================================================================= ALAWON Volume 5, Number 52 ISSN 1069-7799 August 14, 1996 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (143 lines) GOVERNMENT INFORMATION UPDATE: pt. 2 of 2 GPO RELEASES STUDY ON THE FEDERAL DEPOSITORY LIBRARY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ISSUES MEMORANDUM ON GPO PRINTING NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER ON FEDERAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ISSUES _________________________________________________________________ EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of a two-part report in ALAWON issues No. 14 and 15 on recent government information activities at the federal level. _________________________________________________________________ GPO RELEASES STUDY ON THE FEDERAL DEPOSITORY LIBRARY PROGRAM GPO released its report to Congress, _Study to Identify Measures Necessary for a Successful Transition to a More Electronic Federal Depository Library Program_ in June. GPO's study was the second report GPO has prepared on the transition to a substantially electronic depository program. The first, released in December 1995, assumed a two-year transition to an almost entirely electronic program. GPO's second study responded to the concerns of librarians and others that the first transition plan was based on an overly ambitious time frame, and GPO has now recommended to Congress a five to seven year transition. A strategic plan included in the document proposes four ways in which GPO could bring electronic information into the FDLP: * GPO could identify, describe and link the public to the wealth of distributed government information maintained at government electronic information services for free public use. * GPO could establish reimbursable agreements with agencies that provide fee-based government electronic information services in order to provide free public access to their information through the FDLP. * GPO could "ride" agency requisitions and pay for depository copies of tangible electronic information products, such as CD-ROM titles, even if they are not produced or procured through GPO. * GPO could obtain from agencies electronic source files for information the agencies do not wish to disseminate through their own government electronic information services. These files can be made available through the GPO Access services or disseminated to depository libraries in CD-ROM or other tangible format. ALA joined with other library associations to send a series of letters to the Public Printer commenting on various draft versions of the report during the past year. During this same period ALA President Betty Turock testified at four Congressional hearings on government information issues reflecting the importance that the library community places on this important issue. During the past year, ALA representatives were part of the working group established by the Public Printer to develop the study. ALA was also among the organizations invited to serve as advisors to the working group. Although long supportive of a more electronic depository program, librarians have continuing concerns about the transition to a mostly electronic program including: Shifting costs to libraries and the public; Utilization of appropriate formats for government publications; and long-term permanent access and preservation of electronic files for continuing use. Availability of report: The report has been mailed to every depository library. It is also available on the GPO Web Site: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/adpos001.html The address on the Federal Bulletin Board/FTP site is: fedbbs.access.gpo.gov/lps_info For Orders & Assistance contact the GPO Access User Support Team: E-Mail: gpoaccess@gpo.gov; Fax: 202/512-1262; or Phone: 202/512-1530 _________________________________________________________________ DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ISSUES MEMORANDUM ON GPO PRINTING Walter Dellinger, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, issued an 18-page memorandum on May 31 based on a request by the General Services Administration to analyze the constitutional implications of the involvement of the Government Printing Office in executive branch printing and duplicating. The Department of Justice found that "the GPO is subject to congressional control, and conclude that the GPO's extensive control over executive branch printing is unconstitutional under the doctrine of separation of powers." In 1993, Dellinger wrote another memorandum to GSA stating that the statute in question "does not violate the separation of powers by delegating executive authority to the GPO." In a June 11, 1996 letter, GPO's General Counsel, Anthony Zagami, pointed out to Dellinger that there have been no procedural changes or statutory modifications of any substance that would warrant a different conclusion such as that contained in the recent memorandum. Zagami requested that the Justice Department review this matter once again and return to the opinions expressed prior to the May 31, 1996, memorandum. _________________________________________________________________ NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER ON FEDERAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ISSUES President Clinton issued Executive Order 13011 of July 16, 1996, "Federal Information Technology", in the July 19 Federal Register, pp. 37657-62. The EO cites the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 as providing the opportunity to improve significantly the way the federal government acquires and manages information technology. The purpose and functions of the Chief Information Officers Council and an Information Technology Resources Board are laid out. Responsibilities of several agencies are spelled out. These include the Office of Management and Budget, the Departments of Commerce and State, and the General Services Administration (under the direction of OMB). _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname]" to . ALAWON archives gopher.ala.org; select Washington Office Newsline. Web page HTTP://www.ala.org/alawashington.html. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Contributors: Anne A. Heanue All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================