I’m pleased to be able to speak to you today on the NCLIS Assessment on behalf of the ALA Government Documents Round Table. GODORT’s nine hundred members are librarians in public, academic and special libraries of all sizes. Recently, we have been involved in an ongoing discussion regarding the past, present and future of government information. Our discussions have coalesced around five key areas of concern.

Firstly: identification of available material and bibliographic control. In the past a citation, advertisement, identification by NTIS or submission of a print order to the Government Printing Office alerted the community and its primary disseminating agencies to the existence of a publication. Even so the continual problem of “fugitive” publications was a source of concern. Identification leads to cataloging and indexing of the material by the respective agencies. With the advent of agency self-publication on the web this arrangement is no longer tenable. There needs to be a reassertion of the government’s primary responsibility for providing identification and cataloging of the information it disseminates.

Secondly: The reliability and authentication of government information is of particular concern. Print forms are not liable to be corrupted or tampered with. What a user holds in her hand is clearly identified as a government publication. What signals the reliability or authentic quality of an electronic publication? The answer to this question is crucial in any information setting. The Code of Federal Regulations, available on GPO Access, is the certified official version as established by agreement between the GPO and the Office of Federal Register. It is the authentic version and is reliable. On the other hand, certain tables with the Statistical Abstract of the United States are not available electronically. Therefore, only the printed version is accurate and reliable

Thirdly: There is a deep concern about the maintenance of access to government information in all formats. Historically, depositories of government information have been located throughout the nation providing local access to federal material. These collections are permanent and redundant. Material held I only one place and under the control of single agency is neither permanent nor redundant. In 1998 I sent an email to the Social Security Administration thanking them for retaining multiple years’ worth of a title on their website and noting that it was of value to my researchers. I soon received a reply thanking me for my email and informing me that they had removed the tow earlier years from their web page. This title is not longer issued in any tangible form through the depository program as it is “available electronically”. Unfortunately, now only the current year is available.

Fourthly: No-fee permanent public access has been provided via the Depository Library Program for tangible formats for many years. The government information community is committed to seeing no-fee permanent public access continue into the electronic dissemination environment. However, the perceived fluid environment of the Internet is making this difficult to address. Libraries have provided permanence through the service, maintenance, and preservation of their collections. The move to electronic media, whether in tangible formats or distributed via the Internet, presents new preservation issues for both tangible and Internet products. Currently, libraries are facing the challenge of maintaining access to tangible electronic materials designed to run on systems and software no longer commonly used. The “legacy” computer is a common sight in libraries. Internet products present similar issues with less local control. Will an item issued in PDF format be readable in 10 years? 20 years? The community has been working hard to begin to address the immediate preservation needs and look forward to participating in continuing discussion and participation in programs at the federal level.

Finally: The wealth of government information is one of the “best kept secrets in government”. Libraries have been working hard to promote the government information they hold and provide access to via displays, open houses, and Internet sites. A concentrated and creative effort such as that regularly mounted for the Federal Consumer Information Center in Pueblo, CO would be ideal. In addition, agencies charged with disseminating government information must be provided with funding at a level which permits the agency truly to perform its function.

I want to thank the National Commission on Library and Information Science for the opportunity to speak today and look forward to our continuing discussion.