A large amount of data were gathered and analyzed for this study. Findings show that the typical depository library serves a population of 15,000 (median figure); has a collection of 85,474 items; has three full-time equivalent staff member s providing reference service, two of whom are reference librarians; and employs one systems librarian or specialist. Canadian federal publications fill a prominent place in collections of official documents maintained by the depositories and government p ublications themselves are considered to be "very important" or "essential" by a majority of libraries (68%). A significantly larger percentage of academic libraries rated these materials as "essential" (40.48% as compared to 20.26% for public libraries) reflecting no doubt the research needs of academic institutions and the fact that academic libraries often serve patrons who are referred to them by public libraries.

In organizing their collections of official publications the majority of depositories provide a mixed arrangement, some materials are shelved with the main collection, some are housed in separate areas. Over the past ten years there has been a move by 16.1% of libraries to integrate their documents with the main collections. Depositories employ a wide range of shelf arrangements for their documents.

Where hardware facilities are concerned, a large majority of depositories (87.1%) are equipped with online catalogues and of these just over half provide dial in access. The majority (62%) list their documents in the library's main OPAC. An attempt w as made to discover how many personal computers are available for public use in the depositories compared to the number reserved for staff. This was a difficult question to answer. Results show a wide variability among respondents. There is a strikingly uneven distribution of computers throughout the depositories; the majority have very few computers while a few have a large number. The typical library provides seven PCs for exclusive staff use and six for use by library patrons. More significantly, t he typical library has .4 public service PCs per 1000 people served. Academic libraries have more, with 2 PCs per 1000 population, government libraries have 1.7 and public libraries have only .15 PCs for every 1000 people they are mandated to serve. The se figures do not show how many PCs are needed per 1000 people served but it is reasonable to predict that at this rate public libraries at least, will not be adequately equipped to accommodate patrons who will wish to access an increasing amount o f electronically available government information. On the positive side findings show that the majority of computers available for public access in the depositories are equipped with 486 and Pentium CPUs which are ideal for Internet access. Results also show that academic libraries operate a higher percentage of public access PCs with RAM in excess of eight megabytes.

There is also wide variability in the number of public service CD-ROM drives available; the typical library reports two CD-ROMs mounted on stand alone PCs and only one accessible through a network. The most common CD-ROM drive in the responding librar ies is 4x, standard at the time of the study.

The most common type of public service printer is the dot matrix and its slow speed needs to be kept in mind when decisions regarding electronic access to government information are being made. The majority of public service PCs are equipped with Wind ows 3.1 and Windows95 operating systems. The 20% equipped with MS-DOS only will have problems accessing information on the World Wide Web via a graphical interface which means that sites using images, frames, and multimedia active content will be inacces sible or difficult for them.

A large majority of depositories are networked and of those who are not, almost 60% have plans to install one. Again, a large majority (89%) have access to the Internet (for the most part provided by a commercial ISP or by a college/university) and a ll of the rest save 2.2% have plans for an Internet connection. Public libraries generally have lower bandwidth connections to the Internet. The dominant Web browser among all depositories regardless of type is Netscape Navigator which reflects the comp uter industry as a whole.

In the matter of fees for service, a crucial factor in providing citizens with full access to government information, the study found that the vast majority of depositories (89%) do not charge their patrons for access. But when it comes to printing a substantial proportion (65%) impose charges on their patrons, a fact that will no doubt result in higher costs for those who wish to access information through the Internet.

Overall, electronic formats are used much less frequently compared with print. Many respondents provided observations - a recurrent theme is the lack of computer equipment and staff time to assist users, along with absence of public awareness, the lac k of staff time to promote the use of electronic sources, and limited collections in these areas. Most frequently, patrons who use electronic sources ask for help with software. Depositories appear to be short of trained personnel needed to assist with electronic access. Many respondents complain about the absence of funding, the dearth of training programs, and the lack of time available for increasing expertise.

A majority of libraries seem to be introducing electronic services without a clear set of goals; goals may not have been formalized by governing bodies, or projects may be proceeding on an ad hoc basis.

Most respondents rated the adequacy of physical facilities as satisfactory or better although analysis shows that public libraries were more likely to rate facilities as being poor or worse. The same is true for adequacy of financial support; most res pondents rated their funding as "satisfactory" or better but public libraries were more likely to rate their funding "poor" or "very poor."

Depositories that have not developed detailed plans for future acquisitions and installation of the new technologies made clear that the two main reasons are the costs of hardware and lack of staff time to develop in-house expertise. Respondents were evenly divided in speculating whether or not the shift to electronic government information would lead to increased use, decreased use, or unchanged use of their resources. In regard to their expectations over the next few years respondents ranked the In ternet first as the most likely source for government information; paper was a strong second.

In their written comments respondents acknowledged the potential of the Internet for timely access but expressed reservations in the following areas: inadequate bibliographic control and archiving; the threat of inequitable access if fees for service are imposed; the transfer of publishing costs from the government to libraries if they are expected to download and print government information available only on the Internet; and the demands of staff training and maintenance costs of equipment.

There is a significant degree of uncertainty among depositories on the future of government information use when it is primarily in electronic form. Further study of such issues as bibliographic access, the nature of adequate reference service, and th e necessary levels of funding for electronic equipment to serve library patrons should help in easing the transition to a more electronic DSP.

Abbott-Hoduski, Bernadine E. "Democracy in America is Best Served by a Multiformat

Federal Depository Library Program," Journal of Government Information, Vol. 23, no. 3 (May/June, 1996): 241-252.

National Library of Canada. "Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries." (April 1997) <URL: http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/cidl/> (1 August 1997).

"Electronic Publications Pilot Project Completed." National Library News, Vol.27, no.12 (December, 1995): 4.

Harder, V. Peter. "Getting Government Right." (18 April 1996) <URL: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/TB/secspe/sp1804e.html> (1 August 1997).

Journal of Government Information, Vol. 23, no. 3 (May/June, 1996), Vol. 23, no. 4 (July/August, 1996).

MacDonald, Alan H. "Mainstreaming Government Information in Canadian Research Libraries," Government Information in Canada, Vol.2, no.1 (Summer, 1995) <URL:http://www.usask.ca/library/gic/v2n1/macdonald/macdonald.html>

Morton, Bruce. "Canadian Federal Government Policy and Canada’s Electronic Information Industry," Government Information Quarterly, Vol. 12, no.3: 251-95.

Monty, Vivienne. "Due North: Issues in Access to Government Information, a View from

Canada," Journal of Government Information, Vol. 23, no. 4 (July/August, 1996): 491-97.

Partners in Access, Report of the Task Group on Depository Program Review. Ottawa, Ont.: Minister of Supply and Services, Canada. 1991.

Statistics Canada. The Daily 23 October 1996.

United States. Government Printing Office. Study to Identify Measures Necessary for a Successful Transition to a More Electronic Federal Depository Program. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1996.

For help and advice the authors are indebted to Bruno Gnassi and Barry Wood, Depository Services Program, Faye Hjartarson, Statistics Canada Library and Wendy Watkins, Carleton University. We also wish to thank Dennis Coolly of Statistics Canada who reviewed our questionnaire and offered many valuable suggestions. Suzanne O’Neill, Fanshawe College; Maureen Ryan, University of Western Ontario; Margaret Wilkinson, London Public Library; and David Vaughan of Wentworth Libraries tested our q uestionnaire and we thank them for their assistance. Our thanks also go to our research assistants Nancy McGrath, Kevin DuPuis, Marie-Josee Fortier, and Aina Bowman and to all those librarians who completed and returned our questionnaire. Diane Bayes, Er nie Boyko, Nancy Brodie, Ross Hodgins, and Vivienne Monty offered helpful comments and suggestions for which we express our appreciation. We are especially grateful to David Vaughan who provided us with invaluable technical advice and support. Finally, we acknowledge the financial support of the Depository Service Program, Canadian Government Publishing - Public Works and Government Services Canada which made the project possible.

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