UNITED STATES NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBAIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the

National Technical Information Service (NTIS):

A Report to the President and the Congress

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UNITED STATES NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the

National Technical Information Service (NTIS):

A Report to the President and the Congress

March 2000

SNCLIS

U.S. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

1110 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 820, Washington, DC 20005-3522
United States National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

March 16, 2000

The President

The White House

Washington, DC 20500

The Vice President

President of the Senate

United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510

The Speaker of the House

United States House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. President, Mr. Vice President and Mr. Speaker:

The United States National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) is an

independent agency charged by Section 5 of PL 91-345 to take a leadership position on matters

pertaining to the library and information needs of the nation. Specifically, Section 1504(a)(1) of Title

20 says that the Commission shall "advise the President and the Congress on the implementation of

national policy by such statements, presentations, and reports as it deems appropriate."

In fulfillment of that statutory mandate, the Commission has been carefully studying the proposal

made in August 1999 by the Department of Commerce to close the National Technical Information

Service (NTIS) and shift its paper, microfiche, digital archives, and bibliographic database to the

Library of Congress.

Soon after Secretary Daley's announcement, the Commission met with senior Departmental officials,

as well as staff members of both the Senate and House committees holding jurisdiction over science

and technology issues. All recognized the value of an independent examination of the Commerce

proposal, and all participated in the Commission's public and working meetings, and other fact and

opinion gathering activities during the September 1999 - February 2000 period.

I am attaching our report, which documents results of the Commission's research, interviews, public

meetings, government meetings, and other fact and opinion gathering efforts, and spells out fully our

specific findings, conclusions, and recommendations. It is called a "preliminary assessment" because

we plan to undertake an in-depth study of all alternatives later.
Briefly, the Commission is recommending that:

1. NTIS be retained in the Department of Commerce, at least temporarily for the balance of FY

2000 and extending into FY 2001, in order to give the Commission, assisted by a broad group

of both public and private sector stakeholders, enough time to study thoroughly the pros and

cons, and costs and benefits, of a small number of feasible alternatives, including (but not

limited to) the one formally announced by Secretary Daley last August (i.e. transfer NTIS

collections to the Library of Congress);

2. The Department of Commerce be allowed to utilize the $4.5M included in its Supplemental

FY 2000 budget request (the NTIS Revolving Fund account) to keep NTIS operational for the

remainder of FY 2000 at a satisfactory level of staffing and service, instead of using those

funds to further downsize and close the agency;

3. The Congress should authorize an appropriation of $5M (the estimated funding level required

for a full fiscal year) for FY 2001 to sustain NTIS operations at a necessary satisfactory level

of service, and allow the Commission to complete its in-depth analysis; and

4. Ensure that the final decision on how best to deal with the NTIS situation is not made

exclusively on the narrower, fiscally-driven ground of preventing NTIS from falling into a

deficit because of the 1992 PL 102-245 Section 3704(b)-I requirement that operating costs

should be recovered primarily through the collection offees. As important as that

consideration is, the government must also take into account the larger question of how, in

the Information Age, we can strengthen government information dissemination machinery to

the public, to private industry to enhance U.S. competitiveness, and to the U.S. scientific

research communities. Inter-related concerns of permanent public accessibility, permanent

records retention, preservation of materials, and authentication of official government

holdings must also be addressed. The government must also consider the magnitude and

consequences of shifting costs from end-users to Federal agencies (and therefore the

taxpayer) as public access to Federal web sites accelerates.

The value to the nation's economy that stems from the government's capital investment in the

capture, organization, permanent availability for, access to and dissemination of scientific and

technical information (which the taxpayer has paid for already) for the public and for private

enterprise, and for government agencies at all levels - - Federal, State, local, and tribal, is enormous

and far-reaching, and cannot be accurately estimated.

But there is one inconvertible fact that in the Commission's view is the most compelling justification

for keeping a strong NTIS, and that is that the $5 million estimated annual appropriation

requirement represents less than 1/1 00'* of one percent of the total annual budget (currently

estimated for FY 2001 to be about $80 billion dollars) for the Federal Government's research and

development investment, which NTIS is charged with reporting. What a small price to pay for such

an incredibly valuable investment and asset! Moreover, the $5M represents less than 20% of the total

NTIS budget.

We commend this report to your careful study, and stand ready to respond should you wish (1)

additional amplification or clarification of the process we followed, and/or (2) to ask us to defend and

justify our findings, conclusions and recommendations.
We are concurrently sending a copy of this report to the Secretary of Commerce, the Director of

NTIS, the Director of OMB, the Director of OSTP, and various members of the House and Senate

committees with direct and indirect jurisdictional interest in this matter, and the many public and

private sector stakeholder groups which have been assisting us. Copies are also being sent to the

Archivist of the United States, the Public Printer, and the Librarian of Congress, all of whom have an

interest in the matter since they are all concerned with the collection, handling, and dissemination of

government information to the public.

Our Commission has over twenty years of experience in sorting out complex issues relating in some

way to the dissemination of government information to the public, including clarifying public and

private sector roles. The two White House Conferences on Library and Information Services, held in

1979 and 1991, and the Public Sector/Private Sector Task Force on Providing Information Services

published in 1982, all were Commission-led endeavors that attracted nationwide participation and

interest.

We stand ready to meet or assist you in whatever way we can so that this important but at the same

time complex matter can hopefully be resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned parties.

Sincerely yours,

Martha B. Gould

Chairperson
Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKN OW LEDGEM EN TS .......................................................................................................... V

A . T H E R O LE O F N C LIS .................................................................................................................... 1

B. THE NCLIS PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT PROCESS ............................................................. I

C . F IN D IN G S ....................................................................................................................................... 2

D . C O N C L U SIO N S .............................................................................................................................. 5

E. RECOM M EN DATION S ......................................................................................................... 7

F . FIN A L W O R D S ............................................................................................................................... 9

ATTACHMENT 1. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FACT SHEET AND PRESS RELEASE,

AUGUST 12, 1999; AND NCLIS LETTER TO SECRETARY OF COMMERCE WILLIAM

D A LEY , A U G U ST 16, 1999 ................................................................................................................ 11

FACT SHEET: Providing The American People Information For The 21 st Century: The

Commerce Department Proposes to Close NTIS and Ensure That People Can Receive Technical

Inform ation for Free over the Intem et ............................................................................................. 11

Press Release: Commerce Secretary William M. Daley Announces Intention to Close National

Technical Inform ation Service ..................................................................................................... 13

Letter from NCLIS Chairperson Jeanne Hurley Simon to Secretary of Commerce William M.

D aley, A ugust 16, 1999 .................................................................................................................... 14

ATTACHMENT 2: NCLIS LETTER TO REPRESENTATIVE CONSTANCE A. MORELLA,

SE PT E M B E R 13, 1999 ....................................................................................................................... 15

Letter from NCLIS Executive Director Robert S. Willard to Representative Constance A. Morella,

S eptem ber 13 , 1999 .......................................................................................................................... 15

ATTACHMENT 3: NCLIS TESTIMONY BEFORE THE U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON

COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, SUBCOMMITTEE ON SCIENCE,

TECHN OLOGY AN D SPA CE ....................................................................................................... 17

Opening Statement of Commissioner Joan R. Challinor before the Subcommittee on Science,

Technology and Space of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation,

O cto ber 2 1 , 19 99 .............................................................................................................................. 17

Prepared Statement of Commissioner Joan R. Challinor before the Subcommittee on Science,

Technology and Space of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation,

O ctober 2 1, 1999 .............................................................................................................................. 19

Responses to Post Hearing Questions for the Record, November 8, 1999 .................................. 22

Letter from NCLIS Executive Director Robert S. Willard to Senator Bill Frist, December 10, 1999

.......................................................................................................................................................... 2 6
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

ATTACHMENT 4: CHRONOLOGY/BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DOCUMENTS AND EVENTS

RELATIVE TO NTIS, JANUARY 26, 2000 ................................................................................. 27

Chronology/Bibliography of Documents and Events Relative To NTIS' Position in the Department

of C om m erce .................................................................................................................................... 27

ATTACHMENT 5: SUMMARY OF THE PUBLIC STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS ............... 36

Summary of Three NCLIS-Sponsored Public Stakeholder Meetings .......................................... 36

Complete List of Public M eeting Participants ............................................................................ 37

List of Documents About the NTIS Assessment Posted to or Linked from the NCLIS Website as of

M arch 15, 2000 ................................................................................................................................. 39

ATTACHMENT 6: SUMMARIES OF SPECIAL MEETINGS FEDERAL CENTRAL

INFORMATION SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS, THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND

BUDGET (OMB) AND THE INFORMATION INDUSTRY ........................................................ 42

Summary of Meetings with the Office of Management and Budget, the Software and Information

Industry Association, and Selected Private Sector Respondents ................................................. 42

Summary of Meetings With the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records

Administration, and the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office and the

Head of the Government Information Technology Services Board ............................................ 43

ATTACHMENT 7: NCLIS FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE SEEKING PUBLIC COMMENT ON

TH E N T IS C L O SU R E ......................................................................................................................... 44

Federal Register Notice on the Proposed Closure and Transfer of Functions of NTIS, February 14,

2 0 0 0 .................................................................................................................................................. 4 4

ATTACHMENT 8: NCLIS PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC INFORMATION ................................ 45

Principles of Public Inform ation ................................................................................................. 45

ATTACHMENT 9: LOS ANGELES TIMES EDITORIAL, MARCH 1, 2000, AND

SECRETARY DALEY'S LETTER TO THE EDITOR, MARCH 6,2000 .................................... 47

Los Angeles Times Editorial, "Science in Peril," March 1, 2000 ................................................. 47

Secretary Daley's Letter to the Editor of the Los Angeles Times, March 7, 2000 ........................ 48

ATTACHMENT 10: ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DATA AND SUPPORTING

D O C U M EN T A T IO N ........................................................................................................................... 48

Purpose of This A ttachm ent ....................................................................................................... 48

Core List of NTIS Activities, Services and Assets, Classified on the Basis of Whether Mandated or

N T IS -In itiated ................................................................................................................................... 49

NCLIS Guidelines for the Evaluation of Alternatives Considered in This Assessment ............... 51

Some Assumptions and Constraints Considered in This Assessment .......................................... 53

Key Excerpts from Department of Commerce Inspector General's Report on the NTIS ........... 53

Key Excerpts from Internal Department of Commerce Report on the NTIS .............................. 54

Key Excerpts from the Arthur Andersen Report to the Department of Commerce on the NTIS ..... 55

FY 2001 President's Budget - NTIS Accounts ............................................................................ 56

Major Cost Components of the $1.6 Million NTIS Estimate for Expanding Federal Depository

Library A ccess to N TIS Reports ................................................................................................ 57

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

Selected List of Legislation, Rules and Regulations Impacting NTIS Mission and Functions ....... 57

Draft Key Provisions of Existing and Proposed Legislative Amendments ................................. 58

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The members and staff of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

express their sincere appreciation to everyone contributing to the success of this assessment. Their

combined advice, guidance, suggestions, support and encouragement in the examination of this

important issue are most valuable. The Commission is particularly grateful to the individuals and

organizations that provided written statements and other materials.

There are two experts in government information policy and management whose participation

contributed greatly to the success of this effort. Forest Woody Horton and Sarah T. Kadec gathered

and evaluated historical documents about the National Technical Information Service, organized and

moderated the Commission's public meetings, meet with numerous stakeholders, compiled comments

and edited this report. The Commission is grateful for their extraordinary effort to make this study

comprehensive and inclusive under very tight time constraints.

Finally, the members and staff of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information

Science wish to express their gratitude for the leadership of Jeanne Hurley Simon who was chair of

the Commission at the beginning of this assessment and who died of cancer on February 20, 2000,

before it was completed. Her commitment to public access to government information was

unwavering, and she challenged the Commission to confront the difficult and complex issues of

reassessing fundamental government information policies in light of rapid technological changes.
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the

National Technical Information Service (NTIS):

A Report to the President and the Congress

A. THE ROLE OF NCLIS

The United States National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) is an

independent agency charged by Section 5 of PL 91-345 to take a leadership position on matters

pertaining to the library and information needs of the nation. Specifically, 20 U.S.C. 1504(a)(1)

says that the Commission shall "advise the President and the Congress on the implementation of

national policy by such statements, presentations, and reports as it deems appropriate."

In fulfillment of that statutory mandate, the Commission has been carefully studying the proposal

made in August 1999 by the Department of Commerce to close the National Technical

Information Service (NTIS) and shift its paper, microfiche, digital archives and bibliographic

database to the Library of Congress (Attachment 1). An intensive study of this situation was

begun in September 1999 after consulting with Department of Commerce officials and members

of both the Senate and House Committees holding jurisdiction over science and technology

issues. All recognized the value of an independent examination of the Commerce proposal, and

all have participated in the Commission's public and working meetings.

The Commerce Department's proposed action provides a timely "window of opportunity" to

vastly improve public access to Federal scientific and technical information (STI). The "NTIS

issue," while an urgent and important challenge that must be resolved quickly because of the

agency's precarious financial condition, should not be addressed narrowly, in isolation. While

the immediate crisis is primarily a fiscally-driven scientific and technical communication

problem, this fact should not preclude examination of the larger and longer standing problem of

ensuring effective, equitable, and efficient public access to Government information. The

Commission is committed to keeping the larger context in mind as it proceeds with both short and

longer-term actions.

B. THE NCLIS PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT PROCESS

Our study contains five major components:

I. An examination of nearly three dozen historical assessments that have been made in the last

fifty years or so, as well as the scholarly literature, involving some aspect of NTIS statutory

authorities, operating functions and its range of services to Federal agencies, the public, and

to American industry and business. The study also examined financial considerations,

especially the overarching question of to what extent NTIS operations should be selfsupporting (Attachment 2);

2. Correspondence to the House Science Committee, and informal consultations with the Senate

Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, in connection with their respective
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

hearings held in late 1999, and the appearance of NCLIS Commissioner Joan Challinor to

deliver testimony at Chairman Frist's hearing held by the Science, Technology and Space

Subcommittee of the Senate parent committee (Attachment 3);

3. The convocation of three public meetings, one on January 19, 2000 at the Benton Foundation,

the second on February 4, 2000 in the Rayburn House Office Building, and the third on

February 29, 2000 in the Russell Senate Office Building, to which over 75 major stakeholders

were invited, representing both users and policy officials from many different Federal

agencies, private companies, professional societies of librarians and scientists, not-for-profit

organizations, and other groups, in both the public and private sectors, all of which are

directly concerned with this matter (Attachment 4);

4. Special consultations between the NCLIS Executive Director and top officials from three of

the largest and most important Federal information organizations which house major central

public information collections, and provide a wide range of major access and dissemination

services to the public. These are the Government Printing Office, the National Archives and

Records Administration, and the Library of Congress. Special meetings were also held with

the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as well as the Software and Information

Industry Association (SIIA) and other private industry representatives (Attachment 5); and

5. Solicitation of the general public's views on the Commission's investigations into this matter,

using the vehicle of an announcement in the Federal Register, and a final public meeting held

on February 29, 2000, as well as posting the draft report on the Commission web site and

outreach through several listservs (Attachment 6); hundreds of letters and e-mail messages

were received from across the country.

C. FINDINGS

After considering all of the facts and opinions collected to date, the Commission finds that:

1. First, the Commission reaffirms that the mandated NTIS mission is fundamentally sound and

has very high strategic value to the US. economy. However the current NTIS business model

is flawed and needs to be changed and updated. The requirement to self-fund activities

mandated by Section 3704b-1 of 1992 PL 102-245 for activities that are inherently

governmental and therefore should be directly financed through appropriations is the basic

flaw in the business model. Scientific and technical information is a critical national asset,

and greatly enhances the ability of American private enterprise to (a) compete in foreign and

domestic markets, (b) increase productivity, (c) promote employment and real wage growth,

and (d) enhance the standard of living. Such enhancements will depend to a large extent on

the rapid and efficient diffusion of R&D results (STI).

2. Second, there is no single, clearly superior, straightforward, and speedy course of action that

the President and the Congress can take to strengthen the current NTIS business model and

correct long-standing problems without first effecting basic statutory remedies. These

problems include the current system for collecting, cataloging and indexing, storing, and

disseminating or providing access to STI via sales and public access programs. The root

problem that precipitated the Department of Commerce's proposed action in the first place,

namely, forcing NTIS to sustain the full range of its services on a self-sufficiency basis

because of the afore-mentioned statutory obligations, mustfirst be corrected.

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

3. Third, the Congress should correct the basic statutory flaw in the NTIS business model by:

" Either eliminating the 1992 PL 102-245, Section 3704b-1 statutory requirement that "operating costs for the NTIS associated with the acquisition, storage, bibliographic

control and archiving of information and data shall be recovered primarily through the

collection of fees "(underlining supplied); or

"* Modifying the statute's language, or its interpretation by the Congress, so as to make

clear that operating costs can also be defrayed by appropriated funds.

A broad consensus among the majority of the stakeholders and experts whose views the

Commission has solicited, strongly supports this recommendation. There are also other

elements of the business model that will require changing an updating in the Internet Age.

4. Fourth, the Commission believes that the collection, organization, making available, and

providing access to government information by the public is fundamentally a governmental

obligation. Therefore, in regard to NTIS:

" The government should annually appropriate sufficient funds to finance those "common

good" or "public good" functions at projected workload levels (estimated to be

approximately $5M* for a full fiscal year, but perhaps somewhat less for the current year

FY 2000 because the year is already half over); and

" If some NTIS functions and specialized Agency-specific publishing activities are

returned to the individual Federal agencies, a significant reduction of services to the

public would undoubtedly result, and additional costs, such as start-up expenses, as well

as an increase in operating costs because of the loss of economies of scale currently being

realized, would be incurred by those agencies. Moreover, those agencies would have to

assume for themselves, or have replicated elsewhere, those publishing and dissemination

services NTIS currently provides if NTIS no longer offered them;

5. Fifth, most of the reasons that have caused NTIS to go "into the red" in recent years are

unintended consequences of the agency being pressured to comply with the statutory

constraint to be self-supporting. In addition, in the opinion of the Department of Commerce

Inspector General, this pressure has led NTIS to expand services to agencies and develop

products that are beyond its mission. If direct appropriation financing was forthcoming,

NTIS would be expected to discontinue any such alleged "expansionary" activities.

Moreover, when considering the desirability of creating value-added products and services,

NTIS should not create such products and services where public-private partnerships or

independent private products and services can efficiently provide the desired added value

result for users; and

6. Sixth, more time is needed to investigate carefully the pros and cons, and the benefits and

costs of the Department of Commerce's announced plan to transfer the NTIS collections and

some operations to the Library of Congress, as well as the other alternatives the Commission

has identified during the course of its fact-finding. Alternatives being considered can be subdivided into categories. The first category of alternatives are those which do not require the

creation of a brand new, major institutional entity, and/or the substantial modification of

existing statutory authorities, policies, or lines of business in order to accommodate transfer

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

of NTIS operations. As a consequence, these alternatives could be implemented in the 18-

month timeframe April 1, 2000 - September 30, 2001. These options include, for example:

"* Retaining NTIS in the Department of Commerce;

"* Transferring collections and service responsibilities to the Library of Congress;

"* Transferring collections and service responsibilities to the Government Printing

Office; and

"* Transferring collections and service responsibilities to the National Archives and

Records Administration.

The second category of alternatives, on the other hand, would require the creation of a new,

major institutional entity, and/or the substantial modification of statutory authorities, policies,

and lines of business, or transferring the mission and roles to the private sector. In the case of

the public sector, these alternatives may also require major adjustments in traditional

missions, roles, and organizational cultures. Planning, negotiating, and overseeing the full

range of legislative, structural, personnel, financial, and other infrastructure requirements that

would inevitably be associated with such a major undertaking could not be accomplished

efficiently and effectively in the 18-month timeframe so as to ensure the option is fully in

place by September 30, 2001. These latter alternatives include the possibility of:

"* Establishing a new national library of science, engineering, and technology;

"* Transferring some or all of the NTIS collections and services to the National

Academy of Sciences, the National Science Foundation, or the Smithsonian

Institution;

"* Creating a new independent agency as a service bureau to consolidate public

information dissemination functions now dispersed; and

"* Privatizing some NTIS activities.

None of the above-mentioned Federal (or private sector) entities, whether the first set of four

organizations listed, or the second set of alternatives, could assume responsibility for all of

the NTIS mission and programs without additional funding, including the option of allowing

NTIS to remain in the Department of Commerce. Other alternatives that have also been

considered already, but rejected by the participating stakeholders, including:

"* The establishment of NTIS as a quasi-governmental corporation;

"* Transferring NTIS collections and services to a "lead host scientific and technical

information intensive agency" (such as NASA, DOE, or DoD); or

"* Transferring NTIS collections and services to GSA.

NCLIS believes that a clear consensus to continue studying the above-mentioned three options

simply does not exist, at least among the experts and concerned individuals with whom the

Commission has thus far consulted. NCLIS is also aware that many of these alternatives have

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

been addressed in Congressional hearings on, and private studies of, NTIS in the past. The

President and the Congress always reserve the option of revisiting these, or offering still other

alternatives for consideration.

All alternatives will be considered by NCLIS during the suggested 18-month study period. The

mere fact that the first category of alternatives could be accomplished within an 18-month

timeframe, while an obvious advantage because minimal mission and role adjustments and

disruptions would be required does not necessarily make these alternatives the best ones. The

Commission's analysis must also consider the ultimate goal of modernizing and updating the

Federal Government's overall public information policies, programs, and infrastructures. On the

other hand, if the Commission found that one of the first category of alternatives is clearly

superior in most key respects, it may not be necessary to look exhaustively at the remainder of the

options although they would be considered.

D. CONCLUSIONS

After reflecting carefully on all of its findings, the Commission reached the following conclusions

with respect to the significance, implications, and consequences of the findings:

1. The value to the nation's economy that stems from the government's capital investment in the

capture, preservation, permanent availability, and dissemination of scientific and technical

information for small entrepreneurs, students, faculty researchers, private enterprise, and

government agencies at all levels - -Federal, State, local, and tribal - - is enormous and farreaching, and cannot be accurately estimated. However, the $5M* estimated annual

appropriation requirement for NTIS operations represents less than 1/1 00'h of one percent of

the total annual governmental research and development investment which NTIS is

charged with reporting. Currently this investment is estimated to be about $80 billion

dollars for FY2001. Moreover, the $5M* represents less than 20% of the total current NTIS

budget.

2. All of the alternatives considered, including the proposal of the Secretary of Commerce, will

require an appropriation of $5M per year to cover the basic public good acquisition and

processing costs of NTIS. The availability of these funds, whether they come from the

appropriation of one agency or another, should therefore not be a factor in the evaluation of

alternatives. By approving these funds for at least the balance of FY 2000 and FY 2001, the

Congress would insure the proper continuation of NTIS at satisfactory service levels during

the evaluation period, and an objective evaluation free of the funding issue which resulted in

the current proposal of the Secretary of Commerce.

3. In the Commission's view, the key objective in the analysis of alternatives should be to find

ways to enhance the legislatively mandated functions and operations currently performed by

NTIS. Priority should be given, roughly in order, to:

Ensuring that the mechanisms needed to locate, capture, identify, organize,

preserve, and make permanently publicly available and readily and fairly

accessible the results of Federally-funded R&D, are sustained and strengthened,

regardless of organizational location;

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

"* Creating a new vision of how NTIS should operate in the Information Age

(which virtually everyone agrees we are now well into), including using the Web

to a far greater degree, and in more creative ways; and

"* Improving the NTIS "business model" by modernizing and updating its vision

and mission, and recasting its lines of business so that its mission and goals can

be efficiently, effectively, and economically realized.

4. Having the capability to download a report free on the Web, instead of paying for a hard

copy report of the same information, while undeniably of importance, is only one of many

considerations that must be taken into account in reconfiguring NTIS. The broader goal of

strengthening the distribution channels for government information to many general and

specialized user publics must be considered. Criteria which must be considered include:

"* Fairness and equity, especially as regards the special needs of disadvantaged,

disabled and rural populations, which may neither have access to a home, office,

or other computer, nor ready access to a depository or other library;

"* A multiplicity and diversity of access and dissemination mechanisms, both public

and private;

"* A multiplicity and diversity of information formats and mediums;

"* A multiplicity and diversity of distribution channels, using both the Web,

depository libraries, and other libraries and information centers, as well as more

conventional pre-electronic modes of delivery; and

"* Greater use of on-demand modes and correspondingly less on "100% standing

distribution."

The involvement of both public and private sectors in joint partnerships is essential to serving

the specialized and unique needs of all segments of society, often through specialized access

and dissemination products and services, whether for STI or for other kinds of government

information.

For example, in the context of cooperation between NTIS and the private sector, to offer but

three examples:

"* The products in the NTIS Trade and Business Bookstore are from both sectors,

and include organizations such as Jane's Information Group and McGraw-Hill;

"* In the context of Federal agency efforts to improve web access to STI, the

Environmental Protection Agency since 1997 has offered one-stop shopping for

more than 6,000 full-text, online EPA documents; and

"* The Defense Technical Information Center has developed a system called

"STINET" which includes all unclassified, unlimited citations since 1985 from

the Center's technical report collection.

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

5. If NTIS receives the recommended approximate $5M* annual appropriation to defray the

costs of the data acquisition, indexing, processing, and permanent public access, then the

current pilot project begun in 1998 to investigate the feasibility of providing electronic image

technical reports from the NTIS collection to Federal depository libraries should be

restructured to include all depository libraries as quickly as practicable. This would entail an

additional one-time appropriation for NTIS for required technical infrastructure upgrades and

specific depository services. Recurring costs could be defrayed from the annual $5M*

appropriation. However, no sales, marketing, or order processing expenses should be

defrayed by these appropriations.

6. Finally, it should be remembered that while downloading information on the Internet by users

may be free from the user standpoint, costs are implicitly shifted to the taxpayer because

government agencies must enhance their information and telecommunications infrastructures

- - hardware, software, networks, systems, databases, and so forth - -in order to compensate

for the increased demand and cope with heightened public expectations for both enhanced

quality and quantity of web services. Moreover, retaining materials on the web for only three

years as suggested by the Department of Commerce is woefully inadequate to meet the needs

for permanent public availability and accessibility. We already know from experience that

two thirds of all requests from NTIS users are for materials that are over three years old, and

one third of the total is for materials that are over ten years old!

E. RECOMMENDATIONS

From the beginning of our study, the Commission has been consistently reminded that time is

critical in this matter because:

1. The service capabilities of NTIS are deteriorating continuously as NTIS employees resign,

retire, or transfer to other units, often with very serious impacts on their pay, careers,

families, and morale;

2. Private enterprise, students, faculty researchers, government, and foreign customers of NTIS

products and services are increasingly worried as to whether, and how (if at all) they will

have access to the results of Federally-funded R&D in the future;

3. The President's FY 2001 Budget has already been presented to the Congress, agencies have

already begun the FY 2002 budget planning process, the Department of Commerce's plans

for dealing with the NTIS situation remain directed to closing the agency by the end of FY

2000, and there is a hiring freeze in place at NTIS; and

4. Congressional authorization and appropriation committees with jurisdiction over the

Commerce Department's budget are moving swiftly with their plans to deal with the NTIS

matter. There appear to be three reasons:

"* Resolving the residual FY 2000 budget issues as quickly as possible so that the

Congress can take up the President's FY 2001 budget;

"* The press of the election year; and

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

* The fear that unless a satisfactory resolution is reached rapidly, the STI access

and dissemination flows from NTIS to private industry, academic research

institutions, and Federal agencies would be seriously interrupted.

Therefore, the Commission recommends that:

1. The President direct the Secretary of Commerce to retain NTIS within the Department of

Commerce for at least the balance of FY 2000, and through the end of FY 2001, in order to

give the Commission, and other institutions such as the General Accounting Office, enough

time to ensure that the pros and cons, and benefits and costs, of the above-listed alternatives

are thoroughly considered, including the option of allowing NTIS to remain in the

Department of Commerce;

2. The Congress annually appropriate sufficient funds, beginning in FY 2000, to finance that

portion of legislatively mandated NTIS activities and services which are inherently

governmental in nature. Currently this amount has been estimated by NTIS to be $5M* but it

may change depending on workload and other factors. These activities and services include

the orderly collection, organization, preservation of and permanent public access to scientific

and technical information of potential use to future generations of researchers;

3. Once the inherently governmental NTIS functions are financed by appropriated funds, NTIS

may continue to operate a sales program but must abide by existing Federal information

resources management policies and principles such as the Paperwork Reduction

Reauthorization Act of 1995 and OMB Circular A-130:

* NTIS should set user charges at levels sufficient to recover, but not exceed, the total cost

of the sales program, excluding all costs financed by appropriations.

* NTIS should cease improperly restrictive practices such as charging fees or royalties on

the reuse, resale, or redissemination ofproducts and services such as the NTIS

bibliographic database; and

* NTIS should ensure that decisions to introduce new products or services are made only

after careful consideration of the capabilities of the private sector to create commercial

products by adding value to government information either through public private

partnerships or through independent efforts.

4. A one-time appropriation, estimated by NTIS to be $1.6M,* should be approved to defray the

costs to set up an appropriate mechanism to provide free and permanent public access to

current materials and future acquisitions, primarily by electronic means, through the Federal

Depository Library Program and to ensure that, as retrospective materials are captured

electronically, they are also made available for permanent public access, again primarily via

the Internet and other electronic mediums (no open-ended authorization for the unlimited

availability of print or fiche materials in this context is either implicitly or explicitly

intended); and

5. The Secretary of Commerce take such internal policy, financial, personnel, and other actions

as appropriate to the circumstances, to ensure that:

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

"* NTIS staffing and budget are maintained at a satisfactory threshold level of support to

preclude any further erosion of services to NTIS clients, both in and out of government;

"* NTISplant capacity, staffing, and service levels are restored if and where they may have

already dropped below that satisfactory level;

"* NTIS clients, both in and out of government, are notified of actions taken to restore NTIS

services, and reassured that materials over three years old are not being discarded; and

" Periodic reports are submitted to the Congressional oversight and appropriation

committees, and OMB, covering steps that have been taken or are being taken to

implement this recommended course of action. The Secretary should forward copies of

the reports to NCLIS as well. The broader issue of strengthened NTIS governance

should be addressed in the Commission's in-depth study of alternatives.

All five of the above recommendations are interdependent, and therefore should not be

considered as unrelated recommendations. Also, the close working interdependencies of

individual agencies on the one hand, and the central information servicing agencies such as NTIS,

GPO, NARA and the Library of Congress, on the other hand, need to be addressed as an

integrated whole.

F. FINAL WORDS

One of the most important stakeholder groups which has assisted the Commission in its

deliberations is CENDI, an informal consortium of 10 Federal agencies that are heavily STIintensive (Commerce, Energy, EPA, NASA, NLM Education, Agriculture, Defense Technical

Information Center, National Air Intelligence Center, and Interior). In their report to the

Commission they say:

"NTIS is part of an information dissemination system for the general public that has

evolved over 50 years. The key functions of public access, which include crossdiscipline, cross-agency, dissemination and archiving, as well as the proactive

identification and collection of agency R&D results, continue to be necessary in whatever

paradigm that emerges for the future of Federal scientific and technical information

system. To suddenly remove a component of such a system without a full analysis of the

impacts (including second and third order impacts) would now have many unknown

consequences. At a minimum the burden of costs will be shifted to the general taxpayer

from the user who directly benefits from the services in the current NTIS cost recovery

operation. At worst, in the short term, access would simply be lost at whatever cost."

The Commission will continue to assist the Department of Commerce, NTIS, and the standing

authorization and appropriation committees of the Congress holding jurisdiction, as well as other

committees with an interest in this matter, to achieve the foregoing recommendations in an

expeditious and satisfactory manner. The in-depth assessment of the alternatives will begin by

April 1, 2000.

Finally, the Commission will keep foremost in mind the larger question of how to strengthen

Government information dissemination to the public in the Information Age, including finding

mechanisms to ensure agency compliance with public dissemination and permanent preservation

efforts.

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

The Commission has selected various key documents that are useful to illuminate various points

in the text and included them as attachments to this report. Additionally, a great deal of material,

including many position papers and public comments, has been posted to the Commission's web

site and readers are referred to these materials as well at: http://www.nclis.gov/info/ntis/ntis.html.

ENDNOTE:

*These estimates by NTIS for the required annual and one-time appropriation amounts are

preliminary. The specific purposes for which they are to be utilized, along with the exact

amounts, must be verified before final numbers are presented to the House and Senate

Appropriations Committees.

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

ATTACHMENT 1. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FACT SHEET AND

PRESS RELEASE, AUGUST 12, 1999; AND NCLIS LETTER

TO SECRETARY OF COMMERCE WILLIAM DALEY,

AUGUST 16, 1999

[NOTE: Although the format may be different, the content of these documents is as submitted or

published.]

FACT SHEET: Providing The American People Information For The 21st

Century: The Commerce Department Proposes to Close NTIS and Ensure That

People Can Receive Technical Information for Free over the Internet

Source: http://204.193.246.62/public.nsf/docs/ea7bd28117eef74d852567cbOO6b7d20

The Department of Commerce proposes to close the National Technical Information Service

(NTIS), transfer its archives to the Library of Congress, and ensure that Government agencies

provide technical and business reports to the public for free via the Internet. The Department

believes strongly that the American people can continue to receive the same information they

have today if we close down NTIS and ensure that Government agencies post all technical reports

on the Internet and send the documents electronically to the Library of Congress. This way, the

American people can find the documents they want via search engines that currently exist -- and

the more powerful ones being created -- and download them for free. We will propose legislation

to Congress next month to achieve these ends.

In the New Economy, the NTIS Business Model Is Fundamentally Flawed. NTIS was created

in 1950 to operate as a clearinghouse within the U.S. Government for the collection and

dissemination of technical, scientific, and engineering information of all kinds. However, the

rapid growth of the Internet has fundamentally changed the way NTIS' customers acquire and use

information. As the Department's Inspector General noted in March 1999, "Federal agencies are

increasingly bypassing NTIS as a distribution channel, instead offering their publications directly

to the public over the Internet." On the Department of Commerce's own web page, the American

people can get technical and business reports for free that they are forced to pay for to obtain

them from NTIS. For example,

" In June 1999, the Commerce Department released the Emerging Digital Economy II

report. This report can be downloaded from the Department's web page for free.

Alternatively, a taxpayer can go to the NTIS web page and obtain the report for $27 per

copy.

" In November 1998, the Administration released the first annual report of the U.S.

Government working group on electronic commerce. This report can be downloaded

from the Department's web page for free. NTIS sells this same document for $25.50. As a

result,

"* Sales of publications from the NTIS clearinghouse declined from almost 2.3 million units

in FY1993 to 1.3 million units in FY1998.

" NTIS has used a majority of its retained earnings over the past several years to cover

losses in business; in fact, the core clearinghouse business has not operated at a profit

since 1993. The Department has asked Congress to provide a $2 million appropriation for

FY2000 to fill the gap between costs and revenues. However, neither the House nor the

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

Senate appropriations bill provides this funding. Without it, NTIS is in danger of being

deficient in FY2000.

"* NTIS' financial situation continues to worsen. For example, at the end of FY1998, NTIS

forecasted revenues of $46.8 million for FY 1999; ten months later, it forecast revenues of

approximately $33 million -- a nearly 30-percent difference.

" To offset losses, NTIS has ventured into other businesses. But, as the Department's IG

stated, "We are also concerned that in order to replace lost sales, NTIS is seeking

business opportunities on the perimeter of its statutory mission, where it risks competing

against private businesses."

The Department's Proposed Plan Will Ensure that the American People Continue to Have

Access to Scientific Information. In the 21 st century, the Administration envisions an

environment where all citizens have free access to Government information over the Internet.

Improvements in technology are enabling all Federal Government agencies to post their technical

reports and business information on their web sites and allow them to maintain that information

for long periods of time. Thus, the Department proposes the following two actions:

1. Transfer NTIS Archives to the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress already

includes a designated scientific and technical section, and the NTIS collection of three

million titles is nearly the size of Library holdings in the science and technology area. If

approved by Congress, NTIS' paper, microfiche, and digital archives, and bibliographic

database would be transferred to the Library of Congress in order to maintain them and

ensure they remain available to the public. The Department's IG recognized that NTIS

may need to be transferred to another agency and suggested consideration of the Library

of Congress. In addition, current and future Government technical reports would be

electronically transmitted to the Library of Congress, where they would be catalogued,

indexed, and electronically archived. The Department has recently contacted the Library

of Congress with our proposal, and intends to work closely with the Library in the weeks

ahead to refine it.

2. Ensure that Agencies Maintain Technical Reports and Business Information on their web

sites for Long Periods of Time. The Department is also working to ensure that

Government agencies post their technical and business reports on the Internet for long

periods of time. Since the marginal cost of producing a paper copy of a technical report

can be high and the marginal cost of an additional digital copy of the report is essentially

zero, the Government will be able to provide the American people technical reports for

free, instead of charging a fee. Moreover, a number of search engines of Government

web sites already exist (within Government entities [e.g., the Library of Congress],

universities, and private sector firms). And more powerful search engines - an electronic

clearinghouse -- continue to be developed within the Government so that the American

people can more easily find reports they want.

Minimizing the Impact on NTIS' Employees. If Congress approves the Secretary's proposal,

the Department will take every available action to help NTIS' employees move into other jobs

within the Government.

First, the Secretary has "committed the Department of Commerce to making every

reasonable effort to place [the NTIS employees in other jobs within the Department]." He

has sent a memorandum to all of the Department's bureaus instructing them that, if

Congress approves the Department's proposal, they are to work with the Department's

Human Resources office to place employees in jobs consistent with their abilities, and

when necessary, restructure open positions in order to place as many of the NTIS staff as

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

possible. Over the past month, over 40 NTIS employees were successfully moved to

other bureaus within the Department in order to keep NTIS from becoming deficient in

FY1999. The Department believes that with sufficient time we can place nearly all of the

employees in other jobs within the Department.

Second, because the Department may be unable to place all the NTIS employees in jobs

within the Department, the Secretary has sent a letter to OPM Director Janice Lachance

asking for her assistance, if Congress approves closing NTIS, in placing and retraining

NTIS employees for other jobs throughout the Government.

Press Release: Commerce Secretary William M. Daley Announces Intention to

Close National Technical Information Service

Source: http://204.193.246.62/public.nsf/docs/FFF05791D63331D1852567CB00693643

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Maria Tildon

Thursday, August 12, 1999 Marlene MacDonald

202-482-4883

Commerce Secretary William M. Daley Announces Intention to

Close National Technical Information Service

Washington, DC - Commerce Secretary William M. Daley today announced his intention to work

with Congress to close the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) at the Department of

Commerce, while preserving public access to scientific and technical reports. After extensive

review and analysis it was determined that the core function of NTIS, providing government

information for a fee, is no longer needed in this day of advanced electronic technology.

Established in 1950, NTIS' core business - the sale of government documents in microfiche and

on paper - is rapidly becoming less of the necessity it was as agencies and groups have begun to

post their reports on the Internet for free. For example, the Commerce Department recently

released a report called, "The Emerging Digital Economy II." This report can be downloaded

from the Department of Commerce web site for free rather than for a $27 fee through NTIS.

These changes in the information marketplace have made obsolete the need for NTIS to serve as a

clearinghouse and, thus have in turn made it increasingly difficult for NTIS to maintain its

operation on a self-sustaining basis, as established by Congress.

NTIS' sales have dramatically declined over the last six years with the advent of the personal

computer and increased use of the Internet. In fact, NTIS' core clearinghouse business has not

operated at a profit since FY 1993. In its March 1999 Semiannual Report to the Congress,

Commerce's Office of Inspector General concluded that "even with significant efforts to improve

its profitability, NTIS can no longer generate sufficient revenue to remain self-supporting." If this

proposal is not implemented, NTIS will be in danger of going bankrupt.

"This was a tough decision to make, but sound management dictates that we cut our losses and

recognize the technologically advanced environment we live in," said Secretary Daley. "This is

the right thing to do and the best thing for the American taxpayer."

The Commerce Department next month will send to Congress proposed legislation closing NTIS

and shifting its paper, microfiche, digital archives and bibliographic database to the Library of

Congress. In addition, Commerce will work to ensure that government technical and business

information provided by government agencies remains available to the public for long periods of

-- 13-
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

time. The American people could continue to find these technical reports through search engines

that currently exist (at, for example, the Library of Congress).

If Congress approves this proposal, Secretary Daley has instructed his staff to work closely with

the over 250 employees of NTIS to assist them with job placement within the Department. The

Secretary also has sent a letter to Office of Personnel Director, Janice Lachance, requesting the

Office of Personnel Management's assistance with both the placement and retraining of NTIS

employees.

Fact sheets with additional information are available on the Commerce Department's web site at

www.doc.gov or for a fax call the press office at 202-482-4883.

Letter from NCLIS Chairperson Jeanne Hurley Simon to Secretary of Commerce

William M. Daley, August 16, 1999

August 16, 1999

The Honorable William M. Daley

Secretary of Commerce

Department of Commerce

14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20230

Dear Bill,

I noted with great interest the recent press release announcing your intention to close the National

Technical Information Service (NTIS), and transfer the vast holdings now maintained by NTIS to

the Library of Congress. As you indicate, action to accomplish this proposal requires legislation,

which you plan to present to Congress for its consideration next month.

Certainly I applaud your personal interest, as well as President Clinton's and Vice President

Gore's impressive list of initiatives undertaken during this Administration, to make more and

more Government information cost-effectively available. Ordinary citizens, students, job seekers,

businesses, lower levels of government, and other segments of society will all profit by using the

new electronic mediums such as the World Wide Web to access this information. The National

Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS), which I chair, sees the increasing

migration of traditional ink-on-paper and microform public information products to electronic

mediums and formats as both inexorable and desirable.

However, I want to bring to your attention several very important and relevant findings, which

have emerged from a just, concluded, nine-month NCLIS study entitled "Assessment of

Electronic Government Information Products." This study was commissioned by the Congress,

with the active support of the Administration (former OMB/OIRA Administrator Sally Katzen,

now back at OMB, was involved in its planning). The study was implemented with the assistance

of a contractor, Westat, Inc. of Rockville, Maryland.

Among the study's major findings from a detailed survey of 24 Federal agencies in all three

branches covering over 300 specific government information products was that Federal agencies

are confused as to just what is meant by "permanent public access," even though they concur in

the need for the Government to hold certain documents for extensive periods of time. Moreover,

we found there is confusion between "permanent records retention" as that concept is embodied

in Federal records legislation, and "permanent public access" and "preservation," as two closely

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

related ideas that are emerging in the library, historian, archival, journalism, educational, public

interest, and related fields.

All of these public information retention requirements tie in with the historical mission of the

NTIS to collect, organize, preserve, and make available permanently government reports and

documents. This mission must not be lost in the organizational changes you are proposing.

Additionally, there are other important findings in the aforementioned study that touch upon

government information dissemination to the public, and your NTIS plans, in which I believe

your Department would be very interested.

In short, because of our Commission's recent endeavors in this field, and in the light of your

planned legislative initiative, I wanted to offer our assistance to you and the Congress as your

proposal moves forward. You may wish to direct your staffs attention to the aforementioned

study final report. The Executive Summary appears at

http://www.nclis.gov/news/nclisexecsum.pdf and the full report is at

http://www.access.gpo.gov/sudocs/nclisassessment/report.html. I am enclosing a hard copy of

the report herewith.

Congratulations, again, for taking these steps, and please let our Commission's Executive

Director, Robert S. Willard, or me know if we can be helpful to you.

Sincerely yours,

Jeanne Hurley Simon

Chairperson

Enclosure

ATTACHMENT 2: NCLIS LETTER TO REPRESENTATIVE CONSTANCE A.

MORELLA, SEPTEMBER 13, 1999

[NOTE: Although the format may be different, the content of this document is as submitted or

published.]

Letter from NCLIS Executive Director Robert S. Willard to Representative

Constance A. Morella, September 13. 1999

September 13, 1999

The Honorable Constance A. Morella

2228 Rayburn House Office Building

House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515-2008

Dear Congresswoman Morella,

I am writing to you to on behalf of Chairperson Jeanne Hurley Simon of the U.S. National

Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) with regard to the proposed closing

of the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). This proposal of the Department of

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

Commerce would result in the transfer of NTIS authorities, functions and resources to another

agency, but it also raises broader public information policy issues. I would like to suggest to you

that NCLIS might be helpful to you as you explore this proposal and its attendant issues.

NCLIS is an independent agency charged by PL 91-345 to take a leadership position on matters

pertaining to the library and information needs of the nation. Specifically, Section 1504(1) of that

law says the Commission shall "advise the President and the Congress on the implementation of

national policy by such statements, presentations, and reports as it deems appropriate." Therefore

it is appropriate for us to offer our assistance to the Congress in an area that is of critical

importance to the information needs of the people of the United States.

We did offer to present oral testimony at your hearing on NTIS scheduled for Tuesday,

September 14, 1999, but have been advised that it will not be possible. However, we sent a packet

of information to Terri Fish at the Technology Subcommittee of the House Science Committee;

that information provides background material on the Commission and some of its relevant

activities. Included in the package of materials was a recent study, Assessment of Electronic

Government Information Products, dealing with current agency practices for preparation and

dissemination of electronic government information products. Also enclosed was a copy of a

letter Ms. Simon sent to the Secretary of Commerce regarding the NTIS matter.

The vice chair of our Commission and members of my staff met recently with Jonathan M.

Orszag, Assistant to Secretary Daley, who is directing the NTIS transfer. Mr. Orszag identified

two objectives that Commerce was pursuing. One objective is the orderly transfer of various

authorities, functions and resources from Commerce to the Library of Congress (or another

agency) so that the Department can divest itself of its NTIS fiduciary responsibilities. The other

objective is to assure that the public good represented by the NTIS collection remains accessible

to the American people. Mr. Orszag acknowledged the broader public information policy issues

including the reforms needed in government information dissemination that are implicitly raised

by the transfer of this major Federal information resource. However, he does not see it as a

Commerce Department role to take the lead on addressing these broader issues.

It is, however, entirely appropriate for the Commission to address these issues. We are well

positioned to examine the need to consolidate, simplify, and streamline government information

dissemination and to look at the changes that are required at a time when Government is

dramatically shifting information products to the Web. Therefore, I would propose that you ask

NCLIS to perform a quick, independent assessment of the Commerce Department proposal; this

assessment should be completed in 3-6 months so as not to delay plans to transfer NTIS out of

Commerce by the end of FY 2000. The assessment would identify various options the Congress

could consider to address both the closure of NTIS and the reforms needed in Federal policies and

programs dealing with government information dissemination.

The Department of Commerce's proposal to close NTIS provides a very timely opportunity to

reconsider ways to strengthen the overall policy and the organizational and legal machinery used

to deliver Federal information to the public. We are very concerned that the short-term measures

that must be taken to transfer authorities, functions, and resources of NTIS by the end of Fiscal

Year 2000 not cause the Congress to defer the more substantive considerations relating to the

need for basic reforms in government information dissemination.

We would welcome the chance to discuss our suggestion in detail with you and/or members of

your staff at your convenience. We could cover a number of topics, including a timetable, specific

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

format for our assessment, and other considerations. I will contact you after the hearing to

determine what the appropriate next steps are.

Sincerely yours,

Robert S. Willard

Executive Director

ATTACHMENT 3: NCLIS TESTIMONY BEFORE THE U.S. SENATE

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND

TRANSPORTATION, SUBCOMMITTEE ON SCIENCE,

TECHNOLOGY AND SPACE

[NOTE: Although the format may be different, the content of these documents is as submitted or

published.]

Opening Statement of Commissioner Joan R. Challinor before the Subcommittee on

Science, Technology and Space of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and

Transportation, October 21, 1999

Department of Commerce's Plan to

Close the National Technical Information Service

Opening statement of

Joan R. Challinor

Member, U.S. National Commission on

Libraries and Information Science

before the

Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space

Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

United States Senate

Thursday, October 21, 1999

Good afternoon, Mister Chairman and members of the Subcommittee. My name is Joan Challinor

and it is my privilege to be a member of the National Commission on Libraries and Information

Science. President Clinton appointed me in 1995 and I am delighted to find myself a part of a

group of committed, involved Commissioners. The first concern of members of the Commission

is the library and information needs of the people of this nation, and the second concern is

translating those needs into policy recommendations to the Congress and the President. That is

exactly the responsibility Congress assigned the Commission when it created it in 1971.

I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss with you the issue of closing NTIS, the National

Technical Information Service. We have submitted written testimony, and I request that it be

included in the record of this hearing. I will address some of the points in the written testimony in

a moment, but first I would like to share some personal thoughts on the weighty issues facing

Congress as it deals with the Department of Commerce's proposal to close NTIS.

I am an historian, and for forty-five years I have been married to a scientist. This combination of

disciplines gives me a unique perspective on some of the issues involved in the NTIS proposal. I

-17-
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

certainly understand the relationship between science and communication and the value of prior

research. In 1676, Sir Isaac Newton credited his success, in part, to the work of his predecessors:

"If I have seen further," he wrote to a colleague, "it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."

I also understand the need for communicating prior research to future scientists. As an historian, I

recognize that this communication must occur over decades, perhaps centuries. While I do not

plan to make specific comments about the NTIS proposal today, I can tell you that I was slightly

shocked to see the draft legislation and its requirement that agencies maintain access to their

scientific, technical or engineering information for not less than three years.

In our written testimony, we make three major points. First, the Commission, or NCLIS, as part

of its broad mandate, has long been concerned with issues affecting government information

programs. We undertook a significant study in the early 1980's dealing with appropriate roles for

the public and private sector in distributing government information and, I hasten to point out, the

principles developed in that study would be worth reviewing in the context of the current NTIS

proposal.

Most recently, however, we have concluded a survey of government agency practices as

information dissemination moves from a mostly ink-on-paper world to a system of electronic

distribution. (This study was undertaken at the request of the Government Printing Office and

was funded with the approval of Congress's Joint Committee on Printing. A copy of the report,

"Assessment of Government Information Products," has been provided to the subcommittee.) We

discovered an across-the-board lack of government information policy to guide electronic

publishing. We saw that there was no uniform understanding of the concept of permanent public

access to government information. And we noticed a clear lack of coordination of publishing

initiatives at all levels, even within agencies. At the same time, and this is the good news, we saw

agencies making significant strides in using modern information technologies to expand broadly

the quantity and quality of information made available to the citizens of this country.

Our second point is that the issues faced by the proposed organizational changes for NTIS closely

correlate with the issues discovered in our recent survey. Accordingly, Congress should recognize

that it would be making decisions that are far more consequential than a simple governmental

reorganization that shifts boxes on an organization chart. We are facing an opportunity to write

anew the basic policy for creation, use, storage, distribution, and long-term disposition of one of

the most valuable resources - perhaps the most important -- in the possession of the government:

information. While we are sympathetic to the pressures felt by the Commerce Department to

accelerate the resolution of its perceived problems with NTIS, we urge Congress to address these

issues in a thoughtful and deliberate manner, even if that means a slower pace than the Commerce

Department might wish.

Here I should mention my personal concern about "unintended consequences." In my study of

history, I have been fascinated with the number of promising proposals that when enacted lead to

less than desirable outcomes. Indeed, the requirement that Congress imposed on NTIS that it be

self-funding led to the unintended consequences of expanded entrepreneurial activities in the

hope that revenue from the new activities would cover the costs of the original basic functions. It

would be well for Congress to keep in mind this all too common problem while it decides the

next steps for NTIS. While nobody has a crystal ball for the future, it nevertheless remains

possible to conceptualize a range of consequences for each policy proposal and thus take steps to

minimize unintended consequences.

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

Our third point is to offer the assistance of the National Commission on Libraries and Information

Science. When the House of Representatives held hearings on closing NTIS, a number of

witnesses proposed that a formal study of the issues take place before Congress took any action

affecting the future of NTIS. We respectfully suggest that NCLIS is the appropriate mechanism

for undertaking this study. In fact, our statutory charter clearly envisions this role. Indeed, it was

because of this role, and the independent point of view we can provide, that GPO selected us to

perform the study I mentioned earlier. In three to six months, NCLIS could review the historical

record of NTIS, invite comment from a broad range of affected constituencies, and bring together

a panel of experts to develop a cohesive, consensual approach to the proposal. NCLIS could then

provide Congress with the policy advice needed to take wise action.

Even before the thirteen colonies became the United States, our science commanded the attention

of remarkable citizens. Benjamin Franklin (who, I can't fail to point out, started the first lending

library in the colonies) became deputy postmaster of Philadelphia and was later appointed

postmaster general by the Second Continental Congress; he sent journals and scientific

information free of charge to scientists in the colonies with whom he corresponded regularly. As

the foremost American scientist of his time, he knew that only by the widespread dissemination

of information could science flourish.

This subcommittee, and Congress itself, is now being asked to make decisions that will also have

an effect on whether science flourishes. Today's hearing is evidence of the seriousness with which

you address this issue. I want to thank you for allowing NCLIS to be a part of today's hearing,

and look forward to the Commission's continued involvement with you on this issue. At this

point, I would be glad to respond to any questions from members of the subcommittee. Thank

you.

Prepared Statement of Commissioner Joan R. Challinor before the Subcommittee

on Science, Technology and Space of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science

and Transportation, October 21, 1999

STATEMENT OF

JOAN CHALLINOR, PH.D

MEMBER

U.S. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES

AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SPACE

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE AND TRANSPORTATION

UNITED STATES SENATE

ON

THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE'S PLAN TO CLOSE THE

NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1999

2:30 P.M.

ROOM 253

SENATE RUSSELL OFFICE BUILDING

Mister Chairperson and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting the National

Commission on Libraries and Information Science to participate in this review of the Department

of Commerce's plan to close the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). I am Joan

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

Challinor, a Member of the National Commission and I appear here today at the request of our

Chairperson, Jeanne Hurley Simon, who would be here herself but for the fact she is undergoing

treatment for cancer in her home in Illinois.

NCLIS

NCLIS is an independent agency created by a far-sighted Congress in 1970 when it passed PL 91-

345. The Commission is comprised of Presidential appointees who meet four or five times a year

for the specific purpose of developing advice for the President and the Congress on matters

pertaining to library and information needs of the nation. Therefore, it is appropriate for us to

provide testimony, and offer further assistance if the Congress wishes, on the NTIS proposal, a

matter that we believe is of critical importance to the information needs of the people of the

United States.

REFORMS NEEDED IN PUBLIC INFORMATION DISSEMINATION

The entire question of government information dissemination needs a thoroughgoing discussion.

On September 23, 1999, we wrote to the Chair of this Subcommittee that the Department of

Commerce's proposal to close NTIS provides a very timely opportunity to consider ways to

strengthen the overall policy, as well as the organizational and legal machinery for delivery of

Federal information to the public. Greater understanding of the entire question of government

information must precede discussion on the future of NTIS. The Commission is very concerned

that the short-term measures that must be taken to transfer authorities, functions, and resources of

NTIS by the end of Fiscal Year 2000 not cause the Congress to defer the more substantive

considerations relating to the need for basic reforms in government information dissemination.

NCLIS has been heavily involved since its establishment nearly thirty years ago in examining

Federal information dissemination policies, programs and projects. Included in the material we

recently sent to this subcommittee was a copy of the final report of our most recent study

"Assessment of Electronic Government Information Products." This study is an in-depth

investigation, undertaken by a contractor (Westat, Inc.) under our supervision, of the plans and

practices of Federal agencies to migrate ink-on-paper and microform Government information

products to electronic formats and mediums.

We worked directly with the Government Printing Office (GPO) on this two-year study

completed on March 30, 1999. The study is a direct outgrowth of Congressional concerns over

the impact of electronic publishing on the ability of citizens to obtain access to Government

information, particularly through the Federal Depository Library Program.

The heart of the study was a nine-month survey, which enjoyed the active support and

participation of all three branches of government. Twenty-four different Federal entities

participated, including the Supreme Court, several committees of the Congress, one regulatory

commission, and 19 executive branch agencies (including most of the cabinet departments). In

addition to this broad and diverse participation, an impressive 74% of the survey forms (242 out

of 328 sent to the agencies) were returned completed, which is a highly unusual rate of return for

what was a very complex questionnaire with over 100 questions.

Among the key findings of the survey was the observation that there is an overall lack of

government information policy to guide electronic publishing and dissemination, permanent

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

public access to Federal information holdings, and other information policies as they relate to

agency missions. Also, there is a lack of overall coordination of these initiatives at the

governmental, branch, and even at the agency level. The study found that responsibility for

electronic publishing within agencies is decentralized, diffuse and unclear. Some agencies either

could not identify or had difficulty identifying the individual within their own agency who was

responsible for a specific electronic product.

CORRELATION OF NCLIS STUDY TO NTIS CLOSURE

It is fair to ask, "What do the findings of the aforementioned NCLIS study have to do with the

planned closure of NTIS?" We believe there are at least four connections.

First, the public good represented by the NTIS collections - which are owned by the people of the

United States -- must remain accessible to them irrespective of where those collections are

organizationally housed within the Federal structure. The Department of Commerce has made it

very clear that it does not believe it should continue to house and manage these kinds of data and

document holdings, even if a way could be found to make the program break even. The question

is, "Where is the appropriate location - is it the Library of Congress, the Government Printing

Office, some combination of the two, or another as yet unidentified organization?"

Second, the nation's 1350 federal depository libraries, which, under law, are supposed to be the

"first line of defense" in providing government information to citizens, are "not in the loop."

These institutions need to be assured that agency information is systematically, routinely, and

regularly identified, cataloged and made available to them quickly after it is published, and that

information is not discontinued from an agency web site without warning.

Senators John Warner and Wendell Ford of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration,

during the 105th Congress, wrote in their letter directing the NCLIS study on electronic

information products, "the Federal Depository Library Program served, and continues to serve the

American public by insuring localized access to federal government information. The mission

continues to be as important today to the fundamental success of our democracy as it was when

that program was first created. The program's original mandate, to assist Americans regardless of

economic, educational, or geographic considerations, is one that must not be lost as we

strategically and thoughtfully use the tools of the electronic age to enhance that mandate."

The NTIS closure will certainly exacerbate the problems being faced by users of the federal

depository libraries, as well as users of public and private libraries across the country who are

already worrying, waiting to find out who the new Federal provider(s) of scientific, technical, and

engineering information will be.

Third, Federal agency chief information officers (CIOs) do not regard public information

dissemination as a high priority. They are, understandably, far more consumed in the day-to-day

challenges of dealing with the Y2K problem, and replacing rapidly obsolescing information

handling hardware and software with state-of-the-art versions. They are coping with the very

difficult challenge of trying to ensure that their information technology expenditures are paying

off in terms of their primary agency missions -- an area for which they are regularly reviewed by

their own inspectors general, the White House, the Congress, and the General Accounting Office.

Even though the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) strongly supported the NCLIS study,

it is not surprising that front line information managers give a lower priority to information

dissemination and long-term availability.

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

Last but by no means least, federal information management policies are a patchwork quilt of

disconnected concerns that have not been harmonized into a unified Federal information policy

fabric. Here we are talking about matters of privacy, copyright, security, authentication,

encryption, permanent public access, permanent records retention, the use of metadata tools such

as the Government Information Locator System (GILS), and many other areas. NCLIS found in

its survey that agency personnel were unaware of many of the policies; they were bewildered and

confused on how, if at all, the concepts and requirements they do know about fit together in an

overall information life cycle context as required by the Paperwork Reduction Reauthorization

Act of 1995 and other legislation. In short, while there are individual Federal agency CIOs in

each agency, there is no CIO of CIOs at the Executive Office of the President level who is

charged with overall Federal information policy and program planning, coordination,

management, and control.

WHAT DOES NCLIS PROPOSE?

We believe that the matter of transferring the NTIS holdings out of the Department of Commerce

should not be addressed by the Congress and the President in an ad hoc manner, disembodied

from the overarching consideration of strengthening overall Federal information management

policy in the areas of public information dissemination and electronic publishing. We applaud the

gigantic strides being made by the Government in migrating ink-on-paper and microform

holdings to electronic formats and mediums, especially to agency web sites, but we are very

concerned that in the absence of strong leadership and guidance, there is a real risk that public

information dissemination will continue to fragment. Its cost-effectiveness and efficiency will

erode along with that fragmentation and compartmentalization. The public is now confronted

with a daunting array of Federal information indexes, indexing systems, gateways, cataloging

schemes, software protocols, hardware platforms, and URL addresses that defy understanding

except by the most sophisticated computer and information literate experts. The ordinary citizens,

including even some librarians on the firing line, don't have a chance!

NCLIS proposes to be given an opportunity to make a three to six month assessment of overall

Federal information dissemination policies, programs, authorities, responsibilities, functions, and

other considerations, and how the proposed NTIS closing fits into this framework. We would then

make a series of specific recommendations to the President and the Congress on how to simplify,

streamline and harmonize this critically important area as we move further into the Internet era.

Such an assessment could be done in a time frame that would still permit the Department of

Commerce to meet its timetable with respect to the transfer of NTIS.

Thank you Mr. Chairman for affording our Commission this opportunity to share our views, and

we would welcome the opportunity to discuss our findings and recommendations in more detail

with you at your convenience.

Responses to Post Hearing Ouestions for the Record, November 8, 1999

RESPONSES TO POST HEARING QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD

SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SPACE HEARINGS ON

THE NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE

OCTOBER 21, 1999

SUBMITTED BY SENATOR BILL FRIST

TO THE HONORABLE JOAN R. CHALLINOR, COMMISSIONER,

UNITED STATES NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

INFORMATION SCIENCE

Question 1: In working to produce the report on "Assessment of Electronic Government

Information Products," did your participants include both librarians and technologists at the

different federal entities?

Response: Yes, survey respondents, other survey interviewees, and the special advisory group

established by the Commission to help plan the study included a wide variety of different federal

agency personnel and offices, including: librarians; records and archival officers; information

system and technology staffs; public affairs officials; web and media specialists; management

analysts; technical information personnel; chief information officers; publishing and printing

officials; program managers; and others. Several library and information science professors and

former high-level government information policy experts served on the study's advisory group

and were also interviewed in-depth. All three branches of Government were involved, and

representatives of the Federal Depository Library Program, a key constituency group of the study,

participated in the study's design and periodically reviewed progress and offered advice, as did

various federal interagency and public interest groups. In short, the survey consciously solicited a

wide variety of viewpoints and perspectives, and therefore its conclusions and findings, to the

best of our knowledge, are not unduly biased or weighted in favor of any particular "vested

interests." Indeed, sometimes a difference of opinion was expressed in response to the same

interview question depending on the respondent's particular perspective of the issues and

problems.

Question 2: Do you agree that the resolution to NTIS should be a part of a larger initiative to

address overall policy on the electronic publication and dissemination of government

information? Do you have any suggestions or recommendations for such a policy?

Response: Yes, NCLIS strongly believes that the "resolution of NTIS" challenge should not be

dealt with in a disconnected, piecemeal fashion. Rather, the matter should be part of a broader

investigation that "lays out the record" in a public manner after carefully considering:

1. the viewpoints and stakes of the many players involved - - the Congress, the President

and OMB, agency chief information officers, major federal information dissemination

agencies such as the Government Printing Office and the Library of Congress, agency

program divisions, agency functional offices such as publishing and webmaster offices,

citizens, businesses, state and local levels of government, interagency committees, public

information users groups, consumer interest groups, the media, historians, scientists and

scientific and technical information officials, federal depository librarians, and others;

2. federal public information dissemination and electronic publishing laws, rules,

regulations, policies, programs, and practices;

3. a selected sample of interagency and agency level implementing procedures (e.g. agency

web guidelines and traditional as well as electronic publishing procedures);

4. existing organizational missions and authorities of the various federal entities with

public information dissemination and electronic publishing responsibilities;

5. changing citizen needs for, and ways of identifying, obtaining, and using government

information in the Information Age (both traditional ink-on-paper and electronic); and

6. other factors.

In its above-mentioned study report, NCLIS documented at the top, middle and lower agency

levels both (1) a lack of awareness and understanding of many of the current laws that touch on

public information dissemination and electronic publishing, as well as (2) considerable confusion,

-23-
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

overlap, duplication, inconsistencies and gaps among and between the applicable federal laws,

authorities, policies, programs and so on. For example, surprisingly, there is no statutory

provision that defines permanent public access, and yet that information management concept is

crucial to the orderly migration of traditional (pre-electronic) information products to the web,

minimizing federal information losses due to fugitive materials, and guaranteeing the preservation

of the federal record for historical, archival, socio-cultural and other reasons.

NCLIS does have some preliminary ideas as to how this fragmentation of guidance and

responsibility at the government-wide, branch and agency levels can be significantly reduced.

The Commission also has some views as to how the many dispersed and compartmentalized

dissemination and publishing authorities could be consolidated, simplified and streamlined.

However, the Commission believes the appropriate course of action is to undertake a 3-6 month

investigation as recommended in our prepared testimony to the Committee. Only after that

investigation considers the viewpoints of the many players involved would the pros and cons of

alternative scenarios and strategies be formulated for the Congress to consider.

The Commission also believes that while it has the statutory authority to initiate such an

investigation, it would be very helpful if a mandate were given to us by Congress (just as it was

by the Joint Committee on Printing in the case of the just-completed study) in order to maximize

the prospects for soliciting greater agency cooperation, attracting keener public interest and

support, and securing more focused media and public interest group attention.

Question 3: Regardless of the resolution for which agency has the mandate to publish

government scientific literature, do any of you have recommendations for dealing with the issue

that agencies are not submitting documents as required by law?

Response: NCLIS believes that what needs to be done first and foremost is to educate and train

agency officials in order to enlighten them as to the relevant statutes and regulations - -and

enforce current laws. For example, there is a provision in The Paperwork Reduction

Reauthorization Act of 1995, Section 3506(d) that says:

"with respect to information dissemination, each agency shall provide adequate

notice when initiating, substantially modifying, or terminating significant

information dissemination products"

Some agency officials were aware of this provision, but most were not, or were confused as to

how it related to other legislation. Beyond the Paperwork Reduction Reauthorization Act of

1995, which is a part of Chapter 35 of Title 44 of the USC, other provisions of Title 44, such as

those that pertain to the authorities and responsibilities of the Public Printer, the Government

Printing Office and the Federal Depository Library Program (in particular Chapters 2, 5, 17, 19),

and the National Archives and Records Administration and agency records programs (in

particular Chapters 21 and 31), and other legislation such as the Information Technology

Management Reform Act, and the American Technology Pre-eminence Act all have a bearing on

agency requirements for submitting agency documents and information to NTIS, NARA and the

FDLP.

But NCLIS found that neither federal nor agency level web guidelines, nor other information

dissemination guidance policies and procedures, adequately implement the provisions of these

many laws. As a consequence, government information products "appear and disappear"

oftentimes with very little, or even without any warning whatsoever, whether products are

intended for internal agency personnel or for external public audiences. Nor do federal

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

publishing guidelines and standards bring together in one place the many considerations relating

to alternative information formats, mediums, standards and dissemination practices.

In sum, the answer to this question also underscores the need for a sound, official government

definition for the concept of "permanent public access." That concept is closely related to, but is

distinguishable from a similar information retention requirement - - "permanent records

retention," which is embodied in Federal records legislation. Currently, agencies are floundering

in the absence of authoritative guidance and many agencies (if not most) assume that the two

concepts are synonymous. Consequently, agencies are interpreting information retention

requirements in a very confusing, inconsistent, and inadequate manner.

The investigation we are proposing would squarely address the critical need for uniform and

practical guidance in the area of information retention, and sorting out closely related concepts

including the two mentioned in the preceding paragraph plus two very important and closely related additional areas: authentication and preservation of information materials. There is also a

need for a consistent definition of just what is government information. NCLIS has already

drafted for review several "white papers" in these areas.

In the Foreword to the Office of Technology Assessment's report "Helping America Compete:

The Role of Federal Scientific and Technical Information,"(July 1990), the statement is made:

"Global change is a fact of contemporary life - - whether in the political,

economic, or technological spheres. U.S. leadership in all of these areas is being

challenged. We need to take actions that can help renew the U.S. competitive

edge in the worldwide marketplace of ideas, products, and services, and to

provide leadership on global issues such as the environment. A key area of U.S.

strength could and should be our scientific and technical information. The U.S.

Government is the largest single source of STI in the world - - ranging from

technical reports on aerospace propulsion and solar thermal electronic systems to

satellite data on oceanic and atmospheric trends to bibliographic indices on

medical and agricultural research. Ye the U.S. is not taking full advantage of

opportunities to use Federal STI as part of a strategy to renew the U.S.

competitive edge. STI is very important to scientists and engineers in a wide

range of research, development, and commercial activities. They spend a lot of

time on STI - - time that is valued, conservatively, at several billions of dollars

per year just for federally funded researchers. When used efficiently, Federal

STI pays off handsomely."

In summary, NCLIS believes the core issue at stake in the NTIS transfer is not the sorting out of

Federal agency organizational boxes or benefit: cost equations, although they certainly must be

addressed, but, rather, a carefully considered, fresh assessment of how to strengthen the value of

Government information as a strategic national social and economic resource to America and

individual Americans in the emerging Information Age.

The Commission would welcome an opportunity to meet with Committee members and/or staff

as early as practicable to discuss our proposal for undertaking a study which explicitly addresses

not only the specific questions raised by the Secretary of Commerce's proposed transfer of NTIS

authorities, functions, and collections, but the broader questions of how to strengthen

government-wide public information dissemination and electronic publishing policies,

organizational missions and authorities, and related matters as well. We will be contacting you

shortly for that purpose.

-25-
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

Letter from NCLIS Executive Director Robert S. Willard to Senator Bill Frist,

December 10, 1999

December 10, 1999

The Honorable Bill Frist

Chairman, Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space

Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

416 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510-4205

Dear Senator Frist,

Jeanne Hurley Simon, Chairperson of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and

Information Science (NCLIS) first offered the Commission's assistance to you in connection with

your deliberations relating to the shutdown and transfer of NTIS from the Department of

Commerce, in her August 16, 1999 letter (attached).

You then kindly reciprocated, and invited the Commission to testify at your October 21, 1999

hearing on NTIS. We furnished a prepared statement to the Subcommittee in advance, and

NCLIS Member Dr. Joan R. Challinor testified on the Commission's behalf. As you may recall

from her opening statement, Dr. Joan Challinor is the wife of Dr. David Challinor, who for quite

some time before his retirement was the Assistant Secretary for Science at the Smithsonian

Institution. That period included the time when the old Smithsonian Science Information

Exchange (SSIE) went to the new NTIS. Both David and Joan are therefore quite familiar with

the scientific and technical information resources challenges of the Nation.

In our response to your post hearing questions for the record, we reiterated our offer to assist you,

and I'm pleased that on December 8, 1999, Floyd Deschamps invited Judy Russell, NCLIS

Deputy Executive Director, and NCLIS consultant Dr. Forest Woody Horton, Jr., to a meeting in

the Subcommittee's offices in the Hart building. Ms. Russell and Dr. Horton tell me that they

believe the meeting was very productive and there was a free exchange of views.

Our understanding is that you wish to have a firm proposal ready to make to the Subcommittee,

the full Committee, and the Senate as soon as practicable after the Second Session begins.

However, as Ms. Russell and Dr. Horton pointed out to Mr. Deschamps, having only the month

of January 2000 to complete a meaningful investigation and prepare a complete report to you on

options available, much less a preferred course of action, does not provide very much time.

Alternatively, we suggested to Mr. Deschamps that you consider a two-pronged approach. First,

the Congress should indicate that it wishes for the Department of Commerce to keep NTIS

temporarily housed in that agency, fully operating, through September 30, 2001. This reasonable

delay will give Congress and the President enough time to consider alternative courses that the

Government might pursue, and come up with a preferred approach taking into account the

consequences the closure of NTIS and transfer of its programs and services would have on the

public.

As you know, NCLIS has already offered to undertake such a study. Therefore, the second part of

the approach we suggest is that you request us to conduct such an investigative study, within the

3-6 month timeframe initially proposed.

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

Since we understand NTIS operated "in the black" for FY 1999, it seems to us that such a twopronged strategy is defensible under the circumstances. After all, it is reasonable for the Congress

to recommend that the President and Secretary Daley allow this two year "breather period" to

give all the interested parties adequate time to take stock of the situation. At the same time, NTIS

should continue on course to take prudent management steps to remain in the black for FY 2000

and 2001.

Meanwhile, NCLIS intends to be as proactive as possible. To that end we are convening a

meeting of experts here in Washington, D.C. in January 2000, bringing together both the public

and private sector stakeholders whose views on the public record are necessary for a thorough

and systematic investigation of the alternatives. Certainly we will invite you and/or

Subcommittee staffers (e.g. Mr. Deschamps) to that meeting, as well as the appropriate House

committee people.

Thank you again for the opportunity to assist you and the Subcommittee in seeking a satisfactory

resolution to the very complex and difficult public information resources management challenges

the NTIS shutdown and transfer poses. We hope you will see your way clear to ask us to proceed

along the lines we've suggested here.

Sincerely yours,

Robert S. Willard

Executive Director

CC: Chairperson Jeanne H. Simon

ATTACHMENT 4: CHRONOLOGY/BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DOCUMENTS AND

EVENTS RELATIVE TO NTIS, JANUARY 26, 2000

[NOTE: Although the format may be different, the content of this document is as submitted or

published.]

Chronoloxy/Bibliography of Documents and Events Relative To NTIS' Position in

the Department of Commerce

CHRONOLOGY/BIBLIOGRAPHY OF EVENTS RELATIVE TO NTIS'

POSITION IN COMMERCE

Prepared by Sarah T. Kadec

January 26, 2000

"* no effort was made to be comprehensive.

"* selections were made to show the variety of options presented over time.

1945 Executive Orders 9568 and 9604 Providing for the Release of Scientific Information. 10

FR 6917 and 10 FR 10960.

Created Publications Board (PB) and authorized it to disseminate domestic and foreign

World War II technical reports to industry.

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

1946 E.O. 9809 Providing for the disposition of certain war agencies.

Merged the PB into a new unit, the Office of Technical Services (OTS), located in the

Department of Commerce.

1950 Technological, Scientific, and Engineering Information Act; to provide for the

dissemination of technological, scientific and engineering information to American

business and industry and for other purposes. 81 st Congress. Public Law 81-776.

Directs the Secretary of Commerce "to establish and maintain a clearinghouse for the

collection and dissemination of scientific, technical and engineering information."

1954 Department of Commerce Order 157. 19 FR 8045.

Developed and implemented policy governing dissemination of unclassified scientific,

technical and economic information through OTS.

1958 Improving the availability of scientific and technical information in the United States.

Washington, DC, President's Science Advisory Committee, December 7, 1958. (Baker

report)

Recommended against creation of a centralized government information center; for

creation of a Science information Service within NSF.

1962 Task Force to the President's Special Assistant for Science & Technology. Scientific

and technological communication in the government, - task force report.

Washington, DC, OTS, April 1962. AD 299545. (Crawford Report)

Translations recognized as a form of special information product; agreement between

OTS and the John Crerar Library.

Required DOC to process information from domestic and foreign sources and make it

available to state and local governments and other Federal agencies, as well as American

industry, business and the public. (Some conflict of interpretation and understanding

with responsibilities assigned to NSF in Title IX, NDEA 1958 arose).

"It is the policy of this Act, to the fullest extent feasible and consistent with the

objectives of this Act, that each of the services and functions provided herein shall be

self-sustaining or self-liquidating and that the general public shall not bear the cost of

publications and other services which are for the special use and benefit of private

groups and individuals; ..... "

These provisions of the Act have apparently influenced the limitation of funds allocated

to OTS. The resources provided to OTS over the years could not support an effective

clearinghouse effort of the type intended by the Congress.

Recommendations to establish within the Executive Branch a Government-wide

clearinghouse capability for documents reporting the results of R&D work; retrospective

search and retrieval services of Federally supported, organized collections of scientific

and technological information and for coordinated access to Federally supported

specialized information centers and services. (Also currently and planned R&D and

formal sci-tech meetings supported by the Federal Government).

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

Transfer of Technical Information Division, OTS, resources and responsibilities to the

recommended clearinghouse.

OTS's "STINFO mission is quantitatively a minor portion of the over-all activities of

the Department of Commerce and has never received emphasis from high administrative

levels in that organization." "Past experience has shown that serious problems of

interagency cooperation arise when an agency with operating responsibilities is given

Government-wide jurisdiction in that same area."

1963 President's Science Advisory Committee. Science, Government and Information; he

responsibilities of the technical community and the government in the transfer of

information. Washington, DC, The White House, January 10, 1963. (Weinberg Report).

Not in favor of proposed Department of Science or single organization for Government's

total information system.

"A communication system controlled by the people it serves may in some respects be

less efficient than a monolithic government system; it has, however, the overriding merit

of being sensitive to the needs of its customers. It was as much as anything to preserve

this essential quality of the present rather haphazard information system that the Baker

Panel recommended against establishing an all encompassing, Government-operated

information system in which control, however well meaning and beneficent its intent, is

removed from the practitioners."

"We believe that OTS should be given enough support so that it can announce promptly

and supply inexpensively a copy of any declassified Government technical report to any

customer -- in short, that it should become a complete Government technical reports

sales agency."

1965 Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information (CFSTI) created in

NBS. 30 FR 1207.

Replaced OTS in Department of Commerce; began to issue consolidated index of

Federal scientific and technical reports.

1965 Dr. Mortimer Taube, Documentation, Inc., proposed CFSTI as an independent

organization.

1970 Department of Commerce Order 30-7A. 34 FR 14475.

CFSTI renamed NTIS and empowered to act as major Federal clearinghouse for STI and

business and statistical information; designed to be largely self-supporting.

1970 Assistant Secretary for Science and Technology in the Department of Commerce

recommends NTIS become a corporation.

1975 U. S. Congress. House Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on

Domestic and International Scientific Planning and Analysis, Intergovernmental

dissemination of Federal research and development results, Oversight hearings, 94th

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

Congress, 1 st Session. Washington, DC, U.S. Government Printing Office, November

1975, Report no, 94-48.

STI discussed generally in terms of needs of state/local governments, especially re

NTIS; Federal technology transfer programs also described.

1975 U. S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Technology. National Science and

Technology Policy and Organization Act of 1975. Report together with additional

views, 94th Congress, 1 st Session, Washington, DC, Government Printing Office,

October 29, 1975. Report no. 94-595, to accompany H. R. 10230.

--- The National Science Policy and Organization Act of 1975, Hearings, 94th Congress,

1st Session. Washington, DC, June 1975 (on H, R. 4461 and H. R. 7630), Committee

Print no. 15.

--- A proposed National Science Policy and Organization Act of 1975. 94th Congress,

1st Session, Washington, DC, 1975. Committee Print, Serial C.

--- A Bill - National Science Policy and Organization Act of 1975. HR 4461, 94th

Congress, 1st Session, March 6, 1975. (Resulted in P.L. 94-282 in 1976)

Create a new Science and Technology Information and Utilization Corporation, merging

NTIS, SSIE and NSF/DSI into it. Rationale: (1) STI is one of the nation's leading

commodities and therefore could be handled by a corporate structure and (2) it may be

desirable to make Federal STI dissemination efforts completely or partially selfsustaining.

Contains a chronology of Federal Executive Branch science organization from 1787-

1975 and a list of selected references regarding Federal science policy and organization

from 1951-1975.

1976 National Science & Technology Policy, Organization and Priorities Act of 1976. P. L.

94-262.

1970 Assistant Secretary for Science and Technology in the Department of Commerce

recommends NTIS become a corporation.

1975 U. S. Congress. House Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on

Domestic and International Scientific Planning and Analysis. Intergovernmental

dissemination of Federal research and development results, Oversight hearings,

94th Congress, 1st Session. Washington, DO, U. S. Government Printing Office,

November 1975, Report no. 94-48.

STI discussed generally in terms of needs of state/local governments, especially re

NTIS; Federal technology transfer programs also described.

1975 U S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Technology. National Science and

Technology Policy and Organization Act of 1975. Report together with additional views,

94th Congress, 1st Session, Washington, DO, Government Printing Office, October 29,

1975. Report no. 94-595, to accompany H R. 10230.

-- The National Science Policy and Organization Act of 1975, Hearings, 94th Congress,

1st Session. Washington, DC, June 1975 (on H, R. 4461 and H. R. 7630), Committee

Print no, 15.

-- A proposed National Science Policy and Organization Act of 1975. 94th

Congress, 1st Session, Washington, DC, 1975. Committee Print, Serial C.

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

-- A Bill - National Science Policy and Organization Act of 1975. HR 4461, 94th

Congress, 1st Session, March 6, 1975. (Resulted in P.L. 94-282 in 1976)

Create a new Science and Technology Information and Utilization Corporation, merging

NTIS, SSIE and NSFIDSI into it. Rationale: (1) STI is one of the nation's leading

commodities and therefore could be handled by a corporate structure and (2) it may be

desirable to make Federal STI dissemination efforts completely or partially selfsustaining.

Contains a chronology of Federal Executive Branch science organization from 1787-

1975 and a list of selected references regarding Federal science policy and organization

from 1951-1975.

1976 National Science & Technology Policy, Organization and Priorities Act of 1976. P. L.

94-262.

See notes above relating to bill, Committee prints and report.

1976 Whalen, Bruce G. and Joyce, Charles C., Jr., Scientific and technical information:

options for national action, prepared for the National Science Foundation, Division

of Science Information by Mitre Corporation, Metrek Division. Washington, DC,

U. S. Government Printing Office, November 1976.

"...SSIE and NTIS represent the only Federal mechanisms whose mandates cut across all

missions and disciplines; ... the only centralized sources of STI which deal with

dissemination of all Federally sponsored research and development results."

1980 Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980. P. L. 96-480, 94 Stat. 2311.

Directed the Department of Commerce to create the Center for the Utilization of Federal

Technology (CUFT).

1980 Commerce Technical Advisory Board's (CTAB) working group on STI Policies

examines the role of NTIS and possible alternatives to present operations.

1981 Functions of the Smithsonian Science Information Exchange (SSIE) transferred to NTIS.

SSIE superseded by Federal Research in Program (FEDRIP); available online through

DIALOG.

1981 Assistant Secretary for Communications in Department of Commerce asks the

Information Industry Association (IIA) to consider whether the private sector could offer

NTIS products. Task Force recommends contracting out entire operation.

1984 President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control: Report to the President by Chairman

J. Peter Grace. (the Grace Commission). P13 84-161 587.

Specifically recommended that NTIS not be privatized, citing the need for an expanded

NTIS role in R&D coordination.

1984 Based on IIA recommendations, NTIS is zeroed out of FY 1984 budget; Commerce

reviews task force report, appeals to OMB for restoration; OMB approves restoration.

-31-
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

1984 NTIS issues Federal Register notice seeking vendors to distribute technical reports; no

responses.

1985 Assistant General Counsel for Administration in Department of Commerce issues

opinion that NTIS has legal authority to price its products higher than cost, provided

they are reasonable.

1985 OMB asks Commerce to convene an industry/government working group on privatizing

NTIS.

1986 Japanese Technical Literature Act of 1986. P.L. 99-382, 100 Stat. 811.

Amended the Stevenson-Wydler Innovation Act of 1960; authorized NTIS and other

offices within the Department of Commerce to acquire and translate selected Japanese

technical reports and documents of value to Federal agencies and U. S. industry.

1986 NTIS holds meeting on privatization.

1987 OMB directs privatization of NTIS in FY 1988 passback. H. R. 2160 amends NTIS

reauthorization to prohibit privatization pending further study.

1987 Vlannes, N. P. et al. National Technology Center: A national public service report.

PB 87-174 728.

Proposed a National Technology Center as a new "national library" and as a focal point

for public access to Federal STI; would incorporate NTIS.

1987 U. S. Congress. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology;

Subcommittee on Science Research and Technology. Hearing on the privatization

of the National Technical Information Service, Washington, DC, U. S. Government

Printing Office, 1987. Y4.Sci 2:100/5.

First hearing on NTIS privatization; testimony on the benefits and dangers of turning it

over to the private sector.

1987 U. S. Congress, House Committee on Science, Space and Technology,

Subcommittee on Science Research and Technology. Scientific and technical

information: policy and organization in the Federal Government (H.R. 2159 and

H.R. 1615); house hearings. Washington, DC, U S. Government Printing Office,

1987. Y4. Sci 2:100/36.

Discussed policy options for governing the collection and dissemination of STI,

including establishing a National Technical Information Corporation as a wholly

owned government corporation under the Secretary of Commerce, and a Government

Information Agency to collect and distribute results of Federal R&D.

1988 On January 6, a notice was issued in the Commerce Business Daily to announce a

planned January 29 conference with potential bidders on a contract for performance

of NTIS services.

1988 On January 29, a pre-bidders conference was held at the Department of Commerce.

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

1988 Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (See Title V, Technology

Competitiveness Act). P.L. 100-418, 102 Stat. 1107.

Prohibited NTIS privatization and required the Secretary of Commerce to report

recommendations to Congress regarding NTIS modernization.

1988 U.S., Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. Informing the Nation: Federal

dissemination in an electronic age. Washington. DC, U.S. Government Printing

Office, October 1988. OTA-CIT-396.

Addresses proposals to (1) retain NTIS in DOC; (2) as a government corporation, (3)

consolidate with SuDocs, either within GPO or part of a new Government Information

Office; (4) consolidate with LC.

1988 National Technical Information Act (NTIA) of 1988. P. L. 100-519 102 Stat, 2589.

Creates new Technology Administration with NTIS (called the National Technical

Information Center (NTIC) as a government corporation) as an integral part, ending the

privatization controversy by ensuring NTIS to be a governmental function. Contained

language stating that the Congress "remains unalterably opposed to contracting out

NTIS or major functions or activities of the agency."

Specific responsibilities assigned to NTIS by NTIA;

Establish and maintain a permanent repository of non-classified scientific, technical and

engineering information; cooperate and coordinate its operations with other Government

scientific, technical and engineering information programs; enter into contracts,

cooperative agreements, joint ventures and other transactions with outside firms, in

accordance with all relevant provisions of Federal law; levy reasonable fees to operate

on a self sustaining basis and, for the first time, to utilize net revenues for the acquisition

of capital equipment; make its bibliographic information products (including, but not

limited to, catalogs, indices, abstracts, and newsletters) available in a timely manner to

depository libraries as a part of the Depository Library Program of the Government

Printing Office; upon request and as appropriate, provide technical assistance and

services to Federal agencies, consistent with the policy of the NTIA that all services and

functions be self-sustaining or self-liquidating to the fullest extent feasible; in

conjunction with the private sector as appropriate, to collect, translate into English, and

disseminate unclassified foreign scientific, technical, and engineering information;

implement new methods or media for the dissemination of scientific, technical and

engineering information.

1988 Wood, Fred (OTS). Informing the Nation: Federal information dissemination in an

electronic age. Washington, DC, Congressional Joint Committee on Printing (JCP).

OTA-CIT-396, Y3. T22/2:2 In 3/9, PB 89-114 243.

Outlined strategies for GPO, Depository Library Program (DLP), and NTIS.

1988 Privatization: toward more effective government, report of the President's

Commission on Privatization. Pr 40.8 P 92/P 29. (the Linowes Commission).

Privatization of NTIS was not recommended'

-33-
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

1990 Stewart, Robert Keith. Access and efficiency in Reagan-Era information policy: A

case study of the attempt to privatize the National Technical Information Service.

(doctoral dissertation). University of Washington. 91-04302.

Concluded that by the mid-1980s there was an apparent shift in the direction of Federal

information resource management policy away from access toward the idea of

efficiency.

1991 American Technology Preeminence Act (ATPA) of 1991.

Operating costs associated with the acquisition, processing, storage, bibliographic

control, and archiving of information and documents would be recovered primarily

through the collection offees (specifically no longer called "appropriations"'.

The head of each Federal executive department or agency was required to transfer in

a timely manner andprescribedformat to NTIS unclassified scientific, technical, and

engineering information that results from Federally funded R&D activities. The

Secretary of Commerce was directed to issue regulations within one year outlining

procedures for the ongoing transfer of such information to NTIS.

Required a report that would include a revised detailed modernization plan, a business

plan, and certification that NTIS had employed a CFO and begun taking reasonable

steps towards strengthening its accounting system.

Clarified NTIS' joint venture authority granted under NTIA.

Required the Secretary of Commerce to perform a feasibility study of establishing and

operating a Federal Online Information Product Catalog (FEDLINE) at NTIS that would

serve as a comprehensive inventory and authoritative register of information products

and services disseminated by the Federal government and assist Agencies and the public

in locating Federal Government information.

Amended the NTIA to allow NTIS to produce and disseminate information products

electronically.

1993 House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Subcommittee on

Technology, Environment, and Aviation. The National Competitiveness Act of

1993, Hearings. Washington, DC., U. S. Government Printing Office, 1993. H. R.

820, Y4.SCI 2:103/13.

Includes "The National Technical Information Service Business Plan", July 1992. The

plan includes a discussion of consensus viewpoints derived from numerous studies in

the 1980's. "Privatization was ruled out by Congress ...... [as] inappropriate from a

public policy prospective [and] would be counter productive from an operational

standpoint. The information and data sets.... are taxpayer assets and should be subject to

policy determinations of the Federal Government. A single private firm would find it

difficult if not unmanageable to maintain ongoing acquisition relationships with the

various Government information source agencies". NTIS commits to incorporate further

study of organizational changes into its long-term planning, "in recognition of the

importance of continuing the cross-Government consensus to preserve NTIS' dual

character -- that of a public Agency and that of a self-supporting enterprise".

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

1995 House Committee on Science. Restructuring the Federal scientific establishment;

dismantling of the Department of Commerce, Hearing. 104th Congress, 1st session.

Washington, DC, U, S. Government Printing Office, September 12, 1995.

Congressman Walker (PA.) proposed to move Commerce Science and Technology

programs into a new Department of Science or, failing that, to transfer some of those

functions to the Department of Energy.

Secretary Brown: NTIS as a self-supporting Federal agency is not an appropriate

target for privatization as has been proposed. As part of our reinvention efforts will

seek to provide NTIS with increased flexibility to use commercial business practices,

be granted waivers, and be accountable for agreed-upon performance gains.

Congressman Sheila Jackson Lee: Several attempts have been made to privatize

NTIS; it has been well documented that no commercial entity could be found to

assume its responsibilities. Principal of government is that it should be held

responsible for how the taxpayers' money is spent. Allowing a private entity to then

resell this information to the same public that paid for it seems to me to be unfair and

unacceptable.

Question of who would control the archives if it were owned by a foreign government;

would that government control people's access to that information.

Jean G, Mayhew, Chairman, NTIS Advisory Board. The NTIS Advisory Board

advocates the reorganization of NTIS as a government corporation with government

retaining full policy control to assure that public good functions are maintained.

Government corporation status provides NTIS the necessary flexibility to operate as a

small business rather than a bureaucracy.

Disadvantages of NTIS being sold to the private sector: collection lacks copyright

protection; it could be legally reproduced by a competitor; once in the hands of the

private sector, there is no guarantee that the documents would be managed in the best

interests of the Nation; if the collection fell into the hands of a foreign company, it

would decide which documents would remain available to the public, how much we

would have to pay, or whether they could be destroyed. By privatizing NTIS, its mission

and collection of information is no longer in the public interest; its access to federal

agencies is limited, and it loses its status in dealing with other governments to obtain

information for dissemination within the United States.

Congressman Brown, Jr.: In 1988, when the Committee on Science rejected the idea of

privatizing the National Technical Information Service, Sherry Boehlert said "NTIS - or

really its users -- have been sentenced to privatization, despite the verdict of numerous

studies, each determining that the agency should remain within the government."

-35-
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

ATTACHMENT 5: SUMMARY OF THE PUBLIC STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS

[NOTE: Although the format may be different, the content of these documents is as submitted or

published.]

Summary of Three NCLIS-Sponsored Public Stakeholder Meetings

SUMMARY OF THREE NCLIS-SPONSORED PUBLIC STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS

NTIS CLOSURE AND TRANSFER MATTER

The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science held three public meetings

to address the announcement made by Secretary Daley of the Department of Commerce in

August 1999, to close the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), and transfer its

collections and bibliographic database to the Library of Congress.

The first meeting was held at the Benton Foundation in Washington, D.C. on January 19, 2000,

and was based on invitations extended to a limited number of pre-identified stakeholders whom

the Commission believed would represent a broad cross-section of groups which had a stake or an

interest in the Commerce proposal.

The second meeting was held in the Rayburn House Office Building on February 4, 2000, and the

public at large was invited.

The third and final meeting was held in the Russell Senate Office Building on February 29, 2000,

and, once again, the public at large was invited. A Federal Register notice was published on

February 14, 2000, invited the public to attend and explaining the background and purpose of the

meeting.

Participants in all three meetings, and their affiliated organizations, are listed in an attachment.

The Commission indicated in all three meetings that it was fulfilling its statutory mandate and

charter to both the President and the Congress by trying to play an "honest broker" role in

bringing the various stakeholder groups together so that they could interact and exchange facts

and opinions in a free and open environment without the burden of necessarily officially

representing their respective parent organizations. Unofficial, informal transcripts of the

meetings were sent for review and correction to each participant that spoke and remarks were

then published for internal participant review. An official, formal transcript of the meetings was

not made.

On February 17, 2000 at its regular meeting in Los Angeles, the National Commission approved

for public review and comment an "Emerging Consensus Position Paper" that embodied the key

findings, conclusions, and recommendations which the Commission believed were, at that point

in time, emerging and enjoyed at least a working consensus of support among the participants. It

was pointed out that no pretense to complete unanimity was being made.

The aforementioned position paper was posted to the NCLIS web site and comments were

requested by March 10, 2000, and attention to the document was invited by means of an NCLIS

press release, notice on bulletin boards and listservs, e-mail messages, letters to associations and

societies inviting them to publicize the NCLIS document, and by other means. Comments were

received from dozens of individuals and groups, and many of those were published on the web

site. A list of documents posted to the NCLIS web site is also attached.

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

At the third and final public meeting held on February 29t, the announcement was made that the

position paper would be transformed into a final report to the President and the Congress, and

participants asked to be given one final opportunity to review and critique the NCLIS final report.

On March 13, 2000, the Commission published a draft of its final report entitled "Preliminary

Assessment of the Department of Commerce Proposal to Close the National Technical

Information Service and Transfer its Collections and Functions to the Library of Congress."

Reviewers were advised that their comments would have to be received by the Commission by

cob Wednesday, March 15, 2000, in order to be considered.

Final comments were received and taken into account in the preparation of the final report, which

was published on March 16, 2000.

Attachments

1. Complete List of Public Meeting Participants

2. List of NCLIS Web Site Documents Published

Complete List of Public Meeting Participants

COMPLETE LIST OF PUBLIC MEETING PARTICIPANTS

Prudence Adler Association of Research Libraries+

Nancy Allard National Archives and Records Administration*+

Kenneth Allen National Newspaper Association*+

Mary Alice Baish American Association of Law Libraries+

Ernest Baldwin Government Printing Office

Lewis Bellardo Deputy Archivist of the United States, NARA*

Michael Bracy Bracy Associates (representing Chief Operating Officers of State Library

Agencies, COSLA)

Lynne Bradley American Library Association+

Jennifer Bramlett Science Applications Information Corporation

Melanie Brown Joint Committee on Printing/Joint Committee on the Library

Francis Buckley Superintendent of Documents+

Bonnie Carroll Consultant, Executive Director, CENDI+

Joan Challinor NCLIS+

Louisa Day President, Local 1627, National Federation of Federal Employees*+

Melvin Day Former Director of NTIS, Retired*+

Paul A. De Giusti The McGraw-Hill Company

Blane Dessy Department of Education (representing the Federal Library and

Information Center Committee, FLICC)+

Miriam Drake Georgia Institute of Technology

Dan Duncan Policy Consultant

Jennifer Edelman George Mason University+

Terri Fish House Committee on Science

Robert Gellman Gellman Associates

Kennie Gill Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

Martha Gould NCLIS+

Jeff Greene House Committee on Science

Don Hagen Bernan Associates

Woody Horton NCLIS Consultant*+

Richard Huffine Environmental Protection Agency+

-37-
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

Michael Jarvis General Accounting Office+

Sarah Kadec NCLIS Consultant*+

Barbie Keiser College of Insurance

Wayne Kelley Former Superintendent of Documents, Retired

Sarah Kadec Consultant, NCLIS*

Nancy King Johns Hopkins University Applied Research Lab

Lenoard Kruger Congressional Research Service

John Latham Special Libraries Association

Mary Beth Lawler Government Printing Office+

David LeDuc Software and Information Industry Association*+

Laura Madden Bracy Associates (representing Chief Operating Officers of State Library

Agencies, COSLA)

William Magee The Catholic University of America

George Marling Mitre Corporation

Eric Massant Reed Elsevier, Inc.

Gary McCone National Agriculture Library

Patrice McDermott OMB Watch*

Stephen Miller House Committee on House Administration

Kurt Molholm Director, Defense Technical Information Center*+

Peyton Neal PRN Associates*+

Steve Needle NTIS*+

Miriam Nisbet American Library Association

Jonathan Orszag Department of Commerce*

Michal Quear House Committee on Science

Franklin Reeder The Reeder Group

Judith Russell NCLIS*+

Pamela Russell Library of Congress*

Vicki Severietti The Catholic University of America

Andrew Sherman Government Printing Office*

Kent Smith National Library of Medicine

Timothy Sprehe Sprehe Information Management Associates

Al Stapleton General Accounting Office

Nye Stevens General Accounting Office

John Stevenson University of Delaware (representing American Library Association

Government Documents Roundtable, GODORT

Winston Tabb Library of Congress

Anneliese Taylor George Mason University

Claudette Tennant American Library Association

Peter Urbach Former Director of NTIS, Retired*

Rosalie Vlach NCLIS*+

Walter Warnick Department of Energy*

Linda Washington National Center for Health Statistics

Robert Willard NCLIS*+

Where neither an "*" or "+" symbol appear, attended only the January 19th meeting

*Attended both the January 19th and February 4 meetings

+Attended both the January 19th and February 29th meetings

*+Attended all three meetings

-38-
Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

List of Documents About the NTIS Assessment Posted to or Linked from the NCLIS

Website as of March 15, 2000

Source: (http://www.nclis.gov/info/ntis/ntis.html)

NTIS CLOSURE AND TRANSFER

Department of Commerce's Plan to Close the National Technical Information Service

"* Preliminary Assessment of the Department of Commerce Proposal to Close the National

Technical Information Service and Transfer Its Collection and Functions to The Library of

Congress - A Report to the President and the Congress Prepared by the United States

National Commission on Libraries and Information Science - March 13, 2000

"• Revised Comments on Emerging Consensus Position Paper, Proposed NTIS Closure by

Linda M. Kennedy, Head, Government Information and Maps Department, University of

California, Davis - March 10, 2000

"* Supplemental Views, American Library Association by Chadwick Raymond, Chair ALA

Committee on Legislation - March 10, 2000

"* Comment on the NCLIS "Emerging Consensus Position Paper" by Melvin S. Day, Former

Director, NTIS - March 10, 2000

"* Comments on behalf of Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA)

by Ken Wasch, President - March 10, 2000

"* American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Supplemental Comments on the Proposed

NTIS Closure & Transfer - March 6, 2000

"* The Los Angeles Times published an editorial entitled "Science Information in Peril" about

the closure of NTIS. The full text may be viewed at the following URL address:

http://www.latimes.com/news/comment/20000301/t000019809.html - March 1, 2000

"* Department of Commerce Letter to LA Times Editor on preceding editorial - March 7, 2000

"* ALA letter to NCLIS Executive Director: Comment on the NCLIS "Emerging Consensus

Position Paper." - February 29, 2000

"* RESOLUTION ON NO-FEE PERMANENT PUBLIC ACCESS TO SCIENTIFIC AND

TECHNICAL INFORMATION (STI) Adopted by the Council of the

American Library Association, San Antonio, TX - January 19, 2000

"* NTIS: Proposed Closure and Transfer of Functions - NCLIS Powerpoint presentation for

meeting - February 29, 2000

"* COSLA letter to NCLIS Executive Director re: NTIS Proposed Closure & Transfer of

Functions - February 28, 2000

"* NCLIS Guidelines for Consideration of Alternatives Relating to the NTIS Closure & Transfer

of Functions - February 27, 2000

"* Comments on NTIS: Proposed Closure and Transfer of Functions - Statement by Bernadine

E. Abbott Hoduski, Government Information Advisor (Retired Professional Staff Member,

U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on Printing) - February 25, 2000

"* Joint Statement, MLA, SLA, ARL & AALL - February 25, 2000

"* Draft Agenda, NTIS: Proposed Closure and Transfer of Functions Second Special Meeting,

February 29, 2000 - February 23, 2000

"* U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Solid Waste (OSW) - Comments on

the Proposed Closure and Transfer of Functions of NTIS - February 22, 2000

"* National Federation of Federal Employees - The Union's Perspective on the future of NTIS -

February 17, 2000

-39-
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

"* NTIS: Proposed Closure and Transfer of Functions Activity or Service Matrix -

February 15, 2000

"* Press Release -NCLIS to Hold Meeting on NTIS Closure (meeting on February 29, 2000) -

February 8, 2000

"* Historical Considerations of NTIS, Sarah T. Kadec - February 7, 2000

"* NTIS: Proposed Closure and Transfer of Functions - NCLIS Powerpoint presentation for

meeting - February 4, 2000

"* Final Agenda, NTIS: Proposed Closure and Transfer of Functions Second Special Meeting,

February 4, 2000 - February 4, 2000

"* Toward a National Library of Science and Technology: Building on the Present - Creating the

Digital Future by Bonnie C. Carroll and Gail M. Hodge (October 12, 1998) - For the Second

Meeting of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science on the

Department of Commerce's proposed closing of the National Technical Information Service -

February 4, 2000

Note: The source information on this document contains some word processing software

symbols and codes, which govern formatting conventions, but which the NCLIS system is

unable to interpret or understand. Therefore, some users may have difficulty downloading the

document, or have difficulty reading some of the text. We apologize for this inconvenience

and suggest that the document originator be contacted if required

"* Second Statement by Peter F. Urbach, Former Director of NTIS, For the Second Meeting of

the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science on the Department of

Commerce's proposed closing of the National Technical Information Service - February 4,

2000

"* The Future of the NTIS Function Independent of Organizational Location by Peter F. Urbach

Powerpoint Slide Presentation - February 1, 2000

"* Where Should the NTIS Function Be Located Organizationally? by Peter F. Urbach

Powerpoint Slide Presentation - February 1, 2000

"* Participant Invitation List, Second Special NTIS Closure/Transfer Expert Meeting, February

4, 2000 - January 27, 2000

"* Invitation Letter to Participants to Attend February 4, 2000 Meeting - January 27, 2000

"* Chronology/Bibliography of Events Relative to NTIS' Position in Commerce, Prepared by

Sarah T. Kadec - January 26, 2000

"* Remarks regarding the future of NTIS by Miriam A. Drake, Dean and Director of Libraries,

Georgia Institute of Technology Library and Information Center - January 20, 2000

"* Invitation Letter to the Benton Foundation Meeting - January 19, 2000

"* Participant Invitation List, NTIS Closure/Transfer Expert Meeting, January 19, 2000

"* NTIS: Proposed Closing & Transfer of Functions Meeting, Attendees by Category - January

19,2000

"* Agenda - January 19, 2000

"* NTIS: PROPOSED CLOSURE & TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Powerpoint Slide

Presentation - January 19, 2000

"* Statement of Peter F. Urbach, Former Director of NTIS for the Benton Foundation Meeting

of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science on the Department of

Commerce's proposed closing of the National Technical Information Service - January 19,

2000

"* National Technical Information Service

Performing a Vital Public Service, but Facing an Impossible Problem - Walter Warnick

"* The End of the National Technical Information Service? - J. Timothy Sprehe

-40-
Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

"* Comments Relating to the Proposed Closure and Transfer of NTIS Functions from the

Department of Commerce to the Library of Congress by Wayne Kelley, Former

Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office (GPO) - January 18, 2000

"* Technical Impacts of the Closing of NTIS, CENDI Input from 10 Member Executive Branch

Agencies - 1999

"* Letter to The Honorable Bill Frist - December 10, 1999

"* Responses to Questions Submitted by Senator Bill Frist to Commissioner Joan R. Challinor -

October 21, 1999

"* Oral Testimony Handout - Commissioner Joan Challinor - October 21, 1999

"* Prepared Senate Committee Testimony - Commissioner Joan Challinor - October 21, 1999

"* Statement of Caroline C. Long on behalf of the American Association of Law Libraries

American Library Association, Association of Research Libraries, Medical Library

Association, Special Libraries Association before the Subcommittee on Technology House

Science Committee on the Proposed Closing of the National Technical Information Service -

September 14, 1999

"* Letter to The Honorable Constance M. Morella - September 13, 1999

"* Letter to The Honorable William M. Daley - August 16, 1999

Link to:

"* GODORT, the Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association

would like to comment on the proposed closure of NTIS. Our statement is currently available

at http://www2.lib.udel.edu/godort/nclis/.

"* ALA Resolution on Government Printing Office FY 2000 Salaries and Expenses

Appropriations - last modified February 17, 2000

"* President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2001 referring to NTIS Federal Funds, Intergovernmental

Funds

pages 227 and 228 (pages 33 and 34 in the Adobe Acrobat program)

"* President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2001 referring to National Technical Information Service

NTIS Revolving Fund page 1222 (page 6 in the Adobe Acrobat program)

15 U.S. Code

"* CHAPTER 23 - DISSEMINATION OF TECHNICAL, SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING

INFORMATION

"* CHAPTER 63 - TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION

"* U.S. Senate Science and Technology

"* Senate Hearing Record

"* A Report on the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) Prepared by the Department

of Commerce

"* NCLIS Principles of Public Information

Adopted by the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science on June 29,

1990

-41-
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

ATTACHMENT 6: SUMMARIES OF SPECIAL MEETINGS FEDERAL

CENTRAL INFORMATION SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS, THE OFFICE OF

MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET (OMB) AND THE INFORMATION INDUSTRY

[NOTE: Although the format may be different, the content of these documents is as submitted or

published.]

Summary of Meetings with the Office of Management and Budeet. the Software and

Information Industry Association, and Selected Private Sector Respondents

SUMMARY OF MEETINGS WITH THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET,

THE SOFTWARE AND INFORMATION INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION, AND SELECTED

PRIVATE SECTOR RESPONDENTS

During the months of January, February and March, 2000, NCLIS Executive Director Robert

Willard, Deputy Director Judith Russell, and NCLIS Consultants Woody Horton and Sarah

Kadec met with, or made telephonic or e-mail contact with Mr. Stephen Suh, OMB Examiner

responsible for NTIS, Mr. David LeDuc and Mr. Peyton Neal representing the Software and

Information Industry Association, as well as Mr. Dan Duncan and Mr. Ken Allen, former

executives of the former Information Industry Association, and several other knowledgeable

individuals for the purpose of soliciting their views on the NTIS closure and transfer matter.

First, Mr. Neal and Mr. LeDuc thought the idea of holding a special meeting at the Commission

for the purpose of exchanging views on the industry's perspective of the NTIS closure matter

would be very helpful. A meeting has tentatively been scheduled for April 2000. Both Mr.

Duncan and Mr. Allen endorsed this idea. All individuals also agreed to the idea of a panel

composed of both government and industry officials to help evaluate the alternatives in front of

the Commission, would also be helpful. The Commissions 1980-1981 experience with the

former Public Sector/Private Sector Task Force in the Integration in Providing Information

Services could be used as a model for either or both of these endeavors.

Second, in the meeting with Mr. Suh on March 6 2000, there was a cordial exchange of views on

the role of NCLIS in the matter, the background of the public meetings and research that had been

undertaken, the various "deliverables" that NCLIS had already, or was planning to produce, and

suggestions from both parties on further research needs. Mr. Suh's name had already been placed

on the NCLIS e-mail distribution list to receive copies of these deliverables, and Mr. Suh was

already aware generally of the contents of the NCLIS web site. Mr. Suh confirmed that his

"budget side of the OMB house," rather than the "management side of the OMB house" which

includes OIRA was taken the lead on this matter because it was considered a reorganization

matter primarily. However, Mr. Suh acknowledged that the matter did raise and involve several

Federal information policy questions and considerations.

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

Summary of Meetings With the Library of Congress, the National Archives and

Records Administration, and the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government

Printing Office and the Head of the Government Information Technology Services

Board

SUMMARY OF MEETINGS WITH SENIOR OFFICIALS OF

THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, AND THE

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION, AND

WITH THE HEAD OF THE GOVERNMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

BOARD (ALSO DEPUTY HEAD OF THE CIO COUNCIL)

On February 7, 2000 the Executive Director met with the Francis J. Buckley, The Superintendent

of Documents of the Government Printing Office and Lewis Bellardo, the Deputy Archivist of the

United States. In a follow-on telephone conversation later the same day he also discussed

substantively the same matters with the Associate Librarian of Congress for Cataloging, Winston

Tabb.

In this meeting the Executive Director requested that each of the three major Federal information

service organizations, GPO, NARA, and LC, reaffirm precisely what their positions were

currently with respect to the NTIS closure and transfer matter. In each case these officials

indicated that first and foremost in their view was the need to ensure that whatever course of

action the government eventually adopts, there should be no erosion in a satisfactory level of

service to the public, which NTIS had been providing for many years. In short, regardless of the

organizational location of the NTIS organization, that overarching goal must be kept in mind.

That said, in each of the three cases the officials made clear to NCLIS that:

"* None of them could or would be able to assume all of the NTIS functions, services, and

assets, and perform them at the same minimal satisfactory level that they had been

performed historically, without various kinds of statutory, budgetary, policy, and other

modifications;

"* None of them could or would be able to assume the functions without additional funding;

"* All agreed that there was a need for appropriation financing for the "inherently

governmental functions," which could be solicited from the Congress either by modifying

their own "normal" appropriation requests, or via a separation appropriation; and

"* All agreed that there was a need to ensure that the views of the authorization and

appropriation committees must be clarified and made public before their respective

organizations would be able, themselves, to take a public position.

All of the officials endorse the broad course of action the Commission was planning to follow,

namely, the request to the President and the Congress to shift financing for the inherently

governmental functions from a self-sustaining basis to an appropriation basis. Moreover, all

agreed that time was needed to study all of the alternatives, and the eighteen month April 1, 2000

- September 30, 2001 to undertaken that "in-depth assessment" seemed reasonable.

On February 25, 2000, the NCLIS Executive Director met with Al Pesachowitz, Deputy CIO of

the Environmental Protection Agency, and "double-hatted" as head of the Government

Information Technology Services Board (GITSB) and member of the (Federal) CIO Council.

The purpose of this meeting was to ensure that the broad question of how to strengthen the

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

dissemination of government information to the public was, indeed, "on the agenda" of the

GITSB and the CIO Council. Mr. Pesachowitz reassured the Executive Director that, indeed, it

was a high priority item for them even though they have been preoccupied with many other IT

related issues such as the Y2K problem, the Internet security problem, the Internet privacy of

information problem, and many others.

The Commission pointed out that there were four specific areas that it commended to the

attention of GITSB and the CIO Council that were of paramount importance to it in the context of

the broad dissemination of government information to the public issue:

"* Permanent public accessibility;

"* Permanent records retention;

"* Preservation; and

"* Authentication.

There are some additional important issue areas, but the above four are the ones that are foremost,

and were all intimately involved in the GPO/Westat study, which also involved the Federal

agency CIOs.

It was agreed that NCLIS and the CIO Council would establish and maintain a working

relationship and Mr. Willard promised to write Mr. Pesachowitz a letter as soon as practicable to

suggest some concrete ways the two organizations could work more closely and effectively

together.

ATTACHMENT 7: NCLIS FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE SEEKING PUBLIC

COMMENT ON THE NTIS CLOSURE

[NOTE: Although the format may be different, the content of this document is as submitted or

published.]

Federal Register Notice on the Proposed Closure and Transfer of Functions of NTIS,

February 14,2000

[Federal Register: February 14, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 30)]

[Notices]

[Page 7398]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr 14fe00-79]

NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

Open Meeting

AGENCY: National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.

Matter to be considered: Proposed Closure and Transfer of Functions of National Technical

Information Service (NTIS)

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

Summary: In fulfillment of its statutory mandate to advise the President and the Congress on

national and international library and information policies and plans, the Commission has been

studying the proposal made in August 1999 by Secretary of Commerce William Daley to close

the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) and transfer its collections, functions,

services, and assets to the Library of Congress. The Commission has convened two meetings of

interested parties for the purpose of allowing them to comment and to offer recommendations.

More than 75 major stakeholders representing federal agencies, libraries and the private sector

participated in the earlier meetings resulting in narrowing the number of options being considered

for the future of NTIS.

In an effort to ensure that all interested parties have the opportunity to be heard, NCLIS is

scheduling one additional meeting to review a draft of the Commission's findings. The

Commission will then review all comments, before making its final recommendation to Congress

and the Administration.

Date and Time: Tuesday, February 29, 2000 at 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

Place: 253 Russell Senate Office Building.

Letters to legislators and NCLIS testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Science,

Technology and Space, Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation as well as

comments, reports and summaries of the earlier meetings can be viewed on the NCLIS web site at

http://www.nclis.gov/info/ntis/ntis.html. Anyone wishing to make comments on the deliberations

or to present statements may contact Woody Horton at (202) 606-9200 or through e-mail at

whorton@nclis.gov no later than 10:00 a.m. February 25, 2000. All comments received will be

made publicly available on the NCLIS website.

To make special arrangements for physically challenged persons,

contact Barbara Whiteleather (202) 606-9200.

Dated: February 9, 2000.

Robert S. Willard,

Executive Director, NCLIS.

[FR Doc. 00-3364 Filed 2-11-00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7527-01-M

ATTACHMENT 8: NCLIS PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC INFORMATION

[NOTE: Although the format may be different, the content of this document is as submitted or

published.]

Principles of Public Information

PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC INFORMATION

Preamble

From the birth of our nation, open and uninhibited access to public information has ensured good

government and a free society. Public information helps to educate our people, stimulate our

progress and solve our most complex economic, scientific and social problems. With the coming

of the Information Age and its many new technologies, however, public information has

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

expanded so quickly that basic principles regarding its creation, use and dissemination are in

danger of being neglected and even forgotten.

The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, therefore, reaffirms that the

information policies of the U.S., government are based on the freedoms guaranteed by the

Constitution, and on the recognition of public information as a national resource to be developed

and preserved in the public interest. We define public information as information created,

compiled and/or maintained by the Federal Government. We assert that public information is

information owned by the people, held in trust by their government, and should be available to

the people except where restricted by law. It is in this spirit of public ownership and public trust

that we offer the following Principles of Public Information.

Principles

1. The public has the right of access to public information.

Government agencies should guarantee open, timely and uninhibited access to public information

except where restricted by law. People should be able to access public information, regardless of

its format, without any special training or expertise.

2. The Federal Government should guarantee the integrity and preservation of public

information, regardless of its format.

By maintaining public information in the face of changing times and technologies, government

agencies assure the government's accountability and the accessibility of the government's

business to the public.

3. The Federal Government should guarantee the dissemination, reproduction, and

redistribution of public information.

Any restriction of dissemination or any other function dealing with public information must be

strictly defined by law.

4. The Federal Government should safeguard the privacy of persons who use or request

information, as well as persons about whom information exists in government records.

5. The Federal Government should ensure a wide diversity of sources of access, private as

well as governmental, to public information.

Although sources of access may change over time and because of advances in technology,

government agencies have an obligation to the public to encourage diversity.

6. The Federal Government should not allow cost to obstruct the people's access to public

information.

Costs incurred by creating, collecting and processing information for the government's own

purposes should not be passed on to people who wish to utilize public information.

7. The Federal Government should ensure that information about government information

is easily available and in a single index accessible in a variety of formats.

The government index of public information should be in addition to inventories of information

kept within individual government agencies.

8. The Federal Government should guarantee the public's access to public information,

regardless of where they live and work, through national networks and programs like the

Depository Library Program.

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

Government agencies should periodically review such programs as well as the emerging

technology to ensure that access to public information remains inexpensive and convenient to the

public.

Conclusion

The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science offers these Principles of Public

Information as a foundation for the decisions made throughout the Federal Government and the

nation regarding issues of public information. We urge all branches of the Federal Government,

state and local governments and the private sector to utilize these principles in the development of

information policies and in the creation, use, dissemination and preservation of public

information. We believe that in so acting, they will serve the best interests of the nation and the

people in the Information Age.

Adopted by the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

June 29, 1990

ATTACHMENT 9: LOS ANGELES TIMES EDITORIAL, MARCH 1, 2000, AND

SECRETARY DALEY'S LETTER TO THE EDITOR,

MARCH 6,2000

[NOTE: Although the format may be different, the content of these documents is as submitted or

published.]

Los Angeles Times Editorial. "Science in Peril," March 1, 2000

Reprinted with the permission of the Los Angeles Times.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2000

Science Information in Peril

For half a century a small federal agency called the National Technical information Service has

been the repository for federally funded scientific, technical and engineering information. Now

the Commerce Department wants to shut it down, saving about $4 million a year it is true that the

service's paper-based delivery systems are outmoded and that many documents are available free

on the Internet. But some functions are still vital. That's why Congress, rather than supporting

the Clinton administrations hasty plan, should fully fund the agency for at least another year In

that time, the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science can study how to

modernize or replace the agency.

The Commerce Department says the Technical Information Service is obsolete because federal

agencies now post their documents on the Web. However, two-thirds of the reports requested

from the service are 3 to 1 0 years old and agencies seldom post such older data. Moreover,

Michael F. DiMario, an official of the Government Printing Office, recently told Congress that on

the Web "documents are put up and taken down by federal agencies virtually at random. Without

a policy of permanent public access, there is no assurance that a document seen on the Web by

the public today will be available next week."

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

Congress should also see that someone in Washington carries on important tasks of the Technical

Information Service like tracking down publicly funded research results that have not been

publicly posted, a function required by federal law. The agency itself may not be needed, but it

does important work that should be continued.

Secretary Daley's Letter to the Editor of the Los Angeles Times, March 7, 2000

Reprinted with the permission of the Los Angeles Times.

TUESDAY, MARCH 7,2000

We agree with you that the National Technical Information Service "does important work that

should be continued." That is why our proposal-- contrary to what your March I editorial

suggests-- does not completely eliminate NTIS. We propose to shut down the parts of NTIS that

duplicate other government programs or compete with the private sector. But we do not propose

to eliminate the core clearinghouse function, which collects and disseminates federally funded

science and technical information. And, contrary to your editorial, I believe our plan would

provide the public better access to scientific and technical information.

As the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science found, the current

business model of NTIS is fundamentally flawed. In an Internet age, this small agency cannot

support itself. We must do something this year to ensure that this agency does not go bankrupt.

Our proposal is a "good government" measure; it gets rid of the unnecessary and outmoded parts

of NTIS and puts the important information collection and disseminating function at an

organization that specializes in information collection and dissemination.

WILLIAM M. DALEY

Secretary of Commerce

Washington

ATTACHMENT 10: ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DATA AND SUPPORTING

DOCUMENTATION

[NOTE: Although the format may be different, the content of these documents is as submitted or

published.]

Purpose of This Attachment

The purpose of this attachment is to bring together certain technical data and information which

supports selected key points in the main report, and which the Commission believes could be very

helpful to the Presidential and Congressional decision-making processes required to satisfactorily

resolve the NTIS matter. Because the data is of a relatively detailed and specific nature, it would

have been inappropriate for inclusion in the body of the main report.

The contents include:

* Core List of NTIS Activities, Services and Assets, Classified on the Basis of Whether

Mandated or NTIS-Initiated

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

"* NCLIS Guidelines for the Evaluation of Alternatives Considered in This Assessment

"• Some Assumptions and Constraints Considered in This Assessment

"* Key Excerpts from Department of Commerce Inspector General's Report on the NTIS

"* Key Excerpts from Department of Commerce Report on the NTIS

"* Key Excerpts from the Arthur Andersen Report to the Department of Commerce on NTIS

"* FY 2001 President's Budget - NTIS Accounts

"• Major Cost Components of the $1.6 Million NTIS Estimate for Expanding Federal

Depository Library Access to NTIS Reports

"* Selected List of Legislation, Rules and Regulations Impacting NTIS Mission and Functions

"* Draft Key Provisions of Existing and Proposed Legislative Amendments

Core List of NTIS Activities. Services and Assets, Classified on the Basis of Whether

Mandated or NTIS-Initiated

This is detailed list of core NTIS activities, services, and assets, annotated as to whether each

activity, service or asset is explicitly mandated in a statute, or whether it is an activity or service

which NTIS initiated on its own authority.

NTIS: PROPOSED CLOSURE AND TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS

In the Column Labeled MANDATORY OR NTIS INITIATED,

M Explicit Mandate (in statute)

N = NTIS Initiated/Optional

MANDATORY

Item OR NTIS

Number ACTIVITY OR SERVICE INITIATED*

1 ]Historical Collection 1M

lA Ensured Permanent Availability for Agencies & Public M

2 Foreign Information Collection M

2A Translations M

2B Copyright Releases N

2C International Sales Agent Agreements N

3 Domestic Information Collection M

3A Website Harvesting N

3B Proactive Data Collection M

3C Statutory Submission M

4 Bibliographic Control/Indexing & Abstracting M

4A Performed by NTIS M

4B Integrated from Publishing Agencies (DTIC, DOE, etc.) N

4C Publication of Bibliographic Index/Database M

4C Leasing NTIS Database

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

MANDATORY

Item OR NTIS

Number ACTIVITY OR SERVICE, continued INITIATED*

5 Scan Documents for Storage/Reproduction N

6 Customer Support Services N

6A User Support/Help Desk N

6B Database/Software Documentation N

7 Dissemination Services (Paper, Microfiche, Software, CD-ROM, etc.) M

7A Selected Research in Microfiche (SRIM) N

7B Standing Orders N

7C Subscriptions (e.g. Word News Connection) N

8 Sales (Paper, Microfiche, CD-ROM, Software, Audio-Visual, etc.) M

8A On-Demand Duplication M

8B Sales from Inventory M

8C Process Orders for Fulfillment by Others (e.g. U.S. Publishers) N

9 Technology Transfer M

19A I FEDRIP (Research in Progress)

10 FEDWORLD (Website) N

I OA FEDLINE (locator) Demonstration M

I11 Ilnternational Trade Center Bookstore N

12 Services to Federal Agencies

12A FOIA Fulfillment N

12B Website Hosting N

12C FDLP Compliance N

12D Archive Legacy Documents/Data N

12E Order Processing/Billing Services N

1 2F Marketing Agency Publications N

12G Database Licensing N

12H Serve as Official Repository to Meet Agency NARA Obligations N

121 Fulfillment of Agency Distribution Requirements N

121-1 IRS Forms & Documents N

12J Publishing Agency Bibliographic Tools N

12K Publishing Agency CD-ROM Products N

Item

Number ASSET

13 Employees

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

Item

Number ASSET, continued

14 Existing Leases

14A Facilities

14B Equipment

15 Existing Contracts

15A Joint Ventures

15B Subscription Services

15C Deposit Accounts

15D Service Contracts (CD-ROM Duplication, etc.)

15E Dialog & Other Database Vendors

116 IRevolving Fund/Retained Earnings

117 JAdvisory Board

Note. The classification of activities and services as either mandatory or self-initiated is

preliminary, and subject to further verification and validation during the course of the

Commission's in-depth assessment to follow. Even though the "mandated or NTIS-initiated"

annotation is not made for the assets listed at the bottom of the list, the assets are included in the

interests of trying to be as inclusive as possible in identifying all NTIS functions and activities.

NCLIS Guidelines for the Evaluation of Alternatives Considered in This Assessment

The following are guidelines which the Commission plans to follow in evaluating the pros and

cons, and the benefits and costs, of the various alternatives to be considered. These guidelines

were developed with the assistance of the various stakeholder groups with whom the Commission

met on several occasions. There are three "levels" of guidelines arranged in a nested hierarchical

fashion, beginning first with the most general principles, then those which apply to STI, then

guidelines pertaining to the mission and role of NTIS. A fourth and final list of guidelines are

correlated with general principles of management and analytical methodology, not necessarily

linked specifically to NTIS or STI.

I. GENERAL GUIDELINES

1. The public has a right to government information.

2. The government should maximize the availability of its information to the public, and

minimize information withheld from the public, subject to the appropriate safeguards,

restrictions and protections relating to national security, privacy, confidentiality, and so

forth.

3. The public has a right of easy, fair, and equitable access to government information. This

includes the further harmonization of the bibliographic control systems (LC/MARC &

COSATI) used to catalog, organize, and disseminate scientific and technical information.

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

4. The government should ensure the integrity, authenticity, and preservation of its

information.

5. The government should develop and put in place as quickly as possible a comprehensive

and authoritative locator and finding system for use by the public to access Government

information regardless of its location.

6. Individual Federal agency dissemination initiatives are very commendable, but are

insufficient by themselves without strengthened coordination and augmentation.

7. The public and private sectors should work together to facilitate multiple and diverse

public information sources, products, and services.

II. SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION GUIDELINES

1. Scientific and technical information (STI) produced or acquired by the government is a

strategic and critical national asset.

2. The cost of the life cycle management of STI, including dissemination and permanent

public access, should be an integral cost of research and development.

3. The American economy benefits substantially from the diffusion of R&D STI.

4. STI collections must be made permanently publicly accessible.

5. Scientific and technical official records must be scheduled and retained permanently.

6. Scientific and technical data and documents must be preserved regardless of media and

format, and protected from loss, including technological change.

III. THE ROLE AND MISSION OF NTIS

1. The statutory mission of NTIS is fundamentally sound because foreign and domestic STI

is critical to the advancement of science, and the growth of the U.S. economy.

2. Some NTIS functions are inherently governmental in nature, should be considered a

public good, and therefore funded by Congressional appropriations. This includes the

acquisition, storage, bibliographic control and archiving of Federally-funded R&D

information and data.

3. Some NTIS functions could be self-supported or privatized. This includes such activities

as sales, marketing and order processing for value-added services.

4. The current NTIS business model is flawed and needs to be reconfigured and

modernized, taking into account greater utilization of the full range of World Wide Web

and Internet features and capabilities.

5. Changes to the NTIS business model should take into account consultations with

stakeholders both inside and outside of government.

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

IV. ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES

1. Based on consultations with stakeholders, NCLIS will narrow as much as possible the

number of alternatives to be presented in its final report.

2. Pros and cons for evaluating and comparing alternatives will be based on specific criteria

agreed upon by the stakeholders.

3. The assessment of the final alternatives presented will also take into account the explicit

assumptions and constraints agreed upon by the stakeholders.

Some Assumptions and Constraints Considered in This Assessment

Some preliminary assumptions and constraints which the Commission believes may have a

bearing on its evaluation of alternatives, but which have not yet been validated with the

stakeholder groups (but will be before utilization), include:

1. Some mandated NTIS Activities, Services, or Assets may be eliminated;

2. Some mandated NTIS Activities, Services, or Assets may be better operated on a

centralized basis, but others might best be operated on a distributed and/or decentralized

basis, and the distinction should be studied carefully;

3. Even if NTIS were retained in the Department of Commerce, closed down, or its

activities transferred elsewhere, its statutory framework will have to be modified;

4. With the same caveats expressed in 3 above, NTIS's policy framework will have to be

modified;

5. With the same caveats expressed in 3 above, NTIS's budgetary framework will have to

be modified;

6. With the same caveats expressed in 3 above, NTIS's finance and accounting framework

will have to be modified;

7. No alternative to be considered will fulfill all of the criteria identified in Para. C,

Guidelines, above, in an "ideal, 100%" fashion;

8. Hybrid solutions (that is, a mixture of the elements of several alternatives) is at least

possible and feasible, if not entirely likely; and

9. The full range of both domestic and foreign, both historical collections vs. ongoing

collections, both inherently governmental functions vs. NTIS self-initiated functions,

bibliographic control alternatives, and the preparation of documents for retention and

dissemination, must be considered.

Key Excerpts from Department of Commerce Inspector General's Report on the

NTIS

On March 19, 1998, Acting Inspector General Johnnie E. Frazier sent a letter, subject: "Audit of

NTIS's FY 1997 Financial Statements Audit Report No. FSC-9867-8-0001" to Dr. Donald R.

Johnson, (former) Director of NTIS.

Attached to that document was the DOC IG's "Semiannual Report to the Congress," dated March

31, 1997.

On page 12 of that report, under the caption "NTIS Expansionary Activities," the following is

quoted:

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

"We recently completed a program evaluation of the National Technical

Information Service's operations, including its CyberFile project for the Internal

Revenue Service (IRS). We found that in pursuing its mandated responsibilities,

NTIS has generally worked effectively with other federal agencies to increase its

inventory of the nation's scientific, technical and engineering information, in

compliance with the American Technology Preeminence Act (ATPA).

"However, we are very concerned about the expansionary efforts and activities

taken on by NTIS based on (1) its interpretation of the agency's authority under

ATPA, (2) a push to generate new revenues, and (3) a general desire to expand

its operations. We are concerned that some of these tasks are on the border of - -

if not outside - - NTIS's authority and statutory mission. Also, poorly chosen

expansionary projects potentially detract from NTIS's ability to fulfill its primary

and traditional mission.

"A prime example is NTIS's attempt to develop for IRS a system capability that

would enable U.S. taxpayers with home computers to submit their tax returns

electronically. Unfortunately, CyberFile - - a $22 million project, NTIS's largest

ever - - was poorly managed on many fronts, and NTIS's role in the project

became the subject of GAO, OIG, IRS internal audit, and congressional concerns

and criticism."

Key Excerpts from Internal Department of Commerce Report on the NTIS

The Department of Commerce prepared a special report entitled "A Report on the National

Technical Information Service (NTIS)," in 1999 that was published before Secretary of

Commerce Daley's August 1999 proposal to close down NTIS and transfer its collections and

bibliographic database to the Library of Congress.

In this report, under the caption "Options considered," the following appears:

"In the fall of 1998, the Department contracted with Andersen Consulting to

obtain an independent review of NTIS operations. Andersen identified potential

market and product opportunities to improve the financial performance of NTIS.

The Department considered these suggestions and several others. In the spring of

1999, the Department identified and refined three long-term options that would

address NTIS's difficult financial situation and ensure the continuation of public

access to important government information, while also considering the needs of

NTIS's workforce.

"The Department considered options to 1) maintain NTIS at Commerce and

request annual appropriations to both permit NTIS to digitize the most recent ten

years of its collection and to fund the clearinghouse, 2) maintain current NTIS

operations while seeking annual appropriations to supplement declining

clearinghouse revenues, cutting costs where possible, and 3) seek a one-time

appropriation to close NTIS and transfer the collection and document

dissemination to another organization.

"Of the three options considered, the Department estimated that the third would

require the least cumulative appropriations through fiscal year 2004. The

Department estimates that it would require about $14 million and the receipt of

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

the transfer of about $3 million over the next five years. Options I and 2 could

each require as much as $30 million through fiscal year 2004.

"Option 3 ensures continued public access to government scientific, technical

and engineering information because it will be available through the Library of

Congress and directly from the agencies creating the information. The proposed

legislation will include new provisions to ensure that agencies fulfill their twofold obligations to post their documents on their web sites and provide electronic

copies to the Library.

"It should be noted that the Department selected the Library of Congress for the

transfer of NTIS's collection and the maintenance of its bibliographic databases

because the Library already houses a significant collection of scientific materials

of over several million volumes. Additionally, the public can access the Library

through online catalogs. The Department also considered the National Archives

and Records Administration and the Government Printing Office. The

Department is currently working with these organizations and other interested

parties in addressing specific issues to ensure the proposed legislation will enable

the public to have the best possible access to scientific and technical

information."

Key Excerpts from the Arthur Andersen Report to the Department of Commerce on

the NTIS

The Department of Commerce contracted with Andersen Consulting in the fall of 1998 to

perform an "independent comprehensive review" of NTIS operations, at the suggestion of the

Department's IG (whose own report is referred to in preceding paragraphs). Their report, entitled

"Developing a Market-Driven Growth Strategy" is dated December 17, 1998.

"Strategic Options and Constraints

Given the structural changes to the market, NTIS must develop and execute a

new action plan to regain financial viability. While there is potential for profit

improvement, there are significant barriers to implementation. Obstacles include

the inability to copyright, restrictions on outsourcing and labor practices, and the

mandate to perform the public good functions of collecting, inputting, and

archiving the U.S. government's scientific and technical information. These

obstacles and obligations prevent NTIS from operating as a private business,

even though it is required to be self-sustaining. NTIS must pursue one, or a

combination of, three strategies to continue to finance the operation of the

Clearinghouse.

NTIS's three options include:

Increase profits. NTIS could increase profitability by identifying and acquiring

more best sellers, and/or decreasing costs. To generate the $25M in revenue and

thus $5M in profits needed to finance NTIS's clearinghouse operations, a

fundamental shift in its marketing efforts will be needed. This will require

annual funding of $1-3 million for staff and $5-10 million to modernize for the

strategy. On the cost side, with current regulatory obstacles, NTIS will only be

able to reduce costs by, at most, $500,000.

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

Remove competitive constraints. NTIS could seek legislative changes to allow

more competitive actions, such as advertising, a primary and often sole revenue

source for NTIS competitors. However, this is currently not an option for NTIS

due to public policy concerns. While Andersen Consulting did not look at costs,

our best practice re-engineering experience suggests that with current obstacles

removed, costs could potentially be cut between 10 and 20 percent.

Obtain appropriations. NTIS could seek an appropriation to cover the rising

mandated costs while allowing distribution costs to be covered by revenue.

These costs are expected to rise 5% a year from their current level of $5.2

million. An appropriation would enable NTIS to fulfill its mission as a

clearinghouse to serve the public good. Moreover, it would level the playing

field with government agencies like GPO and STATS-USA which receive

funding to cover input costs."

Note: The U S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, in this report, is

recommending the third option be pursued. No inference should be drawn, however, that in so

recommending this option, there is an attempt to "level the playing field" as the idea is espoused

in the Andersen Consulting report. On the contrary, the Commission believes that all

government agencies with sales programs for the marketing and selling of government

information to the public should be subject to the same consistent application of government

information dissemination policies and regulations.

FY 2001 President's Budget - NTIS Accounts

NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE

NTIS REVOLVING FUND

(Supplemental now requested, existing legislation)

Program and Financing (in millions of dollars)

Identification code 13-4295-1-3-376 1999 actual 2000 est. 2001 est.

Obligations by program activity:

10.00 Total new obligations (object class 13.0) 4.5

Budgetary resources available for obligation:

22.00 New budget authority (gross) 4.5

23.95 Total new obligations 4.5

New budget authority (gross), detail:

Discretionary:

42.00 Transferred from other accounts 4.5

Change in unpaid obligations:

73.10 Total new obligations 4.5

73.20 Total outlays (gross) ... 4.5

Outlays (gross), detail:

86.90 Outlays from new discretionary authority 4.5

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

Net budget authority and outlays:

89.00 Budget authority 4.5

90.00 Outlays 4.5

NOTE: This supplemental request would provide $4.5 million to the NTIS revolving fund

for the one-time costs of the shutdown of the NTIS. The Department of Commerce has

proposed legislation to close NTIS. As of the date of this NCLIS report, the Department

has not changed its position in this regard

Major Cost Components of the $1.6 Million NTIS Estimate for Expandin! Federal

Depository Library Access to NTIS Reports

NTIS has indicated that it would have to make some substantial infrastructure improvements to

accommodate the needs of 1,400 libraries and the increased number of "hits" expected. The

major cost components identified by NTIS are:

0 $800,000 for storage of images on hard-drives to replace the tape storage NTIS is

currently using;

* $400,000 for contractors to re-program an interface between the pilot and the NTIS

electronic delivery system (ADSTAR), and ready the bibliographic database for

searching and ordering from the web;

* $300,000 for additional Internet bandwidth for the program; and

* $100,000 for database server upgrades to accommodate the increased utilization.

0 Total: $1.6M

Note. It is important to recognize that these are preliminary estimates, provided by

NTIS, they have not been verified or validated as of the date of this report. Alternatives,

such as the transfer of electronic reports to GPO for dissemination to the Federal

Depository Libraries, have not been considered to determine the most cost-effective

method ofproviding access.

Selected List of Legislation, Rules and Regulations Impacting NTIS Mission and

Functions

"* Title 44, especially Chapters 17, 19, 31, 33, 35, and 41

"• Atomic Energy Act of 1954

"* Government Research and Development Patent Policy Act of 1984

"* Federal Science and Technology Transfer Act of 1986

"* Stevenson-Wydler Innovation Act of 1980

"* Paperwork Reduction Reauthorization Act of 1995

"* National Science and Technology Policy, Organization and Priorities Act of 1976

"* Japanese Technical Literature Act of 1986

"* American Technology Preeminence Act of 1991

"* Executive Order 12591, "Facilitating Access to Science and Technology," April 10, 1987

"* Executive Order 12881, "Establishing the National Science and Technology Council,"

November 23, 1993

"* OMB Circular A-130, "Management of Federal Information Resources," February 8,

1996

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

Draft Key Provisions of Existing and Proposed Legislative Amendments

1. Proposed language with respect to repealing the "collection of fees" requirement.

"Section 103(c) of title I of the American Technology Preeminence Act of 1991

(Pub. L. 102-245, title I, Sec. 103©, 106 Stat. 8) which provided for the funding

of activities described in Section 2(a) of this bill through the collection of fees, is

repealed."

2. Proposed language with respect to clarifying the mission and functions of NTIS.

"Section 2 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15

U.S.C. 3701) is amended by adding a new paragraph (12) as follows:

"(12) It is in the public interest to ensure that decisions to acquire, collect and

preserve scientific, technical, and engineering information are made primarily on

the basis of enduring research, productivity, competitiveness and general public

information value, and not on the basis of sales potential. To this end, costs

associated with those functions which are inherently governmental in nature and

considered a "public good" or "common good" should be borne by the public at

large utilizing appropriated funds. The cost of marketing and selling information

products and services, on the other hand, should be borne by the consumer who is

the immediate beneficiary."

3. Proposed language with respect to authorization of appropriations.

(a) "For each of Fiscal Years 2001 and 2002, respectively, there is authorized to

be appropriated $5,000,000 for operating costs of the National Technical

Information Service associated with the acquisition, processing, storage,

bibliographic control, conversion to electronic format, and archiving of scientific

and technical information."

(b) "For Fiscal Year 2001 there is authorized to be appropriated $1,600,000 to

expand to all depository libraries the pilot program instituted by the National

Technical Information Service and the Superintendent of Public Documents in

1998 to improve free public permanent access to NTIS materials."

Note: As pointed out in other sections of this report, these figures need to be

verified and validated.

4. Existing language with respect to user fee (USC Sec. 1153, P.L. 91-412 "Rules,

regulations and fees:"

"It is the policy of this chapter, to the fullest extent feasible and consistent with

the objectives of this chapter, that each of the services provided herein shall be

self-sustaining or self-liquidating and that the general public shall not bear the

cost of publications and other services which are for the special use and benefit

of private groups and individuals; but nothing herein shall be construed to require

the levying of fees or charges for services performed or publications furnished to

any agency or instrumentality of the Federal Government, or for publications

which are distributed pursuant to reciprocal arrangements for the exchange of

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Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the NTIS

information or which are otherwise issued primarily for the general benefit of the

public."

5. Existing language with respect to agency information dissemination responsibilities

under Public Law 104-13, 109 STAT. 163, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995:

Section 3506(d) "with respect to information dissemination, each agency shall - -

(1) ensure that the public has timely and equitable access to the agency's public

information, including ensuring such access through - -

(A) encouraging a diversity of public and private sources for information

based on government public information;

(B) in cases in which the agency provides public information maintained in

electronic format, providing timely and equitable access to the

underlying data (in whole or in part); and

(C) agency dissemination of public information in an efficient, effective,

and economical manner;

(2) regularly solicit and consider public input on the agency's information

dissemination activities;

(3) provide adequate notice when initiating, substantially modifying, or terminating

significant information dissemination products; and

(4) not, except where specifically authorized by statute - -

(A) establish an exclusive, restricted, or other distribution arrangement that

interferes with timely and equitable availability of public information

to the public;

(B) restrict or regulate the use, resale, or redissemination of public

information by the public;

(C) charge fees or royalties for resale or redissemination of public

information; or

(D) establish user fees for public information that exceed the cost of

dissemination."

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U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

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U.S. National Co issionio Libraries and Information Science

1I10 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 820, Washington, DC 20005-3552

Telephone: 202-606-9200; Fax: 202-606-9203; Web: www.nclis.gpv