Electronic Capabilities of

Federal Depository Libraries,

Summer 1994

U.S. Government Printing Office

Library Programs Service

Washington, DC 20401
U.S. Government Printing Office

Michael F. DiMario, Public Printer

Library Programs Service

Jay Young, Director
Electronic Capabilities of Federal

Depository Libraries, Summer 1 994

U.S. Government Printing Office

Library Programs Service

Washington, DC 20401

February 1995
Prepared by Marian W. MacGilvray

and John M. Walters

Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive

purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

ii
Table of Contents

List of Graphs iv

List of Abbreviations and Conventions Used v

L Background 1

n. Methodology 1

in. Response Rate 2

IV. Survey Results 6

Conclusion 41

Appendix A - Survey Questions and Answer Sheet 42

Appendix B - Comments 50

Appendix C - Questions Left Blank 59

iii
List of Graphs

Graph A. Response Rate 2

Graph B. Depositories by Percentage 4

Graph C. Respondents by Percentage 4

Graph D. Participation Rate by Type 5

Graph 1. A 1. PCs for Public Use 9

Graph 2. A 4. Purchase 486s for Public Use 10

Graph 3. A 6. Dedicated PCs 13

Graph 4. A 7. Daily Use of Electronic Products 14

Graph 5. A 9. Assistive Technologies 16

Graph 6. A 10. Public-Use Apple Macs 17

Graph 7. D 1. CD-ROM Drives for Public Use 24

Graph 8. D 4. CDROM Drives on Network 26

Graph 9. E 6. Telnet, FTP for Staff Use 29

Graph 10. E 8. Internet Access for the Public 31

Graph 11. E 9. Participate in GOVDOC-L 32

Graph 12. F 3. CD-ROM Version of Monthly Catalog 37

Graph 13. F 4. Monthly Catalog in OPAC 38

Graph 14. G 2. Expert Available to Assist 40

Table 1 . Depository Libraries and Survey Respondents by Type 3

iv
List of Abbreviations and Conventions Used

Library A depository library in the Federal Depository Library Program

Regional A depository library that receives close to 100% of all depository materials and

assumes certain responsibilities for the selective depositories in its region.

Selective A depository library that selects which depository materials it will receive.

Academic General libraries

Depository libraries in 4-year colleges and universities

Service Academy libraries

Libraries of the military service schools: West Point, Air Force Academy, etc.

Special libraries

Libraries of institutions that do not fall under any of the other categories of

depository libraries, such as the American Antiquarian Society.

Acad.

Comm

GPO

LPS

Academic

Community

Government Printing Office

Library Programs Service

v
\
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository

Libraries, Summer 1994

I. Background

The Library Programs Service (LPS) of the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO)

conducted an Electronic Capabilities Survey of Federal depository libraries during July and

August, 1994. LPS distributes U.S. Government publications to designated libraries through

the Federal Depository Library Program, authorized by Title 44, United States Code.

The purpose of the survey was to assess the computer equipment environment existing in the

1391 depository libraries. A secondary goal was to determine the capacity of depository

libraries to take advantage of the increasing numbers of Federal publications in electronic

formats that will be issued in the future.

The survey covered the basic system elements, associated software, and networking in

depository libraries. The questions dealt only with equipment accessible to the depository

staff and to public depository patrons. Equipment limited to specific library users, such as

students, faculty, etc., was not surveyed.

II. Methodology

The survey consisted of a booklet explaining the survey and containing the survey questions,

and an answer sheet. These are reproduced in Appendix A.

The survey was designed to be compiled by fax into a computer system. Answer sheets that were mailed in or that did not transmit correctly into the automated system were collected

and input separately. Duplicate returns were identified and excluded.

The survey was designed to elicit a positive response to every question. For many questions, answers of "0" or "unknown" were on the answer sheet. However, many questions had no answer marked. Libraries may have left answers unmarked for several reasons: they may not

have understood the question; they may not have known how to arrive at the correct answer,

the appropriate answer may not have been provided as an option, or there may have been

some other cause. A table showing the questions left blank and in what number appears in

Appendix C. Questions with a high rate of non-response are presumably the most

problematical. These questions are noted in the Survey Results section.

1
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Libraries were asked to return answer sheets by August 31, 1994. In actuality, responses were accepted until September 26, 1994, in order to include responses from all 53 regional

depository libraries. Regional depository libraries receive all materials distributed through

the Program, with few exceptions, and also serve as leaders and mentors to the selective

depositories in the region. Selective depositories are permitted to select which materials they

receive.

This report will serve to communicate survey information to the depository libraries and to agency publishers planning new electronic products or services. LPS will also use

information from the survey to update its Recommended Minimum Technical Guidelines for

depository computer equipment.

in. Response Rate

Response Rate

Non-Respondents (1

Respondents (82.9%)

Graph A

1153 answer sheets were returned from a total of 1391 depository libraries surveyed, giving a response rate of 83%. 238 libraries either did not return an answer sheet or returned it after

the final cut-off date.

2
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

The table below shows the number of libraries and percentage of each type in the Federal

Depository Library Program, the number of returns from each type, and the percentage of

that type responding. Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent.

Depository Libraries and Survey Respondents by Type

Library Type No. in Program

Percent of

Total

No. of

Respondents

% of Type

Responding

Academic General 694 49.9% 600 86.5%

Public 284 20.4% 231 81.3%

Academic Law 156 11.2% 128 82.1%

Community College 68 4.9% 51 75.0%

reuerai Agency 00 A no/ ^.\J /o

"5 "3 OO ftn no/ DU.U /o

State 47 3.4% 44 93.6%

State Court 36 2.6% 31 86.1%

Special 26 1.9% 18 69.2%

Federal Court 20 1.4% 13 65.0%

Service Academy 5 0.4% 4 80.0%

TOTAL 1391 1153

Regionals 53 3.8 53 100.0

Selectives 1338 96.2 1100 79.1

Table 1

All 53 regional libraries, which make up nearly 4% of the 1391 depository libraries,

responded to the survey. Regional libraries are not a separate type, however. 33 are university or college (Academic General) libraries, 14 are State libraries, 5 are large public

libraries, and one is a special library. Regional libraries are therefore included in figures for

these types of libraries. Regional library results are also shown separately.

3
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Depositories by Percentage

Graph B

Respondents by Percentage

Service Academy (0.3%)

Federal Court (1.1%)-

Special (1.6%)-!

State Court (2.7%) -i 1 State (3.8%) -s^-^l

Federal Agency (2. 9%)^^^^^^ \

Community College (4.4%)^^''^ >y \

!

Academic Law (11.1%)

\

\ j -Academic (52.0%)

' \/\ ' \ 1 \ / Public (20.0%)

1

/

Graph C

4
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Participation Rate by Type

100

CDQ.

5^

C

CDO

(D CL

75 -

2 50 -

25

0 J-* 1 Academic Public Law Comm.

College

Fed. Agency

State

Library State Court

Special Fed. Court

Service Acad Graph D

All ten types of libraries responded to the survey, roughly in proportion to their

representation in the Program. Only Federal agency libraries, Federal court libraries, and

special libraries responded at a rate lower than 75 % . The high rate of return and the

proportionate response by all types of libraries lead us to conclude that the data are valid and

representative of the electronic capabilities of depository libraries.

5
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

TV. Survey Results

The survey results follow the organization of the answer sheet. The text of the question

appears first, followed by the tabular data which are shown in two sections. The first section

contains figures for all respondents, all regional respondents, and all selective respondents.

The second section contains figures for each of the 10 types of depository library. Each

column is totalled, and each total is shown as a percentage of all respondents in that

category. For example, in question A 1, 205 selectives said they had XTs. 205 is 18.6% of

the 1100 selective respondents (see Table 1). All percentages are rounded to the nearest

tenth of one percent.

A text section follows the data, highlighting the results for all libraries, for regionals, for

academic general, and for public libraries. Regionals are emphasized because of their

leadership role in the Program, and academic general and public because together they make

up 70% of all depositories and 72% of all respondents.

The answer sheet included "0" as an option for almost all questions. This choice has been

omitted in the data on the following pages.

A. Computer System Units

This section was designed to collect information on computer systems available for depository

patron use or staff administrative functions.

A 1 How many IBM compatible computers of each model type listed are available for use by

public depository patrons? ^ v

PCXT All Regionals Selectives

1 115 4 111

2-4 69 5 64

5-10 25 1 24

11-20 7 1 6

21-40 0 0 0

>40 0 0 0

Totals 216 11 205

% of Respondents 18.7 20.8 18.6

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 63 13 7 3 1 20 1 0 3 4

2-4 38 6 6 1 1 9 0 4 2 2

5-10 12 7 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0

11-205 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0

21-400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

>40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 118 26 14 4 2 35 1 4 6 6

% of Respondents 19.7 20.3 27.5 12.1 15.4 15.2 25.0 22.2 19.4 13.6

6
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

AT286 All Regionals Selectives

1 222 17 205

2-4 138 g 129

5-10 27 0 27

11-20 9 0 9

21-40 3 1 2

>40 2 0 2

Totals 401 27 374

% of Respondents 34.8 50.9 34.0

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 120 26 11 1 1 47 0 1 4 11 2-4 79 6 11 6 0 22 0 2 3 9

5-10 18 1 0 1 0 7 0 0 0 0

11-20 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

21-40 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

>40 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

Totals 228 34 22 8 1 77 0 3 8 20

% of Respondents 38.0 26.6 43.1 24.2 7.7 33.3 0.0 16.7 25.8 45.5

AT386 All Regionals Selectives

1 227 12 215

2-4 229 20 209

5-10 83 5 78

11-20 24 2 22

21-40 12 1 11 >40 6 0 6

Totals 581 40 541

% of Respondents 50.4 75.5 49.2

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 127 22 10 4 4 46 1 1 2 10

2-4 128 15 11 9 0 47 1 2 5 11 5-10 55 6 2 3 0 10 0 2 0 5

11-20 13 2 3 0 0 4 1 1 0 0

21-40 9 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0

>40 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

Totals 337 45 27 17 4 108 3 6 8 26

% of Respondents 56.2 35.2 52.9 51.5 30.8 46.8 75.0 33.3 25.8 59.1

AT486 All Regionals Selectives

1 249 13 236

2-4 212 17 195

5-10 79 8 71 11-20 25 1 24

21-40 16 0 16

>40 11 1 10

Totals 592 40 552

% of Respondents 51.3 75.5 50.2

7
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 137 23 11 9 2 48 0 3 5 11 2-4 138 9 5 8 0 40 1 0 2 9

5-10 47 10 7 1 0 12 0 1 0 1 11-20 18 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 1 21-40 15 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

>40 6 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0

Totals 361 46 23 19 2 104 1 5 9 22

% of Respondents 60.2 35.9 45.1 57.6 15.4 45.0 25.0 27.8 29.0 50.0

(

Unknown All Regionals Selectives

1 11 0 11 2-4 11 0 11 5-10 4 0 4

11-20 3 1 2

21-40 0 0 0

>40 0 0 0

Totals 29 1 28

% of Respondents 2.5 1.9 2.5

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 4 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 1 2-4 5 0 2 0 0 3 0 1 0 0

5-10 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

11-20 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0

21-40 d 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

>40 d 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 12 0 3 1 0 10 0 2 0 1 % of Respondents 2.0 0.0 5.9 3.0 0.0 4.3 0.0 11.1 0.0 2.3

Libraries were presented with four types of PC. 617 libraries have older, low-capacity XTs

and 286s. 581 libraries have the 386. 592 have the higher capacity 486 or better models.

29 libraries reported that they had PCs of an unknown type available to the public. Only 77

libraries, 7% of the respondents, said they had no publicly-available PCs. Most libraries

probably have a variety of models, and keep older models in use while upgrading to more

advanced models.

40 regional libraries, 361 academic general, and 104 public libraries reported having 486s for

public use.

93.3% of all the responding libraries, 100% of the regionals, 97.3 of the academic general,

and 90.9% of the public libraries reported having some type of PC for public use.

8
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

A1. PCs for Public Use

All Regional Academic Public

Graph 1

Phone calls from depository staff revealed that some libraries had difficulty answering this

question, because of different styles of library organization. The depository may be a subunit of the parent library, or depository responsibilities and materials, including computers,

may be distributed throughout the library. Which computers belong to the depository may

not be readily apparent in those libraries where depository responsibilities, staff, and

equipment are not located in a discrete unit.

Different libraries may have answered this first question according to strict or loose

interpretations. In the case of strict interpretation, the computers counted would be those

which are considered part of the depository resources only and utilized for government

supplied electronic products. This would result in a limited number of computers being

counted.

The loose interpretation would count all computers that could theoretically be made available

to the depository patron, whatever their location and function within the institution. This

interpretation would obviously result in a much larger count. Responses to question A 1 were probably made using both types of interpretation.

9
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

A 2 What is the maximum amount of RAM installed on IBM compatible computers available

to public depository patrons?

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent <640K 55 4.8 2 3.8 53 4.8 640K-2Mb 290 25.2 10 18.9 280 25.5

4Mb-8Mb 512 44.4 23 43.4 489 44.5

>8<16Mb 60 5.2 9 17.0 51 4.6 >=16Mb 62 5.4 7 13.2 55 5.0 Unknown 50 4.3

' 0

0.0 50 4.5 No IBMs 93 8.1 0.0 93 8.5

brary Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State state General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

<640K 33 4 4 4 0 8 1 0 0 1 640K-2Mb 150 31 10 6 4 62 1 3 9 14

4Mb-8Mb 288 48 22 12 4 104 1 6 8 19

>8<16Mb 41 2 3 1 0 9 0 0 1 3

>=16Mb 37 9 2 3 0 6 1 1 0 3

Unknown 17 8 4 4 1 9 0 4 0 3

No IBMs 17 22 5 2 2 31 0 3 10 1

55 libraries reported maximums of less than 640k, 290 reported between 640k and 2Mb, 512

reported between 4 and 8Mb, 60 reported greater than 8 and up to 16Mb, and 62 reported

greater than 16Mb. On the high end, 16 regionals, 78 academic general, and 15 public

libraries reported more than 8Mb of RAM.

Phone calls received on this question revealed some confusion about the term RAM, which

was not defined. Callers sometimes confused RAM with hard disk drive capacity. Some

librarians were not aware of any way to determine the amount of RAM in their computers, or

they may have misinterpreted the amount given by DOS. However, the data indicate a general proportion that is consistent with the responses to question A 1

.

A 3 Are any advanced IBM compatible microcomputers, known as "professional workstations,"

available to public depository patrons?

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent YES 129 11.2 6 11.3 123 11.2 NO 899 78.0 44 83.0 855 77.7 Unknown 104 9.0 3 5.7 101 9.2

Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

YES 81 10 4 4 1 14 0 4 6 5

NO 448 106 44 26 11 190 4 13 23 34

Unknown 62 7 3 3 1 22 0 0 1 5

129 libraries indicated that they had professional workstations available to the public. Of

these, 6 were regionals, 81 were academic general, and 14 were public libraries.

10
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

This question may also have been a source of confusion for depository librarians, since the

term "professional workstation" was not defined. Also, there may be a technical problem

with the question since while IBM does manufacture professional workstations, they are not

considered "IBM compatible" as in "PC compatible." The leading manufacturers of

workstations are DEC, Sun Microsystems and Hewlett Packard, not IBM. Workstations are powered by RISC processors and operate with an advanced operating system such as UNIX

or Windows NT. In response to question F 2, 69 libraries reported using UNIX.

A 4 How many IBM compatible computers based on the 80486 or faster processor (Pentium)

does your library plan to purchase within the next 12 months for use primarily by public

depository patrons?

All Regionals Selectives

1 216 8 208

2-4 124 11 113

5-10 36 4 32

11-20 10 1 9

21-40 7 2 5

>40 5 2 3

Totals 398 28 370

% of Respondents 34.5 52.8 33.6

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 122 22 8 1 2 47 1 2 5 6

2-4 68 13 3 6 0 22 0 0 5 7 5-10 24 2 1 1 0 8 0 0 0 0

11-20 5 1 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0

21-40 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 >40 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 Totals 227 38 12 10 2 80 1 3 10 15

% of Respondents 37.8 29.7 23.5 30.3 15.4 34.6 25.0 16.7 32.3 34.1

398 libraries indicated that they planned purchasing anywhere from 1 to over 40 486 or faster

computers for public use. Of these, 28 were regionals, 227 were academic general, and 80 were public libraries.

11
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

A 4. Purchase 486s for Public Use

100

c

<u •ac

o

a.

a:

75

50

25

0

All Regional Academic Public

Graph 2

A 5 How many IBM compatible computers based on the 80486 or faster processor (Pentium)

does your library plan to purchase within the next 12 months for use primarily by

depository staff?

All Regionals Selectives

1 239 8 231

2-4 119 9 110

5-10 13 - 0 13

11-20 . 6 1 5

21-40 5 1 4

>40 1 1 0

Totals 383 20 363

% of Respondents 33.2 37.7 33.0

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 112 32 8 4 5 56 1 3 10 8

2-4 68 18 3 5 1 11 0 3 4 6

5-10 6 1 0 1 0 3 0 1 1 0

11-20 2 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0

21-40 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 >40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Totals 190 52 11 14 6 71 1 7 15 16

% of Respondents 31.7 40.6 21.6 42.4 46.2 30.7 25.0 38.9 48.4 36.4

12
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

383 libraries indicated that they planned purchasing anywhere from 1 to over 40 486 or faster

computers for staff use. Of these, 20 were regionals, 190 were academic general, and 71 were public libraries.

A 6 How many IBM compatible computers available to public depository patrons are dedicated to a sole information product or service and are not available for any other

use?

All Regionals Selectives

1 214 13 201

2 71 6 65

3 34 0 34

4 24 0 24

>4 57 1 56

Totals 400 20 380

% of Respondents 34.7 37.7 34.5

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 131 21 5 2 0 42 1 1 1 10

2 39 3 5 0 0 17 1 1 1 4

3 20 2 4 0 0 7 0 0 0 1 4 13 2 0 1 0 7 0 0 1 0

>4 33 10 2 2 0 8 0 1 1 0

Totals 236 38 16 5 0 81 2 3 4 15

% of Respondents 39.3 29.7 31.4 15.2 0 35.1 50 16.7 12.9 34.1

400 libraries reported having dedicated PCs, in numbers ranging from 1 to more than 4. Of

these, 20 were regionals, 236 were academic general, and 81 were public libraries.

100

75

A 6. Dedicated PCs

c

(U T3C

o

<0 a: 50

25

All Regional Academic Public

Graph 3

13
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

A 7 On average, how many people (both patrons and staff) would you estimate use

depository electronic products at the library daily?

All Regionals Selectives

1 194 2 192

2-4 287 7 280

5-10 198 11 187

11-20 117 19 98

21-40 54 8 46

>40 29 4 25

Totals 879 51 828

% of Respondents 76.2 96.2 75.3

By Library Type Acad.c Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 96 23 11 11 3 33 1 4 7 5

2-4 170 24 12 9 0 53 0 2 4 13

5-10 115 7 6 5 0 52 2 0 1 10

. 11-20 86 2 2 1 0 18 1 0 1 6

21-40 32 2 0 0 0 14 0 1 1 4

>40 18 1 0 0 0 9 0 0 1 0

Totals 517 59 31 26 3 179 4 7 15 38

% of Respondents 86.2 46.1 60.8 78.8 23.1 77.5 100.0 38.9 48.4 86.4

879 libraries reported daily use, by at least one and up to more than 40 people. 51 of the

regionals, 517 academic general, and 179 public libraries reported daily use of depository

electronic products.

A 7. Daily Use of Electronic Products

100

Graph 4

14
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

A 8 On average, how many hours would you estimate the depository electronic products are used daily?

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent <30MIN 445 38.6 0 0.0 445 40.5

30-59MIN 195 16.9 10 18.9 185 16.8 1-1.5HRS. 176 15.3 9 17.0 167 15.2 >1.5HRS. 275 23.9 32 60.4 243 22.1

Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

<30MIN 170 88 34 20 10 81 1 11 20 10

30-59MIN 113 12 9 4 1 37 2 2 5 10

1-1.5HRS. 106 10 3 6 0 37 0 2 2 10

>1.5HRS. 185 6 1 2 1 65 1 1 1 12

445 libraries reported less than 30 minutes daily use of depository electronic products; 195

libraries reported between 30 and 59 minutes use; 176 reported between 1 and 1.5 hours use; and 275 reported greater than 1.5 hours use. 32 regionals reported greater than 1.5 hours

use; 185 academic general reported greater than 1.5 hours use; and 65 public libraries

reported greater than 1.5 hours use.

A 9 How many IBM compatible computers available to public depository patrons are equipped with "assistive technologies" for the use of visually impaired persons?

All Regionals Selectives

1 62 5 57

2-4 15 1 14

5-10 4 0 4

11-20 1 0 1 21-40 0 0 0

>40 2 1 1 Totals 84 7 77

% of Respondents 7.3 13.2 7.0

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State state General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 37 7 4 1 0 10 0 1 0 2

2-4 10 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 5-10 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

11-20 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

21-40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

>40 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 50 9 5 2 0 14 0 1 0 3

% of Respondents 8.3 7.0 9.8 6.1 0.0 6.1 0.0 5.6 0.0 6.8

84 libraries reported varying numbers of PCs equipped with "assistive technologies" for the use of visually impaired persons. 7 regionals, 50 academic, and 14 public libraries reported

having PCs with these "assistive technologies."

15
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

A 9. Assistive Technologies

100

75

0) T3cI 50 0)

25

0

All

1 1^—

Regional Academic Public

Graph 5

A 10 How many Apple Macintosh computers are available for use by public depository

patrons?

All Regionals Selectives

1 44 4 40

2-4 25 1 24

5-10 15 0 15

11-20 11 2 9

21-40 6 1 5

>40 1 0 1 Totals 102 8 94

% of Respondents 8.8 15.1 8.5

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 24 4 0 1 0 10 0 1 0 4

2-4 16 2 2 2 0 2 0 1 0 0

5-10 11 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

11-20 7 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0

21-40 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

>40 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

Totals 63 9 4 3 0 16 0 3 0 4

% of Respondents 10.5 7.0 7.8 9.1 0.0 6.9 0.0 16.7 0.0 9.1

16
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

102 libraries reported having varying numbers of Apple Macintosh computers for public use. 8 regionals, 63 academic general, and 16 public libraries reported having public-use Apple

Macintosh computers.

100

75

A 10. Public-Use Apple Macs

c

(U T3c

O

Q.

(D 50

25

0

All Regional Acadennic Public

Graph 6

B, C, & D. The questions on hard disk drives, floppy disk drives, and CD-ROM drives are

limited to IBM compatible computers. Do not include Apple Macintosh computers when

answering these questions.

B. Hard Disk Drives

B 1 How many IBM compatible computers available to either depository patrons or staff

have hard disk drives installed, and what is their capacity in megabytes? Show how

many units have each capacity range. Do not consider effects of disk partitioning or use

of compression software in answering this question.

<50Meg All Regionals Selectives

1 192 4 188

2-4 272 23 249

5-10 101 7 94

11-20 31 0 31 21-40 15 2 13

>40 4 0 4

Unknown 62 1 61

Totals 677 37 640

% of Respondents 58.7 69.8 58.2

17
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 100 19 8 4 2 46 0 0 4 9

2-4 137 30 15 8 3 53 2 7 7 10

5-10 59 7 3 3 0 22 0 2 1 4

11-20 18 3 2 1 0 6 0 0 0 1 21-40 10 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0

>40 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

Unknown 26 8 2 4 2 13 0 2 3 2

Totals 352 69 31 23 7 140 2 12 15 26

% of Respondents 58.7 53.9 60.8 ^9.7 53.8 60.6 50.0 66.7 48.4 59.1

51-100 All Regionals Selectives

1 161 4 157

2-4 161 12 149

5-10

' 51 5 46

11-20 8 0 8

21-40 10 1 9

>40 6 2 4

Unknown 47 1 46

Totals 444 25 419

% of Respondents 38.5 47.2 38.1

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 87 12 10 2 3 37 0 2 1 7

2-4 105 14 6 2 2 19 1 1 2 9

5-10 28 8 3 3 0 5 0 1 1 2

11-20 6 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0

21-40 6 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0

>40 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Unknown 24 6 0 2 2 8 0 2 2 1 Totals 260 41 19 11 7 72 1 7 6 20

% of Respondents 43.3 32.0 37.3 33.3 53.8 31.2 25.0 38.9 19.4 45.5

101-200 All Regionals Selectives

1 177 10 167

2-4 167 14 153

5-10 53 5 48

11-20 22 1 21 21-40 9 0 9

>40 6 1 5

Unknown 43 1 42

Totals 477 32 445

% of Respondents 41.4 60.4 40.5

18
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 96 •17 A

\ f 4 1 b

A A40 0 0 7 6

2-4 89 'i A "7 14 / o 1 oo 1 1 5 1

3

5-10 31 1 £. o r\

£. U

•71 Au

0

1 A0

11-20 12 A O 4 £. U U

0

1

A

1 0 0

21-40 6

o c\

£. U U 0

A 0 0

A

1 0

>40 2 1 U U 0 1 0 1 1 Unknown 22 6 0 1 2 7 0 2 2 1 Totals 258 51 15 7 9 90 2 7 17 21 % of Respondents 43.0 39.8 29.4 21.2 69.2 39.0 50.0 38.9 54.8 47.7

201-300 All Regionals Selectives

1 108 O 102

2-4 82 71 7C

5-10 24 A4

OA

11-20 12 o

£.

'1 A 21-40 3

A

1 >40 2 U

Unknown 44 1 43

Totals 275 Z i OKA ^04

% of Respondents 23.9 39.6 23.1

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special btate otate General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 55 7 '5

/ o

Q A O (J OK A

\ A4

A4 b

2-4 55 o U To Au

AUAU

A4

5-10 15 U U

A4

AU

A

\

.1

1 AU

11-20 7 U U 1 1 £. AU

AU

A

\ Au 21-40 3 U U U U

AUAuAuAU

A

U >40 2 U U

A A U U AUAuAu AUAu Unknown 20 7 0 2 2 8 0 2 2 1 Totals 157 20 7 9 3 52 1 7 8 11 % of Respondents 26.2 15.6 13.7 27.3 23.1 22.5 25.0 38.9 25.8 25.0

>300 All Regionals Selectives

1 84 7C

2-4 54 7

5-10 16 0 lb

11-20 8 1 7f 21-40 1 U

A

I >40 1 0

A

1 Unknown 46 11 AK

Totals 210 18 192

% of Respondents 18.2 34.0 17.5

19
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 45 12 1 0 0 19 1 0 2 4

2-4 33 4 2 0 0 7 0 1 3 4

5-10 10 1 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 0

11-20 - 1 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 21-40 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

>40 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

Unknown 21 6 0 2 2 10 0 2 2 1 Totals 111 25 4 7 2 39 1 3 7 11 % of Respondents 18.5 19.5 7.8 21.2 15.4 16.9 25.0 16.7 22.6 25.0

677 libraries reported PCs with less than 50 Mb of hard drive capacity, 444 reported between

51 and 100 Mb, 477 reported between 101 and 200 Mb, 275 reported between 201 and 300

Mb, and 210 reported over 300 Mb. 18 regionals. 111 academic general, and 39 public

libraries reported over 300 Mb. These totals include those libraries answering "unknown."

We are presuming that they did know they had PCs of the capacity in question, but did not

know how many. However, they may have been uncertain whether or not they had PCs of

the specified capacity, and therefore answered "unknown" instead of "0."

Phone calls indicated that the capacity of hard drives was confused with RAM memory in

some cases. Some libraries had difficulty determining the capacity, and in general it can be

difficult to determine. Some libraries may have reported the remaining amount rather than

the total amount.

Large percentages of the responding libraries, ranging from 31% to 62.9%, left the different

parts of this question blank. This further indication of uncertainty suggests that the answers

received may be of minimal value.

B 2 What is the average amount of free hard disk space in these IBM compatible computers?

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent <50 Mb 449 38.9 16 30.2 3 433 39.4

51-100 Mb 248 21.5 19 35.8 229 20.8 101-200 Mb 116 10.1 7 13.2 109 9.9 201-300 Mb 31 2.7 2 3.8 29 2.6 >300 Mb 20 1.7 ^ 0 0.0 20 1.8 Unknown 221 19.2 8 15.1 213 19.4

Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

<50 Mb 246 41 19 15 5 91 1 7 8 16

51-100 Mb 136 20 12 6 2 47 0 1 10 14

101-200 Mb 66 11 2 2 0 28 1 2 0 4

201-300 Mb 20 3 1 0 1 5 0 0 1 0

>300 Mb 6 4 2 1 0 6 0 0 0 1 Unknown 95 36 12 8 5 40 2 7 9 7

20
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

The same ranges in megabytes were presented as in the previous question. 449 libraries

reported less than 50 Mb of free hard disk space, 248 reported between 51 and 100 Mb, 116

reported between 101 and 200 Mb, 31 reported between 201 and 300 Mb, and 20 reported over 300 Mb. No regionals, 6 academic general, and 6 public libraries reported over 300

Mb.

C. Floppy Disk Drives

C 1 How many IBM compatible computers for either depository patrons or staff have both

5.25" and 3.5" floppy disk drives installed?

All Regionals Selectives

1 300 11 289

2-4 382 21 361

5-10 134 12 122

11-20 46 1 45

21-40 23 1 22

>40 12 1 11 Totals 897 47 850

% of Respondents 77.8 88.7 77.3

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 154 33 14 4 6 65 0 4 9 11 2-4 188 39 12 14 4 92 2 7 7 17

5-10 84 14 10 4 1 13 1 1 1 5 11-20 30 4 0 5 0 3 1 1 0 2 21-40 14 6 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0

>40 5 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 2 0

Totals 475 97 36 30 11 176 4 14 19 35

% of Respondents 79.2 75.8 70.6 90.9 84.6 76.2 100.0 77.8 61.3 79.5

897 libraries reported having both size floppy disks on their PCs. 47 regionals, 475

academic general, and 176 public libraries had both.

C 2 How many of each of the floppy disk sizes listed are installed on IBM compatible

computers for either depository patrons or staff?

360 K All Regionals Selectives

1 140 6 134

2-4 133 10 123

5-10 42 2 40

11-20 16 2 14

21-40 6 0 6

>40 0 0 0

Totals 337 20 317

% of Respondents 29.2 37.7 28.8

21
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal 1 w 1 m Public V General Law Colleae Anencv Court Pni irt 1..IUI cii y

1 74 16 10 2 1 25 0 1 7

2-4 71 16 6 7 0 19 2 3 2 7 5-10 24 2 4 2 0 9 0 0 1 0

11-20 8 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 21-40 3 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

>40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 180 40 20 12 2 54 2 5 7 15

% of RpsDondpnts 30.0 31.3 39.2 36.4 r

15.4 23.4 50.0 27.8 22 6 "^4 1

1.2 Mb All Regionals Selectives

1 183 4 179

2-4 308 24 284

5-10 81 8 73

11-20

' 33 2 31 21-40 18 0 18

>40 9 1 8

Totals 632 39 593

% of Respondents 54.8 73.6 53.9

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Soecial State State General Law College Agency Court Academv Court Library

1 104 19 9 3 1 39 0 1 3 4

2-4 154 25 10 5 6 79 1 5 9 14

5-10 49 6 3 3 0 17 0 1 0 2 11-20 22 2 1 5 0 1 0 1 0 1 21-40 7 6 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 0

>40 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0

Totals ' 341 58 23 19 7 138 1 10 14 21 % of Respondents 56.8 45.3 45.1 57.6 53.8 59.7 25.0 55.6 45.2 47.7

720 K All Regionals Selectives

1 102 4 98

2-4 94 6 88

5-10 38 2 36

11-20 13 1 12

21-40 5 0 5

>40 - V::Vt.; . 0 1 Totals 253 13 240

% of Respondents 21.9 24.5 21.8

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Soecial \J li^WWlbll State State General Law College Agency Court Arariprnv Court Library

1 63 12 3 1 0 16 0 0 3 4

2-4 56 9 7 1 0 16 1 1 2 1 5-10 24 2 3 1 0 6 0 0 2 0

11-20 9 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0

21-40 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

>40 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 156 26 13 4 0 39 2 1 7 5

% of Respondents 26.0 20.3 25.5 12.1 0.0 16.9 50.0 5.6 22.6 11.4

22
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

1.44 Mb All Regionals Selectives

1 179 4 175

2-4 369 20 349

5-10 172 15 157

11-20 66 6 60

21-40 40 0 40

>40 19 2 17

Totals 845 47 798

% of Respondents 73.3 88.7 72.5

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 89 20 7 2 1 46 0 1 6 7

2-4 182 44 15 10 4 81 2 4 10 17

5-10 107 13 7 3 0 27 0 4 4 7

11-20 45 7 3 4 0 3 1 0 0 3

21-40 25 8 0 1 0 4 0 1 1 0

>40 14 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0

Totals 462 93 32 21 5 162 3 11 22 34

% of Respondents 77.0 72.7 62.7 63.6 38.5 70.1 75.0 61.1 71.0 77.3

337 libraries had 360 K drives; 632 had 1.2 Mb drives; 253 had 720 K drives; and 845 had

1.44 Mb drives. 47 regionals, 462 academic general, and 162 public libraries had 1.44 Mb

drives.

D. CD-ROM

D 1 How many drives are attached to IBM compatible computers available to public

depository patrons? Include computers attached to networked CD-ROM drives.

All Regionals Selectives

1 190 2 188

2-4 317 11 306

5-10 258 17 241

11-20 136 10 126

21-40 67 5 62

>40 41 7 34

Totals 1009 52 957

% of Respondents 87.5 98.1 87.0

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 97 28 9 4 4 36 0 3 5 4

2-4 174 33 14 8 2 60 1 2 9 14

5-10 148 19 9 7 1 58 0 3 4 9

11-20 74 9 9 5 0 29 0 1 0 9

21-40 47 2 0 1 0 11 3 0 1 2

>40 28 2 0 3 0 4 0 1 1 2

Totals 568 93 41 28 7 198 4 10 20 40

% of Respondents 94.7 72.7 80.4 84.8 53.8 85.7 100.0 55.6 64.5 90.9

23
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

1009 libraries reported having varying numbers of CD-ROM drives attached to PCs available

to the public. 52 regionals, 568 academic general, and 198 public libraries reported having

them. The overwhelming majority of depositories do make CD-ROM drives available to the

public. CD-ROM technology has obviously entered the mainstream and become a routine source of information.

D 2 Are any CD-ROM drives designated as 2X (double speed), 3X (triple speed) etc., available to public depository patrons on IBM compatible computers? Indicate the

fastest one.

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent 2X 304 26.4 21 39.6 283 25.7

3X 36 3.1 2 3.8 34 3.1 4X 48 4.2 1 1.9 47 4.3 No 572 49.6 20 37.7 552 50.2 Unknown 152 13.2 7 13.2 145 13.2

Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

2X 169 33 10 11 1 49 0 5 6 20

3X 17 4 0 1 1 6 0 1 4 2

4X 34 0 4 0 0 9 1 0 0 0

No 284 72 28 16 8 124 1 8 16 15

Unknown 75 14 7 5 2 35 2 4 4 4

24
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

304 libraries reported having 2X CD-ROM drives; 36 reported having 3X CD-ROM drives;

48 reported having 4X CD-ROM drives. 1 regional, 34 academic general, and 9 public

libraries reported having 4X CD-ROM drives.

D 3 Are any of the IBM compatible computer systems available to either depository patrons

or staff equipped for Multi-Media support?

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent YES 207 18.0 9 17.0 198 18.0 NO 871 75.5 44 83.0 827 75.2 Unknown 49 4.2 0 0.0 49 4.5

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

YES 113 18 13 11 2 39 0 2 2 7 NO 450 100 34 21 11 179 3 12 25 36

Unknown 24 6 3 1 0 7 1 3 3 1

207 libraries reported PCs equipped for Multi-Media support. 9 regionals, 113 academic

general, and 39 public libraries reported this capability.

D 4 How many IBM compatible computers available to either depository patrons or staff access CD-ROM drives via a network?

All Regionals Selectives

1 61 1 60

2-4 120 9 111 5-10 101 5 96

11-20 63 6 57

21-40 30 2 28

>40 30 3 27

Totals 405 26 379

% of Respondents 35.1 49.1 34.5

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

1 32 7 3 2 2 8 0 1 5 1 2-4 62 18 3 3 6 19 2 1 1 5 5-10 60 8 6 0 0 19 0 3 0 5 11-20 42 6 5 5 0 2 1 0 0 2 21-40 22 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 2 1 >40 20 2 1 2 1 1 0 1 1 1 Totals 238 42 18 14 9 50 3 7 9 15

% of Respondents 39.7 32.8 35.3 42.4 69.2 21.6 75.0 38.9 29.0 34.1

25
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

405 libraries reported varying numbers of PCs accessing CD-ROM drives via a network. 26

regionals, 238 academic general, and 50 public libraries reported having network access for

CD-ROM.

100

75

c

«ac

o

a.

If) 50

25

0

Graph 8

D 4. CD-ROM Drives on Network

All Regional Academic Public

E. Networks and Telecommunications

This section covers depository computer connections to other computer systems or services.

E 1 Are depository computers connected by a LAN (Local Area Network)?

For Patrons

YES

NO

All Percent 353 30.6

770 66.8

Regionals Percent 23 43.4

29 54.7

Selectives Percent 330 30.0

741 67.4

By Library Type Acad.

General

YES 210

NO 377

Acad. Comm. Federal Federal

Law College Agency Court 33 18 16 2

89 32 17 10

Public Service Special

Academy

43 2 6

182 2 11

State State Court Library

9 14

21 29

For Staff YES

NO

All Percent 473 41.0

614 53.3

Regionals Percent 26 49.1 24 45.3

Selectives

447

590

Percent

40.6

53.6

26
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Sen/ice Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

YES 256 72 21 23 9 51 2 9 11 19

NO 316 46 28 9 3 165 1 7 16 23

353 libraries reported LANs on PCs available to patrons. 23 regionals, 210 academic

general, and 43 public libraries reported having them.

473 libraries reported LANs on PCs available to staff. 26 regionals, 256 academic general,

and 51 public libraries reported having LANs on staff PCs.

E 2 Which network software is in use for the LAN?

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent Banyan VINES 20 1.7 2 3.8 18 1.6 Novell Netware 376 32.6 20 37.7 356 32.4

LAN Manager 15 1.3 2 3.8 13 1.2 Lantastic 27 2.3 1 1.9 26 2.4

Multiple Software 10 0.9 1 1.9 9 0.8 Other 106 9.2 3 5.7 103 9.4 Unknown 202 17.5 5 9.4 197 17.9

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

Banyan VINES 9 3 0 3 0 2 1 0 1 1 Novell Netware 207 60 15 18 8 37 2 7 9 13

LAN Manager 8 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2

Lantastic 13 1 2 0 0 11 0 0 0 0

Multiple Software 9 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

Other 64 6 5 4 1 18 0 1 2 5

Unknown 80 29 10 2 1 55 0 5 9 11 Of the network software listed, by far the most used is Novell Netware, with 376 library users. The next highest choice is "other," marked by 106 libraries. 20 regionals, 207

academic general, and 37 public libraries use Novell Netware.

E 3 Are terminal emulation hardware and software used to connect depository computers to a mainframe?

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent YES 400 34.7 24 45.3 376 34.2 NO 651 56.5 27 50.9 624 56.7 Unknown 57 4.9 2 3.8 55 5.0

By Library Type Acad Acad Comm Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

YES 249 57 15 12 0 37 1 6 10 13

NO 306 56 33 18 6 176 3 10 17 26

Unknown 23 11 2 2 6 8 0 0 2 3

27
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

400 libraries reported having PCs connected to a mainframe computer. 24 regionals, 249

academic general, and 37 public libraries had mainframe connections.

E 4 Are depository computers hard-wired (directly and continuously connected) to the

Internet?

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent YES 346 30.0 25 47.2 321 29.2

NO 750 65.0 27 50.9 723 65.7

Unknown 18 1.6 1 1.9 17 1.5

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

YES 243 51 10 6 1 16 1 3 1 14

NO 331 71 39 25 11 201 3 14 27 28

Unknown 10 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 1 1

346 libraries reported having a direct Internet connection. 25 regionals, 243 academic

general, and 16 public libraries reported having one.

E 5 Are Internet programs such as Telnet and FTP accessible on computers available to public depository patrons?

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent YES 336 29.1 18 34.0 318 28.9

NO 766 66.4 34 64.2 732 66.5

Unknown 13 1.1 0 0.0 13 1.2

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

YES 242 31 14 4 1 28 1 3 0 12

NO 339 92 34 27 10 192 3 12 26 31

Unknown 5 1 2 2 0 0 0 1 2 0

336 libraries reported having Telnet and FTP available to the public. 18 regionals, 242

academic general, and 28 public libraries reported that they provide this access to the public.

(See responses to question E 8 for public access to Internet in general, not specifically to Telnet and FTP.)

28
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

E 6 Are Internet programs such as Telnet and FTP accessible on computers available to depository staff?

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent YES 920 79.8 48 90.6 872 79.3

NO 195 16.9 4 7.5 191 17.4 Unknown 8 0.7 1 1.9 7 0.6

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

YES 518 117 37 25 6 151 4 9 15 38

NO 66 5 12 8 6 72 0 8 13 5

Unknown 3 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0

920 libraries reported having Telnet and FTP accessible on computers available to depository

staff. 48 regionals, 518 academic general, and 151 public libraries provide this access to

staff.

E 6. Telnet, FTP for Staff Use

100 T

Graph 9

E 7 Is part-time access to the Internet available on depository computers through modem dial- up of a communications provider?

, All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent YES 369 32.0 24 45.3 345 31.4

NO 702 60.9 27 50.9 675 61.4

Unknown 36 3.1 2 3.8 34 3.1

29
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

YES 158 31 14 8 7 108 1 6 15 21 NO 402 85 33 23 5 111 3 10 10 20

Unknown 20 6 2 0 0 4 0 0 3 1

369 libraries indicated that they connected to the Internet via modem dial-up of a communications provider. 24 regionals, 158 academic general, and 108 public libraries

reported providing Internet access via modem.

E 8 How many computer terminals give Internet access to public depository patrons?

All Regionals Selectives

1 163 4 159

2-4 122 . 10 112

5-10 61 3 58

11-20 34 3 31

21-40 25 1 24

>40 23 4 19

Totals 428 25 403

% of Respondents 37.1 47.2 36.6

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal

General Law College Agency

1 95 15 7 3

2-4 90 7 5 2

5-10 40 9 6 0

11-20 27 2 1 0

21-40 22 2 0 0

>40 20 1 0 0

Totals 294 36 19 5

% of Respondents 49.0 28.1 37.3 15.2

Federal Public Service Special State State Court Academy Court Library

1 29 2 3 3 5 0 10 0 0 1 7 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0

0 1 0 1 0 0

1 47 2 5 4 15

7.7 20.3 50.0 27.8 12.9 34.1

428 libraries reported giving Internet access to the public. 25 regionals, 294 academic

general, and 47 public libraries reported that they provide public Internet access.

30
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

E 8. Internet Access for the Public

100 T

c

<D •oc

o

Q.

0)

Regional Academic Public

Graph 10

The lower rate of Internet access by public libraries is understandable, since public libraries were not commonly members of the research institutions for which the Internet was originally

created. The fact that nearly two thirds of the public library depositories do have Internet access now, at least for staff, is encouraging. We know that the number of depository

libraries with Internet is growing constantly. For example, 1993 Biennial Survey figures

showed that 53 % of all depositories had Internet and FTP access in the fall and winter of

1993. A year later that figure had grown to 80%.

LPS is also finding online communications of increasing importance, especially using the

Internet for administrative purposes. A major avenue of online communication for LPS has

become the listserv, GOVDOC-L. Since LPS is putting more announcements on GOVDOCL, including the contents of each issue of Administrative Notes and its Technical Supplement,

we asked how many depository libraries participate in GOVDOC-L.

E 9 Which online discussion groups do depository staff participate in? Indicate all that

apply.

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent GOVDOC-L 730 63.3 50 94.3 680 61.8

MAPS-L 147 12.7 23 43.4 124 11.3 LAW-LIB 141 12.2 6 11.3 135 12.3 Other 364 31.6 32 60.4 332 30.2 None 334 29.0 3 5.7 331 30.1

31
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

GOVDOC-L 457 93 18 12 4 98 3 8 7 30

MAPS-L 117 3 1 2 0 16 0 1 0 7

LAW-LIB 18 87 0 3 6 8 0 4 11 4

Other 215 48 9 12 0 51 1 5 4 19

None 114 16 29 16 5 121 1 8 14 10

Of the choices listed, GOVDOC-L received the greatest number of responses, 730. 50

regionals, 457 academic general, and 98 public libraries reported participating in GOVDOCL. Interestingly, the number of GOVDOC-L participants is significantly less than the number

of libraries that report staff access to the Internet.

A scenario that occurred during the summer of 1994 illustrates the importance to depository

libraries of monitoring GOVDOC-L. When the Depository Distribution Division found that

it had excess copies of assorted volumes of the Bound Congressional Record, we listed them

on a special offer and placed it in shipment boxes on July 22. On that same day we uploaded

the special offer to GOVDOC-L. Immediately, librarians who had seen the GOVDOC-L

notice flooded LPS with requests for the material. Requests from libraries responding to the

print notice arrived a week or more later. For many volumes, the stock was already

exhausted by then. This is just one small example of electronic access giving a library a real

advantage.

32
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

E 10 Which on-iine services are available on depository computers? Indicate all that apply.

All Percent Regionals pprppnt Qplprofiv/PG

AT&T Mail 44 3.8 7 H \ o.1 7f MCI Mail 5 0.4 0 0\J,\J0 \j Delphi 9 0.8 0 0 0 Q u.o GEnie 0 0.0 0 0 0 n n n CompuServe 34 2.9 3 5.7 31 2.8 America Online 8 0.7 1 1.9 7 0.6 Prodigy 4 0.3 0 0.0 4 0 4

Dow Jones 46 4.0 2 3.8 44 4.0 OCLC 460 39.9 28 52 8

Dialog 414 35.9 30 56 6 Out

Other 296 25.7 19 35.8 277

None 473 41.0 14 26 4 41 7

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal 1 CU^I Cll Pi ihlip ^pn/if*^ 0|JCUICll citato General Law Collpap Anpnru Court AraHpmv wULfl I

1L_iui ihrarv cll y AT&T Mail 15 6 2 1 2 o MCI Mail 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 n 1 1 Delphi 3 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 0

GEnie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 n n CompuServe 9 6 4 1 1 7 0 0 ^ America Online 2 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 2

Prodigy 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 Dow Jones 20 8 1 3 1 9 0 0 1 3

OCLC 264 39 18 18 7 70 2 6 10 26

Dialog 213 30 12 17 7 93 2 6 4 30

Other 141 35 6 16 6 54 2 6 11 19

None 239 64 28 15 4 93 1 6 13 10

460 libraries reported using OCLC and 414 reported using Dialog. OCLC use was reported

by 28 regionals, 264 academic general, and 70 public libraries. Dialog use was reported by

30 regionals, 213 academic general, and 93 public libraries.

The responses to this question reveal some possible anomolies. The number of libraries that

indicated AT&T Mail (44) is high compared with the MCI Mail competitor (5). Since MCI

is associated with Dow Jones service, and that service is indicated 46 times, a higher number

of users of MCI Mail would seem reasonable. There is a possibility that some respondents

may have confused the AT&T Mail service with AT&T long distance phone service.

Some questions also rise concerning the number of users of the CompuServe information

service. This service is indicated less frequently than Dow Jones, even though it offers a broader range of information. And responses to question Ell indicate that the CompuServe

PDN network is used more than twice as many times (77) as the information service is indicated on this question (34).

It is true that CompuServe PDN can be used to connect to information services other than

CompuServe itself, but it still seems unlikely that twice as many libraries use the PDN

without more subscribing to the service. It is possible that some libraries confused questions

E 10 and Ell and indicated the PDN when they meant the service.

33
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

E 1 1 Which PDN (public data network) services are available on depository computers?

(OCLC, for example, is generally available via PDN.) Indicate all that apply.

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent Tymnet 214 18.6 11 20.8 203 18.5

Sprintnet 143 12.4 12 22.6 131 1 1 .9 MClnet 3 0.3 0 0.0 3 0.3 CompuServe 77 6.7 3 5.7 74 6.7 Other 190 16.5 8 15.1 182 16.5 None 700 60.7 34 64.2 666 60\J\J .\J5

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

Tymnet 90 26 6 12 3 50 3 5 6 13

Sprintnet 54 24 6 6 3 23 2 5 4 16

MClnet 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

CompuServe 26 17 3 1 3 15 0 0 4 8

Other 92 20 6 9 2 35 0 6 8 12

None 389 80 37 14 6 132 1 7 14 20

Tymnet and Sprintnet were the most heavily used services among those listed, with 214

libraries reporting Tymnet use and 143 libraries reporting Sprintnet use. Tymnet use was

reported by 11 regionals, 90 academic general, and 50 public libraries. Sprintnet use was

reported by 12 regionals, 54 academic general, and 23 public libraries.

E 12 Which communications programs are available to either public depository patrons or

staff? Indicate all that apply.

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent ProComm 639 55.4 40 75.5 599 54.5

CrossTalk 95 8.2 5 9.4 90 8.2 SmartCom 127 11.0 11 20.8 116 10.5 HyperAccess 4 0.3 1 1.9 3 0.3 Other 368 31.9 19 35.8 349 31.7

Unknow^n 169 14.7 . 2 3.8 167 15.2

Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

ProComm 310 75 20 22 5 145 4 8 18 32

CrossTalk 40 7 1 8 2 28 1 1 2 5

SmartCom 62 5 4 6 0 33 0 5 2 10

HyperAccess 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Other 214 44 12 12 3 50 1 10 8 14

Unknown 91 19 15 0 3 33 0 1 6 1

34
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

639 libraries reported using ProComm. This was the most prevalent communications

program among those listed for all the types of libraries. 40 regionals, 310 academic

general, and 145 public libraries reported using ProComm.

F. Other Applications

F 1 What software packages are available to public depository patrons? Indicate all that

apply.

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent WordPerfect 283 24.5 14 26.4 269 24.5

Microsoft Word 96 8.3 7 13.2 89 8.1 Ami Pro 11 1.0 2 3.8 9 0.8 dBASE III 84 7.3 8 15.1 76 6.9 dBASE IV 80 6.9 11 20.8 69 6.3 FoxPro 12 1.0 2 3.8 10 0.9 Lotus Approach 2 0.2 0 0.0 2 0.2 Borland Paradox 35 3.0 1 1.9 34 3.1 Microsoft Access 14 1.2 1 1.9 13 1.2 Lotus 1-2-3 116 10.1 9 17.0 107 9.7 Microsoft Excel 54 4.7 4 7.5 50 4.5 Quattro Pro 52 4.5 3 5.7 49 4.5 GIS Software 70 6.1 17 32.1 53 4.8 Adobe Acrobat 60 5.2 9 17.0 51 4.6

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

WordPerfect 148 28 26 10 0 55 0 4 7 5

Microsoft Word 60 7 5 2 0 16 1 3 1 1 Ami Pro 8 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

dBASE III 62 2 6 2 0 9 0 0 0 3

dBASE IV 58 2 8 1 0 7 0 1 0 3

FoxPro 9 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0

Lotus Approach 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

Borland Paradox 26 1 3 1 0 4 0 0 0 0

Microsoft Access 9 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 Lotus 1-2-3 65 4 13 5 0 22 0 3 2 2

Microsoft Excel 38 3 4 0 0 4 0 3 1 1 Quattro Pro 39 1 4 0 0 7 0 1 0 0

GIS Software 60 0 0 0 0 8 0 1 0 1 Adobe Acrobat 44 2 0 1 0 10 0 0 1 2

14 software packages of various types were listed. Among all libraries, the most popular were WordPerfect (283 libraries), Lotus 1-2-3 (116 libraries), and Microsoft Word (96

libraries). Among regionals, the most popular were WordPerfect (14 libraries), GIS software

(17 libraries) and dBASE IV (11 libraries). Among academic general libraries, the most

popular were WordPerfect (148 libraries), Lotus 1-2-3 (65 libraries) and dBASE III (62

libraries). Among public libraries, the most popular were WordPerfect (55 libraries), Lotus

1-2-3 (22 libraries), and Microsoft Word (16 libraries).

35
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

The number of libraries that did not respond to this question, 703, is one of the highest in the

entire survey. The lack of an "other" category as a response may have led to the high

number of non-responses. Another possibility is that general application software may not

generally be available in depositories for patrons. Those libraries that did respond indicate a high incidence of word processors and spread sheets, with much less emphasis on database

programs. Word processors are probably not especially helpful in connection with

government distributed electronic products. While spreadsheets would be of some help, they

lack the necessary power to handle the very large data sets associated with some government

products. /

F 2 What operating systems or environments are installed on IBM compatible computers

available to either public depository patrons or staff? Indicate all that apply.

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent DOS v.2.0-3.1 99 8.6 6 11.3 93 8.5 DOS v.3.3 297 25.8 28 52.8 269 24.5

DOS v.4.0 119 10.3 6 11.3 113 10.3 DOS v.5.0 644 55.9 35 66.0 609 55.4

DOS v.6.0-6.2 637 55.2 36 67.9 601 54.6

IBM OS/2 2.0 9 0.8 0 0.0 9 0.8 IBM OS/2 2.1 14 1.2 2 3.8 12 1.1 UNIX/XENIX/AIX 69 6.0 3 5.7 66 6.0 Windows 3.0 112 9.7 6 11.3 106 9.6 Windows 3.1 579 50.2 37 69.8 542 49.3

DESQview 5 0.4 0 0.0 5 0.5

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

DOS v.2.0-3.1 46 15 3 3 0 23 0 3 2 4

DOS v.3.3 174 23 13 5 0 52 0 6 6 18

DOS v.4.0 79 12 8 0 0 15 0 2 1 2 DOS v.5.0 349 66 24 18 11 119 3 11 13 30

DOS v.6.0-6.2 357 71 27 13 3 118 2 11 16 19

IBM OS/2 2.0 3 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0

IBM OS/2 2.1 8 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 2

UNIX/XENIX/AIX 42 9 2 2 0 3 0 4 2 5

Windows 3.0 62 11 5 4 0 19 1 3 3 4

Windows 3.1 322 58 21 13 9 103 2 10 14 27

DESQview 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1

DOS 5.0, DOS 6.0-6.2, and Windows 3.1 were the most prevalent operating systems

reported by all the libraries. DOS 5.0 use was reported by 644 libraries, including 35

regionals, 349 academic general, and 119 public libraries. DOS 6.0-6.2 use was reported by

637 libraries, including 36 regionals, 357 academic general, and 118 public libraries.

Windows 3.1 use was reported by 579 libraries, including 37 regionals, 322 academic

general, and 103 public libraries.

36
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

F 3 Does your library subscribe to or purchase a commercial CD-ROM version of the GPO

Monthly Catalog?

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent YES 587 50.9 40 75.5 547 49.7

NO 503 43.6 10 18.9 493 44.8

Unknown 1 0.1 0 0.0 1 0.1

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

YES 384 34 16 7 0 109 3 3 3 28

NO 184 87 31 23 12 111 1 13 26 15

Unknown 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

587 libraries reported using a CD-ROM version of the GPO Monthly Catalog. 40 regionals,

384 academic general, and 109 public libraries reported using one of these commercial

products.

This question has implications for the sale of a GPO CD-ROM version of the Monthly

Catalog.

F 3. CD-ROM Version of Monthly Catalog

100 T

0)

u

CL

All Regional Academic Public

Graph 12

37
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

F 4 Does your library load GPO-originated cataloging records into an Online Public Access

Catalog (OPAC)?

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent YES 432 37.5 30 56.6 402 36.5

NO 642 55.7 19 35.8 623 56.6

Unknown 11 1.0 1 1.9 10 0.9

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

YES 281 47 13 8 0 53 2 6 4 18

NO 279 72 34 22 12 162 2 9 25 25

Unknown 6 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0

432 libraries reported loading the GPO cataloging records into an OPAC. 30 of the

regionals, 281 of the academic general, and 53 of the public libraries reported loading these

records into an OPAC. Libraries have reported double or triple, or even greater, usage of

Federal depository documents after they loaded these records.

F 4. Monthly Catalog in OPAC

100 1

Graph 13

38
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

G. User Support

G 1 Is there a technical expert available to assist either public depository patrons or staff

in the operation or installation of library computer equipment?

r\\\ All n CI v^CI 11 Regionals n CI C/Cni OclcCllVco nerceni

YES 981 85.1 48 90.6 933 84.8 NO 139 12.1 4 7.5 135 12.3 Unknown 11 1.0 1 1.9 10 0.9

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

YES 532 112 42 26 10 177 4 15 24 39

NO 53 13 8 5 3 47 0 2 5 3

Unknown 5 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 1 1

981 libraries reported having a technical expert available to assist patrons and staff in the

operation or installation of library computer equipment. 48 regionals, 532 academic general,

and 177 public libraries reported access to such a person.

The availability of expert help may be key to the successful use of government electronic

products and on-line databases. The term "technical expert" was left open to definition by

each depository, and no doubt was interpreted differently at different institutions.

G 2 Is there a technical expert available to assist either public depository patrons or staff

in the use of depository products or services?

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent YES 820 71.1 39 73.6 781 71.0

NO 285 24.7 13 24.5 272 24.7

Unknown 24 2.1 1 1.9 23 2.1

ibrary Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

YES 456 90 36 21 5 146 4 11 18 33

NO 128 32 12 8 7 74 0 4 11 9

Unknown 6 3 2 3 0 6 0 2 1 1

820 libraries reported having a technical expert available to assist patrons and staff in the use of depository products or services. 39 regionals, 456 academic general, and 146 public

libraries reported access to a technical expert.

39
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

G 2. Expert Available to Assist

100 1

Graph 14

G 3 How many hours per week is technical help available to public depository patrons in the use of depository products or services?

All Percent Regionals Percent Selectives Percent <2 HRS. 285 24.7 9 17.0 276 25.1 2-6 HRS. 46 4.0 3 5.7 43 3.9 7-10 HRS. 25 2.2 0 0.0 25 2.3 11-20 HRS. 37 3.2 2 3.8 35 3.2 21-40 HRS. 365 31.7 19 35.8 346 31.5

>40 HRS. 337 29.2 18 34.0 319 29.0

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

<2 HRS. 113 46 12 11 6 69 0 8 10 10

2-6 HRS. 28 6 1 1 0 5 0 1 2 2

7-10 HRS. 11 2 2 3 0 3 1 0 3 0

11-20 HRS. 22 2 4 0 1 6 0 1 1 0

21-40 HRS. 194 40 22 10 3 64 1 2 8 21 >40 HRS. 208 28 8 6 1 69 2 5 2 8

337 libraries indicated that technical help is available to the public for more than 40 hours a week. 18 regionals, 208 academic general, and 69 public libraries reported that technical

help is available to the public more than 40 hours a week.

40
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Conclusion

One of the principle reasons for conducting the Electronic Capabilities Survey was to assess how depositories are coping with the transition from print to electronics. Based on these

results, it is clear that depositories have heard the message and acted on it. Depository

libraries have made enormous progress in positioning themselves to serve the public with

electronic Government information. Access issues are overtaking ownership throughout the

library field, and increasingly, access to information is how the successful depository will be

measured. Not on what is in the collection, but on what the library can get for the public.

And not only the public who comes in person to the library, but the public sitting at their PC

at home or at the office.

41

Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Appendix A

Survey Questions and Answer Sheet

42

Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Electronic Capabilities Survey

LIBRARY PROGRAMS SERVICE July 1 994

RETURN ANSWER SHEETS BY AUGUST 31

Purpose

The Library Programs Service (LPS) is conducting tliis survey to assess the computer

equipment environment currently existing in depository libraries. The survey covers only equipment accessible to the depository staff and to public depository

patrons. Do not include equipment limited to the library's primary users, such as

students, faculty, etc.

LPS will communicate information from the survey to agency publishers planning new

electronic products or services, and will use information from the survey to update the

technical guidelines for depository computer equipment. Therefore, both your library

and LPS should benefit from the results of this survey.

Contents

The survey consists of this booklet and the answer sheet. The survey questions cover

the basic system elements and associated software and networking in your depository.

Filling Out the Answer Sheet

Please use a black ink pen or marker (not a pencil) when filling out the answer sheet.

It is important that your answers be as accurate as possible. Fill in a bubble for

every question, including "0" if the answer is zero.

Returning the Answer Sheet

The survey is designed to be compiled by fax into a computer system.

Fax answer sheets to:

(202) 512-1625

(Do NOT use any other number!)

Or mail to; Electronic Survey

Library Programs Service (Stop SLL)

U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington, DC 20401

The coding at the top of each answer sheet contains your library's depository number

in machine-readable form. If you need a new answer sheet, please contact LPS at (202) 512-1002, fax (202) 512-1432 or e-mail <manage@access.digex.net>. DO NOT

use a copy provided by another depository!

1

43
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Electronic Capabilities Sun/ey - July 1994

A. Computer System Units

This section is designed to collect information on computer systems available for

depository patron use or staff administrative functions.

A 1 How many IBM compatible computers of each model type listed are available

for use by public depository patrons?

A 2 What is the maximum amount of RAM installed on IBM compatible

computers available to public depository patrons?

A 3 Are any advanced IBM compatible microcomputers, known as "professional

workstations," available to public depository patrons?

A 4 How many IBM compatible computers based on the 80486 or faster

processor (Pentium) does your library plan to purchase within the next 12

months for use primarily by public depository patrons?

A 5 How many IBM compatible computers based on the 80486 or faster

processor (Pentium) does your library plan to purchase within the next 12

months for use primarily by depository staff?

A 6 How many IBM compatible computers available to public depository

patrons are dedicated to a sole information product or service and are not

available for any other use?

A 7 On average, how many people (both patrons and staff) would you estimate use depository electronic products at the library daily?

A 8 On average, how many hours would you estimate the depository electronic

products are used daily?

A 9 How many IBM compatible computers available to public depository

patrons are equipped with "assistive technologies" for the use of visually

impaired persons? > A 10 How many Apple Macintosh computers are available for use by public

depository patrons?

244
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Electronic Capabilities Survey - July 1994

B, C, & D. The questions on hard disk drives, floppy disk drives, and CD-ROM drives are limited to IBM compatible computers. Do not include Apple Macintosh

computers when answering these questions.

B. Hard Disk Drives

B 1 How many IBM compatible computers available to either depository

patrons or staff have hard disk drives installed, and what is their capacity in megabytes? Show how many units have each capacity range. Do not

consider effects of disk partitioning or use of compression software in answering this question.

B 2- What is the average amount of free hard disk space in these IBM compatible

computers?

C. Floppy Disk Drives

C 1 How many IBM compatible computers for either depository patrons or staff

have both 5.25" and 3.5" floppy disk drives installed?

C 2 How many of each of the floppy disk sizes listed are installed on IBM

compatible computers for either depository patrons or staff?

D. CD-ROM

D 1 How many drives are attached to IBM compatible computers available to public depository patrons? Include computers attached to networked CDROM drives.

D 2 Are any CD-ROM drives designated as 2X (double speed), 3X (triple speed)

etc., available to public depository patrons on IBM compatible computers?

Indicate the fastest one.

D 3 Are any of the IBM compatible computer systems available to either

depository patrons or staff equipped for Multi-Media support?

D 4 How many IBM compatible computers available to either depository

patrons or staff access CD-ROM drives via a network?

3

45
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Electronic Capabilities Survey - July 1994

E. Networks and Telecommunications

This section covers depository computer connections to otiier computer systems or services.

E 1 Are depository computers connected by a LAN (Local Area Network)?

E 2 Which network software is in use for the LAN?

E 3 Are terminal emulation hardware and software used to connect depository

computers to a mainframe?

E 4 Are depository computers hard-wired (directly and continuously connected) to the Internet?

E 5 Are Internet programs such as Telnet and FTP accessible on computers

available to public depository patrons?

E 6 Are Internet programs such as Telnet and FTP accessible on computers

available to depository staff?

E 7 Is part-time access to the Internet available on depository computers through

modem dial-up of a communications provider?

E 8 How many computer terminals give Internet access to public depository

patrons?

E 9 Which online discussion groups do depository staff participate in? Indicate

all that apply.

E 10 Which on-line services are available on depository computers? Indicate all that apply.

E 11 Which PDN (public data network) services are available on depository

computers? (OCLC, for example, is generally available via PDN.) Indicate

all that apply.

E 12 Which communications programs are available to either public depository

patrons or staff? Indicate all that apply.

4

46
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Electronic Capabilities Survey - July 1994

F. Other Applications

F 1 What software packages are available to public depository patrons?

Indicate all that apply.

F 2 What operating systems or environments are installed on IBM compatible

computers available to either public depository patrons or staff? Indicate

all that apply.

F 3 Does your library subscribe to or purchase a commercial CD-ROM version of

the GPO Monthly Catalog?

F 4 Does your library load GPO-originated cataloging records into an Online

Public Access Catalog (OPAC)?

G. User Support

G 1 Is there a technical expert available to assist either public depository

patrons or staff in the operation or installation of library computer

equipment?

G 2 Is there a technical expert available to assist either public depository

patrons or staff in the use of depository products or services?

G 3 How many hours per week is technical help available to public depository

patrons in the use of depository products or services?

5

47
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

6062 Library Programs Service

Federal Depository Library Program

1994 Electronic Capabilities Survey

Please Use Black Ink Pen or Marker to Answer Questions

A 1 PC/XT O 0 O 1 0 2-4 O 5-10 0 11-20 O O < 640k

AT286 O 0 O 1 0 2-4 O 5-10 0 11-20 O 21-40 O >40 O 640k-2Mb

AT386 O 0 O 1 O 2-4 O 5-10 0 11-20 O 21-40 O >40 O 4Mb-8Mb

AT486 or better O 0 O 1 O 2-4 O 5-10 0 11-20 O 21-40 O>40 O > 8 < 16Mb

Unknown OO O 1 0 2-4 O 5-10 0 11-20 O 21-40 O >40 O >= 16Mb

O Unknown

O No IBMs

A3. O Yes O No O Unknown A 4. O 0 O 1 0 2-4 0 5-10 0 11-20 0 21-40 O>40

AS. O 0 O 1 O 2-4 O 5-10 0 11-20 0 21-40 O>40 A 6. OO O 1 02 O 3 O 4 O >4

A7. OO 0 1 0 2-4 0 5-10 0 11-20 0 21-40 O >40 A 8. OOOmin 0 1-1.5hrs O 30-59min O > 1 .5hrs

A 9. OO 0 1 O 2-4 0 5-10 O 11-20 0 21-40 O>40 A 10. O 0 0 1 O 2-4 O 5-10 O 11-20 O 21-40 O >40

B1. <50Mb OO 0 1 02-4 0 5-10 0 11-20 0 21-40 O >40 O Unknown

51-100 Mb OO 0 1 0 2-4 0 5-10 0 11-20 0 21-40 O >40 O Unknown

101-200 Mb OO 0 1 0.2-4 0 5-10 0 11-20 0 21-40 O >40 O Unknown

2dl-300Mb OO 0 1 0 2-4 0 5-10 0 11-20 0 21-40 O >40 O Unknown

>300Mb OO 0 1 0 2-4 0 5-10 0 11-20 0 21-40 O >40 O Unknown

B 2. O < 50Mb

O 51 -100Mb

O 101-200Mb

O 201 -300Mb

O > 300Mb

O Unknown

CI. O 0 O 1 O 2-4 O 5-10 O 11-20 O 21-40 O >40

C2.

360k OO O 1 0 2-4 0 5-10 O 11-20 0 21-40 0 >40

1.2Mb OO O 1 0 2-4 O 5-10 O 11-20 0 21-40 O >40

720k OO O 1 O 2-4 O 5-10 O 11-20 0 21-40 O >40

1.44Mb OO 0 1 0 2-4 O 5-10 O 11-20 O 21-40 0 >40

D1. OO 0 1 0 2-4 0 5-10 0 11-20 0 21-40 O >40

D3. OYes ONo O Unknown

D4. OO 0 1 0 2-4 0 5-10 0 11-20 0 21-40 O >40

D2. 0 2X

O 3X

O 4X

O No

O Unknown

If Possible, Respond by Fax Machine to (202) 512-1625

By August 31, 1994

Or Return by Mail to this Address:

Electronic Survey

Library Programs Service (Stop SLL)

U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20401

48
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

6062

Electronic Capabilities Survey Page 2

E1. For Patrons O Yes O No E 2. O Banyan VINES O Lantastic For Staff O Yes O No ^ ^oyeW Netware O Multiple Software Used

O Microsoft l_AN Manager O Other

O Unknown

E 3. O Yes O No O Unknown E 4. O Yes O No O Unknown E 5. O Yes O No O Unknown

E 6. O Yes O No O Unknown E 7. O Yes O No O Unknown

E8. OO 0 1 0 2-4 0 5-10 0 11-20 0 21-40 O >40

E9. OGOVDOC-L O Other E10. O AT&T Mail O GEnie O Prodigy O Dialoa O MAPS-L O None ^ O LAW-LIB f^^' O CompuServe O Dow Jones o Other

O Delphi O America Online O OGLC O None

E11. O Tymnet O Sprintnet O MClnet O CompuServe O Other O None

E12. O ProComm O CrossTalk O SmartCom O HyperAccess O Other O Unknown

F 1 . O WordPerfect 5.1 or 6.0 O Borland Paradox

F3.

F4.

O Microsoft Word

O Lotus Ami Pro O dBASE III Plus O dBASE IV O FoxPro O Lotus Approach

O Microsoft Access

O Lotus 1-2-3 vers. 2.3 /higher

O Microsoft Excel

O Borland Quattro Pro O GIS Software

O Adobe Acrobat

O Yes O No O Unknown

O Yes O No O Unknown

F2. O MS-DOS ver 2.0 to 3.1 O MS-DOS ver 3.3 O MS-DOS ver 4.0 O MS-DOS ver 5.0 O MS-DOS ver 6.0 to 6.2 O Quarterdeck DESQview

O IBM OS/2 2.0 O IBM OS/2 2.1 O UNIX/XENIX/AIX

O Microsoft Windows 3.0 O Microsoft Windows 3.1 >

G1. O Yes O No O Unknown G2. O Yes O No O Unknown

6 3. 0<2hrs 0 2-6hrs O7-10hrs O11-20hrs O21-40hrs O >40hrs

Or Return by Mail to this Address:

Electronic Survey

I I I Library Programs Service (SLL)

U.S. Government Printing Office,

1 1 1 Washington, DC 20401

49

If Possible, Respond by Fax Machine to: (202) 512-1625

By August 31, 1994
.-1
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Appendix B

Comments

50

Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Comments

LPS collected comments on the survey from 23 libraries. The comments fall into 3 general

categories: descriptions of problems with the survey itself or with the library's specific

situation which made answering the questions accurately difficult; descriptions of future plans

which may or may not have been reflected in answering the survey questions, and

explanations of how specific answers were arrived at.

Other comments may have been written directly on the answer sheets, but they were not seen

if the answer sheets were correctly faxed to the telefax system and the automatic data input

occurred successfully.

All of the written comments that came to our attention are reproduced in full below, with

information identifying the individual libraries omitted. Each bullet (•) represents comments

from one library.

Problems with Survey

• Our automation librarian and I have tried to be as accurate as possible in answering the

survey, but frankly, in some cases the questions are confusing; we can't decide what you

are really asking. Also, I suspect that libraries without stand-alone documents

departments are going to have some of the problems we have had~we have no staff that

is exclusively documents, and no computer hardware that is used exclusively for

documents products, so the waters (and answers) get murky.

I especially want to caution you about our answers to questions E4-E5 and G1-G3. In

the E questions, you specify "hard wired," so we have answered NO; however, we do

have continuous connection to the Internet, as the University is a registered Internet site. Library patrons have access to the Internet in that we offer some products via the

Internet (FirstSearch, access to other library catalogs, etc.), but the means of connection

is hidden from them; they pick a product off the menu, but don't enter the address

themselves. We don't offer them FTP in the Library, although they can use it in

computer labs around campus.

With regard to the G questions, we have a technical staff member who can mount the

electronic products, but there is nobody on staff at the moment who has the time or job

assignment to become intimately familiar with the products and serve as a resource person for effective use of them. We just help each other as much as we can.

I'm not sure how you devised the survey. I'd suggest the next time around that you get

together five or six documents librarians from libraries of different sizes and types, tell them what you want to know, and let them come up with a draft of the questions. They

might be clearer.

51
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

• We have filled this survey out as completely as possible, but I do not personally

guarantee the accuracy of it. Our systems librarian left us in January and has not been

replaced. The person who was our best source for electronic resources, after the

systems librarian left, has just left us this past month. The position of assistant dean,

who was in charge of inventory, was eliminated in a campus reorganization effective

July 1. That duty (and many others) has not been reassigned. That leaves us with a cataloging technician and an electronic repair person who are doing their best to "do

what needs to be done." They have, of course, relinquished none of their other duties in

order to assimilate these additional ones. In many cases in this survey, we are uncertain

whether you are referring to CD-ROM terminals or OPAC terminals, but answered as best we could. We currently have one CD-ROM set up for documents plus another

which we share with another program. There is a Monthly Catalog file on our OPAC as an external file which is available from all OPAC and staff terminals. All staff are connected to the system from their offices. As our whole library administration has been

reorganized as of July 1, we have no idea what WILL be ordered in the future. This is the best we can do.

• Why are we being asked to complete one more survey in the summer months? During

this time of the year, reference departments are swamped with surveys from professional

organizations, students, and their own library administrations.

Question 3 - What is a professional workstation? At any rate, there is disagreement as to exactly what this term means. If it means that a patron can access the Internet, search

bibliographic databases, and use software packages such as FOXPRO, then I guess that

we have greater than 40 "professional workstations."

What does the term "public depository patron" mean in an academic library? In

response to questions Fl and F2, only ... University students, faculty, and staff are permitted to use all resources available on the network. Members of the general public

may use only GPO (Marcive) or depository CDs such as, NTDB or Census disks.

• Enclosed is the electronic survey for our library. It was very difficult to answer because

we are in the process of converting to a LAN and some of our products will be loaded.

• I found this a fairly difficult survey to complete and for several questions I was not sure what you were asking. Some questions were difficult to answer since in the ... Library

the U.S. Government documents (or any other documents) are cataloged and added to the collection and treated the same as other library material. Because there is no

separate Government Documents section, the Public Service Dept. provides Reference

and Circulation services for government information as part of the general collection.

Therefore, all our patrons are potential public depository patrons.

Section A

Al Available for use was taken to mean that the computer workstations (hereafter

referred to as a Reference workstation) either has U.S. Government information

52
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

software/databases installed on them, or the software/databases could be installed

on them. Not included are Reference workstations which have commercial

proprietary software/databases installed on them. Although U.S. Government

information software/databases could be installed on them, the proprietary software

menus prevent patron use without help from (experienced) library staff.

A2 Maximum amount of RAM was figured by determining the RAM available for

each Reference workstation (not an easy task) and adding them all together. If

your question wanted to know the largest amount of RAM available on any one of

the Reference workstations the answer is 4Mb. Also, I wasn't sure about the

amount of RAM available on some of the Reference workstations (and had no way

of finding out), so I guessed.

A3 I have never heard of a "professional workstation. " What makes it different from

a 80486 coprocessor with Windows, mouse, office applications and graphic

capabilities?

A6 A sole information product/service was taken to mean a government information

product (distributed by either the U.S. Government or by a commercial vendor).

If your question also included product/services for non-government information,

then the answer would be 3 Reference workstations.

A7-8 Weekly use, not daily use would give a more realistic count for our library

(maybe 1-2/week).

Dl Do you wish to know about drive heads or drive-slots? I counted the CD

changers as 1 , since there is one drive head (with 6 drive slots for a 6 CD

capacity).

El Soon, if funding is approved (includes request for 1-3 additional 80486

workstations). Much later, if no funding appears.

E2 The only remotely applicable response is "unknown. " but I know the proper

response is "None."

E4 Not yet, but one will be within 6 months. Internet access will be a menu choice.

E8 One will be soon. See Comment E4.

Fl What do you mean by available? None of these applications are installed on

Reference workstations, but can be checked out for use on the patron's own

computer (appropriate copyright restrictions information is included).

G2 I think that I am the de facto "expert," but it takes me a long tune to figure out

how to install & use the depository products. Although most products are not

hard to "install," having them work with our menu program and CD changers (not

towers) often presents problems.

53
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

G3 What do you mean by technical help-installation or use? For only about 50 of the

77 hours that the Library is open would there be staff (either professionals & paraprofessionals) available that could install depository products (otherwise we're on

call). Since most of the depository products are not permanently installed, the

Library staff themselves have not had time to train in the use of the depository

products to help the patrons. Although all of the depository products are

"available," many are hard to use since they have to be installed for each use. The proposed Library LAN will make the depository products fully "available"

and the staff can be trained in the use of the products to help patrons.

• The lack of definition of terms and opportunity for comment makes this survey

extremely difficult to answer fully & accurately. Significant policy decisions should not

be derived from results.

Future Plans & Explanations of Answers

• E 4 - The computer used for depository information is expected to be connected to Internet in 6 months.

E 6 - Expected to be available in 6 months.

E 8 - 2 are expected to do so in 6 months.

• Goal is to shortly have a 2nd CD-ROM computer available for use by depository

patrons.

Re questions A4 and A5, goal is to upgrade at least one or both computers to 80486 or

faster.

• Below is information that elaborates on answers that alone might be misleading

concerning our electronic capabilities.

[We have] six 486 PCs connected to a LAN. We expect to add two more PCs to this

LAN and to expand access to computers attached to other LANs across campus this

year. A Todd Access 16 drive CD tower is also on the LAN, soon to be expanded by

seven more Hitachi CDR-6750 drives. These drives are not all dedicated to government

documents products; however, we currently have eight discs from GPO loaded. These

will be available to all users; access will not be limited to the LAN terminals in the

library. I believe these Hitachi CDR6750 drives are equivalent to a double-speed drive.

Their access time is 245 ms. We have ten dumb terminals connected to mainframe systems at the University. Five of

these provide public service access directly to the NOTIS system which our patrons use

to locate SuDoc numbers for documents in our collection. [The library] loads the GPO54
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

OCLC tapes. We are planning very soon to add government documents records to out

own OPAC.

In the government documents librarian's office is a very old, very slow PC and CDROM drive, and in the staff workroom is a 486 PC with Kermit and a modem to access

the mainframe and the Internet. We also have six PCs in a computer study where

patrons can use WordPerfect, BASIC computer programming, and CAIs.

• Sometime this fall we will have a LAN in the ... Library with 90 drop spots (not all used at first) linking our PCs to five CD-ROM products including the Autographies

Government Documents Catalog.

We have e-mail and Internet access directly on our staff dumb terminal linked up to the

library's mainframe-the terminals that access our online catalog and circulating system.

We dial up this system also from our public use PC via modem. There was no way of

explaining this on the Survey.

• We are currently in the process of a large-scale renovation that will greatly enhance our

electronic capabilities. Therefore, the responses we provided reflect our situation as of

January 1995.

In the meantime, we are referring interested users to the full depository at the ... General

Library, about 300 yards away, for access to GPO electronic formats.

The enclosed survey describes only our particular library, which has a partial depository

collection, so the results will be limited.

• Thank you for permitting us to respond to your survey. As a small, rural, full-service

community college we do our absolute best to provide access for Government documents

to our various constituencies. However, while we have made a commitment to support

the government documents area, it has always been difficult to express the need to support the depository to college administrators. The survey helps us justify

improvements in service and therefore is very much appreciated.

Currently we do not have any PCs dedicated to supporting Government documents. We

do have PCs that we can use for GODocs inquiries, and our environment is rapidly

changing. This fall we will have full access to the Internet, but at this time (i.e. when

the survey was completed) we do not have access. What we do provide, as of the

completion of this survey, is OCLC FirstSearch access to the GPO database free of

charge to all library users. We have found this to be very helpful and far more efficient

than the paper tracking that predates FirstSearch.

This fall semester we are also cooperating with the Learning & Career Services

Department on the acquisition of both equipment and software to support CD-ROM

databases. These machines will be shared between the regular Reference and

Government Documents Reference to support both programs. It is my feeling that by

sharmg we will have more machines available to meet peak demands for GoDocs than if

55
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

we simply set one machine aside for the exclusive use of GoDocs. Further, since the

Reference desk has full responsibility for GoDocs access, this will enhance our abilities

with meeting patron inquiries.

While the survey does not reflect the training aspects of our mission to our community,

you may be interested to know that as soon as we have the equipment and software

loaded and operational we will include GoDocs access in our bibliographic instruction

program and will conduct workshops on the availability and means of access for the five

public libraries in our district, the four public libraries outside of our district who

regularly attend our workshops and use our resources, and the 200 plus elementary,

middle/junior high, and high school libraries in the region. We are also developing

posters for each of the workshop attendees to display in their libraries. These posters

will be designed to indicate our hours and how to contact us, and will permit us to use GoDocs fliers and visual aids to "advertise" our collection.

• For question A4, our library will, in the next 12 months, install an information center

containing 25 LANed PCs. Some depository products will be available on this LAN;

however, these 25 PCs will not be totally devoted to depository products and services.

• ... Library is planning to have Internet available to patrons on the OPAC in the near

future and has access through the PAC for staff so that we can learn to use it to show

the patrons. The Internet committee is working on policy re FTP for OPACs.

We have no computers available to the public for word processing etc. They all must be

used with electronic products (CD-ROMs or floppy media).

As to user support: The depository librarian and the business desk staff do our best to be

able to use the media, and are available at all times the library is open to assist patrons.

However, none of us is by any stretch of the imagination "expert.

• Our library does have more computer and Internet access than would appear on this

survey. The discrepancy arises with the use of the term "depository library patron." As

a private institution of higher learning, we grant patrons different levels of access.

Everyone is permitted in-house access (at no charge) to the depository document

collection and to the depository CD-ROM products. However, non-university affiliates

must purchase a university ID with library validation if they wish to use other library

facilities and have access to Internet.

• All depository material available on CD-ROM has been networked on the library LAN.

"Depository patrons" use the same computers as the general public.

• We have 2 IBM compatible computers in the depository area but 3 IBM and 2 Apple

Macs in a computer lab on a different floor.

An IBM compatible 486 DX purchase is planned in the near future.

56
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

We have 1 386 IBM compatible computer with 6 stack CD-ROM running census STFS;

this station accounts for the majority of depository usage at present.

We have a LAN network which includes Monthly Catalog on CD; none of the

terminals/workstations allow more than reading the CD.

A mainframe coimection may be forthcoming. ... Library is switching to a DRA system

with a target date of April 1995. GPO cataloging record load is planned at present.

We do have a communications terminal in the Depository area for both Dialog and

FirstSearch.

• The responses given are for the Documents Service Center, the main location for

depository materials on this campus, only . The equipment and staff available in the

other units mentioned below were not included in the responses on the questioimaire.

This unit is physically located within a larger, social sciences library, which also has

micro-computer facilities available for use by public depository patrons.

Some depository materials, including a significant number of CD-ROMs, are sent to other library units on campus, which provide them to public depository patrons on

equipment in those units.

• We have five IBM compatible computers in our department that are "stand alones."

They all are used for CD-ROM depository disc searching. In addition, there are 12 (9

public and 3 staff only) computers which are part of the system-wide public access

catalog including access to a CD-ROM tower. GDCS, ... Census 3A, NTDB, and

NESE are all mounted in this WAN accessible at the Main Library and three

regionals. Free access to the Internet is also available in the 32 branches of the county

system through the ... Free-Net. When answering this questionnaire we only considered

the computers located in the Government Documents Department and some of the answers apply to the 5 stand-alones, others to 12 terminals on the WAN.

One of our answers to F2 (What operating systems or environments are installed on IBM

compatible computers available to either public depository patrons or staff? Indicate all that apply.) is MS-DOS ver. 3.2, which is not one of the choices.

• Some questions (e.g. E 3 and E 4) seem contradictory because different computers are configured and connected differently.

• A 7 and A 8 - We are in a period of transition. We have a new computer to be used for

depository staff and patrons which we anticipate placing out for public use in September,

when staff have become familiar with its workings. Thus we have no answers for these

two questions.

F 1 - Our software is Microsoft Works: an integrated software package for word

processor, spreadsheet and database.

57
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

• Following your instructions for the electronic capabilities survey, I considered only

equipment accessible to the depository library staff and to the public depository patrons.

However, in the library we have a 150+ workstation computer lab for faculty, staff, and

student use. Many of the machines are state-of-the-art PC clones and Macs. It is conceivable that special arrangements can be made to let non-college users of

government documents have access to the computer lab.

• I included only the free computers that have Docs info. All the other computers in our

library are also available for use by the public but are either rental or contain a commercial electronic product. There are two additional single-use 486s that can be

used for free but have commercial products.

F 1 - We have 4 rental computers (2 IBM 486s, 1 Macintosh, and 1 Apple) that have

WordPerfect 5.1, Microsoft Word, dBase IIH-, Lotus 1-2-3, and Microsoft Excel.

58
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Appendix C

Questions Left Blank

59

Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Survey Questions Left Blank by Respondents

A 1 How many IBM compatible computers of each model type listed are available for use by

public depository patrons?

PCXT All Regionals Selectives

Left Blank 558 30 528

% of Respondents 48.4 56.6 48.0

By Library Type Acad.

State General

Left Blank 315

% of Respondents 52.5

Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State

Law College Agency Court Academy Court 55 19 22 3 107 2 3 8

43.0 37.3 66.7 23.1 46.3 50.0 16.7 25.8

24

54.5

AT286 All Left Blank 472

% of Respondents 40.9

Regionals

24

45.3

Selectives

448

40.7

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State

State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court

Left Blank 263 52 15 18 4 88 3 5 8

% of Respondents 43.8 40.6 29.4 54.5 30.8 38.1 75.0 27.8 25.8

Library

16

36.4

AT386 All Left Blank 350

% of Respondents 30.4

Regionals

12

22.6

Selectives

338

30.7

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State

State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court

Left Blank 185 48 13 12 1 68 1 2 8

% of Respondents 30.8 37.5 25.5 36.4 7.7 29.4 25.0 11.1 25.8

12

27.3

AT486 All Left Blank 316

% of Respondents 27.4

Regionals

11 20.8

Selectives

305

27.7

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State

State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court

Left Blank 148 42 16 9 3 68 2 5 9

% of Respondents 24.7 32.8 31.4 27.3 23.1 29.4 50.0 27.8 29.0

Library

14

31.8

Unknown

Left Blank

All 817

Regionals

40

Selectives

777

60
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

% of Respondents 70.9 75.5 70.6

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special

State General

Left Blank 442

% of Respondents 73.7

Law College Agency

92 33 25

71.9 64.7 75.8

Court

7

53.8

Academy

156 3

67.5 75.0

10

55.6

State

Court18

58.1

Library 31 70.5

A 2 What is the maximum amount of RAM installed on IBM compatible computers available to public depository patrons.

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 31

2.7

Regionals

2

3.8

Selectives

29

2.6

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 17

% of Respondents 2.8

Acad. Comm.

Law College

4 1 3.1 2.0

Federal

Agency

1 3.0

Federal Court2

15.4

Public Service

Academy

2 0

0.9 0.0

Special

1 5.6

State State Court Library

3 0

9.7 0.0

A 3 Are any advanced IBM compatible microcomputers, known as "professional workstations,"

available to public depository patrons?

All Regionals Selectives

Left Blank 21 0 21 % of Respondents 1.8 0.0 1.9

By Library Type Acad. Acad.

General Law College

Left Blank 9 5 % of Respondents 1 .5 3.9

Comm. Federal Federal Public Agency Court Academy

0 0 0 5

0.0 0.0 0.0 2.2

Service Special State State Court Library

0.0

0

5.61103.2 0.0

A 4 How many IBM compatible computers based on the 80486 or faster processor (Pentium)

does your library plan to purchase within the next 12 months for use primarily by public

depository patrons?

All Regionals Selectives

Left Blank 35 0 35

% of Respondents 3.0 0.0 3.2

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 18

% of Respondents 3.0

Acad. Comm. Federal

Law College Agency

7 1 0

5.5 2.0 0.0

Federal Public Service Court Academy

0 5 0

0.0 2.2 0.0

Special State State Court Library

2 2 0

11.1 6.5 0.0

61
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

A 5 How many IBM compatible computers based on the 80486 or faster processor (Pentium)

does your library plan to purchase within the next 12 months for use primarily by

depository staff?

All Regionals Selectives

Left Blank

% of Respondents

29

2.5

1 1.9 28

2.5

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 17

% of Respondents 2.8

Acad. Comm. Federal Federal

Law College Agency Court

3.9

5

0.0

0

3.0100.0

Public Service Special

Academy

4 0 2

1.7 0.0 11.1

State State Court Library

0 0

0.0 0.0

A 6 How many IBM compatible computers available to public depository patrons are dedicated to a sole information product or service and are not available for any other

use?

All Regionals Selectives

Left Blank 39 0 39

% of Respondents 3.4 0.0 3.5

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

Left Blank 17 8 1 1 2 6 0 3 1 0

% of Respondents 2.8 6.3 2.0 3.0 15.4 2.6 0.0 16.7 3.2 0.0

A 7 On average, how many people (both patrons and staff) would you estimate use

depository electronic products at the library daily?

All Regionals Selectives

Left Blank 37 2 35

% of Respondents 3.2 3.8 3.2

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

%

LeftofBlank

Respondents 3.2

19

4.7621070200 3.9 3.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 11.1 0.0 0.0

A 8 On average, how many hours would you estimate the depository electronic products are used daily?

All Regionals Selectives

Left Blank 62 2 60

% of Respondents 5.4 3.8 5.5

Public Service Special State State Academy Court Library

11 0 2 3 2

4.8 0.0 11.1 9.7 4.5

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal General Law College Agency Court

Left Blank 26 12 4 1 1 % of Respondents 4.3 9.4 7.8 3.0 7.7

62
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

A 9 How many IBM compatible computers available to public depository patrons are equipped

with "assistive technologies" for the use of visually impaired persons?

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 22

1.9

Regionals

0

0.0

Selectives

22

2.0

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 7 % of Respondents 1 .2

Acad. Comm.

Law College

4 1 3.1 2.0

Federal

Agency

0

0.0

Federal Court

1 7.7

Public Service

Academy

6 0

2.6 0.0

Special

2

11.1

State Court

1 3.2

State

Library

0

0.0

A 10 How many Apple Macintosh computers are available for use by public depository

patrons?

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 52

4.5

Regionals

1 1.9

Selectives 51

• 4.6

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 27

% of Respondents 4.5

Acad. Comm.

Law College

8 1 6.3 2.0

Federal

Agency

2

6.1

Federal Court0

0.0

Public Service

Academy

10 0

4.3 0.0

Special

2

11.1

State Court2

6.5

State

Library

0

0.0

B 1 How many IBM compatible computers available to either depository patrons or staff have

hard disk drives installed, and what is their capacity in megabytes? Show how many

units have each capacity range. Do not consider effects of disk partitioning or use of

compression software in answering this question.

<50Meg All Left Blank 357

% of Respondents 31 .0

Regionals

14

26.4

Selectives

343

31.2

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 190

% of Respondents 31 .7

Acad. Comm.

Law College

42 14

32.8 27.5

Federal

Agency

9

27.3

Federal Court6

46.2

Public Service

Academy

64 2

27.7 50.0

Special

4

22.2

State Court

11 35.5

State

Library

15

34.1

51-100 All Left Blank 539

% of Respondents 46.7

Regionals

25

47.2

Selectives

514

46.7

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 254

% of Respondents 42.3

Acad. Comm.

Law College

67 25

52.3 49.0

Federal

Agency

19

57.6

Federal Court6

46.2

Public Service

Academy

124 2

53.7 50.0

Special

5

27.8

State Court19

61.3

State

Library

18

40.9

63
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

101-200 Ail Left Blank 523

% of Respondents 45.4

Regionals

21 39.6

Selectives

502

45.6

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 266

% of Respondents 44.3

Acad. Comm.

Law College

63 28

49.2 54.9

Federal Agency

22

66.7

Federal Court4

30.8

Public Service

Academy

104 2

45.0 50.0

Special

5

27.8

State Court9

29.0

State

Library

20

45.5

201-300 All Left Blank 676

% of Respondents 58.6

Regionals

26

49.1

Selectives

650

59.1

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 335

% of Respondents 55.8

Acad. Comm.

Law College

88 33

68.8 64.7

Federal Agency

20

60.6

Federal Court10

76.9

Public Service

Academy

136 2

58.9 50.0

Special

7 38.9

State Court

18

58.1

State

Library

27

61.4

>300 All Regionals Selectives

Left Blank 725 30 695

% of Respondents 62.9 56.6 63.2

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 375

% of Respondents 62.5

Acad. Comm.

Law College

85 36

66.4 70.6

Federal

Agency

22

66.7

Federal Court

11 84.6

Public Service

Academy

143 2

61.9 50.0

Special

9

50.0

State Court17

54.8

State

Library

25

56.8

B 2 What is the average amount of free hard disk space in these IBM compatible computers?

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 68

5.9

Regionals

1 1.9

Selectives

67

6.1

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 31 % of Respondents 5.2

Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

13 3 1 0 14 0 1 3 2

10.2 5.9 3.0 0.0 6.1 0.0 5.6 9.7 4.5

C 1 How many IBM compatible computers for either depository patrons or staff have both

5.25" and 3.5" floppy disk drives installed?

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 14

1.2

Regionals

0

0.0

Selectives

14

1.3

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 4

% of Respondents 0.7

Acad. Comm. Federal Federal

Law College Agency Court

3 10 0

2.3 2.0 0.0 0.0

Public Service Special

Academy

4 0 1 1.7 0.0 5.6

State State Court Library

1 0

3.2 0.0

64
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

C 2 How many of each of the floppy disk sizes listed are installed on IBM compatible

computers for either depository patrons or staff?

360 K All Left Blank 580

% of Respondents 50.3

Regionals

24

45.3

Selectives

556

50.5

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 307

% of Respondents 51 .2

Acad. Comm.

Law College

60 20

46.9 39.2

Federal Federal

Agency Court 17 9

51.5 69.2

Public Service

Academy

123 1 53.2 25.0

Special

9

50.0

State Court16

51.6

State

Library

18

40.9

1.2 MMb All Left Blank 389

% of Respondents 33.7

Regionals

13

24.5

Selectives

376

34.2

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 194

% of Respondents 32.3

Acad. Comm.

Law College

54 20

42.2 39.2

Federal Federal

Agency Court

11 5

33.3 38.5

Public Service

Academy

66

28.6

2

50.0

Special

6

33.3

State Court12

38.7

State

Library

19

43.2

720 K All Left Blank 642

% of Respondents 55.7

Regionals

28

52.8

Selectives

614

55.8

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 314

% of Respondents 52.3

Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State Law College Agency Court Acad. Court Library

73 25 26 11 139 1 11 16 26

57.0 49.0 78.8 84.6 60.2 25.0 61.1 51.6 59.1

1.44 Mb All Left Blank 217

% of Respondents 18.8

Regionals

4

7.5

Selectives

213

19.4

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 103

% of Respondents 17.2

Acad. Comm. Federal

Law College Agency

25 11 11 19.5 21.6 33.3

Federal Public Service Court Acad.

6 46 1 46.2 19.9 25.0

Special State State Court Library

4 4 6

22.2 12.9 13.6

D 1 How many drives are attached to IBM compatible computers available to public

depository patrons? Include computers attached to networked CD-ROM drives.

All Regionals Selectives

Left Blank 18 0 18

% of Respondents 1 .6 0.0 1.6

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

Left Blank 10 3 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 0

% of Respondents 1.7 2.3 2.0 0.0 0.0 1.3 0.0 5.6 0.0 0.0

65
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

D 2 Are any CD-ROM drives designated as 2X (double speed), 3X (triple speed) etc., available to public depository patrons on IBM compatible computers? Indicate the fastest one.

All Left Blank 40

% of Respondents 3.5

Regionals

2

3.8

Selectives

38

3.5

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 21 % of Respondents 3.5

Acad. Comm. Federal Federal

Law College Agency Court 5 2 0 1 3.9 3.9 0.0 7.7

Public Service Special

Academy

7 0 0

3.0 0.0 0.0

State State Court Library

1 3

3.2 6.8

D 3 Are any of the IBM compatible computer systems available to either depository patrons or

staff equipped for Multi-Media support?

All Left Blank 26

% of Respondents 2.3

Regionals

0

0.0

Selectives

26

2.4

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 13

% of Respondents 2.2

Acad. Comm.

Law College

4 1 3.1 2.0

Federal Agency

0

0.0

Federal Court0

0.0

Public Service

Academy

6 0

2.6 0.0

Special

1 5.6

State State Court Library

1 0

3.2 0.0

D 4 How many IBM compatible computers available to either depository patrons or staff access CD-ROM drives via a network?

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 18

1.6

Regionals

0

0.0

Selectives

18

1.6

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 10

% of Respondents 1.7

Acad. Comm. Federal Federal

Law College Agency Court

3 10 0

2.3 2.0 0.0 0.0

Public Service Special

Academy

4 0 0

1.7 0.0 0.0

State State Court Library

0

0.0

0

0.0

E 1 Are depository computers connected by a LAN (Local Area Network)?

Patrons All Left Blank 30

% of Respondents 2.6

Regionals

1 1.9

Selectives

29

2.6

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 13

% of Respondents 2.2

Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Law College Agency Court 6 10 1 4.7 2.0 0.0 7.7

Public Service Special

Academy

6 0 1 2.6 0.0 5.6

State State Court Library

1 3.21 2.3

Staff All Regionals Selectives

66
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

Left Blank 66

% of Respondents 5.7 35.7 63

5.7

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 28

% of Respondents 4.7

Acad. Comm.

Law College

10 2

7.8 3.9

Federal

Agency

1 3.0

Federal Court

1 7.7

Public Service

Academy

15 1 6.5 25.0

Special

2

11.1

State Court4

12.9

State

Library

2

4.5

E 2 Which network software is in use for the LAN?

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 397

34.4

Regionals

19

35.8

Selectives

378

34.4

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 210

% of Respondents 35.0

Acad. Comm.

Law College

26 19

20.3 37.3

Federal Agency

6

18.2

Federal Court3

23.1

Public Service

Academy

107 1 46.3 25.0

Special

5

27.8

State Court

8

25.8

State

Library

12

27.3

E 3 Are terminal emulation hardware and software used to connect depository computers to a mainframe?

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 45

3.9

Regionals

0

0.0

Selectives

45

4.1

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 22

% of Respondents 3.7

Acad. Comm.

Law College

4 1 3.1 2.0

Federal

Agency

1 3.0

Federal Court

1 7.7

Public Service

Academy

10 0

4.3 0.0

Special

2

11.1

State Court

2

6.5

State

Library

2

4.5

E 4 Are depository computers hard-wired (directly and continuously connected) to the

internet?

All Regionals Selectives

Left Blank 39 0 39

% of Respondents 3.4 0.0 3.5

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 16

% of Respondents 2.7

Acad. Comm. Federal

Law College Agency

5 1 0

3.9 2.0 0.0

Federal Public Service Court Academy

1 12 0

7.7 5.2 0.0

Special State State Court Library

1 2 1 5.6 6.5 2.3

E 5 Are Internet programs such as Telnet and FTP accessible on computers available to public depository patrons?

All Regionals Selectives

Left Blank 38 1 37

% of Respondents 3.3 1.9 3.4

67
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 14

% of Respondents 2.3

Acad. Comm.

Law College

4 1 3.1 2.0

Federal Agency

0

0.0

Federal Court2

15.4

Public Service

Academy

11 0

4.8 0.0

Special

2

11.1

State State Court Library

3 1 9.7 2.3

E 6 Are Internet programs such as Telnet and FTP accessible on computers available to depository staff?

All Regionals Selectives

Left Blank 30 0 30

% of Respondents 2.6 0.0 2.7

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 13

% of Respondents 2.2

Acad. Comm.

Law College 5 1 3.9 2.0

Federal

Agency

0

0.0

Federal Court

1 7.7

Public Service

Academy

6 0

2.6 0.0

Special

1 5.6

State State Court Library 2 1 6.5 2.3

E 7 Is part-time access to the Internet available on depository computers through modem

dial-up of a communications provider?

All Left Blank 46

% of Respondents 4.0

Regionals

0

0.0

Selectives

46

4.2

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 20

% of Respondents 3.3

Acad. Comm.

Law College

6 2

4.7 3.9

Federal

Agency

2

6.1

Federal Court

1 7.7

Public Service

Academy

8 0

3.5 ' 0.0

Special

2

11.1

State State Court Library

3

9.7

2

4.5

E 8 How many computer terminals give Internet access to public depository patrons?

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 34

2.9

Regionals

0

0.0

Selectives

34

3.1

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 16

% of Respondents 2.7

Acad. Comm. Federal Federal

Law College Agency Court

3.142.01113.0 7.7

Public Service Special State State Academy Court Library 7 0 12 1 3.0 0.0 5.6 6.5 2.3

E 9 Which online discussion groups do depository staff participate in? Indicate all that apply.

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 34

2.9

Regionals

0

0.0

Selectives

34

3.1

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 13

Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Law College Agency Court 5 2 0 1

Public Service Special

Academy

6 0 1

State State Court Library

4 2

68
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

% of Respondents 2.2 3.9 3.9 0.0 7.7 2.6 0.0 5.6 12.9 4.5

E 10 Which on-line services are available on depository computers. Indicate all that apply.

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 41

3.6

Regionals

1 1.9

Selectives

40

3.6

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 20

% of Respondents 3.3

Acad. Comm.

Law College

8 1 6.3 2.0

Federal

Agency

0

0.0

Federal Court

1 7.7

Public Service

Academy

7 0

3.0 0.0

Special

1 5.6

State State Court Library

1 2

3.2 4.5

E 1 1 Which PDN (public data network) services are available on depository computers?

(OCLC, for example, is generally available via PDN.) Indicate all that apply.

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 46

4.0

Regionals

0

0.0

Selectives

46

4.2

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 22

% of Respondents 3.7

Acad. Comm.

Law College

6 1 4.7 2.0

Federal

Agency

1 3.0

Federal Court2

15.4

Public Service

Academy

9 0

3.9 0.0

Special

1 5.6

State State Court Library

3 1 9.7 2.3

E 12 Which communications programs are available to either public depository patrons or

staff? Indicate all that apply.

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 82

7.1

Regionals

1 1.9

Selectives 81

7.4

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 47

% of Respondents 7.8

Acad. Comm.

Law College

6 6

4.7 11.8

Federal Agency

1 3.0

Federal Court

1 7.7

Public Service

Academy

16 0

6.9 0.0

Special

2

11.1

State State Court Library

1 2

3.2 4.5

F 1 What software packages are available to public depository patrons? Indicate all that

applyAll Left Blank 703

% of Respondents 61.0

Regionals

19

35.8

Selectives

684

62.2

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 328

% of Respondents 54.7

Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

96 24 19 13 153 3 13 21 33

75.0 47.1 57.6 100.0 66.2 75.0 72.2 67.7 75.0

69
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

F 2 What operating systems or environments are installed on IBM compatible computers

available to either public depository patrons or staff? Indicate all that apply.

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 53

4.6

Regionals

3

5.7

Selectives

50

4.5

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 21 % of Respondents 3.5

Acad. Comm.

Law College

7 5

5.5 9.8

Federal

Agency

1 3.0

Federal Court0

0.0

Public Service

Academy

12 0

5.2 0.0

Special

2

11.1

State State Court Library

4 1 12.9 2.3

F 3 Does your library subscribe to or purchase a commercial CD-ROM version of the GPO

Monthly Catalog?

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 62

5.4

Regionals

3

5.7

Selectives

59

5.4

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 32

% of Respondents 5.3

Acad. Comm.

Law College

7 4

5.5 7.8

Federal

Agency

3

9.1

Federal Court

1 7.7

Public Service

Academy

10 0

4.3 0.0

Special

2

11.1

State State Court Library 2 1 6.5 2.3

F 4 Does your library load GPO-originated cataloging records into an Online Public Access

Catalog (OPAC)?

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 68

5.9

Regionals

3

5.7

Selectives

65

5.9

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 34

% of Respondents 5.7

Acad. Comm.

Law College

8 4

6.3 7.8

Federal

Agency

3

9.1

Federal Court

1 7.7

Public Service

Academy

12 0

5.2 0.0

Special

3

16.7

State State Court Library 2 1 6.5 2.3

G 1 Is there a technical expert available to assist either public depository patrons or staff in the operation or installation of library computer equipment?

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 22

1.9

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 10

% of Respondents 1 .7

Regionals

0

0.0

Selectives

22

2.0

Acad. Comm. Federal Federal

Law College Agency Court

3 10 0

2.3 2.0 0.0 0.0

Public Service Special State State Academy Court Library 5 0 1 1 1 2.2 0.0 5.6 3.2 2.3

70
Electronic Capabilities of Federal Depository Libraries

G 2 Is there a technical expert available to assist either public depository patrons or staff in the use of depository products or services?

Left Blank

% of Respondents

All 24

2.1

Regionals

0

0.0

Selectives

24

2.2

By Library Type Acad.

General

Left Blank 10

% of Respondents 1.7

Acad. Comm. Federal Federal

Law College Agency Court

2.3

3

2.01113.0 7.7

Public Service Special

Academy

5 0 1 2.2 0.0 5.6

State State Court Library

1 1 3.2 2.3

G 3 How many hours per week is technical help available to public depository patrons in the use of depository products or services?

All Regionals Selectives

Left Blank 58 2 56

% of Respondents 5.0 3.8 5.1

By Library Type Acad. Acad. Comm. Federal Federal Public Service Special State State General Law College Agency Court Academy Court Library

% of Respondents

Left Blank

4.0 243.14222 3.9 6.1 15.4 6.5

15

0.0015.6 16.1536.8

71
tIJ
0.

"