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I'd like to find out what anyone knows about the following
form letter (text in full below) that we got from the National
Ocean Service, in Riverdale, MD:
 
     Dear Sir or Madam:
 
          Due to fedreal budget restraints, the National Ocean
     Service has been forced to discontinue providing free charts
     and related publications.
 
          We have enclosed our catalog and ordering information
     for future orders.  If you are a federal, state, or local
     govenment, you are enttled to a 40 percent discount.
     Educational facilities are entitled to a 10 percent
     discount.
 
          The National Ocean Service would like to take this
     opportunity to thank you for your past patronage and looks
     forward to serving you in the future.
 
     Sincerely,
     Henry L. Carter,
     Acting Chief, Distribution Branch
     Aeronautical Charting Division
     Coast and Geodetic Survey
 
My questions:
 
Has anyone else gotten this letter?
 
Is it a joke?  It looks fairly official, with a NOAA letterhead
and arriving in a NOAA envelope (the catalog and ordering
information was *not* enclosed, incidently, which would also be
par for the course).  The letter is xeroxed, but the date (Nov.
3) and our address are typed (!) or maybe printed with a daisy
wheel printer.  Shouldn't it have said "constraints" instead of
"restraints"? :)
 
I'd like to think that they got our address from some mailing
list (for newsletters, product announcements, or left over from
the NOAA depository program), and that the people in their office
don't even know about the GPO depository program, that libraries
select their material through GPO, or that GPO now distributes
their charts to libraries.  Is this a good theory?
 
Might there actually be a connection between this and what GPO
provides?  Or are they just talking about charts obtained
directly from the agency?
 
Is it supposed to apply just to aeronautical charts, since that's
the office mentioned at the bottom, or to all charts, since the
specific kind isn't mentioned in the body of the letter?
 
Can Ed Hall, the CUAC rep. who has NOS, give us any insight on
this?  Is Henry L. Carter a real person?
 
I just wanted to see what others had to say before I contacted
the agency.  Thanks for any help,
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mark Thomas                         | The train ... traditional,
Evans Library, Texas A&M University |   yet environmentally sound
(409) 862-1052 / FAX (409) 845-6238 |
mthomas@tamvenus / [log in to unmask] |              --Lisa Simpson