GOVERNMENT TRENDS

"21st Century Challenges for the United States Government," published by the Government Accountability Office, highlights the Federal Government's need for fiscal solvency and the tremendous impact the budget crisis will have on the future of U.S. government, among other trends.

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05325sp.pdf

Government librarians face censorship issues that are more complex than many of their counterparts, since they must juggle complex security regulations, while meeting the needs of their particular agency and serving the general public at the same time.

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/iftoolkits/ifmanual/fifthedition/federallibraries.htm

The President's Management Agenda scorecard is a driving force behind each agency's activities. Every three months, they are measured for their performance in human capital management, competitive sourcing, financial management, electronic government and linking performance to budgets.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0504/051704a1.htm

Under the Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act and OMB Circular A-76 (revised in 2003), government jobs at all levels are being examined to determine whether they should remain in-house or such services should be provided by contractors through "competitive outsourcing," leading to an influx of contractors replacing federal workers.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0701/072301p1a.htm

Competitive outsourcing has affected libraries at DOE, HUD, EPA, Labor, NOAA, NASA, and FDA.

http://www.loc.gov/flicc/video/cmwg/update05/kh.ppt

A rapid and radical transformation is underway from print-based documents and government information to digital and Web-based resources. Agencies affiliated with print, such as the GPO, are being forced to change completely the way in which they do business. Government information is now expected to be accessed, in large part, electronically.

http://www.gpo.gov/congressional/pdfs/04strategicplan.pdf

The federal government is becoming heavily involved in using the Internet to disseminate information, moving away from print products. The E-government Act of 2001 established a framework for government agencies to develop Internet technologies to increase the citizenry's access to government information and services. The GPO is developing a new strategic mission towards documents born digitally, and quickly transitioning away from its print products.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:h.r.02458:

http://www.gpo.gov/congressional/pdfs/04strategicplan.pdf

Government CIOs face a wide range of challenges, including "legacy systems that are sometimes incompatible with each other, 'stovepipe' systems that don’t communicate well, annual budget cycles that don’t always mesh well with long-term information strategies, and political issues and culture that sometimes slow progress." As a result, "the average tenure of federal CIO’s is only about two years, according to a 2004 General Accounting Office study, and turnover in the states is also high." (Dearstyne)

http://www.cip.umd.edu/whitepapers.htm

Upcoming Federal Enterprise Architecture guidelines will help establish standards, guidelines and best practices for allowing agencies to share information and data more easily and efficiently.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/a-1-fea.html

Libraries are storing more than just books, LOC has now opened its sound archives - the collection has grown so large that the sound archives, along with the library's enormous motion picture archive, will be moved to a new 41-acre complex in Culpeper, VA, about 70 miles southwest of Washington ("Library of Congress Starts Sound Registry")

http://www.govtech.net/magazine/channel_story.php/38962

The rise, fall, and re-birth of digital government libraries - an outline.

http://iflagovlibstockholm2005.blogspot.com/2005/07/robert-klaverstijn-rise-fall-and-new.html

Successful German library project where networked Library "portals" were made available worldwide to government employees.

http://iflagovlibstockholm2005.blogspot.com/2005/07/brbel-bendach-worldwide-library-and.html

A list of all government libraries.

http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Libraries.shtml

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