Federal Depository Library Conference

April 6-9, 2003

Summary for San Antonio Area Documents Users Group
by Kathy Amen and Michael Kaminski

NOTE: GPO has made some of the presentations from this meeting available. They also say they are going to provide streaming video of the entire plenary session with the Public Printer (Monday's session)

This meeting was very "Big Picture" and thus we don't have as many practical nuggets of information to pass along from the sessions as usual, but rather a lot of impressions and intimations about where the FDLP is headed.

The whole first day of the Conference was spent in plenary session with the new Public Printer, Bruce James, and it was largely an information- and concern-sharing session. This is really unprecedented, and bodes well for the future of the program if for no other reason than a Public Printer has never spent this much time with us before, much less spent as much time as he did actually listening to us. It may remain to be seen whether good or ill comes from this meeting, but we do have to be encouraged in some respects that it happened at all.

Here are links to overviews from the other sessions we attended:

GPO Update/GPO Access Open Forum | Status of Depositories--3 presentations
Virtual Documents--2 presentations
Breakout Session (Small/Medium Academic Libraries)/Regional Librarians meeting

List of Handouts

Some facts learned, then impressions formed, from the first plenary session:

FACTS

• in the past year, FDLP became more than 50% electronic; James foresees 95% electronic in near future. This is inevitable and can't really be stopped, so we need to figure out how to deal with it, not how to stop it, according to James.
• 2003 is year of factfinding for James
• in 2004, he will have a new strategic plan for GPO, hopefully accepted by all stakeholders not as a perfect plan, but as the "best we can realistically get"
• this plan will then form the basis of presentations to Congress regarding a revision of Title 44 of the U.S. Code, which is the statutory basis for the FDLP
• GPO reorganization has already begun, moving away from the 19th century command and control model
• given the inevitability of a 95% electronic environment, James' main concerns are:
  • authenticity (establishing chain of custody)
  • preservation
• no one in Congress, according to James, has proposed doing away with GPO; they are just interested in its doing (much) less printing
• James thinks that OMB is beginning to understand that information is worthless if there is no bibliographic control of it, and that has traditionally been GPO's function
• agencies must be sold on this idea, too, that "metadata" is necessary
• James sees GPO as becoming the aggregator of government information while libraries become (remain) the facilitators who help people find the information they need; a related aspect of this division of labor would see GPO taking a bigger role in coordinating training
• James also sees not only GPO's role, but ours, as changing from that of a product to a service provider
• "partnership" was probably the single most-used word in the whole conference (although "training" was close); GPO wants more partnerships
• James wants to coordinate GPO activities more closely with NARA and LC (but he realizes that neither of these agencies has a public access mission and no one else is stepping up to provide permanent public access to information)
• Council remains concerned with preservation of electronic materials and continues to speak for users who, for one reason or other, still need print. They also want to be sure that adequate training is provided (by someone) for all these electronic competencies we are expected to maintain.

IMPRESSIONS

• James comes from the private sector (printer) and approaches the FDLP and our mission with a conservative/private industry bent. But he seems pragmatic and at least seems aware of many of our major concerns with free access and access for everyone. And we reiterate: he spent the WHOLE DAY with us!
• Most of the offices below his on the new GPO organization chart do not have heads yet. But the one he has appointed, Judy Russell as Superintendent of Documents, is an old GPO hand with the right attitude toward libraries and our key concerns. If his other appointments are that good, we will be in good shape.
• James seems rather fearless and is inclined to try something out to see if it works rather than study it to death first, as has occasionally been a problem at GPO. He expects to launch several pilot projects during his "factfinding" year and does not seem averse to continuing to experiment.
• Representing GPO to Congress is a big part of the Public Printer's job and James seems like he might do well in this arena. He's a physically impressive guy, and seems articulate and capable of thinking on his feet.
• There was a lot of concern expressed throughout the conference concerning privatization of information production and/or distribution. James' statement that he welcomes partnerships not only with educational institutions like libraries but also with the private sector fed this unease. Judy Russell tried to smooth over some of these concerns at the final session on Wednesday, but we have been burned so often over the years in this way that many of us are still concerned.
• One of the major concerns running through the meeting was how to make depository status attractive to libraries when so much matieral is available for free anyway. Many different services, perks and projects were discussed that might be applicable only to depositories; some examples: information kiosks, free access to fee databases, access to more training, etc.

These are the handouts Kathy has; let her know if you want copies of any of them:

GPO Organization Chart
Kiosk brochure
GPO Access Update
Qualities of a Successful Depository Library
Handouts from Survey of dropping depositories
Handouts from Increasing Use of Government Documents...
Handout from GPO/AZ Pilot Project
List of openings for Congressional Designated Libraries
GPO Access brochures: general, finding aids, tracing legislation
Handouts from 2 presentations we didn't see:

• Take e-Government Everywhere: Share e-Government without an Active Internet Connection
• No. Arizona Unversity's Model of Serving Distance Patrons

Miscellaneous handouts not related to presentations:

• Amber Waves, new publications from Economic Research Service
• Census Bureau update

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