ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ November 2 0 0 0 / 919 CONFERENCE CIRCUIT The 13th annual Interagency Depository Seminar 2000 An introduction to government sources by Charmaine Henriques A pproximately 60 participants attended the 13th annual Interagency Depository Seminar in Washington, D.C., from May through June 7. The seminar, a unique train­ ing experience that introduced documents staff new to the depository system to various U.S. Government information sources and products, was coordinated by the Library Pro­ gram Service (LPS) and sponsored by sev­ eral federal agencies. Each day, a different group of federal agen­ cies discussed and demonstrated their services and products; agencies included were, but not limited to, the following: Government Print­ ing Office (GPO), the Bureau of the Census, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the Library of Congress Copyright Office. An overview of GPO Following opening remarks, Michael DiMario, public printer, summarized the functions and funding of GPO. This was a topic of discus­ sion due to the proposed appropriation cuts by Congress. There was a tour of LPS fol­ lowed by a group presentation titled “Impact of the Electronic Environment on Collection D e v e lo p m e n t, P u b lic S ervice, a n d a D epository’s Web P resen ce,” w hich a d ­ dressed substitution guidelines, work stations, 3 electronic service guidelines, and challenges to GPO and the depository libraries. 0 Vicki A. Barber, Thomas A. Dowling, and Robin Haun-Mohamed gave a presentation on the “Ins and Outs of LPS Processing.” LPS is responsible for sending a myriad of govern­ ment documents to depository libraries. The complexity of this process was surprising. In her session on “Depository Self-Study Process and D epository Responsibilities,” Sheila McGarr, chief, Library Division, pro­ vided insight regarding the purpose of an inspection by LPS, which is to verify compli­ ance with Chapter 19 Title 44 of the U.S. Code. Some of the things inspectors look for are: sufficient storage space, w hether stored items are being made available in a reasonable fash­ ion, w hether record keeping is to the piece level, and whether staff is participating in con­ tinuing education and staff development ac­ tivities. This procedure should not be a stress­ ful event and actually should be helpful. Selene T. Dalecky, an analyst from the Of­ fice of Electronic Dissemination Service gave an overview of GPO Access. GPO Access was m andated by Public Law 103-40 and is, among many things, an electronic storage fa­ cility for federal information. Its purpose is many fold and should improve access to About the author Charmaine Henriques is the U.S. Federal Documents librarian in the G overnm ent Publications D e p a rtm e n t a t th e University o f Iowa, e-mail: henhqu@ blue.weeg.uiowa.edu mailto:henriqu@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu 920 / C&RL News ■ November 2000 government information in electronic formats, provide official and complete information, and ensure permanent public access. Today GPO Access has more than 176,000 titles and almost 1,500 databases, such as the Code of Federal Regulations, Commerce Busi­ ness Daily, and the Public Papers of the Presi­ dents of the United States. Dalecky took us through several of the finding aids and did a demonstration of the Federal Register. Census 2000 David Wycinsky Jr. showed us how to use American FactFinder to find housing, popu­ lation, economic, and social information on a national, state, and county level. He also showed us a function called Quick Tables, which provides a table for frequently re­ quested information for a particular geo­ graphic area. During the Census 2000 Data Dissemina­ tion Plans and Products sessio n Jo h n Kavaliunas told us of some of the changes that have taken place on the new census. For example, respondents may select more than one race, and the Asian and Pacific Is­ lander category was split into Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander. There are new race categories and a new question on grandparents as caregivers. A lot of the participants of the seminar were dismayed with the news that a majority of the census products will not be distrib­ uted to depositories in print. Cheryl Chambers did a presentation on the American Community Survey, which is an on-going survey that will replace the long form in 2010 and give more current demo­ graphic, social, housing, and economic sta­ tistics and information. Patent, transportation, naval, and peace resources Representatives from the Patent and Trade­ mark Depository Library Program showed us a video entitled H ow to C onduct a P aten t Search a t a PTDL. Claudine Jenda, PTDLP Fellowship librarian, introduced us to some of the tools used in a patent search, such as the O fficial G azette, In d ex to Patents, P a n I a n d II, In d ex to the U.S. P aten t C lassification System, and the M an u al o f C lassification . Michael White, librarian training special­ ist, took us through the seven-step strategy for conducting a patent search, and did a CD- ROM demonstration of CASSIS. Presentations on the National Library of Transportation, the Naval Historical Center, and the U.S. Institute for Peace highlighted some lesser-known resources. In accordance with the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, Congress es­ tablished the National Library of Transporta­ tion. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (home of the National Transportation Library) is developing relationships with public and private organizations to obtain transportation data and make it available to the public in an electronic format. The National Transportation Library has a collection of more than 6,000 documents from 330 databases, and 150,000 Web sites. One of its features is TRIS Online; a Web-based database of journal articles, books, and tech­ nical reports on transportation research that supports multifaceted searching. The Navy Department Library, a branch of the Naval Historic Center, has the most comprehensive collection of literature per­ taining to the U.S. Navy, and is older than the Library of Congress. The Web site for the Naval Historic Center has bibliographies and historic overviews of naval history, and con­ tains a frequently asked question page that provides information on topics, such as Women in the Navy, USS Constitution, Cu­ ban Missile Crisis, Pearl Harbor Attack, and Wars and Conflicts of the U.S. Navy. Congress created the U.S. Institute for Peace in 1984 as an independent, nonparti­ san federal agency. It is dedicated to research, professional training, and education on is­ sues pertaining to international conflict pre­ vention, management, and resolution. Its Web site has information on grants and fellow­ ship opportunities, special reports, and list­ ings of publications from the U.S. Institute of Peace Press. The U.S. Institute of Peace Li­ brary has a circulating collection of more than 6,000 books, made available through interli­ brary loan, and maintains the Peace Agree­ ment Digital Collection and the Truth Com­ missions Digital Collection. P eacew orks (a monographic series) and P eace Watch (a bimonthly newsletter) are made available through the depository system, and most publications can be obtained for free by writing the U.S. Institute of Peace. ■ C&RL News ■ Novem ber 2000 / 921