In a presentation to the American Library Association, Judith Russell, the U.S. Superintendent of Documents, discussed the vast changes that have occurred in the Government Printing Office (GPO) as a result of the digital revolution. The GPO Access site, which provides free downloads of many federal publications online, has grown to draw some 33 million downloads per month – the equivalent of 808 million pages. Simultaneously, the GPO’s sales program has seen revenues fall from more than $80 million to $30 million over the last 10 years. The GPO is now trying to develop a new economic model to recoup some of that lost revenue, although no strategy has yet been agreed on. Adding to the GPO’s challenges is the need to manage legacy collections more efficiently. Toward that end, there is a movement toward shared repositories that would eliminate some redundancies. The GPO has also decided to establish a collection of last resort that will comprise a comprehensive collection of tangible and electronic titles to back up the repositories. Finally, the Association of Research Libraries and the GPO are collaborating to digitize a complete legacy collection of U.S. government documents available in the public domain. (American Library Association Midwinter Meeting 10 Jan 2004)
posted by Marcus Zillman |
5:48 PM
