Two U.S. federal libraries and two federal librarians will be recognized by the Library of Congress Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK) in a ceremony next week. The honorees were announced in a May 15 press release.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Research Library is singled out for its “leadership role in initiating new data services (including sophisticated data-discovery tools) and its rapidly growing data-reference service.”

The RAF Alconbury Base Library, 423d Force Support Squadron, U.S. Air Force, Huntingdon, England, is recognized for outstanding service in support of the base’s 38 education degrees offered by five accredited schools.

Joyce C. Greene, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, is FEDLINK’s 2012 Federal Librarian of the Year. Among her leadership achievements, Joyce “championed the development of a new Content Management Office, which has increased the center’s momentum toward organizational change, and developed a digital library and repository with six unique collections.”

Tiffany Hughey, U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern Library, Landstuhl, Germany, is the 2012 Federal Library Technician of the Year. She “has seamlessly combined her professional technician skills with a thorough knowledge of Army policies and procedures, allowing her to improve programming and services in the garrison and in Army Europe Libraries.”

Congratulations to the award winnners! Your accomplishments demonstrate the great variety of  service and innovation happening in federal libraries.

Marie Kaddell of LexisNexis has just released Best Practices for Government Libraries 2012: Pushing Boundaries:  Mobility, Community, Accessibility [PDF]. Marie, 2012 Past Chair of SLA/DGI, edits the annual compilation of content submitted by government librarians and community leaders with an interest in government libraries. On her Government Info Pro blog, Marie reports “the 2012 edition includes over 70 articles and other submissions provided by more than 75 contributors including librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, LexisNexis Consultants, and more.”

Contributions cover benchmarking, career planning, international work, open government, public libraries, public records, records management, and social media.

Articles and guides contributed by DGI members include:

• Pushing Boundaries: From Collections to Service, by James King, Information Architect, National Institutes of Health Library
• An Online Community Is Born: NIC’s National Jail Exchange, by Connie Clem, Managing Editor, National Jail Exchange, Principal, Clem Information Strategies
• Gaining Management Skills through Professional Association Leadership, by Kim Schultz, Marketing Research Analyst, Affinion Loyalty Group
• Reaching Out to Tribal College and University Libraries: A Project to
  Provide Interior Library Resources and Services, by George Franchois, Director, U.S. Department of the Interior Library
• Planning for the Worst: Disaster Preparedness and Response in Federal Libraries, by Aileen M. J. Marshall, MA, MLIS, Reference Librarian at the U.S. Department of Transportation

An e-book edition of Best Practices is in the works.

Canadian federal government libraries have been facing serious cutbacks in 2012, and some federal government agency libraries have been closed. For background, see our May 2012 post, Major cuts for Canada’s federal libraries.

A 10 August 2012 article from Canada’s iPolitics, Closing doors on Canada’s history, provides an update and arguments in defense of the libraries:

To date, the Immigration and Refugee Board, Transport Canada, Public Works and Government Services Canada, Public Service Commission, National capital Commission and Canadian International Development Agency libraries have been closed. Other libraries, such as those at Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada are scheduled for imminent closure. In still others, staffs are being drastically cut. …

The government has also been slowly and stealthily wrecking Library and Archives Canada (LAC), the flagship of Canada’s heritage keepers. At LAC, over thirty archivists’ and librarians’ positions are being axed, which in turn is leading to a reduction in programs, one involving the acquisition of new archival holdings. …

Since interlibrary loans will be completely eliminated by February 2013, readers wishing to consult books found only on LAC shelves will have to consult them on site at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa. And those who can go to Library and Archives Canada will find that hours and services have been drastically cut.

Comments and additional information from Canadian members of DGI are welcomed.

The Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and other federal libraries and information services are facing severe cuts. Details from the Canadian Library Association (CLA) press release, 2 May 2012:

At Library and Archives Canada, 430 people have been given notices, with more than 200 jobs to be cut over the next three years, representing a reduction of 20% of their workforce. They have also had to cut their acquisitions budget, end their role in national inter-library loan activities, and cut the National Archival Development Program, which has provided funding to Canadian archival organizations to increase their capacity to preserve archival materials and make them available to Canadians. These cuts will negatively impact Library and Archives Canada’s ability to provide front-line services, resulting in reduced access to information for Canadians. …

CLA has also received reports that many libraries in federal government departments will be losing staff; some will be shuttering their libraries altogether. Not only does this result in less support for departmental staff and researchers to access relevant information; but as many of these libraries also provide direct services to the public, Canadians will be prevented from having access to that information. Affected departments identified so far include Agriculture Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Industry Canada, the National Capital Commission, National Defence, Public Works and Government Services, the Public Service Commission, and Transport Canada. Earlier this year, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada had already announced their intention to close that department’s library.

Canadian archivists plan to protest the cuts with an “On to Ottawa Trek” on 28 May 2012. For details, see: http://archiviststrek2012.tumblr.com/

Check the CLA Government Library and Information Management Professionals Network blog for more information and news updates.

Canadian government librarians, please feel free to comment on this post with additional information.

DGI member Kathy Kelly checked out the U.S. Interior Department Library Open House and reports back:

The Department of the Interior (DOI) Library marked National Library Week this year with a full-day Open House on 17 April 2012, which included library tours, vendor demos, Park Ranger Speaker Series talks, and other forms of outreach to regular users of and visitors to its DC library. Library staff were available to provide overviews of the Library online catalog and various subscription electronic resources at public access PCs. The Library also had on display a variety of attractively formatted flyers promoting its services and collections, and announcements of upcoming training sessions in its popular training program. The DOI Library is well-known for its trainings on not only databases but research practices such as Legislative History research, and it had on display its useful “Worksheet for Legislative History Using Supporting Documents”.

The Open House ran 9 a.m. through 4 p.m., and featured database demonstrations on Lexis Advance, Proquest Congressional, WestlawNext, and the the Library’s subscribed EBSCOHost Online Databases. Representatives from DOI’s National Park Service presented sessions on the Doolittle Raid, the first air raid by American forces to strike the Japanese Home Islands during World War II; and another on Baseball and the Presidency, covering Presidential first pitches at Opening Day games, and the comments of presidents on the value of baseball. During the baseball session the speaker provided copies of President Franklin Roosevelt’s “Green Light Letter” to the Commissioner of Baseball voicing approval for continuing baseball during World War II.

The DOI Library is open to DOI employees and members of the public (with a photo ID), Mondays-Fridays, 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m., except Federal holidays. Visit the DOI Library homepage to link to information on its resources, programs, and services: http://www.doi.gov/library/index.cfm

–Submitted by Kathy Kelly

Notice from U.S. Government Printing Office, 14 December 2011:

The U.S. Government Printing Office is seeking recommendations for new members to serve on the Depository Library Council (DLC) from June 1, 2012, through May 31, 2015. The DLC is an advisory body that counsels the Public Printer in matters pertaining to future trends, innovation, and new concepts in libraries and information dissemination, particularly as they relate to the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP).

Individuals appointed to serve on the DLC are typically leaders and innovators in key areas related to the future of the FDLP. Currently, this includes essential elements of development, management, and dissemination of electronic information, such as version control, authentication, and preservation of digital information. In addition, ideal candidates for such service should possess a commitment to the mission and goals of the FDLP, with a focus on increasing access and services as related to Federal Government information.

Recommendations will be accepted now through January 20, 2012. To submit the names of one or more qualified individuals for consideration, please visit the FDLP Desktop at <http://www.fdlp.gov/component/form/?form_id=23>.

The Library of Congress has created a current, online directory of U.S. federal-level libraries and information centers around the world–all 1,1019 of them. The Library’s Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) worked with the Library’s Federal Research Division (FRD) to put the new Federal Library Directory [http://www.loc.gov/flicc/FLD/index_FLD.html] online.

Each directory entry has the library’s agency, name, and contact information at a minimum. Fully completed entries include details such as hours of operation, staff size, collection size (less relevant these days?), and listings of reference and collection services. You can search the directory or browse by agency, library type (e.g., law, museum, military base/post), state location, and collection size.

There are a few caveats. A mapping feature, FLICC states, only works with a Mozilla browser. FLICC also explains that “each United States embassy maintains a library but, because of security concerns, the Department of State has asked that FRD not include the locations of these libraries in the directory. In addition, at the request of the Bureau of Prisons, FRD is providing limited contact information for any libraries or information centers located in federal prisons.”

Launch of the directory was announced in the 28 October 2011 Library press release, Library Census Maps 1,000 Federal Libraries. Hat tip to DGI secretary Kathy Kelly for spreading the news.

The US Patent and Trademark Office has announced that as of 1 October 2011, their nationwide network of Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs) will become known as Patent and Trademark Resource Centers (PTRCs). From the press release:

The name change signifies a major shift in focus from the “paper depository” concept to an expansion of access to electronic information and specialized training to meet the information needs of 21st Century patent and trademark customers. …

“PTRCs serve as the face of the USPTO in local communities and promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship that ensures that potential filers have the local resources necessary to draw on for support as they begin their quest for commercial success with their intellectual property,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos.

In addition to offering free electronic services and resources designed to support the intellectual property needs of local and state patrons, PTRC’s employ USPTO-trained librarians to provide customer assistance on the use of the agency’s patent and trademark databases and public seminars on intellectual property topics for novice and experienced users.

These 80+ resource centers can be found using the online PTRC Library List.

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has released results from a survey of people who use the Federal Depository Library system. The report, FDLP Users Speak: The Value and Performance of Libraries Participating in the Federal Depository Library Program [PDF], and the survey were prepared for GPO by the consulting firm Outsell, Inc. Outsell makes several recommendations (page 5) based on survey results:

• Undertake more promotional activity, not just on the web, but also through library help desks and other local facilities in participating libraries;
• Increase training/tutorial activities both on the web and in participating libraries to assist users in finding Government documents on the web;
• Make more materials available in library collections and online; and
• Develop new tools to enhance access to and discoverability of Government information.

GPO reports that “the survey ran from October 10, 2010 through March 4, 2011 and garnered over 3,300 responses from users of nearly 550 depository libraries. Submissions were well distributed both geographically and across different library types.”

In the Summary of Key Findings section, Outsell observes that “analysis of responses from the government library segment, from the public library segment and from the regional library segment revealed some differences of emphasis, albeit not dramatic differences (generally fewer than five percentage points).”

The Government Printing Office (GPO) released the final commissioned report on the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) this Friday afternoon. The Final Report with Recommendations and Accompanying GPO Statement is available along with related documents at the GPO/FDLP Modeling Initiative page.

In its announcement, GPO called the recommendations “not practical and sustainable to meet the mission, goals, and principles of the FDLP.” An excerpt from the announcement:

In September 2010, the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) contracted with Ithaka S + R (Ithaka) to develop practical and sustainable models for the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) to continue to fulfill its mission in a changing information environment now dominated by digital technology. These models were intended to serve as a guide in planning the future direction of the Program. After careful review it was determined that the models presented by Ithaka are not practical and sustainable to meet the mission, goals, and principles of the FDLP. These models have some value as we move forward together with the library community to develop new models based on a shared vision which will increase flexibility for member libraries and ensure the vibrant future of the Program in the digital age.

…We look forward to obtaining comments and feedback from more participants in our depository library network. We plan to use these comments as part of the foundation to build on as we continue our future visioning and modeling process. The deadline for submission of comments is September 16, 2011.