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THE FOLLOWING IS BEING POSTED ON GOVDOC-L, MAPS-L, AND LAW-LIB.
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| T H E D U P O N T C I R C L E R E P O R T E R |
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| An Informal Newsletter for the Federal |
| Depository Library Community |
| June 22, 1993 No. 9 |
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CONTENTS: * What Now? Is There Life After Access?
The GPO Access Act and Its Implications
by Jack Sulzer, Penn State University
* Statement by the President on P.L. 103-40
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WHAT NOW? IS THERE LIFE AFTER ACCESS?
The Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access
Enhancement Act and Its Implications
by
Jack Sulzer, Head, General Reference,
Pennsylvania State University Libraries
On June 8, 1993, President Clinton signed into law the Government
Printing Office Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993
(GPO/EIAEA) [PL 103-40, 107 STAT 112 (1993), 44 USC 4101-4104 (1993)].
Vigdor Shreibman, editor and publisher of the Federal Information News
Syndicate (FINS), an electronic news source available over the Internet,
described the signing of this law as the end of a 10 year struggle "to
secure access to electronic public information for citizens." Schreibman
marks the beginning of this struggle with the issuance of the 1984 report
of the Ad Hoc Committee on Depository Library Access to Federal Automated
Data Bases, which called for "access to Federal information in electronic
form through the depository library system" (S.Rpt. 98-260). But passage
of the GPO Access law also marks the end of a two year process intended
to finally do something to move the Government Printing Office into the
business of disseminating electronic information online.
Originally called the GPO/WINDO (Wide Information Network Data
Online) Act, the legislation was the brainchild of James Love, Executive
Director of the Taxpayer Assets Project, a Ralph Nader organization, and
was further developed and written in cooperation with the American
Library Association (ALA). ALA took the draft legislation to Rep.
Charles Rose (D-NC), then Chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing,
who immediately took up sponsorship of the measure and introduced it on
June 26, 1991. The bill was born as much out of a sense of frustration
among librarians and public data users, like Love, as it was an attempt
by ALA to make a proactive move in the battle over the laws governing
public information and technology. The bill presented a single step,
piecemeal reform rather than a sweeping omnibus approach, such as the
Paperwork Reduction Act amendment bills that had proven so troublesome
and abortive up to that time.
Of course, in the evolution from first draft to public law, the
bill changed in a number of important ways. The GPO/WINDO Bill (HR
2772, June 26, 1991) as introduced by Rose was originally envisioned by
Love and ALA to provide a single point of access through a low cost
gateway to all Federal online databases. It provided free access for the
Depository Library Program to the "gateway." No doubt that then-Senator
Albert Gore saw the importance of the relationship of the GPO/WINDO bill
to his own legislation meant to enhance high performance computing in
the United States and develop the next generation of computer networking
by establishing the National Research and Education Network or NREN. Gore
introduced the companion bill in the Senate, the GPO Gateway to Government
Act (S. 2813, June 4, 1992). Both bills required the GPO to connect to
the Internet, and S. 2813 went a step further by providing $3 million for
implementing the gateway. However, with Rose's consent, both measures
were replaced in September 1992 by the GPO Electronic Information Access
Enhancement Act (H.R. 5938). The new bill narrowed the scope of the other
two: implementation funding was dropped, and the number of Federal
databases accessible through the gateway were limited to those resources
presently distributed by GPO. In addition, it did not require GPO to
connect to the Internet, but only to study the feasibility of doing so.
H.R. 5983 retained free access to the GPO gateway for the DLP, and finally
added a broad definition of federal electronic information to Title 44
by defining it as "...Federal public information stored electronically"
[H.R. 5983, Sec. 3(7)(c)].
H.R. 5983 brought the bipartisan support needed to pass the House,
but even as a piece of compromise legislation intended to satisfy
Republican opposition on the House Administration Committee, it failed
to pass the Senate because a hold was placed on it just before the end
of the 102d Congress.
As the 103d Congress began and the JCP chairmanship passed from
Rose to Sen. Wendell Ford (D-KY), the legislation was revived in the
Senate as S. 564 under Ford's sponsorship. In relatively short order,
the measure passed through both chambers. The new law amends Title 44 in
several important ways. It mandates that GPO:
* create and maintain a directory of Federal Electronic information;
* provide a system of online access to The Congressional Record, The
Federal Register and "other appropriate publications distributed by the
Superintendent of Documents" as determined by the SupDoc; and
* operate an electronic storage facility with online access.
Finally, it places in Title 44 a broad definition of Federal
electronic information defining it as "Federal public information stored
electronically" [44 USC 4101].
The Act authorizes the GPO to recover its costs by charging
"reasonable" fees, for use of the directory and the access system, equal
to the incremental cost of disseminating the information. Depository
libraries are specifically exempted from charges under the act.
Reaction to the new law has varied. Sen. Ford hails it as a law
that will place "information about the government right at the public's
finger tips. Whether they live in a rural community in Eastern Kentucky
or the big cities of New York, San Francisco and Chicago..." A less
enthusiastic view has been taken by others, characterizing the law as
a "foot in the door" for public access to Federal electronic information.
Regardless of one's point of view, a major deficiency of the law
is that it provides no funding for the GPO to carry out the program it
mandates. Just as happened a little over 30 years ago with the 1962
amendments to Title 44, the Depository Library Program has another
legislative directive to expand without the corresponding fiscal
wherewithal to do it.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that operating the
directory and access system will cost about $6 million over the next 5
years. Another $2 to $10 million could be totaled in costs per year to
provide free access for Depository Libraries. Coming out of a decade of
Congressional neglect, the GPO finds itself in a $3 million budgetary
hole this year that has required it to chisel into depository
distribution to find the savings to cover the shortfall. Far from
expanding the Depository Library Program into electronic distribution,
the GPO is presently looking for ways to just keep it running. Without
additional Congressional funding, it is hard to see how the GPO can meet
the requirements of PL 103-40 without deeper cuts into the hardcopy
distribution program, restructuring the Depository Library Program, and
reconfiguring its dissemination mission.
Additionally, the law is not something the GPO can just sit back
and ignore because it did not receive adequate funding from Congress.
The new act establishes an "operational deadline" of one year after the
date of passage for the GPO to have in operation the directory of
Federal electronic information, a system of online access to the
Congressional Record and the Federal Register, and an electronic storage
facility. Doing this within current budget and funding organization of
the GPO will undoubtedly have broad implications for the way the
Depository Library Program is structured and managed. Given the magnitude
of the task of providing online access to the Federal Register and the
Congressional Record--two of the biggest of GPO's "big ticket" items--
the resulting budget and service changes necessary to provide
electronic distribution of these titles will have profound implications
for the DLP.
Another flaw in the statute is that it does not require the GPO to
connect to the Internet, nor even to study the feasibility of doing so,
as did the stillborn H.R. 5983. One of the most important primary steps
in the process of developing the electronic dissemination and access
capabilities of the GPO and the Depository Library Program is to
connect to the national network. Now that "gateway" legislation has
passed, the GPO would be able to provide all network users with access
to the electronic directory and other services if Internet connections
were in place. Non-depository library users could still be charged the
nominal service fees, but they would have the convenience of a fast, low
cost connection to the GPO services. Assuming the GPO provides a good
directory and can facilitate searching the Congressional Record and
Federal Register online, an Internet connection could mean an increase
in sales revenues for the financially beleaguered agency. It would also
save having to cover telecommunications costs for the depository
libraries, and would connect the GPO directly to its depositories in a
true network. Direct communications between the GPO and those libraries
within the depository community that are now leading the way in the
development of electronic information resources could have a
significant payback in the development of the GPO as a chief information
provider of the Federal government and the growth of the Depository
Library Program as an electronic network of libraries and library
services. This is fundamental to depository libraries having a
significant and primary role as government information centers on the
NREN.
Nevertheless, the law does do two very important things in terms
of the piecemeal development of an overall Federal electronic
information policy. It finally gives the GPO a clear mandate to move
into the dissemination of Federal electronic information, and it inserts
into Title 44 a broad definition of public electronic information.
In the former case, the GPO now has the clear statutory authority
to distribute electronic information, to manage it, and to provide
access to it. This provides GPO with a status similar to that of NTIS,
its nearest Federal competitor. The GPO/EIAEA will permit the GPO to
expand its role beyond that of a printing house and jobber for Congress
and other Federal agencies, to a broader position as a chief information
disseminator for the Federal government. Under the new law, the GPO
could begin to shift from its primary role as a distributor to one as a
coordinator of access to information. In other words, it could begin
managing the Depository Library Program by coordinating it as a system
of access for the public to the various information resources of the
Federal government.
In the latter case, Title 44 now includes an additional section
which takes it another step closer to defining electronic government
publishing. To be cynical, "Federal public information stored
electronically" may seem nothing more than the vague language of
compromise, but in its simplicity may be the seeds of elegant
interpretation as other sections of Title 44 are amended to define
electronic publication.
The speed at which this law passed through Congress probably has
as much do to the fact that the 103d Congress began its work within the
context of a new administrative environment as it did with the preceding
two years of work on the measure. Now, under a new administration which
is pushing hard to advance technology in the U.S. through the use of
electronic information resources, a law is passed which shows some
accomplishment for the majority party in fulfilling part of its economic
and political agenda. However, it was not possible without satisfying
the still powerful minority and a contingent of budget-paranoid Democrats.
Congress has created a law that SHOULD enable all classes of citizens to
gain access to electronic public information. However, by not stretching
open the purse strings by (relatively speaking) even a pitifully small
amount, this law may offer nothing more than just a tantalizing
prospect of such ability. While Capitol Hill may take credit for stopping
the technological neglect of the GPO and DLP, Congress's fiscal neglect
of its own program, characteristic over the past 12 years, has not changed.
Ultimately, despite the pronouncement of Sen. Ford, the GPO Electronic
Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993 represents only another halting
step forward in the struggle for public access to the electronic
information of the Federal government. Much still remains to be done.
***********************************************************************
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT ON PUBLIC LAW 103-40
The following statement was released by the White House, Office
of the Press Secretary, on June 8, 1993. For text of the bill,
see Administrative Notes, v. 14, #7, 3/31/93.
It is with great pleasure that I sign into law S. 564, the
"Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access
Enhancement Act of 1993," which will enhance electronic access by
the public to Federal information. Under this Act, the public
will have on-line access to two of the major source documents
that inform us about the laws and regulations that affect our
daily lives: the Congressional Record and the Federal Register.
With recent advances in information technology, we can go beyond
the costly printing of tons of paper documents without
diminishing the quick and accurate delivery of important
information to the public.
As Vice President Gore and I announced in our February
22nd statement, Technology for America's Economic Growth, A New
Direction to Build Economic Strength, we are committed to working
with the private sector to use technology to make Government
information available to the public in a timely and equitable
manner. Federal agencies can make Government information more
accessible to the public, and enhance the utility of Government
information as a national resource, by disseminating information
in electronic media.
For many years, Vice President Gore has been a leader in
this area. He introduced the Senate version of this Act last
year and worked closely with Chairmen Charlie Rose and Wendell
Ford and others on both sides of the aisle to refine the Act.
This important step forward in the electronic
dissemination of Federal information will provide valuable
insights into the most effective means of disseminating all
public Government information. The system to be established by
the Government Printing Office (GPO) will complement, not
supplant, commercial information services and Federal agency
information dissemination programs. Likewise, it should not
supplant existing GPO mechanisms of information dissemination to
the private sector. Indeed, the lessons learned from this
program will be used by Federal agencies to develop the most
useful and cost-effective means of information dissemination. To
do this, the GPO initiative must be coordinated with related
projects in the Executive branch.
William J. Clinton
Dupont Circle Reporter/Number 9/June 22, 1993
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