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As part of its Comprehensive Assessment of Public Information Dissemination, the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) will recommend establishment of a public information resources agency in each branch of government. This Fact Sheet summarizes the duties and responsibilities of each agency and explains how inter-branch coordination is to be accomplished.

You have two remaining opportunities to make written comments. Initial comments should be provided to the Commission NOT LATER THAN noon on Wednesday, November 22, so they can be evaluated and incorporated in the draft final report to be posted for public comment the following week. The Commission deadline for submission of its final report to the Congress and the Administration is December 15, 2000, so final comments must be received NOT LATER THAN 9 a.m. Monday, December 11, 2000.

The Commission is also planning a public meeting in Washington, DC, on Monday, December 4th, to receive public comments on the draft final report and proposed legislation. Details about the time and place will be posted as soon as the arrangements are completed. Additional information on the Assessment is available on the Commission website at www.nclis.gov/govt/assess/assess.html. Comments should be sent to Woody Horton by e-mail at whorton@nclis.gov or by fax at 202-606-9203.

The Commission study findings underscore the need of the federal government for the most effective, efficient, and economical means of producing, maintaining, preserving, disseminating, providing for the permanent availability of, and managing the entire life cycle of all of its public information resources, and this should not be placed at undue risk because of jurisdictional considerations between the three branches of the federal government. The study findings also underscore the need to preserve and strengthen the missions and functions of the Superintendent of Documents and NTIS. The missions of both organizations have been adversely impacted and placed at risk by the rapidly changing information technologies for public information creation and dissemination, financial losses and reduced appropriations, and statutes that are out of date. Furthermore, these programs, individually and collectively, do not provide comprehensive identification, acquisition, organization, and cataloging/indexing of public information resources or ensure timely delivery of public information resources and permanent public availability of those resources.

Therefore, the Commission plans to recommend the creation of an agency whose primary mission is to serve as the federal government’s focal point for providing timely dissemination and permanent public availability for its public information resources. This agency, provisionally called the Public Information Resources Administration (PIRA), will be in the Executive Branch, and will bring together under one management the programs currently under the Superintendent of Documents at GPO, including the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), and the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), as well as other information sales and dissemination programs from all three branches of government.

The Commission also plans to recommend:

• the creation of a Judicial Information Resources Information Office (JIRO) in the Judicial Branch; to transfer to the JIRO some assets of the Government Printing Office and to the Administrator of the JIRO some duties and responsibilities of Public Printer; and to apply the provisions of 44 U.S.C. 3506(d) to the Judicial Branch.
• the creation of a Congressional Information Resources Information Office (CIRO) in the Legislative Branch; to have the Public Printer report to the Administrator of the Congressional Information Resources Office; to transfer to the CIRO some assets of the Government Printing Office and to the Administrator of the CIRO some duties and responsibilities of Public Printer; and to apply the provisions of 44 U.S.C. 3506(d) to the Legislative Branch.
• the creation of an inter-branch, intergovernmental, interagency Council on Public Information Resources, having as permanent members the heads of the Public Information Resources Administration (PIRA), Congressional Information Resources Office (CIRO) and Judicial Information Resources Office (JIRO), the Archivist of the United States, the Librarian of Congress and the directors of the other National Libraries, the Executive Director of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, the director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Senate, and the Clerk of the Supreme Court, as well as a minimum of four other individuals representing Executive Departments with significant information dissemination missions, and at least one other individual representing an independent agency with a significant information dissemination mission, to serve as an advisory board to the PIRA and to ensure that policies, regulations, standards and guidelines, promulgated by the PIRA are coordinated fully within the Executive Branch and with the Legislative and Judicial Branches to ensure a consistent application of such policies, regulations, standards, guidelines, and procedures.
• the creation of a Public Information Resources Users Council (PIRUC) consisting of at least 15 members, each serving a three year term; terms shall be staggered so that one-third of the terms expire each year; at least 6 of the members shall represent Public Information Resources Access Libraries (formerly Federal Depository Libraries) and their terms shall be spread equally among the staggered terms, so that two will complete their terms each year; the remaining nine members shall be drawn from state and local government, other public interest groups, user groups, trade associations and professional organizations, and individuals with a substantial knowledge of the need for and uses of Public information resources; the Council will provide advice to the SuPIR and the CPIR and the impact of Federal regulations, policies, standards, guidelines, and procedures on the ability of the public to identify and use public information resources effectively.
• the creation of formal relationship between Public Information Resources Administration (PIRA) and National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to ensure that standards and guidelines are established within one year of enactment of this Act, so that an agency transferring its public information resources to PIRA for permanent public availability can by that same transfer be ensured that its obligations for permanent records retention under the Federal Records Act will be met; to accomplish this PIRA and NARA will establish and promulgate mutually agreed upon standards and guidelines for the authentication and transfer of agency public information resources to PIRA; the PIRA will ensure the permanent public availability of these public information resources, and through cooperative agreements and partnership arrangements with NARA and the originating agency, PIRA will either maintain the public information resources that NARA schedules for permanent records retention, or transfer the official record copy of those public information resources to NARA at the appropriate time and in the appropriate format; public information resources not scheduled for permanent records retention will nevertheless be maintained by PIRA for permanent public availability.

As part of this reorganization, printing procurement is redistributed to each branch in the following manner:

• the Judicial Information Resources Office (JIRO) has the authority to procure all printing and related production services for the Judicial Branch.
• the Public Information Resources Administration (PIRA) has the authority to procure all printing and related production services for the executive branch.
• the Congressional Information Resources Office (CIRO) has the authority to print and to procure all printing and related production services for the Legislative Branch.
• both the JIRO and PIRA are required to allow CIRO to bid on any printing and related production services they procure that CIRO is capable of producing and to accept the CIRO bid if it is less than or equal to that of any other bidder.

The proposed legislation should be read and evaluated in the context of the strategic recommendations in the Commission's draft report posted at www.nclis.gov/govt/assess/execsum.pdf. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to bring together in a systematic fashion all of the key elements necessary for comprehensive public information resources management and to elevate the importance of Federal government public information resources to the status of a strategic national asset. It also includes the creation of government-wide information dissemination budget line item in the President's budget and in each agency budget. The Commission believes that this legislative proposal is the best means for implementation of its recommendations because it will draw attention to the issues and create a debate about appropriate solutions. However, many of the Commission's recommendations can and should be implemented, whether or not the proposed legislation is acted upon by the Congress.

Excerpted key sections of the draft legislation, primarily purpose, functions and definitions, are available at www.nclis.gov/govt/assess/legisum.pdf. However, the excerpts do not include all of the details summarized above, nor do they address financing, staffing and other administrative matters. The complete legislative proposal will be posted with the draft final report during the week of November 27th.