OBTAINING GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS
IN SEATTLE WASHINGTON
(A) The difference between partial and full depository libraries is that the former selects which documents to receive and collect, although they must select at least 15% of what’s available. They also must retain those they select for 5 years. These libraries also pay for any costs incurred. A full depository library on the other hand agrees to receive and retain all documents distributed in the GPO program. Any depository library is required to have a 10,000-volume collection beyond the GPO collection and maintain public access to its government document collection, including an adequate number of public workstations. Depositories are limited to no more than two in each area, although “area” is not well defined in the statute, and law libraries can be an exception to this limit
Some full depositories are also supervising or regional depositories. There can be at maximum of two supervising depositories in each state and in Puerto Rico, although, given the fact that Alaska does not have one, it is apparent that none are required. From information in a University of Washington document, it would seem that there could also only be two full depositories in each state, although one of them might not also be a supervising library. This is because the GPO only distributes certain high cost documents to regional libraries, thus making the collection of any other depository limited by at least that percentage. Supervising depositories can be designated by a Senator serving the given area after approval by the head of the library authority of the state. A supervising library serves as the conduit for the other depository libraries in the state. Lists are provided to the partial depository libraries of documents available from the GPO and of those received beyond what is available in the GPO program. Depository libraries request documents through the supervising library. A large part of the program is free, but the federal government is allowed to recover costs on certain documents, and the supervising depositories handles collections and payments. It also coordinates communications so that the number of copies distributed to it is equal to the number of requesting libraries. A supervising library must collect all documents distributed through the depository program, and within the region served must provide interlibrary loan, reference service, and assistance for depository libraries in the disposal of unwanted Government publications.
The State Library in Washington State is
the Regional Depository Library for both Washington and Alaska, and the only
supervisory depository in the two state area.
The program now also provides Internet access to online documents and
services. The Washington State Library
also strives to collect federal agency documents beyond those distributed in
the depository program especially in the following areas:
There are an additional 28 partial
depository libraries in Washington State and 8 more in Alaska. The majority of depository libraries are in
the more heavily populated western part of Washington State. Ten of them are:
·
Everett
Public Library
·
Evergreen
State College Library
·
Highline
Community College Library
·
North
Olympic Library System
·
King
County Public Library
·
Seattle
Public Library
·
Seattle
University Law Library
·
Tacoma
Public Library
·
University
of Washington Library
·
Washington
State Library (the full regional depository)
·
Western
Washington University Library
Since my dream job would be in a King
County Library, I would probably use that system for the documents it has
selected to receive. However, it is
true that the storage of federal documents is divided between branches by
subject matter. Because most are not
catalogued, one would have to rely on the help of the Government Documents
Librarian for the entire system, or individual librarians in the regional
libraries who, I would fear due to breadth of responsibilities, might not be
fully informed about their collection.
As the full depository, the State Library would be an obvious backup
particularly in that it also collects documents beyond the depository program
as noted above. However, for its
proximity and the breadth and depth of its collection (85% of GPO), the
University of Washington might actually be my choice for learning what’s
available. There the collection is in
one place, for the most part, and dedicated librarians are extremely
knowledgable. It is also helpful for
the various online search tools that it suggests on its website: http://govdoc.wichita.edu/ddm/GdocFrames.asp
(B) For this part of the
assignment I chose to examine some of the collection at the University of
Washington from the viewpoint of finding information that might be of interest
to the children and families that would be my specific patrons in a youth
services position. It should be noted that this was an online search of the UW
catalog, and although many of the depository holdings are cataloged, all of
them are not. To review all
possibilities, one would have to use the assistance of UW librarians who have
access to lists of everything not catalogued as well.
Searching “Native Americans” in the U.W.
government publications, I found 54 documents. Many of them might be of
interest to Native American patrons interested in laws or programs targeting
their specific population, but from the standpoint of homework assistance, only
a 1992 report on the current condition of Native Americans looked particularly promising. Another document appealed to me personally
as relevant to my current study of American education foundations in EDU
520. It was collection of essays from a
conference exploring the influence of Thomas Jefferson on education.
Turning to a search on education, there
are 17,979 items in the government publications at the University of
Washington. Sixty-one of them focus on
“standards”, a current topic of interest to many parents and educators. Searching “scholarships” brought up 435
documents on scholarships and fellowships.
The twenty-nine government publications
revealed in a search on “children’s health” all seemed very relevant to
parental interests. In particular
several items on environmental issues as they intersect children’s health
intrigued me. Another important social
issue covered was the lack of insurance in many families. One document title made it seem likely that
it was aimed at children, or would at least be of interest to them: “Our world,
your turn: activities to protect our environment.”
(C)
The State
of Washington does indeed have a depository system for state documents. According to our text, most states have
established systems patterned on the federal program. The State of Washington Library, which is the regional library in
the federal program, is also the permanent depository for State of Washington
publications, and serves as the distribution center for other libraries in the
state depository program. The items distributed in this program include: “annual, biennial, and special
reports, state periodicals and magazines, books, pamphlets, leaflets, and all
other materials, other than news releases sent exclusively to the news media,
typewritten correspondence and interoffice memoranda, issued in print by the state,
the legislature, constitutional officers, or any other state department,
committee, or other state agency supported wholly or in part by state funds.
RCW 40.06.010 (1) defines "print" as including all forms of
reproducing multiple copies, with the exception of typewritten correspondence
and interoffice memoranda.” (http://www.statelib.wa.gov/gov_publications.aspx)
The Washington State Library, as the
State Regional Depository, keeps all State documents permanently. The twelve full depository libraries in the
State system are required to keep documents for a minimum of five years. The twenty-two partial depository libraries
are required to keep the documents they select for a minimum of two years. The five full state depositories nearest to
my location are:
·
Everett
Public Library
·
King
County Library System
·
Seattle
Public Library
·
Tacoma
Public Library
·
University
of Washington Library
King
County Library System, my ideal employer, is a full depository, and it appears
that four different regional libraries in the system have complete
collections. That would probably be
where I would turn, although for assistance in discovery within this mostly
uncatalogued collection, I would probably need the Government Documents
Librarian. The University of
Washington Library could serve as a backup for State documents as well.
(D) At the local level, there
is also a depository program. All
Seattle government documents are delivered to the Seattle Public Library, all
King County documents go to the King County Library collection, and so on. Patrons are directed to ask librarians for
assistance in obtaining the information they need. I think such programs are essential to information access. Although citizens can go directly to a given
agency, knowing which agency to contact may be allusive. Also, I would imagine librarians would be
more supportive of an individual’s need to obtain extensive and documented
information than would employees of those agencies.
(E)
The new Web
address for the Government Printing Office is actually http://www.gpoaccess.gov/index.html. For someone interested in youth services,
the Ask Ben section of the website, which is divided by age group, seems
particularly helpful. I was also
interested to find there is actually a GPO bookstore in Seattle currently, but
all branches will be closing within the next few months, so the information is
moot.
Looking at the bookstore and catalog, the
search engine is particularly nice in that it provides pull down menu access to
a multitude of categories. Though one
might think that the numbers on the list correspond to the number of items in a
given category, they are actually only the numeric designation of the
category. Any number of the categories
look to be of interest to libraries expanding their collections, however, I can
not say that the items I found appeared to be particularly inexpensive, and
many of the items in various categories are listed as out of stock. It is, however, the best access discovered
in this assignment for obtaining government documents without being part of the
depository program. One can also browse
several specific format or subject collections from the homepage. There is even a sale section for bargain
hunters.
Under the electronic products, the items
offered seem too specialized for a public library. Among the CD-ROMS there are at least a few items of interest.
World Ports, Tide Tables, Public School Finance Programs, and The Occupational
Handbook are examples. Subscription
items also look pretty specialized but main branches of large systems may be
interested in some of the items.
Also extremely helpful to
librarians would be the email alerts available of new items by topic. One can also just go to the site and access
lists of new items by the week in which they became available. This would be a way of knowing about items
befor they go out of print. Another
option is to browse bestsellers. These lists are archived along with
notifications of sale items.
As to payment methods, in my ideal
library I would have a credit card attached to my specific acquisition budget
that I could use anywhere. In regards
to the real world, the Superintendent of Documents Deposit Account option might
work. In a deposit account, the library
would have to inform the GPO in writing that they wished to open an account,
funding it with at least $50.00. At
least some libraries seem to be able to open accounts with no specific purchase
items listed, as long as a monetary limit is set. For those that can’t do that either, it might work to submit a
purchase order with a specific list and total, and then open and fund the
account with that exact amount. For
systems that insist that, in all cases, items be received before they are paid
for, the GPO could not be used.
Discounts are not mentioned for libraries, but I would certainly ask,
although it seems that those offered are intended for those educational
bookstores that have the intent of reselling the product.
(F)
According
to Laurie Fortier, a librarian at the Washington State Library, recent
budget cuts have actually made it difficult for libraries that are not part of
the State Depository Program to obtain permanent copies of state agency
documents, or even to know what is available.
Until fairly recently, these libraries could receive a monthly list of
publications delivered to depository libraries and request any that they wanted
from the Washington State Library, although there might be a cost. The intermediary role of the State Library
was the first to disappear, and now the list is not available either. Also in
the past, a State Librarian could spend a lot of time with another librarian
answering broad questions about collection development such as which agencies
to contact for which kinds of information, but now they are restricted to
answering fairly narrow questions.
To obtain copies for their collection,
non-depository libraries must contact the agencies themselves, and those
agencies are not required to cooperate.
Budget cuts or even whims may cause them to refuse service, even at a
fee. Also one must realize that publication runs can be limited. To help in this type of search, a list of
state agencies can be found through Access Washington at http://access.wa.gov/government/awstate.asp
or by subject at http://access.wa.gov/government/awsubject.asp. Perusing several of the agency sites
indicates that librarians could find out what publications have appeared
recently, but especially due to the wide variation in site design, this would
be an overwhelmingly time-consuming job. One could also peruse various library
catalogs to find catalogued items. The
Washington State Library Catalog is at: http://www.statelib.wa.gov/catalog.aspx. The state university libraries catalog a
significant percentage of the documents.
Besides the University of Washington catalog mentioned before, the
Central Washington State University Website is particularly helpful for its catalog
and its hints to finding various types of information.
http://www.lib.cwu.edu/documents/wadocs.html.
My own solution to this problem would be
to attempt to develop a personal relationship with a librarian at one of the
full depository libraries to obtain a list of what they receive on a monthly
basis. Perhaps someone could be
persuaded to Web-publish the information so that it would be available for
everyone, librarians and patrons alike.
I
still might not be able to obtain the items from the specific publishing
agency, and print reproductions of items in other libraries would probably not
be acceptable in most cases. The
possibility of scanning documents and offering Web or electronic media access
would remain a possibility.
Given the time-consuming nature of the
methods described above, I would guess that most of my patron service in this
area would have to consist of pointing them to Web documents. As mentioned, the state university library
Websites are helpful for this, as is Washington State Find-It at http://find-it.wa.gov/, Consumer Find-It at http://finditconsumer.wa.gov/ where
one can search state information, federal information, or both, Ask George at http://access.wa.gov/, or the part of it that
is specifically for help with homework at http://access.wa.gov/kids/. For history questions the Washington
Secretary of State’s site can be helpful at http://www.secstate.wa.gov/archives/
and the State Library notes many of the above sites plus some additional narrow
subject sites at http://www.statelib.wa.gov/news/hiddentreasures.aspx.
(G) The Seattle Clerk’s Office http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~public/docs1.htm
has an archive of city documents, and is actually more helpful than many other
sites, including library catalogs, in that it has a thesaurus dedicated to this
specific subject, plus extensive instructions on how to use it. The office notes that the Seattle Public
Library has more city publications than they do. I found 15,423 in their
catalog with “Seattle” as part of the author designation. Publications exist on a wide variety of
subject matter such as history, legal codes, housing, health, schools, waste,
unions, city finances, arts, and recreation.
One must go to the county level to find some subjects like
transportation, but many subjects exist at all levels. Again the way to obtain these documents,
apart from print or electronic copies of those at depository libraries, is to
contact the publishing agency itself, and as at the state level, they actually
may be unavailable. Looking at pointers
to online access, for specifically local information King County Library
System’s annotated list of Web links at http://www.kcls.org/findit/local.cfm
is more helpful that those at the Seattle Public Library because the latter
does not separate local links from state and national ones.