----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Greetings: Those of you who were present at the Depository Library Council meeting as well as those of you who read the remarks of Acting Public Printer Mike DiMario that were posted earlier this week, know that a new tone and sense of direction for the Council were established this Spring. Toward that end, Council made 17 recommendations to the Acting Public Printer regarding the future of Council and the DLP. Those recommendations will be posted to the various lists with all due haste...unfortunately having been out of the recommendation business for the past 3 years we were a little rusty with our word-smithing skills and approved the recommendations in concept rather than in final form. However, the following is offered to provide you with a sense of the meeting. You can except a summary of the meeting and a complete list of the recommendations ASAP. With regard to the future of DLC, Council echoed the remarks made by Mr. DiMario and urged that beginning with the Fall 1993 meeting of Council, that the Fall meeting be held in different cities throughout the U.S. We saw value to continuing to hold the Spring meeting in Washington D.C. and to coordinate that meeting with the Federal Depository Conference and Library Legislative Day. We also applauded the Acting Public Printer's resolve to appoint more practicing documents librarians to Council, but at the same time cautioned that a balance must continue to exist between documents librarians and other interested persons on the DLC. It was also felt that future Council meetings should be at least a day longer and that some type of directed open forum discussion should be a part of all Council meetings. In addition, we will attempt to teleconference the next meeting in an effort to generate wider input and better communication between Council, GPO and the information community. Regarding operational issues affecting the DLP, Council supports the idea of an Operational Committee of Council to work with the GODORT Depository Operations Work Group (and other appropriate groups) to serve as a single access point that depository librarians may contact for help with operational issues. We also encouraged that depository library inspectors take on more of an education/training role and that inspectors serve as ombudsman for helping resolve operational problems. Council will also begin a "Council's Corner" column in Admin Notes as a mechanism to better communicate with the community. Toward that end, Council's Communications Committee will remain as a standing Committee and Beth Duston will appoint a new Chair of that committee this Fall. Much of the Council meeting was spent discussing the future structure of the DLP and although no specific recommendations were made in terms of a final model, several interim steps were identified. First, it was recommended that depository libraries be surveyed to see if there is any interest in the idea of "Basic Service Center" libraries that would receive a core collection of material and also in the idea of shared Regionals or Regional Consortiums. Assuming that this recommendation is approved, we will work with appropriate library groups to develop the surveys and to get them out to libraries as quickly as possible. Council also recommended a moratorium on the establishment of new depository libraries and the establishment of minimum technical requirements for existing libraries. There was a strong feeling among Council that GPO should, at a minimum, move into the electronic dissemination of government information as defined in the "Access" bill, whether or not that bill passes. Council was also impressed with the software we saw demonstrated as a prototype for an online Congressional Record and viewed this as the appropriate level software to accompany electronic products. Council also recommended that GPO explore the possibility of distributing hardware to depository libraries for using electronic publications. It was also recommended that GPO make the bound Serial Set available to all libraries wishing to select it and that Council would gladly work with GPO in helping to identify more economically viable alternatives for producing the Serial Set. Finally, there seemed to be growing support, from everyone present, for a stakeholders meeting on the future of the DLP. In that light, it was recommended that GPO be an active participant in such a conference. **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** GARY CORNWELL PHONE: (904) 392-0366 UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARIES FAX: (904) 392-7251 DOCUMENTS DEPARTMENT BITNET: GARCORN@NERVM LIBRARY WEST INTERNET: [log in to unmask] GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA 32611