Administrative Notes

Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program

Vol. 23, no. 11 GP 3.16/3-2:23/ 11 August 15, 2002

HIGHLIGHTS

Public

Printer 

Nomination 1

LPS Letter to 

Directors 2

Paper Patents 3

Web Claim 3

Tracking 

Shipments 4

Searching 

Needs and

Offers 4

FDLP News 5

GPO Access 

Shortcuts 13

President Bush Nominates Bruce R. 

James as Public Printer

On Thursday, August 1, 2002, the White House announced that the 

nomination of Bruce R. James, to be Public Printer, was sent to the Senate. 

The White House Web site shows this information at 

<www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/08/20020801-21.html>.

On Friday, March 29, 2002, the White House released the following 

statement (at www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020328-

1.html):

The President intends to nominate Bruce R. James to be the Public Printer. 

James was CEO of Barclays Law Publishers until retiring in 1993. Since 

his retirement, he has gone on to become Vice Chairman of the Board of 

Trustees of Rochester Institute of Technology and Chairman-elect of 

Sierra Nevada College at Lake Tahoe, founded Nevada New-Tech, Inc., a 

company formed to invest in technology-based enterprises that promise to 

broaden and diversify Nevada’s economy. James is the Chairman of the 

Congressional Roundtable of Printing Industries of America, a trustee of 

the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the State Chairman of United 

Ways Alexis de Tocqueville Society, and a member of the advisory board 

of UNLVs Boyd School of Law. James is a graduate of Rochester 

Institute of Technology.
AN-v23-#11-8/15/02

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LPS Letter Encourages Attendance at 

Conference

[The following letter was sent to all depository library 

directors via U.S. Postal Service.]

August 9, 2002

Dear Library Director:

This has been a difficult year in many ways 

for libraries and librarians across the country. 

With the tragedies of September 11, 2001 still 

fresh in our mind, the Federal Depository 

Library Program (FDLP) and the program 

libraries have had to deal with changes in 

information dissemination policy and new 

security requirements associated with access 

to public information. We continue the 

transition to a more electronic FDLP, with 

over 60% of all new depository resources 

being disseminated in an electronic format. 

The networked world, while decreasing 

geographic distances as barriers to obtaining 

information, brings new challenges. 

Librarians are needed more than ever to 

provide training and assistance to users in 

accessing Government information. They 

need to keep up-to-date on issues and take 

advantage of educational and training 

opportunities to expand their skills in dealing 

with rapid technological change.

The 2002 Federal Depository Library 

Conference, held in conjunction with the fall 

meeting of the Depository Library Council, 

offers just such an opportunity. It presents an 

array of programs designed for experienced 

library staff as well as the beginning 

depository librarian or technician. A number 

of Federal agencies will discuss their 

information initiatives and preview those still 

in the planning stages. Tours of Senate 

Library, National Air & Space Museum, 

Dibner Library of the History of Science & 

Technology, the Department of Justice 

Library, and Library Programs Service at the 

U.S. Government Printing Office will be 

available.

This is the largest meeting in the country 

designed specifically for depository library 

staff. The conference will be held from 

October 21-23, 2002, in Arlington, Virginia. 

A Regional librarians’ meeting is scheduled 

for October 20. As your library administers a 

Federal depository, I encourage you to send 

at least one library representative to this 

important conference.

The joint Federal Depository Library 

Conference and Depository Library Council 

meeting provide a valuable opportunity for 

input into the planning process for the 

operation of the FDLP as well as an 

opportunity for the exchange of ideas among 

depository librarians. The meeting should 

lead to technical innovations in the 

management of your depository collection as 

well as improved service to your patrons.

There is no registration fee for the Federal 

Depository Library Conference, Regional 

librarians’ meeting, or Depository Library 

Council meeting.

Thank you for your cooperation and for your 

continuing role in the support of the public’s 

ability to be informed about their government 

through the Federal Depository Library 

Program.

Sincerely,

GIL BALDWIN

Director, Library Programs Service
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3

USPTO to Discontinue Official Gazette for 

Patents in Paper

The United States Patent and Trademark 

Office (USPTO) will discontinue the 

publication of the paper version of the 

Official Gazette of the United States Patent 

and Trademark Office – Patents. This title is 

being published electronically on the Web at: 

<http://www.uspto.gov/main/patents.htm> 

and on CD-ROM. The last issue of the paper 

edition of the Patent title will be September 

24, 2002.

The CD-ROM version of the Official Gazette 

for Patents will be classed C 21.5/1: and will 

be distributed under item 0260-F. Libraries 

selecting Official Gazette for Patents in paper 

or microfiche (items 0260-A or 0260-B) will 

have 0260-F added to their item selection 

profile. Libraries may deselect the CD-ROM 

version if they wish.

This change affects only the Patent title; the 

Trademark title continues in paper.

GPO has arranged with USPTO to begin 

immediate distribution to depository libraries 

of the CD-ROM version of the Patent title. 

Libraries will receive the paper and CD-ROM 

until the paper ceases on September 24, 2002.

Web Claim Now Operational

The Library Programs Service (LPS) has 

implemented a Web claiming application to 

make the claiming process easier and more 

efficient. The new process applies to 

materials distributed on GPO-produced 

shipping lists (paper, separates, electronic, 

and those few microfiche shipping lists issued 

from GPO). For the time being, LPS will 

continue to accept claims by Fax. However, 

all libraries are encouraged to start using the 

Web Claim.

The direct link for the Web Claim is 

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

tools/webclaim.html>. It is also linked to 

from the FDLP Desktop, under Processing 

Tools.

Microfiche claims against microfiche 

contractor-produced shipping lists still need 

to be made directly to the relevant microfiche 

contractor. See <http://www.

access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/tools/msl/mslv.h

tml> for contact information for the current 

microfiche contractors.
AN-v23-#11-8/15/02

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Shipping List Tracking System Implemented

The Distribution and Processing Branch has 

implemented a tracking system that allows 

GPO and depository libraries to trace 

depository shipments through the FedEx 

online tracking system. The system also 

provides GPO with other services, such as 

rate quotes, label printing, and signature 

proof of delivery.

When a shipment is missing, depository 

library staff should fax or email Cornelius 

Greene at 202-512-1429, 

<cgreene@gpo.gov>. Mr. Greene will track 

the shipment via the FedEx Web site 

<http://www.fedex.com>, and he will provide 

the library with the tracking number. To use 

the system, click on the “Track” tab and type 

in the tracking number.

Early notification of missing shipments will 

make the most effective use of this system.

New Search Capability Added to Government 

Documents Exchange List (Needs and Offers)

A new search engine now allows 

simultaneous searching of all the Needs and 

Offer lists mounted at the University of North 

Dakota’s Chester Fritz Library Web site. 

(Lists linked to other library Web sites still 

have to be searched individually.) This new 

search feature will save hours of time looking 

up government documents that are needed or 

being offered.

The search engine is limited to HTML 

documents. Libraries should convert their 

lists to HTML after updating them. 

However, if libraries are unable to convert the 

lists to HTML, the list’s editor, Bill Gordon, 

will do it before putting them up.

Libraries are encouraged to send in their 

Needs and Offers Lists. The list can be an 

important collection development tool and 

helps make the best use of Federal 

Government documents.

Submit lists, or a URL that links to a list on 

your library's Web site, by e-mail or e-mail 

attachment, to William (Bill) Gordon at 

<william_gordon@mail.und.nodak.edu>. 

Please use "GovDoc Exchange List" as the 

subject line. Lists will be posted for 90 days, 

or less if the library that submitted the list 

requests that their list be removed before the 

90 days are completed. Please include 

contact information somewhere either at the 

top or bottom of the list, in addition to the email message.

Any questions or suggestions should be 

directed to:

Bill Gordon/GovDocs

University of North Dakota

Chester Fritz Library

3051 University Avenue

Grand Forks, ND 58202-9000

701-777-4628

Fax 701-777-4811

william_gordon@mail.und.nodak.edu
AN-v23-#11-8/15/02

5

Future of the FDLP: Appointments, Policies and 

Other News

Remarks by Gil Baldwin

Director, Library Programs Service

before the

American Association of Law Librarians

July 24, 2002

Good morning, all of you brave people, who 

have ventured out at oh-dark-thirty to hear 

the report from the real Magic Kingdom, the 

land inside the Washington, DC beltway. I 

expect none of us have had our full caffeine 

allotment yet today, so I will try to keep this 

moving. There are three big items I want to 

cover: the Public Printer nomination, the 

OMB printing memorandum, and the 

progress of our appropriations. Then I have 

some more detailed information about the 

Depository Library Program and GPO 

Access, and finally I’ll cover the work of the 

Electronic Fugitives Working Groups. Then 

please feel free to ask questions.

Public Printer Nomination

Back on March 27, President Bush 

announced his intention to nominate Bruce R. 

James of Nevada to be the Public Printer. 

I’m sure by now you have researched Mr. 

James’ background, but he may be best 

known to you as the former CEO of Barclays 

Law Publishers until his retirement in 1993. 

As of Friday [July 19], Mr. James has still not 

been officially nominated, and I cannot 

predict how long the process will take. [The 

President nominated Mr. James on August 1.] 

Given the limited number of legislative days 

left in this Congress, it is hard to see how the 

nomination and confirmation process could 

be concluded. So, for the time being Mike 

DiMario remains as Public Printer, with 

Robert Mansker as Deputy and Francis 

Buckley as Superintendent of Documents. 

But an interesting wrinkle is that retired 

Brigadier General Frank Partlow, also of 

Reno, NV, has been announced in the media 

as being James’ selection as Chief of Staff for 

GPO. Should prove interesting to see how 

this plays out.

OMB Memo On Printing And Duplicating

Office of Management and Budget 

Memorandum M-02-07, "Procurement of 

Printing and Duplicating Through the 

Government Printing Office" (May 3, 2002), 

is an attempt to transfer printing authority to 

executive branch agencies themselves. 

Federal law (section 501 of Title 44 of the 

United States Code) generally requires

executive branch agencies to use GPO for 

their printing needs.

To circumvent this, the OMB memorandum 

asks that the Federal Acquisition Regulation 

(FAR) be revised. FAR revisions are 

typically preceded by a period of public 

notice and comment, so the policy announced 

in the OMB memorandum will not take effect 

immediately.
AN-v23-#11-8/15/02

6

When agencies use GPO, they benefit from a 

package of support services that keeps their 

printing costs at the lowest possible level. 

These services are provided by GPO's 

competitive printing procurement program 

working with 10,000 - 12,000 private sector 

printing firms nationwide. Long hailed as 

one of the Federal Government's most 

successful purchasing efforts, the program 

has been described by Booz-Allen & 

Hamilton, Inc., as "an example of 

government at its best." 

Here are some possible outcomes and trends 

that will be accelerated by the removal of 

executive branch printing from GPO:

• Agencies that print elsewhere will fail to 

provide depository copies to GPO for 

distribution and will also fail to notify 

GPO of the existence of new publications.

• The FDLP will experience decreased 

distribution in print format, and increased 

effort devoted to identifying and 

acquiring “fugitive” publications for the 

program.

• GPO as a whole would be harmed 

financially, resulting in possible staff 

reductions and impaired functionality.

After agency publications are printed, GPO 

also ensures that they are cataloged and 

indexed and made widely available for the 

free use of the American public through 

1,300 Federal depository libraries around the 

Nation. The Cataloging Program would be 

impacted by the removal of executive branch 

printing. The cataloging of printed 

publications depends upon a stream of 

publications, acquired by riding agency print 

orders, coming to the cataloging staff ready 

for processing. If the “automatic” flow of 

executive branch publications ceases, the 

cataloging program will also become highly 

dependant upon agency online resources. 

Cataloging online publications is more 

complex and resource-intensive, as it 

involves the discovery, analysis, acquisition, 

description, and archiving of online 

publications. In order to fully carry its 

statutory mandate in the more complex 

electronic environment, cataloging program 

FTEs would need to be increased.

However, no matter how much we might 

need extra FTEs, the reality would be grim. 

As reported in Roll Call, if GPO lost all of 

the executive branch work we would have to 

reduce the GPO workforce by 50%, or 1500 

positions. In addition, the executive agencies 

would be expected to absorb the costs of 

distributing their publications to depository 

libraries. In FY 2001 GPO spent about $4.2 

million on acquiring executive branch printed 

products for the FDLP.

The OMB memorandum echoes earlier 

unsuccessful efforts in 1987 and 1994 to 

transfer printing authority to executive branch 

agencies. Congress did not support the 

change either time because of the strong 

potential in a decentralized system of printing 

for:

• significant cost increases in Federal 

printing;

• lost contracting opportunities by the small 

businesses that characterize the U.S. 

printing industry; and

• reduced public access to Government 

information through Federal depository 

libraries.

• The big question is: will the OMB 

proposal happen? It’s hard to predict, but 

each time this idea comes up, subtle 

damage is done. Agencies feel more 

empowered to bypass GPO, thus 
AN-v23-#11-8/15/02

7

increasing the potential for fugitive 

documents, reducing the GPO’s revenues, 

and harming our ability to keep printingrelated functions going.

On July 10, a hearing was held on the OMB 

proposal before the Joint Committee on 

Printing. Senator Dayton of Minnesota and 

Rep. Ney of Ohio heard testimony from 

Mitch Daniels, Director of OMB; Michael F. 

DiMario, Public Printer; Julia Wallace, 

Regional Depository Librarian, representing 

the various library associations; Ben Cooper, 

Executive Vice President for Public Affairs, 

Printing Industries of America; and William 

Boarman, President, Printing, Publishing and 

Media Workers Sector, Communications 

Workers of America. Only Mitch Daniels 

spoke in favor of the proposal, with the other 

speakers emphasizing the probable increased 

costs of Federal printing and the negative 

impact on public access to information.

In his testimony, Daniels stated that OMB has 

“asked the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 

Council ... to promulgate a rule requiring 

printing contractors to submit electronic 

copies of their documents to the 

Superintendent of Documents for rapid 

distribution to the Depository Library 

Program.” Unfortunately, this requirement 

has not yet appeared in the draft FAR change 

being circulated around town. The draft FAR 

revision is silent on the issue of public access 

through the FDLP.

GPO Appropriations

GPO presented its FY 2003 appropriations 

request to the Senate Subcommittee on 

Legislative Branch Appropriations on May 8. 

The Public Printer requested a total of $129.3 

million for FY 2003. The request includes 

$95.2 million for Congressional Printing and 

Binding and $34.1 million for Sala ries and 

Expenses of the Superintendent of 

Documents.

That $34.1M, is a $4.4M increase over this 

year’s level, and includes almost $1.8M to 

cover GPO’s share of the Administration 

proposal to increase the agency contributions 

to retirement benefits. Apparently this 

proposal has been dropped, so that portion of 

the request is off the table, leaving $32.3M as 

our full request. The request includes 

approximately $2.6 million for the 

replacement of obsolete formats, servers, and 

other equipment, and for improvements to 

enhance online services provided through 

GPO Access. Approval of this funding will 

enable GPO to enhance our data archiving 

capabilities, including data migration 

activities to refresh essential legislative and 

regulatory online files.

GPO has requested funds for capital 

expenditures to handle the increased number 

of GPO Access users, to improve security, 

and to modernize obsolete systems 

components. Three big-ticket items are 

$1.5M for WAIS/Open Text replacement, 

$540K for additional servers for GPO 

Access, and $350K for Public Key 

Infrastructure (PKI) implementation.

We also requested 3 additional FTE's to assist 

in the management of the FDLP Electronic 

Collection. The FDLP Electronic Collection 

is constantly expanding, at the rate of 1,500 

titles or more per month, an amount that is 

primarily limited by the availability of 

personnel resources. The additional FTE's 

would assist in identifying, describing, and 

archiving online resources in the FDLP.

In the House Report 107-576, the House 

recommended $29,661,000; an increase of 

only $22,000 over the current year. They 

also did not support our request for 3 

additional FTEs. But the Senate, in Report 

107-209, supported full funding of $32.3M 

and the additional 3 FTEs. We’ll have to 
AN-v23-#11-8/15/02

8

stand by for the Conference Committee to 

come up with the final numbers.

The Senate report came down hard on the 

OMB proposal, saying “the Committee 

strongly opposes the [OMB] plans ... to 

ignore the statutory requirement that the 

printing and publishing of Government 

documents must be conducted through the 

[GPO].” The Committee recognized that 

“there currently is not mechanism other than 

GPO to ensure distribution to the 1,300 

depository libraries nationwide.” And 

finally, “the Committee directs the 

administration to abide by the [law].”

The Senate also directed the General 

Accounting Office to conduct yet another 

“comprehensive review and assessment of the 

current state of printing and dissemination of 

Federal Government information, with 

special emphasis on GPO’s congressional 

printing and binding services, the [FDLP] and 

contracting out executive branch printing.” 

GAO is also to look at “the use of the Internet 

for ensuring that Federal Government 

information and publications are widely 

available to the public.” This study, to be 

done in consultation with GPO and the 

Librarian of Congress, is to be completed by 

December 1, 2003.

Future of the FDLP

As you know, the transition to a more 

electronic FDLP fulfills direction from 

Congress to move toward the use of online 

dissemination, which Congress seems to view 

as a less expensive format. In the future, the 

format of more and more government 

information will be solely electronic, 

although I expect the FDLP will always 

contain some print products. In FY 1999, 

online dissemination represented 44% of 

titles distributed to depository libraries. This 

grew to over 60% of the titles distributed in 

FY 2001, and is expected to exceed that level 

this year. Through its electronic information 

dissemination component, the FDLP now 

delivers more content to users than ever 

before. In order to preserve public access, the 

distribution of tangible formats continues for 

those titles for which there is no acceptable 

online alternative.

In order to responsibly manage our scarce 

resources, we are taking a hard look at FDLP 

products that are currently available in two or 

three formats. We will be looking at the costs 

of distributing some publications in three 

formats: online, in microfiche, and in paper. 

By applying SoD 71, the 

Dissemination/Distribution Policy for the 

Federal Depository Library Program, in some 

of these cases, we will reduce the distribution 

of the paper format.

Americans are increasingly comfortable with 

obtaining government information online, 

and the demand is rising. According to a 

recent study titled The Rise of the E-Citizen: 

How People Use Government Agencies' Web 

Sites, published on April 3, 2002 by the Pew 

Internet and American Life Project, “One of 

the fastest growing activities online in recent 

years has been the use of government Web 

sites.”

The study’s Summary of Findings continues: 

“Web presence is not optional for 

governments in the United States. Citizens 

are online and learning to demand answers at 

Internet speed. ... Fully 68 million American 

adults have used government agency Web 

sites – a sharp increase from the 40 million 

who had used government sites in March 

2000...”

We see these trends in the use of GPO 

Access. Last year users downloaded 

documents from GPO Access at the rate of 31 

million per month. The FDLP Electronic 

Collection is growing to meet the demand. 
AN-v23-#11-8/15/02

9

However, this does not mean that the need for 

GPO or depository librarians is diminished. 

In particular, I see the need for a centralized 

Superintendent of Documents program to 

find and acquire appropriate tangible and 

electronic information products for the FDLP, 

to catalog and index them for inclusion in the 

national bibliography, and to have systems to 

address the issue of permanent public access. 

The FDLP program and the Cataloging and 

Indexing program are complemented by, but 

not replaced by, newer initiatives for public 

identification and access to electronic 

government information.

S-803, the Lieberman Bill

On June 27 the E-Government Act of 2002 

(the Lieberman Bill, or S. 803) passed the 

U.S. Senate on Unanimous Consent. The “EGovernment Bill” would provide $345 

million for e-government initiatives during 

the next four years. But its future is in limbo 

as it heads to the House.

Some of the issues of interest to librarians 

include the establishment of an Online 

National Library, permanent public access, 

comprehensive directory of Federal URLs, 

and cataloging and indexing standards. 

However, most of these ideas seem to be 

layered onto what already exists, without 

regard for the work already being done by 

GPO, NARA, LC, etc.

A spokesman for Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), 

said, "The Senate deserves kudos for putting 

together a comprehensive structure for 

management of information technology." 

However, Davis, chairman of the 

Government Reform Committee's 

Technology and Procurement Policy 

Subcommittee, is focusing on the Homeland 

Security Department and the e-government 

bill would have to stand in line after that.

LPS Update

Now I’m going to turn closer to home for the 

Library Programs Service news. LPS 

continues to experience staff shortages, but I 

am pleased to announce some improvement 

in the overall outlook. These news bytes are 

going to cover both personnel actions and 

projects, because our personnel status dictates 

our ability to carry out the projects. And the 

biggest project before us is to acquire and 

implement an Integrated Library System. 

Most of you know that LPS does not have 

any kind of ILS; our IT environment is 

behind nearly every depository library. We 

are moving toward purchasing a commercial, 

off-the-shelf (that’s COTS in Governmentspeak) ILS. The good news is that we have 

the money and requisite Joint Committee on 

Printing approvals. The bad news is that 

every step takes longer than we would like. 

But we will get to that promised land 

someday. We have just completed the review 

of proposals for a library automation 

consultant and should have an award to 

announce in the near future. The consultant 

will assist with our needs analysis, a review 

of what’s out there in the ILS marketplace, 

and recommend a best fit for us.

James Mauldin is now Chief of the 

Depository Distribution Division. James was 

a Program Analyst with LPS for several years 

and he is carrying over that experience into 

the Division Chief position. New ecommerce applications that the Distribution 

staff is working on include a tracking system 

for depository shipments via the online 

FedEx tracking system. During the next few 

weeks, LPS will be testing the entire FedEx 

shipping process. And we just rolled out a 

new online claims procedure as well. I hope 

that you’ll use these new services provided 

by LPS.

The Cataloging Branch has two new section 

chiefs—Mike Levinson and Jennifer Davis. 
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10

Both have worked in the LPS Cataloging 

Branch and we welcome their enthusiasm and 

expertise. The Cataloging Branch continues 

to recruit for catalogers. We have been 

working through a vigorous recruiting 

process to fill seven cataloging positions, and 

expect the first two new hires on board soon.

Cataloging is the gateway to bringing online 

titles into the Electronic Collection. In the 

primarily electronic FDLP, the demarcation 

between the FDLP distribution program and 

the Cataloging and Indexing Program (C&I) 

has all but disappeared. Effective use of 

online resources depends upon them being 

described and organized through the act of 

cataloging. Just as the FDLP has been 

transformed to a primarily electronic 

program, LPS as an organization has evolved 

to carry out these new functions. LPS has 

conceptualized methods of managing the 

FDLP/EC and developed work systems to 

accomplish those goals. The transformed 

organization and workflow is very dependent 

upon the skills of librarians, specifically 

catalogers. GPO has for several years 

requested additional FTEs and funding to 

expand the cataloging operation because of 

its critical role in an electronic FDLP. The 

FY 2002 appropriation includes both funding 

and Congressional approval for additional 

FTEs to enhance our cataloging operation.

The Web Document Digital Archive 

(WDDA) Pilot Project with OCLC continues 

to progress. The first phase involved testing 

preservation metadata creation tools added to 

the CORC interface. The phase 2 beta 

version was delivered on June 3rd and will be 

tested for approximately 60 days. It 

introduces harvest and archived file transfer 

functionality as well as administrative 

functions. This is an important project 

because it gives us another means of 

preserving Electronic Collection publications.

GPO Access Update

GPO continues to pursue the use of Public 

Key Infrastructure (PKI) in its efforts in 

support of Federal agency publishers and its 

dissemination programs. Through a joint 

effort with the National Archives and 

Records Administration’s Office of the 

Federal Register a program is underway to 

use PKI. This application will allow agency 

officials authorized to submit notices for 

publication in the Federal Register to sign 

them electronically. The Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission has already started 

signing the notices they submit through PKI 

and more agencies will start as time permits. 

GPO Access users will soon be able to use a 

free software reader to verify that these 

notices were signed and that they have not 

been altered since they were signed.

Congress is also making use of PKI to sign 

bills sent to GPO for printing. In the near 

future, users of the Congressional Bills 

application on GPO Access will be able to 

utilize these signatures to verify that they 

have downloaded the official version of a bill 

and that it has not been altered since signing. 

Hopefully, these files can be made available 

soon. In the meantime, a test page is being 

prepared that will provide for the download 

of the free reader and several examples of 

bills containing the signature so that users can 

try it out. As soon as this page is ready, the 

address will be advertised on the major 

library community email discussion lists.

GPO Access Mirror Site

GPO is committed to maintaining permanent 

public access to the information made 

available on GPO Access and the other 

components of the FDLP Electronic 

Collection. In order to protect our electronic 

assets, it is essential to have a geographically 

separate backup facility to maintain a secure 

copy of this important collection and to 

provide the infrastructure necessary to 
AN-v23-#11-8/15/02

11

provide public access to it in the event that 

the primary and backup systems in 

Washington, DC should become unavailable. 

All of the data associated with GPO Access is 

currently backed up on equipment located in 

a separate GPO building located across the 

street from our main building in Washington, 

DC and public access can be provided from 

those systems if necessary.

After the tragic events of September 11, 

2001, all of the agencies were asked to 

submit funding requests to beef up their

security. GPO’s contingency plans to protect 

the data and keep it available included a 

“mirror site” for secure backup. Congress 

included initial funding for such a facility in 

the $4 million that it provided this year to 

GPO for emergency preparedness. As a 

result of an analysis of GPO facilities in 

Colorado, a plan was developed to build a 

backup/mirror site in the GPO Public 

Documents Distribution Center in Pueblo, 

Colorado.

The backup site means than if either a minor 

problem (a single server goes down) or a 

major disaster occurs (an entire location is 

lost), the GPO network will adjust itself to 

the outage and route users to the resources 

still available.

Work has begun to build a secure and 

environmentally appropriate computer area 

within the Pueblo facility. As soon as the 

initial equipment is operational, GPO will 

begin transferring copies of the most heavily 

used GPO Access resources to the facility. 

GPO will continue to steadily add to these 

resources until this facility houses all 

components of the FDLP Electronic 

Collection not protected through other 

agreements and it can function as a complete 

mirror site for GPO Access. This will 

include the portion of the FDLP Electronic 

Collection Archive maintained by GPO. The 

initial implementation effort will require 

approximately $1.1 million of the $4 million 

Congress provided to GPO for emergency 

preparedness. Funding provided by the 

FDLP portion of the Superintendent of 

Documents Salaries and Expenses 

Appropriation will provide for the continued 

growth and operation of this facility in its 

service of GPO Access and the other 

components of the FDLP Electronic 

Collection.

Fugitive Docs Working Groups

We have been working successfully with the 

“Electronic Documents Working Group.” 

Volunteer members of the depository library 

and law library communities are assisting 

GPO in its efforts to bring fugitive online 

documents into the FDLP Electronic 

Collection (FDLP/EC). Fugitives are those 

documents of public interest or educational 

value, and not classified for reasons of 

national security, which have not been 

acquired for distribution to Federal 

depository libraries or made accessible 

through the Catalog of U.S Government 

Publications (CGP).

There are two volunteer groups, the 

American Association of Law Libraries 

Government Documents Special Interest 

Section’s Fugitive & Electronic-Only 

Documents Committee and the American 

Library Association, Government Documents 

Round Table, Electronic Documents Working 

Group. Three of their main functions are to:

• Identify electronic titles that are not yet in 

the program, and evaluate them for 

inclusion in the FDLP/EC.

• Identify online titles currently in the 

program in tangible format for possible 

migration to “e-only.”

• Identify titles/products that are currently 

in the program that have become fugitive, 

and determine their status and 

availability.
AN-v23-#11-8/15/02

12

Contributors supply some basic bibliographic 

elements, suggest a SuDocs class stem, and 

so on. So there’s more involved in this 

project than just the resource discovery 

phase. To support that, the various policies 

and processing guidelines that we use in LPS 

are available on the FDLP Desktop. So far 

we have received over 600 submissions. 

About 62% of these concern serials, which is 

one of the reasons we keep hiring serial 

catalogers. But there has been another side 

effect. Not only are we rounding up fugitive 

documents, we have been alerted to fugitive 

agencies as well. (See fugitive docs listing.)

Recently, LPS established a new email 

address, <lostdocs@gpo.gov>, for reporting 

fugitive documents. Previously the 

Electronic Documents Working Group and 

other members of the depository community 

sent all such notices to askLPS. The 

increasing volume of submissions to that 

location prompted the decision to separate the 

fugitive documents reports. This address 

should be used to notify LPS of any fugitive 

documents, regardless of format.

I also wish to join you in publicly thanking 

our committee’s members: Christopher 

Anglim, Mark Bartlett, A. Hays Butler, 

Georgia Chadwick, Cecily Giardina, 

Gwendolyn Lohmann, Susan Lyons, Susanna 

Marlowe, Scott Matheson, Caitlin Robinson, 

Randall Tenor, and Alice Youmans.
AN-v23-#11-8/15/02

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Shortcuts to GPO Access Applications

The following list provides shortcuts (aliases) 

that have been established for various GPO 

Access applications to make the URLs of 

these applications easy to remember:

• Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids ...................................http://bensguide.gpo.gov

• Budget of the United States Government.............................http://www.gpo.gov/usbudget

• Bureau of Land Management (selected publications)...................http://www.gpo.gov/blm

• Catalog of U.S. Government Publications ............................... http://www.gpo.gov/catalog

• Economic Report of the President .................................................http://www.gpo.gov/eop

• Export Administration Regulations.................................................. http://www.gpo.gov/bis

• Federal Depository Library Program..............................................http://www.gpo.gov/fdlp

• FDLP Desktop................................................................... http://www.gpo.gov/fdlpdesktop

• GPO Access .......................................................................http://www.gpo.gov/gpoaccess

• GPO Access Biennial Report.........................................http://www.gpo.gov/biennialreport

• Locate Federal Depository Libraries .......................................http://www.gpo.gov/libraries

• New Electronic Titles.......................................................................http://www.gpo.gov/net

• National Commission on Terrorism, Countering the

Changing Threat of International Terrorism....................................http://www.gpo.gov/nct

• Office of Management and Budget (selected publications)..........http://www.gpo.gov/omb

• U.S. General Accounting Office.....................................................http://www.gpo.gov/gao

• U.S. Government Online Bookstore..............................................http://bookstore.gpo.gov

The list of GPO Access shortcuts is 

maintained on the GPO Access help page at 

<http://www.gpo.gov/gpoaccess/help/

aliases.html>.
AN-v23-#11-8/15/02

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Table of Contents

President Bush Nominates Bruce R. James as Public Printer.......................................................1

LPS Letter Encourages Attendance at Conference .......................................................................2

USPTO to Discontinue Official Gazette for Patents in Paper ......................................................3

Web Claim Now Operational........................................................................................................3

Shipping List Tracking System Implemented...............................................................................4

New Search Capability Added to Government Documents Exchange List

 (Needs and Offers).....................................................................................................................4

Future of the FDLP: Appointments, Policies and Other News / Baldwin, AALL .......................5

Shortcuts to GPO Access Applications.......................................................................................13

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