Notes - Electronic Documents Environment

Over 97% of materials that GPO would have formerly distributed in tangible formats is now distributed in electronic format over the Internet.

Catalog of Government Publications: http://catalog.gpo.gov/

Contains MARC records from the beginning of GPO MARC record creation (i.e. July 1976) to present. Also includes a small number of records before July 1976.

PURLs - Persistent URLs.

PURLS have been used since by GPO since about 1998. There are many problems with PURLs (See Tyler 1999). GPO does not aggressivley maintain their PURL database. Rather they wait for documents librarians to report errors to them. Eventually PURLs will be replaced with the Handle System. GPO's study on handles is here. In the nearer future GPO plans to use PURLZ, a modified form of PURLs.

Fugitive Documents Initiative: http://fdlp.gov/lostdocs

There have always been fugitive government documents. Documents not cataloged or dissemminated through the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) are known as fugitive documents. It happened in the tangible realm (paper, etc.) and it happens in the digital realm.

Authentication: http://www.gpo.gov/authentication/

Introduction to public key technology and the federal PKI infrastructure

Public Law 110-3 valid signature

Public Law 110-3 validity of author NOT confirmed

GPO's Digitization and Preservation Initiatives:  http://beta.fdlp.gov/about-the-fdlp/projects/23-about/projects/134-digitization

GPO has often discussed mass digitization of materials. The problem is that GPO in DC has never had a depository collection of its own. Many depository librarians believe that GPO staff have an inadequate understanding of the extent, complexities, and variables involved in undertaking such a project.

Registry of U.S. Government Publication Digitization Projects: http://registry.fdlp.gov/

FDsys: http://fdsys.gov/; This flips over to: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/. 

FDsys is searchable: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/home.action | Advanced search: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/advanced/advsearchpage.action

 And browseable: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectiontab.action

Functions of FDsys:

1. Replaces GPO Access. All GPO Access content has been migrated to FDsys.

2. Harvesting feature will attempt to harvest and identify "documents" from federal Web sites en masse.

3. Procurement mechanism for all federal agencies needing printing and/or digital services. Called a "deposit account." Also, GPO Express allows for printing and digital services at FedEx offices. This system significantly cuts down on the number of fugitive documents.

Let's try some previous homework questions using FDsys.

What is the short title of Public Law 104-104?

What is the bill number associated with the Interstate Commerce Commission Sunset Act of 1995?

There was a House Report associated with H.R. 5122 from the 109th Congress. What is the number of that House Report?

Provide legislative history information for the Tsunami Warning and Education Act

Public Law No: 107-201 = _____ Stat. _____

Short title: National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 - Public Law No.: _______-______ = _____ Stat. ______

A student is researching the Fallen Hero Survivor Benefit Fairness Act of 2001.

What was the exact quote from George W. Bush about the difference between a squirrel and a bomb?

URL Tracking

As libraries receive fewer tangible documents and more electronic documents, libraries need ways of tracking online “clickthroughs” to government documents. DU was the first library to implement this system. We have been doing this since 2003.

Brown, Christopher C. 2004. “Knowing Where They're Going: Statistics for Online Government Document Access through the OPAC.” Online Information Review 28 (6), 396-409. DOI: 10.1108/14684520410570526

Brown, Christopher C. 2011. “Knowing Where They Went: Six Years of Online Statistics via the OPAC for Federal Government Information.” College & Research Libraries 72 (1). Available at: http://crl.acrl.org/content/72/1/43.full.pdf+html

Brown, Christopher C. “Tracking Online Document Usage from the Catalog: Experiences from the Field.” Presentation given with Stephanie Braunstein, Susan Kendall, Liza Weisbrod, Jennifer Gerke, and Shane Cole at the Fall 2009 Depository Library Conference, 19 October 2009, Arlington, VA [ view ].

Item Selection and Deselection

Many depository libraries are wanting to decrease the "footprint" of their documents collections. There are two ways to do this: 1) offer out parts of the legacy collection, and/or 2) decrease prospective item selection.

My Item Selection Tool Projects: 

Brown, Christopher C. “Item Deselection on the Fast Track.” Presentation given at the Spring Depository Library Council Meeting, 21 April 2009, Tampa, FL. [handout] [PowerPoint]

 Harvesting Docs

Another model for providing access to online documents is to use OAI-PMH harvesting protocols to bring in records. At DU, we do this with public domain records form the Hathi Trust.

Brown, Christopher C. “Harvesting Government Documents into the Local Catalog: A New Model for Online Access.” Presentation given at the Fall 2010 Depository Library Conference, 18 October 2010, Arlington, VA. [view] [PowerPoint]