Report submitted to the UC Heads of Public Services
October 4, 1995
This is a followup report to the Progress Report provided to HOPS by the the UC/Stanford Electronic Government Information Initiatives Group (EGIIG) in August. This report provides additional information on EGIIG's activities in September. There is only one action item, approval of the Internet Government Information Project. Items 2-5 below are informational.
1. EGIIG INTERNET GOVERNMENT INFORMATION PROJECT
In late August, EGIIG forwarded to the UC Heads of Public Services (HOPS) a progress report which included a proposal for a UC Internet government information project. Additional information on the technical details of that project was also provided by the project's developer, Margaret Mooney at the University of California, Riverside. HOPS gave informal approval to the project so that it could be further developed at the September 15th, 1995 meeting of the UC/Stanford Government Information Librarians. HOPS indicated it would consider the proposal more formally at its meeting of 10/10/95.
EGIIG committee members Laine Farley, Diane Bisom, Margaret Mooney, Trisha Cruse and Linda Kennedy all attended the UC/Stanford Government Information Librarians meeting at UC Irvine on September 15th. Discussion of EGIIG projects took up a major part of the meeting. The discussion of the EGIIG proposal to use UCR's INFOMINE software to provide access to Internet government information through a UC web page was positive and spirited. Those present were interested in and very supportive of the project. There was not a single negative comment about whether to proceed with such a project. There were a number of suggestions for improving UCR's procedures, which Margaret Mooney noted.
Because of the interest of HOPS members in this proposal, and the fact that many of the questions HOPS members had raise were addressed in this meeting, We are providing a detailed summary of the discussions.
As demonstrated by Margaret Mooney, The INFOMINE homepage includes the following "Comprehensive Internet Resource Collections;"
There is also a section on"Instructional Resources on the Internet" and "Internet Enabling Tools" (which covers help, navigators, authoring html, etc,)
The project Margaret Mooney has proposed involves only the Government Information portion of the INFOMINE database. Each of the five sections mentioned above is a separate database. The INFOMINE software is portable, and would be applicable to other projects. It would also be possible to take one of the databases, such as the map database, and mount it on a server at another campus. The location of the server would be transparent to the users accessing INFOMINE. Also the INFOMINE web page would be revised to be a UC web page.
Margaret Mooney proposes creating an editorial board to work on the government information portion of the database. The editorial board would include members from several campuses and deal with issues such as standard vocabulary, consistency in use of procedures among participants, and additional paramenters which may become necessary as the indexing moves from primarily federal and state to foreign and international resources. EGIIG could consider adopting the Editorial Board as an EGIIG subcommittee.
Additional discussion at the meeting:
Controlled vocabulary: to date, the UCR participants have used basically broad LC subject headings in providing subject terms. they also also provide a number of keywords. Margaret Mooney inquired of CIS whether they would allow her to use the thesaurus used in American Statistics Index. CIS seemed stunned but is considering the request. The databases are separate in INFOMINE, so it would be possible to use a different thesaurus for the government information database. Implications for cross database searching would need to be considered.
There was considerable support in the group for using some sort of controlled vocabulary. The group also agreed there needed to be more detailed guidelines in expanding the participants in the project, guidelines an editorial board could provide. Adding a language field was suggested. In adding keywords, it was suggested that conventions be established, such as how to enter agency names (for example, a user might look for Commerce Dept. or Dept. of Commerce).
Project scope: In addition to Internet resources, UCR has been listing federal government cd-roms on the web page. They would like to continue doing so for their own purposes--to bring all of the electronic information from the government together in on location. Some of those present preferred to limit the database to Internet resources. It was agreed that the project needs to clearly define its scope.
How project participants would divide the work: Margaret Mooney indicated that UCR staff are willing to continue to handle federal resources on the net. She would like volunteers to handle California, local and regional, and foreign and international. Chuck Eckman, now of Stanford, noted that covering foreign government information will require contacts with selectors outside of government information units. Several people at the EGIIG meeting expressed interest in working in the various areas; other names were also suggested.
A number of UCSB librarians are already involved in using INFOMINE, as a pilot project, in a variety of subject areas.
Other comments:
The Government Printing Office is working on a "pathfinder" project to improve access to government information resources; we should monitor that endeavor to see if it is relevant.
It was strongly suggested that INFOMINE be made WAIS and GILS compliant. This would need some investigation.
INFOMINE software demonstration: Margaret's demonstration of INFOMINE's resource adder and editor was very illuminating. Establishing a link is very simple. One can cut and paste to enter the url, Then one assigns subject headings, based on broad LC subject headings. Then, you add key words, as many as desired, for additional access. You then type in an annotation, which can be cut and pasted from the source if desired.
Conclusion: The consensus of the meeting was strong approval for proceeding with the Internet government Information management project using INFOMINE. The group favored establishing an editorial board, and creating a liaison on each campus, who may or may not be a member of the editorial board.
2. MAPS
On September 15th, the UC/Stanford Map Librarians also met. EGIIG Committee member Vivienne Roumani-Denn attended to demonstrate the INFOMINE software and to discuss the possibility of implementing a UC web page project to bring together map-related resources. This project might be part of UCR's INFOMINE or it might be a separate project. There was enthusiasm for a map project; Vivienne is willing to work further on the idea.
3. GPO ACCESS
Also at its meeting on the 15th, The UC/Stanford Government Information librarians had a substantive discussion on a user committee for GPO Access. in regard to the number of members, all agreed there should be at least a liaison person on each campus, but that there could be a core committee, similar to the model followed in several of the recent MELVYL database implementation committees. We agreed that although this user committee was the first one to be involved in web access, the role of the committee was not to provide general www orientation, but only information specifically related to GPO Access. Its scope would include making recommendations for changes/enhancements in the user interface designed by UCSD (additional sample searches, for example), or text guides to the use of GPO Access. The group could also develop a set of FAQs for GPO Access. Trisha Cruse already has examples of frequently asked questions which could be addressed by a standard set of answers. We also agreed that the charge to the committee could be expanded to handle analogous databases that might come up in the future. EGIIG will proceed with developing a charge for the user committee.
4. STAT-USA
At its meeting on the 15th, the UC/Stanford Government Information Librarians enthusiastically proposed that EGIIG look into acquiring a UC group account to STAT-USA on the world wide web. STAT-USA is a full text and numeric business and economics database from the Department of Commerce. STAT-USA includes over 300,000 reports and statistical series, press releases, trade leads, and reports that are released on a daily or weekly basis. STAT-USA also includes the National Trade Data Bank and the National Economic, Social and Environmental Data Bank, which are available in CD-ROM format in depository libraries. Depository libraries can get free access to these databases on the www, but each user must be logged on with a password. EGIIG will investigate the proposal.
5. ELECTRONIC DEPOSITORY LIBRARIES
A critical development affecting the future of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is the study and strategic planning process currently underway at GPO at the direction of Congress. In adopting the conference report to H.R. 1854 (the Legislative Appropriations Act of 1996), Congress asked the Public Printer to initiate a cooperative study to identify measures necessary for a successful transition to a more electronic FDLP. The study is due by March 1996. A full day of the Depository Library Council Fall meeting (October 16-18, 1995 in Memphis) will be devoted to providing input on such questions as:
At least two EGIIG members will be attending the Depository Library Council meeting. Linda Kennedy is a member of the Depository Library Council.
Maintained by: Sherry DeDecker
Updated: 10/11/04 08:30:48