A U.S. Government publications collection in a non-depository research library a case study

Journal of Government Information

Volumn 23, Issue 4, 1996, Pages 471-489

  Weatherly, C Diann ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM   (United States)

Author keywords

American Statistics Index (ASI); Congressional Information Service (CIS); Electronic government information; Microfiche collections; Non depository library

Indexed keywords

EID: 0030187360     PISSN: 13520237     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/1352-0237(96)00028-7     Document Type: Article

References (58)

1. 1. University of Alabama in Birmingham, Facts & Figures: 1978-1979 (Birmingham, AL: The University of Alabama in Birmingham, 1979). The faculty to student ratio may seem high, but this is due to the large number of medical researchers at UAB.
2. 2. Although the U AB Sterne Library subscribes to several paper copy and additional microfiche titles, the 80 percent figure is based on the Congressional Information Service (CIS) company's "rule of thumb" to describe the approximate size of the ASI and CIS microfiche collections. Cheryl Walman, CIS Assistant Managing Editor for Acquisitions for ASI, informed the author by telephone in March 1996 that a 60 percent figure for inclusion in the ASI collection among all government publications is "hard core" guess work based on a great deal of experience of "monitoring the daily shipping lists and the Monthly Catalog, talking with the GPO, and regularly visiting the Library of Congress." She added that they are now, of course, monitoring the Internet as well. Also by telephone in March 1996, Robert Haberl, Acquisitions Editor [for the CIS index/microfiche collection], informed the author that CIS monitors not only the shelflists and the Monthly Catalog, but visit House and Senate committees, special groups such as the Office of Technology Assessment, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Joint Taxation Committee (from which they obtain some unpublished materials). He believes that "CIS contains a more comprehensive collection of congressional publications than any depository library," making up for the next 20 percent to result in the total of 80 percent that the CIS company uses as their rule of thumb.
3. 3. For more information on fugitive documents, see John Spencer Walters, "'Toy' Presses and The Rise of Fugitive U.S. Government Documents," Journal of Government Information 21, no. 5 (September/October 1994): 413-35.
4. 4. Susan E. Tulis, "Federal Depository Program in Law Libraries: Status Symbol or Essential Service?" (Unpublished paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries, Pittsburgh, PA, July 1995, photocopy), 2.
5. 5. Bryan Stack (May 23, 1995). Subject: Re: McKinney Act Information. Discussion of Government Document Issues [Online]. Available e-mail: GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU
6. 6. This statement was made through e-mail correspondence to Susan Tulis (April 25, 1995), in online discussion and preparation for paper cited in note 4, above. Since Tulis said in her presentation that she would not "attribute specific comments to specific individuals," this author has not done so either. The author would like to thank Tulis for sharing comments and other materials she gathered in preparing for the presentation.
7. 7. Another statement made through e-mail correspondence to Susan Tulis (see note 6, above).
8. 8. Margot Krissiep (December 9, 1991), Subject: Admin. notes on fiche backlog. Discussion of Government Document Issues [Online], Available e-mail: GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU.
9. 9. Margot Krissip (June 12, 1992), Subject: GPO claims, Discussion of Government Document Issues [Online], Available e-mail: GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU.
10. 10. Dan Barkley (October 16, 1992), Subject: Claims, Discussion of Government Document Issues [Online], Available e-mail: GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU.
11. 11. Robert L. Oakley (March 20, 1993), Subject: Re: Serial Set. Discussion of Government Document Issues [Online], Available e-mail: GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU.
12. 12. Joe Morehead, United States Public Documents, 3rd ed. (Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1992), 110.
13. 13. Sandy Peterson (January 7, 1992), Subject: DocEx, Discussion of Goverment Document Issues [Online], Available e-mail: GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU.
14. 14. Peterson (January 7, 1992).
15. 15. SuDoc is the abbreviated term for the Superintendent of Documents, here referring to the Superintendent of Documents classification system.
16. 16. The student assistant was timed on filing the ASI and CIS microfiche, but not on the other microfiche collections to which the UAB Sterne Library subscribes.
17. 17. Kevin L. Cook, "Varying Levels of Support Given to Government Documents Departments in Academic Libraries," College and Research Libraries 43 (November 1982): 462.
18. 18. Duncan Aldrich (May 17, 1993), Subject: ARL Survey of Documents Departments, Discussion of Government Document Issues [Online], Available e-mail: GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU.
19. 19. Kenneth Schott (October 22, 1991), Subject: Staffing and Service Hours Questionnaire, Discussion of Government Document Issues [Online], Available e-mail: GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU.
20. 20. Daniel Cornwall (December 9, 1994), Subject: Results of Student Worker Survey, Discussion of Government Document Issues [Online], Available e-mail: GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU.
21. 21. U.S. Government Printing Office, Instructions to Depository Libraries (Washington, DC: GPO, 1992), 36.
22. 22. U.S. Government Printing Office, "Appendix C," in Federal Depository Library Manual (Washington, DC: GPO, 1993), 169.
23. 23. Schott (22 October 1991).
24. 24. The figure of $33,360 is an average annual salary for a reference librarian, drawn from "Average Annual Salaries by Job or Title," Library Journal 119 (November 1, 1994): 46; the $25,000 annual average figure for a paraprofessional/library assistant (LA) is from Evan St. Lifer, "ParaProfessional: Library Journal Report 1995: We are the Library! Support Staff Speak Out," Library Journal 120 (November 1, 1995): 31; and $4.75 is chosen as the cost for a student assistant (a bit above minimum wage per hour).
25. 24. The figure of $33,360 is an average annual salary for a reference librarian, drawn from "Average Annual Salaries by Job or Title," Library Journal 119 (November 1, 1994): 46; the $25,000 annual average figure for a paraprofessional/library assistant (LA) is from Evan St. Lifer, "ParaProfessional: Library Journal Report 1995: We are the Library! Support Staff Speak Out," Library Journal 120 (November 1, 1995): 31; and $4.75 is chosen as the cost for a student assistant (a bit above minimum wage per hour).
26. 24. The figure of $33,360 is an average annual salary for a reference librarian, drawn from "Average Annual Salaries by Job or Title," Library Journal 119 (November 1, 1994): 46; the $25,000 annual average figure for a paraprofessional/library assistant (LA) is from Evan St. Lifer, "ParaProfessional: Library Journal Report 1995: We are the Library! Support Staff Speak Out," Library Journal 120 (November 1, 1995): 31; and $4.75 is chosen as the cost for a student assistant (a bit above minimum wage per hour).
27. 25. Stephen C. Weiss, "A Graphic Look at GPO Depository Distribution: 1975-1993," Journal of Government Information 22, no. 4 (July/August 1995): 339.
28. 26. Catharine Reynolds, "How Many Government Publications in a Linear Foot?" Documents To The People 7 (May 1979): 96. With Reynolds' estimate of 52 documents per linear foot, 1,520 feet becomes 79,040 documents.
29. 27. To calculate the five year cost for microfiche cabinet storage, the author's measurements were used for the ASI and CIS microfiche to find an average measurement of 478 documents per linear foot (total titles for ASI and CIS for 1998 = 7,072; total space for ASI/CIS, 1988 = 175″/12 = 14.8 linear feet; 7,072 documents / 14.8 linear feet = (rounded) 478 documents). The total five years of documents were divided by the ASI/CIS documents per foot average (79,040 / 478) = (rounded) 165 feet). To figure the per-foot cost of microfiche cabinet storage, total usable drawer space was measured and then divided by the cost of the cabinet. The microfiche cabinet is a 10-drawer cabinet with dimensions of 21″w × 29″d × 4′h, Each drawer has three rows for microfiche storage, 27″ deep total; but, realistically, only 25″ maximum is available; therefore, 75″ linear storage per drawer × 10 = 750″ or a total capacity of 62.50 linear feet. The cost for a microfiche cabinet is based on a price - $1057.00 - the UAB Sterne Library paid in 1993. The 165 feet is multiplied by the linear foot cost of $16.91 to arrive at the five-year microfiche cabinet storage cost of $2,790.15. To calculate the five-year cost for the shelving for paper format storage, a section of shelving was used that held ten 10″-deep shelves and two base shelves (i.e., both sides of a section). A section this size will accommodate 36 linear feet (12 shelves × 36″ linear space × 432″ or 36′). The costs for shelving are based on a price the UAB Sterne Library paid in 1993 - $177,00 for one section. $177.00 is divided by the 36 linear feet capacity to find a linear foot cost of $4.92. The composite depository figure of 1,520 feet, which is 80 percent of the total Weiss figure of 1,900 for five years of paper format material in a regional library, is multiplied by the per-foot shelving cost of $4.92 to arrive at the five-year shelving storage cost of $7,478.40.
30. 28. The libraries were among the larger academic institutions in the state.
31. 29. The cost of a 12″ periodical of $16,37 is between UAB Sterne Library's low cost for a 10″ book of $7.01 and the high cost of a 14″ periodical of $19.30.
32. 30. Weiss, "A Graphic Look at GPO Depository Distribution," 339-40.
33. 31. Araby Greene (December 9, 1992), Subject: Selective Survey Comment, Discussion of Government Document Issues [Online], Available e-mail: GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU.
34. 32. Some documents librarians might question retaining older editions of the CFR. UAB found that, when discarding UAB's older paper collection was considered the area's legal community had been relying on older editions for previous dates (local depositories having discarded their older editions). Since UAB serves the community at large as well as university constituents, UAB decided to retain the older information, but to replace them with microfiche.
35. 33. CIS 1994-1995 Catalog (Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, Inc., 1993): 11.
36. 34. CIS 1994-1995 Catalog, 28.
37. 35. Among many other positive reviews and comments: the "outstanding new information product of the year" by the Information Industry Association went to the CIS Index/collection in 1971, and then to the ASI Index/collection in 1976; CIS was named an "outstanding reference book of the year" by Library Journal in 1972; and the Council of Planning Librarians Newsletter deemed ASI "worth every penny in time saved by the researcher and librarian" in 1973. In reviewing another title from the company, Michael Oppenheim said "Few reference and research tools reward government publications librarians and their clientele as amply as those produced by the Congressional Information Service," in the Journal of Government Information 21, no. 1 (January/February 1994): 63.
38. 36. Margaret S. Walker (November 15, 1995), Claims to Web, Discussion of Government Document Issues [Online], Subject: Available E-mail: GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU.
39. 37. Margaret S. Walker (September 23, 1992), Subject: Re: Treaties in Force, Discussion of Government Document Issues [Online], Available e-mail: GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU.
40. 38. Jane Cramer (March 24, 1994), Subject: Re: Statistical Yearbook of the INS, Discussion of Government Document Issues [Online], Available e-mail: GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU.
41. 39. Jeanne Long, CIS Director of MARC Services, provided this information by telephone in March 1996.
42. 40. Steven D. Zink. "'Non-Depository' or Not: An examination of the Designation of Non-Depository Titles in the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications," College & Research Libraries 44 (March 1983): 178-81 and, "Analysis of Non-Depository Documents in the Government Publication Collection," Collection Building 4 (1982): 39-43.
43. 40. Steven D. Zink. "'Non-Depository' or Not: An examination of the Designation of Non-Depository Titles in the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications," College & Research Libraries 44 (March 1983): 178-81 and, "Analysis of Non-Depository Documents in the Government Publication Collection," Collection Building 4 (1982): 39-43.
44. 41. LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf, comp. Government Reference Serials (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1988); LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf, comp. Government Reference Books 88/89, 11th ed. (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1990); Pricilla C. Geahigan and Robert F. Rose, Eds. Business Serials of the U.S. Government, 2nd ed. (Chicago: American Library Association, 1988), "Notable Documents" in Government Publications Review 14, no. 6 (1987): 607-25; 15, no. 6 (1988): 515-33; and 16, no. 6 (1989): 537-54.
45. 41. LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf, comp. Government Reference Serials (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1988); LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf, comp. Government Reference Books 88/89, 11th ed. (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1990); Pricilla C. Geahigan and Robert F. Rose, Eds. Business Serials of the U.S. Government, 2nd ed. (Chicago: American Library Association, 1988), "Notable Documents" in Government Publications Review 14, no. 6 (1987): 607-25; 15, no. 6 (1988): 515-33; and 16, no. 6 (1989): 537-54.
46. 41. LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf, comp. Government Reference Serials (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1988); LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf, comp. Government Reference Books 88/89, 11th ed. (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1990); Pricilla C. Geahigan and Robert F. Rose, Eds. Business Serials of the U.S. Government, 2nd ed. (Chicago: American Library Association, 1988), "Notable Documents" in Government Publications Review 14, no. 6 (1987): 607-25; 15, no. 6 (1988): 515-33; and 16, no. 6 (1989): 537-54.
47. 41. LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf, comp. Government Reference Serials (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1988); LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf, comp. Government Reference Books 88/89, 11th ed. (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1990); Pricilla C. Geahigan and Robert F. Rose, Eds. Business Serials of the U.S. Government, 2nd ed. (Chicago: American Library Association, 1988), "Notable Documents" in Government Publications Review 14, no. 6 (1987): 607-25; 15, no. 6 (1988): 515-33; and 16, no. 6 (1989): 537-54.
48. 41. LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf, comp. Government Reference Serials (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1988); LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf, comp. Government Reference Books 88/89, 11th ed. (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1990); Pricilla C. Geahigan and Robert F. Rose, Eds. Business Serials of the U.S. Government, 2nd ed. (Chicago: American Library Association, 1988), "Notable Documents" in Government Publications Review 14, no. 6 (1987): 607-25; 15, no. 6 (1988): 515-33; and 16, no. 6 (1989): 537-54.
49. 41. LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf, comp. Government Reference Serials (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1988); LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf, comp. Government Reference Books 88/89, 11th ed. (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1990); Pricilla C. Geahigan and Robert F. Rose, Eds. Business Serials of the U.S. Government, 2nd ed. (Chicago: American Library Association, 1988), "Notable Documents" in Government Publications Review 14, no. 6 (1987): 607-25; 15, no. 6 (1988): 515-33; and 16, no. 6 (1989): 537-54.
50. 42. Although NCJRS and ERIC microfiche are not included in the FDLP and must be purchased by depository libraries, they are included in the assessment since they contain government publications that depository libraries might receive in other formats (in the case of ERIC, depositories libraries receive some of the documents as a part of the FDLP, but not the full collection).
51. 43. Schwarzkopf, Government Reference Books, xii.
52. 44. "Notable Documents," Government Publications Review 16, no. 6 (1989): 537.
53. 45. Joseph F. Caponio and Dorothy Aukofer MacEoin, "The National Technical Information Service: Working to Strengthen U.S. Information Sources," in The Reference Librarian: Government Documents and Reference Services, ed. Robin Kinder, 14, no. 32 (New York: The Haworth Press, Inc., 1991): 217.
54. 46. "The Electronic Federal Depository Library Program: Transition Plan, FY 1996-FY 1998," Administrative Notes 16, no. 18 (December 29, 1995): 1.
55. 47. Cheryl Waldman, CIS Assistant Managing Editor for ASI, telephone interview March 1996, used Current Industrial Reports as an example, but said that CIS plans to continue this practice for titles which become electronic-only publications.
56. 48. CIS 1996-1997 Catalog (Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, Inc., 1995), 1, 6.
57. 49. "NASA Publications Go On-Line," Administrative Notes 17, no. 2 (January 15, 1996): 15.
58. 50. For an interesting article discussing scholarly publishing in an electronic environment, including an argument to use the CD-ROM technology, see Jaap Jasperse, "CD-ROMs: Roadfill or Permanent Landmarks on the Infobahn?" Computers in Libraries 16, no. 3 (March 1996): 64-67.