DETAILS TO CONGRESS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2002 and 2003

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

Office of Superintendent of Documents

SUMMARY OF APPROPRIATION ESTIMATES
SALARIES AND EXPENSES

The Superintendent of Documents organization has been renamed Information Dissemination (Superintendent of Documents) in the new GPO to better reflect the information dissemination mission. This organization is responsible for the current and future access to published U.S. Government information, and operates under an appropriation which provides funds for: (1) cataloging and indexing Government publications; (2) mailing for Members of Congress and other Government agencies of certain Government publications, as authorized by law; (3) distributing of Government publications, now predominantly in online format accessible through GPO Access, to designated depository libraries; and (4) distribution of Government publications to the International Exchange Program. These four functions are related to the publication activity of other agencies and to the demands of the public, Members of Congress, and depository libraries. A total of $33,033,000 is requested for FY 2005. A description of the four functions follows:

Cataloging and indexing. Information Dissemination (Superintendent of Documents) is charged with preparing catalogs and indexes of all publications issued by the Federal Government, and with maintaining an electronic directory of Federal electronic publications. The bibliographic database of GPO cataloging records serves libraries nationwide and enables the public to locate desired Government publications in all formats. The principal product is the "Catalog of U.S. Government Publications," which is available online on GPO Access. There is significantly increased workload directly related to discovering and cataloging online Government information. In addition, this organization is undertaking the planning and coordination of a complete national bibliography of Federal Government publications, in accordance with the cataloging and indexing mandates of Title 44 U.S.C. An Integrated Library System (ILS) will also modernize the obsolete cataloging system that was in use for over 25 years.

Bylaw Distribution for other Government agencies and Members of Congress. Information Dissemination (Superintendent of Documents) handles the mailing of certain publications specified by public law, and associated mailing lists, at the request of Government agencies and Members of Congress.

Depository Library Program. Government publications in all formats are supplied to libraries that are designated as depositories for Government information. The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) includes tangible Government information products disseminated to depository libraries, online access, and locator services available through the GPO Access service at <www.gpoaccess.gov>. Electronic information dissemination and access has greatly expanded public use of the FDLP content. GPO Access contains over 156,000 electronic titles and points to over 103,000 others for a total of over 259,000 titles. Since 1994, GPO Access retrievals have exceeded 1.8 billion, and in October 2003, reached a monthly high of more than 38 million retrievals.

GPO Access is the principal delivery vehicle for online Government information to depository libraries. More than 60% of the new titles available to depositories and the public through the FDLP are made available online. With the FDLP now primarily electronic, the costs of the FDLP are increasingly related to identifying, linking to, and providing permanent public access to electronic Government information. Information Dissemination (Superintendent of Documents) is building and managing the FDLP Electronic Collection, involving GPO in a broad range of information life-cycle activities, including the identification and evaluation of Internet-based products for the FDLP, assuring the reliability of official information, providing cataloging and locator services, and preserving and managing electronic files for future public access and use. To help facilitate this effort, GPO is currently implementing Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology that will include the use of digital signatures for Congressional and other information made available through GPO Access. This will help ensure the protection of data against unauthorized modification or substitution of information. It will also enable depositories and the public to verify the authenticity and integrity of the information they are using from GPO Access, now and in the future.

The funding request is directly related to the increased workload of managing an expanding collection of electronic publications on GPO Access. GPO's commitment to permanent public access, and the related activities that ensure that electronic resources are widely available both today and into the future, entails significant and ongoing expenditures. Information Dissemination (Superintendent of Documents) acquires, preserves, provides online access to, and makes available for other GPO dissemination programs, copies of Government publications. Through access to stored digital objects, and by repurposing those objects for print-on-demand and document delivery services, the collection will support diverse GPO organizations and operations. In addition to publications acquired, harvested, or created for the FDLP, the collection will include agency source data files acquired pursuant to the OMB compact. Information Dissemination (Superintendent of Documents) is also establishing a collection of last resort that will become a comprehensive collection of tangible and electronic titles that will backstop the regional collections. From this collection, depository libraries will be able to obtain replacement copies for damaged or lost print items in their legacy collections.

Periodic data migration and conversion is an inherent characteristic of an electronic public information dissemination system. Most of the program costs associated with the electronic dissemination, locator services, and preservation have been offset by reductions in printing and shipping costs. These savings have been realized by reducing the number of products distributed in tangible formats when those products are also available via the Internet. With the great majority of such product migrations already accomplished, future electronic program enhancements will require new funding. GPO is increasing the amount of information made available to libraries and the public electronically by converting publications once distributed in microfiche to electronic formats, and maintaining the resulting electronic files permanently.

International exchange. Information Dissemination (Superintendent of Documents) distributes Government publications to foreign governments that agree, as indicated by the Library of Congress, to send to the United States similar publications of their governments for delivery to the Library of Congress. GPO and LC are engaging in pilot projects with particular international library partners, which may indicate future directions for the IES program. LC has asked GPO to assist in establishing a primarily electronic IES program, based on the capabilities of the GPO Access platform as a delivery mechanism.