Government Information Collections in the Networked Environment: New Issues and Models

Citation

Lanier, D. (2000), "Government Information Collections in the Networked Environment: New Issues and Models", Collection Building, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 126-128. https://doi.org/10.1108/cb.2000.19.3.126.3

This book is a collection of papers dealing with access to government information in a digital and networked environment. Unlike the varying quality found in some collections of papers, the authors here have consistently and comprehensively covered their respective topics in an authoritative and scholarly manner. The nature of the issue being presented does mean that some of the papers are quite broad in applicability, while others have a narrow focus.

Gillispie, in “Assuring user success in a networked environment for government information”, discusses four distinct areas that determine user success: equipment and software, staff expertise, user instruction, preservation and archiving. Only the first is perhaps new to the digital environment, and the other three traditional responsibilities of librarians will likely take on even greater importance in our networked society. Weakness in any of the four areas will certainly lessen the likelihood of user success with many types of government information. The author also provides good examples of preservation/archiving projects.

“The community information organization: an initiative for communities and academic libraries” is more of a think piece in which the authors (Shuler and Sulzer) propose a community information organization (CIO). To them a CIO is a “proactive community alliance of depository libraries, local government agencies, local federal offices and community networks”. Too much time is spent documenting the lack of cooperation among the suggested CIO participants as background to their proposal for CIOs. The authors admit that the CIO concept is “slippery” when it comes to getting everyone to buy in. Another problem is that such a concept needs the sponsorship of a national library. Given the variety and nature of the proposed CIO participants, some of us might throw up our hands and say, “Impossible!” Yet, we need thinkers like Shuler and Sulzer to cause us to look beyond the intractable. (Shuler is a colleague of this reviewer, although they work on different University of Illinois at Chicago campuses.)

In “Government information today: the dilemma of digital collections”, Souza and Dodsworth present snapshots of the respective online information of five government agencies in 1996 compared with 1998. While the snapshots are separated by only two years, in digital terms the lapsed time is enormous. Their conclusions were that some agencies had made considerable progress, others some progress and still others little or no significant progress. Their overall assessment is that digital, online government information is still a supplement to print collections as opposed to a replacement. Nevertheless, the authors are convinced that comprehensive Internet‐based collections will become a reality in these and other agencies in the near future, and they offer their insights on the impact on various types of libraries.

“New tools for collection development: the Internet scout project” by Calcari and Wells focuses on one specific Web site and one specific aspect of that site. Anyone who uses The Internet Scout <http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/> at the University of Wisconsin is aware of its value in the librarian’s imperative to keep abreast of new developments in the electronic information environment. Use of the Internet Scout for collection development purposes is the focus of this paper. The Scout provides assistance in finding, evaluating and accessing Internet resources. The authors also provide brief summaries of other tools that are useful in collection development of digital resources. “Building digital collections of government information: the Mann Library/USDA partnership” also focuses on a specific model – Cornell’s Mann Library and its integration of US Department of Agriculture digital documents into the library holdings. The partnership included the operation of a server, archiving and retention responsibilities, and the prospect of a national Agriculture Network Information Center <http://www.agnic.org/>.

“Enhancing access to government information: redistribution of data via the World Wide Web” (Yott) includes a general discussion of the Web and its effectiveness as a data distribution system. The focus is on the advantages of the Web for distributing or providing data – advantages readily apparent to those who frequently use the Web. Also provided is a discussion of the technical issues related to files and formats for Web distribution. Another model is described in “Distributed collection development on the Colorado Statewide network” by Carabell, Fayad and Parker. The focus of this paper is the collection development process for the Access Colorado Library and Information Network <http://www.aclin.org/>. Health and medicine was chosen as the pilot topic as this Colorado‐specific network information site was developed. There is a helpful discussion of the issues related to organizing, implementing and maintaining such a project. Kennedy describes another model in “Inter‐institutional cooperation: the University of California/Stanford Electronic Government Information Initiative group”, which builds on what is described as a long history of cooperation between all of the University of California campus and Stanford government information librarians. Kennedy also discusses the future of the California Digital Library and the California Digital Government Information Library – a future instructive for all of us.

The final paper in this collection deals with “Barriers to broad public access of court opinions and creative consortial projects of law librarians to democratize access through the Internet”. It is safe to say that the courts have been less than enthusiastic about providing electronic access to court materials. Baish and Kirk describe the existing barriers and suggest ways and projects that will one day open this vast storehouse of information to appropriate persons via the Internet.

Taken together the collection of papers prompts one to rethink the why and how of providing government information to library users and our communities at large. In particular, the relationship between print and electronic resources must be analyzed with a view towards the needs of our specific clients. What is evident is that, unlike our past and present print collections, the digital collections have the potential to provide even the smallest community library with the government information only the largest of us could collect just a few years ago. Although the publisher makes a point of the book being printed on quality, acid‐free paper, the print quality seems rather poor; it is not crisp and clear. Likewise, the reproductions (Web pages, for instance) are sufficiently utilitarian but not top‐quality reproduction. All in all, reading this collection of papers will enlighten, provoke, and encourage the ongoing mandate for free and comprehensive access to government information.