Administrative Notes 

Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program

Vol. 24, no. 05 GP 3.16/3-2:24/05 May 1, 2003 

HIGHLIGHTS

New Council 

Members 

Appointed 1 

Council 

Presentations: 

 Russell 3 

 Baldwin 9 

 Davis 13 

GPO Access 

Update 17 

Responses to

Recommendations 21 

Council 

Members 26 

Public Printer Names Five To 

Depository Library Council 

Public Printer Bruce R. James has named five new members to the 

Depository Library Council to the Public Printer. Bringing diversified 

experience to the Council, the newly appointed members are: 

• Duncan Aldrich, University of Nevada, Reno 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Charles Eckman, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 

John W. Graham, Public Library of Cincinnati and 

Hamilton County, Cincinnati, OH 

Cheryl Malone, University of Arizona School of 

Information Resources, Tucson, AZ 

Barbara Selby, University of Virginia School of Law, 

Charlottesville, VA 

This is a reappointment for Mr. Aldrich, who was a Council member from 

1997 to 2000 and served as Chair during 1999-2000. He is DataWorks 

Coordinator at the University of Nevada Reno Libraries. A land-grant 

institution, UNR was designated in 1907. It serves as the Regional 

Depository for Nevada, selecting 100% of the items distributed to 

depositories. Duncan worked as an Expert Consultant at GPO from 1996-

1997 on issues related to the electronic transition. He also served as Chair 

of GODORT during 1993-1994. Currently he is active in ALA and ALAGODORT and is Co-Chair of the ALA Task Force on Restrictions on 

Access to Government Information. 
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Charles D. (Chuck) Eckman is Head, Social 

Sciences Resource Group and Principal 

Government Documents Librarian, Social 

Sciences Resource Center, Green Library, 

Stanford University, Stanford, CA. Chuck 

has been Principal Government Documents 

Librarian in the Stanford University Libraries 

since 1995, and Director of the GATT Digital 

Archive project since 1999. He participates 

in a collaborative project of the World Trade 

Organization and Stanford University, and 

leads a group of eight institutional partners to 

develop a grant exploring the potential 

applicability of the LOCKSS software model 

to the FDLP (LOCKSS-DOCS project) 

(LOCKSS = Lots of copies keep stuff safe). 

Chuck is active in ALA – GODORT, and 

serves as chair of the International 

Documents Task Force.

John Graham is Head of the Public 

Documents and Patents Department at the 

Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton 

County, Ohio. This is one of the oldest 

depositories, receiving a Representative 

designation in 1884. The library is also a 

Patent Depository. John was selected to head 

a newly reconstituted Documents Department 

at the Public Library of Cincinnati, 

consolidating functions and improving 

overall access to resources. He also served as 

a resource for a PBS documentary, with 

particular reference to the U.S. Congressional 

Serial Set. 

Cheryl Knott Malone is Associate Professor, 

School of Information Resources and Library 

Science (SIRLS), University of Arizona, 

Tucson, AZ. The Main Library, University 

of Arizona, Tucson, has been a depository 

since 1907. Cheryl is currently working on a 

pilot project with the Main Library, SIRLS, 

and GPO to develop a virtual depository 

collection. She teaches graduate courses on 

Government information, social constructs of 

information, information literacy instruction, 

and online searching. She is also researching 

the construction and revision of the 

Information Sector in the North American 

Industry Classification System, and is an 

Affiliate with the Women’s Studies program

at the University of Arizona. 

Barbara Selby is Documents Librarian at the 

Arthur J. Morris Law Library, University of 

Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, 

Virginia. The Law Library received a 

Senatorial depository designation in 1964. 

Barbara authors a Web page, “Federal 

Administrative Decisions & Other Actions” 

(http://www.law.virginia.edu/admindec), and

is Co-editor of the Virginia Library 

Association’s journal, Virginia Libraries. 

She is one of the directors of the Virginia 

Association of Law Libraries. Active in ALA 

GODORT, she received the Bernadine 

Abbott Hoduski Founders Award in 1999 for 

her work with state government information 

issues in Virginia.

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Remarks by Judy Russell 

Superintendent of Documents 

before the 

Spring 2003 Meeting of the Depository Library Council 

April 8, 2003 

Reno, NV 

Let me start by saying that both Bruce James 

and I would like to thank the Council and all 

of you for your participation in the Monday 

session on the future of the FDLP. Both of us 

found it very helpful, and you will see the 

information that you shared with us reflected 

back in what we say and do in the coming 

months. 

I’m very pleased to be back at GPO and 

working again with the depository 

community. 

Would the audience please stand to identify 

yourselves by library type: academic (all and 

then all that do not consider themselves 

large), public, academic law, other law, 

research libraries, federal/military libraries, 

court, state and other. Could the library 

directors stand and be recognized? Thank you 

all for taking the time to come and 

participate. We are especially grateful to the 

library directors for taking the time to come

and be part of these discussions about the 

future of the FDLP. 

Staff Changes 

I’d like to announce several staff changes 

within the Superintendent of Documents 

organization: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

T.C. Evans was promoted to Deputy 

Superintendent of Documents in January; 

Ric Davis has been promoted to Director 

of the Office of Electronic Information 

Dissemination Services (EIDS) 

Bonnie Trivizas is retiring as Chief of the 

Library Division in the Library Programs 

Service and Sheila McGarr is returning to 

GPO in that position;

T.C. Evans is serving as the Acting 

Director of Sales until that position is 

filled; applications for that position have 

been received and are being reviewed, so 

there should be an announcement on that 

position within a few weeks; 

Karen Sieger has been promoted to 

Product Services Manager in EIDS; she 

led the team that has developed the new 

web pages for GPO Access. 

New GPO Access Pages 

The launch of the new GPO Access pages 

was the culmination of months of work with 

focus groups, through usability testing, user 

surveys, and feedback received through the 

GPO Access User Support Team from 

Congress, Federal agencies, the depository 

library community, and the public. The 

prototype pages were shown at the ALA 

midwinter meeting and other places in 

advance of launch. The use of the new 

website designation, <www.gpoaccess.gov>,

was not certain until the Thursday before the 

Council meeting. I apologize for the lack of 

more advance notice on the change in the 

URL. The old addresses will continue to 

work for some time and redirects will be put 

in place for each of the old links. We have 

heard the concerns of the community and will 

make sure that major changes are announced 

in advance next time. 

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New Depository Library Council Members 

I want to ask the new members of the 

Depository Library Council to stand and be 

recognized as I mention their names. Their 

terms will begin in October 2003. We are 

pleased that four of them could be with us at 

this meeting. Present at the meeting are 

Chuck Eckman from Stanford University; 

Cheryl Malone from the University of 

Arizona School of Information Resources and 

Library Science (SIRLS), Barbara Selby from

the University of Virginia Law Library, and 

Duncan Aldrich from the University of 

Nevada, Reno. John Graham from the 

Cincinnati Hamilton County Public Library 

was unable to attend because it is tax season 

and he is short of staff. 

Projects and Plans 

GPO is negotiating a Memorandum of 

Understanding (MOU) with the National 

Archives and Records Administration 

(NARA). This contract will make GPO an 

official “archival affiliate” and all of the GPO 

Access databases will be considered the 

official archival copies as if they had been 

transferred to NARA, but GPO will continue 

to maintain them for permanent public 

access. 

Ric Davis is leading a GPO task force to 

implement digital signatures on 

Congressional bills, Federal Register 

documents and eventually on all GPO Access 

files. These digital signatures will allow 

users of downloaded files to determine that 

the files are unchanged since they were 

“authenticated” by GPO. 

Bruce James has indicated that the first year 

of his term as Public Printer will be spent 

gathering facts about where GPO and its 

partners are and what we anticipate for the 

future, as a basis for a strategic planning 

process. He has encouraged GPO to work 

with the community to develop 

demonstration or pilot projects, which will 

test ideas about services that we may wish to 

offer in the future and provide facts about 

how such services should be implemented. 

GPO will also use surveys both to support 

data gathering and analysis of the pilot 

projects and to gather more general 

information about the FDLP and its users. 

We have a number of pilot projects that are 

underway or contemplated: 

Economic Development Pilot: The work 

of the Council’s Subcommittee on 

Attrition and Retention (SOAR) shows 

that many of the libraries that left the 

program in recent years are small 

academic and public libraries in 

economically disadvantaged areas. GPO 

is developing a pilot project that will help 

comparable libraries that remain in the 

FDLP to focus their collection and 

services on government publications that 

are specifically applicable to community 

economic development. GPO will 

combine that recommended collection 

with specialized training on the utilization 

of the resources and seek training and 

other assistance from agencies with 

responsibility for small and minority 

business development. GPO may also 

provide workstations to these libraries, 

since they may not be able to afford the 

initial investment in appropriate 

equipment. We hope this program will 

provide a strong economic benefit and 

real incentive for such libraries to remain 

in the program and utilize information 

available from the Federal government to 

assist their communities.

• 

• Kiosk: At the ALA midwinter meeting, 

we saw a kiosk that had been developed 

for the New Jersey State Library that 

included links to GPO Access, the 

4 
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5 

Catalog of Government Publications, the 

Online Government Bookstore, Ben’s 

Guide, locating a Federal Depository 

Library and other Federal information 

sources. 3M and Public Information 

Kiosk, Inc. have brought one of the 

kiosks here to Reno, and it is available for 

you to test drive in the registration area. 

They have helped us adapt some of the 

screens from the New Jersey kiosk to 

show how we might use a kiosk for public 

access and as a GPO bookstore. The 

kiosk includes a telephone that can be 

used to call the GPO Access user support 

team or a reference librarian in a 

depository library. It also has a credit 

card reader for purchases or to pay for 

printing on the printer that is part of the 

unit. GPO plans to define one or more 

pilot projects using the kiosk so we can 

learn more about how this technology 

might assist us in the sale and delivery of 

government publications. 

• 

• 

• 

State-wide Roll-out of GPO Access: I 

have had discussions with several state 

librarians and with the executive board of 

the Chief Operating Officers of State 

Library Agencies (COSLA) about ways 

for GPO to help State Libraries treat GPO 

Access and Ben’s Guide the same way 

that they treat commercial databases and 

e-journals that are licensed under 

statewide contracts. Although the State 

Library doesn’t have to pay for GPO 

Access and Ben’s Guide, they have been 

paid for with appropriated funds. We 

would like to develop and test a roll-out 

package that can be supported with 

literature and training, so that GPO 

Access and Ben’s Guide can be available 

to the public in every school and public 

library in the test states. We would want 

to survey for recognition and use of these 

products before and after the roll-out so 

we could determine its effectiveness. 

DOE Pilot Projects: Some of you 

participated in a meeting earlier this week 

about the new opportunities presented to 

us by the Department of Energy (DOE), 

which has been a long time partner of 

GPO and the FDLP. As part of the 

Information Bridge, DOE has developed 

two new capabilities that it would like to 

test with depository libraries. One is a 

means to establish a profile based on 

search strategy or list of key words, so 

that every new document that is added to 

the database that matches the profile of 

the library will result in an e-mail 

notification of availability with a link to 

review or retrieve the document. The 

other is a means to identify categories of 

documents, much like the categories that 

were previously used to select subsets of 

the DOE microfiche, and all electronic 

documents fitting the category would be 

placed in a holding area from which the 

selecting library could FTP the copies to 

store and use locally. These items would 

be placed in a pre-determined folder at 

regular intervals and held for several days 

to provide an opportunity to the library to 

download the files. The content would be 

superseded at scheduled intervals with 

new material matching the profile. 

University of Arizona Pilot Project: Later 

in the program you will hear a 

presentation from the University of 

Arizona about their project to become the 

first all electronic selective depository 

library. They are working with GPO to 

identify electronic counterparts for all of 

the items that they select and 

systematically substituting those items for 

tangible products. This will help us 

examine the characteristics and service 

requirements for depository libraries in 

the future when all, or virtually all, of the 

material available through the FDLP is 

electronic. 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

Academic Law Library Pilot Project: We

are seeking one or more academic law 

libraries for a similar project to test the 

feasibility of an all electronic academic 

law depository library. 

• 

• 

• 

Digitization and Preservation: We have 

been offered a set of 20 years of paper 

copies of Congressional hearings and we 

would like to find one or more depository 

libraries to work with us on digitizing this 

collection. We also want to encourage 

depository libraries to seek digitization 

and preservation grants for retrospective 

conversion of other materials from their 

Federal documents collections. GPO will 

work with the libraries to see that all 

converted items are cataloged; to 

establish standards for digitization that 

will result in searchable files; to ensure

that the digitized materials are part of the 

FDLP and available for permanent public 

access; and to serve as a clearinghouse for 

information about digitization projects so 

that we can eliminate redundancy. 

New Concept for Inspectors: The regional 

depository libraries have been asked to 

develop proposals for pilot projects to test 

a new concept for inspections. We would 

like to establish locally based 

“consultants,” who would be assigned 

responsibility for approximately 40 to 60 

depository libraries in a geographic area. 

They would visit each of those libraries at 

least once per quarter, some for only a 

few hours and others for a day or more, 

depending on the need. They would offer 

training and attend local, state and 

regional documents meetings to speak 

and answer questions. They could assist 

with self-studies, help train new 

documents librarians, and advise on 

problems related to item selection, 

collection development policies, etc. The 

idea is to recruit from the community 

people who would serve in the 

community for a year or two and then 

return to work in a depository library. 

We have asked several regionals to 

consider providing a home base for such 

consultants, including office space, and 

mentoring/supervising them. A few 

regionals said they might be able to use a 

member of their own staff if GPO would 

cover the travel expenses. Others said 

they would prefer a GPO employee. 

Analysis of Policies and Procedures 

In my discussions with GPO staff and 

members of the depository community, I 

have been emphasizing the idea that “one size 

does not fit all.” We are beginning to reevaluate procedures, policies and regulations 

to determine what is best for each size and 

type of depository library. The core 

collection for a small public library may be 

very different from that of an academic 

research library or an academic law library. 

The technical requirements for a library with 

a large information commons may be quite 

different than those for a small library, which 

will need one or more dedicated workstations 

for access to Federal government 

information. For example, academic law 

libraries tell us that there are currently no 

DVDs offered in the items they select, so 

they do not understand why they should be 

required to have a workstation with a DVD 

player. Similarly, the list of titles that should 

always remain in paper may be different for 

different sizes and types of libraries. The 

breakout sessions on Wednesday morning are 

intended to provide an opportunity for dialog 

among librarians from similar institutions. 

I have been having a series of conference 

calls with librarians from different types of 

libraries and will continue to do that as a 

means to explore the barriers to and 

incentives for participation in the FDLP, now 

and in the future. I encourage every one here 

to network among yourselves and with others 

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7 

who were not able to attend the meeting and 

then top provide feedback to us on the 

changes that you would like to see. 

Digitization Projects 

Gil is going to speak about progress on the 

acquisition of an integrated library system 

and our plans to establish a GPO collection of 

tangible materials, so I will not elaborate on 

either of those projects. 

We would like to replace the microfiche 

contracts as they expire with contracts for 

digitizing documents. GPO will work with 

the community to develop specifications and 

standards that will result in searchable, useful 

electronic files. 

Retrospective scanning is also an important 

issue. There is a need for library partners to 

help GPO identify and convert segments of 

the historical collections, again using 

common specifications and standards so the 

files are searchable and can be readily shared 

and preserved for permanent public access. 

Hopefully, libraries can obtain grants from 

the Institute for Museum and Library 

Services (IMLS), the National Endowment 

for the Humanities (NEH), the National 

Science Foundation and other sources to help 

fund these efforts. Retrospective digitization 

will not only improve access to the older 

materials, it will enable the libraries that need 

or wish to do so to weed their collections and 

substitute the electronic titles. GPO will 

ensure that cataloging records are created for 

historical documents as they are digitized. 

GPO is also seeking library partners to assist 

us with the development of virtual reference 

services and web-based training. 

Next Generation of GPO Access and Other 

Developments 

We are planning for the next generation of 

GPO Access. The new website is already 

available and should make it easier for users 

to find the right databases and search them 

effectively. Specifications are being 

developed for the functionality of the new 

search engine and platform. Procurement 

regulations limit what we can say about this, 

but it will be XML based and we will migrate 

forward all of the current GPO Access 

databases, adding XML coding and digital 

signatures. The target is to select the new 

software by the end of the year and 

implement next year. The FY 2004 

appropriation request includes $4.1 million 

for that purpose. 

GPO has now joined CENDI, the interagency 

group of scientific and technical information 

providers, including NLM, DOE, DTIC, 

NASA, NAL, NTIS and other executive 

branch agencies. We are the first legislative 

branch agency to join CENDI. GPO is also 

participating in the National Digital 

Information Infrastructure Program (NDIIP) 

of the Library of Congress and expects to be 

part of the OMB interagency e-government 

committee. 

Reorganization 

We have developed a proposed 

reorganization within the Superintendent of 

Documents staff. Bruce James has gone 

through a process of consultation with the 

senior managers. The organization chart for 

the new GPO structure is in the packet 

provided to each attendee. We have done a 

similar process within the Documents 

organization and are completing a proposal 

for a structure that is arranged in functional 

areas. There is a policy and planning group, 

which will focus (as the name implies) on the 

policies, procedures, collection development 

plans, and regulations for each program area. 

There are three main program areas: the 
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Federal Depository Library Program, the 

Catalog of Government Publications, which 

we are now calling the National 

Bibliography, and cost recovery programs, 

such as the sales and reimbursable programs. 

Library and customer services is another area, 

which will include responsibilities such as a 

central contact center for user support and 

order processing; account records 

management; market and market research; 

and education and training. The operations 

areas will include an expanded acquisitions

and agency outreach staff; cataloging and 

bibliographic control; and collection 

management for GPO Access, the electronic 

archive and the re-established tangible 

collection; as well as storage and distribution 

functions. There will continue to be a 

support group for financial, administrative 

and other cross-cutting functions. This will 

align our staff to reduce duplicative efforts 

and provide better service to our library 

partners and our other customers. It will 

allow us to focus more attention on 

establishing a comprehensive national 

bibliography as required by the statute as well 

as building a more comprehensive collection 

of tangible and electronic documents. The 

integrated library system is an essential tool 

that will make it possible for the first time to 

expand the current Catalog of Government 

Publications by incorporating bibliographic 

records from other agencies. 

These changes will result in new positions 

and promotional opportunities for current 

staff and we hope that many of you will 

consider applying for positions at GPO and 

coming to help us improve our current 

services and prepare for the future. All of the 

new positions will be posted on FDLP-L as 

they are created. 

Conclusion 

In closing, I want to encourage each of you to 

work with one another and GPO to determine 

the mix of services that GPO must offer in 

the future to make it worthwhile for libraries 

to participate in the FDLP. It is particularly 

important to identify services that can be 

offered exclusively to depository libraries, so 

there are some substantial, tangible benefits 

to participation when all or virtually all of the 

material can be obtained free from the 

Internet without the obligations of being a 

depository library. In addition, we must all 

find ways to deal with the burdens of the 

large historical collections. We must 

consider setting up shared facilities into 

which collections can be de-duplicated, 

digitization projects, retrospective cataloging, 

and other means to better mange the 

retrospective materials. This is a great 

challenge, but we can do this together and 

make sure that this program is as strong in the 

next hundred years as it has been for the past 

two hundred years. 

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9 

The End of the Beginning 

Remarks by Gil Baldwin 

Director, Library Programs Service 

before the 

Spring 2003 Meeting of the Depository Library Council 

April 8, 2003 

Reno, NV 

Good morning, everyone. On behalf of all of 

the staff of the Library Programs Service, 

welcome to the spring Council meeting. It’s 

great to see so many of you here to 

participate in planning our future. You have 

far exceeded the usual number to attend a 

field Council meeting, and given the state of 

the world, your commitment to the Federal 

Depository Library Program and its future is 

commendable. 

We are involved in a number of new 

initiatives and pilot projects, as you have 

been hearing. This morning I will focus on 

some issues and activities that will give you 

an overview of things in LPS. These are the 

selection of our Integrated Library System, 

identification and public access, the 

Depository Library of the Year award, and 

our planning for a true library collection of 

our own. 

Integrated Library System 

Our work to acquire and install an Integrated 

Library System remains on schedule. We are 

committed to bringing up the core ILS 

functionality for cataloging, authority control, 

and serials processing this year. GPO’s 

cataloging data will be available to you 

through an online catalog that will replace 

our WAIS-based Catalog of U.S. Government 

Publications. The coverage of the database 

will be immediately extended back to 1976. 

We have attained a major milestone in our 

progress toward procuring an ILS. LPS has 

conducted an extensive study to select and 

procure an ILS. We have completed this 

review using a team technique that 

emphasizes due diligence, fair consideration 

of the competing vendors, and best value for 

the Government. The critical piece in the 

process was our decision to hire a top-flight 

library systems consultant to guide us through 

the evaluation and decision process. This has 

worked so well that the same method is 

becoming the agency standard for software 

procurements. 

For the past six months, Rob McGee of RMG 

Consultants, Inc., has been working with our 

ILS team in a very focused intensive 

investigation of ILS offerings and what they 

could do for us. LPS has a number of unique 

requirements that were not covered by an offthe-shelf ILS product, but by working 

through the RMG fact-finding protocol, we 

have identified a system and solution that 

best fits our current and future needs. GPO is 

presently in the final stages of evaluating the 

proposal from one ILS vendor, partnered with 

a systems integrator based in suburban 

Maryland. Their partnership brings several 

exciting new capabilities to the table. Before 

June we intend to have all of our 

requirements and implementation plans 

documented in a signed contract. In the 

meantime, we are investigating the pros and 

cons associated with various sources for the 

initial data load. 
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It is exciting for our staff to see the ILS 

coming, especially since many of them were 

included in various aspects of the selection 

process. We are now planning the various 

implementation activities, such as data 

migration, user training, hardware purchases 

and installation, and more. Once we have the 

basic cataloging, authority processing, serial 

record, and OPAC functions in place, we will 

begin work on replacing or interfacing with 

our old legacy systems. These are the pieces 

that no standard ILS covers, and examining 

them will give us ample opportunity for 

business process re-engineering. One 

improvement you’ll notice immediately is 

that the cataloging data will include all of our 

records back to 1976. 

I want to publicly acknowledge the superb 

efforts made by Laurie Hall, LPS supervisory 

program analyst, and her team in getting us 

where we are today. Without Laurie’s drive 

and commitment I don’t know if this project 

would have gotten off the ground. The other 

members of the ILS Team are Cynthia Etkin, 

George Barnum, Yvonne Louden, and 

Virginia Wiese. 

New Capabilities for Traditional Products 

The new ILS will provide numerous 

opportunities to improve traditional products 

and services. The OPAC will provide far 

superior search and retrieval capabilities than 

does today’s online Catalog of U.S. 

Government Publications or the printed 

Monthly Catalog. We expect the ILS

capabilities to be so superior that we are 

thinking about providing only online versions 

of the Monthly Catalog, the annual Serials 

Supplement, and most of the biennial U.S. 

Congressional Serial Set Catalog. This 

change is consistent with the policy expressed 

in the 2001 Dissemination/Distribution 

Policy for the Federal Depository Library 

Program, (SoD 71). SoD 71, you will recall, 

states “As directed by Congress, the primary 

method of making publications available to 

the FDLP is online dissemination.” In 

addition, the MoCat is one of the titles on the 

“Substitution List” which means that 

depositories may already substitute the online 

version and discard their print copies. 

The MoCat family of products is produced 

using software and procedures now over 25 

years old. As you might imagine, there is no 

ILS on the market, nor is there any off-theshelf software, to produce book catalogs. 

Our antique software has degraded over time, 

and each issue is confronted with new 

problems and bugs. In addition, the COBOL 

language programs are nearly unsupportable 

from a personnel perspective. In other words, 

these products are extremely vulnerable, and 

we must plan for their replacement. 

GPO plans to have the online version of these 

three titles up using the ILS by early next 

year, and these versions could completely 

replace the printed MoCat and annual Serials 

Supplements. The biennial U.S. 

Congressional Serial Set Catalog includes 

the Numerical List and Schedule of Volumes, 

as well as collecting in one place the 

bibliographic records for the all of the House 

and Senate Reports and Documents from a 

given Congress. LPS proposes phasing out 

the index and entries portion of the U.S. 

Congressional Serial Set Catalog and 

replacing them with an online version, but we 

would continue to provide print copies of the 

Numerical List and Schedule of Volumes. 

GPO needs to make a decision during or soon 

after the Fall Council meeting if we are to 

substitute online for paper at the end of the 

current print volume. We want to start the 

dialog about these products, so that various 

views can be heard and considered in the 

decision process. 

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We do not make this proposal lightly. Before Depository Library of the Year 

substituting online versions for print products 

we will first ensure that superior online 

versions are available, that we have Council’s 

concurrence, and that the Joint Committee on 

Printing has issued necessary waivers. 

I hope you know that GPO is accepting 

nominations for our first annual Federal 

Depository Library of the Year Award. 

Participation in the FDLP means that libraries 

invest significant time and resources in their 

public services. The Federal Depository 

Library of the Year award will provide 

special recognition for the library that 

furthers the goal of the FDLP by enhancing 

the American public’s free access to 

Government information. 

Identification and Access to Libraries 

Free access to Government information is a 

cornerstone of the FDLP. Free access means 

that any member of the general public can use 

Government information products in all 

media at a depository library without 

impediments. Providing free access by the 

general public to the resources of the 

documents collection, including electronic 

resources, is a fundamental Program

obligation. 

The award-winning library will be notified by 

the end of August and will be recognized at 

the 2003 fall Federal Depository Library 

Conference, which will be held October 19-

22 in Arlington, VA. GPO will provide 

travel and lodging to the Conference for the 

depository coordinator and the library 

director from the winning library to accept a 

certificate recognizing their institution as 

Federal Depository Library of the Year. 

LPS has recently reviewed and modified the 

"Instructions to Depository Libraries" and the 

"FDLP Internet Use Guidelines" concerning 

the issue of requiring users to present 

identification. In light of current and 

continuing security concerns, many 

institutions now require identification from

library users. In the past, the "Instructions" 

prohibited requirements for patrons to present 

identification to utilize depository resources. 

With continued security concerns, it is 

appropriate for depository library 

administrators to determine operating hours, 

access and security procedures. 

Some of the criteria that we are looking for 

include: 

• Outstanding service to meet 

Federal Government 

information needs in the 

library’s service area. 

• Creativity and innovation in 

developing specific community 

programs or use of Federal 

Government information, or a 

dramatic increase in their 

community’s usage of Federal 

Government information. 

There are more details about the 

identification issue in our Handout, but here’s 

the bottom line: Identification requirements 

should not impede access to the depository 

resources. The FDLP exists to ensure access 

for patrons of all ages who wish to use the 

depository resources. We encourage 

depositories to provide the broadest, most 

open public access possible, while 

recognizing that the realities of our situation 

may require users to identify themselves. 

• Leadership in creating public 

service programs that can be 

emulated by other Federal 

Depository Libraries. 

11 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

12 

Federal depository librarians, other 

members of the library and information 

services community, as well as 

depository patrons are invited to 

nominate any Federal depository 

library, regardless of its size or type. 

We welcome your nominations by June 

30, and we hope that Judy, Cathy 

Hartman, and I will have lots of 

nominations to consider. 

Collection Planning 

Within LPS we have been examining various 

scenarios concerning developing, 

maintaining, and preserving a set of 

collections. Our thinking involves becoming 

the libraries’ library; the collection of record 

for the FDLP. I am intentionally not using 

the term “super-regional” as it does not 

convey the message right. Call it instead the 

U.S. Library of Public Information, whose 

mission is to maintain a collection of record 

of the publications of the United States 

Government that is permanently accessible. 

This is achieved by acquiring, classifying, 

cataloging, indexing and preserving those 

publications; by delivering services 

to Federal depository libraries so they may 

provide enhanced services to their patrons; 

and by supporting other information 

dissemination programs of the Government 

Printing Office. 

Here are some of the assumptions we are 

working with: 

• Think of this as the libraries’ library 

for the FDLP; the collection of last 

resort to back up your local holdings. 

• The collection would include print 

and digital versions of Government 

publications. 

• The collection will add value to 

depository status, and support new 

incentives to be part of the FDLP. 

• The collection will be comprehensive, 

meaning the end of fugitive 

documents. 

• The digital collection must meet 

preservation standards and be 

available for repurposing. 

These are not insignificant goals, and meeting 

them all will require significant additional 

resources of talent, space, technology and 

money. One of my team’s goals is to develop 

resource estimates that can become the basis 

for future funding requests. 

We are also examining various acquisition 

strategies for bringing material in to the 

collection. In the future, GPO will probably 

take a much more active interest in asserting 

the Government’s ownership of collection 

material when a depository leaves the FDLP. 

We have been closely monitoring several 

situations in which certain depositories are 

threatened financially. In such situations 

GPO could very well decide to “reclaim” 

portions of the collections for our use. 

Visualizing the End of the Transition 

For several years I have been reporting to you 

on the progress of the “electronic transition.” 

This winter we hit a milestone. Two-thirds of 

the new FDLP titles went online only. With 

our focus on the future, we cannot yet 

describe the end of all our travels, but we can 

see that we reached the end of the beginning. 

Today I just hit the highlights; of course there 

are many other projects and ideas underway. 

This is a particularly interesting meeting and 

one that I’m sure will be memorable. It is 

also a jam-packed meeting, so if you find that 

you have questions or thoughts that you have 

not found time to get out, please send them to 

us, either personally or via askLPS. 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

Current Status and Next Generation 

of GPO Access 

Remarks by Ric Davis 

Director, Office of Electronic Information 

Dissemination Services 

before the 

Spring 2003 Meeting of the Depository Library Council 

April 8, 2003 

Reno, NV

Introduction

I am delighted to have the opportunity to be 

here with you today to provide an update on 

the current status of GPO Access and to talk 

to you about our progress towards the next 

generation of GPO Access services. 

Hopefully, all of you have a copy of our 

printed GPO Access update, which 

summarizes recent changes to GPO Access 

and provides information about what is on the 

horizon. 

Size and Usage 

GPO Access continues to grow in size, with 

almost 2,800 databases offered through some

80 applications. At this time, over 240,000 

electronic titles are available through the 

FDLP Electronic Collection, with more than 

147,000 titles on GPO servers and more than 

93,000 others linked to from GPO Access. 

Since 1994, GPO Access retrievals have 

exceeded 1.6 billion, and we are currently 

averaging 32 million retrievals from this 

service each month. GPO Access reached a 

new all-time monthly high of almost 37 

million document retrievals in January 2003. 

In coordination with Library Programs

Service staff, we are also in the process of 

developing statistical reports of PURL 

referrals to enable libraries to determine how 

often documents within the Federal 

Depository Library Program Electronic 

Collection are being accessed through library 

catalogs and Web pages. We are requesting 

that individual depositories provide us with 

more information on the actual sites from

which the referrals are received so that data 

can be related back to specific institutions. 

GPO staff have developed a mechanism as 

part of the Directory update page on the 

FDLP Desktop by which libraries may inform

GPO of their desire to receive these statistics 

and provide the necessary information. GPO 

will then be able to create a PURL referral 

report similar to the URL referral report for 

depository libraries currently available on the 

Federal Bulletin Board. Once completed, the 

PURL referral report will be available at the 

same location and will be updated on a 

monthly basis. 

We have also moved forward on the 

procurement of an upgrade to our Web 

Trends reporting software that assists us in 

this statistical work, and we will continue to 

provide cumulative reports of referrals to 

GPO Access from depository web sites, using 

the web addresses depositories have 

registered with the Library Programs Service. 

13 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

Performance 

Although the number of products and 

services available through GPO Access is 

growing, users have continued to express to 

us that they are experiencing problems with 

slow system response and longer than 

expected transactions required to search for 

and download content. A number of different 

efforts are underway and more are planned 

for the future to address this issue. 

We continue to use the Keynote performance 

measurement service to track system

performance from the user perspective in 10 

major cities in the United States. This service 

provides immediate alerts to GPO staff when 

performance problems occur, as well as 

statistical information used in the daily 

evaluation of selected GPO Access 

applications. Based upon the invaluable 

feedback we have received from this service, 

GPO’s Production Services has taken steps to 

reconfigure existing servers to improve load 

balancing, and has added additional servers to 

expand system capacity where it is most 

needed. 

Efforts are also continuing to break up large 

files wherever possible to make it easier for 

customers to download information. 

Additionally, GPO is taking steps to 

akamaize as many of the static files as 

possible so that they can be delivered through 

the Akamai content delivery network, 

effectively spreading the load to local servers 

and lessening the burden on the main GPO 

Access system. In addition to the Federal 

Register Table of Contents daily files, the 

browse feature beginning with the 2003 Code 

of Federal Regulations now includes 

akamaized Text and PDF files. Customer 

feedback on these enhancements has been 

very positive in regard to improving 

download time, and we will continue to work 

to expand the use of the Akamai service to 

other applications in order to help improve 

overall system performance. 

While these solutions offer some immediate 

benefits for our customers, work also 

continues towards procuring a new platform

to replace the WAIS search and retrieval 

software for GPO Access databases. Staff 

members from the Superintendent of 

Documents and Production Services are 

working closely on developing a detailed 

Statement of Work that outlines both 

customer functionality and the technical 

requirements needed to move forward with 

the procurement of the next generation of 

software. The Statement of Work will also 

include a requirement to migrate all WAIS 

databases on GPO Access to the new 

platform simultaneously to ensure continuity 

throughout the site. 

These efforts aimed at improving the 

performance of GPO Access also extend 

towards our goal of establishing a 

geographically separate mirror site and 

backup facility for GPO Access in Pueblo, 

Colorado. Work is underway to establish this 

facility as a location for both backup data 

storage and a complete mirror site for all 

GPO Access resources that helps share the 

load with servers at GPO. It is expected that 

construction of the facility will be completed 

this summer, and then GPO staff will work 

quickly to build the necessary technical 

infrastructure. 

GPO Access Redesign 

In addition to improving performance, we 

have just released a redesign of the GPO 

Access Web site with a new and enhanced 

look and feel. This was accomplished as a 

result of the feedback that many of you 

provided to GPO through open forum 

sessions, as well as usability studies,

customer surveys, focus groups, and contacts 

14 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

received through the GPO Access User U.S. Government Online Bookstore 

Support Team. Additionally, we have

established a new domain name for GPO 

Access, <http://www.gpoaccess.gov>. The 

former domain name, 

<http://www.gpo.gov/gpoaccess> will now 

re-direct users to the new domain name. 

Redirects from individual Web pages will 

also be provided as a service to customers. 

Over the past several years, GPO staff made a 

number of enhancements to the U.S. 

Government Online Bookstore to improve the 

customer experience in regard to searching 

and ordering Federal Government 

publications. In order to move forward more 

quickly with the “next generation” of services 

that customers are expecting from the online 

bookstore, GPO recently placed a Request for 

Information (RFI) in FedBizOpps. The 

purpose is to procure the services of a

consultant who can identify an e-commerce 

solution and make a recommendation on how 

GPO should proceed with a commercial ecommerce product solution. This includes, 

among other items, reviewing the capabilities 

currently in use for the front-end interface 

and back-end legacy systems for the online 

bookstore, correlating GPO’s needs with 

commercially available e-commerce 

software, and preparing a detailed report 

recommending a complete commercial off 

the shelf (COTS) e-commerce solution. The 

response date for the RFI was March 19, 

2003, and GPO received approximately 30 

responses for consulting services. The 

consultant GPO ultimately selects for this 

service will be expected to complete all of

our requirements in a 60-day period. This 

will enable us to move forward more quickly 

and efficiently to make a number of 

enhancements that are required for the online 

bookstore to better serve our customers. 

If you have not already done so, I hope that 

all of you will have the opportunity to take a 

look at this new redesign of GPO Access in 

the near future and let us know what you 

think about it. As always, we welcome 

comments from each of you as we make 

additional improvements and refinements to 

this Web site. In conjunction with the release 

of this new Web site, we are currently 

working with other areas of GPO to finalize 

our GPO Access Web Design Guidelines. 

These guidelines are expected to prove 

beneficial for internal staff working on the 

site, and also serve as guidance to other 

Federal agencies whose web sites are hosted 

on GPO Access. 

Regulations.gov 

GPO also played a key role in the launch of 

the Regulations.gov Web site, which was 

released to the general public on January 23, 

2003. This site was developed as a part of 

the President’s Management Agenda-ERulemaking Initiative, and it helps ensure 

that the public has a role in making regulatory 

decisions. Citizens can find, review, and 

submit comments on Federal documents that 

are open for comment and published in the 

Federal Register. GPO is one of the partner 

agencies on this initiative, providing both 

hosting services for the Web site, and also 

serving as the point of contact for user 

support and technical assistance. 

Search Engine Results 

We have continued our work on the search 

engine project, which consists of a series of 

ongoing evaluations in order to assess and 

improve the visibility of GPO Access pages 

in the indices of major Internet search

engines and directories. The just completed 

ninth evaluation found another overall 

increase in successful returns of GPO Access 

15 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

pages. This included gains in Top-5 and What’s New on GPO Access 

Top-10 returns, while Top-30 returns 

remained the same as our last evaluation. I 

am pleased to report that Top-5 returns 

reached a new high of 28% of the test

searches. Some of these increases came in a 

number of interesting areas. For instance, the 

new search engine Teoma went from a 

number 20 ranking to number 7 since the last 

evaluation, with its Top-5 returns increasing 

by 467%. AOL has also moved up again, to a 

number 3 ranking, behind SearchGov and 

Google Uncle Sam.

There are a number of recent changes to GPO 

Access. The most notable are: 

A new listserv that enables 

subscribers to receive e-mail 

notification when new Public and 

Private laws become available on GPO 

Access. These e-emails include links to 

the ASCII text and PDF versions of new 

Public and Private laws. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

A Report of the Investigation of 

Enron Corporation and Related Entities 

Regarding Federal Tax and 

Compensation Issues and Policy 

Recommendations is now available on 

GPO Access. 

We have also completed a second round of 

testing to promote the U.S. Government 

Online Bookstore through paid positioning on 

the popular search engine Overture. The 

GPO Paid Positioning Committee, with help 

from Overture, came up with a list of 26 

keywords to bid on over a three-month 

period. During the testing period, almost 

10,000 customers clicked onto the Online 

Bookstore from Overture and its affiliates. 

Moreover, 15 of the 26 keywords attained at 

least a 3% click-through rate, which is the 

rate at which listings are judged successful 

through benchmarks established by search 

engine experts. In fact, several of our 

keywords attained click-through rates of 15% 

or higher, which is an exceptional rate. 

The 2001 Privacy Act Issuances are 

available via GPO Access. 

FY 2004 Federal Budget Publications 

are now available online.

The Economic Report of the 

President, 2003 is also available. 

The Congressional Pictorial Directory 

for the 108th Congress is now available 

on GPO Access. 

It is important to point out that while the 

percentages have increased in regard to top 

returns, our goal is to continue to improve the 

positioning of GPO Access pages in search 

engines. Selected EIDS staff just returned 

from the “Search Engine Strategies” 

conference in Boston, MA, where we had the 

opportunity to talk directly to search engine 

experts and industry representatives from

Google, Yahoo, and other companies. 

Information gained from this conference will 

be used to make further enhancements 

towards improving the visibility of GPO 

Access pages. 

What’s On the Horizon for GPO Access 

Work is under way to add more content to 

GPO Access and to refine access to the 

products and services already provided. 

Some key examples of these activities 

include: 

The use of Public Key Infrastructure 

(PKI) to authenticate the PDF versions 

of Congressional Bills will be 

implemented for the 108th Congress. 

Users with a free software reader will 

16 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

be able to confirm that a bill was 

approved for submission to GPO by the 

appropriate Congressional authority and 

that it has not been altered since it was 

signed. 

• 

• 

Procurement has been initiated for a 

Customer Relationship Management 

(CRM) software package for use by the 

GPO Access User Support Team, 

Library Programs Service, and other 

areas of GPO. This software will 

provide a dynamic electronic 

knowledgebase to help answer 

frequently asked questions, create more 

efficient problem escalation workflows 

based upon business rules, and improve 

web chat functionality in real-time. 

A version of Ben’s Guide to U.S. 

Government targeted at adults is in the 

process of being designed. 

As you can tell, many of the enhancements 

and improvements that we have made to GPO 

Access have been a direct result of your 

feedback. Please continue to let us know 

what you think is needed to make GPO 

Access better as we work together to move 

into the future. Thank you for your attention 

and I look forward to talking more with you 

during this conference. 

[Handout] 

GPO Access Update

Office of Electronic Information Dissemination Services 

Federal Depository Library Council Meeting, Spring 2003 

April 6 - 9 2003, Reno, Nevada 

GPO Access Statistical Measures 

3⁄4 Since 1994, GPO Access retrievals have 

exceeded 1.6 billion, which is 

equivalent to over 39.2 billion 

typewritten pages, and reached an alltime monthly high of over 36.8 million 

document retrievals in January 2003.

3⁄4 The average number of monthly 

retrievals from GPO Access is currently 

32 million and the average size of these 

documents is currently about 49Kb. 

With 2Kb equaling roughly one 

typewritten page, the average size of a 

document retrieved from GPO Access

equates to some 24.5 typewritten pages 

and costs less than a penny per retrieval.

3⁄4 GPO Access contains over 147,000 

electronic titles and points to over 

93,000 others for a total of over 240,000 

titles.

3⁄4 GPO Access provides use of almost 

2,800 databases through more than 80 

applications.

GPO Access Redesign 

3⁄4 GPO Access has been re-launched with 

a new and enhanced look and feel. This 

was accomplished as a result of 

feedback from users, through surveys, 

usability studies, focus groups, and 

contacts received through the GPO 

Access User Support Team. Re-directs 

are provided from old pages to the 

current pages. Feel free to make 

comments as additional improvements 

and refinements are made to the Web 

site.

17 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

New Domain Name for GPO Access 3⁄4 Through the use of Keynote Systems 

Inc., a performance measurement 

service, we are continuing to monitor 

system performance from 10 major 

cities in the United States. Daily 

monitoring is conducted on the GPO 

Access homepage, the U.S. Government 

Online Bookstore, and a transaction in 

the Code of Federal Regulations 

database. Recently, Regulations.gov 

<http://www.regulations.gov> has been 

included among the pages monitored. 

The information gained is being used to 

work toward improved performance.

3⁄4 GPO Access has established a new 

domain name, 

<http://www.gpoaccess.gov>. Redirects will be provided for all pages to 

the new domain.

GPO Access Performance Measurement 

and Improvement

3⁄4 GPO is taking steps to “Akamaize” as 

many of the static files on GPO Access

as possible so that they can be delivered 

through the Akamai content delivery 

network, effectively spreading the load 

to local servers and lessening the 

burden on the main GPO Access

system. In addition to the Federal 

Register Table of Contents daily files, 

the browse feature beginning with the 

2003 Code of Federal Regulations now 

includes “Akamaized” Text and PDF 

files. 

What’s New on GPO Access

 

3⁄4 2001 Privacy Act Issuances now 

available at 

<http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/ac

es/PrivacyAct.shtml>.

3⁄4 FY 2004 Federal Budget Publications 

now available online at 

<http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/ind

3⁄4 Work continues towards procuring a ex.html>.

new platform to replace the WAIS 

search and retrieval software for GPO 

Access in order to improve system

performance and enhance customer 

usability. Staff members from

Superintendent of Documents and 

Production Services are working closely 

on developing a detailed Statement of 

Work (SOW) that will allow GPO to 

select the most effective platform for 

GPO Access. The SOW will outline 

both the customer functionality and the 

technical requirements needed to move 

forward with the procurement and 

implementation of the next generation 

of software in FY 2004. The SOW will 

also include a requirement to migrate all 

WAIS databases on GPO Access to the 

new platform simultaneously to ensure 

continuity throughout the site. 

3⁄4 2003 Economic Report of the President 

now available at 

<http://w3.access.gpo.gov/eop/index.ht

ml>.

3⁄4 The Congressional Pictorial Directory 

for the 108th Congress now available on 

GPO Access at 

<http://www.gpo.gov/congress/108_pict

orial/index.html>.

3⁄4 Report of Investigation of Enron 

Corporation and Related Entities 

Regarding Federal Tax and 

Compensation Issues, and Policy 

Recommendations, February 2003, is 

now available on GPO Access at

<http://www.gpo.gov/congress/joint/hjo

int01lp108.html>.

18 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

Regulations.gov Public and Private Laws LISTSERV 

3⁄4 A new LISTSERV has been developed 

by the U.S. Government Printing 

Office. Users can sign up to receive email notification when new Public and 

Private laws become available on GPO 

Access. These e-mails include links to 

the ASCII text and PDF versions of new 

public or private laws. To sign up, visit 

<http://listserv.access.gpo.gov/archives/

gpo-plaws-l.html>.

3⁄4 Regulations.gov 

<http://www.regulations.gov>, which

was released to the general public on 

January 23, 2003, gives the public a 

place to have their voices heard, and it 

allows them to have a hand in the 

democratic and regulatory processes. 

Regulations.gov, which was developed 

as a part of the President’s Management 

Agenda – E-Rulemaking Initiative, is a 

groundbreaking achievement in the 

creation of a citizen-centered edemocracy. At this Federal regulatory 

clearinghouse, the public is easily able 

to participate in the Federal rulemaking 

process. From the Regulations.gov Web 

site, the public can view a description of 

every proposed rule, final rule, or other 

document currently open for comment, 

read full texts of these documents, and 

submit comments to the Federal 

agencies that have created them. 

NARA and GPO are two of the lead

partners in the Regulations.gov project. 

Search Engine Results 

3⁄4 The ninth evaluation was recently 

conducted on the visibility of GPO 

Access and its Web pages in the indices 

of major Internet search engines. 

Twenty of the major search engines 

were analyzed to determine the 

frequency at which a specified search 

term returned the appropriate GPO 

Access page. 28% of searches retrieved 

the appropriate page within the top five 

returns (up from 26% in the eighth 

evaluation), and 31% returned it within 

the top ten (up from 29%). GPO Access

pages were within the top thirty returns 

35% of the time (the same as in the 

eighth evaluation). Also analyzed were 

directories and how they list GPO 

Access pages. The measurement of 

success in directories is the number of 

clicks, which indicate the layers within 

the directories. Of the 20 search 

engines examined in the ninth 

evaluation, 13 possessed directory trees. 

Of these 13, eight listed at least one 

GPO Access page within four 

clicks/levels. For more information, the 

full report is available at

<http://fedbbs.access.gpo.gov/access.ht

m> --click on GPO Access Search 

Engine Project Report.

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) 

3⁄4 In order to authenticate the PDF 

versions of Congressional Bills, the use 

of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) will 

be implemented for the 108th Congress. 

Users with a free software reader will 

be able to confirm that a bill was 

approved for submission to GPO by the 

appropriate Congressional authority and 

that it has not been altered since it has 

been signed. The free reader will be 

linked from

<http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/c

ong009.html> and other pages as a 

plug-in.

19 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

Online Bookstore Enhancements Under Development 

3⁄4 Over the past several years, GPO has 

made a number of enhancements to the 

U.S. Government Online Bookstore to 

improve the customer experience in 

regard to searching and ordering 

Federal Government publications. In 

order to move forward with the “next 

generation” of services that customers 

are expecting from the Online 

Bookstore, GPO recently placed a 

Request for Information (RFI) in 

FedBizOpps. The purpose is to procure 

the services of a consultant who can 

identify an e-commerce solution and

make a recommendation on how GPO 

should proceed with a commercial ecommerce product solution. 

3⁄4 Procurement has been initiated for a 

Customer Relationship Management 

(CRM) software package for use by the 

GPO Access User Support Team, 

Library Program Services and other 

areas of GPO. This software will 

provide an electronic knowledgebase to 

help answer frequently asked questions, 

and also will provide Web chat 

functionality in real-time. 

3⁄4 A version of Ben’s Guide to U.S. 

Government targeted at adults is in the 

process of being designed. 

Upcoming Outreach 

EIDS personnel will be attending and 

displaying the GPO booth at the following 

shows:

May 3 - 6 Medical Library Association San Diego, CA 

June 9 - 11 Special Libraries Association New York, NY 

June 21 - 24 American Library Association Annual 

Conference 

Toronto, Canada 

20 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

Responses to Recommendations 

Depository Library Council Meeting 

Fall 2002, Arlington, VA 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

1. PURL Statistics 

The Depository Library Council recommends the 

Government Printing Office develop statistical 

reports of PURL referrals to enable libraries to 

determine how often documents within the 

Federal Depository Library Program Electronic 

Collection are being accessed through library

catalogs and Web pages. In addition, the 

Government Printing Office should examine the 

response time of the PURL server to ensure 

access to resources within a reasonable time 

frame. 

Rationale: Currently the Government Printing 

Office (GPO) provides URL referral statistics for 

depository libraries. In addition, PURL statistical 

reports will allow librarians to monitor the 

effectiveness of the access provided to online 

government publications through depository

library catalogs and Web pages. 

Response: Staff from the Office of 

Electronic Information Dissemination 

Services (EIDS) have investigated the 

server log files and have determined that 

such statistical information can be 

gathered. However, individual 

depositories need to provide more 

information on the actual sites from

which the referrals are received before the 

data can be related back to specific 

institutions. EIDS and the Library 

Programs Service (LPS) have developed a 

mechanism as part of the Directory 

update page on the FDLP Desktop 

<http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp

/tools/ldirect.html#2> by which libraries 

may inform GPO of their desire to receive 

these statistics and provide the necessary 

information. GPO will then be able to 

create a PURL referral report similar to 

the URL referral report for depository 

libraries available on the Federal Bulletin 

Board at 

<http://fedbbs.access.gpo.gov/referral.htm

>. Once completed, the PURL referral 

report will be available at the same

location and will be updated on a monthly 

basis. 

2. WAIS Migration 

The Depository Library Council recommends the 

Government Printing Office migrate the WAIS 

databases to more current search engine

technology as soon as possible. 

Rationale: GPO has been exploring the purchase 

of new search engine technology for several 

years. Due to the severe limitations of WAIS 

technology, it is imperative that GPO Access 

migrate to a new XML-based technology. 

Advantages inherent in newer database 

architectures will also improve products through 

more advanced interfaces with the Integrated 

Library System being acquired by GPO. 

Response: Work continues toward 

procuring a new platform to replace the 

WAIS search and retrieval software for 

GPO Access in order to improve system

performance and enhance customer 

usability. Staff members from SuDocs 

and Production Services are working 

closely on developing a detailed 

Statement of Work (SOW) that will allow 

GPO to select the most effective platform

for GPO Access. The SOW will outline 

both the customer functionality and the 

technical requirements needed to move 

forward with the procurement and 

implementation of the next generation of 

software in FY 2004. The SOW will also 

include a requirement to migrate all 

WAIS databases on GPO Access to the 

21 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

new platform simultaneously to ensure 

continuity throughout the site. This will 

eliminate any issues with inconsistent 

database structure that affect 

searchability, such as the lack of page

number references in the History of Bills 

databases prior to 1993. 

Rationale: The Depository Library Council 

recognizes the need for communication from

GPO to directors at depository libraries in order 

to reinforce the importance of the program, to 

inform directors of current issues facing

depositories, and to form a basis of discussion 

between depository librarians and their 

administrators. The proposed communications 

would assist in building awareness and support at 

higher levels and would hopefully interest library

directors in joining the program. A special 

presentation on the Federal Depository Library

Program held at the American Library

Association Midwinter Meeting in 1995 was very

successful and attracted 150 attendees. A similar 

successful meeting, sponsored by the regional 

library, was held on the state level in Georgia in 

2001. 

3. Regional Library Conference 

The Depository Library Council recommends that 

GPO request funding to sponsor a multi-day

Regional Library Conference. 

Rationale: The August 1997 Regionals 

Conference in Minnesota was extremely 

successful in providing all 53 regional 

depositories and all states the opportunity to 

discuss and assess the services, responsibilities, 

and problems that are unique to Regionals, as 

well as identify areas for service to selective 

depositories. The meeting would allow an 

opportunity for GPO staff to consult with the 

Regionals, train them in Government Printing 

Office policies and procedures and discuss 

services that Regionals should provide to 

selective depositories. 

Response: Robin Haun-Mohamed has 

contacted the ALA GODORT Program

Committee with a request to organize a 

meeting for directors of depository 

libraries at the ALA Annual Meeting in 

Orlando in June 2004. The request was 

favorably received, and LPS staff will 

continue to work with the Program

Committee. Response: LPS staff met with Council 

members John Phillips and Dan Barkley 

and Council Chair Cathy Hartman during 

the ALA Midwinter Meeting to begin

discussions and planning for a Regionals 

Conference. Various agendas and themes 

were discussed, and Phillips and Barkley 

will bring back a more specific proposal 

to GPO after consultation with other 

Regional librarians. 

Every depository library director received 

a letter of invitation to attend the spring 

2003 Council meeting and to participate 

in planning for the future of the FDLP. In 

addition, the Superintendent of 

Documents will address Association of

Research Libraries directors at the ARL 

meeting in Kentucky in mid-May. GPO 

is also interested in communicating with 

directors at other meetings, and asks that 

the depository community make 

suggestions for or facilitate invitations to 

appropriate events. 

4. Communication with Administrators 

The Depository Library Council recommends that 

GPO communicate the importance and benefits of 

the Federal Depository Library Program to key

groups of library administrators, preferably at 

their association meetings (e.g., Association of 

Research Libraries, Public Library Association, 

American Library Association, Association of 

College and Research Libraries, and state library

associations, etc.). 

Effective communication with depository 

directors depends in part on GPO having 

accurate and up to date information about 

directors. All depository libraries are 

urged to update their directory 

22 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

information on the FDLP Desktop using 

the application at 

<http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp

/tools/ldirect.html#2>. 

5. Guidelines for Regionals 

The Depository Library Council recommends that 

GPO review and develop expanded guidelines to 

assist regional depositories in working with 

depository libraries that may be considering 

withdrawing from the Federal Depository Library

Program. Guidelines for the Regional might 

include: 

Instructions requiring the withdrawing library to 

notify its Regional and GPO of its intent to 

withdraw six to twelve months before the 

intended date of withdrawal; 

• Notification to the withdrawing library of the 

procedures it must follow with respect to: 

What the library can retain versus what it 

must or will surrender; 

What the library must provide for public 

access during the withdrawal process; 

• Announcement to other libraries within that 

Congressional district of its intent to 

withdraw; 

• Communication by the Regional with the

withdrawing library’s Congressional 

delegation; 

Informing the delegation of the library’s 

intent to withdraw; 

Informing the delegation of their ability to

appoint a library to fill that vacancy; 

• Establishment of a time frame that the library

must follow in the disposition of the 

withdrawing library’s materials. 

Rationale: Currently the communication process 

between the Regional and the withdrawing library

remains unclear. Better communication involving 

all parties may encourage the library to reconsider 

its decision. Refining the process will also 

enhance the redistribution of depository materials 

to other interested Federal depository libraries. 

Response: Development of uniform

practices to be followed by Regionals 

when selective depositories announce an 

intention to leave the program was 

discussed in a meeting at ALA Midwinter 

between LPS staff and John Phillips, 

Cathy Hartman, and Dan Barkley. Some

preliminary work and discussion has 

taken place at GPO, and a full discussion 

will be one of the main agenda items at 

the Regional Libraries session at the 

Depository Library Conference in 

October 2003. 

6. Historic Document Preservation 

The Depository Library Council recommends that 

GPO, in cooperation with other library 

preservation organizations, begin to identify

historic documents and investigate means for 

depository libraries to preserve them. 

Rationale: Many depositories housing historical 

collections are witnessing a rapid deterioration of 

these valuable collections. Council shares the 

depository community’s concerns and urges work 

with such organizations to develop and 

implement guidelines that will assist libraries in 

preserving and archiving these collections. 

Response: The recommendation specifies 

two steps: identification of historic 

documents and guidelines to preserve 

them. Identification of documents 

considered “historic” or “valuable” is 

very much a matter of local concern for 

individual depository libraries. From a 

program-wide standpoint, what is needed 

is support and coordination for 

preservation planning. GPO is also 

interested in the digitization of historic 

documents to enhance public access to the 

content without further degrading the 

paper copies. 

GPO proposes that one or more large 

depositories with the potential for rich

historical holdings seek a National 

Endowment for the Humanities 

Preservation Assistance Grant to conduct 

a general preservation assessment as a 

kind of pilot project for the FDLP. 

Ideally, the library should engage a 

23 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

preservation consultant to assess the 

collection and conditions and help draft a 

long-range plan for preservation. GPO 

will be an active partner in the grant 

application or administration, and will 

coordinate the dissemination of findings 

to other libraries in the FDLP who face 

the same challenges. Information on the 

grant program is available at: 

<http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/pa

g.html>. 

When an assessment is complete we will 

be able to develop uniform guidelines and 

practices for tangible document 

preservation that will be of benefit across 

the program. 

7. GPO-Hosted Web Sites 

The Depository Library Council recommends that 

GPO provide guidance to Federal government 

agencies on the organization of content on GPOhosted Web sites. Examples of such guidance 

may include the GPO Access Web design 

guidelines, Web site templates, or examples of 

best practices at existing government Web sites. 

Rationale: A careful analysis of the organization 

of GPO-hosted Web sites shows that many

agencies fail to provide direct access to discrete 

government information titles. The lack of clear 

and consistent organization may make it difficult 

for the public to locate desired information at 

these Web sites, and it is difficult to provide 

bibliographic access or create PURLs for

multipart titles. GPO typically provides guidance 

to government agencies on the layout and 

organization of printed publications. Providing

guidance for the organization of Web site content 

is a natural extension of this activity in the 

electronic environment. 

Response: EIDS is currently working 

with other areas of GPO to finalize the 

GPO Access Web Design Guidelines. 

These guidelines are expected to prove 

beneficial for internal staff working on 

GPO Access, and also serve as guidance 

to other Federal agencies whose web sites 

are hosted on GPO Access. We plan to 

make these guidelines available as a 

model to other agencies as part of the 

range of business services provided by 

GPO. 

In addition, the new guidelines contain 

the following statement, which will 

provide guidance for hosted sites: 

Even though the Web Committee has no 

authority over the design and 

development of hosted Web pages, based 

on its expertise and experience, the Web 

Committee may suggest to the funding 

party certain elements of Web design and 

structure that promote the accessibility 

and usability of those pages. 

8. Benefits of Being a Depository 

The Depository Library Council recommends that 

GPO distribute to the depository community the 

following items provided by Council: 

“List of Benefits of Being a Federal Depository

Library”

“Testimonials from Depository Librarians” 

“Suggested Responses to Frequently Cited 

Reasons for Leaving the Depository Library

System” 

Council also recommends that GPO begin 

integrating this information into the Depository

Library Program documentation. 

Rationale: Recognizing the increasing number of 

departures from the Federal Depository Library

Program, GPO requested assistance with 

compiling a list of benefits of remaining a 

depository library.

Response: The three documents 

described in the recommendation have 

been received. The Depository Services 

Staff is currently reviewing and 

formatting them for dissemination on the 

FDLP Desktop. 

In addition, three programs are offered on 

24 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

25 

this topic at the April 2003 Depository 

Library Council meeting, between 10:30 

a.m. and noon on Tuesday, April 8. 

9. FDLP-L 

The Depository Library Council recommends that 

GPO require each depository to subscribe to the 

FDLP-L email announcement list, which was 

developed to convey official Federal Depository 

Library Program announcements. 

Response: A notice explaining the FDLPL list and recommending that all 

depositories subscribe was published in 

the November 15, 2002 issue of 

Administrative Notes, and disseminated 

on GOVDOC-L, DocTech-L, and FDLPL. There are currently 1,339 subscribers 

to the list. 

10. Anniversary Packets 

The Depository Library Council recommends that 

GPO develop a packet of materials suitable for 

use by libraries celebrating anniversaries of their 

designations as depositories. This packet may 

include a certificate by GPO recognizing the 

library’s longevity within the program and 

contributions thereto. The packet may also 

include a letter from GPO to the library director 

expressing appreciation for the library’s past 

work, examples of newspaper articles that 

mention not only the library’s anniversary but 

also the importance of the Federal Depository 

Library Program, a list of suggested celebratory 

activities, and sample texts of press releases and 

radio spots. 

Rationale: Several Federal depository libraries 

will be celebrating centennial and other 

significant anniversaries in the next several years. 

Currently there is no such packet of materials and 

this would be an invaluable resource for libraries 

wishing to raise the level of awareness of the role 

of the Federal Depository Library Program in 

their local communities. 

Response: The packets are under 

development. Until completed, the 

Depository Services Staff is still able to 

supply certificates and other 

commemorative materials in response to 

individual requests. Depository staff 

should contact Robin Haun-Mohamed for 

commemorative materials.

.
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

Members 

Depository Library Council to the Public Printer 

TERM EXPIRES SEPT. 30, 2003: TERM EXPIRES SEPT. 30, 2004: 

Charlene C. Cain Paul A. Arrigo

Associate Librarian/Government Documents Head Librarian 

 Librarian Lartz Memorial Library

Paul M. Hebert Law Center Penn State Shenango 

Louisiana State University 177 Vine Ave.

Baton Rouge, LA 70803-1010

225-578-4957 225-578-5773 (fax)

Sharon, PA 16146

724-983-2880 724-983-2881 (fax)

llcain@lsu.edu paa11@psu.edu 

Cathy Nelson Hartman Daniel C. Barkley 

Texas Center for Digital Knowledge, Regional Government Information Library

 Associate Fellow Zimmerman Library 

Head, Government Documents Department University of New Mexico

University of North Texas Libraries Albuquerque, NM 87131-1466

P.O. Box 305190 505-277-7180 505-277-4097 (fax)

Denton, TX 76203-5190

940-565-3269 940-565-2599 (fax)

barkley@unm.edu 

chartman@library.unt.edu Barbara J. Ford

Director, C. Walter and Gerda B. Mortenson Center 

for International Library Programs and Mortenson 

Distinguished Professor 

Dena Hutto

Documents/Social Sciences Librarian 

Reed College University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign 

3203 SE Woodstock Boulevard 142a Undergraduate Library, MC-522

Portland, OR 97202

503-777-7572 503-777-7786 (fax)

1402 W. Gregory Drive 

Urbana, Illinois 61801

dena.hutto@reed.edu (217) 244-1898 (217) 265-0990 (fax)

bjford@uiuc.edu 

Greta E. Marlatt 

Information Services Manager Doris Small Helfer 

Dudley Knox Library Department Chair, Technical Services Department & 

Naval Postgraduate School Science Librarian 

411 Dyer Road University Library - 8328

Monterey, CA 93943 

831-656-3500 831-656-2842 (fax)

California State University-Northridge 

18111 Nordhoff St. 

gmarlatt@nps.navy.mil Northridge, CA 91330-8328 

818-677-2562 818-677-4928 (fax)

John A. Stevenson doris.helfer@csun.edu 

Coordinator, Government Documents and Maps 

 Processing Unit John C. Kavaliunas 

University of Delaware Library Chief, Marketing Services Division

181 South College Avenue Marketing Services Office 

Newark, DE 19717-5267 

302-831-8671 302-831-1046 (fax)

Room 3021, Bldg. 3 

U.S. Census Bureau

varken@udel.edu Washington, DC 20233

301-457-4090 301-457-2778 (fax)

john.c.kavaliunas@census.gov 

26 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

27 

TERM EXPIRES SEPT. 30, 2005: 

Michele T. McKnelly 

Government Documents 

Chalmer Davee Library 

University of Wisconsin - River Falls 

River Falls, WI 54022 

715-425-4482 715-425-0609 (fax) 

michele.mcknelly@uwrf.edu 

John Phillips 

Edmon Low Library 

Oklahoma State University 

Stillwater, OK 74078 

405-744-6546 405-744-7579 (fax) 

bart@okstate.edu 

Mary W. Prophet 

William Howard Doane Library 

Denison University 

Granville, OH 43023-1064 

740-587-6512 740-587-6285 (fax) 

prophet@denison.edu 

Laura Saurs 

Regional Depository Librarian 

The Newark Public Library 

PO Box 630 

Newark, NJ 07101-0630 

973-733-7812 973-733-5648 (fax) 

lsaurs@npl.org 

Lynne Siemers 

Director 

Library and Media Services 

Washington Hospital Center 

110 Irving St., NW 

Washington, DC 20010-2975 

202-877-6260 202-877-6757 (fax) 

lynne.k.siemers@medstar.net 

TERM EXPIRES SEPT. 30, 2006: 

Duncan M. Aldrich 

DataWorks Coordinator 

University of Nevada, Reno 

Libraries /322 

Reno, NV 89557-0044 

775-784-6500 ext 256 775-784-4398 (fax) 

duncan@unr.edu 

Charles D. Eckman 

Principal Government Documents Librarian 

Social Sciences Resource Center 123A 

Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall 

Stanford, CA 94305-6067 

650-723-2982 650-723-9348 (fax) 

ceckman@stanford.edu 

John W. Graham 

Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County 

800 Vine Street – Library Square 

Cincinnati, OH 45202-2071 

513-665-3358 513-369-3123 (fax) 

john.graham@cincinnatilibrary.org 

Cheryl Knott Malone 

Associate Professor 

School of Information Resources and Library Science 

University of Arizona 

1515 East First Street 

Tucson, AZ 85719 

520-621-3957 520-621-3279 (fax) 

ckmalone@u.arizona.edu 

Barbara S. Selby 

Documents Librarian 

Arthur J. Morris Law Library 

University of Virginia School of Law 

580 Massie Road 

Charlottesville, VA 22903-1789 

434-924-3504 434-982-2232 (fax) 

bselby@virginia.edu 
AN-v24-#05-5/1/03 

Table of Contents 

Public Printer Names Five to Depository Library Council........................................................... 1 

Remarks / Russell, Council Meeting, 4/03 ................................................................................... 3 

End of the Beginning / Baldwin, Council Meeting, 4/03 ............................................................. 9 

Current Status and Next Generation of GPO Access / Davis, Council Meeting, 4/03............... 13 

GPO Access Update.................................................................................................................... 17 

Responses to Council Recommendations, 2002, Fall................................................................. 21 

Members, Depository Library Council, 2003............................................................................. 26 

Administrative Notes Cumulative Table of Contents 

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

Updated with each issue 

Searchable by keyword 

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

Library Programs Service, Government Printing Office, for the staffs of U.S. Federal 

Depository Libraries. 

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

Postmaster send address changes to: The Editor, Administrative Notes 

U.S. Government Printing Office

Library Programs Service, SLLD 

Washington, DC 20401 

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

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

28