Transcript Digital Government Librarianship: The Next Generation Librarian John Carlo Bertot Janet Norton Lawrence Mello, Jr. College of Information Studies (iSchool) University of Maryland College Park Information Policy.

Digital Government Librarianship:
The Next Generation Librarian
John Carlo Bertot
Janet Norton
Lawrence Mello, Jr.
College of Information Studies (iSchool)
University of Maryland College Park
Information Policy & Access Center
ipac.umd.edu
All Things “E”

Government
◦ Reductions in staff
 State and local governments in particular
 ~500,000 over last three years
 Restructuring, not hiring, reductions in force
◦ Increased move towards e-government
◦ Evolution from experimental, to along side, to
exclusive
◦ What started as moving basics (e.g., printed
forms) online, now full swing services
 Tax filing, immigration,
 “Optional” is fading out
E-government in Libraries

Libraries increasingly at the center of Egovernment
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Open
Public access
Staff
Willingness to help
Increasing expertise
Those we help have a wide range of skills
and abilities to access government
information and services
Libraries/librarians have a range of capacities
and skills
E-government
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96.6% help people apply for E-government services
91.8% help people understand and use government websites
70.7% help people complete E-government forms
30.9% have partnerships with agencies/non-profits
Information Policy & Access Center (2012). www.plinternetsurvey.org
80.7%
Applying for e-government services
96.6%
89.7%
91.8%
Accessing and using e-government Websites
67.8%
70.7%
Completing government forms
Understanding government programs and
services
50.2%
50.0%
24.7%
30.9%
Parternships to provide e-government services
0.0%
2011
20.0% 40.0% 60.0% 80.0% 100.0% 120.0%
2012
Changing Depository Landscape

As GPO celebrates 150 years as a printer
◦ 97% of government information is born digital
◦ It’s distributed across a range of websites,
agencies, and systems
◦ Depository program in transition
 What happens when the last box ships?
In short….

There is a need to prepare future information
professionals for a service world in which libraries
are:
◦ Not the primary owners of large government information
collections
◦ Rethinking the FDLP in light of advances in technologies,
potential new models for collaboration and service
delivery, and economic pressures
◦ Shifting rapidly towards just in time service and resource
provision
◦ Front line providers of e-government services, both as
intermediaries and providers of a range of essential
literacies and access needs for successful e-government
activities
 Digital literacy, traditional literacy, civics literacy, and public access
computers and Internet access
◦ Serve as partners with government agencies in
collaborative e-government
E-government Librarians
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Received a LB21 grant from IMLS in 2009 that built on its existing egovernment concentration in several key ways:
◦ Develop an understanding of the evolving nature of e-government services/sources
into libraries, across a range of formats and service contexts.
◦ Encourage the evolution of government information research and practice through
grounded application and scholarship.
◦ Bridge the gap between the practice of librarianship and the research challenges
created by the shifting formats and distribution schemes of digital government
information and e-government services.
◦ Prepare students to build and sustain e-government services through library-based
programs that reach out to all populations, including traditionally underserved
communities, such as persons with disabilities, Native American tribal areas, as well as
rural areas and urban neighborhoods which may lack a grounding in government
information sources, services, and access.
◦ Promote innovative approaches in research and practice about e-government services
within an evolving social, technical, legal, and policy contexts.
◦ Promote the identification, evaluation, and adoption of best practices in the delivery of
and access to government information and services in both tangible and electronic
formats.
◦ Foster scholarly discourse that examines the delivery of e-government services within
the larger policy environment and political context.
◦ Gain direct experience of how librarians contribute to and influence the governance
of federal, state and local e-government.
Program Launch
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GPO serves as a partner
Recruitment 2009-2010
Students started Fall 2010
◦ 80 applications for 20 scholarships
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Set to finish coursework June 2012
◦ 6 credits (2 courses) Fall, Spring, Summer
◦ Total of 36 credits
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More information
http://ipac.umd.edu/our-work/governmentinformation-service-21st-century
How?
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Coursework
◦ Serves as the intellectual and conceptual basis
for the evolving government information
environment
◦ Core e-government courses
 Information Policy
 E-government
 Planning and Evaluation for Government
Information Services
 E-librarianship
 Access to Federal Government Information
◦ Weekly discussions via Wimba
How?
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Practice
◦ Virtual and in-person internships
 Federal agencies (GSA, GPO)
 Government Information Online (http://govtinfo.org/)
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Professional
◦ Community of practice – attendance at 2010 and
2011 Fall Federal Depository Library meetings
in Washington, DC
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Scholarship
◦ Website assessment and resource reviews for
Government Information Quarterly
 First batch appeared in April 2012 issue
 Others July 2012 issue
An Education in E-government
Janet Norton
College of Information Studies (iSchool)
University of Maryland College Park
Class of 2012
What did I study?
The history of the government document
world and GPO
 Policy and planning
 Finding and using data to better
understand and serve a library population
 Civics – like it or not
 User needs and behaviors
 Virtual Reference - GIO
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Why does it matter?
 Libraries
need E-government
expertise
 Online government is not going away
 We need to know this stuff
 Be aware, be watchful, be ready
How was I challenged?
 GPO
and Federal Depository
Libraries
 Internships
 Government Information Online
(GIO)
 Finding a place for government
information in my part of the library
world
What’s happening now?

Knowledge gained from coursework guided research for
a grant proposal that addresses unemployment issues
and digital literacy facing Veterans in Palm Beach County
◦ Workforce Alliance and Department of Veteran’s Affairs
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VITA tax service in our library space
Training from other agencies
◦ Dept. of Children and Families: ACCESS Florida
◦ Workforce Alliance: EMPLOY FLORIDA
◦ Voter’s Registration
E-Government web page with a GIO portal, FDsys,
highlighted government information
 Right Service, Right Time (research of agencies and
services)
 Sign up for this…
 Project Compass Convening
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What about later?
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Stay involved in the continuing discussions
of government information and
preservation
Try to bring what I have learned into my
public library setting
Build more partnerships
Check out how non-government agencies
are making government information
accessible
Get the word out – inform & educate
Thank you!
Janet Norton
Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach
[email protected]
Becoming an E-government
Librarian
Lawrence Mello, Jr.
University of Maryland
Class of 2012
Interesting Concepts
“Can you have a library without four walls?”
Digital Revolution and Digital Gaps
Learning about GPO and its on going evolution
from the Gutenberg Era to Digital Age
The importance of understanding how our
Government functions and flows
More than just a static document
Understanding information seeking behavior of
a range of populations
Why E-government Matters
to Everyone
E-Government is not just a FAD or some
ship passing the night
Government Transparency and Online
interaction becoming the means for the
citizenry to interact with their government
For many Libraries are the gates and egovernment librarians are the gatekeepers to
accessing government information
“A democratic society depends upon an
informed and educated citizenry.”
Thomas Jefferson
Knowledge = Growth
Seeing and Exploring the Universe of the
GPO and Federal Depository Libraries.
Attending the Federal Depository
Conferences
Internships
Government Information Online (GIO)
Learning about how E-Government is
changing and shaping our Public Libraries
Practice Makes Perfect at Florida
Atlantic University!!
Keeping the our students and public upto-date on the New Electronic Titles put
out by GPO.
Providing more detail reference
consultation's regarding navigating many
of the government agency’s websites and
researching hearings and Federal Code
through FDsys, Proquest Congressional &
the Library of Congress’s THOMAS.
E-Government in my Future
Stay involved!!! Digitization and Preservation
Help shape Government Documents Community
to better serve everyone: Federal Sector,
Libraries, Librarians, and patrons.
To remember that government “documents” and
Information are suppose to be free
Sometimes it will require some digging and getting
dirty to find and obtain the information
“Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the
means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think,
speak, and write”
John Adams
Thank You!
Lawrence J. Mello, Jr.
[email protected]
Florida Atlantic University Library
777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton, Florida, 33431
Next Steps
Migration of E-government specialization
to online-only (Fall 2013)
 Specialization classes as certificate
 IMLS scholarship grant pending
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◦ 10 in-state; 5 out-of-state
◦ Cohort up to 25 students
◦ Partners include GPO, ALA, several state
library agencies, and number of public and
academic libraries
Next Steps
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Curriculum changes to reflect lessons
learned
◦ Addition of course on serving diverse
populations and inclusion
◦ Expansion of field study partners (virtual and
physical) to enhance practice
 GPO, GIO, GSA, libraries, and state library agencies
Next Steps
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Integration of practice, research, and
program
◦ E-government Partnership grant (ALA, IMLS)
◦ Partners include
 USCIS, IRS, GPO
 5 state library agencies (CT, FL, MD, NJ, TX)
 Several academic and public libraries
◦ libegov.org
◦ Students helping develop content and will
continue to help build the site
http://ipac.umd.edu/our-work/egovernmentpartnerships
Thank You!
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Questions/comments?
[email protected]
301-405-3267
http://ipac.umd.edu