January/February, 2001
Volume 19 Numbers 1/2

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FEDLINK Revolving Fund Signed Into Law
OCLC News
2001 FLICC Forum on Federal Information Policies
  —Preserving Our Federal Heritage in the Digital Era
      March 27, 2001
New Training Accounts Available
Web Citings: Content Management Group Convenes
Editorial Staff

FEDLINK Revolving Fund Signed Into Law

The 106^th Congress, during Fiscal Year 2000, passed legislation that creates statutory authority and revolving funds for FEDLINK's fee-based activities. Representatives Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) and Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) introduced revolving fund legislation last Spring at the request of the Library of Congress. Then Representative William M. Thomas (R-CA) introduced a modified version on October 6 (H.R. 5410), which President Clinton signed into law as the Fiscal Operations Improvement Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-481) on November 9, 2000.

Susan M. Tarr, executive director of FEDLINK's parent organization FLICC (Federal Library and Information Center Committee), said this new law will allow for a normalized business operation that will ultimately mean greater efficiencies and substantial savings for the government. "Having to renew 640 interagency agreements (IAGs) every year is burdensome to FEDLINK's 1200 members. This cost, alone, in terms of overhead for our clients and our offices has been significant," said Tarr.

FEDLINK had operated for years under the Economy Act of 1932 on the same annual appropriations cycles as LC. This meant that both FEDLINK and the member agency had to wrap up all their business by year end, and begin the process anew every October 1. Every year, members had to sign new IAGs for products and services, and FEDLINK and LC had to negotiate new contracts with vendors for library materials and information services. Any lapsed funds from prior years have been wasted. By replacing the general authority of the Economy Act, P.L. 106-481 provides opportunities to streamline the annual registration process—perhaps permitting the interagency relationship between the member and FEDLINK to extend across fiscal years, eliminating the need for Budget Officer signatures, and/or allowing execution of money transfers to FEDLINK on the basis of a simple purchase order with a few standard terms. "Eventually, we are hopeful that this will significantly speed up the start-up and add-funds processes," said Tarr.

Beginning on October 1, 2001, FEDLINK will be able to operate its administrative budget "without fiscal year limitation" so that revenue earned to operate FEDLINK in one fiscal year will not "lapse" at the end of the fiscal year and can continue to support the program into future years. This means beginning in FY2002 FEDLINK will be able to:

• allow for expanded flexibility for FEDLINK to accept members' year-end funds—e.g., to purchase database services subscriptions to extend through first quarter fiscal year activity;
• eliminate the double-charging of members with no-year funds when they have balances remaining at the end of a fiscal year;
• provide stability to the FEDLINK program that will permit longer-term planning and coordination with members and donors;
• save the FEDLINK program more than $250,000 annually, with an additional million dollars in potential member savings from vendor discounts and elimination of lapsed funds.

The major issue yet to be settled is the meaning of "without fiscal year limitation" as it applies to federal agencies purchasing with one-year funds. At minimum, agencies must have a "bona fide need" for whatever they are purchasing at the time they obligate their money to FEDLINK for particular vendor services. It is clear from a Treasury consultant report that once the money has been obligated to FEDLINK for a "bona fide need," FEDLINK may take whatever time is necessary to process the procurement (e.g., time for competition, even if that moves the actual vendor obligation into the next fiscal year). What limitations will be imposed on prior year balances that remain after the purchase has been executed is yet to be determined by legal and fiscal advisors. (Note: Any service fund flexibility that accrues to FEDLINK members under the revolving fund will be available only to Transfer Pay participants, not to Direct Pay purchasers.)

This simplified procurement process will benefit FEDLINK's vendor community as well. "Because the mechanics will be simplified, we will be able to save vendors money which we hope will translate into greater discounts for FEDLINK customers," said Tarr.

LC and FEDLINK will be working with auditors and counsel over the next few months to develop guidelines for implementing the law, particularly with respect to programs like FEDLINK that operate for the sole purpose of serving other government activities. "It took 12 years to see this legislation pass in Congress and 34 days for the law to be signed. We now have eight months to get ready for this new way of doing business, and ready we will be," said Tarr.

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OCLC News

FEDLINK Offers a Variety Cataloging Training Opportunities

This Spring and Summer, FEDLINK will be offering a number of cataloging programs designed for new and veteran catalogers. Class size is limited for these programs; so be sure to register online (http://www.loc.gov/flicc/mmeduc.html) to avoid the waiting list:

Copy Cataloging on OCLC—April 25, 2001

Learn how to select the correct OCLC record, incorporate local data into the catalog record, export and update records, establish copy cataloging workflow and locate resources on cataloging standards and practice. Prerequisite: Introduction to Searching OCLC, or experience in searching the OCLC WorldCat.

Original Cataloging on OCLC—June 28, 2001

Discuss OCLC inputting guidelines, when to input a new record and using the OCLC Bibliographic Formats and Standards and other essential cataloging documentation. Look at MARC21 tags, incorporate authority work into your workflow, use work form templates and constant data, and add and export records. Prerequisite: Introduction to Searching OCLC, or experience in searching the OCLC WorldCat; knowledge of cataloging concepts and rules.

OCLC Authorities—June 29, 2001

Learn how to search the OCLC authority files, interpret authority records, incorporate authorities into your cataloging workflow, and export authority records. Prerequisite: Introduction to Searching OCLC, or experience in searching the OCLC WorldCat; knowledge of cataloging concepts and rules.

Cataloging Internet Resources Using CORC—March 15, 2001

Topics covered include: Reasons for cataloging web sites; Searching the CORC Resource Catalog; Creating and editing CORC records in MARC21; Viewing and interpreting records in Dublin Core format; CORC authority control functions; Reasons for exporting CORC records and the available export formats; workflow issues. Prerequisite: Knowledge of cataloging principles and the MARC format. Experience in cataloging library materials. Experience using Netscape or Internet Explorer.

FEDLINK will also be holding a special two-day program on Cataloging Internet Resources with Ann Sandberg-Fox on June 4 and 5, 2001. The first day covers cataloging Internet resources using MARC21 and AACR2. The second day is devoted to constructing records using Dublin Core. The training includes optional hands-on exercise sessions. Look for a meeting announcement for these classes.

PAIS International Database Now Available

The newly reindexed and reloaded OCLC Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) international database is on the OCLC FirstSearch service. The new PAIS International includes 17 new indexes, as well as significant new functionality that make it more valuable than ever to researchers investigating topics in world affairs, public policy, and the social sciences.

The enhanced PAIS database includes new indexing and record displays, links to library holdings, and links to full text from other databases and electronic journals within FirstSearch. The enhanced database integrates selected Web sites, as well as directory information for journals, publishers, and distributors. PAIS International is now searchable by 24 broad topics (segments of the database) in the Expert Search mode, to help searchers in refining their subject search approach. Broad topics have been assigned to all main subject headings in the PAIS subject authority file and to all bibliographic records created in 2000 or later. The entire list of broad topics and sub-topics is available on OCLC PAIS Web site at http://www.pais.org/broadtopics/index.stm.

PAIS International also provides selective subject and bibliographic access to periodicals, books, hearings, reports, gray literature, government publications, Internet resources, and other publications from 120 countries. The database contains more than 480,000 records, each with bibliographic information and brief, descriptive abstracts. Beyond English-language items, the database includes materials in French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish with English-language abstracts and subject headings. The database also links to the OCLC Interlibrary Loan service to help users more easily initiate requests for items not available online or locally.

OCLC Offers ILLiad Resource Sharing Software

OCLC ILLiad is a fully functional Interlibrary Loan (ILL) manager for libraries to manage their entire ILL operation within a single integrated interface. ILLiad includes interfaces to the OCLC ILL service, the National Library of Medicine's DOCLINE service, and RLG's RLIN ILL service. It has a Web-based customer interface, borrowing and lending automation, and electronic document delivery in one integrated package. Users can submit requests and track the status of requests without the library staff.

Among its many features and benefits, OCLC ILLiad offers a simple and easy to use interface to the OCLC ILL Micro Enhancer. With a simple menu function ILL staff can transfer data from OCLC ILLiad to the OCLC ILL ME. ILLiad software will benefit those who perform more than 1,000 "borrowed" interlibrary loan requests annually on the OCLC ILL service.

Beyond customizing messages, printouts, and other aspects of the borrowing process, OCLC ILLiad offers resources that:

• Manage the entire ILL process in a single powerful staff interface
• Automatically search and import data from OCLC, RLIN, and DOCLINE
• Email the user on received items, overdue items, and canceled requests
• Produce bar-coded labels with full transaction information to accompany each borrowed item
• Displays the received item and request information so that you can verify that correct pages were sent
• Prints address labels and return slips to accompany materials sent back to the lending library
• Prints book labels and book straps to accompany materials provided to the library patron.

OCLC ILLiad also automates lending functions that:

• Imports OCLC, RLIN, and DOCLINE records, retaining text of the full record and sorting each field into the correct OCLC ILLiad field
• Allows an easy search and check of most major local library OPACs
• Sorts imported records into an unlimited number of user defined queues
• Routes incoming requests into a "Rush" queue according to any field in the request
• Generates invoices and tracks billing information
• Supports the OCLC ILL Fee Management service, which lets users of the OCLC ILL service handle lending charges through OCLC invoices
• Stamps date and time on every transaction affecting a request
• Supports the "Reasons for No" feature in OCLC ILL.

The pricing structure (see below) for OCLC ILLiad are done in an annual license for individual institutions, with a $1000 fee per satellite site for member libraries and $1200 for non-member libraries.**

For the latest information on OCLC ILLiad, visit these OCLC Web sites:

• OCLC ILLiad web site—http://www.oclc.org/illiad/
• ILLiad information—http://www.oclc.org/illiad/
• List of current users—http://www.oclc.org/illiad/
• Documentation—http://www.atlas-sys.com/Documentation.html
• Systems requirements—http://www.oclc.org/illiad/
• Pricing & order forms—http://www.oclc.org/illiad/

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New Training Accounts Available

FEDLINK has established separate training contracts with the following OCLC networks:

After a member signs an IAG or transfer monies, the FEDLINK contracts unit (LC/C&L) will issue a delivery order with a not-to-exceed amount that reflects the member's service funding for a training vendor. This delivery order under the vendor's Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) becomes the contract for training. Once the delivery order is issued, a member may register directly with the training vendor up to the threshold amount on the delivery order(s).

The training vendor will submit invoices to FEDLINK and the training account will be handled in the same manner as any other FEDLINK vendor account: Invoices will be processed and paid from the funds in the training account(s). FEDLINK no longer bills the general FT account for training invoices from vendors.

If a member has not signed an IAG, the delivery order has not been issued, or the account has insufficient funds, FEDLINK will reject and return the invoice to the training vendor. FEDLINK sends members copies of any rejected invoices with an explanation for the rejection so that members know to increase the funding in the account. Training vendors will have to resubmit rejected invoices after FEDLINK has worked with the member to correct an account problem.

Vendors should NOT register anyone for training through FEDLINK unless there is a current IAG for that training vendor in place with sufficient funds to cover the training requested.

*OCLC Western Exception

OCLC Western training is billed via the member's regular OCLC account. For these workshops, OCLC Western will ask members to verify with FEDLINK FNO that funds are available by faxing a copy of the registration to 202-707-4828.

FEDLINK FT Accounts

Members should also establish or continue to fund their FEDLINK FT accounts in FY2001 to cover costs for regular FEDLINK training classes, FLICC events, registration fees for Computers in Libraries (CILs), or on-site training by FEDLINK staff.

For more information on training accounts, FEDLINK FT accounts, or for assistance with any accounts, contact the FEDLINK Fiscal Hotline at (202) 707-4900. For FEDLINK training information, call (202) 707-4848; for FLICC educational programs, call (202) 707-4822.

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OCLC Institute Offers Online Course

The OCLC Institute has released their first offering of the Online Library Learning Web-based training series, "Cataloging Internet Resources using MARC 21 and AACR2." This OCLC Institute Web-based course provides approximately 16 hours of self-paced interactive instruction through 28 lessons on MARC 21 (formerly USMARC) fields and AACR2 cataloging rules, often encountered when cataloging Internet resources.

OCLC membership is not required for this course, although there is a discount price for members. (See below.) Because the course focuses on rules and standards for Internet resources, the course is OCLC product independent and may be immediately applied to any library environment. To access the course, a user needs a browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape) and Internet access. Since the course is asynchronous, no downloads or plug-ins are required. Macintosh users will need special instructions.

Because of a delay in releasing the course last Fall, OCLC is extending the introductory offer for discounted pricing until March 31, 2001. Prices will increase by $23.00 - $40.00 beginning in April 2001.

To order an annual subscription, please contact Anne Harrison at FEDLINK (202-707-4834; [email protected]). For more information, point your browser to http://www.oclc.org/education/elearning/ or send email to [email protected].

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Content Management Group Convenes

In response to all the efforts the Federal Government is making to facilitate citizens' access to government information, the Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) created a new working group. The Content Management Ad Hoc Working Group, chaired by Blane Dessy, director of the Department of Justice Library, is charged with recommending to FLICC cooperative activities related to federal content management, including FirstGov or other central federal information portal initiatives. The working group's report is due to the FLICC Executive Board (FEB) in March. If you have comments on these issues and wish to contact the working group, please send email to Steve Kerchoff, FEDLINK staff liaison to the working group at [email protected].

FirstGov Offers Access

One topic the working group will be discussing is FirstGov (http://www.firstgov.gov), which premiered in September 2000. A welcome letter from President George Bush W. Bush now describes FirstGov as "the first-ever government Web site to provide the public with easy, one-stop access to all online U.S. Federal Government resources. This cutting-edge site gives the American people the Information Age government they deserve. By using the wonders of information technology to bring government closer to the American people, we can expand the reach of democracy and make government more responsive to citizens...This monumental breakthrough in one-stop shopping for government services will help Americans across the country and around the world find the information and resources they need at a click of a mouse—quickly and easily."

For a complete overview of FirstGov's navigational and searching tools, frequently asked questions, file formats, feedback option, and accessibility features, point your browser to the "First Time User" link at the top of their home page.

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Editorial Staff

FEDLINK Technical Notes is published by the Federal Library and Information Center Committee. Send suggestions of areas for FLICC attention or for inclusion in FEDLINK Technical Notes to:

FLICC was established in 1965 (as the Federal Library Committee) by the Library of Congress and the Bureau of the Budget for the purpose of concentrating the intellectual resources of the federal library and related information community. FLICC's mission is to foster excellence in federal library and information services through interagency cooperation and to provide guidance and direction for the Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK).

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