----------------------------Original message---------------------------- THE FOLLOWING IS BEING POSTED ON GOVDOC-L, MAPS-L, AND LAW-LIB. ----------------------------------------------------------------- | T H E D U P O N T C I R C L E R E P O R T E R | | | | An Informal Newsletter for the Federal | | Depository Library Community | | June 22, 1993 No. 9 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ################################################################