Administrative Notes 

Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program

Vol. 25, no. 07 GP 3.16/3-2:25/07 June 15, 2004 

HIGHLIGHTS 

SuDocs/

Directors 

Meeting 1

Recommended 

Reading 2

FAA Fuchsia

Book Released 4 

Interagency 

Seminar 

Training 5

Science.gov 

2.0 Launched 6 

GPO Adding 

Content to 

Science.gov 7 

Spring Council 

Meeting 

 Summary 8 

 Recom- 

 mendations 9 

Customer

Relations 

Management 

Service 17 

Superintendent of Documents Invites 

Depository Library Directors to ALAGODORT Lunch Meeting 

June 7, 2004 

Dear Depository Library Director: 

I would like to invite you, as a director of a Federal Depository Library, to 

join me for a special meeting of depository library directors at the annual 

conference of the American Library Association in Orlando, Florida, later 

this month. ALA’s Government Documents Roundtable has kindly 

allotted time for a discussion of the future of the Federal Depository 

Library Program (FDLP) on Sunday, June 27, from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., 

at the Renaissance Orlando Resort, in Ballroom C. (The room will be 

open at 11:30 a.m. and the meeting will convene at 12 noon, so please 

bring a brown bag lunch and join us.) Your depository services 

coordinator and other staff members involved with Federal government 

documents are welcome to accompany you or your designated senior staff 

member. 

I will speak briefly and then use the remainder of the time to answer your 

questions and listen to your concerns and recommendations. We especially 

welcome your advice as a depository library director during this time of 

transformation into an increasingly electronic FDLP. 

This meeting continues an experiment begun at the recent Depository 

Library Council meeting in St. Louis, where I had an opportunity to 

exchange views directly with about 40 directors of depository libraries on 

the important issues now confronting the program. Afterwards several of 

them expressed to me the value of hearing first hand about the changes 

that are occurring and having the opportunity to provide their advice. 

Discussion will center on the issues brought out in Public Printer Bruce 

James’ recent paper, Keeping America Informed in the 21st Century: A 

First Look at the GPO Strategic Planning Process — “A Work in 

Progress”, available at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/ 

proceedings/04spc.html. 
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In addition, GPO staff will be displaying U.S. 

Government information resources and 

services at the GPO Booth (#1269). It would 

be valuable for your reference and public 

service staff to visit the booth, even if they 

are not government documents specialists. In 

case you are interested and are not already 

aware of them, I am enclosing a list of 

publications [see below] and other 

information sources that address some of the 

current FDLP issues. 

Please join us as we continue to map out the 

path for the Federal Depository Library of the 

future. I look forward to talking with you in 

Orlando. 

Sincerely, 

JUDITH C. RUSSELL 

Superintendent of Documents

As you know, the Government Printing Office (GPO) is working with the federal depository library 

community on several new initiatives involving access to and preservation of print and digital Federal 

Government documents. We are also planning for the future of the Sales Program. These initiatives are 

part of the overall agency strategic planning effort. 

The documents listed below will help you understand some of the major initiatives that are going on in the 

Superintendent of Documents organization and throughout GPO. 

Shared Repositories. GPO is encouraging the movement toward shared repositories, or shared housing

agreements, that allow libraries to eliminate some of the redundancy among their collections. Though still 

in the early stages, these initiatives are very important since they assure active preservation of the 

government documents collections in Federal depository libraries by moving toward a smaller number of 

comprehensive sets of tangible publications that can be more readily preserved. GPO contracted with 

Center for Research Libraries (CRL) for the development of a Decision Framework for Federal Document 

Repositories that can be used to evaluate the level of assurance provided by such repositories based on 

their physical characteristics, resources, governance and other factors. The discussion draft is available 

at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/decisionmatrix.pdf

Collection of Last Resort. GPO has developed a draft plan for a collection of last resort - a secure "dark 

archive" that will become, overtime, a comprehensive collection of tangible and electronic titles that will 

backstop the regional library collections and future shared repositories. In reviewing other initiatives, like 

JSTOR, it has become clear that multiple "light archives" are not sufficient to protect these assets. The 

highest level of assurance comes from a collection of last resort that - as the name implies - is not used

unless all other resources have failed. Through this collection, GPO will support permanent public access 

to U.S. Government publications in all formats. The Collection will include preservation copies of tangible 

titles as well as preservation and access copies of digital objects. The draft plan is updated with 

comments received to date: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/clr0604draft.pdf. 

Managing the FDLP Electronic Collection: A Policy and Planning Document

GPO's plans for the preservation and access to digital information via the Federal Depository Library 

Program (FDLP) are articulated in Managing the FDLP Electronic Collection, 2nd Edition, June 2004, 

available at: http:// www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/ecplan2004rev1.pdf. 

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This new edition incorporates advances in the theory, technology, and practice of managing digital 

collections. The FDLP Electronic Collection (EC) consists of preservation copies in dark archives and 

access copies maintained by GPO or its partners in light archives for the convenience of reference. 

Comments are invited on this draft plan, and can be emailed to Judy Russell at: jrussell@gpo.gov. 

GPO is currently reviewing its FDLP procedures to identify areas in its Instructions to Depository Libraries 

needing updating or revision to reflect the impact of an electronic FDLP on their operations. 

The National Bibliography of U.S. Government Publications: Initial Planning Statement

GPO's National Bibliography of U.S. Government Publications will be a comprehensive catalog containing 

descriptions and locations of U.S. Government unclassified publications in all formats. GPO's initial 

planning statement on the National Bibliography is available at: 

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/natbib0604.pdf. 

Comments are invited on this plan, and may be emailed to Gil Baldwin at: ebaldwin@gpo.gov. 

Digitization of the Legacy Government Documents Collection. GPO has made a commitment to 

collaborate with the library community to digitize the entire legacy collection of U.S. government 

documents - an estimated 2.2 million print publications totaling approximately 60 million pages - in order 

to make sure that those documents are available, in the public domain, for permanent public access. The 

intent is to make sure that the entire collection is digitized for preservation purposes, with a variety of 

access files derived from the digital preservation masters. 

In March GPO hosted a meeting of experts on preservation digitization to discuss current specifications

for the creation of digital preservation masters. The report on that meeting includes a proposed set of 

minimum specifications for digitizing documents from the legacy collection. The report is available at 

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/preservation.html. 

Strategic Planning. At the Depository Library Council meeting, the Public Printer presented "Keeping

America Informed in the 21st Century: A First Look at the GPO Strategic Planning Process." That 

presentation has been revised based on input received during the discussion at the Council meeting, and 

the revised remarks are available at: 

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/proceedings/James.DLC.04192004.revised.pdf. You 

should note that the title has been amended to include the phrase “A Work in Progress” to reflect the fact 

that the document will continue to evolve as GPO receives comments from its library partners and other 

stakeholders.

Future of the GPO Sales Program. In March GPO convened a meeting of representatives from the 

library community, federal agency publishers and the information industry to discuss the future of the 

GPO Sales Program. The basic objective of this meeting was to get advice and feedback on how to build 

a sustainable economic model for the GPO Sales Program that will generate $30 to $50 million in 

additional revenue for GPO annually. The model must be one that is acceptable to publishing agencies, 

complements free public access to government information through the Federal Depository Library 

Program (FDLP), and avoids inappropriate competition with commercial publishing. The report on the 

meeting is available at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/econmodel.html

Recent Congressional Testimony: On April 28th, the Public Printer, Bruce R. James, testified before 

Congress at two hearings. The links below provide the full text of his written statements. 

From Public Printer's Office -- STATEMENT BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSE 

ADMINISTRATION ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE U.S. GPO TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF 

THE 21ST CENTURY: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cr/testimony/oversight.pdf

"There are few posts in the Government and few Federal agencies that have stood the test of 

time as well as that of the Public Printer and the GPO. My objective is to uphold the tradition of

the office while providing the leadership required to guide the GPO into a new era, to ensure that 

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it remains as relevant and necessary to the information needs of Congress, Federal agencies, 

and the public in the 21st century as it was for the first 140 years of its existence." 

From Public Printer's Office -- STATEMENT BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE 

APPROPRIATIONS ON THE APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST OF THE U.S. GPO FOR FY 2005: 

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cr/testimony/4_28_04.pdf

"I'm pleased to report that 2003 was an extraordinarily eventful and productive year for the GPO. 

With funding from the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for 2004 and the approval of the 

Joint Committee on Printing, we conducted a highly successful voluntary separation incentive 

program that allowed us to reduce our workforce level by more than 300 positions, or 10%, 

yielding annual savings of $21.7 million. Together with our efforts to shutter GPO's failing retail 

bookstores, which will generate savings of $1.5 million in the first year, and the other steps we 

have taken to better manage our operations, our finances are being restored to a positive basis." 

The General Accounting Office (GAO) -- STATEMENT BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSE 

ADMINISTRATION ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE U.S. GPO TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF 

THE 21ST CENTURY: Statement of Linda D. Koontz, director, information management, entitled: 

Government Printing Office: Technological Changes Create Transformation Opportunities. It is available 

at: http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-729T. Highlights are available at 

http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d04729thigh.pdf. 

Recent Speeches of the Superintendent of Documents. Speeches from the spring Depository Library 

Council Meeting and the IS&T Archiving Conference are available at: 

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/speeches/index.html. Other speeches will be linked from this page from

time to time. 

FAA’s “Fuchsia Book” Released 

FAA Future Telecommunications Plan, or 

“Fuchsia Book”, April 2003 (TD 4.83:2003, 

item 0431-C-60) was distributed to 

depository libraries in error on shipping list 

2004-0011-S dated December 1, 2004. The 

document was intended for “Official Use 

Only”. 

A note on the shipping list and a December 4, 

2003 posting to FDLP-L requested that 

libraries set the volume aside in a secure 

place without processing until further notice 

as the agency was considering recalling the 

publication. The Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) conveyed to GPO that 

they determined the document could be 

released for processing and general 

circulation. 

Depository libraries are now permitted to 

process the Fuchsia Book into their 

collections and make it available to the 

public. GPO apologizes for any 

inconvenience this has caused. 

If you have any questions about this or other 

depository-related matters, please submit 

them through the "Ask a Question" feature of 

GPO's online help service at: 

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/help/index.html. 

Thank you for your continued support of the 

Federal Depository Library Program.

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GPO Provides Training To Library Community 

More than 50 Federal Depository Library 

Program (FDLP) librarians from around the 

country recently gathered at the Nation's 

Capital to take part in a professional 

development program hosted by the 

Government Printing Office (GPO). “The 

Annual Interagency Depository Seminar is a 

unique opportunity for new depository 

librarians to acquire up-to-the-minute 

information, as well as discuss and exchange 

ideas with GPO's staff, Federal agency 

representatives and colleagues," said Judy 

Russell, Superintendent of Documents and 

Managing Director of GPO's Information 

Dissemination. "Providing professional 

development opportunities to the library 

community is one of the GPO's most 

important roles and one that we have been 

proud to provide for the last 17 years through 

this seminar.” 

The June 2-9, 2004 seminar provided 

representatives from public, state, federal and 

academic libraries with an overview of 

information products and activities of 

numerous Federal Agencies as they relate to 

Federal depository libraries. This year's

participating agencies included the U.S. 

Census Bureau, Office of the Federal 

Register, Federal Trade Commission, U.S. 

Geological Survey, Department of 

Transportation’s National Transportation 

Library, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 

U.S. Copyright Office, Social Security 

Administration, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 

Defense Technical Information Center and 

STAT-USA, a database of economic and 

trade statistics produced by the U.S. 

Department of Commerce. Seminar 

participants were also invited to tour the 

GPO, Library of Congress Jefferson Library, 

the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and 

U.S. Copyright Office.

Interagency Depository Seminar Participants, with Public Printer Bruce James (2nd row, right of center) 

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AN-v25-#07-6/15/04

Science.gov 2.0 Launched 

[Text provided by Department of Energy.]

Interagency science portal delivers 

significant advance in government 

information retrieval 

Science.gov (www.science.gov/), the public’s

“go to” Web portal for the vast stores of 

Federal science information, has made 

searching for information easier for the user. 

At a roll-out on May 11, Secretary of Energy 

Spencer Abraham launched the new search 

version of Science.gov which includes 

ranking the relevance of results to the users’ 

question. 

While retaining the content and advances 

originally unveiled in December 2002, 

Science.gov 2.0 will search its 47 million 

pages of government R&D results and 

present the results to patrons in relevancyranked order. This new technology sorts 

through the government’s reservoirs of 

research and rapidly returns information in an 

order more likely to meet patrons’ needs. 

The Web portal is made possible through a 

collaboration of 12 major science agencies 

forming a coalition called the Science.gov 

Alliance. 

The Department of Energy, which hosts the 

site through its Office of Scientific and 

Technical Information, funded the R&D of a 

new relevancy-ranking technology by a 

company called Deep Web Technologies. 

The technology was applied to meta-searches 

in the deep Web where traditional search 

engines cannot go. 

Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham on 

May 11 launched Science.gov 2.0, 

considered the next major step in government 

science information retrieval. Secretary 

Abraham had strong praise for the Alliance 

members.

“These agencies together have combined 

innovative technology, forward thinking and 

hard work to build an invaluable science 

resource,” Secretary Abraham said. “From

the most current information on new 

technologies, to historical research results, to 

the most promising medical advancements, 

Science.gov connects citizens to the world of 

science.” 

According to Eleanor Frierson, co-chair of 

the Science.gov Alliance and Deputy Director

of the National Agricultural Library, the 

Version 2.0 advance is one of many yet to 

come for the government’s FirstGov for 

science. 

“The Science.gov team is already working on 

Science.gov 3.0, expected in 2005,” said 

Frierson. “We plan to continue collaborating 

across agencies to further ease public access 

to science and technology information.” 

The Science.gov Web portal – considered the 

one-stop gateway to reliable Federal science 

and technology information – has grown to 

provide its unique search capability to 30 

databases and 1,700 Web sites. The 

information at Science.gov is free. No 

registration is required. 

Science.gov allows users to search for 

information based on subject, rather than by 

the agency sponsoring it. Visitors to the Web 

site can access information on an array of 

science disciplines. 

Science.gov is made possible through the 

collaboration of the Departments of 

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Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, 

Energy, Health and Human Services and 

Interior, as well as the Environmental 

Protection Agency, the Government Printing 

Office, the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration, and the National Science 

Foundation, with support from the National 

Archives and Records Administration. 

Secretary Abraham, Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, 

Director of DOE’s Office of Science, and Dr. 

Walter Warnick, Director of OSTI, spoke at 

the ceremonial event. On hand were 

Science.gov Alliance co-chairs Frierson and 

Tom Lahr, Deputy Chief, Biologic 

Informatics Program, US Geological Survey. 

Also in attendance were Bruce James, Public 

Printer of the United States, Government 

Printing Office and Dr. Rodney Brown, 

Deputy Under Secretary of Research, 

Education and Economics at the United 

States Department of Agriculture. 

About 100 people attended the ceremony held 

at the Forrestal Building in Washington, DC. 

GPO Working with Science.gov To Add Content 

GPO’s current Federal Register and Code of 

Federal Regulations databases are in the 

process of being added to a proposed new 

“Regulations and Laws” section on 

Science.gov. The estimated time of 

completion for this is the last week in June. 

The GPO Science.gov committee 

representatives are continuing to investigate 

new and innovative ways for GPO to 

participate in the Science.gov Alliance. In 

order to publicize both Science.gov and GPO 

products, GPO displays Science.gov flyers 

and a booth graphic at the GPO booth at 

library association meetings. 

GPO currently serves on most of the 

Science.gov standing committees. The 

following is a list of the committees and the 

GPO representatives. 

Science.gov Alliance Principal: 

 Ric Davis 

Content Management: Lisa LaPlant 

and Karen Sieger 

Promotions: Jeffrey Turner and 

Jim Cameron

Science.gov 3.0 Technical: Lisa LaPlant 

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Summary, Depository Library Council Meeting 

April 18 – 21, 2004 - St. Louis, MO 

Council commends GPO for embarking on a 

strategic planning process as initially 

described in the Public Printer’s presentation 

Keeping America Informed in the 21st

Century. In addition to its implications for 

GPO, this process affects depository library 

partners and the public’s continued no-fee 

access to government information. 

As it moves forward in the strategic planning 

process, GPO should also consider the 

following: 

• Standards 

The best practices as articulated in the 

meeting of experts on digitization are an 

excellent beginning. A similar meeting 

on metadata, including MARC 

cataloging, will continue the process of 

developing GPO standards. As this 

proceeds, DLC urges GPO to consider 

web capture, delivery and preservation 

requirements as well (see 

Recommendation number 7). 

• Technology 

The Council strongly supports GPO’s 

efforts to upgrade its technical 

infrastructure. GPO should continue to 

seek best practices, new technologies and 

state-of-the-art hardware and software for 

gathering, authenticating, disseminating, 

storing, and preserving no-fee permanent 

public access to Federal Government

information. 

• Fully digital FDLP 

As it develops a comprehensive digital 

collection, GPO should pay particular 

attention to “born digital” federal 

information (See Recommendation 

number 6). Council wholeheartedly 

supports GPO’s efforts to partner with 

libraries of all sizes and types to realize a 

fully digital FDLP. Partner opportunities 

could include: 

o supplying cataloging and other 

metadata for digital and tangible 

information sources (See 

Recommendation number 3) 

o digitizing partner materials (as 

envisioned in the Collection of Last 

Resort document) (See 

Recommendation number 7) 

o providing real-time reference for 

government information (See 

Recommendation number 8) 

o hosting topical listservs to foster 

communication (See 

Recommendation number 2) 

o developing customized portals for 

various sizes and types of libraries. 

• Agency Service 

GPO’s enhanced services to its Federal 

agency customers should ameliorate the 

fugitive document problem while 

providing opportunities to more readily 

capture “born-digital” and paper 

publications. 

 

• Training 

GPO should be mindful that just as its 

own employees need training, so do 

government information specialists. (See 

Recommendation number 1).

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9 

Recommendations 

of the Depository Library Council 

April 18 - 21, 2004 - St. Louis, MO 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

1. Training Recommendations to GPO 

from the Depository Library Council

A. Establish Core Competencies for 

Government Information Specialists 

(long term goal) 

 

Council recommends that GPO assemble 

a training taskforce with representatives 

from the various library associations, 

library schools, Federal agencies and 

GPO to identify the basic core 

competencies that any government 

information specialist should possess. 

This taskforce should also examine what 

rewards would entice government 

information specialist and their 

institutions to attend a basic training 

session. 

Rationale: No one entity (GPO) can 

provide all the training for government 

information specialists due to significant 

geographic and budgetary limitations. 

Training is a mission that can and should 

be shared by all interested parties. GPO, 

acting as coordinator of training, should 

identify a list of basic core competencies 

agreed to by all parties since most of the 

training will be decentralized. This 

standardized set of competencies will 

keep the education level provided 

consistent and will drive the curriculum 

development choices in the future. Some 

of the core competencies identified by the 

Council are listed below: 

• Knowledge of how to manage the 

legacy collection 

• Knowledge of how to perform 

community demographic analysis and 

the development of user needs 

surveys 

• Knowledge of tools and procedures 

for evaluating depository library 

services 

• Knowledge of GPO’s true polices that 

might hopefully debunk many of the 

myths 

• Knowledge of document processing 

requirements 

• Knowledge of the technical 

competencies required of a 

government information specialist. 

• Knowledge of copy cataloging for 

both online and print government 

documents 

• Knowledge of tangible and Webbased government information 

resources required to facilitate 

discovery and access 

GPO, as chief coordinator of training, 

might also be able to create a 

clearinghouse of training materials that 

currently exist and have been developed 

by several of the library associations, 

Federal agencies and library schools. As 

coordinator, GPO might be able to save 

on the redundancy of training efforts. 

The Council wants training to be 

attractive to depository libraries but fears 

that the creation of a mandated 

certification requirement for training 
AN-v25-#07-6/15/04

might be detrimental to the FDLP. A 

mandated certification might be looked at 

as a carrot for some institutions but it 

might be considered onerous and another 

reason to leave the depository program 

for others. The committee might look at 

some of the following carrots for training 

government information specialists. 

• Awarding basic training certificates,

but not required to be part of the 

FDLP 

• Providing the basic training at 

minimal costs to government 

information specialists by providing 

the instruction through the web, 

teleconferencing, field representative, 

etc... 

• Awarding continuing education 

credits to those who attend any 

officially sanctioned government 

information specialist training session 

whether it is delivered at a Local, 

State or National library association 

meeting, through a Federal agency or 

through GPO itself. 

B. Pilot Projects on Training

Council recommends that GPO, in 

partnership with Federal agencies and 

interested depository libraries, create pilot 

training projects using many different 

mediums to reach as many people as

possible. Each pilot project should also 

be required to establish a list of “best 

practices” in the delivery of that type of 

instruction format. Council feels that 

these projects can be implemented right 

now. For example, the Bureau of the 

Census performed a LandView VI pic-tel 

training session for one of the Depository 

Library Council members on February 5, 

2004. 

Rationale: There is no need to wait for 

the long-term development of core 

competencies in order to explore and take 

advantage of the many different 

technological and cost effective modes of 

delivering training. Exploration of a wide 

variety of training mediums will also

enable GPO to reach out to those 

depository libraries that don’t have large 

enough budgets to send their specialists 

for training. A few mediums are 

identified below: 

• Web-based training including 

CHAT 

• Teleconferencing 

• Using Microsoft Netmeeting for 

hands on computer training 

• Face to face training provided by 

the field consultants 

• Training at State and National 

Library Association Meetings 

• Use of video streaming. 

C. Regional Consultants Identify and 

Report to GPO the Training Needs of 

Libraries in their Regions. 

Council recommends that one high 

priority of Regional Consultants is to

identify and regularly disseminate to GPO 

the training needs of the depository 

libraries in their region. 

Rationale: Requiring the Regional 

Consultants to provide regular feedback 

to GPO on the training needs of their 

depository libraries will enable GPO to 

filter those needs to all of its training

partners. This feedback will help the

training partners develop more relevant 

and practical curricula. 

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Appendix 1

Training task force time line 

Timeline Project 

Immediate implementation Training Pilot Projects 

2 months out GPO select representatives to serve on the 

training/certification task force 

12 months out Task force identifies the core competencies for the

professional and paraprofessional government

information specialist. 

18 months out Task force determines the positive and negative impact 

certificates and continuing education will have on

depository libraries. 

24 months out If certificates & continuing education are viable, then

the task force will develop accreditation standards for 

assessment of various certificates. 

2.5 years out Implementation of the accreditation process

3 years out Get feedback from the Regional Consultants and the 

pilot projects to determine the feasibility of offering

similar training programs to non-FDLP libraries for 

free or on a cost recovery basis, depending on market

demand. 

3.5 years out If feasible, begin to offer training to non-FDLP 

libraries for free or on a cost-recovery basis.

2. Improving communication between 

GPO staff and the Depository Community 

on cataloging and other issues 

Council recommends that GPO proactively 

consult and communicate with the depository 

library community on cataloging policies and 

priorities, possibly through a listserv or blog 

dedicated to GPO cataloging issues. This 

model could be expanded to other areas such 

as the digitizing projects. 

As libraries continue to load GPO cataloging 

records into their online catalogs, it becomes 

critical that GPO understand the uses to 

which their cataloging is being put, the 

implications of rule application, and of 

seemingly small changes in procedure. 

Further, as GPO implements its Integrated 

Library System (ILS), close communication 

with depository librarians and catalogers, 

who have years of ILS experience, may ease 

the transition. As titles migrate to the 

Internet, and as standards evolve for the 

cataloging of these titles, it’s important to 

have a mechanism for communication and 

feedback between depository libraries and 

GPO. 

A GPO hosted listserv or announcement 

service, similar to FDLP-L, could be useful 

for communication in both directions. GPO 

could announce upcoming projects and rule 

interpretations, send reminders of current 

practice, and ask for feedback from the 

community. Because responsibility for 

cataloging U.S. materials varies among 

depository libraries, sometimes falling under 

cataloging departments, sometimes under 

government information departments, it is 

desirable that a separate cataloging list be 

developed. 

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3. National Bibliography 

Council recommends that GPO use the best 

available bibliographic information from The 

Monthly Catalog and the GPO Shelf list and 

other bibliographic sources as the basis for 

pre-1976 bibliographic records in the 

National Bibliography. Care should be taken 

to note which materials were distributed via 

the Federal Depository Library Program. The 

possibility of posting holdings for regionals 

to either OCLC or to the GPO National 

Bibliography should be explored. Council 

further recommends that GPO explore 

partnering opportunities with depository 

libraries and other cataloging consortia to 

more quickly catalog pre-1976 materials. 

4. Procedure for libraries leaving the 

program 

Procedure for Selective Depository

Libraries Wishing to Leave the Program 

The Depository Library Council recommends 

that GPO establish a procedure for libraries 

wishing to leave the program. An earlier 

recommendation (Spring 2001) was never 

fully acted upon. 

Since the Regional Conference did not 

address standardized procedures for the 

termination of depository status and libraries 

continue to leave the program, DLC suggests 

implementation of guidelines based on the 

following: 

Depository Termination Guidelines For 

Kansas Selectives 

A. Authorization 

• Authorization for withdrawal of 

depository libraries from the Federal 

Depository Library Program (FDLP)

is based on 1) Instructions to

Depository Libraries, Chapter 1, 

Section C, and 2) Administrative

Notes, vol. 23, no. 15 (December 15,

2002), pp. 6-7. 

- As stated in the Instructions, an 

FDLP participating library “has 

the right to voluntarily relinquish 

its depository privilege if the 

library finds that it cannot meet 

the legal obligations set forth in 

the Instructions and other 

administrative directives.” 

• The Depository Library Council has 

requested (AN, 12-15-02) the 

Government Printing Office to review 

and develop expanded guidelines to 

assist regional libraries in their 

attempts to deal with depository 

libraries that may be considering 

withdrawal from the FDLP. Such 

guidelines will be added to this 

document as they become available. 

B. Review of Depository Library Benefits 

and Consequences of Withdrawal 

• Communication with the Regional 

Librarian at the earliest possible 

time prior to the finalization of a 

decision to withdraw is crucial to 

review FDLP benefits and to 

consider possible consequences of 

withdrawal. 

• A meeting should be held with the 

Regional Librarian and 

leadership of the library

considering withdrawal to 

emphasize the benefits of 

continuation in the FDLP and to 

articulate the consequences of 

withdrawal. 

• Implications for the 

terminating library with 

regard to the loss of any or 

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AN-v25-#07-6/15/04

13 

all of its Federal 

documents collection as 

stated in Section D below 

(Disposal Requirements) 

will be emphasized at this 

interview. 

• Immediately upon receipt 

of a termination letter from 

a member library, GPO 

systematically discontinues 

all standing orders for 

serial titles received as 

part of the library’s 

depository status. 

Consequently, 

arrangements for 

continued receipt of GPO 

standing order titles must 

be made with a 

commercial library vendor 

prior to sending the 

termination letter to avoid 

possible gaps in receipt. 

• Prior to the finalization of a 

selective library’s decision to 

withdraw, and provided that the 

library holds a congressional 

designation, the Regional 

Librarian will communicate with 

the library’s congressional 

delegation to indicate the 

possibility of withdrawal. 

• Notes from a panel discussion held at 

the 9th Annual Federal Depository 

Library Conference (Oct. 22-25, 

2000), entitled “Questions for 

‘Reconsidering Depository Status,’” 

are available on the FDLP Desktop at 

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fd

lp/pubs/proceedings/00pro29.html

and should be consulted as 

background information if and when a 

decision to withdraw from the 

program is being considered. 

C. Announcement of Decision to 

Withdraw 

• The withdrawing library will be 

expected to notify the Government 

Printing Office and the Regional 

Librarian of its intent to withdraw 

no less than six months before the 

intended date of withdrawal. The 

withdrawal letter should be 

addressed to the Superintendent of 

Documents at the following 

address, and should be faxed to 

GPO at 202-512-1434 and 202-

512-1432: 

Superintendent of Documents 

U.S. Government Printing 

Office (SD) 

Washington, DC 20402 

• A copy of the withdrawal letter 

should be sent to the Regional 

Librarian at the address below, 

and a copy should also be faxed to 

785-864-5705: 

Regional Documents Librarian 

320 Anschutz Library 

University of Kansas Libraries 

Lawrence, KS 66045-7537 

• When the decision to withdraw 

is announced, the terminating 

library must inform other 

depository libraries within the 

same Congressional district of 

its intent to withdraw. 

• Upon receiving notification of 

a library’s intent to withdraw, 

the Regional Librarian will 

communicate once again with 

the withdrawing library’s 
AN-v25-#07-6/15/04

Congressional delegation, 

informing the delegation of the 

library’s intent and informing 

the delegation of their right to 

appoint another library if the 

withdrawal creates a vacancy 

in the FDLP program. 

 

D. Disposal Requirements 

• The Regional Librarian and the 

terminating library will negotiate the 

issue of whether the library will be

permitted to retain any materials in its 

documents collection. Potentially, all 

documents held by the library are 

eligible for claiming by documents 

libraries remaining in the program. 

• Requirements for listing of the 

library’s holdings for the benefit of 

other libraries in the program will be

finalized at this time. A time frame 

will be established for the 

withdrawing library’s preparation of 

offers lists that will be made available 

to other documents libraries in the 

state. 

• The terminating library should expect 

onsite visits from other documents 

librarians in the state as part of the 

review and claiming of items from 

their collection. 

Prepared by 

Kenneth P. Lohrentz 

Regional Documents Librarian 

Reference Librarian & 

Bibliographer 

320 Anschutz Library 

University of Kansas Libraries 

Lawrence, KS 66045-7537 

rev. 6/18/03 

Further Council recommends that 

regionals wishing to withdraw or change 

their status within the FDLP adhere to the 

following guidelines: 

The withdrawal of a regional from the FDLP 

can result in a significant risk to the historical

and cultural heritage of the nation. For this 

reason, a regional library wishing to 

withdraw from or change its status to a 

selective within the FDLP should be required 

to: 

1. Formally notify GPO of the intention

to withdraw from the FDLP a 

minimum of 2 years prior to the 

effective date of withdrawal. 

Additional notification to selective 

libraries within the state or service 

area the state library authority and 

congressional delegation are also 

required. In the case of a Regional 

that serves more than one state or 

designated with another library, this 

notification process must include all 

interested parties. 

2. Establish with GPO a collection 

review team composed of experienced 

documents librarians from all types 

and sizes of depositories from within 

the state or region. 

3. Pay consultants’ fees and other 

appropriate expenses to the librarians

on this team. 

4. Carry out the recommendations of the 

review team for the disposition of the 

collection, before depository status is 

relinquished. 

5. Pay for the cost of transferring 

depository materials. 

Review team members will: 

1. Determine the interest of other 

libraries in the state or region in 

assuming regional status. 

14 
AN-v25-#07-6/15/04

a. If a library can be found to 

assume regional status, a 

representative of the new 

regional should be on the 

review team. 

b. The new regional has first 

refusal on items from the 

depository collection of the 

regional surrendering 

depository status. 

2. Survey the collection for rare and/or 

culturally or historically significant 

materials.

3. Assure that materials which might be 

considered for discard are available 

elsewhere within the state or region. 

4. In collaboration with GPO, select 

materials for the Collection of Last 

Resort at GPO. 

5. In cooperation with the selective 

depositories previously served by the 

regional, investigate other housing 

options for important materials 

available nowhere else in the state or

region. 

5. Management of Regional Withdrawal

Council recommends that GPO prepare a plan 

to assist selectives in the event their regional 

library withdraws from the FDLP or drops 

regional status. 

6. Born Digital Information is at Risk 

Council commends GPO’s existing efforts to 

acquire, capture, catalog, preserve and 

disseminate at no-fee born-digital 

government information. Digital government 

information has an extremely short life-span 

according to several recent studies. Council 

recommends that GPO assign a very high 

strategic planning priority to developing a 

systematic approach to their efforts in this 

area. The targeted content should include a 

range of formats, including but not limited to 

documents, cartographic files and dynamic 

databases. 

7. GPO Digitization Standards 

Council thanks GPO for spearheading a 

meeting, for a wide variety of stakeholders, 

on establishing GPO digitization standards. 

Such standards are crucial for creating, 

preserving, and providing no-fee access to 

high quality digital government information. 

Council urges GPO to continue its leadership 

in identifying digitization best practices. 

Council recommends that GPO provide 

opportunities for all libraries to participate in 

this project by leveraging skills and expertise 

that may be available. Participation could 

take several forms, including provision of 

metadata, MARC cataloging, OCR scanning, 

user interface design, and other appropriate 

digitization activities. 

Council further recommends that 

GPO provide training, guidance, a 

communication forum, and technical support 

for Federal depositories participating in the 

digitization project. 

8. Web-based Government Information 

Reference 

Council recommends that GPO explore 

collaborative strategies for providing realtime government information reference 

assistance on the Web. This effort should be 

done in collaboration with the library 

community, appropriate government 

providers such as FirstGov and the Library of 

Congress, and with existing state or regional 

Web-based reference projects.

15 
AN-v25-#07-6/15/04

COMMENDATIONS 

1. William “Willie” Thompson 

Council commends William “Willie” 

Thompson upon his retirement after over 40 

years of Federal service. During most of his 

career at GPO he worked in the Documents 

Sales Service, where he held a number of 

positions, culminating in the position of

Program Analyst. He came to LPS in 1994 

and shortly after that he took on the logistical 

planning responsibilities for the Depository 

Library Council meeting and the Federal 

Depository Conference. Willie always 

greeted attendees at these meetings with his 

winning smile and helpful attitude. His 

assistance was not limited to logistics and his 

workday was endless during these events. 

Council would like to thank Willie for 

staying with the group through many late 

night meetings year after year. 

At nearly every meeting, Willie was asked to 

appear at the backdoor of the meeting area to 

receive a well deserved ovation from the 

assembled group. On many occasions he was 

always able to find a way to be absent so as 

not to be embarrassed by the thanks he 

received for "doing his job;” this year he was 

even craftier in that he retired before the 

meeting. 

In a commendation from the 1997 spring 

meeting of the Depository Library Council, 

the following statement was made: “We

deeply appreciate his efforts on our behalf, 

including the planning and coordination he 

does prior to the meetings and his cooperative 

‘can-do’ spirit when we need him to work his 

magic to smooth out logistical problems...” 

We will miss Willie’s magic and on behalf of

the entire depository library community wish 

him the best of luck in retirement.

Once again, Willie, thank you for all your 

hard work. 

2. Sheila M. McGarr 

Council commends Sheila M. McGarr for her 

many years of Federal service, including 

twenty one years at the Library Programs

Service of the Government Printing Office. 

Sheila served in many capacities at GPO: 

Library Inspector (1981-1987), Chief of the 

Depository Administration Branch (1987-

1992), Chief of the Depository Services Staff 

(1992-1999), Chief of the Library Division of 

the Library Programs Service (1999-2001), 

and finally as the Director, Collections

Management Service (2003-2004). 

Sheila was direct and insightful. She will be 

widely remember for her phrase “the FDLs: 

they want it all, they want it now and they 

want it for free.” Sheila truly understood the 

program and the libraries within it. She was a 

forceful advocate for the LPS and for access 

to government information. Depository 

librarians celebrated her return to GPO in 

2003 and will greatly miss her knowledge 

and support. Council thanks Sheila for her 

devotion to the FDLP and wishes her well. 

3. Documents Expediting Project at the 

Library of Congress 

Council applauds the Documents Expediting 

Project (DocEx) within the Library of 

Congress for the many years of outstanding 

service which benefited the Federal 

Depository Library Community. Until the 

distribution system within the FDLP matured, 

DocEx provided vital materials which served 

the needs of the depository community. 

Since its beginning in July 1946, DocEx has 

been the model of outstanding service to the 

library community and has enriched library 

collections around the world. Council wishes 

16 
AN-v25-#07-6/15/04

17 

the DocEx Staff the very best in their future 

endeavors. 

4. Stakeholder and Expert Meetings 

Council commends GPO for initiating dialog 

with various stakeholders such as library 

directors, digitization experts, the information 

industry, and Federal agencies and for 

sharing information from the meetings on the 

future of the sales program and the 

digitization preservation standards with the 

depository library community. 

Customer Relationship Management Service 

Provides Answers 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

For quick answers to your questions on depository issues or Federal government 

information products, go to: 

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/help

To see if your question has already been answered, input your search term (word or phrase, 

class number, item number, etc.) into the search box under Online Knowledge Base. 

Choose a Category: All categories 

 GPO Access 

 Online Bookstore 

Federal Depository Libraries 

Choose a Sub-Category 

 Scroll to choose the most appropriate Sub-Category 

 (for Federal Depository Libraries, see Acquisitions, Cataloging, Classification, etc.) 

If the answer to your question isn’t in the Knowledge Base, click on “Ask a Question” and 

input your information in the spaces provided. 

Choose a Category and Sub-Category to direct your question to the proper area for a faster 

response.
AN-v25-#07-6/15/04

Table of Contents 

SuDocs Invites Depository Library Directors to ALA-GODORT Lunch Meeting...................... 1 

Recommended Reading, June 2004.............................................................................................. 2 

FAA’s “Fuchsia Book” Released.................................................................................................. 4 

GPO Provides Training To Library Community (Interagency Seminar) ..................................... 5 

Science.gov 2.0 Launched ............................................................................................................ 6 

GPO Working with Science.gov To Add Content........................................................................ 7 

Summary, 2004 Spring Council Meeting ..................................................................................... 8 

Recommendations, 2004 Spring Council Meeting ....................................................................... 9 

Customer Relationship Management Service Provides Answers............................................... 17 

Administrative Notes Cumulative Table of Contents 

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/adnotes_toc.pdf 

Updated with each issue 

Searchable by keyword 

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

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

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

Postmaster send address changes to: The Editor, Administrative Notes 

U.S. Government Printing Office

 Stop SLLD 

Washington, DC 20401 

Internet access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/index.html 

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

18