Government information in the digital age: The once and future federal depository library program

Journal of Academic Librarianship

Volumn 31, Issue 3, 2005, Pages 198-208

  Jacobs, James A ^a   Jacobs, James R ^a   Yeo, Shinjoung ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 19344375311     PISSN: 00991333     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.acalib.2005.02.006     Document Type: Article

References (64)

1. The Declaration of Independence listed among other grievances against King George that "He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures." Thomas Jefferson wrote to Charles Yancey in 1816, "The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves, nor can they be safe with them without information." Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Andrew A. and Bergh Lipscomb, Albert Ellery, vol. 14, p. 384 (Washington, DC: Issued under the auspices of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association of the United States, 1905)
2. James Madison famously noted, "A popular Government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or perhaps both." James Madison Letter to W.T. Barry, August 4, 1822, in James Madison, The Writings of James Madison Comprising His Public Papers and His Private Correspondence, Including Numerous Letters and Documents Now for the First Time Printed, ed. Gaillard Hunt (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1900).
3. The JCP was created in 1846 [9 Stat. 114]. The Printing Act of 1860 [12 Stat. 117] authorized the creation of the GPO under JCP's oversight to centralize government printing services. The FDLP was in essence created in 1813, when Congress first authorized legislation to ensure the provision of one copy of the House and Senate Journals and other Congressional documents to certain universities, historical societies, state libraries, etc. [3 Stat. 140]. The earliest known depository is the American Antiquarian Society [1814]. For more on this history see U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Keeping America Informed: Federal Depository Library Program (Washington, DC: GPO, June 13, 2000), http://www.access.gpo.gov/GPOAccess/su_docs/fdlp/pr/keepam.html (accessed December 12, 2004)
4. Harold C. Relyea, "Public Printing Reform and the 105th Congress," Government Information Quarterly 16, no. 2 (1999): 129-147.
5. The 9/11 Report was a finalist for the 2004 National Book Award in non-fiction. GPO reported over 1.2 million downloads of the 9/11 report in the first few weeks. See U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), "Remarks of Superintendent of Documents Judith C. Russell, Depository Library Conference, Washington, D.C. October 18, 2004," Administrative Notes: Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program 25, no. 11 (October 15, 2004): 11, http://www.access.gpo.gov/ su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/ad101504.pdf (accessed December 13, 2004).
6. Public Printer Bruce R. James has said that the situation has "deprived the public of the uniform and predictable availability of official government documents. It also deprives future generations from having an accurate record of the work of our government." Bruce R. James, Keeping America Informed in the 21st Century: A First Look at the GPO Strategic Planning Process - A Work in Progress, 2 (Washington, DC: GPO, May 1, 2004.), http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/ proceedings/James.DLC.04192004.revised.pdf (accessed February 11, 2005).
7. See for example, John A. Shuler, "New Economic Models for the Federal Depository System - Why Is It So Hard to Get the Question Answered?" Journal of Academic Librarianship 30, no. 3 (May 2004): 243-249, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2004.02.010 (accessed February 10, 2005)
8. David M. Durant, "The Federal Depository Library Program: Anachronism or necessity?" North Carolina Libraries 62, no. 1:30-39, http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00002313/ (accessed December 12, 2004).
9. Most notably, GPO Access, http://www.gpoaccess.gov
10. Bruce R. James, Statement Before the Committee on House Administration on the Transformation of the U.S. GPO to Meet the Demands of the 21st Century, 5 (Washington, DC: GPO, April 28, 2004.), http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cr/testimony/oversight.pdf (accessed December 12, 2004).
11. "Classified List of Government Publications for Selection By Depositories," Title 44 U.S. Code, Section 1904, http://www.access.gpo.gov/uscode/title44/chapter19_.html (accessed December 12, 2004).
12. I b i d.
13. The Web and digital publishing has exacerbated a problem that has existed for some time. OMB regulations and GPO agreements have made it easier for agencies to contract out even paper and ink publishing to private sector publishers. Norman Oder, "GPO, OMB agree on agency printing," Library Journal 128, no. 12 (July 2003): 20, http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA307078 (accessed February 14, 2005).
14. Title 44 U.S.Code, 2000 edition, http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/ index.html (accessed December 13, 2004).
15. According to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, "Of the five agencies that did publish eligible documents electronically, only one said that it had submitted these documents to GPO." U.S. Government Accountability Office, Government Printing Office: Actions to Strengthen and Sustain GPO's Transformation, Report 04-830, June 30, 2004. 14, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04830.pdf (accessed December 12, 2004)
16. Recent reports have stated that the number of fugitive documents may be more than 50% of all electronic documents. Some agencies - for example the National Institutes of Health - have found that almost 80% of their documents are not provided to GPO for dissemination. See U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), "First Fugitive Documents Week Nets 222 New Titles," Administrative Notes: Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program 25, no. 5 (April 15, 2004), 1-3, http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/ad041504.pdf (accessed February 11, 2005).
17. Bruce R. James, Statement Before the Committee on House Administration on the Transformation of the U.S. GPO to Meet the Demands of the 21st Century, 4 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, April 28, 2004.), http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cr/testimony/oversight.pdf (accessed December 12, 2004).
18. See, for instance, "Summary of Meeting on the Future of the GPO Sales Program," Administrative Notes: Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program 25, no. 5 (April 15, 2004): 13, http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/ad041504.pdf (accessed February 11, 2005).
19. U.S. Government Printing Office, A strategic vision for the 21st century, 2 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, December 1, 2004), http://www.gpo.gov/congressional/pdfs/04strategicplan.pdf (accessed December 13, 2004).
20. GPO, Strategic Vision, 1.
21. "Summary, 2003 Fall Meeting Depository Library Council October 19-22, 2004 [sic] Washington, DC Fall Council/Depository Library Conference Meeting October 19-22, 2003," Arlington, VA. Administrative Notes: Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program 25, no. 3 (February 25, 2004): 12, http://www.access.gpo.gov/ su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/ad022504.pdf (accessed February 10, 2005).
22. GPO's other major planning document, "United States Government Printing Office (GPO) Concept of Operations (ConOps V1.0) for the Future Digital System, Final" (October 1, 2004), http://www.gpo.gov/news/ 2004/ConOps_1004.pdf (accessed February 4, 2005), covers the technical details of a new content management system, including specific modules for charging. Attempts to discuss policy implications of this document at ALA midwinter 2005 were deflected by GPO: Government Documents Roundtable, Minutes of meeting of Government Information Technology Committee (January 16, 2005).
23. For example, Digital Rights Management tools that restrict access and use of sound recordings and movies; Web sites that require payment to get copies of documents that are downloadable or printable; services that require users to register and provide personal information to obtain or read documents; and authentication tools such as the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) that are designed, not just to verify the authenticity of a document, but also to check "the customer's authority to access it," protect copyright, and prevent "piracy." For more details on DOI, see David Sidman, The Digital Object Identifier (DOI): The Keystone for Digital Rights Management (DRM), Draft submitted to the SIIA Digital Rights Management (DRM) Working Group, January 26, 2001, http://www.contentdirections.com/ materials/SIIA-DOIandDRM-DavidSidman.htm (accessed February 4, 2005). For an example from GPO, see how it made its own 2004 Annual Report available through a commercial service: http://www.gpo.gov/congressional/ index.html (accessed February 4, 2005). Note the 3700 word "terms of service" document http://www.zinio.com/terms (accessed February 4, 2005).
24. Exchange between Greta Marlatt and Bruce James, "Summary, 2003 Fall Meeting Depository Library Council October 19-22, 2004 [sic] Washington, DC Fall Council/Depository Library Conference Meeting October 19-22, 2003," Arlington, VA. Administrative Notes: Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program 25, no. 3 (February 25, 2004): 18, http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/ad022504.pdf (accessed February 10, 2005).
25. Jim Jacobs, e-mail to Govdoc-l mailing list, October 27, 2004, govdoc-lλists.psu.edu "Depository Library Conference and DLC Meeting," http://lists1.cac.psu.edu/cgi-bin/ wa?A2=ind0410d&L=govdoc-l&T=0&F=&S=&P=7778. Mr. Jacobs' question "Will GPO Guarantee full functionality of free access" was addressed to Council members, GPO, and other DLC attendees. In a separate e-mail to govdoc-l, a report of Cathy Hartman, GODORT Councilor, forwarded by John Stevenson, GODORT Chair, listed the same as one of GODORT's "issues and concerns." John A. Stevenson, e-mail to Govdoc-l mailing list, November 11, 2004, govdoc-l@lists.psu.edu "Update from the Government Documents Round Table" http://lists1.cac.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0411B and L=govdoc-l and P=R5207 and I=-3 (accessed January 21, 2005).
26. Regarding the restructuring of the FDLP, see for example Mr. James' March 2004 testimony to the Legislative Branch Subcommittee Hearing on the FY05 Budgets for the General Accounting Office, Government Printing Office, and Congressional Budget Office, etc., regarding restructuring of FDLP, http://appropriations.senate.gov/hearmarkups/ record.cfm?id=218689 (accessed February 14, 2005).
27. GPO, Strategic Vision, 1.
28. Ibid., Section IV. C., 2.
29. Ibid., Section V. I. 4, 8.
30. GPO recently announced their intention to produce and distribute to FDLP libraries only the 50 titles listed on "Essential Titles for Public Use in Paper Format," http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/ estitles.html (accessed February 14, 2005). GPO's plan eliminates print distribution to FDLP libraries and will take effect on October 1, 2005. The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) released an action alert on January 26, 2005, urging librarians and the public to contact their congressional delegations to ensure that libraries and the public have permanent access to government information, http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash/aa01262005.html (accessed February 14, 2005).
31. GPO, Strategic Vision, Section V. I. 4, 8.
32. I b i d.
33. Ibid., V. I. 5, 8.
34. Bruce R. James, Keeping America Informed in the 21st Century: A First Look at the GPO Strategic Planning Process - A Work in Progress, 3 (Washington, DC: GPO, May 1, 2004.), http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/ fdlp/pubs/proceedings/James.DLC.04192004.revised.pdf (accessed February 4, 2005). See also Strategic Vision, sections IV. C, IV. D, and V. A.
35. This is embedded in the technical plan for delivery of information where, in the fourth step of a diagram of the retrieval function, "ordering" and "cost and order information" are included. U.S. Government Printing Office, Concept of Operations (ConOps v 1.0) for the Future Digital System, 42 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, October 1, 2004), http://www.gpo.gov/news/ 2004/ConOps_1004.pdf (accessed February 11, 2005).
36. Bruce R. James, Statement Before the Committee on House Administration on the Transformation of the U.S. GPO to Meet the Demands of the 21st Century, 4 (Washington, DC: GPO, April 28, 2004.), http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cr/testimony/oversight.pdf (accessed February 4, 2005).
37. "The mission of the FDLP is to assure current and permanent public access to the universe of information published by the U.S. Government." U.S. Government Printing Office, Managing the FDLP Electronic Collection: A Policy and Planning Document, Second Edition, (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, June 18, 2004), http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/ecplan2004rev1.pdf (accessed December 13, 2004).
38. GPO's treatment of CDs and DVDs shows a misunderstanding of digital information issues. CD-ROMs and DVDs are simply tools for transferring digital information - just as protocols such as FTP and HTTP are tools for transferring digital information. GPO's treatment of one method of transferal differently from another confuses content with transmission of the content. The transmission mechanism, whether "tangible" or not, has nothing to do with whether or not the content will be usable or preservable once transferred.
39. The shift to digital information has exacerbated a problem that has existed for some time. Since 1981, the American Library Association has tracked the government's restriction of access to information. See American Library Association, Washington Office, Less Access to Less Information by and about the U.S. Government (two volumes) (Washington, DC: American Library Association, February 1988, February 1992). See also http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/WOissues/governmentinfo/lessacc.htm (accessed December 14, 2004). See more recently, OMB Watch and the Center for Democracy and Technology, Ten Most Wanted Documents for 2004 (Washington, DC: OpenTheGovernment.org, April, 2004), http://openthegovernment.org/filemanager/download/13/TenMostWanted.pdf (accessed February 14, 2005).
40. While there is no comprehensive list of digital information withdrawn from publicly accessible federal government Web sites, a perfunctory search will quickly find a disturbing pattern by the Federal government since 9/11 to recall documents and information from public government Web sites deemed "sensitive." See for example, ALA Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT), "Balancing Information Access Since September 11-A Background Issues Kit", http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/ GODORT/education/current/ (accessed December 12, 2004).
41. See for example, the Memory Hole (http://www.thememoryhole.org/), Project on Government Secrecy (http://www.fas.org/sgp/index.html), and Outraged Moderates (http://www.outragedmoderates.org/).
42. The University of California's California Digital Library (CDL) "has been awarded a three-year, $2.4 million grant from the Library of Congress as part of the National Digital Information and Infrastructure Preservation Program (NDIIPP). The award is for a project to develop Web archiving tools that will be used by libraries to capture, curate, and preserve collections of Web-based government and political information. CDL will be partnering with New York University, the University of North Texas, the UC libraries, and the San Diego Supercomputer Center, among others. In addition, the UC Santa Barbara libraries received a three-year, $2.6 million grant from NDIIPP to form a multi-partner repository for digital geographic information such as maps, aerial and space photographs, population figures and other data." "CDL Receives $2.4 Million Library of Congress Grant," CDLINFO Newsletter 7, no. 18 (October 14, 2004), http://www.cdlib.org/inside/news/cdlinfo/cdlinfo101404.html (accessed February 14, 2005).
43. See, for instance the controversy over instructions from GPO to FDLP libraries to destroy certain already distributed Department of Justice documents. The decision was changed and replacement copies were offered after the issue became public. Judith C. Russell, message to FDLP Listserv fdlp-lPO.GOV, August 9, 2004, "Replacement copies of five DOJ documents for depositories that had removed them," http://listserv.access.gpo.gov/scripts/ wa.exe?A2=ind0408&L=gpo-fdlp-l&F=&S=&P=280 (accessed, January 21, 2005).
44. George Lardner Jr. "History of U.S.-Greek Ties Blocked CIA Opposes Disclosure of Proposed Covert Actions in '60s" Washington Post August 17, 2001 A21
45. For more information, see the Final Report of the Task Force on Restrictions on Access to Government Information (RAGI) of the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association, and the Historical Context bibliography at the same site, http://www2.library.unr.edu/dept/bgic/Duncan/RAGI.html (accessed February 14, 2005).
46. "Free use of Government publications in depositories; disposal of unwanted publications," Title 44 U.S. Code Section 1911. 2000 edition, http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html (accessed December 13, 2004).
47. GPO, Strategic Vision. IV. A, 2.
48. Although it is technically possible to accomplish some of this by integrating bibliographic records from various sources pointing to materials not held by a library and thus create a catalog for a 'virtual collection,' there are problems with this solution. First, GPO has yet to guarantee that it will make bibliographic records for materials in its database available to depository libraries. Second, GPO cannot guarantee that it will be able to maintain the accuracy of pointers to virtual documents forever. Third, libraries cannot predict the costs of managing a 'virtual' collection over which they have no control.
49. Abby Smith, "Digital Authenticity in Perspective," in Authenticity in a Digital Environment" (Council on Library and Information Resources, Publication 92, May 2000), http://www.clir.org/ pubs/reports/pub92/smith.html (accessed December 13, 2004).
50. One such system already exists: The Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe (LOCKSS) system developed at Stanford University. It provides a network of libraries with simple technical tools that keep many copies of the same materials, stored in separate digital library collections, from becoming damaged, lost, or altered, http://lockss.stanford.edu/, http://lockss-docs.stanford.edu/ (accessed December 13, 2004).
51. Patricia Cruse quoted in Aliya Sternstein, "Collection of last resort," Federal Computer Week (August 30, 2004), http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0830/pol-collect-08-30-04.asp (accessed December 13, 2004).
52. "An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights" American Library Association, http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/ privacyinterpretation.html (accessed February 11, 2005).
53. See, for example, American Library Association, Privacy and Confidentiality, http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/privacy.html, and Privacy: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights, http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/privacyinterpretation.html (accessed February 11, 2005).
54. Charles Humphrey, Head, Data Library and Academic Director of the Research Data Centre, University of Alberta, e-mail message to James A. Jacobs, November 26, 2004.
55. The Rehabilitation Act, Public Law 93-112, title V, Sec. 508 requires that Federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities. Title 29 U.S. Code Section 794d. 2000 edition, http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html (accessed December 13, 2004).
56. On page 15 of GAO report #04-830, there are listed various services that the GPO already provides or can successfully provide that are little known to federal agencies. Among these are Web hosting and design, electronic publishing, archiving, financial management services, preflighting, etc. U.S. Government Accountability Office, Government Printing Office: Actions to Strengthen and Sustain GPO's Transformation (Report 04-830, June 30, 2004), http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04830.pdf (accessed December 13, 2004).
57. See for example, "Fall Council/Depository Conference Meeting October 19-22, 2003, Arlington, VA Remarks by Bruce R. James, Public Printer of the United States, Tuesday October 21, 2003," http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/council/ney_james03conf.html (accessed December 13, 2004).
58. I b i d.
59. "Coordination of Federal information policy," Title 44 U.S. Code Chapter 35. 2000 edition, http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/ index.html (accessed December 13, 2004).
60. Office of Management and Budget, Circular A-130, http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a130/a130trans4.html (accessed February 14, 2005).
61. DSpace, http://www.dspace.org, and EPrints, http://www.eprints.org (accessed December 13, 2004).
62. "The Power of the Delete Key" Los Angeles Times January 9, 2002 B.12
63. James A. Jacobs "U.S. Government Computer Bulletin Boards: A Modest Proposal for Reform" Government Publications Review 17 5 September/October 1990 393-396
64. We are attempting to do just that with the creation of Free Government Information (FGI). FGI's mission is to build consensus among the various players (libraries, government agencies, non-profit organizations, researchers, journalists, etc.) who have a stake in the preservation of and perpetual free access to government information. FGI promotes free government information through collaboration, education, advocacy, and research, http://freegovinfo.info (accessed February 14, 2005).