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F e d e r a l D e p o s i t o r y L i b r a r y P r o g r a m

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Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program

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November 15, 2003

GP 3.16/3-2:24/13
(Vol. 24, no. 13)

Responses to Recommendations
of the Depository Library Council
April 6-9, 2003

Reno, NV

RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Online MoCat

Council recommends that the Government Printing Office suspend publication of the printed version of the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications and its Serials Supplement as soon as it is possible to replace these tools with dynamic online versions. The United States Congressional Serial Set Catalog's Numerical Lists and Schedule of Volumes, however, should continue to be published in the printed version.

Rationale: The expense of producing and printing the paper version of the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications and its supplements far outweighs its usefulness to libraries and the public. The new Integrated Library System, when implemented, will allow the Government Printing Office to create timely, dynamic lists of bibliographic records produced by the Government Printing Office by any time interval or format, which could then be printed, downloaded, or used online. This dynamic online version would meet the spirit of the statutory requirement mandating monthly publication of a list of government documents available to the public and indeed would exceed the usefulness of the current printed versions. Because of the unique value of the United States Congressional Serial Set Catalog's Numerical Lists and Schedule of Volumes for reference and collection management, these products should continue to be published in the printed version.

Response:

GPO intends to suspend publication of the printed version of the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications and its Serials Supplement as soon as fully functional online versions are available. The Numerical Lists and Schedule of Volumes, which are part of the United States Congressional Serial Set Catalog, will continue to be published in ink-on-paper format.

These product changes are contingent upon the implementation of the Integrated Library System and development of its online public access catalog components.

2. United States Library of Public Information

Council recommends that as the Government Printing Office pursues its initiative in creating a United States Library of Public Information, the Government Printing Office, along with members of the depository library community, develop a cogent, flexible collection that is:

Comprehensive in scope and content
Fully cataloged
Widely accessible
Permanently archived

Rationale: In today's increasingly electronic environment, the need for a United States Library of Public Information providing permanent public access, full cataloging records, widely accessible and comprehensive in scope, becomes more of a national need. GPO's pursuit of this library will address the current and future needs of the new depository environment.

Response:

The library of public information collection is intended to support and strengthen the U.S. Government Printing Office mission to provide comprehensive, timely, permanent public access to U.S. Government publications in all formats. GPO will acquire and preserve copies of government publications, and digitize them when necessary. GPO will provide online access to electronic format publications and make them available for other GPO dissemination programs. Through access to stored digital objects, and by repurposing those objects for print-on-demand and document delivery services, the collection will support diverse GPO organizations and operations. In addition to publications acquired, harvested, or created for the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), the collection will include agency source data files acquired pursuant to the OMB compact, or the digital objects representing E-docket submissions. The collection will serve as the collection of last resort for Federal depository libraries, in the sense the depository libraries will be able to obtain replacement copies for damaged or lost print items in their legacy collections.

GPO is developing a collection plan that is focused on the digital collection and related document delivery functions of the library of public information. These concepts will be discussed at the Regional Librarians' Meeting, and will be made available to the Council and the library community for review and public comment prior to its finalization. It is GPO's goal to have collection operations begin in fiscal year 2005.