White Paper: Strategic Directions for the Federal Depository Library Program

White Paper: Strategic Directions for the Federal Depository Library Program Association of Research Libraries April 2009 Summary The US Government Printing Office (GPO) is engaged in a strategic planning process concerning the future of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) believes that the current FDLP strategic planning process should lead to a flexible, sustainable, reconfigured program that reflects the needs and interests of users of government information and participating libraries; embraces the digital networked environment; and importantly, encourages collaborative network-based services while ensuring a smooth and orderly transition to a new program framework. The underlying principles of the program should continue, in particular the long-standing principle of no-fee access to government information. The specifics of such a reconfigured program require more in-depth discussion. But such discussions cannot last another 20 years. The risk of missed opportunities and decreased viability is too high. Key elements of a new service model for the FDLP should include:  Strategies to achieve a small but essential number of comprehensive, print, legacy collections.  Increased development of network-based collaborative efforts between GPO and depository libraries and among the libraries themselves.  Creation of new knowledge-management tools and resources that enable users direct and independent access to content and the ability to work with the content effectively.  Formation of a participatory and open environment to encourage and engage new partnerships.  Establishment of a new service model that is economically sustainable and provides sufficient flexibility for libraries and agencies to introduce new approaches to access and deliver government information.  Development of a service model that sustains multiple preservation points for both print and electronic government information. The paradigm of the FDLP has shifted. The program model, dating back to the mid-19th century, entailed libraries collecting, cataloging, and ensuring access to some portion of government documents. This model has depended upon the central distribution of federal agency information by GPO to participating libraries. It also depends upon labor-intensive access protocols that do not necessarily reflect current library practice in the digital environment. When the Depository Library Act of 1962 was enacted, the government information environment was entirely print-based and collaboration and resource sharing were limited. With the shift to network-based and digital technologies, libraries 2 now routinely collaborate electronically—sharing resources, providing access, and disseminating information to users. And importantly, like libraries, federal agencies rely upon digital technologies to accomplish their missions, publish and make government information available via the World Wide Web. This changed environment, with its focus on online access and discovery, means that there are many more providers of government information—such as Google, MSN, Yahoo, non-FDLP libraries, as well as publisher managed e-content. Moreover, the forward movement of technology allows access from across a range of devices without regard for geography or place yet geography remains one of the key organizing principles of the present FDLP system. This white paper provides an environmental context for the FDLP, discusses the current opportunity to reframe the FDLP, presents selected regional cooperative initiatives that demonstrate new directions for the program, and suggests that reframing the FDLP presents a unique opportunity to explore cooperative print management strategies. This white paper does not seek to identify or address all of the factors required in creating a new service model for the FDLP. Instead, it is designed to highlight selected issues and new directions. ARL welcomes the opportunity to work with all stakeholders to ensure a robust and useful FDLP for the future. A 21st century model will enable more effective use of the content and the program values and structure would focus on discoverability, access, persistence, and open architecture. There is a unique opportunity to reconfigure the FDLP to promote “good government,” meet the open-government and transparency goals of the Obama administration, and ensure that the public has effective access to government information in the future. ARL’s interest in reshaping the FDLP is grounded in the large responsibility and financial commitment that members have for sustaining the system – of the 501 regional federal depositories 22 are ARL members and the majority of ARL libraries are selective depositories, all with large depository collections. Background The GPO’s current planning discussions with the federal depository library community build on over 20 years of conversations and fact finding regarding