Revisions to Legal Requirements and Program Regulations (LRPR)

The current guide for Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) libraries was designed to be an easier to use consolidation of the various rules and regulations as they relate to depository library requirements. Issued in 2011, the Legal Requirements and Program Regulations of the Federal Depository Library Program (or LRPR) has been showing its age. However, with changes to Title 44 on the horizon (see https://www.fdlp.gov/about-fdlp/23-projects/3353-title-44-revision for more information), there has been reluctance to completely rewrite this guide.

Because of this, I was a little surprised to see an email from the “FDLP Webmaster” announcing a revised edition of LRPR. The changes in this 2018 revision are minor, to be sure. They boil down to:

• Rescindment of regulation 10 (tangible item selection requirement)
• Updated FDLP email list information
• Inclusion of regional discard policy
• References to new FDLP decals

None of these changes are groundbreaking, but it always helps to have the most current information at hand when dealing with FDLP requirements. Get the latest edition at https://www.fdlp.gov/requirements-guidance/legal-requirements.

Archiving the Web in 2017

Throughout 2017 there was a renewed sense of urgency across organizations to document websites of state and government offices. In a recent update on partner program activities in the fall and winter of 2017, Archive-it explored highlights from the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC), partnerships in the Community Webs Program for public libraries, and the second Documenting the Now symposium, Digital Blackness in the Archives. 

These efforts exemplify current trends in government and community web archiving. The MARAC conference panel, “Web Archiving Democracy,” was well-represented by panelists who discussed the current trajectory of web-archiving practices. Comprehensive documentation of a democracy requires transparency from the government and includes the voice of the people. Both areas present ongoing challenges for archiving the vast array of rapidly changing or disappearing web content.

On the one hand, discussions centered on evolving organizational perspectives on the nature of websites as documents and supplements to traditional government records. This includes filling in negative space by documenting peripheral websites that have been politically influential, such as grassroots and “fake news” sites. On the other hand, we also see efforts shift to a focus on people as the audience of web content, as researchers, and as community web archiving partners. These current trends in web archiving initiatives underscore the need for collaboration and partnerships, perhaps more than with any other information media.

Announcements from the Government Publishing Office

The Government Publishing Office's request for recommendations to modernize Title 44  has received a lot of attention recently, with multiple posts on https://freegovinfo.info/, a mention on LJ Infodocket, and most recently an article in Library journal.

Freegovinfo has endorsed the following recommendations designed to strengthen the Depository Library Program.

1. Modernize the definition of "publications"
2. Ensure Free Access
3. Ensure Privacy
4. Ensure Preservation

While the proposal to update Title 44 has been most visible, GPO has announced two initiatives that will enhance libraries' ability to facilitate public access to government information via our catalogs.

The Government Printing Office announced that they will start incorporating OCLC into their workflow for the Historic Shelflist Transcription effort. This should result in a larger portion of pre-1976 Federal documents being represented in OCLC, and therefore, more visible to the public.

GPO has also announced that starting in October 2017 the will begin making GPO cataloging records available via their github repository. This availability will replace the GPO Cataloging Data Subscription Service. A sample record set and readme file will be available October 3, 2017. The records will be available without charge.

Preservation of Electronic Government Information Project (PEGI)

A recent article in Against the grain highlights PEGI - the Preservation of Electronic Government Information Project.  This project is a two year initiative designed to address the growing awareness of the "serious ongoing loss of government information that is electronic in nature." Participants include the Center for Research Libraries, the Government Publishing Office, the University of North Texas, the University of Missouri, and Stanford University.

Historically, the print production workflow for government information helped insure that content was sent to NARA, GPO and depository libraries for preservation. Now that most government information is disseminated digitally, production workflows are variable, resulting in a larger volume of  "fugitive" publications.

According to the PEGI project narrative, the focus of of the project is "at-risk government digital information of long term historical significance." The project proposes focusing on "activities of triage, drilling down into agency workflows ... and undertaking advocacy and outreach efforts to raise awareness of the importance of preserving digital government information."  The project intends to undertake a comprehensive environmental scan, provide recommendations for information creators, and create and educational awareness and advocacy program.

A final goal is to create a PEGI Collaborative Agenda to identify collaborative actions to "make more electronic government information public, preservable, and preserved in multiple environments that include distributed sites in academic libraries and other heterogeneous locations that are indexed, contextualized and usable."

Fall Fashion from .gov: A New Look for the Library of Congress and a New View of Government Open Source Projects

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/artcomments/382733093

Cold weather inevitably means trading out summer garb with new looks and new fashions for autumn and winter, and this year .gov is getting in on the action with a huge homepage redesign for loc.gov as well as the launch of a new repository site for federal agencies open source projects that gives us a peek behind the curtain at their custom codes.  So let’s celebrate our own mini .gov fashion week with a closer look at both of these projects as they strut down the catwalk…

Library of Congress Homepage Redesign

The web team at the Library of Congress has been hard at work transitioning their online collections into a new, more consistent format that’s both mobile friendly and allows for faceted searching. To help promote and encourage access to all of this content, they’ve created an entirely new homepage for loc.gov that is more dynamic and offers more ways to highlight their extensive collections, services and programs. 

Highlights include:

• A top carousel that displays topical content and will be updated monthly
• A trending section that includes top searches, recently published blog posts and featured items
• A section about “Your Library” that gives you information for planning a visit, provides access to online reference services, and lists current exhibitions and upcoming events
• A free to use and reuse section towards the bottom of the page that features items from the digital collection that are freely available for you to use in your own projects

To learn more about the homepage, check out their recent blog post or go directly to the new homepage.

Code.gov

The White House Office of Management and Budget recently launched code.gov to serve as a repository for federal agencies’ open source projects and to serve as a one-stop shop for exploration, improvement and innovation on the existing code for a variety of government platforms. The code and resources on this site can also be used by other government agencies to assist in implementing new policies, designing metadata schemas to build code inventories, and creating successful open source projects.

The code of this site is a part of the new federal source code policy, which requires agencies to release at least twenty percent of their custom code as open source. Currently, there’s almost fifty different projects available, organized by agency, and more will be added in the coming months.

To learn more about this project, check out fedscoop.com’s recent post or go directly to the site itself.

Watch the Librarian of Congress Ceremony Live Tomorrow!

14^th Librarian of Congress Incumbent, Carla Hayden
Image from Wikipedia

The Library of Congress (LC) will stream Carla Hayden’s swearing-in on its YouTube channel on Sept. 14 at noon EDT. Hayden, who will become the 14th Librarian of Congress, will take the oath using the Lincoln Bible from the LC’s collection. The video will have closed captioning.

This historic ceremony marks not one, but two milestones: Hayden is both the first woman and the first African-American to serve as Librarian of Congress.  

Want to learn more about the journey?  Check out this round-up of resources from the past few years:

·        Carla Hayden Swearing-In to Be Broadcast on YouTube – September 2, 2016
Library of Congress on the upcoming event

·        What the ‘First Black Woman’ Librarian of Congress Means – July 18, 2016
Time magazine on the milestone firsts of Hayden’s confirmation

·        Five Things to Know about Carla Hayden, America’s First Black, Female Librarian of Congress – July 13, 2016
Fusion.net offers a few interesting facts about Hayden and what her appointment means

·        The Library of Congress Gets a History-Making New Leader – July 13, 2016
The Atlantic’s take on Hayden’s confirmation

·        Senate Confirms First Black Female Librarian of Congress – July 13, 2016
The Hill’s take on Hayden’s confirmation 

·        “No” on Nomination of Carla Hayden to Be Librarian of Congress – July 13, 2016
Heritage Action for America takes issue with the president’s nomination

·        Obama Taps Baltimore Library Chief Carla Hayden to Lead Library of Congress – February 24, 2016
NBC News on Carla Hayden’s nomination by President Barack Obama

·        What Law Librarian Want to See in the Next Librarian of Congress – August 3, 2015
3 Geeks and a Law Blog on what the American Association of Law Libraries hopes to see in their next Librarian of Congress

·        Finding a Librarian of Congress for the Digital Age – June 23, 2015
Information Today’s take on James Billington’s retirement and the skills and expertise desired in his future replacement

·        Nation’s Librarian Champions Digital Age – December 23, 2014
Learn more about James H. Billington and his tenure at the Library of Congress

Prefer to watch instead of read?  Take a moment to meet President Obama’s Nominee for Librarian of Congress through this short video, posted on The White House’s YouTube channel in February of 2016.

Programming Ideas for AALL Austin 2017? Now Is the Time to Share Them!

As the TS-SIS liaison to the Annual Meeting Program Committee (AMPC) for Austin 2017, I'd like to remind everyone that crowdsourcing on the IdeaScale platform is now open for AALL members to submit program ideas for the 2017 annual meeting in Austin!

The platform can be accessed here: AALLAnnual Meeting Program Ideas.

In order to participate in crowdsourcing, you must create an IdeaScale account. Your AALL website credentials won't work and even if you used IdeaScale last year, you may still need to create an account to participate this year. I've used it myself and can promise that it's is super easy to add your own ideas and browse and vote for other ideas that strike your fancy. 

It's important to note that submitting program ideas on IdeaScale does not translate in to any obligation! Crowdsourcing is intended to help the AMPC generate a list of must-have program topics that the AMPC will commit to deliver next July in Austin. This is NOT the formal program proposal process, so don't be afraid to just submit a word, a run on sentence, a list -- whatever it takes to get your idea in the mix. 

The formal program proposal process comes later and TS's Professional Development Committee will be available to help you and serve as a resource during the process.

If you have any questions about the AMPC, the proposal process, IdeaScale, or anything related to programming for Austin 2017, please email me at amoye@charlottelaw.edu!

Say Goodbye to THOMAS…

From http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/keep-calm-and-say-goodbye-thomas-1.png 

THOMAS.gov, the online legislative information system, officially retired July 5^th, completing its multi-year transition to Congress.gov.

THOMAS originally came on the map in 1995, launched by the Library of Congress as a bipartisan initiative of Congress. Over the years, the system has been updated, but eventually its essential foundation couldn’t accommodate the desires and expectations of modern users – somewhat similar to our cataloging-world outgrowing the framework of AACR2 and beginning fresh with RDA. The Congress.gov system, launched in beta in September 2012, offers mobile-friendly access, single search across all collections and all dates, meaningful persistent URLs, faceted search, and other new features such as videos explaining the legislative process.

All available THOMAS data is available to users at Congress.gov, and both Thomas.loc.gov and www.thomas.gov now redirect visitors to Congress.gov. Although many THOMAS URLs will be automatically redirected, updating your links is a recommended best practice, as THOMAS URLs that are not redirected to a specific page will go to the Congress.gov homepage – so don’t forget to update your bookmarks, Libguide links and more. You can find a chart providing Congress.gov URLs for popular THOMAS pages as well as additional information about link updating and redirects at https://www.congress.gov/help/faq.  

Want to learn more about Congress.gov?  The Law Library of Congress offers webinar and in-person orientation overviews of Congress.gov focused on searching legislation and Congressional member information as well as highlighting new Congress.gov features. To register for a webinar, complete their Seminar Form here (http://www.loc.gov/law/opportunities/congress-form.php).

Upcoming Joint Reception of the CS/OBS/RIPS/TS Special Interest Sections (AKA the "Alphabet Soup Reception")

Calling all CS, OBS, RIPS & TS-SISers - While in Chicago for AALL this year, please stop by and have some fun during the Joint Reception of the CS/OBS/RIPS/TS Special Interest Sections (AKA the "Alphabet Soup Reception").

SAVE THE DATE! 

Joint Reception of the CS/OBS/RIPS/TS Special Interest Sections (AKA the "Alphabet Soup Reception").

WHERE:  Hyatt-Crystal Ballroom B

WHEN:  Saturday, July 16 from 7pm to 9pm

WHAT: Hors D'oeuvres and Drinks with Old and New Colleagues

Special thanks to Innovative Interfaces for their generous support in making this joint reception happen!

See you there!

Preventing Digital Government Information from Falling Through the [Preservation] Cracks

In the analog world the preservation of government information has a clear flow. Content is created by a federal agency. When the need arises for distribution, it is sent to GPO (Government Publishing Office) and when the time comes to archive materials for the permanent record, they go to NARA (National Archives and Records Administration). Today this workflow is still effective for print materials, however much of the content produced by government agencies is no longer produced in an analog form, which means that the flow of content through GPO and NARA doesn’t happen in the same way, and potentially not at all.

To address these concerns, the Digital Preservation of Federal Information Summit was held in San Antonio in early April. This meeting looked at the need for cross-sector collaboration to preserve and provide access to digital government information that may be falling through the cracks without an updated workflow to address the temporariness of web-based content. The end result was a report that outlines the events’ sessions and outcomes including discussions about the need for an environmental scan, development for a coalition of interested institutions representing the public and private sectors, and the need for a common vocabulary. 

Government Publishing Office Announces govinfo

The Government Publishing Office recently announced beta launch of govinfo, a new site designed to replace FDsys in 2017. The site is designed to be user friendly and features modern, responsive design.  According to the Q & A page for the site, key new features include:

• a new modern look and feel,
• the capability to link related content,
• two new ways to browse content: alphabetically and by category,
• a new open-source search engine,
• enhancements to the search filters, and
• more options for sharing pages and content on social media. 

A brief look around the site confirmed that it is easy to use with popular and current content prominently featured. The stripped down, modern look and feel enhance easy navigation.

Goverment Publications in the Digital World: Enhancements, Changes, Partnerships and More

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Thomas and Congress.gov

As THOMAS works its way towards its retirement, a wide variety of enhancements are being made to congress.gov in order to make the transition between resources as seamless and painless as possible for users. The latest set of enhancements includes a new quick search for legislation, the Congressional Record Index and the history of bills from the Congressional Record Index, featuring search functionality similar to the Advanced Legislation search provided on THOMAS. To view a complete round-up of the latest enhancements to the congress.gov site, as well as a refresher on earlier enhancements you may have missed throughout the year, check out the Library of Congress blog. 

United States Government Publishing Office (GPO)

GPO is the first federal agency to become a member of the Technical Report Archive & Image Library (TRAIL). For those not familiar with TRAIL – it is made up of approximately three dozen member groups, mainly Federal depository libraries, and works to provide discoverable, permanent and unrestricted access to U.S. Government agency technical reports. Obviously these two groups share a number of common goals, and the stage is set for some major collaboration. To learn more about this partnership or TRAIL itself, start out with the official press release.

Circular A-130 & The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

The public comment period recently closed on Circular A-130, “Managing Information in Strategic Decision Making”. This document establishes policies for the management of Federal information resources, and incidentally, the document hasn’t been updated in fifteen years. 

Imagine how much statutory requirements and technological capabilities have expanded and changed since 2000. At this point, our nation needs guidelines and policies to ensure the protection of our privacy and maximize their ability to harness the power of today's technology. In early December, the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Shaun Donovan, delivered remarks at the Federal Privacy Summit and discussed the driving forces behind revising Circular A-130. “As technology and threats evolve, so must our policies.  In order to meet today’s complex challenges, we must continue to double down on this Administration’s broad strategy to enhance privacy practices and fundamentally overhaul information security practices, policies, and governance.”

The new A-130 centralizes a wide range of policy updates on acquisitions, cybersecurity, information governance, records management, open data, and privacy, replaces a federated procurement approach with more directed guidance and ensured timeliness in IT acquisitions, delineates the responsibilities of various departments when it comes to securing our federal systems, and mandates that government data that is public facing be accessible, discoverable and of usable quality.

While the public comment period is closed, rest assured that the American Association of Law Libraries did weigh in on the comments. Take a look at what they had to say here and here. Currently, the OMB is analyzing all submitted feedback and revising the policy as necessary.  Stay tuned in the coming months for the revised version of the policy as well as an opportunity to comment on Circular A-108, which should help agencies promote transparency and implement the Privacy Act.

FDLP Coordinator Certificate Program

The Federal Depository Library Program conducted a successful pilot of their FLDP Coordinator Certificate Program during the spring of 2015. This FLDP Academy virtual program is designed to educate FDLP coordinators on managing depository collections in compliance with the program requirements of the FDLP.

A webinar, FDLP Coordinator Certificate Program: Successful Flight of the Pilot, was presented and recorded Wednesday, June 17, 2015. The recording is available for viewing via the FDLP Academy Webinars and Webcasts page.

Sign-ups for two initial training cohorts have been announced. The fall 2015 FDLP Coordinator Certificate Program will run from October – December 2015, with weekly sessions scheduled for either Wednesdays or Thursdays. Participants must be available to attend all sessions of their cohort and complete all assignments and assessments to earn a certificate. The program is free, but registration is required and space is limited.

The FDLP plans to make recordings of the training materials presented available as webcasts via the FDLP Academy webcast site for depository personnel interested in selected topics, or not able to attend the full training sequence

GPO announces name change, new logo

In recognition of their 154th anniversary, the GPO has announced their official name change to the U.S Government Publishing Office and has launched a new logo. The name change acknowledges the shift GPO has made from being primarily a printer of official United States government documents to being a provider of official United States government information.

The name change was approved in Section 1301 of H.R. 83.

The full text of the announcement is available at http://www.fdlp.gov/news-and-events/2207-gpo-observes-154th-birthday-with-new-name-new-logo

Potential name change for Government Printing Office

Legislation has been introduced to rename the Government Printing Office the Government Publishing Office.  The position of public printer would be re-titled Director of the Government Publishing Office.  According to Public Printer Davita Vance-Cooks, "The name Government Publishing Office better reflects the services that GPO currently provides and will provide in the future."

GPO's full announcement on the FDLP page is available at: http://www.fdlp.gov/component/content/article/19-general/1583-legislation-introduced-to-change-gpos-name-to-government-publishing-office.  Full text of the legislation is available via FDsys.

Cornell and Columbia to Integrate their Technical Services Operations

The libraries at Columbia University and Cornell University are taking an unprecedented new step in their 2CUL partnership: integrating technical services operations.

For library users, the 2CUL integration will mean better and faster access to more materials — including licensed journal articles, foreign materials and other content. When negotiating with vendors and other third parties for services and content, the technical services operation will exercise bargaining power on behalf of both research libraries.


The integration will also include:

• Seeking a common library management system that integrates data and workflows;
• Establishing collaborative collection building and coordinated processing;
• Reviewing policies, practices, workflows and job responsibilities at each institution, with an eye toward reconciling them as much as possible;
• Drafting best practices and guidelines; and
• Adopting a new organizational structure and culture.

For more information, see: http://communications.library.cornell.edu/news/130116/2cul

GPO moves towards RDA adoption

The USGPO has created a Resource Description and Access implementation team to ensure a smooth transition from AACR2 to RDA.  GPO cataloging staff are continuing their training efforts, and are now working on sample record creation, the identification of local practices, and formal Program for Cooperative Cataloging review.  Full implementation is expected in April 2013.  The timeline is now available on the RDA project page