information is easily available to the public was a reaction

I'll never forget. It made me proud that I am

part of the effort to make that information

accessible. Accessible government information; easy

access to all. Since the 1800s. It's a good

story.

Electronic and print access to government

information. That's another good story. How we can get these stories told? One

of the best and most economical ways is through well-planned public relations

strategies.

Public relations-that's the combination of media relations and community relations.

First media relations. The first thing to

realize about the media is that it's a competitive environment, and so having a good strategy is important. Last year alone, more than 20,000 new products were

introduced in the U.S. And they all compete

in some combination of media to attract the

attention of their targeted customer groups. In newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, billboards,

direct mail, signs on the sides of busesmessages about product and service choices

are everywhere. The second general characteristic of the media is that it's fair. Forget the media that's involved with hype and distortion. In spite of what it may seem some days, that media is a

small percentage of the whole. The whole is genuinely interested in delivering information that has some value or

is of interest to their readers, viewers and

listeners.

I've developed some guidelines for dealing

with the media and have copies for you that

I'll pass out at the end of this session. Now a few quick points about community

relations. Take the message you developed

for delivery to the public through the media, and the interviewing skills you're developing, and think about giving brief presentations about your services to community groups. Consider writing to the speaker's bureau

coordinators of your area's Rotary and Kiwanis

groups. Chambers of Commerce and business

roundtables. Introduce yourself and offer their members a 10-15 minute presentation

highlighting your library's key services. Tell them why you think their members will be

interested in learning about library services.

All communities have lists of these groups.

If you are on a college campus, send the same type of letter to department chairs and

alumni relations directors. Ask to be part of homecoming festivities and special anniversary

celebrations. Display booths. Small "ads" in event programs. Brainstorm with your staff for other ideas.

In closing, I invite you to call me any time

for ideas or help in planning or carrying out a media or community relations activity. My

phone number is 202-512-1710, and the fax is 202-512-1656.

28
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Wr^fM United States Government

SitalNFORMAnON A Service of tl-ie SupTiotandenc of Documents

Media Relations Guidelines

Promotion and Advertising Branch

April 1995 Background

• Each media organization has its own news format. Some are heavy on "hard news," some on

feature stories, some community news.

• Reporters generally have liberal arts backgrounds; many specialize in an area such as business, law, education, health care or government. Reporters are curious and can be skeptical.

• Editors, producers, researchers and photojournalists work with reporters in developing news

stories.

• Reporters want to present to their audiences newsworthy, fact-based articles, information that is concise and interesting-they appreciate sources who help them do that.

• Reporters are skilled in asking questions that elicit answers. As the source, however, you can

steer the interview in a direction that will bring out more facts about your program.

• You may have contact with reporters from any of these types of media organizations: > newspapers-city, suburban, college > magazines-business, alumni > wire services—local bureaus > newsletters-professional and civic associations, special interest groups > television—network affiliates, independents, cable > radio-city, college

Pro-active media relations

• Begin by collecting basic information about who's who in the media in your area. > call newsrooms > compile a list of reporters who have contacted your library in the past for any reason > keep a file of news clips relevant to your program > ask your colleagues and friends if they have any contacts in the media

• Establish a relationship. > call or write the reporter introducing yourself and your program; tell the reporter you are

available for future reference > provide a media kit > after initial contact, communicate only when you have something new to say

29
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

• Maintain the relationship using various communications methods. > information for file-provided periodically to reporters as background > news release > letters-to-the-editor and guest editorials-keep them positive > editorial board meetings-to provide in-depth background > appearances on local public affairs shows and news programs > interviews

• Keep track of coverage-maintain a dated log of contacts with the media and a news clippings file

Pro-active news releases

• Use releases only when you have something newsworthy to announce.

• Mail only to the appropriate reporters or news departments.

• Keep the length to one or two pages; if two pages, print front-and-back on one sheet of paper.

• At the top of the release, provide the date and a contact name and phone number. In front of the

first paragraph, give the name of the city where your library is located.

• Write a headline (this may be done after the body copy has been written).

• Use the inverted pyramid style—with the most important information in the lead paragraph

followed by progressively less important information. Use short sentences.

• State only one key piece of information per paragraph.

• Make sure the release answers who, what, when, where, why and how.

• Use direct quotes, if possible. Obtain written permission from the person quoted. (You may want

to draft a quote for someone to sign off on. You also may edit a person's actual words for clarity-then have the person sign off on the edited version.

• State your address, phone number and hours of operation in the last paragraph of every release.

• If more than one page, put "more" at the bottom of the first page. Put "-30-" or "###" at end of

the release.

Preparing for an interview

• Know your topic-the features of your program of interest to the public. Know how your program

ties into current events.

• Find out something about the reporter's background, what topics the reporter typically covers. Know which news organization she/he represents.

• Find out if the reporter has a news "angle" in mind and what it is. Suggest alternate angles you

think would be appropriate to your message.

30
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

• Give the reporter materials about your program. This will help prevent inaccuracies and

misunderstandings

.

• Think ahead of questions you want to be asked. Prepare concise, factual responses. By doing

this, you'll avoid being surprised by an awkward question.

• Think ahead of questions you don't want to be asked. Prepare concise, factual responses. By

doing this, you'll avoid being surprised by an awkward question.

• Don't go into an interview expecting to "wing it." Know the message(s) you want the reporter to hear. Prepare and practice. Ask a member of your staff or a friend to give you feedback as you

practice.

• Confirm with the reporter the date, time, place and duration of interview.

During the interview

• Never state something "off the record ." If you don't want something in print or on the air, don't say it.

• Be particularly alert for the first question. The first is often the most important because it establishes the information relationship between you and the reporter. It also is when you may be most vulnerable as your concentration shifts from what you had just been doing to the interview

itself.

• Give direct answers. 1) First state your message, 2) support the message with explanation and

facts, then 3) elaborate with an example. Spend no more than 30 seconds on each phase. Use a "hook" in the first phase of an initial answer. The "hook" gets the reporter into the topic. Remember that people remember most what was said first.

• Be positive. Speak confidently so the reporter knows you're providing as much information as possible.

• Present your program as a public service. Describe how the public benefits from your program.

• Use everyday terms. Do not use jargon or acronyms.

• Relate your message to current events. One of your goals is to establish a rapport with reporters and editors so they will look to your office as a reputable source.

• Participate in setting the pace of the interview. Give yourself a moment to think before you

answer. However, this moment for thought is shorter with television and radio interviews.

• Some television and radio formats don't let the audience hear the question. Fashion your answers

appropriately.

• Don't give more information than is necessary. Unnecessary information can dilute rather than amplify your message. Learn to feel comfortable with moments of silence. This will help prevent rambling out of nervousness.

31
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

• If you don't know an answer to a question, say so. Then tell the reporter you'll get the answer

and get back to him/her. (You're encouraged to contact Promotion and Advertising Branch for answers to questions about the Superintendent of Documents sales program.) If there is a policy reason you can't answer a question, say so. Don't add your personal opinions.

• If you need to get back to a reporter, ask when his/her deadline is.

• If you think the reporter has some wrong information or assumptions, use tact and a positive approach to provide the correct information. Don't ask to see a story before it's published.

• Always ask the reporter to include your library's address, phone number and hours in the article.

• Remember, no story is a guarantee. Space limitations strongly influence which stories run and

story size.

Television Before the interview

• Develop concise answers to questions you think you may be asked. Practice your answers until they sound natural.

• Request that your program's logo as well as your library's phone number appear on screen.

• Tell the producer if you will have visual aids available. Your logo and visually appealing books

are examples.

Studio interview

• Arrive at the station early to meet with the producer and interviewer before getting in front of the camera. Confirm your title, and the spelling and pronunciation of your name.

• Ask about the questions the interviewer plans to ask. (The producer may have asked you in advance for input on questions.) Workplace interview

• Determine a suitable, quiet location for the interview. Remove all unnecessary background

clutter. Suggest additional locations that could be videotaped to show customers using your

services. During the interview

• Though television time frames are brief, don't let haste lead you to give a partial or misleading answer.

• If the reporter asks another question before you've finished your main point, try to get back to that point at some place in the interview.

32
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

• Speak naturally. However, be aware of your tendencies to speak too fast or too slow~or too loud

or too softly.

• Stay in your chair until the camera-person or producer says you may get up.

• From the moment you enter the studio until you leave, assume your or another microphone is live and capable of picking up secondary conversations. Appearance

• Even if you don't normally wear make-up, apply powder to your nose, forehead and cheeks. If the interview will be in a studio, ask the producer if make-up is available.

• Wear unpatterned clothing-dark colors are best. Unless covered with a jacket or scarf, white

blouses/shirts reflect studio lights and will make your face appear pale. Lapels are good because

they hide clipped microphones.

• If seated during the interview, unbutton your jacket. If standing, keep jacket buttoned.

• If seated, cross your legs at the ankle or knee. Avoid constant crossing and uncrossing.

• Sit straight with hands on armrests or lightly in your lap. Be conscious of sitting straight.

• Keep your chin up. Alternate looking straight at the interviewer and at the camera. Avoid the tendency to look down when thinking of an answer.

Radio

Before the interview

• As with television, arrive early to meet the interviewer, discuss possible questions and do a sound

check. During the interview

• Sit straight with your mouth a few inches from the microphone.

• Since you are not being seen by the audience, use notes if you wish.

• Give brief, to-the-point responses. Most answers should be no more than 20 seconds.

• Begin your answer only after you are sure the interviewer has finished the question.

• Speak namrally. However, be aware of your tendencies to speak too fast or too slow~or too loud

or too softly.

• If you are doing an interview by phone from your workplace, use a phone in a room with no

distracting background sounds.

33
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Relaxation Exercises: Before an Interview or Speech

• Schedule 10 minutes prior to the interview or speech for relaxation exercises.

• Do up to five minutes of very slow, deep, in-and-out stomach breathing. > Breathe in fully through your nose. At the same time, push your stomach out to fill your

lungs entirely with oxygen. Don't hold your breath. > Breathe slowly out through your mouth. At the same time, pull your stomach in all the way to exhala all the air.

• Continue breathing slowly, concentrating on your air intake and outflow.

• While deep breathing, contract and relax your muscle groups, starting at your toes and working

gradually up your body.

• Rub your face~or "make faces "--to loosen your facial muscles; rub your neck.

• Rub your hands; shake your hands loosely by your side.

• Stomp your feet (to get grounded). ;

• Pull in your stomach, inhale, push against a wall with your arms extended, and slowly exhale,

letting the air out between your teeth. Continue for two minutes.

• Avoid coffee—it dries your mouth and throat.

• Drink water; keep a lozenge in your mouth until right before you are going to speak.

• Remind yourself that you know more about your topic than your audience does.

Interview preparation checklist

1. Know the who, what, when, where, why and how of the interview.

2. Determine key message(s).

3. Be familiar with the reporter's background.

4. Be familiar with the news organization's background.

5. List questions you most want to be asked-and develop answers.

6. List questions you least want to be asked~and develop answers. List any concerns you may

have about this interview.

7. After the interview, thank the reporter for his/her interest in your program.

34
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Marketing Public Relations

April 1995

Media Relations-placing newsworthy information into the media to attract attention to a product or

service. Community Relations-internal and external communications that promote understanding of the organization and its services. Marketing Public Relations in the 90s

• Assist in launching a new product or service; establish preferences

• Assist in repositioning existing service in a mamre market

• Retain customer loyalty

• Attract the middle market—people who aren't using your service at all or using only a portion of it

• Emphasize brand or organization name and image- "It doesn't matter how good you are, but only how good your customers perceive you to be."

• Focus on core benefits Developing the Message

1. List the service's attributes and benefits. • Attribute-quality, availability, functionality, convenience, price

• Benefits-tangible, intangible

2. Review list to determine potentially strong messages.

3. Write a one or two sentence message. Examples:

"Wisconsin's depository libraries provide convenient, no-cost access to the vast store of documents

produced by the Federal Government-an asset for researchers, students, businesspersons and

consumers."

"One-stop access to the world of Federal Government information-in print and electronic formats-

-is provided year round by Kansas' depository libraries. Discover how this public service can

help you." Communication Process

Information receivers have set attitudes/expectations about what they will hear and see. They often add to the message (amplify), or do not notice portions of the message (leveling). The communicator's task is to achieve message simplicity, clarity, interest and repetition .

35
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Bureau of the Census Products and Programs

Lars Johanson

Bureau of the Census

Washington, DC

Good morning. It is my pleasure to be

here and to give you some recent information about the status of various Census Bureau

products and programs. During this time of budget uncertainties we are doing our best to continue to release both printed and

electronic products that are useful to you and

your library's clientele. I want to give you

first some hard-core information about the

status of various products and then review some recent changes in the availability of printed reports.

CD-ROMS

Within the last few weeks you should have received the 1994 edition of the

Statistical Abstract on CD-ROM and USA

Counties. This latest version of the Statistical Abstract has several changes in the Textware

software and also includes for the first time a Macintosh version of Textware. USA

Counties, an historical county database, contains not only the popular "GO" software

but also LANDVIEW II mapping software. Complete technical documentation is also included on the CD. We will also release this spring the County and City Data Book 1994 CD-ROM which will contain even more data

for counties, cities, and places than is found in the printed version. The Bureau is also releasing now several CD-ROMs from the economic and population

censuses. The latest economic census CD- ROM ID contains complete geographic area

reports for the censuses of retail trade, wholesale trade, and services as well as many

manufacturing industries reports. We expect

to release this summer the geographic area

data for the new report series on financial businesses, insurance, real estate, transportation, communications, and utilities. Among the latest population and housing

CD-ROMS are the 1990 Census Metropolitan

Housing Characteristics CD-ROM and various Subject Summary Tape Files. These

specialized tabulations focus on various topics such as earnings by occupation and education, occupation by industry, poverty areas, and the aging population.

We will also release shortly an Income

and Poverty CD-ROM based on material from

the March Income supplement to the Current

Population Survey. This redesigned version of the Current Population Survey CD-ROM will contain a sample of unidentified long-form

housing-unit records for large areas so that users with special needs can prepare customized tabulations. Also included are

historical summary data files for poverty and

income. The user of the historical data files will be able to do searches using Textware

software and to copy Lotus worksheet files. The complete set of CD-ROMs for the Census Tract Street Index is now available. This first-time release on compact disc allows

a user to enter an address and then find out

the corresponding census tract number, zip code, congressional district number, and

36
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

appropriate FIPS geographic codes. The discs come with both DOS and Windows versions

of the software. Another new release in the geographic

area is the new Landview II series. This

series, which is a joint venture sponsored by

the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration, and the Census Bureau, will contain prepackaged county sets of boundary

files. This should ease somewhat the problem

of loading TIGER files on your hard drive. The set of 1 1 disks will contain information from various EPA databases, including facilities that discharge into water,

air, or underground; facilities that generate,

treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste; and abandoned hazardous waste sites (Superfund sites). It will also contain demographic and economic data from the 1990 Census of Population and Housing. The data are presented in a geographic

context that includes jurisdictional boundaries

(e.g., counties, cities, census tracts and block

groups, and metropolitan areas); detailed networks of roads, rivers, railroads, and

landmarks; and watershed boundaries. Landview II data are integrated and accessible through software that provides thematic mapping, printed maps and reports, the ability to add new layers of information, and desktop

mapping capabilities for displaying, searching, and identifying map objects. While on the

subject of Landview software, we do have

plans to develop Landview software for the Windows environment; however, its future release date is subject to the availability of

staff resources. Also newly available in the geographic

area is the first disc from the 1994 TIGER/Line

series. This development is sponsored by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The chief

features of the new set of six CDs are the addition of geographic boundaries for traffic analysis, updated ZIP codes, and ZIP +4

codes for the entire country.

Internet

For several months now the Bureau has

distributed data and other information on the

Internet. Users can access our material through Gopher (address: gopher.census.gov), FTP (File Transfer Protocol) (address: ftp.census.gov), and the World Wide Web

(Mosaic client software) (uniform resource

locator URL: http://www.census.gov/). Telnet

access is allowed for the Census-Bureau of Economic Analysis Economic Bulletin Board

(telnet cenbbs.census.gov).

If you have not accessed our home page

lately, you will notice next time that we are redesigning our home page. This home page

will lead you to a wide range of demographic,

economic, and small area data; product

information (including on-line ordering); press

releases; research papers; geographic data; and

custom data extract capability. Within the demographic menu you can lookup 1990 Census summary data at Census

and University of California LawrenceBerkeley servers. This online lookup allows

interactive data retrieval. The user can also

extract data files. You will also find historical and current population estimates for the

nation, states, counties, and places as well as population projections. The popular Statistical Briefs and We, the American... series are also available in Postscript format. Among the new demographic material are charts and

historical data from the Bureau's annual income and poverty reports. The economic area provides key economic

indicators such as monthly retail sales and

current business and industry information. As

an example of the riches in one subject alone,

let's look at the foreign trade section. Here you will find the monthly press releases on

exports and imports, the Schedule B Commodity Classification codes (with a search

engine), instructions on how to fill out the

Shipper's Export Declaration, ordering

information for all foreign trade products and

a list of contacts for further information. You

37
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

can find similar riches in other economic

areas of the Bureau's Internet menu.

Other popular sections are the profiles and

rankings from the Statistical Abstract and the County and City Data Book, county business

data from the County Business Patterns annual

reports, and descriptions from the 1992 Economic Census. We also provide listings of our Internet addresses, key telephone contacts, and tutorials and sampje-files from TIGER '92 and TIGER '94.

Availability of printed reports

Since the Census Bureau is now offering speedier access to statistics via Internet, it is also reconsidering the amount of information

released in printed reports. Governments

Division recently decided to replace most

printed reports with Fact Sheets for two

primary reasons. One is a desire to shorten

the processing time between collection and

public release and the other is a need to reduce printing costs. When the Bureau

releases in the future a particular government

finance or employment set on the Internet, it will simultaneously issue a separate printed

fact sheet summarizing findings from the data

set. This fact sheet will also be on the

Internet. The fact sheets will provide

information on how to access the data on the

Internet, as well as how to get the data for those who do not have access to the Internet. This includes an offer by Governments

Division to produce on demand printed output

of any material in its data base. After data are released for all states. Governments Division plans to release a CD-ROM with the full data

file and possibly some page images and

historical data.

This follows a recent change in the Current Industrial Reports series. The Bureau

discontinued several months ago the printing

of monthly and quarterly reports. They are accessible online and by FAX (through a 900 number or by subscription). With the various Current Industrial Reports series, however, an

annual publication does compile the

electronically-released information. Some astute observers of the Bureau's Current Population Reports may have also observed reductions in the number of reports and the amount of material released in those

printed reports. Staff members in the Population Division are considering changes

in the mix of paper products and electronic data releases but they have not made any final decisions.

Similar reevaluations of the balance of printed and electronic releases are underway

for the 2000 Decennial Census. The Census

Bureau will develop and implement a plan and system for data access and dissemination

focusing on the decennial census but with the

ability to accommodate other data sets having

geographic detail, like those produced from

the Economic and Agriculture Censuses. A

design and implementation team will develop

this vision into a complete proposal defining

the main features of the system, including a scenario of how users would access the system, how data would be delivered, and a

timeline for implementation. Some of the

principles under which the system will be

designed and developed include the

following:

1. The system will provide direct access

to a limited number of data summaries, to public use microdata

samples, and to a process for specifying special tabulations. It will be accessible to the widest possible

array of users through the Internet and

all available intermediaries, including

libraries and universities.

2. There will be limited standard, prepackaged data summaries, and no

standard printed reports except those few profile reports necessary to show

appreciation to the public for its cooperation. All reports, files, etc., will be rapidly prepared on demand.

38
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

3. All data sources with comparable

levels of geographic detail will eventually be integrated into the system (e.g., economic census files, decennial census files, population

estimates files).

In order to help the Bureau plan the future of its data delivery system, we would

appreciate your comments on a one-page

questionnaire which I have brought with me

today. Please feel free to add any other comments on the back of the form. This questionnaire will give us information about

the availability of Internet and CD-ROM

technology to users of Census data and their preferred methods of receiving our data.

As this overview of our latest offerings on CD-ROM and the Internet and the future of printed reports has shown, change is quickly

occurring at the Census Bureau. We wish to assure you that we value very highly your role

in the dissemination of our data and we

encourage you to let us know what

information you need and how you would like to receive it. I will be happy to answer your

questions and hear your comments.

39
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference Many Ways to S-WAIS and WAIS:

The New Mexico Experience

Clark McLean

University of New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM

It is a pleasure to have been invited by

Sheila McGarr, Chief, Depository Services, U.S. Government Printing Office, to present "Many Ways to S-WAIS and WAIS: The New

Mexico Experience" for the Federal Depository

Library Conference. Packets are available at the back table containing an outline, helpful

hints for using S-WAIS, GPO Access gateway

list, minimum technical guidelines and copies

of all my visual overheads. I want to thank Judy Russell, Director, Office of Electronic Information Dissemination Service, U.S. Government Printing Office, for providing

several slides I'm utilizing in today's

presentation, and my colleagues at the University of New Mexico whose guidance,

support, and encouragement have been

instrumental in making possible today's

presentation. How many of you have had experiences

with Internet resources of E-mail, Gopher,

Telnet, File Transfer Protocol, Wide Area

Information Servers, the trendy World Wide

Web and associated browsers' Mosaic and/or Netscape? Many of these are the Internet access building blocks, allowing the exploration to the growing wealth of electronic information. The tool I will focus on today is a Wide

Area Information Server (WAIS) client/server software, an excellent tool to search through

large text. A frequently asked question is to differentiate between S-WAIS and WAIS. The

major difference is S-WAIS, or screen based WAIS, provides access to text where WAIS

with the appropriate client/server software will provide access to text, graphics and pictures. The basic equipment needed to access

either S-WAIS, WAIS or the other electronic products being distributed through the Federal Depository Library Program is outlined in the minimal technical guidelines published in Administrative Notes, Vol. 16, # 2 (January

15, 1995). It is essential for depository

libraries to request this equipment to be able

to provide access to the continuing flood of complex government electronic information

resources. To provide access to S-WAIS resources, a

personal computer with a modem or Ethernet connection with Internet connection is needed. Telnet capabilities, provided by an

Internet provider, are also needed to access

the service directly. For WAIS access, a

personal computer with a modem or Ethernet connection to an Internet provider is required.

In addition to the hardware, software such

as Windows, Winsock software (e.g., share- ware Trumpet), and WAIS client software (e.g., EiNet software available through GPO) is required for WAIS access. Your Internet provider might establish a serial line Internet Protocol (SLIP) or point-to-point (PPP) account

for your library to provide Internet access. This method supplies a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address which can be used in registering for GPO Access services. An

excellent video recently distributed to depository libraries is Eliot Christian's

40
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Connecting to the Internet, which covers in detail how to set up your personal computer

with Windows and Winsock (e.g., Trumpet)

software. The other option for many libraries, based on financial resources and comfort with

electronic resources, is to become a Model Gateway or connect to a Model Gateway

which provides expanded access to government information resources. More

concerning the Model Gateway project will come later in today's presentation. The driving force which started our

depository library and others down the WAIS

pathway was announced a year ago with

Public Law 103-40, The Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993. This law mandates

public access to selected Federal electronic information resources, without charge, through

the Federal Depository Library Program and at incremental cost to other users. The four major parts of GPO Access are the Federal Bulletin Board; GPO Wide Area

Information Server (WAIS); Locator Service with the Monthly Catalog and Publication Reference File annotated with depository

holdings; and the on-demand library delivery

service (storage facility). When these services were described at last year's depository

meeting, I became very excited with the prospects and began thinking about how we

could incorporate GPO's services into our gopher server. Then we were informed about

the one workstation - one access point

requirement for free registration of a depository library. Our library already had a new 486 workstation ordered and an Ethernet card was quickly requested because our campus computer center and Internet provider, which doesn't support SLIP/PPP at this time, prefers hard wired connections to the network. Sometimes the best plans are delayed. For

instance, about the same time when GPO

Access would become publicly available our

Internet provider informed us our building was

scheduled for fiber optic upgrade, changing all our Internet addresses. The equipment delay

postponed having full WAIS service available

until August of 1994. Then we started to explore the wonderful world of GPO WAIS

via one workstation with EiNet Windows

software. As many have heard this week, an enhanced version of the WAIS server is in the works at GPO. Proposed enhancements to the system, still six to nine months away, will require conversion to standard generalized

markup language (SGML), new retrieval software procurement and a possible CD-ROM

with common user interface for older

information materials. Contents and timeliness are what made

our department initially very interested in the GPO Access WAIS service. The contents can be described in three large service parts: Congressional Record; Legislative Bills, Public Laws and United States Code; and Federal

Register. Each of the service parts has several components. The Congressional Record

service includes the Congressional Record

(1994 to date). Congressional Record Index (1994 to date, and 1995 updated biweekly) and the History of Bills (1994 forward, updated biweekly). Future developments

coming soon are Adobe Acrobat portable document format (PDF) files for the Congressional Record, 1983-1991 back file for the Congressional Record Index and History of

Bills databases. The second major service part is the

Legislative service which includes Congressional Bills (103rd Congress to date,

all published versions, ASCII text and PDF

formats, updated by 6 a.m. daily), Public Laws

of the 104th Congress (ASCII text and PDF

format, updated irregularly as Slip Laws are authorized by the Office of the Federal

Register), and United States Code (codification of laws of general and permanent effect as of January 1994, ASCII text and TIFF graphic

files).The third service part is the Federal

Register (1994 to date, ASCII text and TIFF

graphic files, released by 6 a.m. daily). It

41
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

includes the Unified Regulatory Agenda which

is published in the Federal Register biannually. Adobe Acrobat PDF files for the Federal

Register are planned to be available soon. Databases to be added to GPO Access this spring include GAO Reports, House and

Senate Reports, Documents and Calendars. Our department initially selected the full WAIS option with the customized EiNet

software provided by GPO. We wanted to be

able to access both the full text and any

graphic images available. As our department

became more familiar with the full WAIS

access, we found the sample questions in the manual and available online to be very

helpful. These sample search questions also came prepackaged with the EiNet software. We encountered challenging patron

requests that prompted our learning more

about the databases and the search retrieval strategies. When the crime bill was in the news last fall, we had several requests for a

"final" version of the bill. We downloaded a copy of the enrolled version and provided it to patrons on floppy disk or as in one request,

via e-mail. We advised the patron who

wanted it through e-mail that the file was more than one megabyte. The patron seemed

to think their e-mail system could handle this size message and we didn't hear from him

after sending the large file. Another patron's question involved checking the Federal

Register for regulations on a specific chemical. The full text of the regulation was retrieved

easily by entering the chemical name.

Registration options for depositories have

increased since the first announcement of the

service. Now depositories can register either

for WAIS and/or S-WAIS, registering once for WAIS and once for S-WAIS. A maximum of ten WAIS Internet Protocol addresses and/or S- WAIS user identifications are available to depositories. Registration involved a letter and forms sent to each depository last fall detailing the procedure. Access to GPO

Access resources can also be shared with

other libraries through a selective housing

agreement. If you decide to work with a

selective housing agreement, GPO must be

informed and sent a copy of the selective housing agreement. A challenge to depository libraries is how

to incorporate the WAIS service at the Reference Desk. Our full WAIS service is provided by appointment and we are working

to have an S-WAIS like interface available through our gopher server. With the full WAIS access available by appointment, we

encourage patrons to bring floppy disks so

their search can be downloaded.

In preparation for offering additional

service access points, our library requested more telnet S-WAIS logins and passwords. At

the reference desk single user S-WAIS

connections could work well, but to expand

access via our gopher server, the login and

password would need to be scripted to run in the background. Our computer center advised the scripting process would require

additional computer programing for the gopher and they were reticent to perform the

task. Accessing S-WAIS via telnet provides

limited on-screen help once you are deep in a

search. Perseverance paid off and we were

able to train our campus gopher to communicate with a WAIS client also on our campus computer network. I'm hopeful this

will be the basis for our library becoming a Model Gateway participant. It is still text based, but using the gopher software provides more on screen help. The Model Gateway will provide enhanced access both to our campus

community and off campus users remotely

dialing in with a modem. Our next step is to model our system on the excellent University

of North Carolina - Chapel Hill site with their "lynx" interface. This site has provided a web

like appearance with significant help screens

available when you are searching. Many of the help tips derived from GPO guides are

available on the screen as you search.

Exploring the databases further, our department wanted to become a Model

Gateway so we could expand access to the

42
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

services from more than the one WAIS

terminal in our office. We initially requested

a few S-WAIS logins and passwords so we

could experiment. S-WAIS access would only

provide text and no graphics but this seemed

to be a workable option as our library and campus community supports a wide variety of platforms accessing the campus data computer

network. Several patrons from rural areas in our state were also interesting in dialing-in to our resources, saving a long distance commute

to campus. Improved access to electronic government information will be achieved as we continue working to implement the Model Gateway project. Recently we had a patron who requested

the per diem rates for the continental United

States (CONUS), published in the Federal

Register. We searched S-WAIS and WAIS,

selecting the Federal Register as the research

source, typing per ADJ diem as the search

strategy. Boolean operators need to be in all capitals or the WAIS server searches the operators as text. Judy Russell recently announced a major

improvement to the WAIS server software that

will soon allow phrases to be placed in quotation marks to imply adjacency. The

improvement will be a welcome and time

saving enhancement. After entering the search the server responds with the search

results. The "score" results concept is difficult to explain to patrons. The highest score

attainable is one thousand. The score is not

just the number of times the words appear, but the words are given a relevance ranking, more if they appear in the title or header. Another helpful search result file is the "query report for the search" usually found as the last file listing. The query report is helpful

to review especially if you want to see how

the WAIS server interpreted your request. On

the search result screen in S-WAIS you can e- mail the document by pressing "m" and typing your full e-mail address when prompted by

the computer. Or if you wish to look at the

full text, pressing the "space bar" retrieves the document. When the document is displayed

on the screen with S-WAIS via telnet, there is little on-screen help, just the letters "stdin" at the bottom. This is computer jargon

informing you the machine is waiting for standard input. By pressing the "space bar" you can get another screenful of text or by

pressing "q" will bring up a message

indicating "press any key" which lets you

escape back to the previous screen of search

results. One glitch we found in searching for

this document was the appearance of two

separate documents from two different agencies being placed together as one file in the search results. If you find such problems,

please forward the discrepancy as well as your

search strategy to the GPO Access User

Support Team.

Another search we had difficulty with was

searching the Federal Register for the Base

Closure and Realignment Commission

recommendation published March 1, 1995. These files are on GPO Access, but many of the individual base notices were provided to GPO by the agency in camera ready form. They are available as TIFF files on the full WAIS service. The full texts of the recommendations are also available on GPO's

Federal Bulletin Board. Even with all the glitches, GPO Access is a timely and authoritative resource for selected electronic government information. GPO has provided a manual which does

provide some key examples on how successful searches can be accomplished on the WAIS

server. The manual is available from several sources: the GPO Federal Bulletin Board, an

automatic source file on S-WAIS telnet access,

a source file on full WAIS access, or as an anonymous file transfer protocol from GPO.

Additional help is available from the GPO

Access User support team:

Internet e-mail help@eids05.eids.gpo.gov Phone: (202) 512-1530 or

fax: (202) 512-1262

7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

weekdays

43
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

New challenges are resulting as access is expanded to electronic government

information. Training and networking will be

essential as libraries work with GPO to provide free access to government

information. These are exciting times for the depository library community as we work

together with GPO to be leaders in electronic

access. Thank you again for the opportunity

to speak about some of the many pathways to these resources.

Selected Addresses URL: gopher://gopher.unm.edu URL: telnet://unclib.lib.unc.edu Login: LIBRARY

Selected Bibliography

Christian, Eliot. Connecting to the Internet [video recording]. U.S. Geological Survey, 1994. [Open file report 94-570; I 19.76:94-570]

Engle, Mary E. Internet Connections: A

Librarian's Guide to Dial-up Access and Use. American Library Association, 1993.

Krol, Ed. The Whole Internet: Users' Guide

and Catalog. (2nd edition) O'Reilly &

Associates, 1994.

44
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Community Information Organizations:

The Chicago Model

John A. Shuler

University of Illinois at Chicago

I want to thank Sheila McGarr, the Superintendent of Documents, and the Public

Printer for the opportunity to talk with you

today. They know all too well the dangers of allowing me to talk before a semi-captive audience for longer then ten minutes, which

reminds me of a story about Groucho Marx. While on an European trip he was approached

by the editors of a British newspaper and

offered two hundred dollars to write a story of two thousand words. Groucho thought about

it for a minute and said no, pointing out that he already had two hundred dollars and didn't know 2000 words. Now there was a man who grasped the

essentials of the information economy. What I want to offer for your collective consideration this afternoon is a meditation on how the underlying concepts of a "national depository library system" may survive into the next century; and to further entertain the

idea that this survival may not depend on the

historical structural arrangements presently embodied within Title 44.

Indeed, in taking the long view on this point, we must recognize that the depository system has evolved through a complicated and

interdependent system of power relationships,

social/political contracts, and professional understandings over the past two centuries. Half that time it was an executive branch

responsibility and the other half a duty assumed by the legislative branch. At the first level of this complicated web of relationships, and most fundamental, are the services we

provide within our home institutions, other

organizations we work with on a daily basis (both public and private) and the local communities we claim to serve. The next

level is sustained on a regional scale, outlined by the often singular (if not peculiar) social developments, economic conditions and

politics of our respective states and regions. The third exists at a national level, and creates much of our public rhetoric, our sense of information advocacy, and our system of

"professional beliefs" (what I call our "documents to the people" thing). Much of

this stems from our interactions with the

Federal government and the several national associations who pledge allegiance to common policy goals. What I have come to understand over

these last five years is that these relationships have been seriously restructured during the

last quarter century. This slow deconstruction

of the depository library system began with 1962 revisions of Title 44, primarily through

the creation of the regional/selective library dynamic, along with the inclusion of non-GPO produced documents in the depository system, and have only been

accelerated by the growing use of information technologies and telecommunications. What

many have already said at this conference, as well as in other forums, is that the system is being restructured as we speak. The forces unleashed with the 1962 law have been

reinforced in significant (and some would say

surprising) new ways with the implementation

of the recent GPO Access program. It means

that the purpose of the depository program

45
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

shifts on a daily basis from a national system

of coordinated collections to a cooperative

arrangement of local and regional service

points. As a result, the GPO has become just one possible source of government

information products demanded by citizens in our communities.

For the purposes of this talk today, I am

going to briefly offer some observations of how and why this restrticturing came about.

In the second part, I will describe UlC's

institutional response to these conditions, and

the role a government documents department

might carve out for itself during these times. And finally, I will conclude with a few

remarks about possible future directions. I have placed copies of an outline for the talk on the back table so that you may follow some of the twists and turns more easily.

I begin with three simple observations about what is driving the changes at the

national level.

i. The collapse of the

legislative-centered model of Federal information.

ii. The National Performance Review and demand for direct government

services to citizens; the ambiguities of the executive-centered model of Federal information dissemination.

iii. The Republican Contract with America: government information as the last unfunded mandate, and the democratic response. John G. Ames, founder of our

bibliographic world and one of the principal lobbyists for the 1895 Printing Act, created the three cardinal points of our profession: centralized printing; centralized distribution; centralized bibliographic control. However,

the reliability of these reference points would

prove to be very transient. Not soon after the

law's enactment, congressional control over

Federal printing and publishing policy would

be immediately questioned by the executive

and judicial branches. These challenges came

in the form of legal decisions that would

narrowly define the Act's scope, as well as in the growing use of printing technologies

throughout the Federal establishment,

especially from the Commerce and War

departments. The joint Committee on Printing was the vehicle of administrative control chosen by

Congress. However, the JCP's influence waxed and waned over the years because of repeated failures to secure a place for the

law's true purpose: the effective distribution of "electioneering documents." Members of Congress were not so much interested in informing the people (though that was an

important aspect of the public rhetoric surrounding the law); rather, the debates and

legislative speeches of the time called for some rational order to keep the thousands of

"free" publications (i.e., agriculture yearbook,

diseases of the horse, congressional directory,

etc.) flowing into the hands of voters during

elections. The distribution of the current Congressional Record is a vestige of this system: of the 18,000 copies produced each

year, many are mandated by law and

congressional designation to go to schools, non-Federal government agencies, veterans homes, and foreign legations. Ultimately, we

have to recognize that our national depository

library system remains an often misunderstood

part of this kind of constituent service. Another factor, and not an inconsiderable

one, is that the Congress has been losing its political will, and fiscal savvy, to maintain its structure of staff and support services. Committee staff, Congressional Budget Office, General Accounting Office, etc., have grown

in tandem with the expansion of the executive

bureaucracies for the last half-century. This is perhaps the greatest threat to the GPO, whose

traditional protection within Congress has always rested on a system of congressional committees dominated by staff. What's more,

there remains the question of the

constitutional separation of powers: that is, 46
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

whether or not Congress can administer the

printing and publishing policies of the executive branch. From the perspective of the executive branch, however, we find little comfort. Administrative attempts for the last quarter century to reduce the distance between government and citizen, as well as increase the use of information technology to deliver public programs/benefits, threatens many

underlying concepts of a legislatively centered

depository system. These improvements in citizen's services include: direct benefit

transfers, electronic filing of Federal forms,

electrifying statistical and other large databases, geographic information systems, negotiated rulemaking, and alternative dispute

resolution. Each will ultimately replace or

alter existing paper and electronic products now distributed through the depository

system. The Office of Management and Budget

Circular A-130, and its companion Government Information Locator Service

(GILS) standard, injects into the whole

discussion the principles of Information Resource Management (IRM), which always

favored executive direction over legislative. The Circular demanded that public

monopolies be avoided, and a healthy balance between private and public information

providers be maintained. It is within these precepts that the greatest amount of friction is generated over public information's dual

nature: on the one hand it is a public good

(national resource) and on the other it is a

private market commodity.

Finally, there is the recent election of a Republican majority in Congress, and their quite credible promises to rewrite at least some of the social and economic

understandings of Democratic liberalism: less active Federal Government in social and economic affairs; greater reliance on state and

local governments, greater reliance on private sector organizations for the distribution of goods and services.

If these trends continue the following is likely to happen:

First, it is very unlikely that we will ever

see enough political energy at the Federal and

national level in the near future to recreate a

centralized information agency. The rapid spread of information technology and its management throughout the government and

the parallel development of technology and communication networks, all of which is only

encouraged by such policy instruments as OMB's Circular A-130, will set up barriers to any attempt to restore the old order. Second, the Superintendent of Documents

will be transferred to another agency (either congressional or executive) without enough

serious thought or consideration on how such

a "centralized" form of information

distribution relates to comparable programs in other agencies. If it is kept in the legislative branch (such as the Library of Congress), then

the separation of powers issue will continue to

fester, especially if the Superintendent of Documents operation is legislated to demand

executive branch information productions for sale and distribution, or inclusion in locator

services.

Third, as the Federal Government

dismantles its bureaucracies, many state and

local governments will find themselves faced with the same questions about setting up the

best public information policy framework. And the solutions to these problems will grow

out of 50 different political cultures without any comparable allegiance to the classic Federal/liberal system of free, open and

non-copyrighted public information.

just as our government institutions are now roiled in debate about the proper

relationship between citizens and government,

so too are our home institutions and their

libraries struggling to find a place in this brave new information world order. As documents

librarians, we must suffer from a further burden: our own uniqueness as a particular combination of art and knowledge that has been bred to deal effectively with a singularly

47
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

nasty puzzle in acquisition, collection development, and public service.

For most of us, (and I base these observations on my own experience of having now worked in four different libraries, both

public and private academic or public

institutions in four different institutions on

both coasts and now the Midwest), though we

may serve at a common reference desk, or though the publications themselves may be

processed in a common technical service department, have always been singled out by

our colleagues and our profession because of our strong affinity for figuring out the obtuse and baffling government. There is a historical tension within the depository library community that centers on

the collective purpose of the program, versus

the goals and needs of the individual

institutions affiliated through the system. One

example might suffice, and that is the predominance of academic affiliated depositories, another vestige of 19th century arrangements, when private (and some public) academic institutions held the largest libraries

in many congressional districts. Today sixty-six per cent of the by-law and

designated libraries are housed in academic

institutions. I would also argue that the

historical influence of academic libraries has placed the primary concern of "building

collections" over "service" as the primary goal

of the depository program. The importance of service began to be addressed with the

creation of regionals in the 1962 Act. But it is perhaps only since the advent of GPO Access,

that the idea of service has come to the

forefront.

i. Library organizations deal with the

technological challenges of collecting electronic government information.

It demands expensive equipment, close management, and constant support for both staff and users. It competes with

other electronic choices in the library.

How are libraries going to play a role in a system of government that is "racing" to a form of direct electronic service to the

citizen?

ii. Library organizations wrestle with

conflicting forces of providing "free" public access to increasingly expensive

government information. From a recent article on how much money

Georgetown University is spending on its Federal depository: four local dollars for every one GPO dollar. With small to medium libraries, the emphasis has been

on service first, collections second.

Usually there is a centralized public

service point, and provision of government

information may or may not be in separate

collections. Technical services may

handle the processing of the material. Depository status burdens do not sit well

for some these institutions, because of the perceived lack of wide use for much of the material. Libraries of all kinds begin

to examine their patterns of use and try to decide which services can be carved off and given up. In fact, many of the smaller

to medium size libraries are beginning to seriously consider giving up their selective depository library status, and opt for commercial solutions or to rely on other

depositories in their region.

iii. Library organizations ask the essential question: Does a separate government documents department still serve a common good? With larger libraries, there is a growing

pressure to flatten the organization and

reduce the number of services points as

well. This process can be accelerated by

adding Government publications to a

library's online catalog. What happens when the centralized sources of distribution (i.e. GPO) dry up? 48
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

What and how are these libraries going to organize the constantly changing environment of government electronic information for their patrons? The University of Illinois at Chicago (UlC) has initiated several projects designed to create viable solutions to these challenges over the course of the next five or ten years. These efforts include the long and short term

goals of access to both print and electronic databases from all levels of government to the broadest number of citizens, community

organizations and small businesses.

Overall, the University has launched an

extensive program of neighborhood and community involvement called the Great

Cities Initiative. Through this program, the University has targeted specific areas of research and teaching that can bring benefits and opportunity to the Chicago metropolitan

area's vast number of neighborhoods. Areas

of specific interest include education,

international trade, public health, and local community development. At the present time, the Library has launched several initiatives that attempt to make public information resources and their distribution part of the Great Cities program. These include the following five pilot projects directly related:

I. U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN)

This Federal/state cooperative

computer information service has been

available on the Internet since late December 1994. It is a gopher site (with an associated World Wide Web home

page) that effectively functions as an

"electronic reading room" for the State Department's major reports, studies, country studies, speeches, testimony, visa and travel information, and other public information products dealing with U.S. foreign policy. It also serves as a functioning "electronic reference desk" for the public, referring them either to specific

offices in the agency, or answering their

questions from the sources located in the gopher or from UlC's other collections of government information. Within the next two months, librarians from UlC's Documents Department will be visiting specific institutions and other

libraries with a portable computer to demonstrate DOSFAN, and encourage members of these communities to use and

participate in its development. The first three months of statistics indicate a growing awareness and use of DOSFAN

from the Internet community. The gopher and web sites average 3000 files transmitted daily. Questions and comments from users indicate both

appreciation and helpful suggestions on how we might improve the service. We

are in the early stages of developing more

sophisticated evaluation tools.

II. Community Internet Training

Since the spring of 1994, the UlC

libraries have been a partner with the Chicago Library System in developing an

effective program of training seminars on how to access and use Internet resources

effectively. The Documents Department

has begun to use the Library's Electronic Learning Lab (the ELL) to sponsor specific training in the area of government

information resources. On April 3rd and

4th, 1995, UlC provided these electronic

capabilities to the electronic services staff of the U.S. Government Printing Office to

train forty to fifty librarians on new

government information products and

services. Another session will be offered during summer 1995. For the Documents

Department (and in the interest of this

initiative) there will be a specific program

of outreach to other major community

organizations that need to know about

these kinds of public information

resources, but do not have the technological or staff resources to act on

these interests, and bring them into the ELL for further awareness and training.

49
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

III. Chicago and Illinois State Public HealthNets These two components are still in their development stages. Working from the experience gained through the DOSFAN

project, the Documents Department

contacted and won agreement from the Chicago Department of Public Health and

the Illinois State Department of Public Health to develop gopher sites and World Wide Web home pages for their information products and services. Documents librarians are working with

representatives from the two departments,

demonstrating DOSFAN as an example of the kind of added-value public service, and identifying the kinds of information products that could be of general and

specific interest to the public. The Documents Librarians plan to work with

other sectors of the public health community to ensure the HealthNets wide

distribution and general usefulness.

IV. Health Policy Archives

This is a companion project to the two

HealthNets described above. The

Archives enjoys both the recognition and

an initial funding from UIC's Great Cities

office. The Archives' purpose is to

identify, collect, and organize an extensive

collection of paper and electronic information sources on all aspects of health care policy and reform. Organizers

are working with the Chicago area's major

medical schools, health care providers, professional groups, and interested individuals to identify and collect material. An important goal of the Archives will be

the creation of a gopher and world wide web site that will enable Chicago's health care providers and consumers to locate information through the various metropolitan local and wide area information networks.

V. Public Geographic Information Systems

(GIS)Through a national program sponsored

by the Association of Research Libraries, UlC has started to plan for a program of GIS training and outreach to members of the public, elementary and secondary

schools, and other community/

neighborhood organizations, and small

businesses. Specifically, this training will create a greater public awareness of powerful mapping/statistical software and computer hardware. Examples include the

creation of maps and market statistics for specific products, the mapping of health

related conditions in local communities, and the graphic representation of specific

effects that might come about if there are severe economic, social, or political changes within a given community.

VI. Putting up GPO Access

In the near future, the UlC library will be offering its version of GPO Access, which will rely on a combination of

bulletin board and Internet access.

Institutional politics are the greatest

difficulty. Resources and knowledge must

be shared in significant new ways.

In terms of equipment, UlC purchased and maintains the hardware, software, network fees, and software agreements to support two computer servers: one for DOSFAN, and the other for more general

Internet government information products and services, which will include the HealthNets and the Health Policy

Archives. In addition, the Library has

recently purchased a Local Area Network

to operate its Geographic Information System software and statistical data sources from the government. Gopher server equipment

software: hardware: $9300

networking fees: $28/month

software: $1800

50
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Local Area Network, with plotter and laserjet printer: $30,000

Periodic use of other university computers to

digitalize necessary graphics. So far, approximately 800 staff hours from the

Library's systems and government documents

department have been committed to these

initiatives. Ongoing yearly staff hours should be about 500 hours/year.

If our experience at UlC is any indication, government information in libraries, the

national system of depository libraries, and

citizen information services will depend on two factors. The cultivation of local and

regional Community Information Organizations (LRCIOs) offer libraries and

other community information providers the chance to construct equitable local information infrastructure. The deeper philosophy of this kind of information advocacy rests on the bedrock

principle of the public's right to government

information. Since the late 1980s, all levels of government have grown to rely on the new

information technologies to deliver their programs and services directly to individual

citizens. Government information librarians (along with other information providers) have

studied, proposed, considered, debated, and

lobbied for significant changes to the various systems of government information

distribution, focusing primarily on an updated

version of the traditional model of distribution; "a wired depository library" if you will. However, others argue that direct citizen access to public information without the assurance of direct civic participation, is, at best, a hollow promise.

This electronic expansion of the "public space" and the provision of direct electronic

services to individual citizens erode the

traditional centralized strengths of library collections and their supporting systems of

distribution. This interactive electronic civic network demands a new leadership role from

librarians. A deeper level of civic involvement will require a closer working

relationship with government agencies, public

organizations, local businesses, and other community groups to gain the promise of an

equitable distribution of public information and services. The specific community information

organization pilot projects at UlC appeal to the same energies and broad purposes of other programs that support citizen information

literacy and empowerment. Two that come to mind most readily are ALA Goal 2000 and the Dewitt Wallace-Reader's Digest's National

Library Power Program. Both recognize and

support the critical connections that bind

information literacy, citizen empowerment,

and the historic strengths of a well-organized

library service. As the plan for ALA Goal 2000 states, it is the duty of librarians and

library associations

"...to share what we have learned as one

of the major information institutions. ..the place of libraries of all kinds must be

developed and firmly secured with our

active participation, not just as a by-product of larger decision-making

process where we are not represented. And the public must be educated and

involved in the issues so that they can

reach an understanding of what

alternatives and choices are being

presented, with all of their associated

benefits or liabilities." The National Library Power Program

follows this same sense of obligation and

information empowerment through its support

of viable and integrated libraries in the

nation's elementary and middle schools.

Libraries and librarians must take their place as primary players during the construction of local public information

infrastructures. Indeed, libraries have the

expertise and public service traditions that

offer a unique opportunity to serve as leaders

in these early community information organizing efforts. With encouragement and

support from their home institutions (as well

as national associations with a vital interest in

51
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

supporting citizen participation and education)

librarians can confidently make a place for themselves in the new information society of the next century.

52
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Mining the Electronic Documents

for Local Collections

Raleigh Muns

University of Missouri at St. Louis

OUTLINE

L Who am I? In which a personal and individual context is set.

II. Why am I doing what I am doing?

In which motivation and opportunity are explored.

III. What am I doing?

In which the overall approach is explained.

IV. How am I doing it? In which some nuts and bolts are examined.

V. Bells and whistles

In which some fancier things about mining and providing are explained.

VI. Risks

In which some unforeseen problems are put forth.

VII. Results

In which feedback on activities is presented.

VIII. Conclusion

Some initial quotes about information: "When action grows unprofitable, gather information; when information grows unprofitable, sleep."

-Ursula K. Le Guin (The Left Hand

of Darkness (1969), ch. 3).

"Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the

walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts

across the electrified borders." -Ronald Reagan (Guardian; London, 14 June 1989). "The government is us; we are the government, you and I." -Theodore Roosevelt (Speech, 9

Sept. 1902, Asheville, N.C.).

I. Who am I? By design and trade I am a Reference

Librarian and not a Government Documents

specialist. I used to belong to GODORT as a "gov docs junkie" but the reality of having

children and a librarian's pay caused me to forego that frill and thrill after about two

years. As a product of UCLA I had access to

their extensive documents collection and

probably became unabashedly addicted to the information the government provides when I ran across a tattered volume of hearings from

the 1950's on how comic books were turning

53
Proceedings - 7995 Federal Depository Conference

America's youth into a bunch of crazed and

violent communists. I love that kind of stuff! The University of Missouri-St. Louis is a state-supported university that honestly

delivers a fine education but to be honest, has no real reputation as a flagship of higher

learning. Established in the early 1960's,

living within a budget imposed by a frugal

state government, and existing in a country

that appears to increasingly be supporting its educational institutions and libraries with Nike

slogans ("Just do it") the university decided, as many others have done, to gorge on the govdocs teat as a full depository; this was

followed by a re-scaling four years later to about 90 percent selectivity which is where we stand today. Because we are young and under funded,

necessity has led us to rely heavily on the documents collection. Under funding also means under staffing which at UM-St. Louis means that we are all multi-specialists, or, as I like to say, at UM-St. Louis we are ALL

government documents librarians. Our single dedicated government documents librarian is a REAL reference librarian and all of the REAL

reference librarians can cite SuDoc numbers

in our sleep. One of the final pieces in the puzzle has been the intellectual integration of the

collection by including the Government

Printing Office/OCLC tapes in our online

catalog, allowing patrons to access the

collection transparently.

II. Why am I doing what I am doing?

1. I see this as traditional librarianship.

2. We are poor.

3. We can.

4. The information we are providing has

real-world applications in our mission.

"1. I see this as traditional librarianship." The main activities of our profession revolve around activities of "access" and

"preservation." Simple, basic librarianship

consists of acquiring materials (collection development); organizing (cataloging,

shelving); intermediating (reference services); and maintaining (preserving). Technical

considerations aside, this is exactly what I am

doing with a local Internet gopher-based

collection.

"2. We are poor." This is a flip way of pointing out the value of the depository program. Because of the materials we

receive, we can put resources in other areas not covered by the depository program. There

should be nothing new here to any in the audience. What I do is an extension of the

desire to extract value from existing resources

at a minimal cost. One of my colleagues contends that what I do is not traditional librarianship. She points out that I am more in the publishing business

than the library business. I counter that when we take the traditional roles of librarianship, and apply the context of a specific institution with a specific mission, what I am doing is the same as what we have always done in the

profession. This last part is the practical key

to all that I do: the context of what we do.

Let me elaborate: rather than become a vacuum cleaner for everything that is out

there, I suggest that you act as I do and deal

in a world where acquisition decisions of

electronic materials (i.e., mined electronic government documents) are the same as acquisition decisions for "real" documents, or

"real" non-documents. A projected need must

be met.

For example, I do not choose to put an

electronic document up on our Internet gopher because I think it will be used; I put it up because I know it will be used. This is based on my hands-on experience with the government documents collection via our

Reference Desk. When I ran across the Occupational Outlook Handbook on

54
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

CD-ROM from the depository program, I knew

that this was an item that would be in demand

because of the constant use of the print version. Sometime last year I gave a talk in San

Francisco that stated "Everything I ever learned

of value I learned in library school." The

struggle many librarians are having with the new technologies can be mitigated by

stepping back and realizing that though

information formats are changing radically, the underlying concepts of what we do have not changed.

Evaluation of a resource, for example,

should be independent of the medium. What

good is it? What need does it meet? Are there

alternatives? If the process of accessing an

electronic document seems stupid, confusing, and non-intuitive, it is probably because it is stupid, confusing, and non-intuitive. I think what I am saying is that if you are a confused,

yet fearless, librarian, you will do fine. Now, we may still use stupid, confusing,

non-intuitive resources, but at least we should be doing it with open eyes. Why are we doing this? "3. We can." Two conditions come together in a large amount of the Federal documents I use which make mining the electronic documents a minor technical exercise, and they are:

• The documents are already in an

electronic format.

• Uses of the documents are (usually) not restricted by copyright.

Lots of useful print documents are not copyrighted and require extra effort (prohibitive effort based on most of our

resources) to utilize; lots of other electronic documents are simple to use, but are under

copyright; but the synergy of these two simple

conditions creates an explosive mix that ignited one over-caffeinated, altruistic librarian's ongoing activities.

I would like to point out that one of my

frustrations is the problem of determining the copyrighted nature of a depository item. For example, one of the products I have raided is the eminently useable National Trade Data Bank (NTDB) CD-ROM. On the NTBD is an

excellent small monograph:

Opportunities in Mexico: A Small Business Guide is the product of a public/private sector

initiative among the U.S. Small Business

Administration (SBA), the Service Corps of

Retired Executives (SCORE) and AT&T. This guide provides U.S. small businesses with

practical trade information on exporting to Mexico.

Unfortunately, the Program Description

part of the file unambiguously states: Contents of this publication are copyrighted. All rights are reserved to Free Trade Consultants. No portion of this book may be reproduced mechanically,

electronically or by any other means,

including photocopying, without written permission from John L. Manzella, Author,

President of Free Trade Consultants,

Buffalo, New York.

Since this item is available on the official NTDB gopher

(gopher://sunny.stat-usa.gov:70/00/STAT-USA/

NTDB/) worrying about this seems absurd, but

violation of copyright in our profession is serious, even when it is absurd. Another item I would dearly love to mine

is the Joint Electronic Library CD-ROM (D

5.21:994/2/1 A) which is chock full of all sorts of historical papers from Military War College

sources. I have neither the time nor the

inclination to pursue determining to a conclusion the true copyright nature of this source (and suspect that it is a piece-by-piece answer anyway and not global to the entire CD-ROM). However, this is again a barrier to mining information I rather was not there. In any case, although these items are coming

through the depository program, as with

printed materials via the program, there is no

55
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

guarantee that they are in the public domain.

This problem is magnified in what I do

because of the nature of providing electronic information on the Internet, even locally. It is one thing to make a single photocopy, and yet another to create a resource that can be easily reproduced by fifty million people. The final piece of "Why am I doing this" is that, "4. The information we are providing has

real-world applications irrour mission." The

information items provided are inherently

useful. This is not an exercise in academic

experimentation, but another dimension in providing desired information to those who

need or want it. If I can inspire anyone to contribute to this common pursuit of our

profession as I am doing, then I have again

leveraged more value than it would appear

out of these "dry as dust" government

documents.

III. What am I doing?

In brief: raiding, stealing, pointing, mirroring, manipulating documents received

via the depository library program or on the

Internet. As institutions, especially government institutions, shift from paper to electronic formats, the availability of electronic documents is exploding, and thus

the available opportunities are exploding. Based on what is currently on our gopher,

a user can find the Army Area Handbooks,

Economic Reports of the President, the U.S.

Industrial Outlook, "The Green Book (1994)" Overview of Entitlement Programs, and a list of all depository libraries organized by state.

I would like to even brag a bit about

preceding the official National Trade Data Bank gopher site by about a year (and grouse

at the same time at the initial announcement

of the NTDB's availability on the Internet as

"for the first time anywhere"). Though we did not mount all NTDB files on our gopher, we

did extract, again, those we found most useful from our immediate experience such as the Background Notes and aforementioned Army

56

Area Handbooks (among others). In fact, by

extracting the most useful files (again

reflecting our experience with local user needs) we have found that we have cut down

on what I call the "noise" on the NTDB

CD-ROM of having too rich a body of information. This is application of the

selection and collection activities of traditional librarianship. The pleasing thing about this Is that in mining the electronic documents we

are less tied to pure economic forces (how

much does an item cost?) and more tied to the

intellectual activity of determining patron needs in an almost abstract manner. Though I am addressing "Mining the

Electronic Documents for Local Collections," the borderless nature of the Internet really means that everything is universally

accessible. I admit to, and encourage you do

the same: to be driven by local needs. The

truth is that many of our local needs are the same local needs as users of the Cleveland

Public Library, the Library of Congress, or the America Online service. In fact, according to our user logs, the largest group of users of our

Internet gopher government documents are subscribers to America Online.

IV. How am I doing it?

Also, how can YOU do it. Undeniably, a

certain level of technical expertise is required. The more expertise you have, the more you

can do, the fancier you can get, the sexier your site, and the happier you can make your

patrons. However, you do not need to know

how to do computer programming (though if you know any programming, you can do some fun things); you do not need to know

calculus or algebra; you do not need to know

assembly language programming; in fact, if you have conquered any modern

word-processing program, you have already

learned what is probably the most difficult (and onerous) part of all I do.
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

What DO you need?

1. An existing Internet infrastructure of some kind.

2. Public domain files in an electronic (ASCII preferred) format.

3. The aforementioned word-processing

skills.

4. The ability to download/upload files from/to local PC's/Mac and your net

site.

5. About one hour of instruction (or decent documentation). Whether you are dealing with the World Wide Web, gopher, ftp sites, or whatever, a necessary but not sufficient condition is that someone at your institution be running a machine on the Internet. Mainframes, PC's, Macs, whatever, can all be used to run freeware Internet server software. You will be

hard-pressed to find institutions with sites on

the Internet that do not have an existing server

of some kind already up and running. Your

job, Mr. and Ms. Phelps, should you decide to accept it, is to make the human connection to the people running the machines. Without an

existing Internet infrastructure of machines,

software, and people, you cannot do any of what I am about to describe.

Interestingly, there is a growing array of commercial providers who will do this for you. For $9.95 a month you can lease space on the World Wide Web with a company

called Webcom (http://www.webcom.com).

They become the infrastructure about which I am talking. This is not a recommendation of Webcom. I am just using them as what I consider a prototypical example of hovv' the commercial sector can provide the needed

Internet infrastructure.

In my situation, I noted that some of our computer techies had set up a prototype gopher server on the campus mainframe and I innocently asked if I could have an account

called "The Library." After about fifteen minutes of instruction and with a single sheet

of paper showing me how to set up gopher menu structures (all done with simple text

editors), I was told I could start uploading files that could be accessed. For those of you who

think some mysterious and arcane knowledge

is required to put files on the Internet I cannot

stress how far from the truth is such a misconception. You can do mysterious and

arcane things on the Internet, but being a basic provider is incredibly simple, provided you have an existing Internet infrastructure (or buy access to one). Now, being a depository library, we (and you no doubt) receive tons of CD-ROMs. This

is the crop from which you will harvest. Remember, WHAT you harvest is partly limited by technical considerations, but more

critically related to understanding in a

real-world sense what information is worth

mining.

Initially, I install the software for accessing

a CD-ROM as directed by any accompanying

documentation. There are still many people

that do not know that the information on a CD-ROM is as accessible as files on a diskette or your workstation's hard drive. One does

not necessarily need to install special software

to look at files on a CD. It is not unusual to have workstations, old and cheap ones, which

cannot use the interface software supplied. It may not have enough memory; it may not have a color monitor; it may not have the most recent version of the DOS operating

system. By looking at the files on a CD as you would files on a diskette, one can still extract valuable information that would be

otherwise inaccessible.

Certainly much of what you can probably

look at directly may require other programs.

For example, by looking directly at the

directories of files on GPO distributed CD-ROM's I've found groupings of Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet files that require spreadsheet

software to access. If you have your Internet

infrastructure in place and working, it can become as simple as setting up a gopher

57
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

menu item "1-2-3 Spreadsheets from the 1995

Federal Budget" and then just uploading all of the files from the CD-ROM to the Internet server account. Though not recommended,

this could be done without even having such

a spreadsheet program yourself. The key here is to poke around directly and not to rely on the native accessing

software. You may find all kinds of neatly arrayed files just sitting'around. The joint Electronic Library CD-ROM mentioned above

is an outstanding example. I have used the same technique to extract GIFs or pictures from uses CD-ROMs to create a local exhibit

of disaster photographs.

Also, do not keep yourself from

understanding how the "native" search software for a CD-ROM product works, either. The NTDB, and other Dept. of Commerce

products, usually have two available

interfaces. By familiarizing yourself with the software you can select files on the NTDB to be extracted as separate files (e.g., all Department of State Background Notes come

out as separate files for each country) or create one large file with all sections appended. Here is where you could create an ftp (file transfer protocol) archive with the entire text of a single Army Area Handbook, or create, as

I have done (and as is done at the STAT-USA

site that carries the NTDB on the Internet) Army Area Handbooks with each chapter a separate file. Each product is different and subsequent

editions may have updated or changed

interface software. The general approach

again is to:

1 . Access the CD-ROM directly

2. Familiarize yourself with the supplied

interface software. Of special note is that for those products

that (hopefully) come out with a certain

regularity, such as the NTDB, the

familiarization process will pay off over time

as you understand how to extract information

with each new edition, and then carry over

that expertise to subsequent issues.

V. Bells and Whistles So far I have spoken broadly about how

easy it is to just pull files off a CD-ROM and

post them to a gopher or World Wide Web

site (and begged the question of exactly HOW

to do that as beyond the scope of this, or any

presentation - how you do things is so tied

into local resources that it is impossible to say

in any generic sense how one should

proceed). You can do some fascinating things with these files with a little expertise.

First, some files are prohibitively large. Putting the entire Occupational Outlook Handbook on an Internet server is trivial since

the CD-ROM version has a single file with the

full-text on it. By writing programs that can chop up larger files into constituent pieces, one can add value to the product. Accessing

five or six paragraphs on the occupation of

"library clerk" using the Internet gopher

software is a lot more efficient, and faster, than using that same gopher software to

transfer the entire Occupational Outlook Handbook. The same thing can be said for documents such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the entire Federal Budget, or the Economic Report of the

President.

Overall, the value one can add is by

judiciously chopping up larger documents for easier access to the constituent pieces. As

dull and dry as this may sound, I consider this a necessary component to providing universal

access. By catering to the lowest common

denominators, whatever the components of those denominators are, the universal access

(hopefully) mandated by various Federal information distribution programs can be met. One never knows whether an accessor is using a dumb terminal logged onto a Unix computer account or a top-of-the-line, fully networked, high end workstation on the

Internet. The least common denominator here

58
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

requires designing for the slowest transfer speed as possible. It is going to take a while

for someone with a 2400 baud modem to look at a document than someone with Mosaic on a networked Macintosh. Another level of value that can be added

involves organizing the pieces of chopped up

information. By expending more effort, complex documents can be arranged in hierarchies for easier access. Chapters can be

listed within which sections can be arranged

within which tables can be arrayed, all at different levels. There are no shortcuts to doing this, but when such judicious arrangement is done, we are again acting like librarians more than technicians. No shortcuts. Librarians, of all professionals, have little problem

understanding the importance of thankless

tasks. I like to point out a difference between

technicians and librarians. If you ask a technician to do something onerous and

time-consuming, you are likely to be told "it cannot be done" (and what they mean is "I do

not want to spend the time doing this onerous and time-consuming task"). As a counter example, when our government documents

librarian was asked about shelf shifting and

rearranging our growing collection, the answer was twofold:

1. An analysis that the job would take six months of hard work.

2. Six months of hard work.

Similarly, many of the best things one can do in mining electronic documents for both

local and universal collections are time-consuming, onerous, thankless, invisible, and absolutely critical for providing useable and useful online resources. It is fine if you

can find files on CD-ROMs or on the Internet chopped up into nice packages. Nevertheless,

if you cannot, roll up your sleeves and start hacking. The chopping up need not be difficult. Most word processing programs can take large

documents while allowing cutting and

pasting. I have written some programs in BASIC that do the chopping automa'^ically. The level of programming skill is that required by the most basic courses of even

twenty years ago. In the case of the Occupational Outlook Handbook, all sections

of the one large file were flagged with the unique characters of two backwards slashes. By writing a program that chopped up the

larger file on every occurrence of "//" I was

able to quickly produce files consisting of separate occupations to be mounted on the

Internet. Note again that the driving force for doing

this was based on a first-hand knowledge at the Reference Desk of the utility of this specific work, and how people use it - it is not

read cover to cover but is accessed by specific profession. Another bell and whistle possible when

you create and provide local access to government document collections is what I call commercials on the Internet. I've long

proposed (to the snorts of disdain of my

colleagues) that we put commercials on our

online catalog, or OPAC. When I chop up

larger files for local collections, I do just that when I make sure that each piece has a bit of advertisement for the University of Missouri-St.

Louis. With the exception of some of the first documents I placed on our gopher, all other

electronic documents placed on our gopher

and World Wide Web servers have, and will have, innocuous little tags saying something

like "access to this chapter of the China Army

Area Handbook is brought to you courtesy of the libraries of the University of Missouri-St.

Louis." Additionally, information as to the source of the electronic document (e.g., the NTDB for a specific month) is also included. Note these two important functions:

1. Providing provenance information of the document.

2. Advertising the expertise of the

university.

59
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Both of these things are extremely

relevant. The issue of provenance comes into play when patrons wish to find similar items

at a local depository. How many times have you had to deal with a patron carrying a photocopy of a single page of a government document asking "where is the rest of this item?" It is more than a courtesy to include

the source of a document in a piece of a

larger electronic file - it is a necessity. When

a patron retrieving a chapter of an Army Area Handbook from a UM-St. Louis Library

Internet node brings the printout to you, there should be no problem directing them to your

local holdings. I strongly suggest that this is another dull, dry, and thankless area that is crucial to proper maintenance of local electronic collections.

Advertising one's expertise, I hold, is also relevant and not an ego trip. In an environment where dependency on public support is crucial, it is important that we toot our own horns in an attempt to keep ourselves

visible to our local, national, and even

international patrons. When America Online subscribers

consistently run across "free" depositories of

useful information, it is in our mutual

self-interest to let these voters on tax issues understand from whence this information is coming. Without tooting our horn these

prototypical America Online users are likely to erroneously assume that it is their network

provider (America Online) who is giving them

this information. We did it. We do it. We will do it. And

if the citizenry benefits from our services it behooves us to let them know to whom to give credit. This is less an ego issue than a

survival issue. For an honest public institution as mine, this is also an opportunity to demonstrate value returned for tax dollars invested. If we can all proceed in this manner, our modest and invisible profession can only benefit.

VI. Risks Erroneous attribution A recurring theme of this talk is the connection between local collections and

universal access. In practice, what this means

is that local activities can be criticized by anyone on the Internet. I have received messages from Norway explaining to me that

their country voted NOT to join the European Economic Union (EEU); Austrians have told me about abbreviations in the CIA World

Factbook which are in error; and Pakistanis have corrected me on the transcription into English of the name of their currency. By

providing access to information you will be

setting yourself up as appearing to be the publisher of that information.

Personal Attacks As a local/universal provider of access to government information, erroneous attribution can lead to personal attacks. I was recently

called a jew killer and Benedict Arnold for my

efforts of mining government documents for our local collection. My crime? I posted "as

is" a copy of the Yugoslav Army Area Handbook from the National Trade Data

Bank. The irate virtual patron decided that my publication of this work was a racist slap

in his face. As a good librarian I calmly

responded to his complaint and apologized and explained the situation. I said that, at his request, I would forward to my colleagues on

the internet a proposal to remove all magazine

articles, atlases, globes, and books with the word "Yugoslavia" in them. I heard nothing more.

Responsibility By providing access to this information you should be setting yourself up as a

consistent and responsible provider of information. Another area where we can add

value to our local electronic collections is by

maintaining our documents, continuing to update them, and making sure that access is robust. The risk is that irresponsibility can be

60
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

seen immediately by all users of your

information.

VII. Results

Relative fame and no fortune are the

results. The best we can hope for is enough

recognition to continue support for us and our

institutions so we can continue to provide

resources and services to our constituencies. One of the most interesting things about

setting up local electronic collections on

Internet servers is the ability to monitor use. Gopher and World Wide Web servers

typically have the capacity to create user logs. These files contain the date, time, accessor, and files accessed by anyone utilizing the

local server's resources. At UM-St. Louis we

have provided for about two years information

other than that mined from, primarily, GPO

distributed CD-ROMs. Our gopher logs, however, indicate that the items most heavily used are from the Government Documents

section of our virtual collection. Specifically, the Army Area Handbooks are the single most

heavily used items. Due to technical problems, we are only

able to track what I call "accesses" or

"transactions." Whenever a user presses a key

to move to another level of the gopher or to

retrieve a document, a line of text is written to the day's gopher log indicating, again, date, time, user, and file or path accessed. Accesses of government documents is up from

a hundred transactions per month two years ago, to over one hundred THOUSAND

transactions monthly today. In abeyance is my desire to demonstrate WHICH documents

are being accessed. Efforts to cease

publication of things like the Occupational Outlook Handbook or the Industrial Outlook

might be combatted by hard statistics showing

continued and heavy use of these documents.

VIII. Conclusions My conclusions are handwritten at the last minute because, for the life of me, I couldn't come up with any way to tie everything

together. I posit that the reason for this is because this is an open-ended, ongoing,

amorphous and ambiguous process (a salient feature of these new technologies). There is no conclusion to these activities; products, changing formats of information (e.g., the

increasing use of Adobe Acrobat and the PDF

file format), and technologies in general are all in flux. My conclusion, and advice, is to invert the popular environmentalist's aphorism of "think globally and act locally," to the new Internet maxim of "think locally and act globally."

Copyright 1995 by R. Muns

E-mail Address: srcmuns@umslvma.umsl.edu WWW home page URL:

http://www.umsl.edu/ ~ muns/

61
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

TJL Electronic Resources

The Electronic Resources Area is your gateway to a wealth of information available online or via CD-ROM.

It is located near the Reference Desk on Level 3 of the Thomas Jefferson Library. DATABASES AVAILABLE

FULL-TEXT SERVICES

Full-text services offer complete articles in addition to citations and/or abstracts. These services include: ABI/INFORM," BRIDGE," "LEXIS-NEXIS," and the "ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH."

"ABI/INFORM" provides full-text for articles in over 400 business journals and abstracts for over 800

journals. It is a CD-ROM service.

"LEXIS-NEXIS" is an online service which provides comprehensive news, business, legal information. Many

of its extensive files are updated daily and offer full-text information. USE OF THIS SERVICE IS LIMITED TO CURRENT UM-ST. LOUIS FACULTY AND STUDENTS.

The "ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH" includes articles from 1989 until the present in a full-text format.

Full-text information can be downloaded from "LEXIS-NEXIS" and the "ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH."

"ABI/INFORM" allows downloading of citations and abstracts only. Full-text of the articles may be printed on the laser printers at the workstations. Printing is also available on the other full-text services. All full- text printing requires a photocopy card and is debited at 7 cents per page. INDEXES

Indexes supply information on journal articles, including author, title of article, name of journal, date of

publication, page numbers, and some brief description of the article's contents.

Indexes available in the Electronic Resources Area include the following: "APPLIED SCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY INDEX," "ART INDEX," "AUTO-GRAPHICS," "COMINDEX," "GENERAL SCIENCE INDEX," "HUMANITIES INDEX," "MLA" and the "SOCIAL SCIENCE INDEX."

Each index allows you to search several years of journals at once. Electronic indexes offer the added

advantages of printing citations or downloading them onto a disc. ABSTRACT SERVICES

Abstract services also supply information on journal articles, but they offer more in-depth information by

including an abstract, or summary, of the article.

Abstracts services available in the Electronics Resources Area include "EXPANDED ACADEMIC INDEX" and

"PsycLIT." "EXPANDED ACADEMIC INDEX" includes scholarly and general-interest publications, and many of its citations include abstracts.

"PsycLIT" covers over 15 years of world's serial literature in psychology and related disciplines. It offers an

abstract for every citation.

Like indexes, abstract services allow you to print information or download it onto discs.

62
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

OTHER SOURCES

Several other sources are available in the Electronic Resources Area. They include: "CARL Uncover,"

"FirstSearch," "GOPHER," "AUTO-GRAPHICS," government information, "OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY (OED2)" and phone directories. "CARL Uncover" is an online service and contains the table of contents for over 14,000 journal titles.

"FirstSearch" is an online system which provides access to more than twenty databases. USE IS LIMITED TO CURRENT FACULTY AND STUDENTS.

" GOPHER" allows for limited access to the Internet. A variety of information can be retrieved using "GOPHER". "AUTO-GRAPHICS" is a CD-ROM product which indexes all government documents catalogued by the

U.S. Government Printing Office from 1976 to the present. (An article about the Libraries' government documents collection appears on page 2.) The U.S. government is now distributing a wide variety of information in CD-ROM format. Notable titles include: the "NATIONAL TRADE DATA BANK," "1990 CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING,"

"U.S. EXPORTS OF MERCHANDISE," "U.S. IMPORTS OF MERCHANDISE," and the "NATIONAL ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DATA BANK."

The "OED2" is an electronic version of the printed "OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY, 2ND EDITION." It allows for sophisticated searches of the world's most authoritative source on the English language. The "PROPHONE NATIONAL DIRECTORY" is a compilation of phone directories from across the United

States. It includes residential and business listings. HOW TO USE ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

The Electronic Resources Area is staffed from noon until 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and noon until 5 p.m. on Friday.

Students may use the Libraries' electronic resources on a first come/first serve basis when the workstations

are available. You may reserve time slots up to a week in advance. Sign-up sheets are located by each

individual computer.

"LEXIS-NEXIS" and "FirstSearch" may be used only by current UM-St. Louis faculty and students. Present your valid UM-St. Louis ID at the Reference Desk to obtain the current passwords for these services.

Printed user guides are placed by each workstation to assist patrons in searching the databases. Reference

librarians are available to answer user's questions about the systems.

Go back to UM-St- Louis Home Page

This page is maintained by Melissa Silvestre . silvest@umslvma.umsl.edu

Last update: March 30, 1995

63
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Government Documents Collection

Need information on what the government is doing to encourage recycling, what is being done

with the "Information Superhighway," or how health care reform has fared, now and in the past? Want to read the report on the Tailhook scandal, find how to calculate the nutrition in what

you're eating, or look at a map and description of a national park or wildlife preserve you might

visit? One place to look is in the Libraries' Government Documents collection. The Government Printing Office (GPO) administers a program for distributing materials published

by government agencies to libraries around the country. There are approximately 1400 libraries

in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). Depository libraries may choose to receive as few or as many of these publications as they want. Libraries do not pay for these items, but they agree to maintain their documents collection under some very specific rules. The UM-St. Louis

Libraries have been a part of the FDLP since 1968 and are currently selecting about 93% of the

materials available through the program. There are two ways to find out what the Libraries have in the Government Documents collection. Many items received since July 1991 are included in LUMIN, the Libraries' online catalog. You may search for government documents by author, title, or subject just as you would for other

library materials. When the LUMIN location reads TjL DOCS, EDUC DOCS, TjL DOCS MICRO,

or EDUC DOCS MICRO, you know you've found a call number for a government document.

There is also a separate CD-ROM (compact disc-read only memory) index, called "AUTOGRAPHICS," in the Electronic Resources Area. It allows you to search for many government

items published from 1976 to the present. The call numbers assigned to government publications differ from the Library of Congress (LC)

call numbers given to the other books and journals in the Libraries. Government call numbers

are called Superintendent of Documents numbers (SuDoc, for short). Unlike the LC system, which is subject oriented, SuDoc numbers represent the agencies and bureaus which produce the

items. Sudocs are arranged in alphabetical order, then numerical order by whole numbers.

(C 3.24 before C 3.186 before C 3.283). Materials from the U.S. Department of Education (SuDoc numbers beginning with ED) are kept at the Ward E. Barnes Education Library on the South Campus. Most other government documents are located in the Thomas Jefferson Library (TJL) on

the North Campus. Documents received in microfiche format are shelved in SuDoc number

order in the microfiche cabinets on TJL's Level 2. Paper documents are in call number order on

Level 3 in the northwest corner and on Level 2 in the northeast corner. More detailed information on the arrangement of the government documents collection is available in a brochure at the Thomas Jefferson Library's Reference Desk.

Go back to UM-St. Louis Home Page

This page is maintained by Melissa Silvestre, silvest@umslvma.umsl.edu

Last update: March 30, 1995

64
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Finding books and periodicals on LUMIN : the online catalog

Almost all books and journals owned by the UM-St. Louis Libraries can be found using LUMIN,

the University of Missouri online catalog.

Easy instructions allow you to access books by author, title, or subject. You can access journals by title. LUMIN does not contain information on specific journal articles. Therefore, to find references for specific journal articles by a specific author on a specific subject, use the printed and computerized periodical indexes first. Then check LUMIN to see whether we own the title of the journal you need. You can also find books and journals owned by the other University of Missouri campuses in Columbia, Kansas City, and Rolla using LUMIN. Not all of the campuses have all of their titles in LUMIN; many older titles may not have been entered into the database. But almost all UM-St.

Louis holdings are in LUMIN. LUMIN also lists reserve items for UM-St. Louis courses by course number and by professor's name. In addition, it includes a separate database for items owned by the Center for Research

Libraries. (Please ask at the TJL Reference Desk for a CRL handout for information about this organization.)

Besides access at terminals throughout the Libraries, you can access LUMIN from your home or

office. Pick up a handy guide on LUMIN at the Libraries' reference desks, and watch for future developments which will make a new online catalog with access to more sources available to you.

Go back to UM-St. Louis Librarv Home Page

This page is maintained by Melissa Silvestre . silvest@umslvma.umsl.edu

Last update: March 30, 1995

65
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Before you connect to LUMIN, read these steps:

1 . Connect using the link at the bottom of this screen.

2. When you see the Login/Password prompt, press the TAB key twice to move the cursor down to the COMMAND line.

3. At the COMMAND line, enter DIAL VTAM, then press Enter.

4. When you see the "Enter Active VTAM LOGON" prompt, enter LIBCICS then press Enter. Connect Now

Note: Connecting to LUMIN requires a "tn3270" program associated with your web browser.

66
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

National Library of Education:

Electronic Initiatives

Keith M. Stubbs

National Library of Education

Wasiiington, DC

Agenda

National Library of Education ED Internet Services

INet The Next Challenge

Questions and Answers

National Library of Education Created in 1994 by Goals 2000 Legislation

(Title IX)

Brings together existing functions within ED's Office of Educational Research and

Innprovennent (OERI) Education Research Library Education Information Office Online Search Services ERIC (Educational Resources

Information Center) INet (ED's Public Access Internet Services) Technology Resources Center

New responsibilities include: One-stop information and referral service Provide central location within Federal Government for information about

education Comprehensive reference services Resource sharing among repositories of education information

Reference and Information Services A "one-stop" shop that responds to telephone, mail, electronic, and other

inquiries for education information

Collection and Technical Services

Directs the acquisition, preparation, and assessment of all collections in all formats Resource Sharing and Cooperation

Develops and maintains a network of

national educational resources

67
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

National Library of Education Telephone Numbers

(Area Code 202) Voice Fax E-mail

Library Administration

Reference/Research/Statistics Outside Washington area

Circulation/lnterlibrary Loan

Collection Development/

Technical Services

Legislative Reference Service Technology Resources Center Data Tape Sales ACCESS ERIC

219-2289

219-1692

1-800-424-1616 219-2238

219-1883 401-1045

219-1699

219-1522

1-800-LET-ERIC

219-1970

219-1696

401-9023

library@inet.ed.gov

libloan@inet.ed.gov

acceric@inet.ed.gov

Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays except Federal holidays 555 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20208-5721 (Two blocks west of Union Station, Red Line Metro stop)

Internet Sites & Services Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education . INet (ED World Wide Web, Gopher, FTP, and E-mail Servers) ERIC (Educational Resources Information

Center) AskERIC

• Q&A Service (electronic reference

desk)

• Virtual Library National Parent Information Network

(NPIN) ERIC Clearinghouses

Regional Educational Laboratories - Lab Network ;:• .

National Educational R&D Centers Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Math/Science and a growing host of others

INet Electronic Information Repository General information about the Department's mission, organization, key

staff, and programs

Information about key initiatives such as GOALS 2000, Family Involvement,

School-to-Work, Technology, Standards, and ESEA Schoolwide Projects

Full-text publications for teachers, parents, and researchers

Statistical tables, charts, and data sets Research findings and syntheses

Directories of effective programs and

exemplary schools

Directory of education-related information

centers Announcements of new publications and

data sets

68
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Press releases, funding opportunities, and

event calendars

Pointers to public Internet resources at R&D Centers, Regional Laboratories, ERIC

Clearinghouses, and other ED-funded

institutions

Pointers to other education-related Internet resources

I Net

High Demand for Education Information

Featured in PC Computing Magazine's Road Map to the Internet; one of 7 Federal agencies listed among 40 "Internet Highlights" (Sep '94)

Featured in White House World Wide

Web press conference and HPCC

demonstration More than 600,000 user connections to date (more than 1,800 per day in March) More than 4.5 million file/menu accesses

to date (more than 20,000 per day in March)

INet and AskERIC named two of fifteen most useful education resources on

Internet by Internet World (Jan '95)

INet and AskERIC selected as "featured databases" by America Online

INet Public Access Internet Services

Monthly "Front Door" Access Counts

(October 18, 1993 through March 31, 1995)

70,000 1

1

69
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

INet Public Access Internet Services

Monthly Access Counts

(October 18, 1993 through March 31, 1995)

700,000

600,000

500,000

400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000

0

ftp

worid Wide Web

QEO-wide Gopher nCES Gopher

eD/OERI Gopher

4^

ED/OERI World Wide Web and Gopher Servers Top User Sites - March, 1995

# Hits Network Domain Description % WWW

66413 ed.gov INet and ED LAN 49 29229 aol.com America Online (Commercial Network) 25137 ibm.net IBM/Advantis Corp. (Network Access Provider) 93 7699 netcom.com Netcom (Network Access Provider) 55 5272 tenet.edu Texas Education Network 11 4907 ibm.com IBM 95 4255 prodigy.com Prodigy (Commercial Network) 66

3511 umd.edu University of Maryland 20 3202 stanford.edu Stanford University 22

3151 enc.org Eisenhower National Math/Science Clearinghouse 4 2817 umich.edu University of Michigan 33 2592 tn.us Tennessee (K-12, Community Colleges, Tech, State) 14 2416 delphi.com Delphi (Commercial Network) 10 2388 ohio-state.edu Ohio State University 34

2371 ca.us California (K-12, Community Colleges, County) 70 2358 ohio.gov Ohio State Government 13 2355 edu.tr Turkey (Education Domain) 2 2336 wednet.edu Washington State Education Network 22

(plus more than 10,000 other sites around the world)

70
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Public Access to I Net World Wide Web

http://www.ed.gov/

Gopher

gopher.ed.gov

(or select North America- > USA ->

General -> U.S. Department of Education from the All/Other Gophers menu on your

system)

FTP

ftp.ed.gov (log on anonymous)

E-mail Send e-mail to: "almanac@inet.ed.gov"

In the body of the message type "send

catalog" (avoid use of signature blocks) Note: We do not offer public access WWW or Gopher clients. Users must have access to an

appropriate client, such as Mosaic or Lynx. Users cannot telnet directly to INet. Access

will be denied.

National Education Dissemination System (NEDS)

71
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

One-stop Shopping with Many Entrances

I—

Telephone

_J_

~rLetter

Customer

E-mail Computer

Search

AskERIC

Tech. Asst. Ctrs Clearinghouses

'Cusfomer "STervrce/ Reference Desks

Tech. Assistance Centers and

Clearinghouses

Distributed Repository

The Next Challenge

Coordinating Access to Distributed Electronic Resources

Internet technology makes it feasible to

start work toward a well-coordinated,

distributed electronic dissemination system and repository

Information and user base reaching critical mass

Explosive growth of education information on network must be managed for customers' sake Requires collaboration among large, diverse group of education information and service providers

Focus initially on: key subjects (education topics. Department initiatives) geographical areas (regional desks, SRRS, Labs)

target audiences (teachers, parents) Develop:

directory of education information

providers

profiles of key information types (promising practices)

Collect/point to best research findings,

effective programs, promising practices, resources, sources of help Provide forums for user discussion, comment, contributions, and peer advice Support customer service desks and self- service

72
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

GAO: Access to Information

Phyllis Christenson

U.S. General Accounting Office Washington, DC

The Agency

The U.S. General Accounting Office is a nonpartisan agency within the legislative branch of the government, headed by the Comptroller General of the United States. GAO conducts audits, surveys, investigations, and evaluations of Federal programs, with its findings and recommendations published as reports to congressional members or delivered

as oral testimony to congressional committees. Through its reports, testimony, legal opinions and comments on proposed legislation, GAO

contributes independent, nonpartisan

information needed for congressional decision making.

Office Responsibilities Within GAO, I serve as the Director, Information Services Center, (ISC), a unit in our Office of Information Management and Communications (OIMC). OIMC was

established in 1990 in order to centralize services relating to expanding technologies,

publishing, and information dissemination. ISC has responsibility for the GAO libraries, records management, and the distribution of GAO publications in both paper and

electronic form. My job is to make sure that you get the information and products you

need from GAO.

GAO Products GAO's primary products and the ones most frequently in demand are our

audit/evaluation reports, commonly known as "Blue Cover Reports," which contain the

results of our wide-ranging work. GAO's

recent work has included a myriad of subjects- -from the budget deficit to LSD cold war

experiments; from the D.C. government to derivatives; from student loans to aviation

safety. GAO reports are identified by a number indicating the internal division which

performed the work, the year of issue and the

report number, e.g., GAO/NSIAD-95-23.

The second most requested products are GAO's testimonies. GAO staff members are frequently asked to testify before a Congressional committee regarding a specific area of interest to the Congress. Testimonies can be as wide-ranging as audit reports; subjects of recent testimony include the Paperwork Reduction Act, Federal downsizing, and public housing. Testimonies have a numbering system similar to audit reports, with the addition of the letter T, e.g., GAO/TGGD-95-97. GAO also issues numerous legal decisions and special publications. Of special interest to all of us as librarians are a variety of finding aids. The Monthly

List, formally titled Reports and Testimony,

provides a listing of those reports and

testimony made available for distribution in a given month. The information includes full bibliographic information, with abstracts, as

73
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

well as a form for ordering by mail or FAX.

At the end of each year, our organization

compiles an annual 2-volume index, Abstracts

of Reports and Testimony and Indexes for Abstracts and Testimony, which includes a

listing of all reports and testimony for the previous fiscal year, with bibliographic information and various indexing.

Access to GAO Publications GAO has a "never out of print" policy. If a requester needs a copy of a report, testimony, or decision, we should be able to provide that in paper copy either from current stock or as a copy made from either microform or optical disk. We also have a policy of free access to information-the first copy of every report and testimony is free of charge; additional copies are $2.00. (There

are, however, a few substantive publications, usually in hard cover or looseleaf binding, which are sold through the GPO sales program, with pricing determined by GPO).

For depository libraries, we have an agreement with the Government Printing Office (GPO) to provide silver microfiche of GAO publications from which they produce

diazo copies for distribution through the

Federal Depository Library Program. We believe that there are currently two

difficulties with this process. First, because

these are copies of GAO microfiche, they are produced to GAO specifications. The

microfiche headers include a great deal of information necessary to GAO, e.g., an

accession number, report number, title, but they do NOT include SuDocs numbers. I know that this is extremely important to depository libraries in maintaining their microfiche collections, and we hope to remedy this with time; however, currently, all microfiche you will be receiving through the depository program will not be identified with SuDocs numbers. The second difficulty is timeliness. First, GAO must microfiche its documents, then

GPO must duplicate them; therefore, it may

be many months before you receive required

publications for your collection. There are, however, other avenues available which will provide timely access to GAO documents.

Paper copies of most agency publications can be obtained directly from GAO. As

mentioned earlier, the first copy is free of charge and we are never out-of-print. Most

recent reports are available with the familiar blue cover, although these are sometimes

reprinted with a plain white cover. Our

collection of publications goes back to the mid-1970s, and for many of the older

products, we will "blow-back" a copy from

microfiche or print from optical disk. Many of our customers subscribe to the Monthly List and order regularly from that publication. Frequently, however, you may

read about a report in your local newspaper

and have only minimal information about the

subject and no bibliographic information about the publication, e.g., title or report number. GAO will provide research services

to assist in locating a document. Through our

central telephone number, (202) 512-6000, you can order a document, obtain research

assistance, or use our "Fax-Back" system, which will provide you with a listing of GAO

reports released that day (GAO Day Book). GAO also has some electronic access to GAO publications and information. Several

years ago, in conjunction with GPO, we

began cataloging our reports and testimonies through the GAO library staff, resulting in our

records becoming available on OCLC. We

also have bibliographic information about our

audit products on the Department of Commerce's National Economic, Social, and

Environmental (NESE) Data Bank on CD-ROM.

This information is updated quarterly. Our

Day Book and Monthly List are available through the Internet. And our Comptroller

General decisions are accessed through both Westlaw and Lexis. You may also find our

publications elsewhere electronically because some enterprising individual has added a

report or a bibliographic citation somewhere

74
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

on the Internet. Our most recent venture-and certainly the most exciting for us- is our joint effort with GPO to put GAO reports on the GPO WAIS

server. Beginning Monday, April 10, GAO

provides ASCII text files (and PDF files, as they are available) to GPO, within 24 hours of

release. Because of our "no-charge" policy, GAO is making this database available free of charge directly to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Currently, it includes reports for FY 1995, going back to October 1, 1994; however, we hope to add all FY 1994 reports

in the near future. The data base includes only GAO's audit and evaluation reports; it does not contain either testimonies or decisions. Where do we go from here? Recently, a

staff member predicted that we will probably be out of the paper business in 5-10 years. I have also been told that "everyone" wants

"everything" electronically. I will not presume

to make my own predictions; however, it is my hope that we will "always" be in the business of providing information by and

about GAO in the best format possible to meet the needs of our customers. Please let me know what we can do to help you, as depository librarians, to better serve your

customers.

75
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference GPO And GAO Expand Free Online Access

An unprecedented agreement between the Government Printing Office (GPO) and the General Accounting Office (GAO) has expanded free online public access to Federal Government information. The GAO database is fully sponsored by the GAO. As a result, it is the first database made available free of charge directly to the public 24 hours a day, seven

days a week, through the GPO Access service's Wide Area Information Server (WAIS).

Users can directly access the online system from home or office via Internet SLIP/PPP

and telnet connections and soon from the World Wide Web. Users may dial -in via modem as

well. Those without a personal computer and modem can use GAO Reports online via the GPO Access service at a local Federal depository library. "We are delighted to make GAO reports available on the GPO Access service because of

its accessibility," said Phyllis Christenson, Director of Information Services at GAO.

"Working in conjunction with the GPO to place our reports online is part of our continuing

effort to provide the public with information electronically." The GAO, a nonpartisan agency, audits, surveys, investigates, and evaluates Federal programs. In 1994, GAO's staff of evaluators, statisticians and analysts produced 1,149

audit and evaluation reports, averaging 5 reports a day. All reports will be available m

ASCII text the day after publication, excluding restricted and classified products.

"We are pleased to be working with GAO to provide the public with immediate access to

official Government information," said Public Printer Michael F. DiMario. "The GAO

database is an excellent addition to our current online services." The GPO Access service was launched on June 8, 1994, and offers: O Federal Register Service, including the daily Federal Register and the Unified Regulatory

Agenda

O Congressional Record Service, including the daily Congressional Record, the Congressional Record Index, and the History of Bills and Resolutions O Legislative Service, including Congressional Bills, Public Laws, the U.S. Code, and the History of Bills and Resolutions. These three services are available free of charge to users who access them through

Federal depository libraries or through public gateways established in cooperation with

depository libraries. There are 1,400 depository libraries nationwide, with at least one in every congressional district. Over 440 now provide public access to the GPO Access

service. There are nine public gateways in operation, with others under development. Access to the Federal Register, Congressional Record, and Legislative Services databases by

non-depository users is available at the incremental cost of dissemination. The GAO

database, however, is free of charge to all users of the GPO Access service.

76
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

To access the GAO database, users with a SLIP/PPP Internet connection and WAIS local

client software should: O obtain source file information through anonymous FTP at eids04.eids.gpo.gov

O login as anonymous O use their own e-mail address as the password. (Customized client software can be purchased from GPO. Contact the GPO Access User Support Team at the numbers below to order a copy.) Users with Telnet capability should: O telnet to swais-access.gpo.gov

O login as gao

Users with Dial-in capability should: O dial-in to (202) 512-1661 O type SWAIS

O login as gao Access via the World Wide Web will be possible in the near future at url: http : //www. access . gpo . gov

.

Inquiries about GPO Access electronic services should be directed to the GPO Access User Support Team at (202) 512-1530; fax: (202) 512-1262; Internet e-mail: help@eids05 . eids . gpo . gov

.

77
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

General Accounting Office Reports

Now Available Online via

GPO Access

A Service of the U.S. Government Printing Office Sponsored by the U.S. General Accounting Office Free Unlimited Access

24 Hours a Day 7 Days a Week

Official Includes GAO "Blue Book" reports which contain GAO's findings and recommendations to Congress and/or Congressional committees. (Does

not include restricted or classified products and correspondence.)

Oral testimony not included at this time. Convenient Accessible as ASCII text the day after issue from your home, office or

at your local Federal Depository Library. Also available online via GPO AccessFederal Register Congressional Record U.S. Code and other Federal Databases Use the Internet or Dial In PPP/SLIP Internet connection and WAIS local client software:

Get source file through anonymous FTP at eids04.eids.gpo.gov; Login as anonymous; Use your e-mail address as the password; Go to path d:\gpo\access\info\sources\windows (or\mac) file name: gao.src Telnet/Dial In: Telnet to swais.access.gpo.gov, login as gao, no password

Dial in (202) 512-1661; type swais, login as gao

Access in the near future via the world wide web at

url: http://www.access.gpo.gov

For information on all available databases, Contact GPO Access User Support:

Internet E-mail: help@eids05.eids.gpo.gov; Phone; (202) 512-1530; Fax: (202) 512-1262

The Federal Bulletin Board Xe\r\eX federal.bbs.gpo.gov (Port 3001) or Dial in: (202) 512-1387

U.S. Fax Watch (fax on demand): (202) 512-1716

78
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

*** GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE "BLUE BOOKS" *** *** NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE VIA GPO Access ***

Effective April 10, 1995, the General Accounting Office (GAO) will be providing FREE

access to GAO Reports online via GPO Access. An unprecedented agreement between the Government Printing Office (GPO) and the General Accounting Office (GAO) has expanded free, electronic public access to Federal Government

information. The GAO database is fully sponsored by the GAO and, as a result, is the first database made available free of charge directly to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the GPO Access Wide Area Information Server (WAIS).

If you access the GPO Access WAIS system through SWAIS the GAO database will automatically appear on your Source Selection Screen as soon as it is available. However, if you use WAIS client software to search the GPO Access online databases, you will need to add this source to your Source file. (Instructions are provided below.) General Description of the GAO Reports Database:

This database contains the GAO "blue book" reports. The database is updated daily and

reports will be available by 6:00 a.m. Eastern time the day after public release. The reports

will be available in ASCII text and contain GAO's findings and recommendations to members

of Congress or to congressional committees. Restricted and classified products, as well as correspondence are not included in this database. (The database will eventually include all reports from October 1994 to present with Abstracts.) Two methods you can utilize to add source files are: A. Manually create new Source Files B. Download new Source Files from the GPO FTP site. A. Manually create Source files: Execute the following steps to add the GAO database to your Source File:

1. Open the EINet WinWAIS system

2. Pull down the Edit menu

3. Select the Select Sources menu item

4. Click on the button labeled New;

5. In the Name window type: GAO Reports

6. In the Host window type: swais. access, gpo. gov

7. In the Database window type: gao

If you desire , enter the following information in the Source Description window;

79
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Database contains the GAO "blue book" reports. The database is updated daily and

reports will be available by 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time the day after public release. The

reports are available in ASCII text. The following abbreviations indicate divisions and

offices that appear as part of the report number. AIMD Accounting and Information Management Division GGD General Government Division HEHS Health, Education, and Human Services Division HRD Human Resources Division NSIAD National Security and International Affaurs Division OCG Office of the Comptroller General OGC Office of the General Counsel OIMC Office of Information Management and Communications

OP Office of Policy

OPP Office of Program Planning OSI Office of Special Investigations

PEMD Program Evaluation and Methodology Division RCED Resources, Community and Economic Development Division

8. Click on the OK button in the Edit WAIS Source Definition Window.

9. Click on the OK button in the Selected WAIS Sources Window.

B. Downloading from the FTP Site:

1. Get source file through anonymous FTP at eids04.eids.gpo.gov;

2. Login as anonymous;

3. Use your e-mail address as your password

4. Go to path d:\gpo\access\info\sources\windows (or\mac)

5. Get filename: gao.src For searching assistance, please refer to the Helpful Hints for searching the GAO database which will appear in your list of candidate documents after an unsuccessful search or if you

search the word help and in the GPO Access User Guide for Online Databases. For more information on GPO Access, contact the User Support Team;

Internet e-mail: help@eids05.eids.gpo.gov; Phone: (202) 512-1530; Fax: (202) 512-1262

80
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

HELPFUL HINTS FOR SEARCHING

THE GAO REPORTS ONLINE VIA GPO ACCESS

The General Accounting Office (GAO) conducts audits, surveys, investigations and evaluations of Federal programs. GAO's findings and recommendations are published as reports to members of Congress or delivered as testimony to Congressional committees. The GAO Reports database

contains all published reports, except correspondence and reports are restricted or classified. The

database for FY 1995 is updated the day after reports are released. The report series are identified by the initials in the report number. A list of these initials is in the User Manual and also in the file entitled "Information on database" that is retrieved by executing an empty query. The fields in the GAO Reports database are: Report Number: reportnum

Report Title: title Report Issue Date: date Subject Terms: subject

Identifiers:^ identifier A field can be searched by typing the field name, followed by an equals sign ( = ), followed by the term or terms that are sought. Numeric fields, such as the date field, can use the greater than {>) and less than (<) symbols to search a range of numbers. All queries that do not specify a field search the entire document. Good sample searches^ for the GAO Reports database are: Report Number {HEHS9542.ASK)3

QUERY: "HEHS -95-42" ALTERNATE: reportnum = "HEHS 95 42" RESULT: Charter Schools: New Model for Public Schools Provides Opportunities and

Challenges

This search demonstrates the correct phrasing to retrieve a GAO report by number. The report number may be typed with or without the punctuation; however, spaces must be inserted between

segments if no punctuation is used. To identify all reports in the HEHS series, search for reportnum = hehs. (NOTE: The GAO control number is not in the report number field. It does appear

in the cover letter accompanying each report and can be searched using a query like "b-256567".)

Subject (CHILD-ASK)

QUERY: child* ADJ (health (OR care OR abuse) ALTERNATE: child* health* OR child* care* OR child* abuse* RESULT: Child-Care: Child Care Subsidies Increase Likelihood That Low-income Mothers Will Health Care: School-Based Health Centers Can Expand Access for Children This search demonstrates the use of multiple boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT, ADJ) in a single query. This query will retrieve GAO reports that include the phrase "child health" (child ADJ health) OR "child care" (child ADJ care) OR "child abuse" (child ADJ abuse) somewhere in the report. A

phrase may be entered surrounded by quotation marks (" ") or with each searchable word separated by the ADJ operator. Use of the asterisk (*) after the word child retrieves phrases including the word children or other words with the root child.

81
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Title Field (CHILDCAR.ASK)

QUERY: title = "child care" RESULT: Child Care: Child Care Subsidies Increase Likelihood That Low-income Mothers Will This search retrieves GAO reports that include the phrase "child care" in the report title. Subject Field (NAFTA.ASK)

QUERY: subject = "unemployment compensation" AND NAFTA

RESULT: Dislocated Workers: An Early Look at the NAFTA Transitional Adjustment Assistance

This search retrieves GAO reports that include the phrase "unemployment compensation" in the

subject field and mention^AFTA somewhere in the document.

Identifier Field (CANADA.ASK)

QUERY: identifier = Canada RESULT: Dislocated Workers: An Early Look at the NAFTA Transitional Adjustment Assistance The search retrieves GAO reports that include "Canada" in the identifier field. Date Range (TRADE. ASK)

QUERY: date = 1 /I /95 TO 1 /31 /95 AND trade ALTERNATE: "january 1995" AND trade RESULT: U.S. -China Trade: Implementation of Agreements on Market Access and Intellectual This search uses the date field"^ and the operator TO in order to find reports on trade published between January 1 and January 31, 1995. The alternate search uses the narrative date that appears on the report cover to identity a report; the use of the date January 1995 is less accurate than the use of the date field since a report may refer to an event that occurred in January 1995 when that is not the publication date.

If a date (or date range) is used by itself, the database will list all documents with that date, regardless of subject matter. When a report has no specific day of issue, the date field will contain

the dates for the first and last days of the month. (NOTE: The results list presents the reports in relevance ranked order, not chronological order. Relevance is computed based or several factors, including the occurrence of the search terms in the document title, the frequency of the terms as a percentage of the total document size and conformance with the exact search phrasing.)

March 27, 1995

1 . Identifiers are additional terms for counties, states, organizations, treaties or other named things that are relevant to the

subject of the report.

2. The results of these sample searches are described as they will appear using SWAIS or the WinWAIS and MacWAIS

client software customized for use with GPO Access. The searches can be performed with other WAIS client software

but the display of the results may vary.

3. When a file name, such as HEHS.ASK, appears in brackets at the beginning of a sample search, there is a saved search

with that file name distributed with the GPO Access WinWAIS and MacWAIS client software. The saved searches are

also available on the Federal Bulletin Board and by anonymous FTP from eids04.eids.gpo.gov.

4. The available operators for the date field and other numeric fields include equal to ( = ), greater than (>), less than (<), greater than or equal to (> =), and less than or equal to (< = ). When the equal sign ( = ) is used, the range may be

specified using TO between the beginning and ending date, as shown in the sample search.

82
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

The Department of Energy Virtual Library:

Today and the Vision for the Future

David Henderson

U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge, TN

The current administration is encouraging

a vision for an infrastructure of government

information which is readily accessible to the public and global in nature. The Department

of Energy (DOE) has a wealth of energy and

environmental information of value to not only DOE and DOE contractors, but to industry, business, education, the general

public, international partners, etc. This information resides in a variety of forms and

on systems geographically separated.

Currently, a master "road map" to this information, electronic or otherwise, is being

developed in the Department of Energy. Though the Department has far to go to make

its vision of "one-stop-shopping" a reality, the

first pieces are already in place.

THE VISION FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF

ENERGY VIRTUAL LIBRARY

Concept for the Virtual Library The virtual library is a conceptual tool for linking extensive collections of electronic Information and data residing on a variety of systems and formats in locations around the world. The purpose of the virtual library is to provide access to information through a single location on the information superhighway; a "one-stop-shop" for data and information.

Rather than creating a single enormous

database containing this information, the

virtual library will provide links to centers of expertise and major collections of data while

leaving the management and ownership of the information with the sponsors and/or creators. The Department's vast energy information

resources currently reside at numerous sites across the country-with no single point of easy access to the entire collection. A variety of programmatic efforts have been undertaken

across the Department to make information

accessible. However, even DOE users are

often unaware of the existence of information

that does not reside at their local sites. And

sometimes local information is known only to a few. In addition, information is in both

electronic and non-electronic (e.g., paper and

microfiche) formats, further hampering

efficient access and use. As the plethora of energy information resources increases, it becomes more and more difficult for users to navigate to and through them. The average

user has neither the time nor the training to extract information from dozens of online systems using several different command

languages, and information from multiple sources cannot easily be combined and

refined. It is imperative that a coordinated DOE information management program be

established:

1) to make DOE information resources

available to external users, e.g., the

library community, consumers,

students, private industry, etc.;

2) to provide DOE personnel access to the information they need to do their jobs, and

83
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

3) to leverage our international information partnerships so that the breadth of Vv'orld-wide information resources is accessible to all our users. Continuing technological advances bring the goal of national, and global, information

accessibility closer to reality. Tools such as the World Wide Web, Wide Area Information

Servers (WAIS), Gophers, harvesters, and

others like these, are first steps toward a wide

realm of intelligent agents, customized clients, interfaces, and other information appliances. These tools and agents will be the key to a "one-stop-shop" of data and information for a broad spectrum of users. From everyday consumers and students, to private industry and laboratory researchers, each information request will be met at the point of need and in a manner and form that

is meaningful to that individual user. For example, a consumer purchasing a new car might access the virtual library to confirm carbon dioxide emission statistics for that model, while a student might at the same time download carbon dioxide emission tables for inclusion in a research paper. Across the country a laboratory researcher could view, in realtime, the progression of a carbon dioxide model while at the same time downloading

the data files and visualization software for

later use and study. A project manager in private industry could check the virtual library for the status on a patent pending on a new

carbon dioxide filtration process. Each and

every need will be identified and met at a

level commensurate with that of the user.

In April 1994, Vice President Gore

suggested at a conference in Rio de Janeiro

that libraries in the future would be globalproviding a means for sharing the world's

information. Many current initiatives, including the Government Information Locator System (GILS), are stepping stones to the

realization of the National Information

Infrastructure envisioned by the Clinton Administration. Virtual libraries are thus an

integral part of the Administration's vision for a National Information Infrastructure and

Global Information Infrastructure. Secretary O'Leary has repeatedly stated her own strong commitments to global science, industry access to Departmental information, openness,

public outreach, a scientifically literate public, support of national education, and other goals

linked to the availability and accessibility of data and information. The successful achievement of these national and

international goals are dependent on the continuing success of research and development efforts that will make the virtual library a reality.

Content of the Virtual Library Types of information contained in the

library will include models, technical reports, global environmental information and satellite data. Another important aspect of the library would be online access to human experts at laboratories, universities, and industry for assistance in answering complex questions. The intent of the virtual library is to provide

one-stop-shopping for energy and

environmental information from a single point

of access available 24 hours a day.

Who Will Use the DOE Virtual Library The primary audience for the DOE virtual library will be the American public, private

industry, educators, the national library community, academia, and students at all levels. However, access would be universal, and available to anyone in the world with an

interest and need for energy or environmental

information. In addition to providing a valuable resource to schools, business, and government agencies, the virtual library will support and facilitate home-based learning and

the flexible work style/work place-both of which will become increasingly prevalent as we enter the new millennium.

84
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

How Will It Work

The virtual library will be a comprehensive source of energy-related and

environmental information from national and

international sources. Rather than attempting

to create a single master database of all the

information, the virtual library will provide seamless access to the information wherever it is located. Geographic distance will be

irrelevant to the user. Based on recognized standards and communications protocols and therefore not

limited to any specific vendor, the virtual library will accommodate many platforms, software interfaces, and data formats. Widely

accessible wherever needed-home,

workplace, or school-the virtual library will provide real-time answers to questions at every level of complexity. Sound information management principles

will form the foundation of the library, ensuring that the right information in the right format can be located easily. Advanced

search algorithms and massively parallel processors will permit simple key word

searching of diverse and widespread

information sources. Users will be able to 'mine' the library with the assistance of

intelligent interfaces which will translate natural language queries into the language and

syntax of the source information systems. The current cooperative approach to information sharing and program and strategic planning, as demonstrated in the development

of the DOE home page, will continue, since the links created thereby will form the foundation of the virtual library. To ensure

that the concept is thoroughly tested and

evaluated prior to a major commitment of resources, prototype systems will be developed on a small scale. Program Offices, national laboratories, DOE contractors, and

other current information providers will retain management and control of the information they produce or sponsor; however, the prototypes will provide enhanced and

integrated access across data sources and

systems. Just one example of such a prototype

is the electronic version of the Fossil Energy

Public Awareness publications being put up

electronically on the DOE home page. On a

test basis, these bibliographic publications are going to provide hyperlink connections to full text scientific reports.

Benefits to the Department, the Nation and

the World

Consistent with the National Performance Review and OMB Circular A-130, the virtual library will maximize access to DOE

information and ensure easier integration with

information from other government agencies.

By ensuring quick access, promoting synergy

of ideas, and helping users stay current with

research, the virtual library will improve the

quality of education as well as research and

development. The single most important

benefit of the virtual library is that it will provide the most comprehensive access

possible to energy and environmental

information from around the world. This improved access will allow for more effective use of the Department's information resources

in SL'pport of U.S. competitiveness, improved

science education, public participation in environment and health issues, and that public's inherent "right to know".

The DOE Virtual Library Today: The Requirements

Before settling on the World Wide Web / Mosaic configuration for presenting the Department's information, some system

requirements had been identified. The system would need to be user friendly and therefore probably menu driven. It would need to support customers on various platforms, such

as PCs, MACs, and workstations. It would

have to handle distributed data, including multimedia, yet at the same time support

search and retrieval operations. The

Department wanted a centralized approach to distributed information and the sophisticated

85
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

look of online publications. Supporting

international standards was an important

criteria as was access by both freeware and commercial software. The system would need

to allow for frequent and timely updates and

yet have low-cost maintenance. The opportunities presented by this undertaking are immense. The virtual library supports DOE initiatives such as serving

existing customers in new ways; giving public access to Departmental information; creating an atmosphere of openness and trust; supporting U.S. competitiveness through

technology transfer and access to research

results; and developing the workforce of the

future through support for education. At the same time the Department is positioning itself for the future by developing customized

information delivery; high-speed, efficient document exchange; cradle-to-grave electronic records management; and support for the National Information Infrastructure. And in this age of shrinking budgets, the Department

is doing more with less by reducing

application development costs; reducing

operation and maintenance costs; and

reducing printing and distribution costs.

The DOE Home Page The objectives for the DOE home page are

clear: to provide a single address for access to DOE information by other Federal agencies, academia, private industry, the general public, and the world; to provide a well-marked,

logical point of entry into DOE information

that can aid users in navigating through the maze of DOE and DOE contractor servers; to

clearly, accurately, and attractively provide a DOE "presence" on the Internet and a place where the Department and its mission are described; to provide linkage to DOE and DOE contractor servers and linkage to other home pages in the U.S. Government; to provide a "multiple pathways" approach to DOE information through organizational, geographic, or programmatic pathways; to enable the multimedia presentation of DOE

information; to provide linkage to other

network technologies and information

resources such as Wide Area Information

Servers (WAIS), gophers, etc.; and to promote

the use of DOE information. Work on the DOE home page began in the Fall of 1993, when the first WinMosaic

client became available. While some DOE

laboratories had already created their own

World Wide Web pages by that time, these had been geared to and were only accessible by a small group of the most sophisticated computer users in the Department labs. Since

then, almost all DOE Headquarters (Program)

Offices and laboratories have established home pages that are linked together under the umbrella of the DOE home page. There are far too many home pages and

information resources available from the DOE

home page to give fair treatment to them all. The following is a brief description of just a few of the resources available. The selections are made in part because of the author's

familiarity with these particular resources, but

hopefully they will provide the reader with a

feeling, however inadequate, of the variety of information currently available online through

the Department of Energy's home page. The

Universal Resource Locator (URL) for the DOE

home page is "http.V/www.doe.gov/". From the DOE home page the user can

access information by navigating a tree structure to the desired site or by selecting the

site from a map. Special projects and

collaborative home pages, such as the DOE

Digital superLab or the Human Radiation Experiments Information Management System

(HREX), can be accessed by the site(s) involved, or from a separate page listing these

projects. Still in development are a subject based browsable tree structure to DOE

information and keyword indexing of the

entire DOE environment. A preview of both

of these approaches may be seen in the Office

of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's home page (EREN).

86
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Supporting the Depository Libraries: The DOE Reports Bibliographic Database Of particular interest to the government

depository library community is the DOE

Reports Bibliographic Database (URL

"http://www.osti.gov/", then select the DOE

Reports option from the menu.) This WAIS

database includes citations for all Department

of Energy (DOE) sponsored scientific and

technical reports sent to Government Printing Office (GPO) depository libraries, covering the period of January 1, 1994 to present. Current Department citations are added

weekly as new reports are shipped to participating depository libraries. Patrons searching the DOE database will be directed

to the depository libraries in a chosen state or

states that received the full text of the selected DOE report. Full text of reports are currently supplied to depository libraries on microfiche. The "locator" mechanism embedded in the database allows users to find the depository

libraries in the state(s) of choice that actually have received the report.

Programmatic Organization of Information

Resources: The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN) The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EE) has led the way in the Department by providing access to a broad spectrum of resources focused on a specific programmatic area. (URL

http://www.eren.doe.gov/). In the EREN

system, information specialists have carefully separated information resources by subject, type of server, source organization, and

alphabetical listing of resources. The EREN

project is also evaluating the use of the Harvest software, developed at the University

of Colorado, to create a searchable index of the content or content descriptions of all information resources linked to EREN. This

feature can be used by accessing the EREN home page, selecting "Information Resources", and then selecting "Keyword Search."

EREN currently makes available links to over 250 information resources, including

databases, energy maps, and full text documents. These resources are both governmental and privately owned. A subset

of the Department's Energy Science and

Technology database (EDB) has been made

available for the EREN system. This subset

contains all of the citations for U.S. published

information in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy contained in EDB. The

subset also makes use of the Reports database

locator mechanism when presenting DOE

report literature, and therefore can be used as an access vehicle to the DOE microfiche

collection. The subset is also browsable by

DOE Subject Category. By navigating the Subject Category tree structure, a searcher can

at any time retrieve a set of all documents in the current category or limit the set by adding

a search term.

Bibliographic and Full Text Pilot Project: The Office of Fossil Energy Current Awareness Publications Beginning in January 1995, the Office of

Fossil Energy (FE) has begun to make its current awareness publications available on

the Internet, rather than on paper. The current

editions of these bibliographic publications are presented in the same format as the former

printed product, with citations manually

arranged in logical groupings. The current

editions are available for browsing just as if looking at the old paper product. Old

editions are combined into a WAIS database and citations are beatable by performing

standard searches. An important innovation to this database,

currently in the prototype stage, is the

introduction of full text access by hyperlink from the bibliographic citation to the full text

report. If the prototype proves a success, the

full text of many of the FE reports will soon be

available by access from the current awareness publications.

87
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Coordinating Departmental Initiatives: OpenNet and HREX

Under the current administration, the Department of Energy has directed great attention to presenting information about

present and past activities to the public. Two

elements of this Departmental effort are the OpenNet system and the Human Radiation Experimentation (HREX) system. OpenNet will include references to all documents declassified and made publicly

available after October 1, 1994. In addition to these documents, OpenNet references older document collections from several DOE

sources. These collections include citations to several types of documents. Some have been

declassified in total, and are termed

"declassified." Others have had classified or other restricted information removed to produce a "sanitized" copy. HREX, being developed by the Office of Human Radiation Experiments, established in March 1994, leads the Department of Energy's

efforts to tell the agency's Cold War story of radiation research using human subjects. They have undertaken an intensive effort to identify and catalog relevant historical documents from DOE's 3.2 million cubic feet of records scattered across the country.

Internet access to these resources is a key part of making DOE more open and responsive to the American public. HREX will combine full text indexing of documents with image storage

to allow the user to search the full text and

also see the document as it actually appears in DOE's archives.

Since many of the documents contained in HREX are also cited in OpenNet, a proposal is currently under review to establish hyperlinks between these databases, thereby maximizing

their benefit to searchers. These projects are only a very small part of the work being done in DOE to make the

vision of the virtual library a reality. We

believe that the virtual library and more

broadly speaking, the National information

Infrastructure, is an important key to U.S. economic success. Much work still needs to be done to define and develop the National

Information Infrastructure and the Department

of Energy will continue to play an important

role in leading the way.

88
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

DOE Reports Bibliographic Database

The Department of Energy Reports Bibliographic Database contains citations for all Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored scientific and technical reports sent to Government

Printing Office (GPO) Depository Libraries, covering the period of January 1, 1994 to present. Current Department citations are added weekly as new reports are shipped to participating Depository Libraries. Patrons searching the DOE database will be directed to the Depository Libraries in a chosen state(s), that received the full text of the selected DOE

report. Full text of reports are currently supplied to Depository Libraries on microfiche.

Search The DOE Reports Bibliographic Database Database Search Help Document Ordering Information

This page is maintained by U.S. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI).

All comments and suggestions are welcome. Technical Contact: David Henderson at (615) 576-36 15 (David . Henderson@ccmail . osti . gov)

This system is made available by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any

warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy,

completeness, or usefulness of anyv information, apparatus, product or process disclosed, or

represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any

specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or

otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or

favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of

originators expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.

89
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference Automated Records Project: Bureau of Land

Management, General Land Office

Linda Brooks

U.S. Department of the Interior Springfield, VA

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is involved in a very large imaging project. The

General Land Office Automated Records System (GLO ARS) is imaging more than 5 million Federal Land Patents bound in approximately 10,000 volumes of 500 pages

each. The GLO ARS is giving better access to important historical land records while

providing for better preservation of the

original historical documents. These records, dating from the late 1 780's

to the present, are the original title documents

transferring land ownership from the Federal Government to an individual or other

sovereignty, such as a State. Land transfers to individuals resulted from many laws, for example, the cash entry act of 1820, Homestead Act of 1862, and various military bounty land acts that gave land to soldiers from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The BLM documents are sometimes the only remaining copy of the patent. The

original patents were prepared in three copies:

a signed original for the land owner, one copy

for the landowner to record with the county, and a copy for the government. Over time, many landowners' documents were lost or destroyed; the same thing has happened to the county copies. This makes the GLO Project more crucial. The BLM at Eastern States does not have

land title documents for all the United States. They have records for lands acquired by the United States by treaties or purchases, such as the Northwest Territory and the Louisiana

Purchase. They also have records dating up to

1 960 for the western states. The land records

for the colonies that pre-date the formation of the United States reside with these states. The

post-1960 records for the western states are maintained in the BLM's western offices. These records are being automated under a

separate, but compatible, system that will be

available in the other State Offices. These land records are both legal and

public information documents. They are used

extensively by title record companies and

attorneys in preparing title abstracts. Most

recently, individuals engaged in genealogical

research are using them. BLM only maintains

the patent or deed. The National Archives

maintains any related application documents. The Archives' contact is Mr. Greg Brasher,

Assistant Chief of the Suitland Reference

Branch, National Archives and Records

Administration, Washington, D.C. 20408.

Since 1989, about 1.5 million documents

have been imaged and are available on GLO

ARS. The system has both an image of the

land document and a database of specific

attributes of information taken directly from

the land document. Before the documents are imaged, a BLM bookbinder removes them

from the bound volumes and cleans them of any material, such as tape, that could cause

further deterioration. They are then placed in acid-free archival boxes and returned to the climate controlled vault with the remaining

volumes.

90
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

The initial phase of the project calls for imaging land title documents. Pre-1908 documents have been imaged for the States of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana,

Mississippi, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Missouri documents are in production and will be followed by Illinois. After the documents are imaged and indexed,

the attribute database is created using information such as the patentee name, legal land description, document authority, document number, and county. This is a very

labor intensive process because the data entry person must decipher old penmanship styles, often in fading ink. The imaging and data

entry is performed by a local contractor. Dynamic Concepts, Inc.; BLM staff performs

the final quality assurance review and accepts

the contractor's product. About 9,000 documents are automated each week. The creation of the attribute database has

significantly broadened and simplified the

ability to use the land records for searches based on an individual's name. In the past, the 10,000 bound volumes of records were

indexed only by the legal land description (township, range, and section). Researchers were dependent on knowing certain information linking the individual being

researched to a specific location. This involved using the cumbersome and complex

tract book indexes to find the correct patent volume. The entire GLO ARS database and images

are accessible to anyone by visiting the BLM

Eastern States office in Springfield, Virginia, the entire database is accessible by remote

access via a computer and modem, or by

purchasing the CD-ROM discs users have

access to the databases for the States of Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, Michigan, and

Wisconsin. The disc for Minnesota will be

available in Summer 1995. The Michigan CD

contains an index of the survey plats for Michigan. The CDs for Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota contain sample patent and plat images.

The CD-ROM version of the GLO ARS

attribute database has been very popular. The

disc allows searches in many fields: pame, document authority, date, land description, and more. CD users can order copies of images from BLM Eastern States for $1.25

each; the CD contains an order form. The CDs are very user friendly. Installation is simple and directions are on the case. The CDs were not designed to run in WINDOWS

or on a LAN. A tutorial is included on each; help screens are available at each step; and

these screens can be printed if a paper copy is needed. The Government Printing Office (GPO) is selling the CD's for $15.00 each and

is making the CDs available to all Federal depository libraries. BLM is providing copies

of the CDs to the States, one for each county

clerk. The CDs offer a very economical

alternative to the GLO ARS remote access

system. Anyone wishing to use the remote access system or the online access system in the

Springfield office must establish a declining

deposit account and obtain a password. It is easy to establish an account by using a credit card with a phone call, letter, or a fax to the

Eastern States office. We furnish a User Guide

and communications software plus an order form for KERMIT software. The user needs KERMIT communications software, sold by Columbia University, and a modem. The

remote access system costs two dollars per query session minute. Once the attribute database has been

searched, using either the CD-ROM or online

access, the user can request a copy of the appropriate land record be faxed or mailed to them. Each certified copy of a Federal land

patent costs a dollar and fifty cents. There

have been no objections raised by the title record companies, or other researchers, to receiving a certified laser printed copy of the imaged document rather than a photocopy of the original document. The BLM has clearly documented how the images are created, that they cannot be altered once they are stored on

the optical medium, and that system security

is maintained to ensure the integrity of the

91
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

database and images.

Some States, and some counties within

states, are embarking on similar land record automation projects. Some are imaging all their historical documents, similar to BLM.

Others are more concerned with current land

transfer information and are imaging current

records. Imaging projects are going on in Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Florida. When BLM has completed imaging all 5 million Federal land patents, the original documents will be transferred to NARA for permanent storage. At current funding, the

anticipated completion date is September

2001. While the imaging process is underway, the original documents are considered the official working record. Once

they are transferred to NARA, the imaged documents will become BLM's official record. Phase 2 of the Project is to automate the survey plats and field notes maintained at Eastern States. More than 4 million documents dating back to 1788 will be

indexed and scanned to make them more

accessible. The Land Ordnance of 1 785

declared "survey before patent." It also tasked

the surveyors to describe the lands they

surveyed and report on the conditions.

Surveyors' field notes are often filled with what they observed as they walked the land: descriptions of hardwood forests, prairies, stands of pine, and marshes and swamps.

These descriptions enabled the GLO to make

decisions on what lands would be opened to settlement, by cash sale or homestead. (A

side note: several universities have taken

descriptions from these old notes and

compiled State vegetative maps from them to use as comparisons to how the vegetation

exists today.) Presently, these documents can be accessed by knowing the land descriptions;

after automation, researchers can call up notes

or plats by surveyors' names, dates, survey

offices, special instructions dates, and survey

types.The BLM Eastern States welcomes visitors. We have demonstrated the GLO Project to many visitors: the Egyptian government, the Mexican government, the Israeli government,

genealogy groups. State and local governments. Anyone wishing a demonstration should call our office at 703- 440-1600.

92
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

The National Digital Library

Herbert Becker

Library of Congress Washington, DC

Library of Congress at a Glance

The Collection • 110 million items on over 500 miles of shelves

• 16 million books

• 15 million photographs, prints, posters, and architectural drawings

• 2.2 million recordings

• 4.2 million maps • Collection items in over 460 languages • Materials dating from 2040 B.C. to contemporary CDs

National Digital Library

Enabling Technologies • National network infrastructure - "INTERNET" • Powerful desktop PCs • Improved scanning technology • Standards:

• Communications protocol - TCP/IP

• Document structure - SGML; HTML

• Image formats (TIFF, GIF, JPEG)

• Query protocol (Z39.50)

Vision • Network access to selected segments of the

collection • Cooperative projects in digital conversion • Distributed electronic collections • Nil navigation/guide services • Educational resources

Goals • Digitize 5 million images by the year 2000

(approximately 220,000 items already

digitized) • Identify first 200 collections to be digitized • Highlight Americana collections

Challenges • Equity of access • Intellectual property rights • Digitization of core materials • Finding aids • Training

93
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

• Powerful and affordable technology • Preservation

Number of WWW servers OCTOBER 1993 500 MARCH 1995 10,000

Activities at LC • Special preparation of collections • Digitizing and archiving • Partnership programs with:

• Libraries and archives

• Private sector (including publishers)

• Educators (K-1 2) • Copyright pilot projects

(intellectual property rights)

Meetings • Technical experts • Cataloging experts • Representatives of major research libraries • Federal librarians • Corporate leaders ' : • LC Network Advisory Committee • Copyright community

Funding Strategy • Public and Private Partnerships:

• $15 million in Congressional

appropriations over 5 years

• $45 million in private contributions

LC World Wide Web Offerings: • LOGS online # Historical collections • Exhibits # Country Studies • LC MARVEL (Library's gopher)

In Development:

# Electronic Copyright Management System

# Global Legal Information Network # Electronic Cataloging In Publication

LC INTERNET Activity March 1995 Statistics • 728,00 Internet connections • 8.9 million transactions processed LOCIS MARVEL

LC WEB

THOMAS

*OTHER

4.1 million

2.1 million

1.4 million

1.1 million

.2 million *anonymous FTP; WAIS

INTERNET Growth

Number of Hosts JANUARY 1993 JANUARY 1994 JANUARY 1995

1.5 million 2.2 million 4.9 million

94
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

LOCIS TRANSACTIONS

Internet vs. Local

6,000,000 4| 1 1 1 1

4,500,000

3,000,000

1,500,000

0APR93 JUL93 OCT93 JAN94 APR94 JUL94 OCT94 JAN95 APR95 •-^ INTERNET LOCAL

SCORPIO and MUMS are counted as an estimator of local LOCIS activity

World Wide Web/MOSAIC

Exhibits • Columbus Quincentenary • Vatican Library • Russian Arcliives • Dead Sea Scrolls • African American Culture Mosaic • Russian Orthodox Church and Native Alaskan Cultures • Gettysburg Address • Temple of Liberty

Thomas

Congressional and legislative information

online • Available on Internet since January 5, 1995

• 24 hour availability

• Nearly 750,000 transactions first month

• 2.6 million transactions through April

3, 1995. • Content:

• Full-text of bills - 103rd and 104th Congresses

• Congressional Record

95
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

How to Connect

Library of Congress home page

http://www. loc-gov THOMAS

http://thomas. loc-gov LOCIS

locis.loc.gov MARVEL

marvel.loc.gov

96
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

In the spirit of Thomas Jefferson, a service ofthe U.S. Congress through its Library. • Full Text of Legislntion Full text ofall versions ofHouse and Senate hills .learchalile by keyword(s) or by bill number. • 103rd Congress • 104th Congress • Full Text of the Congressional Record • 103rd Congress ¥^^^9. • 104th Congress

Full text of the daily account ofproceedings on the House and Senate Floors searchable by keyword(s). • The Plan for a Better American Future

See the Congressional Record, Extensions ofRemarks, Speaker Gingrich, April 7, 1995. • How Our Laws Arc Made Edward F. Willett, Jr., House Law Revision Counsel An explanation ofthe lawmaking process from the origin ofa legislative proposal through its publication as a

law. • House of Representatives Cntpher

Directory information for House ofRepresentatives members and committees; House ofRepresentatives yearly

calendar, latest daily committee hearing schedules, the current week's House floor schedule; visitor information. • House of Representatives Constituent F^Mail and Senate Crftnhcr Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Senate Internet services for constituents (e-mail, gopher, ftp). Committee and Member documents (searchable). • C-SPANCiOphcr C-SPAN (Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network) provides program schedules, press releases, 1994

Congressional election results. • Future Enhancements to THOMAS will include adding the Library's Bill Digest files, summaries and chronologies of

legislation, and will integrate them with the ftill text of bills, thus creating a unique presentation of legislative information. • Visit the Library of Congress World Wide Web Home Page

Select LOCIS for Federal legislation summary and status. Select Global Electrpniq Ubrqry for additional information on the legislative Brat\qh , the Executive Branch . and

State and Local Government • Visit the Library of Congress Gopher LC MARVEL

Select U.S. Congress for additional legislative information; select Government Information for additional U.S. federal and statellocal government resources. • Thomas Usagg Statistics • Send comments on this service to thomas@Ioc.gov

97
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

PofJntfedJnlSOO

About the Library and tht World Wide Web

See what's new on this server, access usage statistics , and read about the Library of Congress and the World Wide Web. Exhibits and Events View major exhibits of the Library of Congress and read about other Library events . Services and rwbliyatiQns Read about Library services, publications, and conferences.

Digital Library Colleetions Search and view items from digitized historical collections (American Memory); read about other special Americana

collections held by the Library. LC Online Systems

Search LOCIS (Library of Congress Information System), LC MARVEL (the Library's Gopher-based Campus-Wide

Information System), and other special databases. Congress and Covernment

Search congressional information through THOMAS, and access federal and state government information. Indexes to Other World Wide VVcb Services

Find selected information on the internet by subject or genre.

Library of Congress Comments: Icweb&loc.gov (05/03/95)
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Environmental Information to Go:

Update on Products, Services and New

Electronic Initiatives

Rachel Van Wingen

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Wasliington, DC

Mandates for Public Access (The White

House)

# Reinventing Environmental Regulation

Regulatory Reinvention Initiative # Setting Customer Service Standards # Freedom of Information Act Memorandum

Internal Forces for Change (Environmental

Protection Agency) • Common Sense Initiative • Community-Based Environmental Protection • Executive Steering Committee for Information Resources Management

IRM Vision Element on Public Access (EPA IRM Strategic Plan) • EPA will actively disseminate and provide

access to its information to educate and empower its partners and the public. Connecting to EPA on the Internet

Public Access Server • gopher.epa.gov

• http://www.epa.gov/ • wais.epa.gov • ftp.epa.gov • for problems with the server, contact internet_support@unixmail.rtpnc.epa.gov • for information requests, contact

publ ic-access@epamai I.epa.gov

Top Level Menu

(Proposed EPA Gopher Menu) • About the EPA's Gopher/ • What's New on the EPA Servers/ • Frequently Asked Questions and Hot

Topics/ • Search the EPA Gopher <?> • Information About the Agency/ • News and Current Events/ • EPA Libraries and Other Information

Locators/ • EPA Publications/ • Rules, Regulations and Legislation/

99
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

• Clearinghouses, Hotlines and Bulletin Boards/ • EPA Data Systems/ • Other Environmental Information/ • Other Government Information/ • Other Internet Resources/

EPA Libraries and Other Information Locators/Second Level Menu

(Proposed EPA Gopher Menu) • About this Section • US EPA National Library Network • US EPA Libraries/ • Online Library System (OLS) <tel> • Access EP/V • Information Systems Inventory (ISI)/

EPA Publications/Second Level Menu

(Proposed EPA Gopher Menu) • About this Section • Most Frequently Requested Publications/ • Administrative Publications/ • Scientific, Research and Technical

Publications/ • Consumer-Oriented Publications/ • Small Business-Oriented Publications/ • Newsletters and Journals/ • How to Obtain EPA Publications/

Rules, Regulations and Legislation/Second

Level Menu (Proposed EPA Gopher Menu) • About this Section • Search the Federal Register Environmental

Subset/ • Federal Register - Environmental Subset/ • Federal Register - Daily Table of Contents/ • Code of Federal Regulations • Laws/ • United States Code/

Give Us Your Feedback # What kind of environmental information do

your customers ask for? • How do they ask for it - by industry, by

chemical, by geographic location? # How do they want to receive the information - via Internet, CD-ROM, paper, telephone? • What is the biggest barrier to getting useful environmental information?

100
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

National Center for Health Statistics

June Gable

National Center for Health Statistics Hyattsviiie, MD

I want to briefly review the range of NCHS

publications and services, then demonstrate one of our CD-ROMs, and introduce you to our home page on the World Wide Web.

Publications

Vital Statistics of the United States Most of you will recognize these bound

volumes. There are four volumes in a set, and

they are issued independently. That means

the volumes in a current set may have

different data years. A current set includes: Volume I, Natality, 1990; Volume II, Mortality, Part A, 1990; Volume II, Part B, 1990; Volume III, Marriages and Divorces, 1987.

Monthly Vital Statistics Reports The most current vital statistics are published in the MVSRs. Final data are published in MVSR supplements. There are annual supplements reporting final mortality and natality figures for each year. In addition, there may be one or more special topics each

year, issued as supplements. An annual summary for the year is issued as an MVSR,

but it is provisional data, as are the monthly

reports. The MVSR issues contain more recent information than the bound Vital Statistics of the United States but it is presented in much

less detail. If you have a patron who wants

mortality statistics for the most recent years, use the latest bound Vital Statistics volume, for

1990, then (if the level of detail needed is in the MVSR) the MVSR supplements for the Advanced Report of Final Mortality for 1991 and 1992, then, only if provisional data is acceptable, the Annual Summary for 1993, and the most current monthly report for 1994, which will give cumulative 1994 data.

I understand that the depository libraries are no longer getting the MVSRs in paper. If

it is used heavily at your library and you need

paper copies, please contact us for a free subscription. The issues will be mailed

directly from the printer. If you have very heavy use of these publications, you may

want to put your two mailing list addresses on

our list for your library.

Advance Data About twenty Advance Data reports are

issued per year. This publication is a quick means of reporting analysis of NCHS data. Each is on a specific topic and is usually less than 20 pages long.

Vital and Health Statistics Series

Vital and Health Statistics Series - the Rainbow Series are also published as irregular

serials. I'd like to point out that Series 16, a

relatively new series, is made up of compilations of the older Advance Data

reports. That means if you are missing an Advance Data, you may be able to find it in a

101
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Series 16 report. In the same way,

compilations of the Monthly Vital Statistics Reports supplements are published in Series 24. Miscellaneous publications

Where to Write is one of the Center's most

popular publications. It gives addresses and

costs needed to obtain copies of certified vital records from the States. This publication is on

our home page as a .pdf file and we are looking at ways to keep it up to date. The

paper copy is printed about every two years and there are changes to the information in the interim. We are considering keeping the

Internet copy up-to-date and printing the paper

copies every year or so.

Healthy United States is another widely

known NCHS publication. It's the annual

report of the Secretary for Health and Human

Services on the status of the Nation's health. Data are presented from several agencies in charts, tables, and text. It addresses health

status, health resources, use of health resources, and health care expenditures. For the past several years, it has also been

distributed in electronic form. A minority chartbook is included every two years. Healthy People 2000 Review and

Newsletters report statistics from NCHS

tracking progress toward the Healthy People 2000 objectives. At the present time we do not have one

catalog that lists all of our publications. We

will in the future. For now, we have several catalogs that, together, list all of our

publications. If you would like copies of each

of these catalogs, which together will give you

a complete list of all of the NCHS reports, please contact me. You can send me a message through our home page or call the telephone number on the handout.

Services

Public Inquiries NCHS responds to requests for data

received through the mail, over the telephone, and through our home page query button. There are handouts at the back of the room

with information for contacting us. (National Center for Health Statistics, Data

Dissemination Branch, 6525 Belcrest Road, Room 1064, Hyattsville, MD 20782;

telephone: (301) 436-8500; Internet: http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/nchshome.htm

(How to Access Statistical Information contains

interactive query function.) We receive 200 - 300 questions a day and they are answered in turn by technical information specialists. Conferences

NCHS sponsors a Data Users Conference in the Washington area every two years. In the

alternate year, there is a Public Health Conference on Records and Statistics, also in this area. Both offer sessions on use of the microdata and previews of recent and future products. Call us for more information, or watch our home page for updates about the upcoming Public Health Conference on

Records and Statistics. Electronic products

The Center collects more data than the staff could be expected to analyze. The microdata,

or raw data, from the surveys and other

collection systems are made available on data

tapes for mainframe computers for analysis by

researchers. Our Catalog of Electronic Data

Products is a detailed listing of the tapes and

information about the data they contain. In addition to the tapes, NCHS produces

CD-ROMS containing raw data, documentation, and software to manage the

large data sets. Information about them is included in the electronic catalog. Few floppy

disks are produced. We do have an electronic version of Health, United States on disk. In fact, there are two types of Health, United

102
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

States disks: the entire report with search

software, and another disk with tables only, in spreadsheet format. We also have an

electronic version of our electronic catalog with search software on floppy disk. If you would like a free copy of the electronic catalog on disk call us, our number is on the handouts: (301) 436-8500. There are also

diskettes with selected data from the National

Hospital Discharge Survey and some infant mortality data on diskette.

I know that many of you have our data CD-ROMs in your collections. I'd like to give you a quick demonstration of building a table using the software on the discs, the Statistical Export and Tabulation System (SETS) developed at NCHS for use with large data

sets. This software is resident on all the NCHS data CD-ROMs.

Demonstration of 1992 NHIS

CD-ROM

I'll be using a test set installed on a hard

drive for this demonstration. While the functions are the same as the CD-ROM, the numbers are meaningless, since they are based on one out of every 1 ,000 of the

records. (Main menu, browse, file) The disc contains

the encoded answers to the questionnaires. This is a flat file. The rows are one

individual's answers. The columns are the

fields and represent the questions. Notice that the name of the field is at the top and the

definition of the value where the cursor is at the bottom of the screen. (Main menu, browse, documentation) To

use the disc, you need to read the

introduction, design and the weighting

information. In addition, the record layouts

for each file are necessary information. I'm selecting the Youth Risk Behavior file, then

the Record Layout. These documentation files are searchable. I'll type "weapon". What we

are looking at is the name of the field in

brackets, the question, and all of the possible answers. The row of numbers to the left represent the frequency of the answers.

Pressing F5 takes us to the next "hit". When

you find a field you want to use, press F6 for the menu and select "print". Then you will have paper references to use as you work with

the disc. The disc offers three functions, creating a two way table, posing a query to get a single numeric reply, and creating a subset of the data to export. The export is the most

frequently used function. The software we are

using, the Statistical Export and Tabulation

(SETS) works very well as a data manager but

it has no statistical analysis capability. Most

researchers want to use software like SAS or SPSS to analyze a data set. The SETS

software, resident on all of the NCHS data CD-ROMS, allows you to create subsets to export to use with SAS and SPSS, and a few

other software packages. For example, you

might want to create a subset of librarians and

export the fields reporting chronic diseases to analyze. The initial steps for creating a subset and

creating a table are the same, so I'm going to demonstrate how the disc operates by making

a two way table. Let me strongly suggest that you think through what you will select before you start creating a table. In fact, it's helpful

to write out a sort of search strategy after you

finish reading the documentation and before you begin an export or a table.

After using the documentation for background information and printing out the information about the fields I want to use, I select Table from the main menu, then select the Youth Risk Behavior file. I'll specify the people who said they carried a knife or razor, using the Boolean help screen. From the blank spreadsheet, F2 for edit and F6 for table brings me to this screen of fields. Now for the

table I need to select two fields to tabulate. F6 alphabetizes the fields so I can find the

fields I've already identified when I used the documentation. I'll select sex and age at the time of interview (AGEINT). This is the Table

103
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Options menu (press F8), and I'll say "yes" for labels. I have a last chance to modify the

instructions for the table, and press Enter to tabulate. Remember that these numbers need to be weighted to represent the nation as a whole. We can create the same table with weighted

data by moving the cursor down to an empty

cell on this spreadsheet and pressing F5 for weights. I'll select the weight and then go

through the same procedure to create the

table again. This time the numbers are representative for the United States. When the table displays, pressing F3 gives

us the choices of saving the table as a spreadsheet, printing it, or changing the

subset. We've run through this quickly. To have

meaningful data would require use of the CD-ROM and careful consideration of weights. The survey was conducted using a sample. Each of the persons interviewed was

assigned a series of weights that appear as

fields in the individual's record. By using the

correct weight and thinking through the fields selected, you can create a table and save it as a spreadsheet or print a copy. When

combined with the background documentation and record layout, you have a product to give

to a user. If you need help planning the table, and you have read all of the documentation and still have questions, call us.

If you would like more information on

using SETS software call the Data

Dissemination Branch or contact us through our home page. Demonstration of NCHS Home

Page on the WWW

NCHS has had a home page for several months. It's accessible through our parent agency, the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention's home page. There are handouts

with the address in the back of the room. (http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/nchshome.htm)

You need access to the World Wide Web and

a Web browser to access our home page. "About the Center" includes information about the major data collection systems. For example, here is information about the National Health Interview Survey, that we

were just looking at. Under "What's New, Publications," we find a list of the most recent publications. The

blue text lets us know that there are reviews,

or summaries, attached. Wherever there is an Acrobat symbol, the actual publication is attached. To look at the publications requires the Adobe Acrobat software, which is free, and, in fact, downloadable from our home

page. It must be installed on your machine

before you can view these Acrobat files. The

directions are included in the Letter from the

Editor, here on the home page. What can we

do with an Acrobat file? We can turn the

page. Or create thumbnails. I can see there

is a graph on this page, so I'll go to it. This is too small to see clearly, so let's blow it up. There is also a search function - just press the

binoculars. "What's New" also contains a list of recent

electronic products. Again, the blue text means there is an abstract attached. The last item under "What's New" is a list of conferences where we will exhibit, including one we sponsor. You can see that there is a file attached here that contains

detailed information and forms. Under "Publications," you'll find lists of our

publications for 1995, 1994 and the most

recent publications catalog. The idea is to have a complete listing available, which,

when combined with the list under "What's New," is complete and up-to-date. The files with the actual publication have been added

fairly recently. When the files are archived,

the publication files will be archived with them. "How to Order" has GPO and NTIS

addresses as well as NCHS's.

104
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

You may have noticed the Query button as we've taken our home page tour. Under "How to Access Statistical Information" you

will see it again. It brings up an interactive form. You have selections for being added to our mailing list, ordering a free publication, or asking for an answer to a data request. We

get about 50 pieces of e-mail each week from

this query button and we process them as quickly as possible.

105
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference WINGS, the Electronic Government

Gateway

Carolyn Youngblood and Velma McCuiston

U.S. Postal Service Washington, DC

WINGS Draft Brochure WINGS, the Web Integrated Network of Government Service, is a joint Federal, State and local government prototyping project being facilitated and managed by the Postal Service. The WINGS goal is to develop easy and convenient methods for public access to electronic, integrated government services, including the online sale of stamps and other

electronic postal products.

About WINGS

The Postal Service leadership role ensures uniform delivery of electronic government

services to even the most distant and remote

locations. Public kiosks are targeted for locations that will best serve the public without ready access to computers or cable. Possible kiosk locations include post office lobbies, grocery stores, libraries, community

centers, trading posts, and shopping malls. Access to WINGS will also initially be

available through personal computers, and

eventually, across interactive cable television

to ensure convenient electronic interaction with government agencies.

The Vision There is a great need to integrate government services to reduce the complexity and confusion people currently experience

when dealing with their government. The

Postal Service is uniquely qualified by virtue of our corporate mission to bind the nation together through the delivery of information and services. The Postal Service is positioned

to facilitate this vital effort to improve

customer service and refocus government

efforts on the delivery of high quality services

to our customers, the American people. The WINGS vision is: • 24-hour, seven day-a-week public

access to government services; • One-stop shopping-no arcade of

kiosks; • Online Federal, State, and local information and services (transactions), and, • Universal reach and coverage to ensure equal access for everyone.

One Stop Shopping

WINGS demonstrates an integrated suite of

Federal, State, and local government services

to enable people to simply and quickly access

information and services to meet their immediate needs. WINGS shows that services from multiple agencies can be grouped

around "life-changing events" to form one-stop shopping applications. Integrated applications

will enable the public to complete such

business as:

106
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

• MOVING ... Consolidating a moving

experience into a single electronic visit to obtain demographic information, school listings, voter registration, complete motor vehicle transactions, and change your address with Federal,

State, and local government sources. • JOBS ... Finding a job, applying for benefits, identifying training programs and scholarships, and applying for positions across the country or within

a target area. • BENEFITS AND SERVICE ... Identifying services and benefits people are

entitled to receive when faced with a

life-changing event or family status change (such as a marriage, divorce, and a birth or death in the family).

It's Easy to Join Delivering quality government services to our customers depends on the successful

Integration of services to reduce complexity and eliminate redundancy. Our goal is to avoid creating an arcade of government kiosks by coordinating application development and

collaborating agency resources. Government

agencies at the Federal, State and local levels are eligible to participate in this prototyping

project. Agency partners must be prepared to demonstrate their commitment to this initiative through the following actions: • Executive level commitment in writing

for agency participation; # An operative World Wide Web server with network connectivity;

It's Beneficial Agencies participating in this partnership

will form a government consortium. The

consortium will set technical operating

standards, establish operating policy and

procedures, and determine the navigational templates used to deliver electronic government information and services easily and quickly to the system users. Participating agencies benefit by:

Presenting a model for collaboration that

will improve allocation and use of available agency resources, improve agency customer

service and information dissemination

activities, as well as demonstrating a commitment to improve customer service through the use of information technology.

# Establishing agency network servers and developing an integrated set of

interactive, multimedia applications. These servers and applications (as well

as the knowledge-base built during this prototype phase) will continue to provide services to agency user groups

well after the prototype effort has been

completed.

# Sharing templates for successful customer service applications developed by other participating agencies, thus reducing the expense

and effort required to bring new

services online. # Accessing electronic services from

other participating Federal, State and

local agencies, thus expanding the coverage of value-added services offered to the public beyond the agency's traditional boundaries. # Contributing to the construction of integrated electronic government • Guiding the creation of

services, and intergovernmental policy and

procedures through membership on • Willingness to implement general the advisory commission,

guidelines established by the consortium.

107
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

# Integrating agency information and

services with those of other agencies

to reduce confusion and eliminate redundancy.

# Grouping the service offerings of multiple agencies around life-changing events to form one-stop shopping

applications.

For More Information Although an evolutionary process, WINGS

provides a structure for rapidly developing

electronic interchange between government

agencies, as well as demonstrating a viable method for delivering useful and convenient government services to the public.

If you have any additional questions, we

welcome your inquiries about the program by

telephone, FAX or through our web server. The numbers are listed below:

1-800-U.S. WINGS (Telephone Number)

(202) 268-4399 (FAX) WWW.WINGS.USPS.GOV (Web Address)

108
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Extending the Outreach: Documents

Libraries and The Department of State

Peter A. Knecht

U.S. Department of State Washington, DC

The Office of Public Communication would

like to thank Sheila McGarr and her staff for their kind invitation to discuss our programs

with the group we consider to be the prime

user of them, the government documents

librarians, who bring government information

to the folks who paid for it all in the first place. The Office of Public Communication, which set up the DOSFAN relationship with John Shuler at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UlC), has never been comfortable

with the prevailing attitude that Washington is the center of information and that all eyes must turn to the banks of the Potomac to become well-informed. Consequently, its principal choice for multiplying information to the American public has always been the Federal Depository Library system. That was

true in the paper era and even more true as we moved into the electronic era. At every

juncture in program development on

electronic dissemination or the CD-ROM, our

staff's first question would be, how will this

fit in with the depository program?

And this was simply making an old recognition electronic. When the office established the Department's Public Information Service in 1979, it didn't take us long to realize that one of the most helpful things we could do for many callers asking for information on the Department and its policies was to reach for a little congressional booklet

entitled "A Directory of U.S. Government

Depository Libraries" and ask the caller first

where they were calling from and then say, "well, did you know that there is a collection

of our materials at "XYZ Library," where you'll find skilled, knowledgeable librarians to help

find what you need and provide additional guidance?"

It was a great concept~our staff was able to sound practically clairvoyant, callers got answers and materials more quickly than they would have through the mail, and there really WERE skilled knowledgeable staff there to help them. We like to think that at least for part of each day, we had 2-3,000 additional colleagues throughout the country. In short, we want to thank you for all your help. We

think it worked well for all concerned. How did we know it was a success? Easy. The only people who called back did so to thank us. There were never any complaints.

And PA staff was able to spend more time on

calls for which a depository library was not a

viable option. PA had to assume that you didn't object to us sending you business, because we didn't hear any complaints from you, either. Consequently, as soon as electronic communication came along, we knew that it was time to utilize the depository library system to our advantage in an entirely NEW

way.The result is DOSFAN, and the Department

is very grateful to UlC and John Shuler for having the vision to undertake this innovative

109
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

relationship. We know it was an expensive,

time-consuming, and demanding challenge. We know also that it inaugurates a new level of communication with American and global publics for the Department of State. We see

electronic dissemination-through DOSFAN,

GPO's BBS, or other networks-as the flagship of our public affairs outreach programs and

the vehicle for our major initiatives and developments in the future.

Let me tell you about some of those developments.

One is called Country Briefings. If you

liked the Background Notes, we think you and

your clients are going to love the Country

Briefings concept. Imagine you're a member

of a Congressional fact-finding delegation or one of a group of university presidents or U.S. business CEOs visiting a U.S. embassy in a country of great importance to you and your

constituencies. You've arranged a two-hour meeting with the Ambassador and outlined your interests and concerns. When you

arrive, you are ushered into a conference room where the Ambassador has assembled what is called the "country team" to brief you

on key aspects of that country's affairs and

prospects, to give you the answers you came

for. You will have received the "country

briefing"~the best presentation of country- based information the U.S. Government can

offer. Well, we have in mind developing just such an informational resource so that ALL

Americans with access to a computer and modem or CD-ROM player or fax can receive

their own "country briefing" from the same

authoritative sources. For 30 years, the Bureau of Public Affairs has offered country

information through the Background Notes. And libraries, schools, businesses, and

travelers have made the Notes one of the most

popular publications in government.

But the Background Notes, good as they

are, cannot possibly contain the increasing amount of useful information generated by our country desks in Washington and posts

abroad, nor can they supply the volume or

richness of information which U.S.

universities, corporations, researchers, and

others need to maintain our competitive edge

in the global economy. Nor can they provide

as much information as your student and

faculty clients need in their academic pursuits. Nor could we afford to print all the available

material nor could customers afford skyrocketing subscription prices. It became

clear to us that we need a more advanced means of providing broad and specialist audiences with timely and comprehensive

information on countries and international organizations. On-line publishing solves this problem by

letting us dramatically increase our country

information output and requiring posts to maintain it at a higher level of currency than was possible with Background Notes. But at the same time, we don't want to lose the

qualities that made the Background Notes as valued as they were. Inside every Country

Briefing will be the basic content of a Background Note, but, over time, much, much

more. We won't abandon our old audiences

but do need to service many others.

This is how we see it working: Our

long-term goal is to have our posts abroad

upload information products as they become

available without time delays in sending them

to Washington and awaiting editing by the Department. Other information elements can be uploaded directly by the geographic

bureaus in the Department. We in the PA

Bureau can add yet other components.

It doesn't matter to you as consumers what

the uploading source is, as long as it's in one

place, authoritative, fresh, and, preferably,

free. We are aiming to make Country

Briefings the single best country and

international organization electronic database

in the world. Our hard copy will be the CD-ROM. We will also have hard copy

available in various print-on-demand or fax-on-demand modalities, and your customers

will of course print out what they need.

110
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

We need your help to bridge the gap and

continue providing basic geographical

information to readers from high school through graduate school. That is one reason we will be sending to every depository library and every subscriber to Background Notes a questionnaire asking what information you

and your clients would like to see in an

on-line database on countries and

international organizations. Another item we're developing with the

electronic outreach is the high school and

college debate programs. The Internet is an

ideal means of getting government information

to debaters throughout the debating year. As many of you know, the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress produces a basic handbook of information on

the debate topic at the beginning of the debate cycle. But after that, the debaters have been pretty much on their own to find additional information. Unfortunately, that has tended to mean that the schools with the

richest resource base have an advantage over

other schools or that urban/suburban schools have had an advantage over rural schools. We'd like to help level that playing field. Our basic vehicles in supporting the debate programs are DOSFAN and CYFERNET,

(Child, Youth and Family Education and

Research Network) a program of the Department of Agriculture's extension service, which lets us offer many small communities a

full range of documentary services. Included among its applications are the 4-H program. Department of Justice's Federal Partnerships Against Violence, Substance Abuse Prevention programs, Minnesota's Children, Youth and

Family Information Clearinghouse, and others. This is the kind of service all educational communities turn to, and debaters should have no trouble finding it. The GPO's Federal Bulletin Board Service, the BBS, because of its expense, is less attractive here, because we would like to say

that we are offering the 200,000 debaters in this country absolutely free information on

their topics. One can imagine that the

Country Briefings will be a major asset to country-related debate topics. The debate

topic for the upcoming debate cycle, for example, will be China, and we are planning

to offer the widest amount of information on

China possible, including consolidating

information from other government sources.

That's an overview of a couple of concepts

we're looking forward to. I'd like to take a minute to talk about some of our current

projects and improvement we're making on

them. For example, our U.S. Foreign Affairs on CD-ROM (USFAC). As most of you know, USFAC is now a

quarterly. The publishing schedule is December, March, June and September.

USFAC has turned into a great little foreign policy library with more 4,500 documents

from 1990 to the present. USFAC serves as an archive to information on DOSFAN, and

every quarter about 300 documents are added. The CD is probably unique: it was

designed specifically for the American public

by public affairs officers, not programmers, and it was designed with depository libraries

in mind and in collaboration with librarians. We invited members of the depository

library community to advise us in its development, all the way from how to name it to conform to how students think about such

materials, to beta-testing it. We greatly appreciated your practical suggestions. Many

of you have also taken the time to provide

valuable feedback on our current CD-ROM.

Keep it up! Your clients are the beneficiaries

of any improvements! As a matter of fact, at your suggestion, the March 1995 edition of USFAC will include a Network Option Install program, which will turn off certain public access features such as the utility that lets a user quit to the DOS

prompt. This Network Option is a direct

result of feedback we received from some of you. Full directions on loading the NETWORK OPTION are in the WHATSNEW

DOC on the March 1995 USFAC. This file

111
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

pops up first when you load the disc. As we get feedback from network users, we

are enhancing the software. The June 1995 USFAC, for example, will disable the Notepad

function to further protect your hard drives from meddling and provide strategies for redirecting temporary files. We are also working on other enhancements: • USFAC IS NOW MAC and IBM COMPATIBLE. • THERE ARE MORE "READY TO PRINT"

FILES ON THE CD: The March 1995

release contains a full year of Dispatch and

of Background Notes in Adobe Acrobat

"portable document" files. ACROBAT is a new technology that allows us to put the

actual printed version on the CD.

Although, at the moment, these print versions of publications are not searchable, they are printable, a handy feature for replacing lost copies of Dispatch magazine

or Background Notes-and we know how

publications like to wander. • IN JUNE, WE'LL INCLUDE OUR FIRST FOREIGN RELATIONS VOLUME ON

USFAC. This is an experiment for which we have high hopes. Basically, we are

partitioning the CD to allow users to choose between current or historical data. The FRUS part of the CD will have its own

separate search screens and reside in a separate database. PLEASE TAKE A GOOD

LOOK AT THIS USFAC INNOVATION.

Tell us what you think. The FRUS is: 1958-1960, Volume X, Part 1, Eastern Europe Region; Soviet Union; Cyprus. • USFAC WILL BECOME WINDOWS

COMPATIBLE IN OCTOBER 1995 AS

WELL. A final point. Librarians have consistently asked us about our plans to maintain hard copy. This much I can say. We are determined to maintain the hard copy

Dispatch, particularly because of its importance as a publication of record and its

continuity with the Department of State

Bulletin. We wish we could maintain the

faithful Background Notes in hard copy

forever. We know what a mainstay they are

for your libraries. But for reasons stated above, and because of the convenience of the CD, and because of budgetary and personnel

realities, we are going to have to replace it with an electronic publication. But your

clients can print them out, they'll never be

lost or out of order again, and because of

greater comprehensiveness and timeliness, we

are confident that Country Briefings will eclipse in customer satisfaction anything the Background Notes were able to provide. Please keep us posted with customer comments and your own as this transpires. Remember, we are all together in this great enterprise of making the best government

information available to as many people as possible. We have benefited in the past from

your efforts and abilities, and we know we

can count on you in the future. Thanks for all your help; it's good to be your colleagues.

Contributors: PA/PC Office Director: Colleen Elliott Deputy Director, Background Notes Managing Editor: Peter A. Knecht

Senior Policy Officer: Dr. N. Stephen Kane

Electronic Networks Manager:

Anita Stockman CD-ROM and Marketing Manager

Debi Guido-O'Grady

Bureau of Public Affairs Office of Public Communication

Department of State (202) 647-6512

112
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Electronic Information Dissemination to the

Public by the U.S. Treasury Department

Serena H. Eriksen

U.S. Department of the Treasury Washington, DC

Treasury's public World Wide Web

(WWW) server began providing services to the public in October, 1994. The server contains information on Treasury bureaus, services, who's who, and what's new. As might be

expected during tax season, the most popular

feature currently is the IRS tax forms and

instructions found under the heading "Treasury bureaus" on the Treasury home page. An

impressive feature for the student of history is the full color photo tour of the historic rooms

in the Treasury building, which are not usually open to the public. Based on the very

favorable comments received from the public

to date, IRS tax forms, the Treasury Photo

Archive, and information about the Bureau of Public Debt and the Customs Service are the most popular. The server allows the public access through

NCSA hyperlink to popular WWW client software such as Mosaic, which the customer

can download. By supporting Lynx (in the

future), the server will provide equal access to government information by sight-impaired

individuals. Helpful hints for navigating the Treasury (WWW) server can be obtained by

clicking on: "For a brief description on how to navigate. .. click here" in the center of the home page. Treasury also disseminates business and economic information of interest to the public

by means of the Treasury Electronic Library

(TEL). The TEL is a directory of files contained on the FedWorld Bulletin Board System (BBS) and has been in use since August, 1993. The

Treasury Secretary's speeches are posted to the TEL directly from the writer's desk, allowing the business and economic

communities instant access to the data. The

TEL also contains embargo and sanctions information of critical importance to the global online banking community, procurement

newsletters and RFPs, information technology

trends and studies, and status on important

efforts such as simplified tax and wage

reporting and electronic commerce

implementation plans for Treasury procurements. According to an NPR industry survey, there

is an average reduction in resources on the order of seven to one that can be realized when processes are reengineered and

information is disseminated electronically. Treasury is in the process of reengineering its internal processes by converting as much

information as possible into electronic form.

This improves productivity within Treasury by

getting us closer to the paperless office, reducing the burden of responding to paperintensive Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

requests, and allows for increased

collaboration among Treasury organizations, other government entities, and industry. This

increase in productivity enables a public good

by also posting the information electronically

for the public, at no cost to any user. Treasury Electronic Library (TEL) currently contains the sanctions and embargo

information for the global banking community.

This is provided at an estimated savings of

113
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

$50,000 annually to the banking community

over previous methods. Since the TEL is also available internationally through the Treasury World Wide Web, it is estimated that Treasury

saves $36,000 annually over previous methods. The global banking community can now more easily avoid hundreds of thousands

of dollars of unravelling innocently

perpetrated illicit transfers due to lack of general knowledge, along with obviating ill- will on the part of foreign correspondents of U.S. banks.

Access to the TEL can be verified via dial- up modem at (703) 321-3339 or the Internet via anonymous ftp or telnet to "fedworld.gov"

or via Internet navigation tool (mosaic,

netscape, cello, etc.) at http://www.fedworld.gov. Access to the Treasury WWW server via Internet navigation

tool (Mosaic, Netscape, Cello, etc.) is at http://www.ustreas.gov. Accommodations for the disabled are provisioned by FedWorld and

can be verified with Fedworld by calling (703) 487-4608.

Future Trend Alert, the most popular file on

the TEL, is an instant way to communicate

with the strategic planning community and exchange comments.

Treasury posted a new information systems

life-cycle support manual on TEL that is in line with best practices in private industry. This saves not only printing costs, but also makes

the manual easily accessible to those who are

vision or hearing challenged. The IRS recently posted the entire Tax System Modernization

(TSM) Design Master Plan on the TEL to request information from the vendor community and disseminate this document for industry comment. By posting it on the TEL, thousands of people are able to retrieve a copy instantly. One document, such as the Design Master Plan, can save as much as $5,000.00 in printing costs alone. Treasury WWW Server demonstrations were held at the Partnership '94 small business conference in Los Angeles. The

server also has a link to and from the White House server. The Treasury WWW server has received hundreds of favorable comments

from the taxpayers and the general public

extolling the benefits of receiving relevant and

useful information. By keeping useful information in one electronic storehouse

accessible to the Internet, it can then be

accessed and used by an unlimited number of

Internet connected PCs, kiosks, broadcast

providers, and cable operators serving the

global public on the State, local. Federal, or foreign government level anywhere in the world.

The Government Information Technology

Services (GITS) working group (chaired by

Treasury) will provide the strategic planning and critical success factors to make an

electronic government a reality. The faster the government leadership and workforce embrace the possibilities of information technology, the sooner the electronic government can become a reality benefiting

the public.

114
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

IRS Federal Tax Forms CD-ROM

Dan Solan

U.S. Department of the Treasury Washington, DC

Background - 1993 Pilot The "1993 IRS Federal Tax Forms" CD- ROM was made available for the first time

ever by the IRS as a pilot program in February, 1994. Multimedia Production, within the

Chief, Strategic Planning and Communications

area, released the CD-ROM of Federal Tax Forms for the 1993 filing season. • The CD contained 500 of the most current Tax Forms and Instructions and 250 forms from 1991, all in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF). • All required software to display, search words, and print the tax products was

included on the CD. • MS-Windows 3.x and a CD-ROM drive were required to display the tax forms and

print them to various printers connected to a PC or network. • The cost was $29 to the public, free to IRS

offices. • Distribution for the CD-ROM pilot included:

• 180 CDs internally, i.e. Chief Counsel,

Information Systems, Examination, Taxpayer Service, AC International, Service-wide Electronic Research

Project Office, and Collection;

• 640 sold to the public through the Government Printing Office; and

• 562 distributed through the Federal

Depository Library Program to depository libraries.

The 1994 Federal Tax Forms CD

An evaluation form was provided on the 1993 CD for feedback and evaluation. The CD was widely accepted as a powerful

alternative to the paper equivalent. Many of the suggested improvements were

implemented for the 1994 product. The

improvements included: • The addition of IRS Taxpayer Information

Publications (TIPS), which included approximately 3000 pages of topic-oriented

tax information in both Portable Document

Format (PDF) and Standard Generalized Mark-up Language (SGML) formats. • New search and display software making it easier to locate information across all products on the CD. # A three-issue subscription plan for cumulative CD's released in December,

January, and February. This would provide

access to earlier-approved forms in December, with the later-approved items being added on the subsequent releases. # The cost to the public for the three-issue subscription was $69. Free to IRS offices and depository libraries.

115
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Ordering Information

IRS: Internal (IRS) distribution of the CD is made through the Area Distribution Centers.

Public: Subscriptions for the 1994 Federal Tax Forms CD-ROM can by purchased

through the Government Printing Office's Superintendent of Documents. Using the

stock number 648-094-00004-3, orders can be made: # by telephone (202-51 2-1 800); # electronically through GPO's Federal

Bulletin Board (202-512-1387); or, # by mail using the Superintendent of Documents order form contained in the IRS Publication 1045 (Information for Tax

Practitioners) mailed to many return preparers.

116
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Printing Operations at tlie Treasury

Department

Keith Lee

U.S. Department of the Treasury Washington, DC

At Main Treasury, the Printing and

Graphics Division consists of Printing Management, Graphics, Procurement and

Reproductions Branches. Management Branch

is primarily involved in developing Treasury

printing policy and providing department-wide

oversight, providing guidance and assistance on bureau printing and publishing

requirements, ensuring compliance with JCP and OMB reporting requirements, managing

the headquarters copier program, establishing performance measurements, providing

strategic planning and automation planning,

managing the departmental office forms program and the Division's overall budget. The Graphics Branch is a "State of the Art" Mac Shop. It provides an array of graphics and presentation services, (vugraphs, 35 mm

slides, PC slide shows), scanning and

placement of photographs, typesetting, final artwork or negatives, color separations, photography, sketches, color copying service, calligraphy, poster, signs and certificate creations, forms and publications page layouts. The Graphics Branch also provides assistance with uploading and downloading to bulletin boards and electronic roadmaps to the information super highway; to name a few

areas of their expertise. We have an in-house printing plant that last year produced approximately 3,700 jobs

totalling 26 million impressions. Those numbers reflect primarily departmental office duplicating jobs, but also include jobs from

Treasury bureaus. We have procedures in

place that send two copies of every pub/document to GPO to provide to the depository libraries if there is an interest. Our Printing Procurement staff consists of

six printing specialists, one printing clerk and

the branch chief. They processed 4,500 jobs

last fiscal year totalling approximately $15

million worth of printing for the departmental

offices and bureaus. The printing specialists develop specifications, write printing

contracts, serve COTR functions, conduct

quality assurance inspections for printed products and assist their customers in the

overall printing programs. The Department of the Treasury is the

largest civilian publisher of all Federal agencies. We are second Federally to the Department of Defense. Treasury bureaus

include; IRS, Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms, Public Debt/Savings Bonds, The Mint, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), Customs, Office of Thrift Savings, Financial Management Service, Office of the Comptroller of Currency, and Secret Service.

IRS, Customs and BEP are our largest bureaus and have been sanctioned to buy their own

printing through GPO. The Mint gets a

special waiver through Congress to procure

the printing for some of its special promotional printing. We buy over half of the

printed products. Treasury buys annually approximately $120

million worth of printing through the Government Printing Office. Approximately

117
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

$15 million is for the departmental offices and

all bureaus excluding IRS, Customs and BEP.

IRS alone buys $100 million annually; of course the largest percentage is allocated for the major tax forms program area and the balance for other publications, documents and

internal use forms. Customs procures in the neighborhood of $4 million. The remaining one million of our estimate is spent through

the agencies I mentioned that have special waivers to buy their owji printing. Some of Treasury's major publications that may be of interest to the general public include such items as: Departmental Office (Headquarters) • Foreign credit reports • One-time reports of numerous studies on such diverse topics as banking

reform; tax reform analysis; law enforcement (e.g., Waco Incident, White Security), financial markets. • Historical information on Treasury and

the Treasury Building

Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms • Quarterly Bulletin on firearms regulations • State Laws and Ordinances for firearms • Explosive Incidents Report Customs • Global Trade Talk magazine • Customs Today magazine

Engraving and Printing • History and features of currency • Tour publicity material

Financial Management Service O Government financial statements (monthly/annually) • Treasury Financial Manual • Promotional literature on electronic commerce and direct deposit • Treasury Bulletin • Government accounting systems

information

Internal Revenue Service • Tax Publications • Internal Revenue Bulletin • List of Tax Exempt Organizations • Statistics of Income

U.S. Mint • Promotional literature • Coin and medal information Bureau of the Public Debt • Savings Bonds promotional material • Savings Bonds redemption tables • Buying Treasury Securities • The Savings bond question and answer book • Legal aspects of savings bonds

Secret Service • Your money matters • Counterfeiting and forgery information • Recruiting publication

Electronic and Alternative Strategies: Some of plans for the future include the

installation of high speed reproduction machines that will allow electronic links throughout the Treasury bureaus and with

other agencies to help offset the ever

increasing cost of paper and to increase the speed of the dissemination of information.

Provide CD-ROM publishing of reference type products, and try to come up with ways

of making better utilization of bulletin board and Internet access to share information.

118
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

A Universe of Information: An Introduction

to NASA Electronic Resources

Susan M. Hawman

NASA Headquarters Library Washington, DC

National Aeronautics and Space

Administration

World Wide Web (WWW) Information

Services Hot Topics - NASA news and subjects of public interest • NASA's Strategic Plan, Specific NASA

Strategies & Policies • NASA Public Affairs • NASA Educational Programs, NASA Online

Educational Resources

Starting Points for Finding NASA Information • Point your Web browser to: NASA's main home page at http://www.nasa.gov/, or NASA HQ Library's info locator at: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/hqlibrary/ sites/FindNASA.html • Telnet to: Spacelink at spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov • Dial (with your modem):

Spacelink at (205) 895-0028 300 - 9600 baud

NASA Technical Reports • Internal database: RECON • Public Access: STAR (paper index) NTIS RECON select at http://www.sti.nasa.gov/RECONselect.html

A Few NASA Information Products

Planetary Data system provides digital data from NASA planetary missions and other

observations.

http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/ ftp://starhawk.jpl.nasa.gov/

telnet://jplpds.jpl.nasa.gov/ (login: pds_guest)

dialup access: (818) 306-6914 (9600 baud)

(login: pds_guest)

email: pds_operator@jplpds.jpl.nasa.gov

Space Telescope Science Institute operates

the Hubble Space Telescope. Provides

information about the telescope and data/ images retrieved from it.

http://stsci.edu/top.html

ftp://stsci.edu gopher:////stsci.edu

119
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Exploration in Education (ExinEd). As part of the Space Telescope Science Institute (StSci), this educational program produces Macintosh HyperCard picturebooks such as: Gems of Hubble, Images of Mars, and Apollo 1 1 at Twenty-Five (available via the Internet (free), or on CD-ROM or disk)

http://stsci.edu/exined-html/exined-home.html

gopher://stsci.edu/1 1/ExlnEd

ftp://stsci.edu/ExlnEd dialup: (410) 516-4880 (login: guest password: guest) email: exined@stsci.edu : ; - Spacelink provides resources for students and

teachers. A good spot to find general NASA

info.

http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov

telnet://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov

(login: newuser , c, password: newuser)

gopher://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov

dialup: (205) 895-0028 (300-9600 bps) email: comments@spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov

120
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Permanent Paper

Bonnie Rose Curtin

National Archives and Records Administration

Wasliington, DC

For more than a century most records have been produced on acidic paper. Acids

severely accelerate paper deterioration, destroying paper fibers at the microscopic

level. On October 12, 1990, Public Law 101- 423, "Joint Resolution to Establish a National

Policy on Permanent Papers" was issued,

stating that Federal records, books, and

publications of enduring value should be produced on acid-free permanent paper. Congress assigned joint responsibility to the

Librarian of Congress, the Archivist of the United States and the Public Printer for monitoring implementation of P.L. 101-423 and reporting to Congress on such progress. The National Archives and Records

Administration (NARA), Government Printing Office (GPO), and the Library of Congress (LC) have jointly prepared two reports to Congress on the progress of implementing Public Law

101-423. The most recent report can be

accessed via the NARA Internet gopher, CLIO,

at gopher.nara.gov.

In 1990, GPO and JCP surveyed Federal depository libraries and Federal publishing

agencies to determine which kinds of publications should be created on permanent

paper. The two groups identified the same

top ten categories: legal material, monographs,

statistics, journal and periodicals, catalogs and

bibliographies, maps and atlases, reports, proceedings, handbooks and manuals, and

environmental impact statements. The survey

results are discussed fully in the 1990 GPO

circular letter 328.

The Congressional joint Committee on

Printing (JCP) has defined two categories of

long-lasting paper grades: permanent and

alkaline. Alkaline is the category for paper

expected to last at least one hundred years. Permanent paper has a life expectancy of

several hundred years. (In contrast, generic paper has an uncertain life.) In the fall of 1994, JCP issued standards and specifications

for paper grades that include five permanent

paper types and sixteen alkaline paper types. Information about the standards are available

in the "Government Paper Specification Standards, No. 10" which is available by

subscription through the Government Printing

Office, Superintendent of Documents. NARA is currently preparing a bulletin to agency heads providing guidance on using

permanent and alkaline papers for Federal

records. The bulletin will recommend that agency printing officers and records officers work together to use permanent or alkaline paper grades for publications of enduring

value.

121
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

U.S. Code on CD-ROM and on the Internet

Elliot Chabot'

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, DC

In 1925 the U.S. Code consisted of one volume made up of a few hundred pages. This contained all of the Federal laws of general and permanent nature, then in force. The U.S. Code now runs over 30 volumes of over 1,000 pages each. The Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives is, by law^, the compiler and publisher of the U.S. Code. In 1977, the Counsel commissioned House

Information Systems (H.I.S., the technology

support arm of the House of Representatives) and the Government Printing Office to develop a pilot system to computerize the compilation and publication of the Code. The

system (which became fully operational in 1979) gave the Counsel's staff the ability to electronically edit the Code. It also gave

Congressional staff full-text search and

retrieval access to the Code. The system was expanded throughout the 1980's to cover more and more types of documents both at GPO (printing and

publication) and H.I.S. (full text search and

retrieval). These included the text of all Congressional bills and resolutions, the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, and the Code of Federal Regulations.

In 1991, the Law Revision Counsel (as part of his mandate to make the U.S. Code

available to the public) asked H.I.S. to coordinate the production of a CD-ROM

version of the Code. We surveyed the market,

tested 13 different search products, narrowed

the field to three, and finally recommended

the l-Search and WPL products from Personal

Library Software^ Because this was the first time an agency of the House of Representatives had produced a CD-ROM for public distribution, we were in unexplored

territory. After extensive negotiations with PLS and after going through our own internal contract review process, the contract also went through the Law Revision Counsel, the General Counsel to the House Administration Committee, the Office of the General Counsel

to the Clerk of the House, the General Counsel of the Joint Committee on Printing, and the Office of the General Counsel of GPO.

Once the licenses were all in place, technical development of the CD-ROM was

carried out by the H.I.S. staff* with assistance from PLS and the Graphics Systems

Development Division of GPO. Reed

McMillan from GPO's Office of Electronic Information Dissemination Services^ did the

initial drafting of the CD-ROM's user manual. The first edition was released in December

of 1992 and sold out within five weeks. The

second pressing of the first edition sold out in a matter of months. The second edition was

released in October 1993 and sold out. The

third edition was released in January 1995 and

is still available through GPO^ We hope to have the 4th edition of the CD-ROM available

for public distribution in July of this year.

122
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

For those of you who are thinking about producing your own CD-ROM, I would urge you to read Yvonne Kidd's article on the U.S. Code CD-ROM in the May-June 1994 issue of SIGCAT Discoursed Each new edition of the CD-ROM has been an adventure-with

software changes from the vendor and improvements in the data or the service. For the third edition (released last January), we

moved the user support function from OEIDS

to H.I.S. to bring support closer to product

development. The fourth edition (scheduled

for release this July) will add the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Northwest Ordinance, and

U.S. Code Tables I to IX. The fifth edition (scheduled for release next year) will include a Macintosh search engine. Timeliness of the U.S. Code has been a constant concern with the development of the CD-ROM. We currently issue a new CD- ROM after an entire new edition or cumulative supplement of the printed U.S. Code is completed. This means that, even under the best of circumstances, we do not

release a new edition of the CD-ROM until the OK-to-print has been given on all 50 titles of the printed U.S. Code. Our solution to this time-lag problem is the Internet. On January

4, 1995, H.I.S. released the U.S. House of Representatives Internet Law Library^ which

includes a full text searchable version of the

U.S. Code.

In fact, in addition to the version of the

U.S. Code that is available through the GPO

Access system, there are five versions of the

U.S. Code available for free public use on the

Internet. Two of these are available through

the House (a gopher version^ that is up-to-date through January 1995 for titles 1 to 12 and

through January 1994 for titles 13 to 50, and a searchable World Wide Web version'" that should shortly be up-to-date through January 1994) Additionally, there is a version available

at Cornell" that is up-to-date through January 1993 and is searchable within individual titles; there is an experimental version of the U.S. Code (up through January 1992) available on

the Internet through the Center for Intelligent

Information Retrieval at the University of Massachusetts'^; and a January 1991 version

of the Code (with each title organized as a

single file) on the etext.org gopher.'^ We see the Internet versions of the U.S. Code as supplementing, not replacing, the

U.S. Code CD-ROM. There will always be a need and a demand for permanent historical editions of the U.S. Code.

Notes

1. Elliot Chabot has headed up the automated

legal support staff of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1981. Last year, in recognition of his work developing the U.S. Code CD-ROM, Elliot was named by Federal Computer Week as one of the 100 people

who had the greatest impact of Federal computer use. A graduate of George Washington University Law School, Elliot is a member of the Bar of the District of Columbia and of several Federal

courts. On the Internet, Elliot has been known to lurk at Law-Lib, Net-Lawyers, EuroLex, Int-Law, and other such places.

2. 2 U.S.C. § 285b(3).

3. 2400 Research Boulevard, Suite 350,

Rockville, Maryland 20850. Voice: (301) 990-

1155. Fax:(301)963-9738. E-mail: pls@pls.com.

4. The U.S. Code CD-ROM was the work of many hands. Special recognition, however,

goes to Su-Hwa Chang

(schang@hr.house.gov). Without Su-Hwa's

contributions, the U.S. Code CD-ROM would

have not been nearly as successful as it has proven to be.

5. Reed has since moved on to the SIGCAT

Foundation, P.O. Box 3706, Reston, VA

22090. Voice: (703) 435-4661. Fax: (703) 435-5553. E-mail: mssigcat@aol.com.

123
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

6. The U.S. Code CD-ROM is available for purchase through the Government Printing Office (GPO) at (202) 512-1800, Monday

through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., eastern time. Orders can also be sent by mail to: Superintendent of Documents

U.S. Government Printing Office P.O. Box 371954

Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954 GPO accepts checks, VISA, and MasterCard. The cost is $36 and the stock number is 052- 001-00389-6.

7. Kidd, Yvonne. "Federal Government CD's:

U.S. Code on CD-ROM," SIGCAT Discourse, May-June 1994, pp. 6 & 14.

8. http://www.pls.com:8001

9. gopher://hamiltonl.house.gov

1 0. http://www.pls.com:8001/his/usc.html

1 1. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/

Note: this database was created by the folks at Cornell downloading the text of the third edition of the U.S. Code CD-ROM.

1 2. http://ciir.cs.umass.edu/cgi- bin/web_query_form/morris/usc

1 3. gopher://gopher.etext.org/ll/Politics/ Conspiracy/AJTeel/USC

Note: this database was created by the folks at etext.org downloading the text of the first edition of the U.S. Code CD-ROM.

124
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Public Libraries and tlie internet/Nil

Peter R. Young

U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Washington; DC

U.S. National Commission on Libraries and

Information Science

P.L. 91-345 - 20 July 1970) • NCLIS provides policy advice to:

• President and Congress

• State and local governments

• Private agencies • Conducts studies, surveys and analyses of information needs of people of U.S. • Develops overall plans • Coordinates Federal, State, and local

activities • Recommends effective utilization of nation's educational resources • Promotes research and development

activities

NCLIS & National Research and Education Network (NREN): 1991-1992 • July 1991 White House Conference on

Library and Information Services (WHCLIS):

• 8 of 97 recommendations focus on NREN and library networks • July 1992 NCLIS Open Forum: Library Roles in NREN:

• 24 library and information services organizations involved • November 1992 NCLIS report to Office of Science and Technology Policy:

• Rapid pace of change:

* Network access beyond research and

education communities

* Institutional and personal network use

• Need to resolve conflicts & re-balance

interests

NCLIS Survey of Public Libraries and the

Internet: 1994 • January - March 1994 NCLIS conducts sample survey of 1495 U.S. public libraries

re: Internet

• First national quick-response survey of public libraries and the Internet/Nil

• Sample drawn from NCES public library universe file • Study needed to provide base-line data

to assist policy and plan development • June 1994 NCLIS issues Report

• Public Libraries and the Internet: Study

Results, Policy Issues, and Recommendations

* 25 question survey instrument

* 79 tables included in report

* 85 7o response rate

125
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

NCLIS Survey of Public Libraries and the

Internet: 1994 • Study findings:

• 20.9% of U.S. public libraries connected

to Internet

• 13% of wired public libraries offer patron access to the Internet

• Support for public library provision of Internet services to patrons

• Disparities/variance between:

* urban/rural - size of population served

* geographic regions of country

* types of equipment and connection

* costs for Internet: $275 to $14,700

* Statewide initiatives and strategic planning are important motivation for Internet involvement

• 42% of wired public libraries acquire

Federal documents via Internet for patrons

• Support for Federal role in assuring

public library connectivity to Internet

NCLIS Internet/Nil Policy Forums: 1994 • September 1994 - NCLIS conducts briefing on role of state library agencies in Internet/Nil • 15 State Library networking presentations

• TN, NC, FL, lA, NE, MD, NY, Rl, NJ, DE, CO, UT, CA, LA

• Need to identify models for further development

• Great diversity of state networking environments

• Call for continued Federal investment (LSCA Title III, HEA Mb, NTIA/TIIAP) , • Support needed for training and

connectivity

NCLIS Internet/Nil Policy Forums: 1994 • September 1994 - NCLIS conducts briefing on federal role relating to libraries and the

Internet/Nil

• Planning the Federal Role

* Administration, Executive Branch

Agencies, Congress, NCLIS:

• Work to clarify library roles and

needs

• Critical need to restructure and

reauthorize Library Services and

Construction Act (LSCA) to address

Internet/Nil

• Coordinated Federal role essential to assure library involvement in Internet/Nil

• Federal policy action needed on issues

related to standards, privacy, security,

intellectual property rights, fair use, and

telecommunications regulatory reform

Libraries and the Internet/Nil: Developing

Cost Assessment Models: 1995 • September - May 1995: NCLIS project to develop cost assessment models for

libraries and the Internet/Nil

• Identify/explore economic impact

• Focus on public library and state networks

• Identify cost factors and develop cost models

* hardware and software

* facilities upgrades/maintenance

* telecommunications charges

* training and education

* program planning/management

* resource content

• commercial services

• location/organization

• digitization

126
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Libraries and the Internet/Nil: Developing

Cost Assessment Models: 1995 • Public Library/Statewide network case

studies/site visits • Seattle Public Library

• Onondaga (NY) County Public Library

• Charlotte/Mecklenberg (NC) County

Public Library

• Maryland State Library (Sailor) • North Carolina State Library

• Nicolet (Wl) Library System • Planning/tracking cost worksheets • Findings:

• need for more standardization

• comparisons difficult

• need to share experiences

• need to extend study to academic and

school libraries

ReGo: Climate of Change and Uncertainty, 1995-1996 • New majority in 104th Congress

• Changing political priorities and issues

• Changes in Federal information dissemination policies and

responsibilities

• New public/private relationships

• FY 1995 appropriation recissions

• FY 1996 budget decisions this spring/summer • National Performance Review

• NPR Phase 1: How to make government work better and cost less? • NPR Phase 2: What is essential Federal

role?

• Eliminate, privatize, and devolve programs

• Reinvent, restructure, & reduce

• Performance partnerships

Changing Federal Perspective 1994

• Federal investment

• Reinvent government

• Equity

• Federal subsidies

• Deficit reduction

• VP Gore & Nil

• NPR I - ReGo

• Universal service

• Reform regulations

• Preferential rates

• "Fair Use"

• Congressional gridlock 1995

• State/local initiatives

• Eliminate agencies

• Competition

• Block grants

• Balance budget

• Public/Private Partnerships

• NPR 2 - Elimination

• Universal access

• Unregulated market

• Privatization

• Protect ownership

• Contract with America

Concluding Personal Observations • Networks change relationships

• Access to public information

• Nature of community redefined

• Libraries essential for contextual meaning • Library involvement with networks:

• Economic competitiveness rationale

• Evolutionary development of focus:

* computers

* conduit

* content

* context • Interactive networks change political, economic, and social processes

127
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference
7995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Contributors

Herbert S. Becker

Director, Information Technology Services Library of Congress, LMG 51 Washington, DC 20540

(202) 707-6207 hbeck@loc.gov

Linda Brooks Team Leader GLO Records Automation Project Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, Eastern States 7450 Boston Blvd.

Springfield, VA 22153

(703) 440-1682

Frederick R. Broome

Cartographic Specialist Geography Division Bureau of the Census

Washington, DC 20233

(301) 457-1056 fbroome@census . gov

Elliot C. Chabot

Legal Support Project Leader House Information Systems

U.S. House of Representatives H2-613 Ford House Office Building Second and D Streets, SW

Washington, DC 20515-6165

(202) 226-6456 echabot@hr. house . gov

Phyllis Christenson

Director, Information Services Center U.S. General Accounting Office 441 G Street, NW Room 6430

Washington, DC 20548

(202) 512-2647

pchristenson@gao . gov

Bonnie Rose Curtin

National Archives & Records Administration Mail code: NIA

8601 Adelphi Road

College Park, MD 20780

(301) 713-6677

bonnie . curtin@arch2 . nara . gov

Serena H. Eriksen Telecommunications Specialist U.S. Department of the Treasury 1425 New York Avenue, NW Room 2150

Washington, DC 20220

(202) 622-1558

June R. Gable

Chief, Information Services Section Data Dissemination Branch

National Center for Health Statistics 6525 Belcrest Rd. Room 1064

Hyattsville, MD 20782

(301) 436-8500 jrg3@nchlOa.em.cdc.gov

Susan M. Hawman NASA Headquarters Library Mail Code JOB-1

Washington, DC 20546

(202) 358-0171 shawman@leda.hq.nasa.gov

David Henderson

Technical Information Specialist Department of Energy

Office of Scientific & Technical Information P.O. Box 62 Oak Ridge, TN 37831

(615) 576-3615 david_henderson@ccmail. osti . gov

129
Proceedings - 1995 Federal Depository Conference

Lars B. Johanson

Chief, Statistical Abstract Section Data User Services Division Bureau of the Census

U.S. Department of Commerce

Washington, DC 20233

(301) 457-1171

ljohanso@info . census . gov

Peter A. Knecht Deputy Office Director

Office of Public Communications

Bureau of Public Affairs U.S. Department of State Washington, DC 20520

(202) 647-6512

Keith M. Lee

Chief, Printing Management Branch

Printing and Graphics Division U.S. Department of the Treasury MAE Annex Room B-39

1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20220

(202) 622-2170

Kathryn A. McConnell

Creative Services Manager

Promotion and Advertising Branch (SM)

U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, DC 20401

(202) 512-1710

Clark E. McLean ~; Documents Librarian Government Information Department

General Library

University of New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM 87131-1466 ' (505) 277-5441 cmclean@unm.edu

Bruce Maxwell

6937 Custis Parkway

Falls Church, VA 22042

(703) 532-6327 bmaxwell@netcom.com

Raleigh Muns

Reference Librarian Thomas Jefferson Library

University of Missouri at St. Louis 8001 Natural Bridge Road

St. Louis, MO 63121-4499 srcmuns@umslvma.umsl . edu

Vivienne R. Roumani-Denn

Head, Earth Sciences and Map Library

University of California, Berkeley 230 McCone Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-4767

(510) 643-7041 vroumani@library .berkeley . edu

Laura Saurs

Assistant Documents Librarian Newark Public Library

5 Washington Street Newark, NJ 07101-7812

(201) 733-7812

lsaurs@pilot.njin.net John A. Shuler Head, Documents Department

University of Illinois at Chicago Library 801 South Morgan Street Chicago, IL 60607

(312) 996-2738

john.a.shuler@uic.edu

Daniel P. Solari Printing Specialist Multimedia Production Division PC:M:M

Internal Revenue Service 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20224

(202) 622-7239

Keith M. Stubbs

Acting Director Resource Sharing and Cooperation Division

National Library of Education

U.S. Department of Education Room 214

555 New Jersey Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20208

(202) 219-1803

kstubbs@inet . ed . gov

130
1995 Federal Depository Conference - Proceedings

Thomas Tate

National Program Leader, Information Technology

Cooperative Research Education Extension

Service

.

ES-USDA Room 3322 South Building Washington, DC 20250-0900

(202) 720-2727

ttate@reusda.gov Rachel S. Van Wingen

Information Management Specialist Office of Information Resources Management

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

401 M Street, SW Mail code 3404

Washington, DC 20460

(202) 260-9709 vanwingen. rachel@epamail . epa . gov

Peter R. Young

Executive Director U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science 1110 Vermont Avenue, NW Suite 820

Washington, DC 20005-3522

(202) 606-9200

py_nclis@inet . ed. gov

Carolyn Youngblood & Velma McCuiston

Technology Applications, Marketing & Sales U.S. Postal Service 475 L' Enfant Plaza, SW Room 5610

Washington, DC 20260-2427

(202) 268-5448

•U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1 9 9

5 -3 8

7 -8 1 1 / 36 4 1 8

131