A joint effort of four of Indiana's leading libraries will create a single comprehensive archive to safeguard and provide access to U.S. federal documents for Indiana residents.

The Indiana State Library, Indiana University Libraries, Purdue University Libraries and the University Libraries of Notre Dame will work jointly to develop the Indiana Light Archive for Federal Documents, ensuring that even as more documents are digitized, a last-remaining copy of paper documents will be retained for citizen access within the state.

The model is referred to as a "light archive" because documents may circulate to libraries throughout the state, instead of being restricted to limited use in a "dark archive" where they never see the light of day.

Lou Malcomb, head of Government Information, Microforms and Statistical Services at the Indiana University Bloomington Libraries, said that the light archives concept is a "win-win situation" for thirty-plus federal depository libraries throughout the state. "Librarians will be able to assess the need for retaining a hard copy for their library depending on the needs of their users," Malcomb said, "with assurances that a hard copy will be accessible should someone need the print copy from the light archive."


Bert Chapman, Government Information Librarian and Associate Professor of Library Science at Purdue University Libraries, said the public will benefit from this effort. "The project will make it easier for Indiana residents to access Purdue's unique historical and contemporary collections of U.S. Government information resources," said Chapman. "Examples of these collections include NASA aeronautical and space exploration research results and military action reports from the Revolutionary War to contemporary conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Currently the four institutions will retain the documents at their individual libraries, using WorldCat, an approximate inventory of U.S. and some international library catalog holdings, to denote that the document is the permanent, light archive copy. Ultimately members of the partnership hope the light archive would be housed in one location, which would increase efficiencies and ensure long-term preservation. In addition, the partners of this initiative hope to incorporate Indiana state documents into the light archive and to develop reference services, assigning participating libraries areas of expertise.

The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) was established by Congress and is administered by the U.S. Government Printing Office, to ensure that the American public has access to its government's information. Since 1813, depository libraries have safeguarded the public's right to know by collecting, organizing, maintaining, preserving, and assisting users with information from the Federal Government.

The FDLP provides Government information at no cost to designated depository libraries throughout the country and territories. These depository libraries, in turn, provide local, no-fee access to Government information in an impartial environment with professional assistance.

For more information visit:


www.lib.purdue.edu/govdocs/


http://www.libraries.iub.edu/federal