infrastructure that allows agencies to directly control the vast majority of their printing needs from the point of origination.

Electronic Support for the Procurement Process. Electronic versions of printing procurement bid solicitations are now accessible from the Internet via GPO's World Wide Web home page. The electronic posting of bid solicitations has several benefits. It allows us to reduce the cost of making this information available to the public. It enables more contractors to bid on Government printing jobs, thereby increasing competition and lowering procurement costs. By posting electronic versions of these documents on the Internet, all potential bidders, even remotely located small businesses, have immediate access to additional bid opportunities. We have found that increasing the dissemination of formal bid solicitations results in more contractors submitting bids. The increase in competition also results in a decrease in contract prices, lowering the overall cost to the Government for printing. Our electronic posting initiative has generated considerable interest and enthusiasm in the printing industry.

ELECTRONIC SUPPORT FOR AGENCY PRODUCTS

Federal agencies are turning to GPO for assistance in the management of their publications and related information products through all stages of the information life cycle: the creation and/or collection of information, processing the information into a product, dissemination of the product, use and storage of the product, and product disposition through archival management.

CD-ROM Services. Since 1988 we have been a leading Government producer of CDROM technology, providing agencies with a complete range of CD-ROM production services. Our development services take source material from any submitted medium and convert it to a CD-ROM product, including the provision of a search engine using standard licensing agreements with three different companies. We provide test discs, quality testing and control, and graphic design work for the CD-ROM disc face and cover booklet. We procure the mastering of the data and its replication on standing CD-ROM contracts. We provide dissemination of the final product through our sales program and the FDLP without cost to the publishing agency.

In 1992, we received the annual CD-ROM Award from the Special Interest Group for CD-ROM Applications and Technology (SIGCAT), the largest CD-ROM user group in the world. The following year, the General Accounting Office cited our CD-ROM program as one of the most cost-effective in the Government, specifically noting that GPO's CD-ROM products are among the least expensive for users.

World Wide Web Services. Our resources and staff are also involved in assisting agencies with World Wide Web and Internet services. Electronic processing work performed by our staff resulted in the databases available on GPO Access. For the World Wide Web, we provide database development services, mounting on our servers, database maintenance, access based on agency needs, promotion of the service, training, and user support. GPO Access

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features a unique service in making most databases available not only in ASCII format but in Portable Document Format (PDF), which provides a searchable database that exactly replicates the printed product. For Government information users for whom authenticity is critical, the PDF feature is an essential feature.

Expert Publishing Services for Federal Agencies. GPO's Digital Information Technology Support Group (DITS Group), a unit of our Printing Procurement Department, provides expert publishing services to support the increase in electronic publishing submissions from Federal agencies. The services include one-on-one desktop publishing (DTP) consultation for correct file creation techniques; customer outreach by way of on-site digital publishing seminars; researching industry trends in digital publishing and disseminating pertinent information to agency editor/writers, printing personnel, project designers, publishers and information management personnel; and creating official publications and forms designed to make digital publishing more consistent, cost effective, and customer friendly.

The New Commerce Business Daily. We recently entered into an alliance with the Department of Commerce in the development of a new Commerce Business Daily (CBD). This new joint project has succeeded in making CBD information freely accessible in real-time over the Internet while preserving the printed version for those who still need to receive daily issues in that form.

The new CBD has made it easier and more timely for agencies to electronically submit notices for inclusion in CBD, significantly reduced the cost per notice for these submissions (from $18.00 to $5.00), allowed for the continuation of a billing and reporting process for these charges, provided support to both agencies and users of the CBD, reduced the time necessary to typeset and compose the printed version, and enhanced the delivery of the final copy to the printing contractor for the production of the daily printed issues. It has also enabled commercial valueadded providers who offer CBD products to receive the daily CBD information much faster, in an enhanced format, and at a 20 percent reduction in cost. On April 21, 1997, our CBD partnership with the Commerce Department was the recipient of a “Hammer Award” from the National Performance Review.

RELATED SERVICES FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES

Inplant Services. In addition to procuring printing for Federal agencies, GPO produces work in our central office plant and regional printing plant in Denver. A significant portion of the agency work produced inplant is associated with the Federal Register, and includes the List of Sections Affected and the Code of Federal Regulations. Other work includes U.S. passports, postal cards, the U.S. Budget, and other jobs that are performed by GPO due to concerns for cost, timeliness, and control over sensitive Government information.

The continued need for GPO's regional printing plants has declined. In response, we have closed plants in Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, and New York, and previously a separate

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printing and reproduction facility at the Washington, DC, Navy Yard was consolidated with GPO's central office facility. A facility in Alaska, transferred from the GSA, has also been closed. The remaining plant in Denver continues to satisfy regional production and security printing needs.

Customer Services. GPO's Customer Service Department works directly with Federal agencies to ensure that their printing and information product needs are met. Technical assistance to agencies provided by our staff often achieves significant savings for agencies. We work closely with the Interagency Council on Printing and Publications Services and the Federal Publishers Committee. These organizations, representing Federal printing and publishing officers from throughout the Government, serve as valuable forums for listening to the ideas and concerns of our customer agencies. In addition, our departmental account representatives are involved in hundreds of meetings with customer agencies and commercial contractors each year. One unit of our Customer Service Department, the Typography and Design Division, provides graphic design, illustration, consultation, photographic, video, and quality control services, such as press sheet and bindery inspections, to customer agencies. This unit provides state-of-the-art computerized graphic design and composition services to support agency printing requirements.

Recycled Paper and Vegetable Oil-based Inks. We sell blank paper supplies to Federal agencies in the Washington metropolitan area, passing on significant savings through savings we achieve in bulk purchases. Under the guidance of the JCP and also working in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Environmental Executive, this program has been instrumental in advancing the Government's utilization of recycled paper and related materials, including recycled copier paper. We also have successfully implemented the provisions of the Vegetable Ink Printing Act of 1994, on which this Subcommittee held hearings. This Act requires all Federal lithographic printing to be performed utilizing inks containing vegetable-based oils in specified percentages. Our printing procurement contracts contain standard provisions for the utilization of recycled paper and vegetable-based inks in Federal jobs.

Institute for Federal Printing and Publishing. GPO's Institute for Federal Printing and Publishing coordinates training in printing and publishing for customer agencies and entities. Course offerings include "Resources for Publishing,” “Publishing Media,” Getting the Best from Desktop Publishing (DTP),” “Introduction to Document Preparation for World Wide Web (WWW) Publishing,” “Introduction to Printing Processes and Terminology," "CD Publication," "Proofs and Press Sheet Inspections (PSIs)," and "Scanning Black-and-White Photos for DTP." The Institute is developing two new classes, "Introduction to Adobe Acrobat--A Portable Document Format" and "Innovative Internet Marketing Techniques for the Government." In addition to courses, the Institute provides related information services. Well over 5,000 individuals, representing all three branches of the Federal Government, have attended the Institute's courses to date.

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GPO AND INFORMATION DISSEMINATION

The Printing Act of 1895, which is the basis for the public printing and documents statutes of Title 44 of the U.S. Code, relocated the Superintendent of Documents function from the Interior Department to GPO. By linking the authority for the distribution of documents with GPO's printing operations, Congress created an effective system for ensuring comprehensive public access to the publications produced by the Government. As the success of GPO Access demonstrates, this linkage continues to be an effective means for the development and dissemination of electronic databases in the Information Age.

The information dissemination programs of GPO's Superintendent of Documents include the distribution of publications to approximately 1,400 Federal depository libraries nationwide, cataloging and indexing, distribution to recipients designated by law, and distribution to foreign libraries designated by the Library of Congress which in turn agree to send copies of their official publications to the Library pursuant to international treaty. These programs are funded by the annual Salaries and Expenses Appropriation of the Superintendent of Documents.

The Superintendent of Documents also operates a nationwide sales program. This program, the Government's single largest information dissemination network, operates 24 bookstores in major metropolitan areas around the U.S. as well as an extensive order service equipped to receive mail, phone, fax, and Internet-based orders for publications nationwide and worldwide. This program is funded entirely by revenues earned on sales of publications. The Superintendent of Documents also distributes publications for Federal agencies which reimburse us for comprehensive warehousing and dissemination services. Altogether, we distribute about 100 million copies of Government publications per year through these programs (not including information made available online).

GPO Access. GPO Access provides free access to more than 70 Federal databases, including the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, the Commerce Business Daily, Supreme Court opinions, congressional bills and reports, and other publications, as well as Government Information Locator Service (GILS) records for a growing number of Federal agencies. The first online service of its kind established by Congress, GPO Access allows users to locate a wide variety of electronic products available via the Internet and to order Government publications online. GPO Access is the only Government online service providing access to a wide range of information from all three branches of the Federal Government, and the only service providing official access to this important Government information. Currently, nearly 3 million documents are retrieved from GPO Access every month, and the number continues to grow. In March 1997, retrievals topped 4 million. During peak usage periods there are about 15,000 GPO Access sessions per hour.

GPO Access has drawn praise from a variety of sources, including the library community (which gave GPO Access the 1995 James Madison Award), the Federal technology community, the legal community, and others. In December 1996, in a guest column in Roll Call,