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Government Information Quarterly

Volume 10, Number 3, 1993

Database Copyright Issues in the European GIS Community
Xavier R. Lopez ....................................................................................................... 305

Information Distribution Practices of Federal Statistical Agencies:
The Census Bureau Example
Fredric C. Gey ............................................................................................................. 319

SPECIAL FEATURES

Security Classification Reform: The Waiting Agenda
Harold C. Relyea ........................................................................................................... 333

Making It Happen in a Depository Library: Those Pesky CD-ROMs
Robert E. Dugan and Anthony Cipriano ............................................................................... 341

Nigerian Government Publications on Education
A.T. Agboola .................................................................................................. 357

First Freedom of Information Conference: Hungary
Thomas B. Riley and David Goldberg .................................................................... 365

The EEC Electronic Information Services Market
Jurgen Westhoff ................................................................................................... 369

Research and Technological Development Programs
of the European Communities: Transfer of Information and Results
Albert S. Strub .......................................................................................................... 379

Contributors ................................................................................................................. 389

Reviews
John A. Shuler, Editor

CIS Index to U.S. Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1909:
Guide to Documents Listed in Checklist of U.S. Documents,
1789-1909, Not Printed in the U.S. Serial Set.
Published by the Congressional Information Service
Reviewed by John A. Shuler ..................................................................................... 391

The Clarence Thomas Hearings on CD-ROM
Distributed by NewsBank/Readex
Reviewed by Duncan Aldrich ....................................................................................... 393

Conflict Resolution and Public Policy
Edited by Miriam K. Mills
Reviewed by Faye L Couture ......................................................................................... 394

Depository Library Use of Technology: A Practitioner's Perspective
Edited by Jan Swanbeck and Peter Hernon
Reviewed by Joel Zucker ............................................................................................. 395

Electronic Bulletin Board System for the Federal Depository
Library Program: A Study
By U.S. Government Printing Office, and
GPO/2001: Vision for a New Millennium
By U.S. Government Printing Office
Reviewed by Robert E. Dugan .......................................................................................... 397

GeoSight Fact Finder, GIS Based Software Package
By Sammamish Data Systems
Reviewed by Gary Cornwell .......................................................................................... 398

Listening for a President: A Citizen's Campaign Methodology
By Ruth M. Gonchar Brennan and Dan F. Hahn
Reviewed by Tom Howard ............................................................................................ 400

Managing Information Technology: Transforming
County Governments in the 1990s
By Patricia T. Fletcher, Stuart 1. B,etschnelder, Donald A Marchand, et al.
Reviewed by Norm Parry ................................................................................................ 401

Presidential Accountability: New and Recurring Problems
By John Orman
Reviewed by Harold C. Relyea ............................................................................. 403

Presidential Press Conferences: A Critical Approach
By Carolyn Smith, and
The Six O'Clock Presidency: A Theory of Presidential
Press Relations in the Age of Television
By Frederic T. Smoller
Reviewed by John A. Shuler ....................................................................................... 404

Public Libraries and the INTERNET/NREN:
New Challenges, New Opportunities
By Charles R. McClure et al.
Reviewed by Patrick Flannery ....................................................................................... 405

List of Titles Received .............................................................................................. 407

Database Copyright Issues
in the European GIS Community

Xavier R. Lopez

The production and dissemination of European geographic information system (GIS) databases are rapidly outpacing the legal structure's ability to protect and regulate the flow of such information. This situation places increased pressure on users, suppli ers, and official copyright authorities to adjust the law to accomodate these changes. Database suppliers argue that the present unevenness of the european legal protection setting creates an uncertain and risky environment which is not conducive to inves tment. In response, the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) has proposed a Directive on the Copyright of Databases to address the concerns of the database industry. This article outlines the current legal structure of the european GIS database in dustry, critiques the impending CEC Directive, and emphasizes the inevitable need for global consensus on these important issues.

Fredric C. Gey

U.S. government agencies collect statistical data either under a Constitutional mandate (as in the case of the decenniel census) or by legislative mandate or administrative decree. The preeminent example is the Bureau of the Census which, for the 1990 de cenniel census, collected and distributed some 50 gigabytes (the equivalent of over 100 CD-ROMs) of data, if digitized map boundaries are included. Some major agencies producing public statistics include the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Social Security Adm inistration, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Energy Information Administration, Departments of Education and Agriculture, and National Center for Health Statistics. The pricing and distribution practices of these agencies vary widely, with some agencies enco uraging widespread distribution of data and others looking on distribution to the public as not within their mandate. This article elucidates issues of reasonable distribution policies and adaptation to technological change of such agencies by focusing on the distribution activities, both currently and historically, of the Bureau of the Census.

Harold C. Relyea

Awaiting the Clinton administration and the 103rd Congress are at least two major security classification reform considerations. One concerns the overhaul of the basic policy for the security classification of information as expressed in E.O. 12356, whic h, reflecting the Reagan administration's Cold War offensive, rversed the trend of the prior 30 years toward narrowing the bases and discretion for classification. Another involves personnel security clearances, a system which is in need of consolidation, streamlining, and updating. Furthermore, there is the industrial security program, which was upgraded in the final days of the Bush administration with the issuance of E.O. 12829. The "reform," however, quickly came under criticism and may merit review b y the Clinton administration and the 103rd Congress. Finally, because it has been proposed from time to time that security classification policy, or some aspect of it, might be legislated or given a statutory mandate, a checklist of considerations in this regard is included, leaving aside the constitutional issues which might be engendered and the merits of such legislation.

Robert E. Dugan
Anthony Cipriano

CD-ROMs, when first distributed through the Government Printing Office's depository library program, overwhelmed the Government Documents/Microforms Department of Georgetown University's Lauinger Library. In an effort to incorporate the format into public services, library administration committed substantial resources to overcome technical and financial barriers, the the depository adopted a strategy of accomplishing one activity at a time. Confidence increased, and staff's comfort and experiences with e lctronic products led to experimenting with automated information technologies. Two lessons were learned--providing public access to electronic information requires perseverence and a determined willingness to commit resources; and, success breeds success .

A. T. Agboola

This article examines the nature and sources of Nigerian government publications on education from the colonial period to 1991. Nigerian government publications are difficult to trace and acquire because of their limited print runs, grossly inadequate dis tribution outlets, and poor bibliographical control. Furthermore, in the last 25 years, there has been a proliferation of government publications. In addition to highlighting sources, the article examines retrospective and current bibliographies. Governme nt printers, ministries, and other official bodies should produce lists of their publications at regular intervals, while the National Library of Nigeria should overhaul its procedures for enforcing the legal deposit law and educate officials responsible for issuing government publications.

Thomas B. Riley and
David Goldberg

The first conference on Freedom of Information (FOI) in Hungary, "FOI: Towards Open Government in the New Democracies," was held in Budapest, May 5-7, 1992. Co-sponsored by the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice, under the aus pices of the Council of Europe, there were approximately 120 in attendance, the majority of whom came from government ministries in Hungary.

Jurgen Westhoff

The electronic information services market in Europe is not at all a homogenous market as it is in the United States. The European market is fragmented by different languages and technical, legal, and administrative barriers. Therefore, in July 1988, the Commission of the European Communities initiated an Information Market Policy Action (IMPACT) program to promote a common European market. The Information Market Observatory (IMO) is a part of this program that aims to improve the understanding of the mar ket. Thus, the IMO conducts a user and executive panel survey, as well as a host and databse provider survey. The IMO also procures market studies and maintains an in-house market information database. Workshops provide a forum for wider interaction with the information services market players. The results of all these activities are made public through the IMO's annual report and a series of IMO working papers.

Albert S. Strub

The article outlines information transfer exploitation aspects within the framework of the R&DT policy of the European Communities (EC) and briefly presents EC action in the fields of transnational technology transfer and innovation support. After descri bing the development of EC involvement in R&DT and the present context of the Community R&DT Framework Programs, the article focuses on the basic conditions governing diffusion and exploitation of results obtained within these programs and presents the ma in EC instrument designed to support these aims, i.e., the "horizontal" VALUE programme (Valorization and Utilization for Europe). This program offers assistance to all Community R&DT contractors (in fields such as industrial property rights protection, market studies, exploitation promotion, and prototype development) and comprises an electronic information service (CORDIS). The VALUE follow-up program adopted in April 1992 adds some new activities (establishment of a relay center ne twork, investigation into the research/sociaety and research/scientific community interfaces). Building on the fact that competitivity, though based on technological progress, not only depends on the availability and exploitation of research results, but also on the wider application of already proven innovative technologies, the article then briefly presents the SPRINT Program (Strategic Programme for Innovation and Technology Transfer) whose main objectives are to improve the innovative capacity of European (small and medium) enterprises and to facilitate technology transfer. The concluding outlook contains some remarks on the role of the IP matters in international trade negotiations.

Anthony Cipriano is Library Assistant in the Government Documents/ Microforms Department of Lauinger Library. He is responsible for many of the technical applications concerning the department's use and provision of electronic products and services, especially CD-ROMS.

Robert E. Dugan is Associate University Librarian of Lauinger Library at Georgetown University. He has been State Librarian of Delaware, Research Associate at the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, Head of Library Development in Massachusetts, a public library director, and a reference librarian. He is a former member of the GPO's Depository Library Council to the Public Printer.

Fredric C. Gey is co-manager of social science and health statistics databases for the University of California at Berkeley. Previously, he worked for 20 years as a computer scientist with the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, where he designed and developed online census information systems for the Departments of Labor and Energy and the Army Corps of Engineers. He is currently completing a Ph.D. degree at the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Califomia at Berkeley with a dissertation topic on probabilistic algorithms for text and document retrieval.

David Goldberg is Lecturer at the Department of Jurisprudence, University of Glasgow, Scotland.

Xavier Rojo Lopez is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Surveying Engineering, University of Maine, Orono. He recently completed postgraduate research as a Fulbright Scholar at Birkbeck College, University of London. He has a continued interest in exploring how government policies affect both the public's access and the GIS industry's competitiveness in the global market. He holds a B.A. from the University of California, Davis, and a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Harold C. Relyea, a founding member of the GIQ editorial board, is a Specialist in American National Government with the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress. For over two decades, he has written exclusively on a variety of aspects of government information policy and practice, as well as related issues of presidential power, congressional oversight, and government secrecy.

Albert S. Strub is Director for Exploitation of Research and Technological Development, Technology Transfer and Innovation, DG XIII-C, of the Commission of the European Communities, Luxembourg. He has held responsibility for the SPRINT program and the VALUE program of the European Communities since 1987.

Jurgen Westhoff is head of the European Information Market Observatory, which is an integrated part of the Directorate-General for Telecommunications, Information Industries and Innovation, of the Commission of the European Communities. Before he took over this responsibility in 1991, he worked for several years in the Directorate- General for Credit and Investments, where he was responsible for various tasks including studies, loans, and financial control. He has a doctorate in economics.

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