Depository Distribution is on the Move!

Please read below and add comments as appropriate:

FDLP Connection - Featured Articles
Written on Tuesday, 06 December 2011
Ringing in the New Year also means a big move for the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) distribution operation. In an effort to improve efficiency, save money, and better serve FDLP libraries, depository library distribution will be operating out of the GPO Laurel Warehouse in Laurel, Maryland, effective January 4, 2012. The move from the main U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) headquarters building in Washington, D.C. will take place in December 2011. This effort will decrease the cost of warehouse space for the FDLP and take advantage of more up-to-date facilities that are better suited for the FDLP distribution functions.
A cross-organizational team of GPO staff members has been developed to manage this project. For several months, staff members from GPO’s Library Services & Content Management (LSCM), Publication & Information Sales (P&IS), Information Technology & Systems (IT&S), Operations Support, and Plant Operations/Building Services have been collaborating on making this move as efficient as possible and as seamless as possible for FDLP libraries. First, GPO staff began with a feasibility analysis to ensure that this move was the right “move” for the FDLP and GPO. Next, a Concept of Operations document was developed that served to document the details of the move, capture the current and future states of operations, and plan the desired objectives and outcomes. Staff in D.C. have also been working closely with “our new neighbors,” P&IS staff, who already occupy the Laurel Warehouse.
The GPO team will also be conducting extensive quality control exercises on the FDLP distribution workflow post-move to ensure that the operation is fully-functional at the new location. Throughout this transition, it is our number one priority to make this move with as little disruption to libraries as possible.
All FDLP distribution operations will be moved. This includes:
Depository box preparation and shipment
Receipt and processing of shipping list claims
Depository stock receipt and warehousing
International Exchange Service (IES) box preparation and shipment
What can libraries expect?
December 2011: The last box shipments will be mailed from Washington, D.C. to libraries. Libraries will continue to receive separate shipments of individual titles into late December.
December 2011: Libraries may continue to submit claims for material missing from October, November, and December shipments; however no claims will be filled until the transition period ends in January 2012.

Boxes will be mailed to and from the following address:
U.S. Government Printing Office
Federal Depository Library Program
Document Warehouse
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel, MD 20707-4986

Libraries can expect to receive shipments and claim fulfillment from this address. All returned shipments from libraries will be sent to this address as well.
Late December 2011–January 3, 2012: No depository shipments will be shipped out to libraries. Each year during the holidays, there is a two-week lull in paper and microfiche shipments.
January 2012: Some libraries may receive their shipments on a less frequent basis (i.e. less than 1 box per week) until the FDLP distribution operation is fully implemented. Claims fulfillment will resume.
January 2012–February 2012: Expect more shipments and more titles per shipment as GPO catches up on distribution.
The USGS map shipments will not be affected by the distribution move to Laurel.
Contacting Us
During the transition period, please continue to submit paper claims through the FDLP Desktop’s Web Claim Form. Claims will not be filled and shipped to libraries until January 2012 when shipments to libraries resume.
askGPO inquiries received in December will be monitored and answered. Inquiries related to shipments, claims, and return shipments will not be acted upon until distribution activities resume in January.
Modifying Your Address
If you would like to modify your library’s address for physical shipments, please use askGPO.
The staff at GPO appreciates your patience and understanding as we work to make this transition. Making the move to Laurel will help us better-serve FDLP libraries and uphold our mission of keeping America informed.

http://www.fdlp.gov/component/content/article/341-featuredarticles/1134-distribution-onthe-move

ALA | Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP)

Follow this link to see what ALA is proposing to help smooth out the current controversies with GPO:


ALA Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP)

Superintendent of Documents--New Commentary

While you may have already been informed that the new issue of the FDLP newsletter is available, I want to make sure all of you see the commentary by Mary Alice Baish, our new Superintendent of Documents.

http://www.fdlp.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1110:creating-our-shared-vision-roles-opportunities&catid=335:fromsupdocs


SGB

GPO/FDLP News from the Frontlines

I promised to update this blog a while back; and now that I have so much to share for our meeting in Lafayette on Friday, I'll start by putting a lot of current information right here.

As most of you know, there has been a lot of controversy over a couple of issues having to do with how, in this time of great change in libraries, the current system of Regional and Selective responsibilities are being tested and, for some FDL's, are failing.

One of those tests involves the dropping to Selective status of Michigan's only remaining Regional and the arrangement that they made with Minnesota to take over the duties of Regional for Michigan. This arrangement was not approved by GPO, primarily because the new Administration at GPO/FDLP is not approving any new multi-state Regional/Selective arrangements.

The other prominent test involves the approval of the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) Collaborative Federal Depository Program (CFDP)--a.k.a. the Centers of Excellence Program. As you all know, LSU and LaTech have both signed on as Centers of Excellence participants; and LSU is already working with aspects of the ASERL Disposition Database.

The controversy surrounding this second test has developed because the prior Administration at GPO/FDLP gave "informal" approval to the ASERL project, and now the current Administration is questioning if the project meets legal standards.

In this first of what will probably be many posts, I will insert links to documents that, when read in chronological order, give details about both of the tests.

• ARL's listing of documents: http://www.arl.org/pp/access/fdlp/fdlp-dev/index.shtml
  



• ASERL's listing of documents: http://www.aserl.org/programs/gov-doc/gpo-letters/
  

Enjoy the drama!

Here at ALA Midwinter

Final day of ALA Council meetings for Midwinter 2011. Keep an eye on this post thread, starting now!

Questionnaire for FDLP Selectives

Update for Tues. 11/30, The questionnaire is ready for Selectives' responses.
Please scroll down to the end of this section that has the posts, and fill out the form. To see the whole form, you'll probably need to use the scroll bar within the form itself.

If you have questions, please contact me directly at sbraunst@lsu.edu. Thanks--and looking forward to your answers and comments!

Reporting from last month's fall 2010 Depository Library Conference in Arlington, VA--the High Points:

The migration from GPO Access to FDsys is on target and should be completed by the end of December 2010.

Ithaka S+R will once again do a study on the FDLP--this time at the request of GPO. Please open and take a look at the website set up by Ithaka so that you can understand the purpose and process of this study.

GPO has given us some new promotional tools, among them a "User Survey." Click here to link to Lori Smith's announcement of this survey, and then follow the link from there to participate.

UPDATES ON THE ASERL PROPOSAL FOR A COLLABORATIVE FEDERAL DEPOSITORY PROGRAM (CFDP)

Read the October 2010 Program Update found on the ASERL site. After you open this link to the main page, look in the right hand frame for "Managing FDLP Collections Across the Region"; then click on "Project Page." After opening that page, scroll down to "Current Program Activity Update."

Details pertaining to the plan which have been discussed by members of the ASERL community include the following:

• Handling ILL requests
• Disposal lists policies and procedures
• Digitization facilitation and modeling
• Questions on how to handle the listing of microfiche

If you have specific questions or comments, either leave them on this post or email me at sbraunst@lsu.edu