Alabama Library Association Government Documents Roundtable October 2018 Volume 2, Issue 1
GODORT Connection Moderator’s Corner As I’m sure you are aware, Election Day is right around the corner on Tuesday, November 6. Both on the federal and state level, there are a number of important offices up for election. Remaining studiously nonpartisan, let me just strongly encourage you to VOTE. On the ALLA GODORT front, we have some plans in the works. I will be presenting a webinar, date and time to be announced, concerning the W orld Factbook and also U.S. State Department Travel Advisories. Thanks to the Internet there is a plethora of resources for locating basic factual information about countries and there are also still some print stalwarts such as The W orld Almanac and Book of Facts to consult as well. However, it is not always possible to quickly locate basic factual information about foreign countries. The webinar will focus on these two important, reliable, and convenient sources of basic factual information about countries available to anyone with Internet access. Thanks to longtime GODORT member and former Moderator Liza Weisbrod (Auburn University) and newly-hired Business and Economics Librarian Tyler Martindale (Auburn University), I will be submitting a program proposal concerning “Entrepreneurship for the People: Using Government Documents to Conduct Business Research” for the April 2019 annual convention. Speaking of Election Day, it was a little hard to locate
nominees for GODORT offices for the next Alabama Library Association election to be held in early 2019. Consequently, this time around we have a couple of veterans who will be running for office again: Barbara Hutto (Birmingham Public Library) for SecretaryTreasurer and Tim Dodge (Auburn University) for Moderator-Elect. Barbara and I are happy to serve again but it is preferable to have new nominees in the pipeline over time. New people bring in new perspectives and ideas. Also, with 26 years in at Auburn University (and 38 years as a librarian total), one of these years I won’t be available to run for office again. I do hope to continue a while longer but, to quote the great jazz pianist and singer, Fats Waller, as he declares in the movie, “Stormy Weather” (1943), “One never knows, do one?” I hope you will find this issue of the GODORT Connection to be of interest. Liza Weisbrod is contributing an article about the Hathi Trust U.S. Federal Documents project; in light of the recent Banned Books Week, Editor Kelly Wilson is writing on censorship; and Tim Dodge is submitting “United States Department of State: A Department Too Important to Fail.” Tim Dodge ALLA GODORT Moderator Inside this issue ALLA GODORT Steering Committee….….……...2 The HathiTrust and the U.S. Federal Documents Program ………………………..…………………..3 Banned Books Week and Government Documents Librarians……………..……………….….….……..4 United States Department of State: A Department Too Important to Fail…….....……....5-6 Questions for the Community…...………………….6
Officers
Tim Dodge, GODORT Moderator 2018 - 2019 He has been employed at Auburn University Libraries since 1992 starting out as a government documents reference librarian. Since 2000 he has been serving as History and since 2008 as Political Science Subject Specialist in the Reference Department at Auburn. Tim held previous positions as a special collections librarian and archivist, serials librarian, and reference librarian at the University of New Hampshire (twice) and at Barry University (Miami, Fla.). Tim has held numerous offices in the Alabama Library Association including President (2004-2005) and Moderator-
Elect and Moderator of GODORT in 1994-1996. He has also held numerous offices in the Alabama Association of College and Research Libraries including President (20002001 and 2008-2009), and is currently President-Elect of the Southeastern Library Association. Under the name Dr. Hepcat, Tim Dodge has hosted the Golden Oldies radio show on WEGL – Auburn FM 91.1 since May 1998. His radio career extends back to 1975, and Tim is the author of The School of Arizona Dranes: Gospel Music Pioneer (Lexington Books, 2013).
Dr. Stephanie Rollins, GODORT Moderator—Elect 2018 - 2019 Dr. Stephanie Rollins is the Chief of Information Services at Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center (MSFRIC). She is also an adjunct Digital Reference and Collection Development professor for the University of Alabama. Stephanie serves on both regional and state
library committees, and she has 22 years of experience in academic and special libraries. She holds a BA in English from Auburn University, a Master’s Degree in Library Service and a Doctorate in Public Administration (both from the University of Alabama).
Barbara R. Hutto, GODORT Secretary 2018—2019 Barbara has been a Birmingham Public Librarian for 20 years. For the last three years she has served as the Government Documents/ Patent and Trademarks Librarian. She
2
holds a BS in Psychology/ English from the University of Alabama with a MEd. in Education from UAB and an MLS from the University of Alabama.
The HathiTrust and the U.S. Federal Documents Program By: Liza Weisbrod, Auburn University Have you ever wished you could find a digital copy of an elusive government document? Do you need to fill in gaps in your collection? The U.S. Federal Documents collection in the HathiTrust Digital Library may provide what you need. It’s a freely available repository that serves as a tremendous resource for anyone who works with government information. The HathiTrust Digital Library is a collaboratively-owned and managed digital repository largely built through the mass digitization projects conducted between Google and large U.S. research libraries. The libraries of the Big Ten Academic Alliance and the University of California libraries established the HathiTrust in 2008 as a repository to preserve and provide access to the digital copies of their collections received through their agreement with Google. From a little over one million items in 2008, the HathiTrust has grown to 16.7 million volumes in 2018. While the HathiTrust is at its core a preservation database, all materials are freely available for searching. Today, the HathiTrust has grown to 169 member libraries, 141 of whom participate in the Federal Depository Library Program. Not surprisingly, the member libraries have a strong interest in making U.S. government documents available in the HathiTrust. The U.S. Federal Documents Program began in 2011 when members approved a proposal to build a comprehensive digital collection of U.S. federal documents within the HathiTrust. While the goal of a comprehensive collection has not yet been reached, there are currently over 1.25 million U.S. federal documents in the HathiTrust. The U.S. Federal Documents collection can be found in the HathiTrust under the ‘Collections’ tab along with smaller collections such as the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, the Statistical Abstract, and Foreign Relations of the United States. While all federal documents are available in the full HathiTrust collection, the
smaller U.S. Federal Documents collections provide more focused searching. The default search is a full-text search, a powerful tool. Result sets are often large, but full-text searching uncovers material that could not be discovered in a standard author-title-subject search. The U.S. Federal Documents program has several collection development priorities. One is to focus on creating complete runs of essential titles such as the Congressional Serial Set, agency annual reports, Congressional hearings, and the bound Congressional Record. Another priority is to acquire complete collections from key agencies such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs, NOAA, NASA, and EPA. While these subcollections are in various stages of completeness, having access to this significant corpus of U.S. government publications provides an unparalleled resource. Over 86% of the U.S. Federal Documents collection can be freely viewed and downloaded. The remaining 14% (approximately 167,000 items) are available to search, but not download or view, due to copyright restrictions. (Yes, even government documents are occasionally subject to copyright!) So, the next time you’re on the hunt for a U.S. federal document, try the HathiTrust. It may just provide what you need, while uncovering some gems along the way.
Did you Know? Did you know that the GPO has a new FDLP Academy Training Repository? It can be accessed here. Some of the features of this new repository include: Subject and Agency Tags Recordings in MP4 format Conference recordings and Webinar recordings in one location For questions and comments about the new tool, please contact FDLPoutreach@gpo.gov ———————————— Here are just a few of the interesting finds within this Repository: FDLP eXchange Training: https://www.fdlp.gov/fdlpexchange American Indian and Alaskan Native Documents in the Congressional Serial Set: 18171899: https://www.fdlp.gov/ american-indian-and-alaskannative-documents-in-thecongressional-serial-set-18171899 Spring 2018 Virtual Meeting: https://www.fdlp.gov/spring2018-virtual-meeting Fall 2017 Depository Library Council Meeting and Federal Depository Library Conference: https://www.fdlp.gov/fall-2017depository-library-councilmeeting-and-federal-depositorylibrary-conference
3
Further Reading ALA’s Freedom to Read Statement: http:// www.ala.org/advocacy/ intfreedom/ freedomreadstatement Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): https:// www.archives.gov/foia CIA’s FOIA Electronic Reading Room: https:// www.cia.gov/library/ readingroom/home How to make a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request: https:// www.foia.gov/how-to.html Huffington Post Article on the Importance of Celebrating Banned Books: https:// www.huffingtonpost.com/ entry/celebrate-bannedbooksweek_us_56096a1ae4b0768 126fe4cca Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF): https:// www.ftrf.org/page/About National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC): https:// ncac.org/about-us
Banned Books Week & Government Documents Librarians By Kelly Wilson, Troy University Banned Books Week is celebrated annually in late September; however, not everyone who celebrates it knows its origins. This article is going to explore the origins of Banned Books Week, the importance of freedom of information, and the role that Government Documents Librarians play in keeping access to information free. This celebration originated the same year as the Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico by Pico (1982) case. In this case, it was determined that the Board of Education “could not restrict the availability of books in its libraries simply because its members disagreed with their idea content”. According to the American Library Association, “[b]anned books were showcased at the 1982 American Booksellers Association (ABA) BookExpo America trade show...[a]t the entrance to the convention center towered large, padlocked metal cages, with some 500 challenged books stacked inside and a large overhead sign cautioning that some people considered these books dangerous”. The success of this trade show led to the creation of the Banned Books Week Initiative through the collaboration of ABA, the National Association of College Stores, and the Office of Intellectual Freedom’s director Judith Krug. Since its inception, libraries, schools, and organizations around the United States have taken part in celebrating the freedom to read granted by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances”. Another significant case, Minarcini v. Strongsville City School District, was decided in 1976 and the decision of the case was that “the court upheld the school board’s right to reject the books as part of the curriculum, but found the removal of the books from the library to be unconstitutional, referring to the library as ‘a storehouse of knowledge’”. This especially pertains to government information. Though this information may not be quite as sensational as what is published in fiction novels, there is nothing stopping someone from attempting to challenge these publications. What role do Government Documents Librarians play? Easy! We are the facilitators! We are the ones who open the doors to endless information provided freely by the United States government. We fight to keep access to this information free and we are best suited to help patrons to navigate this information highway. I believe that with issues regarding the current administration, our need is greater now than ever before. When a government site is taken down for no apparent reason, it is not the public who responds in force, but rather the impassioned librarians. It is our job to keep released government information protected and to make sure that the general public has access to it at all times. Our passion to keep this information freely accessible is needed now more than ever.
Image Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ advocacy/bbooks/ bannedbooksweek/ ideasandresources/ freedownloads
4
United States Department of State: A Department Too Important to Fail By Tim Dodge, Auburn University The United States Department of State (referred to hereafter as the State Department as it is also commonly known) has been undergoing some significant administrative instability and major losses of personnel over the past couple of years. Considering the importance of the State Department to the functioning of the United States as a world power and the important and numerous services it provides to American citizens, this should be cause for concern. This article will provide some basic information about the important services and resources the Department provides and also address the crisis conditions afflicting the State Department. First, here is a little background information. The State Department is the oldest executive department of the federal government; its origins lie in the establishment of the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1781 during the American Revolution. Shortly after the U.S. Constitution’s ratification in 1789, Congress approved the redefinition and expansion of this department into the Department of State and in early 1790 Thomas Jefferson assumed office as the first U.S. Secretary of State.1 Over the next 228 years and more the department expanded in size and scope, and it has been involved in virtually all international affairs involving the United States as a growing world power. The cabinet position of Secretary of State has often been one of the most powerful and influential. The department’s mission statement says, “The U.S. Department of State leads America’s foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity.”2 The department’s organization chart is complex and includes, among other positions, six under secretaries in charge of thirty-seven subdivisions with responsibilities ranging from African Affairs to Economic and Business Affairs to Conflict and Stabilization Operations, to name only three. In addition there are ten offices that report directly to the Secretary of State such as Intelligence and Research, and Office of Global Women’s Issues.3 Ideally, the State Department also staffs U.S. embassies, consulates, and diplomatic missions in 191 countries around the world. As of June 30, 2018 the State Department employed a grand total of 75,382 people. This includes 49,737 being employed locally in other countries.4 The State Department provides a number of important services and resources to American citizens. Perhaps the most obvious service is issuing passports to American citizens and U.S. visas to citizens of other countries planning to visit the United States. A helpful
and rather interesting service is the production of Travel Advisories that provide people with information about potential hazards of visiting a particular country. To pick an obvious example, let’s look at Iran. The travel advisory is listed as a Level 4 advisory with a red band and bluntly declares, “Do not travel to Iran due to the risk of arbitrary arrest and detention of U.S. citizens.” More detailed information is also available. There are also links to U.S. embassies and consulates with names of officials and contact information. There is a plethora of policy information concerning topics of international interest ranging from Climate & Environment to Food Security, to Refugees. There is an informative and helpful “Press” site for press briefings and press releases, and more. It is obvious that the State Department is a major component of the federal government bearing a tremendous set of responsibilities, yet, in recent years the State Department has undergone some damaging developments that may impair its ability to serve the nation not to mention American citizens and researchers. The State Department has been one of many federal departments and agencies targeted by the Trump Administration for restructuring. President Trump’s first Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, proved to be a very willing accomplice to the reduction and dismantling of the department during his brief tenure on the job. In 2017 President Trump proposed in his federal budget for the coming fiscal year to cut the State Department’s budget by 31%.5 Fortunately, despite the generally polarized condition of our national politics, Congress acted with responsibility in its role as appropriator and did not reduce the State Department’s budget by such a drastic amount. Looking at the historical tables section of the 2019 Fiscal Year Budget of the United States, Congress actually increased funding for the State Department from $27.070 billion to $30.553 billion, however, the projections for Fiscal Years 2019 and 2020 indicate a significant reduction in the State Department Budget to $28.992 billion and then $24.146 billion.6 Even with Congressional restraint on radical budget-cutting, Secretary Tillerson, in his time in office did engage in a significant amount of staff reduction that has caused considerable concern.
(continued on pg. 6)
5
(continued from pg. 5) Mr. Tillerson came into office as Secretary of State in early 2017 with a goal of reducing the 25,000 full-time American employees of the Department by 8% or 1982 people by September 2018.7 In addition to these announced cuts, a number of senior diplomatic staff members have resigned over the past year and more in response to the Trump Administration’s de-emphasis of human rights and its attempts at imposing a Muslim travel ban on selected countries.8 In an article concerning the worldwide decline of diplomacy, Nick Bryant, the BBC’s New York correspondent says, ”Rather than filling this vacuum, U.S. career diplomats are stampeding towards the exit.”9 The number of applicants taking the foreign service exam has fallen by more than 50% which means the pool of new State Department employees is
Alabama Library Association GODORT Provides a forum for librarians working with government documents. Objectives also include the promotion of availability, use and bibliographic control of documents; and the promotion of communication between documents librarians and other librarians. GODORT is an affiliate of the American Library Association. Membership is open to any member of the Association who subscribes to the objectives of the roundtable.
Submit Your Work Do you have an interesting experience with local, state or federal government information? Write up an article and share it with us! You can send it to: Tim Dodge: dodgeti@auburn.edu
Kelly Wilson: kelly.m.wilson2011@gmail.com
rapidly shrinking as well.10 At least 38 ambassadorships remain vacant further weakening American diplomatic influence and ability.11 As of this writing, there are cautious grounds for hope that the pattern of budget cuts and staffing cuts may be coming to an end. Shortly after his swearing in as the new Secretary of State in April 2018, Mike Pompeo announced that he was ending the hiring freeze so as to “give our domestic bureaus and missions overseas the flexibility to fill positions that are essential to promoting the department's mission and the United States' foreign policy goals worldwide on behalf of the American people.”12 As the nation’s oldest and one of its largest federal executive departments, the State Department truly is too important to fail.
References 1. David F. Trask. A Short History of the U.S. Department of State, 1781-1981 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, Office of Publications, 1981), 1-3. 2. See Mission Statement at the U.S. Department of State web site. Viewed September 27, 2018. 3. See Organization Chart at the U.S. Department of State web site. Viewed September 27, 2018. 4. HR Fact Sheet at the U.S. Department of State web site. Viewed September 27, 2018. 5. Gardiner Harris, “State Dept. Will Offer Buyouts to Cut Staff,” The New York Times (Nov. 11, 2017), A14. 6. Table 4.1 Outlays by Agency: 1962-2023 Budget of the United States: Historic Tables. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2018), 74. 7. Harris, A14 8. “The Shriveling State Department,” The New York Times (Nov. 19, 2017), 8. 9 Nick Bryant, “The Long Decline of Diplomacy: Whatever Happened to Statecraft?” New Statesman, Vol. 147, No. 5408 (March 2, 2018), 13. 10. “Shriveling State Department”, 8. 11. Robbie Gramer, “Zones of Noninfluence,” Foreign Policy, No. 228 (April 2018), 10. 12. Gardiner Harris, “After Nudge, Pompeo Lifts Hiring Freeze at State Dept.” The New York Times (May 16, 2018), A14.
Questions for the Government Documents Community! Thank you to all who submitted responses and posted questions from the Summer Issue! The question posed in the last issue asked whether libraries in Alabama are merging their gov docs with their main collection. The consensus was that reclassifying gov docs into LC or Dewey was “too confusing” and required “too much manpower”. If you wish to add your opinion to this question, the Google Form is still open here. Remember! For this issue, we have TWO questions that have been posed by the community. The link to the Google Form is below. As always, you do NOT have to answer all questions and your questions (and answers) are completely anonymous unless you post per sonal infor mation in the questions/answer s. Question: Fall Questions from (and for) the Alabama Gov Docs Community