Redefining the Future: Changes in Government Information Judith C. Russell Superintendent of Documents Arizona Library Association November 15, 2006

Background "Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government;... whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.” Thomas Jefferson "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. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." James Madison

GPO Mission Expert publishing and printing services for all 3 branches of the Federal Government Perpetual, free and ready public access to printed and electronic Federal Government information in partnership with the FDLP Dissemination of printed and electronic Federal Government information to the public on a cost recovery basis GPO has 3 essential missions: 3

GPO Mission These missions have a common purpose: “Keeping America Informed” 4

Principles The public has the right of access to government information Government has the obligation to disseminate and provide broad public access to its information Government has an obligation to guarantee the authenticity and integrity of its information Government has an obligation to preserve its information Government information created or compiled by government employees or at government expense should remain in the public domain 5

Historical Perspective 1813 – Initial authorization for distribution of Congressional materials by the Secretary of State 1861 – Government Printing Office (GPO) established in the Legislative Branch to provide Congressional printing services 1895 – Printing Act of 1895 moves FDLP administration to GPO; requires Monthly Catalog 1993 – GPO Access Act of 1993 – Requires online access to the Congressional Record and Federal Register and authorizes online access to other Federal publications 2003 – GPO becomes an affiliated archives for GPO Access through an MOU with NARA 6

Access Required GPO, through the depository library program, has the responsibility for permanent public access to Federal publications that are within the scope of the FDLP. “Depository libraries shall make Government publications available for the free use of the general public…” It’s the law (44 U.S.C. 1911) … 7

FDLP Publications … all published Federal government information products, regardless of format or medium, which are of public interest or educational value, except for those products which are for strictly admin- istrative or operational purposes, classified for reasons of national security, or the use of which is constrained by privacy considerations. Scope of the FDLP: 8

Electronic Transition Study to Identify Measures Necessary for a Successful Transition to a More Electronic Federal Depository Library Program 5% of titles distributed to depositories were electronic (mostly CD- ROM) :

Electronic Transition 92% of the new titles are available online, whether or not they are also available in tangible form 21% of the new titles are available both online and in one or more tangible formats 8% of the new titles are available to depository libraries only in tangible form (primarily maps) 10 Ten Years Later:

New Roles for GPO Providing no-fee online public access through GPO Access Managing an electronic collection/archive Brokering for depositories to access information directly from Federal agencies Ensuring permanent public access to electronic Government information Developing locator and other services 11

GPO Access is an award- winning service of the U.S. Government Printing Office that provides free online access to Federal Government information. 12

2004, A New Vision “To deliver Federal information products and services from a flexible digital platform.” congressional/pdfs/ 04strategicplan.pdf 13

Legacy Digitization “The goal is to digitize a complete legacy collection of tangible U.S. Government documents to make sure that these materials are available, in the public domain, for permanent public access.” Joint Committee on Printing recently approved a 6-month demonstration project. Specifications, priorities for digitization and other details are available at: 14

Legacy Digitization The collection will date back to the beginning of the Federal government Digital conversion will begin in 2006 with print publications, but will eventually include microfiche and other tangible formats. Digitization specifications are for both preservation and access GPO will “digitize and authenticate all known Federal documents … to allow the entire collection to be searched on the Web and viewed over the Internet from a home, office, school or library.” 15

Digital Preservation Increased accessibility and functionality Ability to output to other media and in various formats Capture and display of materials that are not easily reformatted using other technologies (e.g., color items, oversize materials and other complex graphic materials) 16 Digitization is an excellent means to provide broad public access to Federal publications now available only in print or other tangible form. Key benefits include: Digitization is also an excellent means to ensure preservation so there will be permanent public access.

Digital Preservation Traditionally, high resolution microfilm or microfiche has been the used to reformat publications for preservation In June 2004, the Association for Research Libraries endorsed “digitization as an accepted preservation reformatting option for a range of materials” stating: “Many approaches are possible, but digital reformatting should now be considered a valid choice among various methods for preserving paper-based materials.” 17

Future Digital System GPO’s Future Digital System is a platform for managing the life cycle of official US government publications that will: –Ingest digitized, harvested and submitted content –Verify and track versions –Assure authenticity –Provide permanent public access –Preserve content by refreshing, migrating, and emulation 18

Cataloging & Indexing Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) –Finding tool for print and digital publications –Over 500,000 records from July 1976 to present –Retrospective cataloging planned Cataloging online resources –Approximately 75,000 PURLs assigned since 1998 –Persistent identifiers are assigned as born digital and digitized content is acquired, 19

CGP Advanced Search 20

CGP Search Result 21

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CGP New Titles 23

Web Discovery & Harvesting Concurrent contracts with two vendors –Three passes through 20+ EPA Web sites –Discovery Tools: to locate publications on a Federal agency Web site –Assessment Tools: to determine whether discovered publications are within scope using rules and instructions –Harvesting Tools: to ensure permanent public access Results currently being evaluated; report to be published in early December

Harvesting Next Steps Determine methodologies going forward Conduct a pilot with another agency based upon lessons learned Incorporate harvester technology as part of Future Digital System (FDsys) Catalog and assign PURLs to in-scope harvested publications

Provides comprehensive coverage of freely accessible digitization projects that include Federal publications Increases awareness of U.S. Government publication digitization projects, in any stage Serves as a locator tool Fosters collaboration and identifies potential partners Provides models and best practices Available at: 26 Registry of Digitization Projects

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Efforts Underway Automated Metadata Extraction Comprehensive National Bibliography (Catalog of U.S. Government Publications) Through Federated Search and Retrospective Cataloging New Services from the Integrated Library System (Deliver Cataloging Records; Enhance Item Selection) Comprehensive Tangible National Collection (Preservation Archive) With NARA 29

Other Efforts Underway Authentication (Digital Signature) Services Version Control Requirements Preservation Planning & Implementation for Tangible and Digital Assets Disaster Recovery Implementation for GPO Access Future Digital System (FDsys) Requirements Planning for the Future of the FDLP 30

For More Information … About GPO’s initiatives please visit: GPO’s Digitization and Preservation Initiatives Recommended Readings Depository Library Council Proceedings GPO – Future Digital System (FDsys) 31

Contact Information Judy Russell Superintendent of Documents