NCLIS Proposes New Federal Government Information Agency (16 November 2000)

ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline

Volume 9, Number 92

November 16, 2000

In this issue:

[1] NCLIS Proposes New Federal Government Information Agency

The National Commission on Library and Information Science (NCLIS) has unveiled a legislative proposal which would establish a new federal government information agency. NCLIS has proposed the creation of a "Public Information Resources Agency - PIRA. The "working draft" legislative proposal was distributed along with NCLIS' Executive Summary of its Comprehensive Assessment of Public Information Dissemination at its November 15th meeting in Washington, D.C. This report and proposal, once finalized by NCLIS in December, will go to Senator John McCain (R-Az) and others in Congress.

PIRA's "primary mission [would be] to serve as the federal government's focal point for providing timely dissemination and permanent public availability for its public information resources." If Congress and others would approve such an agency, it would be part of the Executive Branch and would consolidate the Superintendent of Documents (SuDOc) the Government Printing Office (GPO), including the Federal Depository Library Program and the National Technical Information Service (NTIS).

Under the NCLIS proposal, the SuDOc would be called the Superintendent of Public Information Resources (SuPIR) and the FDLP would be called the Public Information Resources Access Program or PIRAP.

The NCLIS' working draft proposal, the Executive Summary and a related NCLIS Fact Sheet are available at the NCLIS web site at: http://www.nclis.gov/govt/assess/assess.html.

The pertinent documents are listed at that web page under the section:

2. Study Goals, Organization, Plans, Meetings, & Schedules

• Recommendation for Strengthening of the Federal Depository Library Program - November 16, 2000
• First Draft, Executive Summary, NCLIS Final Report - December 15, 2000 (in PDF format)
• Excerpted Key Draft Sections From Proposed New Legislation - November 14, 2000 (in PDF format)

ALA and many other stakeholders in this debate are reviewing these materials, especially the legislative proposal. NCLIS would like to have a round of written public comments by November 22. They have announced a December 4th meeting for public comments to be made prior to subsequent NCLIS approval around December 18th.

However, there are many, many more steps in what will be a long process and vigorous debate. ALA and different ALA units will be discussing this at the Midwinter Conference in January. Watch for further information.

[2] NCLIS Statement to ALAWON Subscribers

The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) is interested in your comments on a proposal to strengthen the Federal Depository Library Program that was unveiled at its meeting yesterday (November 15th). The Fact Sheet inserted below will be available today on the Commission website at http://www.nclis.gov/govt/assess/fdlpfact.html.

You have two remaining opportunities to make written comments on the Commission's draft report on its Comprehensive Assessment of Public Information Dissemination and the proposed legislation. Both have very short deadlines.

1. Initial comments should be provided to the Commission not later than noon on Wednesday, November 22, so they can be evaluated and incorporated in the draft final report (including the proposed legislation) to be posted for public comment the following week.

2. The Commission deadline for submission of its final report to the Congress and the Administration is December 15, 2000, so final comments must be received not later than 9 a.m. Monday, December 11, 2000.

The Commission is also planning a public meeting in Washington, DC, on Monday, December 4th, to receive public comments on the draft final report and proposed legislation. Details about the time and place will be provided as soon as the arrangements are completed.

Additional information on, and a variety of documents related to, the Assessment are available on the Commission website at http://www.nclis.gov/govt/assess/assess.html. Comments should be sent to Woody Horton by e-mail at whorton@nclis.gov or by fax at 202-606-9203.

FACT SHEET

Recommendation for Strengthening of the Federal Depository Library Program Under the Public Information Resources Reform Act of 2001 To Be Recommended By the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS)

As part of its Comprehensive Assessment of Public Information Dissemination, the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) will recommend strengthening of the Federal Depository Library Program. This Fact Sheet summarizes the changes under consideration by the Commission. You have two remaining opportunities to make comments. Initial comments should be provided to the Commission not later than noon on Wednesday, November 22, so they can be evaluated and incorporated in the draft final report (including the proposed legislation) to be posted for public comment the following week. The Commission deadline for submission of its final report to the Congress and the Administration is December 15, 2000, so final comments must be received not later than 9 a.m. Monday, December 11, 2000. Additional information on the Assessment is available on the Commission website at http://www.nclis.gov/govt/assess/assess.html. Comments should be sent to Woody Horton by e-mail at whorton@nclis.gov or by fax at 202-606-9203.

The Commission study findings underscore the need to preserve and strengthen the missions and functions of the Superintendent of Documents and NTIS. The missions of both organizations have been adversely impacted and placed at risk by the rapidly changing information technologies for public information creation and dissemination, financial losses and reduced appropriations, and statutes that are out of date. Furthermore, these programs, individually and collectively, do not provide comprehensive identification, acquisition, organization, and cataloging/indexing of public information resources or ensure timely delivery of public information resources and permanent public availability of those resources.

Therefore, the Commission plans to recommend the creation of an agency whose primary mission is to serve as the federal government*s focal point for providing timely dissemination and permanent public availability for its public information resources. This agency, provisionally called the Public Information Resources Administration (PIRA), will be in the Executive Branch, and will bring together under one management the programs currently under the Superintendent of Documents at GPO, including the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), and the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), as well as other information sales and dissemination programs.

In the Commission's recommendation, the Superintendent of Documents is renamed the Superintendent of Public Information Resources (SuPIR), reporting directly to the head of the PIRA. The FDLP is renamed the Public Information Resources Access Program (PIRAP) and the Federal Depository Libraries are renamed Public Information Resources Access Libraries (PIRA Libraries). The basic structure of the FDLP is not changed by this recommendation. Congressional designation and other criteria for becoming a Federal Depository Library are not changed. However, the breadth of public information resources available to the public through the PIRA Libraries is vastly expanded.

The proposed definition of Government Publication is broadened to mean any Government information product or service that is created, compiled, produced, or maintained by or for the Federal government, at Government expense, or as required by law, regardless of form, format or medium; the term includes both "Internal Information Resources" and external "Public Information Resources". "Internal Information Resources" are limited to government information products or services that are excluded from public use because (a) they have been determined by the issuing components to be required for official use only or (b) they have been determined by the issuing components to be for strictly administrative or operational purposes and have no public interest or educational value, or (c) they are classified for reasons of national security or constrained by another statute such as the Privacy Act. There is a binding appeals through PIRA for items determined by agencies to be strictly internal or operational. Public Information Resources are therefore expanded to cover all "Government Publications" that are not excluded from public use under the provisions above, and all public information resources are available to the public without charge through the PIRA Libraries.

Under the Commission recommendations:

• The Superintendent of Public Information Resources shall use whatever measures are necessary to ensure the timely identification, acquisition, organization, cataloging, and where appropriate indexing and abstracting, of public information resources; to ensure timely delivery of public information resources, utilizing a variety of formats, mediums, channels and methods, for access, dissemination and distribution, appropriate to the content and its intended uses; and to expand and improve the permanent public availability of the Federal government*s public information resources.

• Regardless of any other provision of law, public information resources created, compiled, produced or maintained by the executive, legislative and judicial branches shall be made available to the public at no charge through the Public Information Resources Access Program.

• The exemption for "so-called cooperative publications which must be sold to be self-sustaining" is removed because the only self-sustaining programs for the sale of public information resources are within, or under the authority of, PIRA and the proposed law requires that any public information resources available for sale also be available without charge through PIRA Libraries.

• The expansion of the definition of public information resources to cover all "form, format or medium" brings audio-visual materials and future, as yet unknown, formats and media within the scope of the PIRAP. In addition, this brings into the program time-sensitive information, like press releases, fact sheets and other announcements, that often contain substantive information of value both for current awareness and historical research.

• Consolidation of NTIS with the Superintendent of Documents Programs under PIRA places all information covered under the American Technology Pre-eminence Act in the PIRAP.

• PIRA is given responsibility for Permanent Public Availability which is defined as making the maximum amount of "Public Information Resources" available to, and accessible by, the public on an indefinite, continuing basis, free of charge; this public availability is distinct from the deposit of an official copy for "Permanent Records Retention" by the National Archives and Records Administration and refers to information resources that may not come under the Federal Records Act definitions of a federal record, but are nevertheless acquired, organized and preserved solely for convenience of public reference; furthermore public availability is meant to convey immediate access through the World Wide Web (or its successor technology) or availability through a widely distributed national network of Public Information Resources Access Libraries.

• PIRA is given enforcement provisions with real consequence, including penalties for non-compliance with the American Technology Pre-eminence Act and the PIRAP.

The proposed legislation should be read and evaluated in the context of the strategic recommendations in the Commission's draft report posted at http://www.nclis.gov/govt/assess/execsum.pdf. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to bring together in a systematic fashion all of the key elements necessary for comprehensive public information resources management and to elevate the importance of Federal government public information resources to the status of a strategic national asset. It also includes the creation of government-wide information dissemination budget line item in the President's budget and in each agency budget. The Commission believes that this legislative proposal is the best means for implementation of its recommendations because it will draw attention to the issues and create a debate about appropriate solutions. However, many of the Commission's recommendations can and should be implemented, whether or not the proposed legislation is acted upon by the Congress.

Excerpted key sections of the draft legislation, primarily purpose, functions and definitions, are available at http://www.nclis.gov/govt/assess/legisum.pdf. However, the excerpts do not include all of the details summarized above, nor do they address financing, staffing and other administrative matters. The complete legislative proposal will be posted with the draft final report during the week of November 27th.