ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


209

W A S H I N G T O N  H O T L I N E  by Carol C. Henderson
Deputy Director 

ALA Washington Office

Federal Information: Slowing the Flow. Much of the news from Washington 
has concentrated on dramatic budget cut proposals in grant programs. However, 
there is another trend at the federal level with results equally if not more 
disturbing to libraries and their users— restrictions on government publica­
tion and information dissemination activities. These restrictions are due to 
a combination of specific policy decisions, the Administration's interpreta­
tion and implementation of the 1980 Paperwork Reduction Act (PL 96-511) ‚ and 
agency budget cuts.

In a climate in which government information activities are considered 
unnecessary frills, it is not surprising that publication and dissemination 
activities are the first to go when agencies are faced with severe budget cuts
What follows is only a partial chronology of an emerging pattern of restrictin
citizen access to government information.

Publication Moratorium. In April, 1981, President Reagan imposed a mora­
torium on the production and procurement of new audiovisual aids and continu­
ing publications. The Office of Management and Budget followed up with Bul­
letin No. 81-16, "Elimination of Wasteful Spending on Government Periodicals, 
Pamphlets, and Audiovisual Products," and a model control plan. In October 
the OMB issued a supplement to Bulletin 81-16, which requires agency resubmis­
sion and rejustification of all existing periodicals and recurring pamphlets.

By year's end an estimated 900 government publications had been elimin­
ated. One serial affected is the Securities and Exchange Commission's News 
Digest. The SEC will continue to print it for internal use, but will no longe
offer subscriptions or make it available for depository library distribution. 
Instead, a private firm will publish it at a 50% increase in price (from $100 
to $150 per year). A reference collection standby, the Dictionary of Occupa­
tional Titles, is threatened because 87 of the 97 remaining jobs in the Labor 
Department's occupational analysis division are being eliminated. Because of 
budget cuts the Agriculture Department's Economic Research Service will discon
tinue free distribution of its publications and make these reports available 
only on a paid subscription basis.

Government Statistics. The future of the unit which coordinates over 70 
statistical programs run by federal agencies is in doubt under an internal 
OMB reorganization. Budget cuts have ended numerous Census Bureau studies and
forced publication of much of the 1980 census on microfiche rather than paper.
Bureau of Labor Statistics programs have been cut so much that business leader
protested at a March congressional hearing. Library statistics are collected 
and published less often at the National Center for Education Statistics.

Freedom of Information Act Restrictions. Last October the Administration
submitted to Congress a proposal to severely limit the applicability of the 
Freedom of Information Act. A somewhat modified but still restrictive version
of this proposal has been approved by a Senate subcommittee. On April 2 the 
President signed an executive order broadening the reasons for classifying in­
formation on grounds of national security. The new order eliminates the exis­
ting "identifiable harm" standard, thus weakening the public's ability to sue 
successfully for release of improperly classified documents under the Freedom 
of Information Act.

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