NCLIS and GPO Sign Agreement for Study of Standards for Government Information - 1/13/97
For Immediate Release
13 January 1997
For Information Contact
Peter R. Young

NCLIS and GPO Sign Agreement for Study of Standards for Government Information

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) and the Government Printing Office (GPO) have signed an interagency agreement under which NCLIS will proceed with a study, "Assessment of Standards for the Creation, Dissemination and Permanent Accessibility of Electronic Government Information Products." This agreement comes after discussions with executive and legislative officials and an 18 December letter to Public Printer Michael DiMario from Rep. Bill Thomas, then Chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing, approving the assessment to advance a more electronic environment for federal information.

The need to evaluate standards was one issue addressed in GPO's June 1996 Study to Identify Measures Necessary for a Successful Transition to a More Electronic Federal Depository Library Program. NCLIS will see that an assessment of standards is done that includes the following factors:

  1. usefulness of government information to the people,
  2. future publishing plans of agencies,
  3. cost-effectiveness of various formats
  4. standards for formats used by public and private sectors
  5. training requirements for users of government information.

The project will actively involve executive and legislative branch agencies and departments in the assessment itself and in progress meetings and reports. The assessment should be completed by the fall of 1997.

NCLIS Chairperson Jeanne Hurley Simon joined the Public Printer in expressing satisfaction with the agreement to proceed with the study. Mrs. Simon added, "The Commission is committed to seeing that the public's access to and use of information is improved and assured. This assessment will cover an important area of information: that produced by our federal government."

The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science is a permanent, independent agency of the federal government composed of sixteen members. The fourteen appointed members serve five-year terms. The two ex officio members are the Librarian of Congress and the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. NCLIS is charged by law (P.L. 91-345) to advise the President and Congress on national and international library and information services policies and plans.