Background of the State Plan

At its spring 1981 meeting, the Depository Library Council to the Public Printer, U.S. Government Printing Office, passed the following resolution:

In order to bolster the regional depository libraries' capabilities to serve their state missions and in order to ensure that federal documents are available throughout the United States on an equal and expeditious basis, the Depository Library Council recommends that the Public Printer investigate the feasibility of requiring each state to prepare a plan to coordinate the federal documents depository program within the state. The plan should be developed through consultation with all designated federal depository libraries within the state and should address all depository responsibilities outlined in the Instructions to Depository Libraries as well as the concerns expressed through the Regional Depository Library Survey presented to the Depository Library Council at the Spring 1981 meeting.

The full text of the Council resolution and the response to resolutions from the Public Printer may be found in Summary of Meeting, Depository Library Council to the Public Printer. Sept. 28-30, 1981, pp. 1-2. (SuDoc no.: GP 3.30/2:981-2)

The Public Printer acknowledged the benefits of developing state plans for the Federal Depository Library Program, stating that, "Such plans would provide a cost-effective means of enabling states to share the responsibility for the development of collections and the provision of services."

In the fall of that year, a second resolution from Council further recommended a list of elements to be addressed in such plans and suggested that the state plan concept be publicized by disseminating material about such plans to the depository community and to the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies.

The full text of the Council resolution and the response to that resolution from the Public Printer may be found in Public Documents Highlights, no. 51/52, April-June 1982, p.5. (SuDoc no.: GP 3.27:51/52)

The Federal Depository Library System in Massachusetts is part of a national Depository Library Program, in which certain libraries are designated to provide federal government information to the public. The purpose and intent of the program are as follows:

To help fulfill its responsibilities to inform the public on the policies and programs of the federal government, Congress established the Depository Program. This program is based upon three principles: 1) with certain specified exceptions, all government information shall be made available to depository libraries; 2) depository libraries shall be located in each state and Congressional district in order to make government information widely available; and 3) this government information shall be available for the free use of the general public. Chapter 19 of Title 44, U.S. Code is the authority for the establishment and operation of the depository program.

Thirty-two (32) libraries are designated as selective depositories. For a complete list, see Appendix A.

The U.S. Government Printing Office has recommended the development of state plans to improve services to the public and to reduce costs through greater formal cooperation and networking among depository libraries.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

      Regional--guidance on collections, services; responsibility for complete and historic collection, communicate with selectives by various means
      Selectives--collection development services
    "Plan Committee"--publicize, promote, review, update, amend plan

Visits :

 1.Visits of regional librarians to selective depository libraries: These visits may be in conjunction with Government Printing Office inspections, in response to a request for assistance, or just an informal visit. These visits provide an opportunity for regional librarians to become aware of the strengths and weaknesses in collections throughout their service area; the need for additional support; the level of cooperation among selectives; and constraints experienced by the various institutions in their effort to comply with depository library mandates. Informal visits and visits to provide technical processing advice are not to be interpreted as inspections by the regional librarians.

2.Orientations for depository library staff: These orientations will be conducted by the regional library staff and will serve to familiarize new documents staff with the Federal Depository Library Program. Orientations will be designed to cover historical information about GPO, to give direction in contacting GPO; to review operating resources, e.g., Instructions to Depository Libraries, State Plan, etc.; to emphasize certain instructions and guidelines; to acquaint staff with the depository collection at the BPL.

Orientations generally will be conducted at the regional depository library to observe the processing and maintenance of the collections; and to meet staff involved in the operations of the regional library.

3.Visits among selective and non-depository librarians: These are encouraged to open channels of communication in handling common concerns, coordinating collection development and retention policies, handling interlibrary loans, etc.

STANDARDS OF SERVICE

Adequate training of all staff responsible for processing and providing reference service for government information is essential. In-service training within the library and sharing of expertise among depository libraries is necessary in order to maximize use of financial resources, organizational time, and staff. The regional and selective depositories have sponsored or cosponsored training programs and should continue to do so.

All depository library staff must be proficient in the electronic information environment.

Physical Plant, Equipment and Environment

Adequate space is necessary to properly maintain, organize, and make government information in all formats available to the public. To assist with planning for future space needs, collection development policies should be written in coordination with other depository libraries to insure that the information needs of citizens are met as broadly and as deeply as possible by a library nearby, and to prevent unnecessary duplicate acquisition of little-used items.

In addition, environmental conditions within the institution must be adequate to house its federal documents collection. See (Guidelines for FDL) for more information.

Financial Responsibility

Libraries are responsible for providing funding on a stable basis for depository functions. This financial commitment is a major responsibility and requires adequate planning on the part of each library. Every depository library must include adequate funding for equipment. In addition, non-depository reference materials should be acquired, as appropriate. Travel to meetings should be supported with time and funding. When possible, enrollment in workshops, symposia, and classes should be budgeted.

The regional library will provide funding for coordinating the depository library program in Massachusetts by assisting with mailings, assisting with printing of guides and promotional materials, assisting with promotional activities, coordinating with other documents-related networks, and working with groups such as the Government Publications Librarians of New England Libraries to obtain grants, legislative support, etc. The regional library will provide space, shelving, equipment, bibliographic control and staff to meet the responsibilities of permanent retention of federal government information and its retrieval and dissemination.

COLLECTIONS

Access to a comprehensive collection of current and retrospective federal government information of interest to citizens of the state should be maintained among the libraries in the Depository Library System. This responsibility shall be shared as specified in this plan.

Collection Development Policies

Each depository library should select to receive on a current basis federal government information responsive to the needs of the users in the area served by the depository. A formal collection development policy is necessary to define the parameters of each depository. Each selective shall place on file with the regional its collection development policy, either as part of its self-study for the GPO, or as a separate document if the self-study has not yet been completed.

Librarians should be prepared to meet the challenges presented by new formats for federal information, using that information in whatever medium it is offered. Depository libraries must be able to provide free public access to online electronic federal government information products. However, selective depository libraries will retain the authority to decide which products to support, in accordance with their overall collection development plans. Users requiring more in-depth assistance that falls outside a selective depository library's collection parameters may be referred to another depository library or to the regional.

Resource Sharing Efforts

To eliminate unnecessary duplication and to provide adequate access to needed information, selective depositories within the congressional districts initially, and then within the resource sharing networks or the geographic regions of the state, will be encouraged to compare, discuss, and amend current item selections using union lists to achieve balanced selections of frequently used materials.

Selective depositories are expected to continue to receive and retain for at least five years those tangible products that meet local needs.

The regional will continue to receive at least one copy of all tangible products distributed under the auspices of the Federal Depository Library Program, and will hold those products as directed by the Superintendent of Documents.

The ultimate goal of these agreements would be to ensure access to every federal document of significant or enduring value somewhere in the state; to establish a system so each depository librarian may know the location of unique or strong collections in particular fields; to publicize which libraries are developing their collections in specific fields; and to note the location of materials assigned by these agreements. An effort will be made to assess the collection strengths at the various depositories in Massachusetts, and to publish a guide to subject collections at each institution.

2. Regional responsibilities:

The regional library is responsible for the acquisition of complete major depository series of all major agencies and subagencies of the federal government including annual reports, administrative decisions, regulations, bulletins, and other series whenever available. The BPL will make every effort to acquire complete files of major series (in paper or microform) to assure presence of copies in the state. However, a regional need not expend time, money, or space in acquiring major sets that have been acquired by a selective or the other regional.

3. Selective responsibilities: Regional depository libraries are expected to maintain complete collections, including many superseded titles. Selective depository libraries are encouraged to assist in this obligation by supplying superseded titles of value to the regionals as part of their disposal process. Selective depositories are encouraged to develop their retrospective collections, especially when the acquisition would be of materials not previously held in the state Collection development should be based upon written collection development statements, recognizing user needs and geographic proximity to other collections of the same materials.

4. Methods of retrospective collection development: The following methods may be used by regional and selective depositories: (a) searching disposal lists from other depositories; (b) relocating materials, i.e., selective housing, from a depository to an alternate location; (c) purchasing from dealers, United States Book Exchange, and others; (d) purchasing microform materials; (e) acquiring materials directly from agencies; (f) using the Documents Expediting Project; and (g) receiving gifts, photocopies, and other similar items.

Depository librarians are strongly encouraged to report acquisitions of major sets, titles, indexes, and specialized equipment to the documents community.

Offers to Other Libraries and Disposal Guidelines

Selective depository libraries may dispose of depository information held at least five years, provided that both regional depositories have granted written permission. In order to simplify and standardize the disposal procedure, the BPL has established a set of guidelines for selective depositories that wish to dispose of material. The guidelines are based on the Instructions to Depository Libraries (revised April 1992), and are included as an appendix to the plan.

Transfer of Materials and Selective Housing Agreements

Information received through the Depository Library Program may be housed in an alternate location. This procedure is known as selective housing. If housed in a location not under the same administrative authority and control as the depository library, a memorandum of agreement should be prepared. Transfers of these materials require a memorandum of agreement, approved by the regional library.

Copies must be filed with the Superintendent of Documents and the regional.

Reasons for transfer of materials may include: to provide a wider use of materials; to ensure greater facility in accessing the materials; to enhance retrospective collections in specific subject areas or series and for specific agencies; to build retrospective collections in specific subject areas or series and for specific agencies; to alleviate overcrowded space conditions; and allowing a depository, whose space constraints would otherwise prohibit selection, to select extensive series.

Bibliographic access and control must include the following items:

1. Records of the lending library must indicate where materials are being housed.
2. Records of the receiving location must indicate the source of the materials.
3. Physical volumes/tangible products must indicate that the materials are depository documents.
4. A memorandum of agreement, signed by directors of both institutions, must precede transfer of materials. Each agreement should include these elements:

A sample memorandum of agreement is included in this plan.

Public Access and Hours of Service

Federal law (Title 44, U.S. Code) states that "Depository libraries shall make government publications available for the free use of the general public..." Thus, all depository collections are, by law, required to be open and accessible to the public without charge, even if those libraries housing collections of government information otherwise serve a limited or restricted clientele. Library policies and practices should encourage access to government information in all formats.

Depository libraries should make documents collections available to all users during the same hours that other collections are available. The same hours of reference service should be provided for documents as are provided for other collections.

Bibliographic Access

Bibliographic access to all federal government information is essential to the operation of the depository program. It is the responsibility of the Government Printing Office to provide for basic bibliographic access. The major tool currently provided by GPO is the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications. Depository libraries should maintain appropriate access to the catalog.

All depository libraries must maintain bibliographic information indicating library holdings of federal government information to the piece level. Depositories are strongly encouraged to: include bibliographic records and active electronic links for government information in their catalogs; participate in adding holdings to the bibliographic utility (e.g., OCLC, RLIN) in which the library is a member; and purchase bibliographic data from GPO or other commercial provider.

Interlibrary Loan

The plan proposes to ensure the widest possible access to federal government information, to improve service, and to provide for a reduction in the cost of accessing and housing these materials. In order to meet these goals, all participants in this plan are encouraged to make their documents collections freely available through interlibrary loan. Interlibrary lending of government information should adhere to the policies specified by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners???

Promotion to the Public and Other Libraries

Promotion is an integral responsibility for depository libraries and should be planned as such. Partnerships with other institutions or organizations are encouraged.

Depository librarians should strive to increase non-depository librarian and public awareness of the depository program. Depository collections contain information of vital interest to a free and informed citizenry. The objectives of promotion are to explain the depository program, give locations of depository libraries, and describe the services and collections available. Partnerships with other institutions are encouraged.

The following methods and ideas could be employed in a promotional campaign:

1. Existing library promotion: Government information promotion should be integrated into all other ongoing promotion efforts of a library, such as acquisition lists, web pages, bibliographies, newsletters, displays, newspaper columns, radio/television programs, speeches, flyers, and listings in the governmental and/or commercial establishment pages of telephone directories. Each library is encouraged to display prominently the depository logo on its home page on the World Wide Web.

2. Focused government information promotion: Efforts to inform public officials (federal, state, and local) about the depository collections and services are encouraged. Other potential user groups, such as local business or community organizations, should also be included in the plan for promotion.

3. Internal promotion: Library-wide training must be conducted on at least an annual basis.

4.Sharing of promotion: Ideas and programs, successful or otherwise, should be shared with other librarians. This may be done at meetings, through newsletters, and via the official electronic discussion list.

STANDARDS