"A popular Government without popular information, or the
means of acquiring it is but a Prologue to a Farce or Tragedy; or
perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: and a people who
mean to be their own Governors must arm themselves with the power that
knowledge gives." ~ James Madison
"Depository status is somewhat of a Faustian bargain for
libraries. No matter how careful they are with item number selections,
they get large volumes of junk which nobody uses or wants. This is
frankly a burden to libraries of all sizes. Keeping this garbage under
control in my opinion is one of the biggest problems of depository
management." ~ Anon.
"Libraries are evolving from content warehouses following a
just-in-case model to a just-in-time method of assisting users with
content navigation, evaluation, and customized services." ~ Bruce R.
James
"We are moving into an era when every library in the country
has at least the potential to become a 'depository' in the sense that
they can potentially provide their users with access to government
information at a level previously unavailable except for libraries in
the present depository system." ~ Charley Seavey
"A government documents librarian must have an understanding of the structure of government on all levels, a belief that providing access to government information supports democracy, a sense of humor, a love of the eccentric, the ability to manage a library within a library. The only negative is the sometimes negative view of other librarians and administrators as to the value of government information and the need to give that department as much support as any other department. It is one of the most challenging and innovative fields of librarianship." ~ Bernadine Abbott Hoduski
"The majority of the twentieth century saw a marked growth in the number of libraries participating in the Federal Depository Library Program. During the last fifteen years, however, a consistent downward trend has emerged for the first time." ~ Luke Griffin and Aric Ahrens
"Datasets once accessible to only seasoned researchers, previously hard-to-find government reports, and numerous congressional hearings are now available on government Internet sites." ~ Debora Cheney
"By October - November 2004, 95 percent of the titles in the Federal Depository Program were available electronically (even if tangible forms were also available) and only five percent had no electronic counterpart." ~ Prudence AdlerU.S. federal government depositories [FDLP] will receive
attention here although much of the content would also apply to
depository libraries for other levels of government. Note that the
relationship between library and government agency is an unequal one
because the library does most of the work and has a continuing
responsibility. The "free" materials are far outweighed by the costs of
creating and maintaining the collection as well as providing
access.
Traditionally, there have been several benefits for
participants:
You will find a good introduction to the FDLP library services via their WWW tour.
The Toolbox for Processing and Cataloging Federal Government Documents is most useful. Documents Data Miner 2 is a library management system for United States Government Documents.
Detailed
information about the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is
found on the FDLP Desktop. The
core collection for the depository library requires 30 single
spaced pages.
A dated, but still useful, look at the nuts and bolts of
documents processing is found at <http://www.aallnet.org/sis/gd/tutorial/>
While the number varies, there are about 1300 depository libraries.
The purpose of the U.S. federal government depository library
system is to ensure that:
Until recently, (some libraries have decided not to remain depositories), there were 1400 depository libraries. Each had to contain at least 10, 000 books. The first depository shipment consisted of eleven Congressional publications. More recently, the typical shipment consisted of several boxes and a large number of Executive Branch publications in hard copy and micro formats.
The GPO Access Act of 1993 required that the GPO maintain a locator service, including depository libraries likely to hold information, and provide on-line access to Congressional Record, the Federal Register and other publications, and provide an on-line storage facility for federal digital information [conflict with NARA which has been resolved]. These were implemented in 1994.
Although depository libraries have not been used by ordinary citizens as much as we would like, the system has been successful. Large numbers of government documents and publications have been distributed to local libraries where collections have been maintained for the user. However, this traditional, tangible product distribution model is not likely to work well in today's digital environment"Prior to the electronic revolution, the world of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and the depository librarian was defined and controlled by regularly delivered boxes of paper and microfiche projects. .... The depository librarian was a confident and knowledgeable information provider whose chief complaints were wrinkled shipping lists, fugitive documents, and a lack of adequate funding to purchase privately produced, more efficient bibliographic indexes and their accompanying microfilm/fiche collections."
The rapid arrival of CD-ROM sets and web-based versions of
hard copy standards quickly changed the status quo. At the moment,
about 65 percent of the items distributed by the GPO are digital and
web-based. The percentage of tangible products distributed will drop to
about five percent in the near future.
The Council represents the depository libraries. It meets
twice per year to discuss common problems and suggest solutions.
Detailed reports of these meetings are available via govdoc-l. Since
the depository program is a collaborative one, the views of depository
librarians receives considerable attention. The major limiting factor
is lack of adequate funding by GPO. Otherwise, most Council
recommendations would be quickly implemented.
Even in the hard copy days, some libraries felt that there were too many depositories. Those in Congress enjoyed being able to claim how the depository library (via their action) brought people closer to their government. Librarians were keen on providing this service, and the materials were "free" although the costs of storage and service were substantial. Later would come the costs of connectivity and work stations to access digital documents and publications. As the number of hard copy items distributed declines dramatically, and most government information is available via the web, the incentive to be a depository library declines.
As a result of the 1962 Depository Library Act, 53 regional depository libraries were created. The University of Memphis is the regional depository for Tennessee. Typically, there is one for each state. Of the regionals,
The estimated cost to be a regional depository in 1991 was $500,000. It should be much more than that today because of the costs associated with providing access to digital material. The typical regional library is a public, academic research institution with more than 1,000 faculty and a student enrollment of 20,000, has been a depository since 1907 and has collections of more than 1 million volumes.
Most depository libraries have done a more than reasonable job in providing access and services for U.S. federal government information. Still, there have been concerns that some libraries did not commit the needed time and effort. In 1974, the first depository library inspectors were hired. The number grew to four by 1982. A depository library could expect an inspection every seven years. A self-study is completed prior to the site visit and there is also a telephone interview. In some cases, there will be no visit. Normally, about 95 percent of the libraries studied passed the inspection.
Most depositories, about 1350, are selective and there would be nearly thirty in a typical state. Government items must be kept for five years and may then be weeded or sent to the regional depository. In 1995, perhaps a typical hard copy year, the GPO distributed 44,724 titles, but most selective depositories would take a small percentage of those.
Some critics have described the depository library system as a "poorly operating vacuum cleaner." The GPO sucks up government information and distributes it to libraries. Since classes of items rather than individual items are selected, even selective depositories end up with many items that they really do not want or need.
Critics also note that a large number of depository libraries are academic and special libraries with little interest in serving the general public.
A large number of appropriate publications are issued by agencies beyond GPO bibliographic control so that depository libraries did not receive some important government publications. Declining Congressional interest in government publications has meant that a notable number of important publications have ceased and are no longer available or are available only from commercial publishers.
This model was popular during the early Internet days, when
many users lacked home or work access. The idea is that users will come
to the depository library and use its work stations to access
government information. It may still work when government content
requires a fee for users who do not access government information from
a depository work station. If an increasing number of useful government
documents and publications are only available via a subscription basis,
the gateway model will continue to have some value. The gateway model
also works when users access value-added government information sources
via a library database subscription. LexisNexis Congressional
Universe is a good example. However, this second kind of
gateway can often be accessed from home or work. How might the
government information unit be a gateway in the 24/7 digital future?
When considering the cost of a modern military airplane, the FDLP budget is small change. Still, Congress has not been convinced that reasonable funding is important. A major impetus behind the Congressional drive to move from hard copy to digital publication is to reduce costs. Note that the GPO pays for the printing or production of items distributed to depositories from its own budget. Executive agency printing/publication budgets do not allow for GPO hard copy distribution of their publications.
The continuing budget squeeze, year after year, has
substantially reduced the ability of the FDLP to provide the services
desired and needed. It has also likely contributed to extensive
turn-over at LPS.
The GPO and other government agencies have not always used information technology well. The microfiche program, for example, is notable for vendor problems and poor quality fiche. It is also a format that most library users avoid using. The current enthusiasm for publishing via the web with little serious consideration of preservation issues until recently is another example. IT problems with GPO Access [slow performance] are related to lack of funding for improving IT infrastructure.
It can also be difficult for the GPO to attract and retain high quality personnel.The depository system is a diverse assortment of libraries with different goals and objectives and often with little thought given to the degree that the depository collection meets particular local needs. For example, the best depository collections are usually at academic research libraries and that creates barriers for those outside the academic community. The distribution of depository libraries owes more to political considerations than to a rational plan to ensure that each citizen has reasonable, nearby access to federal government information. There are too many depositories in some areas and too few in others.
Many collections remain classed by the SuDocs classification system and outside the main catalog. This means that most depository items remain invisible to all but the most dedicated and knowledgeable user.
Without a strong relationship with the reference department, reference librarians may be unaware of collection strengths and neglect to include government information in recommendations to users.
Some argue that the future of the depository library is not on its collections, but rather in its services. Note that the libraries do not "own" these collections. They belong to the federal governement.
Thus, the focus shifts from local collections to the quality and depth of the information services in the "post-depository era." Instead of managing local collections, depository librarianship, we become reference librarians or government information specialists. Eventually, many depository collections or departments will go away and the librarian will move to the reference department.
Depository items do not provide the library with comprehensive, current, and relatively easy access to government information. The supplementary materials as well as those no longer issued by the government substantially increase the cost of providing access to government information.
Depository items are loaned and do not actually belong to the
depository library. Items distributed remain the property of the U.S.
government. The FDLP controls disposition of these items. Legally, when
a library leaves the depository system all depository items must be
returned. This is an incentive to remain in the program.
Depositories play only a limited role in determining which
government documents and publications will be distributed. Distribution
is most likely to be a function of which items are available rather
than which are most valued. Some critics have suggested that the number
of items distributed could be reduced by about 40 percent. Of course, a
much more substantial reduction is presently taking place as items are
placed on web pages rather than being printed and distributed. A major
problem for depository libraries is finding enough storage space for
large and growing collections [this will soon end with minimal hard
copy distribution].
At the same time, fugitive items remain a problem.
Historically, about fifty percent of in-scope items were not
distributed to depository libraries because agencies did not share them
with the GPO. This means that active collection development
is needed to fill gaps as well as select supporting resources issued by
for-profit publishers and professional associations.
As mentioned above, depositories select by classes
rather than individual items, resulting in receiving unwanted items in
order to get the "good stuff." Libraries can add or delete classes
received once per year. While requiring much more time and effort,
title selection would result in better collections and much less waste.
Librarians need better descriptions of the content under an item number.
Under statute, libraries must keep received items for at least
five years. Libraries would like to be able to more quickly weed
collections of items not locally useful. GPO is working on this problem.
Since the selections are "free," librarians may be encouraged
to select more items than are likely to be used. Some libraries assume
that larger collections are better collections. This is a common theme
in academic libraries.
In library systems where there was also a law library or other
departmental libraries such as UT's Agriculture Library, government
information is divided with judicial information and the supporting
resources being placed in the separate law library for example. This
division creates problems for users and reference work.
Not only do users dislike the fiche format, but fiche require
dedicated files, filing, retrieving, readers, reader-printers that can
be expensive and labor intensive.
Depository librarians should be involved in extensive
reference services while clerks and para-professionals handle the nuts
and bolts [check-in, cataloging/classification/subject headings,
claiming, binding, and dealing with snags]. Activities include:
A more recent core list titled Essential Titles for Public Use in Paper Format includes more items and was developed by the depository library community as a core reference collection. "The following list of specific titles, when published in paper format, will be made available for selection by depository libraries:"
* Distribution is limited to regional depository libraries and one library in each state without a regional
The Federal Depository Library Manual, in Appendix A, contains a substantially larger core collection for small to medium sized public and academic libraries as well as law libraries. The 30 page single spaced list contains a large number of items.
Because the technical service units in most libraries could not handle the volume of depository material and also because of its specialized nature [including its own classification scheme], government information was handled within the government information unit and
"removed from the mainstream of collection organization. While efficient, this has resulted in segregation and isolation of government information so that it remains largely invisible to most users. Few government publications, for example, received full processing and were including in the general library catalog."
Doc Ex began in 1946 with 43 members and sponsorship by the
ALA, ARL, and the American Association of Law Libraries. Most of the
items initially distributed were related to the War. Membership
gradually increased and the service developed extensive contacts with
government agencies. Library of Congress assumed responsibility for the
Project in 1968. The web page has not been revised since 1999 so that
it is unclear how active the program is today.
The GPO Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993 {PL 103-40] required SuDocs to maintain a locator service for federal electronic information, to provide on-line access to the Congressional Record, the Federal Register and other appropriate publications, and to operate an electronic storage facility.
Originally, the service was password protected and registration was required. This was to be a service provided via depository library work stations. Congress was interested in a digital FDLP program that would eliminate the costs associated with publication and distribution. As the web became more pervasive, Access became a relatively comprehensive one stop site for federal government information available in digital format. The first web only depository item was placed on the server in 1996.
Major categories available include:
Quick links, an indication of importance and popularity, are provided to:
Today, GPO Access provides access to more than 2,000 databases and the ability to search several databases from a single page. GPO is also responsible for providing permanent access to the items on the Access servers.
The State Department and the University of Illinois at Chicago
collaborated so that the University Library provides access to older
State Department agency information as well as preserving it.
The University of Indiana (Bloomington) partnered with the GPO
to establish permanent public access provisions for digital
publications originally distributed on floppy disk.
Case Western Reserve University established a website for
depository library access to Census 2000 data issued in comma-delimited
ASCII format.
The University of North Texas Libraries and the GPO collaborate on the content from federal agencies that have gone out of business.
The University of California at Davis has partnered with NTIS to provide free public access to scientific and technical reports via an electronic image format. With the future of NTIS most uncertain, this may not be a useful example.
OCLC, the National Library of Education, and collaborated with
the GPO to make public domain ERIC reports available on-line via the
FDLP. Electronic image format available via First Search. This may
change under the new ERIC administration.
The GPO hopes that there will be more partnerships in the
future and that research libraries in particular will assume a more
active role in the world of federal government information. The GPO has
begun a depository services consultant program with the University of
Michigan being the first partner. GPO employees are hosted by the
sponsoring library who provides office space and support.
According to a recent survey about ten percent of depository libraries are currently retrieving digital federal publications, storing them locally, and provide access to them. If this informal collecting was part of a formal plan, a distributed preservation network of depository libraries would be a substantial contribution.
Why remain a depository library? The costs of maintaining an extensive hard copy collection remain. Non-depository libraries increasingly have access to the same collection of current digital government information with minimal costs. It does seem reasonable that far fewer regional depositories will be needed in the future. Regional depositories serving a multi-state region are being considered.
The GPO recommends that depository libraries stay with the program, but suggests the following.
GPO is considering a "virtual depository library" and it will be interesting to see how that would impact the FDLP program if realized. What incentives would convince libraries to participate?
Government Information Online is a national pilot project supported by OCLC, the Illinois State Library, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Questions sent to this service are answered by federal depository librarians from different institutions within 48 hours. It's not clear if this initiative minimizes the need for local government information service or encourages libraries to continue with the depository program.
Funding remains critical. Even the less expensive digital program require substantial financial support to maintain and improve GPO Access. Without proper funding, federal agencies may charge depository libraries to access databases or limit use. STAT-USA is a good example with free single user access to key data bases, but fee based site licenses for more reasonable access. More Census products will likely require fees.
Costs for the FDLP program substantially exceed the funds
likely to be provided by Congress. As the number of items distributed
continues to decline, this problem will be reduced. Congress wants GPO
to create a revenue stream, but the possibilities seem limited and
librarians are unalterably opposed to fees for government content.
As the federal government decides not to gather data or to publish it, more of what used to be government information is published by commercial publishers or trade associations. This makes some government information available only to those who can afford it. More agencies are outsourcing publishing to for-profit firms to recapture the costs of publication and these items are outside the depository system.
At least half of the previously "printed" government publications were fugitive. It is easier than ever before for agencies and their units to publish in-house and remain outside of any reasonable bibliographic control.
With the FDLP, libraries had to deal with a small number of government agencies with the GPO at the center. Today, government publication is increasingly decentralized. Clearly, no library has the resources to deal with a large number of agencies and units issuing publications whether digital or hard copy. The need for an aggregator is paramount.
The de facto standard for government digital has become the Adobe PDF format. While this ensures that the copy is an exact duplicate of the original, is secure, and provides considerable opportunity for graphic design, PDF files are bulky, difficult to search, and sometimes difficult to print. While not as attractive, ASCII text would be easier for most people to use.
Some conservative legislators have proposed that the GPO be moved to the General Services administration and the the Superintendent of Documents be moved to the Library of Congress. LC is not enthusiastic.
Neither Congress nor the Executive branch are particularly concerned about citizen access to government information. Some, in fact, seem to believe that less information is a good thing.
By late 2004, more than 95 percent of the content provided by
FDLP was on line. The trend toward a digital program accelerates.The
FDLP will not distribute hard copy if content is available on the web.
Thus, the FDLP changes from a depository program to an access
program. Thus, fewer users will come to the library and use hard copy
documents. Declining traffic and continuing costs of collection
maintainance cause depository libraries to ponder depository status.
The University of Arizona is becoming the first all digital selective
depository library. More are likely to follow.
Preservation is a major concern with digital, web-based distribution. GPO preserves via maintaining GPO Access files, archiving other government publications, partnering with NARA, and other federal agencies. Persistent Uniform Resource Locators [PURLs] are used to maintain access to items on agency websites. As part of the need for preservation, depository libraries are concerned with version and authenticity control. This is especially important since variant editions of the same work, including revisions and edited versions, appear on websites. The challenge here is the need to:
With shrinking library resources, there has been a trend to consolidate government information units with reference and move the collections into the stacks. With relatively few hard copy resources and considerable costs to maintaining depository status, library administrators may find it appealing to reconsider participation in the FDLP program. Too, wide spread availability of government information on the web has reduced traffic in government information units, sometimes substantially. The government information unit no longer has a captive audience. Saundra Williams makes this point emphatically:
"While librarians are putting everything on line that we can, serving distance education and using all the methods we know to keep people from coming to the library! Can't understand why the stats are down!"Duncan Aldrich asks an important question"...Are we depository librarians or are we government information specialists?" While the need for depository librarians may decline, the need for government information specialists will remain strong.
