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Newsletter of the Public Documents Forum
of the Virginia Library Association
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Newsletter of the Public Documents Forum of the Virginia Library Association |
| vol. 26, no.3 | August 2001 |
Please send any comments, questions, suggestions, etc. to the editor.-- Janet Justis
Michael DiMario, Public Printer, reported on his testimony regarding
GPO Appropriations before the Senate on May 10, 2001 during his remarks
at ALA. A hearing in the House set for early June was abruptly cancelled,
however, Mr. DiMario has subsequently presented testimony before the House
on June 26, 2001. His remarks before the House are located at:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/public-affairs/ppfy02h.html
On July 5, 2001 ALAWON posted an action alert regarding appropriations
activities which threatened funding for PubScience. Talking points
and sample letters were provided at:
http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon/alwn1053.html
During conference many wondered if S. 803 would be fast-tracked now that Senator Lieberman was chairing the Committee on Governmental Affairs. The pace has quickened as a hearing on S. 803 was held on July 11, 2001. Sharon Logan, University Librarian, at the University of Illinois at Chicago testified on behalf of the American Library Association, the American Association of Research Libraries, and the American Association of Law Libraries. A complete witness list is available at: http://www.senate.gov/~gov_affairs/071101_witness.htm
Additional information about the hearing on S. 803 can also be found
at:
http://sunsite.berekely.edu/GODORT
ALAWON's summary of the E-Government testimony and related activities
posted on 7/13/01 can be viewed at:
http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon/alwn1055.html
On July 16, 2001 the full Senate was scheduled to consider funding on the appropriations bill affecting PubScience. Action alerts once again went out from Cindi Wolff, GODORT Chair, and Laura Dickson, GODORT Legislation Chair. The Senate version is S. 1171. Amendments were not expected. GODORT Legislation is asking its members to contact their Senators to request full funding for PubScience.
If you feel like you need a scorecard to keep up; you probably do.
If you haven't contacted your legislators; you probably SHOULD. Many
thanks to Cindi Wolff, GODORT Chair, and Laura Dickson, GODORT Legislation
Chair, for hitting the ground running following ALA's annual conference.
They have worked closely with the ALA Washington Office to keep us informed
and to provide background information to help speed up grass roots efforts.
A word of thanks to former GODORT Legislation Chair, Bill Sudduth, for
revamping the Legislation website with up to the minute news. Take
a look at the Legislation Committee's page at: http://Sunsite.Berkeley.edu/GODORT/legislation/
Bill is also the new GODORT Chair/Elect. Summer is often the
doldrums for legislation, but not this year; it's just getting HOT.
Michael DiMario, Public Printer, opened the FDTF update session by discussing recent appropriations activities. The Jeffords' switch has further broken the pattern for handling an appropriations process that was already noticeably slow given the Bush transition and now faces changes in committe chairs in the Senate.
DiMario stated that the Senate hearing on GPO appropriations held on May 10th was uneventful with no real questions from Senator Bennett regarding the S&E budget for the FDLP. The Bush budget requested $29,639,000 for the S&E which is an increase over the past few years. Perhaps the only controversial parts of the hearing related to explaining the shortfall funding for 2000. DiMario's testimony can be found at http://www.access.gpo.gov/public-affairs/ppfy02s.html
The House had scheduled a hearing for June which was abruptly cancelled. (see previous column for update) The House has recommeded that GPO's request for air conditioning renovations be submitted in a supplemental funding request and DiMario indicated that that has been done.
The Joint Committee on Printing has not organized as of yet. Chris Dodd (D-CT) is likely the new chair following the changes in the Senate after the Jeffords' split. Former chair McConnell never called a meeting of this group. H. Resolution 148 establishes a framework for naming the members of the Joint Committee on Printing.
DiMario expressed concerns about the Lieberman E-Government Bill (S. 803) as GPO is not mentioned directly in the bill and there are some duplicate functions among current operations and the proposed legislation. Fran Buckley, Superintendent of Documents, did meet briefly with Lieberman staffer, Kevin Landry, as the bill was being drafted.
DiMario and others wonder where the bill is headed following the changes in the Senate. Now that Liberman is chair of the Committee on Governmental Affairs the bill could be fast-tracked. Mr. DiMario noted that the bill seems to have picked up some of the NCLIS recommendations, but rejected the idea of a single agency concept, e.g. PIRA. He feels that the bill is important for stimulating discussion and debate on the dissemination of government information.
As to political appointments in the Bush administration . . . DiMario is "still here" and has served as the Public Printer for 8 years (2/19/01 was his anniversary). Rumors have been circulating that Bob Hault might be nominated, however, any appointment that is not in the process by July 4th may not be viable in this legislative session according to DiMario.
Fran Buckley, Superintendent of Documents,
opened his remarks with a number of quotes many of which can be applied
to the ongoing saga of GPO's role/fate in light of the NCLIS Report, the
GAO Report, and the new E-government bill. Buckley offered several
quotes from Yogi Berra:
| "When you come to a fork in the road; take it"
"It ain't over til it's over," "You learn a lot by watching," |
 |
Buckley discussed the results of a recent poll regarding the depository program. Thirty depository libraries were included in the poll. A majority of respondents, 69%, strongly agreed that the depository program provides a single channel for retrieving government information which might otherwise be difficult to acquire. When asked if online formats create a diminished need for cataloging and indexing; 55% strongly disagreed while 21% disagreed. Further comments on the poll will be published in Administrative Notes.
Buckley commented that 62% of new titles added to the FDLP were electronic. He commended GPO staff for adding value to these titles by identifying, organizing, cataloging and permanently maintaining information.
Buckley mentioned that next month LPS begins a joint project with OCLC's web document archive. The idea is to build an archive and the tools needed to use it. Some of the specifics include developing a toolkit, creating new tools, and building an offsite archive facility. In Phase 1, Corc will be utilized to identify and harvest information. In one year, GPO archived electronic 1,300 items.
Buckley also discussed the possibility of partnerships with FirstGov. Eric Brewer's original concept of one-stop access was conceived in the very broadest sense. As many have noted, the collection is not yet comprehensive and the search engine not fully refined. One type of partnership might be to explore replacing the Pathway Indexer with FirstGov.
Buckley thanked Kevin Reynolds for his work on the Needs and Offers
section of GOVDOC-L. Kevin has accepted a new position and will no
longer be maintaining N&O's. GPO has taken over this task
temporarily and is looking for a new partnership. The new N&O's
link is http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/tools/needs_of/index.html
Lists can currently be sent to Joe Paskoski at jpaskpski@gpo.gov.
For information about becoming a partner with GPO contact George Barnum
at gbarnum@gpo.gov.
| In concluding his remarks, Buckley honored the host city quoting Kipling
who said,
"San Francisco has but one draw-back, 'tis hard to leave." |
 |
T.C. Evans, EIDS, brought us up to date on GPO Access in a presentation deemed the "care and feeding of the beast".
It's All in the Numbers:
He also announced that there are two new GPO Access products; E-CFR
(Beta version) and the new GPO Access Training Manual (PDF versions of
the inserts). The new manual will include search tips, and library
personnel will be notified of updates via various listservs. You
can access the PDF via: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/26june20011000/www.access/gpo.gov/su_docs/help/trainingbk/trainingbk01.pdf
or download at:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/help/trainingbk/trainingbk01.exe
Evans reminded the group of the following "What's New" on GPO Access:
In the 6th series of evaluation of navigation aids to improve positioning for GPO Access, FirstGov lept to the top for retrieving GPO Access information. SearchGov.com and Goggle (the former #1) remained strong as well. Some paid positioning for the Online Bookstore will be considered.
Evans suggested we look out for things on the horizon including an online GPO Access User Survey, E-CFR, and direct contact with FirstGov as they continue a partnership to replace the Pathway Indexer (testing now).
Two working groups have been formed to encourage cooperation. Cross Agency Portals includes work with FirstGov in creating portals based on topic areas, e.g., DOE might create "Science.gov"; the Federal Consumer Information Center would host "Kids.gov", and the Dept. of Labor would develop "Employers.gov".
The Cross Agency Feedback Group would then provide comments/feedback on various groups and projects.
Bob Wendling, STAT-USA, reported that this is a bittersweet time for some longterm products. The popular NTDB CD-ROM will cease production in October following it's 11th anniversary. The FDLP dropped the CD-ROM product in 2001. The internet version of STAT-USA came up in 1994, and enjoys high use today including over 500 site licenses and thousands of single users. The FDLP allows free access for 2 workstations, however, many libraries pay for additional access via site licenses to STAT-USA online.
USA Trade is a new disc from last year. This is a partnership with the Census and uses Beyond 2020 software. Euro Trade Online was brought up in March 2001 and contains merchandise trade data for 15 countries in the European Union / Eurostat www.eurotradeonline.gov. Single and site licenses are available.
Wendling reported that Kathleen Cooper is the new under secretary at Commerce. Ms. Cooper was a former chief economist at Mobile/Texxon.
He also reported that "STAT-USA Internet Companion to International
Business" is a new book aimed at helping faculty incorporate data
into international marketing classes. Depository libraries should receive
paper copies under SuDoc # C 1.91:ST 2/12. It's also available for
sale at $20.00 and is 60 pages. Current STAT-USA subscribers can
access the full .pdf from the web at:
http://www.stat-usa.gov/pub.nsf/abstracts?OpenView
Wendling also reported that Commerce is negotiating for OECD data for a fee. They are developing a Spanish website, working with FirstGov to develop an "economy.gov" portal and enhancing user statistics for their subscriber sites.
Sandra Rowland represented the Census Bureau as Barbara Aldrich was not feeling well. Ms. Rowland reminded the audience that users can access the 2000 Census from the agency's main web page at http://www.census.gov or directly via American FactFinder at http://factfinder.census.gov
She added that there are two portals for retrieving data. "Basic Facts" is designed to assist novices in obtaining Census data. There are quick tables "QT" and Geographic Comparison Tables "GCT" offering data at fewer geographic levels. Redistricting data for all states was released in April. Some of the STF1 data is now appearing for states on a revolving roll out.
The expericenced user will be better served by using the "Data Sets" function of Factfinder. This allows for customization of sets at the lowest level geographies. You can select up to 500 geographies and 50 tables. Online training for using Census data can be printed from the website.
Ms. Rowland noted that the "help" function refers to help for the page you're on. Also metadata for products is available.
Ms. Rowland announced that in 2010, the Community Survey may replace the long form traditionally used in the decennial census.
Bill Stewart and Ms. Rowland explained that the current web access reflects a tiered approach to data retrieval. Tier 1 will provide the user with demographic profiles (canned PDF) data. Tier 2 is designed to be interactive and much richer, sometimes with a two month lag. Still being considered is a Tier 3 for possible release in 2002 which would provide users with access to micro-data sets.
GODORT Program Committee is considering a pre-conference using Census data in Atlanta in 2002. Setting will be very limited to allow for hands-on activites (estimate 40 spots). Watch the GODORT site for further news. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/GODORT/
Federal Documents Task Force Business Meeting, June 17, 2001
| Many conference attendees took a ride on the Carousel at Yerba Buena Gardens. Some of the agency update reports reminded us that the wild ride of the FDLP continues to go round and round, and where it stops. . . |  |
Gil Baldwin, GPO, provided additional updates at the FDTF Business Meeting. Mr. Baldwin reported that there is only one inspector, Walter Zoeller, at this time. Charles Bradsher recently left to accept a position at the Defense Technical Information Center. Given the staffing situation, inspections have been severely curtailed and additional self-studies are not being requested at this time. A backlog of 80 self-studies will be reviewed as soon as possible.
Baldwin also reported that 4 experienced catalogers have accepted positions (promotional opportunities) at the Library of Congress. GPO's Personnel Office is reviewing the loss of experienced personnel to other federal agencies and may develop plans to fill positions on a "flow" basis rather than in response to individual vacancies. The loss of experienced staff is of concern to GPO and the depository community.
Baldwin indicated that 62% of new information this year is online. Identifying, indexing and cataloging web resources is the principal output of the cataloging branch. Baldwin has asked for volunteer workgroups who might assist GPO in identifying electronic resources and a set of criteria is being developed.
A discussion of "state plans" and the need for possible revision occurred. Many of the first state plans were developed in the early 1980's. Some states still do not have a formal state plan. There are currently 34 state plans on file at GPO. Many early plans focused on concerns for print storage and resource sharing, with many regionals needing storage assistance. In an electronic age state plans need to address how to manage the transition to electronic formats in the 21st Century focusing on electronic resource delivery. What is the role of the Regional? Who should retain information in print when many selectives and Regionals substitute electronic formats for print? GPO stated they would like to see someone in the state retain a tangible copy. This sparked some comments regarding the SuDoc letter dated August 25, 2000, stating that GPO plans to distribute primarily in electronic formats. GPO responded that they are trying to keep major reference works in the print collection. But how do libraries explain to administrators why we now have to download, print, and bind materials or purchase them from GPO sales when these titles have been freely offered in the past? Other questions included, "how to provide service in a world that expects 24 / 7 access?" (Virginia does not have a state plan at present)
Duncan Aldrich commented on the OCLC Digitization Archival Project, indicating that for now, it is primarily an acquistion's project which will later include archival components. Nan Meyers asked if some type of temporary record could be provided especially for the 856 field and titles. Full records could be overlaid later.
Sheila McGarr, Director of the National
Library of Education, provided updates on activites at the department.
She stated that ERIC is part of the National Library of Education and has
a new domain name to better reflect that relationship
http://www.eric.ed.gov
Given flat funding over time and a recent printing moratorium they are looking at discontinuing printing RIE. Ms. McGarr joked that she has discovered that there are indeed fugitive documents within the Dept. of Education and that she plans to address this issue as an internal educational opportunity. They are also hoping to add their online catalog to the web in the near future.
As part of the Bush transition, Ms. McGarr indicated that the Office of Public Affairs is reviewing all products that were in process during the Clinton/Bush transition, adding that this might explain delays in products generally distributed on a more regular basis.
The GODORT chair was asked to respond to a draft initiative from USGS by June 29th. Areas of concern include: identifying areas in the draft report where the FDLP should be mentioned, addressing how public permanent access will be handled, free public access, and including MAGERT in the discussion.
The general feeling from FDTF was that both the NCLIS and GAO Reports have stalled and do not require further comment at this time.
Janet Justis, SL editor & member of the GODORT Legislation Committee 2001-2002
Materials from the program will be posted on the BRASS web site soon:
http://www.ala.org/rusa/brass/
Jennifer began with a whirlwind overview of marketing reference. She stressed that, as with many other aspects of reference work, librarians aren’t the experts. We can be familiar with resources and how to use them, direct customers to appropriate resources, but we cannot write their marketing plans for them. Jennifer compiled a good bibliography of “Business to Consumer” resources.
Anne Streinberger, of the San Diego Association of Governments, discussed her organization and its newly designed web site http://www.sandag.org. SANDAG analyses and posts demographic, tax, land use, economic, business, transportation, employment, and other information to help government planners anticipate needs and better plan for the future. Anne encouraged us to make contacts with organizations such as her’s in our own communities.
John Ganly, of NYPL, gave an overview of the government resources available to assist in marketing research. Of course, most of the GODORT members in the audience were already familiar with these resources. It was refreshing to hear a non-documents librarian extol the virtues of government information. For this former EU depository librarian, it was especially nostalgic to hear the EU resources and web pages praised.
Wendy Diamond, of California State University – Chico, covered privately published marketing materials in her Consumers into Customers presentation. Her concise and information-packed presentation provided a good overview of the many commerically published “life style”, purchasing power, and other targeted sources. They may not identify you by name, but, rest assured, they know who you are, your income, your buying habits, where you vacation, how long it takes you to get to work, how you get there, and much more. Frightening!
The last presenter was Cindi Wolff of the US Dept. of Labor (and GODORT). Her presentation covered grants for small businesses. Unfortunately, I had to leave prior to her presentation, though I’m sure she did a bang up job, as always. (I was participating in a focus group, and receiving a small compensation – can you blame me for leaving?) Check the BRASS web site for Cindi’s handout and the others. Most will contain web links and good bibliographies.
Barbie Selby
UVA Law Library
bselby@virginia.edu
| Sheila McGarr, Director of the National Library of Education, and recipient of the Documents to the People Award |  |
Mara Liasson, speaker, and
National Political Correspondent for NPR |
The CIS Breakfast has become a tradition at annual conference and many of us wondered if that tradition might change with the recent name change from CIS to LexisNexis Academic & Library Solutions. Literature passed out at the conference stated, "New Name - Same Quality and Commitment to Service." Timothy Fusco, Senior Vice President, Sales opened the event by assuring the audience that the high quality products we've come to expect will continue in the new environment. Once again offering a "hot" breakfast, Mr. Fusco joked that he has received numerous emails thanking him and referring to him as "eggs and bacon Tim". So for now, this wonderful tradition continues and is not called "the breakfast formerly known as CIS".
The featured speaker for this year's breakfast was Mara Liasson national political correspondent for NPR. Following in the tradition of last year's speaker Jim Lehrer, she quickly demonstrated her political sense of humor. Ms. Liasson asked if the audience knew the meaning of the word "politics". She then explained that she was certain as librarians we all knew that "poly" meant many, adding that "tics" comes from the root "blood-sucking insects". From that moment on we were in for an insightful and humorous delivery of her take on activities inside the beltline.
Following her prepared remarks, Ms. Liasson took questions from the audience ranging from the state of campaign finance reform to the death penalty. When asked what she thought might happen to campaign finance reform in the House, Ms. Liasson smiled and said Representatives "Delay" and "Doolittle" make a formative team.
Reflecting on the issues surrounding Timothy McVeigh's execution, Ms. Liasson stated that she felt that most of the debate about the death penalty in this country focuses on the concerns that an innocent person might be put to death. This case is so unusual and disturbing that it doesn't really fit the overall discussion of this important issue.
When asked what she thought Gore's future might be, she remarked that but for Monica Lewinsky, Gore would probably be president. This was followed up by a question about when she thought we would elect a female president. Ms. Liasson stated that she feels whenever this happens the individual will have served as vice-president first.
Ms. Liasson commented on all of the speculation as to Vice-President Cheney's health adding that some insiders wonder if he shouldn't offer an orderly retirement after the first term. This would have a significant impact on policy, however, as she stressed that the current Energy Plan is Cheney's vision.
Ms. Liasson commented that the last election reflects a country evenly divided. The recent Jeffords' defection from the Republican party also presents us with a balance of power that is easily shifted. She noted that while most Americans say they favor a tax cut, when asked specific questions about what programs should be cut; they frequently reverse their position favoring protecting social security over a personal tax cut.
Ms. Liasson describes herself as an independent, but one thing is for
certain her humor cuts both ways inside the beltway.
 |
Ann Miller, GODORT Chair, and
Cindi Wolff, Chair/Elect, enjoy the CIS breakfast |
Janet Justis, SL editor
We have another great program coming at the Annual Conference in the Fall: a presentation on the "Freedom of Information Act" that should give us all practical information that will actually help us with reference questions. This is always our goal for our programs.
Also, don't forget our Business Meeting on Thursday evening (October 18th) of the Conference. This is a great chance for anyone new to the Government Information specialty to make networking connections, or anybody who has been in Gov't. Information, but would like to begin to be more active in VLA to get on board! Often we go to dinner together afterwards, another chance for us all to get to know each other better. Come for the meeting and dinner, or just for the meeting. We want to meet you, to learn from you, and to share our thoughts.
And last of all, have a great summer! See you in October at Chesterfield.
Peggy Burgess
Chair, PDF Forum
The editor is always happy to receive news from around the state.
Email notices are fine. Share agency personnel changes, renovation
projects, new collections, distinguised speakers, workshops, and how government
documents support your institution and community.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ja01/ja01_cim_demise.html
The production of the first CIM in 1960 was a major
achievement of the Index Mechanization Project that
predated the MEDLARS system (MEDical Literature
Analysis and Retrieval System). For decades, CIM
enhanced access to the biomedical literature, but its utility
has declined as online access to MEDLINE data has
increased.
Several factors have influenced the timing of the decision to
end publication of the CIM. Among these are declining
subscriptions, easier access by libraries and individuals to
the Internet where Index Medicus citations can be searched
free in MEDLINE via PubMed, and the fact that there are a
variety of other commercial products containing Index
Medicus citations. In addition, there has been a decision by
the Government Printing Office to permit electronic access
in place of hard copy publications for the U.S. Depository
Libraries program.
Citations in Index Medicus and MEDLINE constitute an
invaluable resource, and NLM guarantees they will always
be available. The method of access may change, as
technology evolves, but the millions of references and
abstracts will always be freely accessible to scientists, the
health professionals, librarians, and the public.
2000 Cumulated Index Medicus: The End of an Era.
NLM Tech Bull. 2001 Jul-Aug;(321):e3.
Editor's Note: Many of us aren't surprised that the CIM is
ceasing in print. Most of us use some type of web access including
Medline via PubMed. Some of us have even thought of weeding our print
collections of the various Index Medicus volumes. What is of concern
is the recent threat to funding for PubScience which was modeled after
PubMed. Yes, there is an agreement between GPO and NLM, but will
Congress honor such an agreement when they consider other types of funding
cuts in the future? Just something to think about.