1. FOUR SURVEYS WELL UNDERWAY

Four study-related surveys are well underway, with results already flowing into NCLIS. They are:

First, over 30 federal agencies ranging from cabinet departments to independent agencies, regulatory commissions, and elements of both the Legislative and Judicial Branches, have been asked to cite and/or furnish examples of their agency's policy and program documents related to the way they disseminate electronic government information to the public. In many cases, not unexpectedly, NCLIS is finding that established policies in this area are "few and far between" because the area is relatively new. Nevertheless, in a significant number of cases there are at least letters or memoranda from agency heads or senior agency officials setting forth some general guidelines. Both "success stories," as well as the identification of areas where the agencies believe laws or government-wide policies could be strengthened, are being requested.

Second, nine associations composed of memberships that in some respect or another are disabled or disadvantaged, or are a minority group, or for some other reason cannot rely on "normal" federal agency public information dissemination approaches to effectively reach out to them, have been asked to supply NCLIS with examples of their policies and programs that assist their memberships (or clienteles or constituencies if they are not a membership organization). For example, associations responded to the special needs of the blind, the deaf, other kinds of disabilities, minority groups, and so on, have been approached. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act is a key element of federal law that applies in this instance. As in the preceding survey, both success stories as well as deficient areas are being requested.

Third, the Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) has asked members to complete the "Public Information Resources Map" with actual examples of a cross-section of important government information resources. This Map is intended to help the Commission explain to the President and the Congress how important government information is to the public in many different contexts - - business opportunities, enlightened governance responsibility of citizens, seeking entitlements, obtaining permits and licenses, complying with safety and health regulations, and so on.

Fourth, the Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT) of the American Library Association has also been asked to complete the Public Information Resources Map referred to above. GODORT members are employed in government document libraries, depository libraries, academic and research libraries, public libraries, and elsewhere, and are in direct contact with the public every day when they come into those libraries seeking government information.

2. ADDITIONAL WHITE PAPERS EXPECTED

An important paper prepared by the NCLIS staff dealing with an "Information Life Cycle Manager" concept will be posted shortly. The idea behind this concept, operationalized in the form of a software module that would ultimately be available to every government official in every agency, would be to simplify and speed up very appreciably the task faced by every official and every agency of complying with a plethora of federal statutes that in one respect or another governs how information is created, whether it is in the public domain or not, whether an official record needs to be created or not, whether it needs to be made available to a central repository such as NTIS or GPO for redistribution to the public, and so on. Another paper on Digital Distribution is expected, and several more are anticipated as the Commission's Board of Experts produces these papers as background for the study's panel members and other participants. White papers continue to be invited from the public, whether from study participants or not, so long as they are relevant to the study's overall goals and objectives.

3. FIRSTGOV DEBUT IMMINENT

As we go to press, announcements are being received that the debut of the much-awaited FirstGov.gov portal is expected "any day now." This initiative, announced by President Clinton earlier this year, has been reported on by various study participants and readers interested in the background and opinions expressed should consult the articles and sites posted elsewhere on this web page.

4. RELATED STUDIES RUNNING CONCURRENTLY

Study participants should be aware of two closely related studies that are running concurrently with the NCLIS study. First, Congresswoman Connie Morella and Congressman Tom Davis have asked GAO to study further the NTIS situation. The request letter appears above on this same web page. They seek specific information on the specific functions NTIS performs, attributes of the contents of holdings such as age and demand trends, and whether agencies are complying with the law to furnish research reports to NTIS. Second, the House Appropriations Committee has asked GAO to study the transfer of the Superintendent of Documents program from GPO to the Library of Congress, and report to it by January 3, 2001.

5. FINAL PANEL REPORTS

Final panel reports are due into NCLIS October 15th. They will then be consolidated and transmitted to the Board of Experts for critical review, as well as the various other stakeholder groups that have been assisting NCLIS with the study. NCLIS staff will also begin the process of synthesizing the four individual reports to identify both commonalities and differences. Where there are conflicts or inconsistencies, the affected panel chairs will be asked for additional input. Eventually a single, integrated NCLIS report will be drafted and given even wider distribution for review and comment.