Issues with Government Document Access and Libraries in an Electronic Age An Annotated Bibliography

Traditionally, FDLP Federal Depository Library Program libraries have been the entitiesthat provide citizens with a variety of government information.. One such issue is the potential fo

Mike SmithINFO 522: Information Access & Resources

March 21, 2012

Introduction and Scope

This bibliography covers government document access and libraries in light of the continued move towards digitalization of sources Several articles discuss the place of the depository librarian in this new environment There are a number of studies that specifically address issues such as movement of documents to accommodate new space limitations, the capture of electronic documents, and the permanent access of them Also, some articles discuss the needs and preferences of both users and librarians, which is central since the changes to the way government documents are accessed through libraries affect both parties The articles were published from 1996 to 2011 This scope gives a nice range of the beginning of digitalization to the present time

Description

The government must provide information to its users and libraries serve as an access point Traditionally, FDLP (Federal Depository Library Program) libraries have been the entitiesthat provide citizens with a variety of government information Jacobs, Jacobs and Yeo (2005) observe that the United States is steeped in a tradition of democracy that involves an “informed citizenry” (p 198) However, increased electronic access has changed how this mission takes place (Jaeger, Bertot, & Shuler, 2010, p 469) FDLP libraries in response, need to rethink their methods in order remain part of this new electronic landscape (p 470) A majority of patrons prefer electronic their government information electronically (Laskowski, 2000, p 179)

Furthermore, patrons tend to prefer web-based media for the most part (Burroughs, 2009, p 211) Despite these changes, librarians feel that their essential mission has not changed just because many sources are now born digital (Hartman, 2000, p 301)

Summary of Findings

The shift towards electronic access of government documents has brought much

discussion with it Researchers have chosen to focus their attention on how these depository libraries will be able to continue to function in this new environment For instance, Jaeger, Bertot and Shuler (2010) suggest that FDLP libraries take on a leadership role because so much

of the information is now available online (p 471) Librarians can now serve as “civic guides” rather than simply gatekeepers of information (p 471) In 1996, John Shuler warned that a shift towards electronic access as spurred by the government would lead to tremendous changes for the FDLP (p 420) One such issue is the potential for the Government Printing Office (GPO) to assume total control of the government document publication since more and more agencies are providing their information directly online (Jacobs, Jacobs, & Yeo, 2005, p 199) The result would be less information available (p 199) Pettianto (2007) believes that if the FDLP is dissolved, what happens to electronic documents that the library used to provide (p 708)? Also

if all the information is kept on one government server, there is a potential danger of losing it all should the server go down (p 708) In addition, the GPO was considering charging for its information, which is against its mantra of “free and ready public access” (Jacobs, et al., 2005,

p 200)

Jacobs et al offered a critique of this potential arrangement in their study and suggested some counter strategies Namely, a network of depository libraries is ideal for the new digital environment since it will provide unlimited access as well as deal with any costs because of the sharing of information involved (p 205) As Shuler, Jaeger, & Bertot (2010) suggest, every library can be an access point to e-government resources and this increases the amount of libraries that can fulfill the FDLP mission of public access to government documents (p 14)

Also, more people can access this information regardless of their location, whether it is at home

or at work (p 14)

This network must be in partnership with GPO rather than in opposition to it For

example, as Priebe, Welch, and MacGilvray (2008) observe, the GPO has had a history of

running the FDLP for over a century (p 48), engaging in a number of projects in order to

increase access to government information (p 49) For example, the GPO launched a new version of the Catalog of U.S Government Publications (GCP) in 2006 (p 49) Any easy to use search box allows users to search for themselves, while library staff members can now direct their users to the appropriate URL (p.50) Also the GPO’s newly modified biennial survey keeps FDLP libraries involved by asking them what types of training they require and why or why they would not like to remain as part of the FDLP (p 50) This sort of cooperation is exactly what Shuler discusses in his 2008 follow up to his initial 1996 discussion For instance,

he notes the potential changes in the GPO due to digitalization but he values the library’s place inthis relationship (Shuler, 2008, p 465) Shuler’s model calls for a system of libraries and their staff members that will help patrons navigate this complex mix of print and digital sources (p 465), which is similar to the provision of URLs through GCP noted above Libraries might not physically hold as many sources anymore, but they can provide directions to them as well as instructions on how to use them (p 465) Shuler compares what government document

librarians do to the expertise that lawyers provide to their clients (p 465) Neither has complete knowledge, but both can pull together the necessary information to help their patrons (p 465) Shuler’s observation ties in nicely with Pettinato’s discussion of academic law librarians within the context of the FDLP Pettinato (2007) notes academic law libraries joined the FDLP in 1978 (p 695) It is the responsibility of these librarians as members of the FDLP to keep their citizens

informed (696) Access to legal and government documents is only part of the job, however They instruct patrons in selection and use (p.702)

In addition to discussion, there have been a number of projects that address practical real situations and assess the functionality of libraries For example, The Network of Alabama Academic Libraries (NAAL) funded a project to examine whether or not Alabama academic libraries could work together in order to preserve and catalog state documents (Valente, 2010, p 315) The project examined issues such as selection and location of documents designating responsibility for capturing the documents and cataloging them (p 322) Document format was

a continuing issue (p 322) This same issue springs up in other studies such as the State Library

of North Carolina’s grant funded project that examined government document publishing trends (Martin, 2004, p 625) Since web-based documents are so ephemeral due to the instability of websites, care must be taken to preserve then (p 625) In addition, such documents are often hard to locate, as many of them are not accessible by traditional search engines (p 625)

Despite such issues, Alabama’s program proved to be a success and Valente (2010) reports that

an experienced cataloging staff in collaboration with in an association such as the NAAL can permit documents to be preserved successfully (p 327) It would seem that collaboration is one

of the key mechanisms for functioning in this new environment The network of resources is a recurring theme that runs through these studies

This collaborative effort can prevent electronic government documents from being lost permanently The University of North Texas (UNT) established a partnership with the GPO and the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, an agency that is no longer in

existence (Hartman, 2000, p 301) UNT, as part of its responsibility as a depository library, agreed to preserve the agency’s documents in electronic format and provided links with

information about the agency in addition to the documents themselves (p 303) The most important aspect of this project is the fact that UNT provides a link to an agency that would have disappeared into history otherwise (p 304) Likewise, another successful project was run by the University of Nevada, Reno In order to accommodate space concerns involving a new library building, the library staff had to move a large amount of government documents into storage In addition, a great deal of them were uncataloged (Beisler & Ragains, 2010, p 207) UNR’s project brings up an important issue that is reflected by UNT’s project as well: government documents are only of use if patrons know how to find them, which makes cataloging them essential (p 215) Thus, librarians are still necessary in this new electronic environment, as is outlined in the above literature In addition, websites also provide a unique value: context As aresult, some libraries have chosen to capture “information portfolios” (Lin & Echenfelder, 2010,

p 294) In this case, the seeker does not limit his or her capture to the web document but also includes other information that surrounds it like news or links to other relevant documents (p 294) Again, much of the discussion has shown that librarians are still necessary to provide richer access to government documents than users might have found on their own

Finally, there have been a few studies that really focus on the participants themselves: librarians and patrons The University of Denver’s “clickthrough” study over the course of six years tracked users’ preferences for electronic sources by accumulating data on selected URLs (Brown, 2011, p 43) While there is a potential privacy issue that mirrors some of the above concerns about a single government agency being in control of all government information, Brown’s report on University of Denver’s project does provide some nice data on what types of documents are being accessed and what format and with what frequency (p 55) Also, while surveys may reflect opinions, this project was able to track actual behavior (p 45) The results

indicate that the preference for online access is on the rise (p 55) According to a University of Illinois Documents Library survey, 58.9 percent of users preferred electronic sources overall while 60.7 percent preferred them when it came to government document access (Laskowski,

2000, p 179) This preference is not relegated to simply internet access, though, and as

Laskowski notes, many users also found that both the internet and CD-ROMS were useful (p 180) However, despite their preference of electronic materials, only 10.7 percent of these users made use of online tutorials (p 180)

It would appear that many of these users are either unaware of help or do feel that it is necessary (p 180) For instance, Burroughs (2008) notes that a majority of users would rather seek help from a peer or a search engine for help rather than seek out the help of a reference librarian (p 206, 208) Even government-oriented search engines are selected less than more general search engines, according to a University of Montana survey (p 207) There is a trend towards electronic access of government documents, but users seem to prefer to find the sources

on their own

In addition to users, librarians’ concerns also merit discussion Laskowski (2000)

observes that in the University of Illinois study, a high percentage (97%) of documents

specialists work in departments with public access to the public (p 78) However, a majority of those surveyed still work in departments that focus on print sources (p 78) Also 65.6 percent continue to search for CD-ROM versions of materials that are located on the internet (p 78) While admitting the value of online access to government documents, 29.2 percent of the

specialists expressed concern about this trend towards online access (p 78) This could be the result of lack of training, although in the case of the Illinois study, 69.8 percent of the surveyed

departments reported that they provided training for staff members in electronic government resources (p.78)

This contradicts the findings of Yelinek and Hinchcliff (2009), whose examination of a study of interim government documents librarians indicate a lack of training (p 55) Likewise, Mack and Prescod (2008) stress the need to educate document librarians, especially in issues of access (p 105) Also the distinction between government documents librarian and reference librarian is becoming less clear (p 105) This makes training even more essential With such technological advances, there is a wide variety of online tutorials that can be developed to help librarians with their government documents tasks (p 108) Yelinek and Hinchcliff found that due

to staffing and funding cuts, many of these librarians are not only new to the field, but occupy an interim position and are less likely to press the status quo as they view their positions as

temporary until they become “real” librarians (p 55) This fact, coupled with the interim status

of many of these documents librarians could account for Laskwoski’s (2000) findings that a small percentage provide training to their patrons (p 178) Perhaps this is why so many patrons

do not engage in reference interactions when it comes to electronic government documents

Thus, access to government documents has gone through some changes because of the digital age However, as the above studies note, the job of government document librarians remains essentially the same They are obligated to serve their community by assessing what their patrons want and seeking the necessary training to be able to provide these services Service has moved beyond simple collection management, though It was moved into the realm

of teaching users the meanings and uses of the documents they seek This can only be done if librarians are willing to stay in the game, so to speak Overall, as the above discussions indicate,

access to government documents in a newly electronic age involves a willingness to adhere to library principles

Bibliography

Beisler, A & Ragains, P (2010) A new way to manage uncataloged materials: A case study

form moving the University of Nevada, Reno’s federal depository collection

Collaborative Librarianship, 2(4), 204-217

Abstract: “In 2008, the University of Nevada, Reno Library moved into a new building, the

Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center As part of this move, approximately half of the library’s print collections were moved into the building’s automated storage and retrieval system; a substantial portion of these materials were federal depository materials This case study

describes how cataloging and government documents staff at the University of Nevada, Reno collaborated to achieve intellectual and physical control over a huge, largely uncataloged

government documents collection destined for automated storage More than 9,000 linear feet ofuncataloged government documents had to be placed into an automated storage system that requires catalog records for all stored items To accommodate uncataloged documents, staff devised a way to create bulk catalog records, store these materials efficiently, and provide user access The authors explain how this project was planned and executed as part of the library move, and then assess the success of the project and its impact on public and technical service operations after a year of working with the new system The impact on public access in moving this collection is particularly significant in light of the library’s service mandate as a regional federal depository.” (Published Abstract)

Annotation: The University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) recently opened a new building in 2008:

the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center As a result, the staff needed to find a way to store their government documents Using automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) is nothing new They have been around since the 1970s and despite issues with them, by the 1990s libraries werebeginning to delve into them again, so UNR had a system to use This large collection of

government documents, many of them uncataloged, created a great challenge for the staff The move entailed separating the cataloged from uncataloged items, using a yellow card separating system Items needed to be barcoded and placed in appropriate bins to be housed in the

Mathewson Automated Retrieval System (MARS) The move proved to be very successful, adding over 30,000 government publications and RAND documents to the catalog It should be noted that the move showed that the use of the government documents increases when patrons can actually find them, so cataloging them was a key aspect to the move Users actually

preferred the new system of going to the desk to obtain government documents because it saved them the trouble of having to locate them themselves UNR’s storage system is worthy of study because it shows a very real example of what to do with government information when space andmoney is a concern It also shows how much work needs to be done to provide access to

previously uncataloged government items from a library perspective Collaboration between the cataloging and government documents staff was key to the success of the project

Authority: Amalia Beisler is Head of Metadata and Cataloging, Mathewson-IGT Knowledge

Center, University of Nevada, Reno Patrick Ragains is a Business & Government Information Librarian, University of Nevada, Reno

Scholarly/Refereed Status: According to Ulrichsweb, the journal is both “Scholarly/academic”

and “Refereed.” I confirmed this by going to the journal’s website

Search Strategy: I went into the Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W

Wilson) and used a controlled vocabulary search with the subject field using the advance search

My search terms were <SU government publications AND libraries> I limited the search by year: 2009-2012 and to academic journals I was able to obtain the article via the Library

Literature & Information Full Text database itself

Database: Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W Wilson)

Method of Search: controlled vocabulary: subject field

Search String: <SU government publications AND libraries> (limited by 2009-2012 and

academic journal refine tabs)

Brown, C (2011) Knowing where they went: Six years of online access statistics via the online

catalog for federal government information College & Research Libraries, 72(1), 43-61.

Abstract: “As federal government information is increasingly migrating to online formats,

libraries are providing links to this content via URLs or persistent URLs (PURLs) in their online public access catalogs (OPACS) Clickthrough statistics that accumulated as users visited links

to online content in the University of Denver’s library OPAC were gathered over a six-year period and were analyzed Among the conclusions were that DU users prefer online content over print for both newer and older documents and that there is great benefit in adding URLs above and beyond the URLs supplied by GPO cataloging.” (Published Abstract)

Annotation: In 1994, the Government Printing Office (GPO) introduced Web portal, which

began a new era of digital access to government documents Larger percentages of government documents are being produced digitally Depository libraries are running into space issues as a bulk of the space is being taken up by print sources; however these areas are being replaced by group study areas and other library services The Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries asked its depository libraries to try to reduce redundancy holdings The University of Denver (DU) hastried to tackle the issue by preserving its legacy collection and bringing in practically no new print sources DU has just completed a six year study that tracks URL click-throughs and

compares online usage with print usage of government documents They accomplished this by adding a prefix to each URL that redirects the to a library a server that collects the date, time and URL accessed and then sends the user to the source The library wanted to get a sense of what users wanted DU’s study is placed in context with other such tracking projects and the history

of URLs in catalogs DU’s results are very important to look at because they represent librarians actually trying to get in touch with how patrons want to access their materials in light of a newly digitized environment The study offers a rich amount of data about the type of documents

accessed and the frequency with which they are requested Tables and appendixes are also provided for additional information about trends and types of documents requested One can get

a sense of whether or not older documents are accessed as well It would seem that now that they are available through a catalog, users are more inclined to use them While I think the project is a good example of practical and important work, the one area I might be a little

concerned with would be the privacy issue, especially if you need to log on with an ID to access these government documents For instance, the data can even tell if a user was on or off campus

at time of access This concern is not addressed by the study

Authority: Christopher C Brown is Associate Professor and Reference Technology Integration

Librarian at the University of Denver, Penrose Library

Scholarly/Refereed Status: According to Ulrichsweb, the journal is “Scholarly/Academic” and

“Refereed.” I went to the journal’s website and it is “a refereed journal using double-blind reviewing.”

Search Strategy: I was interested in Laskowski’s 2000 article, “The impact of electronic access

to government information: what users and documents specialists think,” so I decided to see if it was referenced Using Web of Science, I searched for the article by typing in Laskowski’s name

in the author field and using 2000 in the cited year I also limited my search to the Social

Science Index I was able to obtain Brown’s article using Hagerty Library’s

“Get It” feature, which led me to get it through Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W Wilson)

Database: Web of Science: Social Science Index.

Method of Searching: Citation Reference

Search String: <laskowski ms> (cited author); <2000> (cited year)

Burroughs, J.M (2009) What users want: Assessing government preferences to drive

information services Government Information Quarterly, 26(1), 203-218.

Abstract: “Access to government information has changed dramatically in the past 20 years

There are many indicators of information use, but it is challenging for service institutions to gain

a current and comprehensive view of the research practices and preferences of their users Information stakeholders must seek out current data to gauge the potential success of new

initiatives and policies in order to meet user needs To that end, a user study was conducted on the University of Montana campus in the spring of 2006 The survey was sent to a random, stratified sample of the campus population The instrument included questions on the frequency

of government information use, methods of locating and learning about government documents, awareness of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), and service and format

preferences The results show that the majority of researchers are using government information

at least quarterly and that the y most often use general search engines to find it Respondents indicate a strong interest in alerting services, tutorials, virtual reference, and topic-oriented assistance Although some respondents prefer printed materials for specific types of information,

users generally want to find and access government information online The results offer currentdata for program planning, collection development, and information policy creation.” (PublishedAbstract)

Annotation: In the spring of 2006, the University of Montana’s Maureen and Mike Mansfield

Library conducted a survey to assess how its user population searched for and used government documents The steady movement towards the digitalization of government documents carries with it a need to assess whether or not users still want access to traditional print sources Many

of the other past studies have focused on the librarian’s perspective or on web based current documents Montana’s study focuses on user needs as well as “historical” documents A key element of the project is a definition of what constitutes government information: “Government information refers to all publications produced by federal, state, local or foreign governments” (Burroughs, 2009, p 205) The survey was given out to students, staff and faculty members Some interesting results came from the study For instance, 47.6% of faculty indicated that they did not use government information in their lessons Burroughs points out, however, that facultyincluded the whole university and not just the social scientists Many students indicated that a key reason for not using government information was because they were not aware that relevant information existed The government information is being used with a preference towards digitalsources that can be accessed via general search engines Still, the results also indicated that in some instances, maps for example, a sizeable amount of patrons prefer print sources A very thorough appendix with the survey questions accompanies the summary of the results, along with

a variety of tables describing the data The study is valuable because it zeroes in on the needs of users in a practical, realistic setting of an academic library Such studies can also help libraries deal with issues of space and money because they can determine what print materials to keep andwhich ones should be selected as digital This study also makes some suggestions, such as providing email alerts for newly arriving sources as well as subject-based online tutorials to help patrons feel comfortable searching for government documents

Authority: Jennie M Burroughs was the Government Documents Librarian and an Assistant

Professor at the University of Montana at the time of publication She is now an Associate Professor

Scholarly/Refereed Status: Ulrichsweb indicates that the journal is both “Academic/Scholarly”

and “Refereed.” According to the Elsevier Ltd website all submissions “are subject to the

(double-blind) refereeing process All papers are sent out anonymously to members of the

Editorial Board and other reviewers as well.”

Search Strategy: I found Burroughs’s article because it also cited Laskowski’s article Using

Web of Science, I searched for the article by typing in Laskowski’s name in the author field and using 2000 in the cited year I also limited my search to the Social Science Index Through Hagerty’s “Get It” feature, I was able to access the article via the ScienceDirect Freedom

Collection 2012

Database: Web of Science: Social Science Index

Method of Searching: Citation Reference

Search String: <laskowski ms> (cited author); <2000> (cited year)

Hartman, C.N (2000) Storage of electronic files of federal agencies that have ceased operation:

A partnership for permanent access Government Information Quarterly, 17(3), 299-307.

Abstract: “For more than a century, federal depository libraries and the Government Printing

Office (GPO) have acted as partners to provide permanent access to government information in tangible media These partnerships have evolved in the last few years Built on a century of tradition, new partnerships offer permanent access to electronic files of federal agencies

published in nontangible media This article describes one partnership to store and provide access to the electronic files of agencies that have ceased operation As the only Web contact for

an agency, unique challenges arose when historical publications were frequently requested Digitized historical publications, bibliographies, and an agency history enhance services for researchers.” (Published Abstract)

Annotation: In 1995, the GPO began the transition to an electronic Federal Depository Library

Program and with it came the need to find methods of providing permanent access to documents.When government agencies either became defunct or no longer provided access to their websites,the GPO needed a strategy to keep the web based documents available One such strategy was to

form partnerships with depository libraries The GPO’s 1996 Study to Identify Measures

Necessary for a Successful Transition to a More Electronic Federal Depository Library Program

envisioned a network of online partnerships between federal agencies, depository libraries, and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) The GPO would coordinate the efforts The University of North Texas agreed to be a part of the network and took on the

responsibility of preserving the documents for the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR) This partnership between University of North Texas and the GPO was a new model at the time The provision of these documents did come with some concerns One issue was whether or not to maintain files as they are or to update them to combat dead links For the most part the documents were kept the same with slight changes to indicate that the agency was

no longer in existence Links to other websites were kept intact These decisions were supported

by the FDLP Costs were also a factor, but using a grant from AMIGOS, Inc., the library was able to outsource the documents for scanning The University of North Texas made some

enhancements to the partnership site, adding historical and bibliographic information The partnership is worth looking at because it represents the beginning of digital preservation and an attempt to combat issues with government agencies that are constantly going in and out of existence The GPO has a responsibility to provide permanent access through FDLP libraries, which in turn share this responsibility The availability of documents affects their use For instance, the study reported that ACIR documents were in fact in demand through the University

of North Texas Because of the success of the program files from other agencies have been added to the partnership Overall it is a good example of how keep valuable and historical documents from getting lost

Authority: At the time of publication, Cathy Nelson Hartman was a Documents Librarian:

Electronic Resources Coordinator, University of North Texas Libraries She is now the AssociateDean of Libraries, University of North Texas

Scholarly/Refereed Status: According to Ulrichsweb, the journal is both

“Academic/Scholarly” and “Refereed.” The Elsevier Ltd website also states that submissions

“are subject to the (double-blind) refereeing process All papers are sent out anonymously to

members of the Editorial Board and other reviewers as well.”

Search Strategy: I decided to search file 438 Library Literature & Information Science through

Dialog I began with expanding the term government documents so that I could see what

preferred terms would be available I selected the following: government librarians, government printing office and government publications I decided to then select <government printing office and libraries> From here, I combined that set with the term access which gave me the following set: government printing office and libraries and access I did a controlled

vocabulary search using this set and the descriptor field I glanced through the results and selected the article and searched for it in the Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.H Wilson) Database through Hagerty Library and retrieved it directly through the database

Database: Library Lit & Info Sci [Dialog File 438]

Method of Searching: Controlled Vocabulary: Descriptor field

Jacobs, J.A., Jacobs, J.R., & Yeo, S (2005) Government Information in the Digital Age: The

once and future federal depository library program The Journal of Academic

Librarianship, 31(3), 198-208.

Abstract: “Rapid technological change has caused some to question the need for the Federal

Depository Library Program (FDLP) We argue that the traditional roles of FDLP libraries in selecting, acquiring, organizing, preserving, and providing access to and services for governmentinformation are more important than ever in the digital age.” (Published Abstract)

Annotation: We get a sense of the historical background of the GPO starting from its formation

in 1860 and its partnership with FDLP GPO is adjusting to current conditions For instance, government agencies are producing their own digital documents and bypassing the GPO The GPO is seeking to control everything in response rather than have a partnership of multiple locations through FDLP FDLP libraries will still provide access to documents but the GPO is still responsible for choosing what to deposit, which limits access By not depositing items, information can be lost as websites cease to operate The FDLP system provides rich multiple sources of items which are more organized and easier to search, whereas a single database controlled by the GPO would make searches more difficult An FDLP in the newly digital age can provide information to all without charge because the partnership is designed that way If theGPO ran things, it would be responsible for all costs and would have to charge to remain solvent.Also because an item will be deposited permanently, it will be authentic because it is in the libraries’ best interest to make sure it is Privacy of users is easier to maintain if they do not have to log onto a federal website where the government might look at everything that is being read I included this article because it touches on the issues with increasing digitalization of government documents and suggests that FDLP libraries need to adapt in order to avoid a

monolithic system that would actually decrease possible access Librarians need to adapt to these changes to assure privacy and access for their users A single organization-run system might not be able to provide these services The FDLP, on the other hand, can manage these services because of the cooperative

Authority: James A Jacobs Data Services Librarian Emeritus, University of California San

Diego He is one of the co-creators of Free Government Information (http://freegovinfo.info.) James R Jacobs is Government Information Librarian, Stanford University He was a librarian

at the University of California, San Diego at the time of publication Shinjoung Yeo was a reference librarian at the University of California, San Diego at the time of publication

Scholarly/Refereed Status: Ulrichsweb designates the journal as both “Scholarly/Academic” and “Refereed.” According to Elsevier Ltd., submissions “are evaluated using a double blind- reviewing process.”

Search Strategy: I decided to search file 438 Library Literature & Information Science through

Dialog I began with expanding the term government documents so that I could see what

preferred terms would be available I selected the following: government librarians, government printing office and government publications I then typed in <government printing office and libraries> From here, I combined that set with the term access which gave me the following set:government printing office and libraries and access I did a controlled vocabulary search using this set and the descriptor field I glanced through the results and selected the article and

searched for it in the Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.H Wilson) Databasethrough Hagerty Library and obtained the article through “Get It,” which led me to Science Direct Journals

Database: Library Lit & Info Sci [Dialog File 438]

Method of Searching: Controlled Vocabulary: Descriptor field

Jaeger, P.T., Bertot, J.C., & Shuler, J.A (2010) The Federal Depository Library Program

(FDLP), academic libraries, and access to government information The Journal of

Academic Librarianship, 36(6), 469-478.

Abstract: “The electronic environment has significantly shifted library capabilities and user

expectations for the delivery of government information and services At the same time, many laws of the federal government have pushed for the creation and distribution of government information through electronic channels However, the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) continues as though these changes will not have a large impact on the program It is time for a meaningful reevaluation of the FDLP program and approaches to government

information by academic libraries generally Drawing upon a range of library research and policy analysis, this paper argues for changes in both concept and practice in the provision of government information by FDLP and other academic libraries and in the educational

preparation of future academic librarians Further, this paper asserts that such a discussion needs

to occur beyond considerations of the current economic environment, which some libraries may view as a reason to restructure the FDLP to achieve cost reductions.” (Published Abstract)

Annotation: A new approach to FDLP is needed to coincide with a shift towards electronic

access of government documents Academic libraries make up more than half the members of FDLP but the partnership has been under pressure due to funding and technical and space issues

that have led a drive towards more electronic access However, there is a great opportunity to increase access to information but this can only happen if FDLP members modernize their approach to government information Access to government information has been an integral part to our country’s history since 1813 The GPO was established in 1860 to combat potential bribery and corruption issues The Depository Act of 1962 has served as a guideline for the FDLP Finally, 1993’s Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act necessitated FDLP’s adaptation to a new electronic environment In 1999, the Starr report appeared online Academic libraries within the FDLP need to find their place Some suggestionsinclude that librarians become civic guides, teaching their users to think critically about the government information they now have broader access to Also, librarians need to recognize thatthey are competing with general search engines such as Google Studies over the years have examined what roles the FDLP can play For instance, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has reported a decline in reference transactions In 2004 the GPO issued a statement that indicated a move towards digital dissemination Overall, this source is a nice discussion of ways for FDLP libraries to accommodate themselves to this new digital era by reemphasizing the public service aspect of librarianship E-government goes beyond just government documents and librarians require education because patrons still need to be shown how to use the

information they have access to Instead of shying away FDLP libraries, especially academic ones, should embrace their role This article gives a nice overview of some of the issues of government document access and how FDLP libraries can respond to them The historical contexts provided are especially useful Some of the suggestions are being applied to real life issues and so move beyond theory

Authority: Paul T Jaegar is an Assistant Professor; Director, Center for Information Policy and

Electronic Government; and Associate Director, Center for Library & Information Innovation, College of Information Studies, University of Maryland John Carlo Bertot is a Professor, Director, Center for Library & Information Innovation; and Associate Director, Center for Information Policy and Electronic Government, College of Information Studies, University of Maryland At the time of publication, John A Shuler was an Associate Professor and

Bibliographer for Urban Planning and Government Planning/Documents Librarian, Richard J Daley Library, University of Illinois at Chicago He is Associate Professor and Department Head/Documents Librarian at the University of Illinois of Chicago

Scholarly/Refereed Status: Ulrichsweb designates the journal as both “Scholarly/Academic” and “Refereed.” According to Elsevier Ltd., submissions “are evaluated using a double blind- reviewing process.”

Search Strategy: I used a controlled vocabulary search using the Subject Field in the Library,

Information Science & Technology Abstracts database I entered the terms government

publications and access in the subject field I selected the appropriate article and found it

through Hagerty’s “Get It” feature I was able to access it through Science Direct Journals

Database: Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA)

Method of Searching: Controlled Vocabulary: Subject Field

Search String: <SU government publications and SU access>