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Government Information Quarterly Contents

Government Information Quarterly

Volume 6, Number 3, 1989

CONTENTS

Discussion Forum:
National Information Policy
Peter Hernon .................................................. 229

The Jimmy Carter Library
Donald B. Schewe............................................................237

The Amount of Classified Information: Causes, Consequences, and
Correctives of a Growing Concern
Frederick M. Kaiser...................................................247

The Organization of American States and its Documentation
Thomas L. Welch ............................................................. 267

Managing Government-sponsored Posters in the Academic Library
Diana Gonzalez Kirby .................................................. 283

The Environmental Protection Agency: A Profile of Its Information
Collection and Dissemination
Sarah T. Kadec ..........................................................295

Contributors ......................................................... 311

Reviews
David C. Heisser, Editor

The American Census: A Social History
By Margo J. Anderson
Reviewed by William R. Thompson ....................................... 313

Background Information on Records of the House of Representatives,
including Studies of Archival Practices of State and National
Legislatures and a Summary of H. Res. 419
Reviewed by Wyley L. Powell ................................................. 314

Business Serials of the U.S. Government
Edited by Priscilla C. Geahigan and Robert F. Rose
Reviewed by Nancy Macomber .......................................................315

Criminal Justice Documents: A Selective, Annotated Bibliography
Of U.S. Government Publications since 1975
Compiled by John F. Berens
Reviewed by Leo McAuliffe ........................................................... 316

Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United States
Reviewed by Megan Sniffin-Marinoff ......................................................316

The FCC Public Reference Rooms Are a Mess: Fifty-Fourth report
by the Committee on Government Operations

Operations of the Federal Communications Commission Public
Reference Rooms: Hearings before a Subcommittee of the
Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives,
100th Congress, 2d session, March 17, 1988

Telecommunications: Management and Operation of FCC's
Public Reference Rooms; Report to the Chairman, Government
Information, Justice and Agriculture Subcommittee, Committee
on Government Operations
Reviewed by LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf ........................................ 317

Freedom at Risk: Secrecy, Censorship, and Repression in the 1980s
Edited by Richard 0. Curry
Reviewed by Elaine P. English ........................................................319

Government Reference Books 86/87: A Biennial Guide to U.S.
Government Publications
Compiled by LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf
Reviewed by Jerry Hogan ................................................................. 320

Government Reference Serials
Compiled by LeRoy C. Schwarzkopf
Reviewed by Patrick Ragains ................................................................ 321

Guide to USGS Geologic and Hydrologic Maps, 1988 Edition
Edited by Laurie Andriot
Reviewed by Jim Walsh .................................. 322

Guide to U.S. Government Statistics, 1987 Edition
Edited by Donna Andriot, Jay Andriot, and Laurie Andriot
Reviewed by Michael Cotter .......................................323

International Information: Documents, Publications, and Information
Systems of International Government Organizations
Edited by Peter I. Hajnal
Reviewed by John A. Shuler ................................... 324

Marcive GPO CAT/PAC (CD-ROM)
GPO on SilverPlatter (CD-ROM)
Reviewed by Dena Adams ..................................... 325

Public Access to Government Information: Issues, Trends and Strategies
By Peter Hernon and Charles R. McClure
Reviewed by Robert V. Williams ............................... 327

The Publishing and Review of Reference Sources
Edited by Bill Katz and Robin Kinder
Reviewed by Claire T. Loranz ................................ ... 329

Slater Hall Information Products' Population Statistics CD-ROM
Reviewed by Robin Peek ......................................... 330

The Social Sciences and Electronic Technology in Area of
Government Information: Proceedings of an International Seminar,
Chicago, Illinois, Aug. 16-17, 1985
Edited by Bernadine E. Abbott Hoduski and Maryellen Trautman
Reviewed by Nancy E. Brodie .......................................331

Subject Catalogue of the House of Commons Parliamentary
Papers, 1801-1900
Compiled by Peter Cockton
Reviewed by John Pinfold ..........................................332

The Jimmy Carter Library

DONALD B. SCHEWE

The Jimmy Carter Library is the most recently opened of the eight Presidential Libraries operated by the National Archives and Records Administration throughout the United States. This article reviews the past approaches to Presidential papers, the development of the system of Presidential Libraries, and the development of the Jimmy Carter Library. The explosion of paper in the Office of the President (F.D.R.'s twelve years produced nearly six million pages, while Jimmy Carter's four years produced more than twenty- six million) requires new approaches to dealing with the information. The National Archives' approach to computerization are detailed, and the PresNet computerized finding aids are described.

The Amount of Classified
Information: Causes, Consequences,
and Correctives of a
Growing Concern

FREDERICK M. KAISER

The inherent tension between official secrecy and democracy has been magnified by the already enormous and continually growing amount of classified national security information. Not only has it increased at a rapid rate during the Reagan administration years, but the rise also appears to be disproportionately large for the most highly protected categories of such information, such as military special access programs. This article explores the major causes underlying this state of affairs, examining both recent and perennial tendencies. In addition, the study assesses the consequences of this growth--for public access, constitutional checks and balances, and changes in the classification system and product--and prescribes a wide spectrum of corrrctives that Congress and the executive can take.

The Organization of American
States and its Documentation

THOMAS L. WELCH

The OAS and its predecessor organizations have issued more than a million documents since 1889. The structure of the OAS and its components are described as are the tools available for the bibliographic verification of the documents.

Managing Government-
sponsored Posters in the
Academic Library

DIANA GONZALEZ KIRBY

Given the availability and distribution of posters from the Government Printing Office, it is likely that many Federal depository libraries contain sizeable poster collections. This article addresses the special needs of the depository library poster collection in the academic library, especially with regard to improving public awareness and access.

The Environmental Protection
Agency: A Profile of Its
Information Collection
and Dissemination

SARAH T. KADEC

The Enviromnental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for the regulation of environmental pollutants and the protection, and improvement, of the environment. The EPA conducts research and works with the general public as well as special constituencies. This article provides an overview of the agency and its publication distribution programs. The article illustrates the EPA's relationship to both the Government Printing Office and the National Technical Information Service.

Contributors

Peter Hernon, the founding editor of GIQ, is Professor at Simmons College, Boston. He teaches courses related to government information, national information policy, research methods and statistics, and evaluation of library services. He is the author of 23 books and over 60 articles. Federal Information Policies in the 1980s (Ablex, 1988), which he co-edited with Charles R. McClure, received the 1988 Best Information Science Book Award from the American Society for Information Science.

Sarah T. Kadec is an information management consultant and member of the GIQ Editorial Board. She received a B.A. degree from Madison College and M.L.S. from Carnegie Library School. She has held many positions within government, including Chief, Library Systems Branch, EPA; and Director, Library Programs Service, GPO. She has been a member of numerous advisory boards and professional associations.

Frederick M. Kaiser is a specialist in American National Government at the Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress. While at CRS, since 1975, Mr. Kaiser has worked with a number of congressional committees and offices on information classification matters and authored an earlier article in Government Information Quarterly on "The Impact of Overclassification on Personnel and Information Security," volume 3 (Summer 1986): 215-269.

Diana Gonzalez Kirby is Assistant Librarian and Assistant Professor in the Government Publications and Maps Department at the Otto G. Richter Library in the University of Miami. A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, she has an M.L.S. from the University of Maryland at College Park, and an M.A. in anthropology from the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Donald B. Schewe was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Nebraska. Upon graduation ftom the university of Nebraska he served two years in the United States Army, and returned to the University of Nebraska for a Master's degree. His Ph.D. in history is from the Ohio State University. After a year of training at the National Archives in Washington, he joined the staff of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York, as an archivist in 1972. In 1978 he became Assistant Director of the Roosevelt Library, and in 1981 moved to Atlanta to head the Carter Project. Dr. Schewe is married and has two daughters.

Thomas L. Welch is the Director of the Columbus Memorial Library, Organization of American States. He received his B.A. degree from California State University, Sacramento, and M.S.L.S. from the University of Illinois. He also has M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Catholic University of America.