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GODORT Meeting - Minutes 10/23/2000

GODORT Meeting
Minutes
Oct 23, 2000

GODORT Meeting
Monday, Oct. 23, 2000, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Holiday Inn Rosslyn Westpark, Rosslyn, VA
Rosslyn Ballroom

Ann Miller, Chair of GODORT presiding

Introduction and guidelines:

Our purpose is to begin the process of generating ideas for activities and exploring organizational priorities which GODORT can focus on in the coming years. We would like to discuss proposed projects and action which will assist libraries and librarians in collecting, accessing, cataloging and providing ongoing access to federal government information. Although it is a concern for all of us, we are not here to discuss or decide the fate of the depository system, rather, provide an opportunity for members who focus on federal information to creatively discuss projects and challenges for the future.

Discussion Questions:

In the light of changes in federal information distribution what projects do GODORT and its members need to undertake to ensure continuous access of government publications, in whatever format, to the public?

  1. Accept electronic environment
    • Determine role of depositories
    • Start advocacy earlier than we have (by Dec.-Jan.)
    • Seek local and community assistance
    • Identify players and partners
    • Develop list of talking points
  2. Make decisions about paper access
    • Work with GPO by developing a list of publications and criteria for decision making
    • Work with agencies to influence their decisions (helpful to use real life examples when talking with agencies)
  3. Expanded role for GITCO
    • Test electronic resources
    • Ask questions of agencies
  4. Represent user needs
    • User needs should be the determining factor
    • As the user/intermediaries with the agencies we need to be proactive in getting information to the agencies about what our users need - we need to be more visible with the agencies
  5. Cultivate agency librarians
    • Aggressively seek agency folks to work with us
    • Federal librarians group could help identify players in the agencies
  6. Inform and mobilize library users
    • Ex: postcards pre- addressed to representatives that library users could send in with a message saying that they appreciate their depository library
What strategies do we, as providers of government information, use to promote/access electronic government information? What is the role for GODORT?
  1. Work aggressively with the private sector
  2. Create guidelines for legacy information (ex: 5 1/4 disks) ; establish best practices
    • Exchange information about who has legacy equipment and can still access the information
  3. GODORT role should include hands-on training for electronic resources
    • Training should be for everyone, not just us
    • Work with other parts of ALA
    • Important to train coworkers
  4. Facilitate partnerships with agencies
    • Work with the agencies
    • Promote to directors and deans
    • Use our ability to seek federal grant monies as an asset in partnering with agencies
  5. Develop good relationships with our government relations offices at our organizations
  6. GODORT could play a role in welcoming new White House staff in an effort toward preserving old executive records
  7. Contact newly elected representatives in our home districts immediately
    • Make sure their web sites include a link to their depository library

How would libraries collect and retain information if there is no centralized distribution system? What is the role for GODORT?

  1. Maintain close relationship with Library of Congress
  2. Use agency mailing lists
  3. Network within our states
  4. Use private vendors like CIS
  5. Transition to role of government information specialist; find new responsibilities for processing staff
  6. Develop a federal plan; cooperative efforts on a national basis
  7. Use the Web as a marketing tool; possible GODORT role in connecting historical information with the new information on the Web
  8. First step is identifying what's been published electronically; if we can't select it how do we know it's out there
  9. Identify financial benefits for our institutions - reasons why they should get involved
  10. Address the cataloging of electronic documents once they've been identified; seek partnerships in cataloging; GODORT could play a role in training
  11. Sell the program, not only to Congress, but to our own administrations, even if we lose the FDLP
  12. GODORT should sponsor or coordinate research so we have hard data to back up our marketing efforts
    • access to computers
    • statistical information
  13. Need to address current awareness issues - without GPO how would we know what's new? Possible GODORT role
  14. Workflow information for different types of libraries; possibly through a clearinghouse
    • cataloging practices
    • web page maintenance
  15. Create a group in GODORT with responsibility for gathering statistics about usage
  16. Build awareness at our own institutions
  17. Continuing role for GODORT even if central distribution system disappears
  18. Users will still need the information, so there will be a need for government information librarians

What are the implications for libraries of the need to retain electronic publications for future use? What is the role for GODORT?

  1. GODORT can coordinate efforts
  2. Librarians are the ones who care about preservation
    • Our priority needs to be how can WE do it
    • We need some successes to point to
    • One advantage of electronic information is that it can be centrally located
  3. GODORT should fund research or push the government to do research on the technical issues of long term information retention, including cost information
  4. Authenticity issues for electronic publications
    • PDF files as a possibility
    • issue is who is declaring authenticity
    • federal staffers often contact depositories for authentic information
  5. One role is in debunking myths; need to educate folks about the costs of migrating things; decisions are being made with bad or no information
  6. Approach agencies with the costs of electronic access and related printing costs
  7. Security issues - what kind of information can no-governmental organizations gather about you
  8. Viability of online resources
    • Will the Internet always be around?
    • What obligation do we have to hold equipment for accessing legacy information?
  9. Partnerships with other professional organizations and concerned groups (ex: historians and state documents groups)