Request for Feedback with Respect to the Depository Services Program and Access to Federal Government Information

The Depository Library Services Program Library Advisory Committee (DSP-LAC) will be meeting in Ottawa shortly. The Canadian Library Association’s delegates to the DSP-LAC, Caron Rollins and Frank Winter, would like to hear from CLA members with respect to any comments, concerns and/or recommendations with respect to the DSP and other aspects of access to federal government information. The DSP’s mandate extends only to depository publications but the DSP-LAC is a good venue to exchange information and raise issues.

Last year the major change in the DSP was the implementation of a new DSP agreement for full and partial depository libraries. This year there have been major changes with respect to the manner in which e-serials are linked.  As well, there is the new web site for Government of Canada Publications (http://www.publications.gc.ca/) which completes the integration of the Depository Services Program (DSP) and Publications web sites.

Do you have any comments, criticisms or suggestions with respect to these changes? Are they working well for you as well as your users?

During the past year there have also been developments with respect to access to federal government information, such as the discontinuance of Statistics Canada’s Market Research Handbook and the announcement that the print version of the House of Commons Committee minutes will be discontinued.  Are there any other matters that you would like to raise?

Please send your comments by August 18, 2010 to both Caron Rollins (crollins@uvic.ca) and Frank Winter (frank.winter@usask.ca).