Re: FW: We Got Trouble
From: Romans, Larry (larry.romansVanderbilt.Edu)
Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2011 11:07:55 -0700 (PDT)
John,

I am very concerned about your response to the August 25 and September 23 
letters from Robin Haun-Mohamed from the Government Printing Office (GPO). The 
changes requested and the offer to have GPO staffers consult with you seem to 
me to be reasonable and to have minimum effect on the Centers of Excellence 
program. This is an odd time to draw a line in the sand.

I am particularly concerned about the online petition. Dueling between the GPO 
survey and the ASERL petition doesn't seem likely to lead to positive results.

The original ASERL government information initiative was widely seen as an 
attempt to circumvent the regional library program - to such an extent, that 
ASERL emphasized in its second iteration that the initiative was a supplement 
to, rather than a substitute for, the regional library system. Thus, it's not 
surprising that GPO would have a rather jaundiced view of any ASERL statements 
that conflict with the current regional library program.

Ms. Haun-Mohamed (Sept. 23, p.2) stated that "All policies and procedures 
should affirm that Centers of Excellence do not trump regionals and selectives 
in comprehensive collection development." This is no more than what the second 
iteration of the ASERL proposal promised when it asked everyone to consider 
this proposal a supplement to the regional depository system. This affirmation 
is also not likely to have a major practical barrier to developing the Centers 
of Excellence.

Moreover, the requests by GPO for details of how the copies will be acquired 
and managed should already be in place.  If they're not, the time to develop 
those procedures is now. Distinguishing the differences in treating tangible 
and digital copies should be part of these procedures.

I'm sure that you realize that statutes provide only the broad outline for a 
government agency and its programs. The agency's regulations have the force of 
law. Stating that requests for modification are not supported specifically by 
the statute that governs the Federal Library Depository Program (FDLP) is 
rather disingenuous.

I have not been part of the communication between ASERL and GPO, so I don't 
know how much face-to-face discussion has already occurred and how fruitful or 
frustrating that discussion has been. However, I think that GPO's offer of 
ASERL working directly with GPO staffers is one that ASERL should take 
advantage of.

I think that ASERL should work within the current FDLP. Our depositories must 
work within GPO regulations. Refusing to negotiate with GPO about how to solve 
these problems not only affects ASERL, it puts all depository heads in an 
untenable position.

Economic realities may well convince GPO and others that the current depository 
system must be modified. At that time the ASERL Centers of Excellence will be a 
working model for collection development and management for the rest of the 
country.

Larry

Larry Romans, 
Vanderbilt University Libraries, 
Nashville, TN 37203-2427
larry.romans [at] vanderbilt.edu
(615) 322-2838

-----Original Message-----
From: John Burger [mailto:jburger [at] aserl.org] 
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2011 1:15 PM
To: Romans, Larry
Cc: aserl-selectives [at] aserl.org
Subject: [aserl-selectives] FW: We Got Trouble

> ASERL Friends:
> 
> You will recall that there was some concern earlier this year when GPO 
> posted a national survey seeking "feedback' about ASERL's plan for 
> managing FDLP collections in the Southeast.  That concern was well founded:  
> In two recent letters, GPO has informed us that our plan is out of compliance 
> with FDLP regulations, and demanded that we modify our plan no later than 
> October 31st.  (The letters are available online at http://bit.ly/oKc636.)  
> This flies in the face of their previous review/approval of the ASERL plan, 
> and the specific requests for modifications are not supported by the statute 
> that governs the FDL Program. Such a mess!
> 
> At this time we are not conceding on any of the points raised by GPO.  
> In response, we are drafting three items:
> 
> 1)       An online petition - available now at http://svy.mk/n3hdgo -- to
> document support for this program, from library deans/directors, documents 
> librarians, and others.  We ask that you consider signing this petition at 
> your earliest convenience, and include a comment that describes why you feel 
> the ASERL Plan is important to the future of FDLP collection management.
> 
> 2)      Talking points for CFDP Steering Committee Members to use during 
> conversations at the upcoming Depository Library Conference.  They will be 
> posted for your information once they are complete.
> 
> 3)      A letter from ASERL to GPO leadership countering the claims made in 
> their most recent letter. 
> 
> We'll consider further actions as deemed appropriate by the Deans FDLP 
> Steering Committee and ASERL Board of Directors.
> 
> --jeb
> 
> John Burger, Executive Director
> Association of Southeastern Research Libraries
> 
> 
> ASERL has moved! As of July 1, our address is:
>   ASERL
>   Box 90182 / 411 Chapel Drive
>   226A Bostock Library
>   Durham, NC 27708
>   919-681-2531 - telephone
>   919-681-0805 -- fax
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