Digital Government Librarianship: The Next Generation Librarian

1. 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

2. 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

3. E-government in Libraries • Libraries increasingly at the center of E-government • 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

4. E-government • 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

5. 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?

6. 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

7. E-government Librarians • Received a LB21 grant from IMLS in 2009 that built on its existing e-government 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.

8. Program Launch • GPO serves as a partner • Recruitment 2009-2010 • Students started Fall 2010 • 80 applications for 20 scholarships • Set to finish coursework June 2012 • 6 credits (2 courses) Fall, Spring, Summer • Total of 36 credits • More information • http://ipac.umd.edu/our-work/government-information-service-21st-century

9. How? • 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

10. How? • Practice • Virtual and in-person internships • Federal agencies (GSA, GPO) • Government Information Online (http://govtinfo.org/) • Professional • Community of practice – attendance at 2010 and 2011 Fall Federal Depository Library meetings in  Washington, DC • Scholarship • Website assessment and resource reviews for Government Information Quarterly • First batch appeared in April 2012 issue • Others July 2012 issue

11. An Education in E-government Janet Norton College of Information Studies (iSchool) University of Maryland College Park Class of 2012

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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 • 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

16. What about later? • 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

17. Thank you! Janet Norton Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach nortonj@mycitylibrary.org

18. Becoming an E-governmentLibrarian Lawrence Mello, Jr. University of Maryland Class of 2012

19. 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

20. Why E-government Mattersto 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 e-government librarians are the gatekeepers to accessing government information • “A democratic society depends upon an informed and educated citizenry.” Thomas Jefferson

21. 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

22. Practice Makes Perfect at Florida Atlantic University!! • Keeping the our students and public up-to-date on the New Electronic Titles put out by GPO. • Providing more detail reference consultation's regarding navigating many of the government agency’s websitesand researching hearings and Federal Code through FDsys, Proquest Congressional & the Library of Congress’s THOMAS.

23. 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

24. Thank You! Lawrence J. Mello, Jr. lmello@fau.edu Florida Atlantic University Library 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton, Florida, 33431

25. Next Steps • Migration of E-government specialization to online-only (Fall 2013) • Specialization classes as certificate • IMLS scholarship grant pending • 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

26. Next Steps • 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

27. Next Steps • 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/egovernment-partnerships

28. Thank You! • Questions/comments? jbertot@umd.edu 301-405-3267 http://ipac.umd.edu