Transcript U. S. Depository Libraries

U. S. Depository
Libraries
Public Service, Democracy,
and the Internet
Use of Federal
Publications
• 1988
167,000 users per
week
• 1999 4,700,000 users of GPO
web site per week
Depository Librarians
• Collect and Preserve
• Provide Bibliographic Access
• Provide Physical Access
• Assist Users
• Publicize Services
Depository Profiles
53 regionals -1286 selectives
• 50% Academic
• 20% Public
• 30% Remainder
• Law and special
• Federal agencies and courts
• State libraries and courts
• Military academies
Collection
Development
• Written Collection Policy
• Weeding Policy
• GPO Provides Guidelines
Collection Organization
• Options
– Separate Collection
– Integrated with Non-Documents
• Success
– Enthusiasm of Librarian
– Time to Specialize
Bibliographic Records
• Commercial Cataloging Tapes
• Data Base Management
• Catalog Individually
• Combination Approach
Physical Access
• Required for Congressional District
• Automatic for Public Institutions
• Private Institutions May Use
– Check-In without Identification
– Separate Hours for Public
– Separate Doors for Documents
Reference
Helping
real
people
is the fun
part of
the job
Publicity
• Brochures
• Newspaper Articles
• Income Tax Forms
• Academic Class Lectures
• Community Seminars
Electronic Era
Tools are Different
Goal is the Same
PUBLIC
ACCESS
Public Access
University of Michigan
Documents Center
http://www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/
http://www.lib.umich.edu/
libhome/Documents.center/
Documents.center/
• Created in April 1995
• Integrate internet with
•Reference Service
•Classroom Instruction
Special Electronic
Challenges
• Preserving electronic
formats
• Keeping pace with
technological change
Electronic Collection
Development
Worldwide Availability
of 40% of all U.S.
Documents!
Internet Availability
Suggests New Needs
• Translation Services
• Reference Service Plan
• Outreach to People without
Internet Connections
• Librarian Training Programs
Equipment Needs
• Cost of latest equipment
• Old buildings difficult to
wire for internet
• Internet connections in
rural areas expensive
Web Site Usability
Issues
• Files too large
• Frames, animation,
browser plug-ins
• Text alternative essential
Preservation
• How long is permanent?
– 20 years? 100 years?
• Longevity of CD-ROMS
– Physical disks
– Software too old or too new for
equipment
New Roles for
Librarians
• Serving on Agency Advisory
Groups
• Preserving Electronic
Products Ourselves
Bibliographic Access
• GPO catalogs Internet
publications
• General search engines
• Specialized search engines
– Google Uncle Sam
• http://www.google.com/unclesam
– Hot Bot
• http://www.hotbot.com/
Universal Search Engine
Cautions
• Agency web sites may block
robots for security reasons
• PDF publications usually not
indexed
Physical Access
At least one workstation
must be available to public
Decline of In-Person
Reference
12000
10000
8000
6000
In-Person
Reference
4000
2000
0
FY 1996
FY 1997
FY 1998
FY 1999
Rise in Web Access
35
30
25
20
Web Access in
Millions
15
10
5
0
FY 1996 FY 1997 FY 1998 FY 1999
Web as a Percent of
Total Reference
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
FY 1996 FY 1997 FY 1998 FY 1999
In-Person
Web
Change in Reference
•People using internet for
initial information
•Coming to library with
harder questions
E-Mail Reference
• Numbers increasing slowly
– 25 per week
• Length of time required
– 6 hours per week
• Questions from non-clients
– 80% from outside the University
• Webform questionnaire
– Priorities stated
Library Outreach and
the Internet
• Internet Training Sessions
• Library Web Pages
• Class Lectures
Class Web Pages
• Variety of subjects
• Research process format
– Finding books and journals
– Using the on-line catalog
– Relevant web sites
• Commercial and public access
Teaching Classes
• Hands on training most
effective
• Demonstration
• Class web pages
• Teaching the teachers
ALA Government
Documents Round Table
<http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/GODORT/>
• Legislative, training, and
computer issues
• Web page template
• GODORT Handout Exchange
LIST-SERVS
• GOVDOC-L
<http://docs.lib.duke.edu/govdocs/federal/govdoc-l/
index.html>
• INTLDOC-L
<http://web.home.idirect.com/~mmccaff/intl-doc/>
• DOCWORLD-L
<http://www.indiana.edu/~libgpd/idtf/docworld.html>