GPO WINDO Initiative

Introduction

The following is a Call for Statement of Interest and Experience prepared and distributed by the secretariat of the Coalition for Networked Information to announce a Coalition initiative in a manner that promotes the widest and fairest possible identification of individuals, institutions, or organizations that are willing and able to contribute to that initiative.

The Coalition is a joint project of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), CAUSE, and EDUCOM that was organized in March, 1990 to promote the creation of and access to information resources in networked environments in order to enrich scholarship and to enhance intellectual productivity.

The Coalition encourages you to read an reflect upon the following Call and then to contact the person identified below if you are interested in the subject initiative, if you have a contribution that you are willing to make to the subject initiative, and if you would like to discuss this interest and contribution with someone associated with the subject initiative.

---

Call for Statements of Interest and Experience

Project: Development of Cost/Benefit Analyses of Alternative Models for the GPO WINDO Legislative Proposal

Description

The newly established Coalition Working Group on Access to Public Information seeks assistance with the preparation, evaluation, and dissemination of cost/benefit analyses of alternative models for the proposed Government Printing Office Wide Information Network Data Online (GPO WINDO) Act. The Coalition is undertaking this project jointly with the American Library Association, which was active in developing the legislative proposal. The primary purpose of this activity is to provide data and analyses to the policymakers considering the GPO WINDO proposal.

The GPO WINDO bill (HR 2772), introduced on June 26, 1991 by Rep. Charlie Rose (D-NC), would establish online access to public government information through the Government Printing Office. This GPO WINDO would be a single account, one-stop-shopping way to access and query federal databases, complementing rather than supplanting other agency efforts to disseminate information. Its purpose is to make it more convenient for the public to obtain low-cost access to government information. Initially a core group of databases would be offered, but the long-term goal is to provide online access to as many federal databases as possible, limited only by technological and cost constraints.

The Coalition and the American Library Association are seeking to gather information that they can present to all who have a role in moving forward the GPO WINDO initiative. In particular, the Coalition and ALA wish assistance with identifying (a) models for delivery of government information through a gateway at GPO, and (b) costs associated with the start-up and maintenance of services based on those models. These models and costs will address both government and users, especially depository libraries, and will take into account existing online services offered by GPO and other govenmment agencies, alternative methods by which selected databases might be handled by one or more regional or selective depository libraries, and identification and examination of existing cost studies.

Requirements

Individuals, institutions and organizations interested in this project are encouraged to contact the person identified below (a) to state in one or two pages their interest in the project, and (b) to briefly describe the relevant experience that they have to contribute to the purposes and outcomes of the project. Statements may address a subset of the issues, and more than one study could be undertaken through this process.

The Coalition and its partner in this project, the American Library Association, are particularly interested in encouraging submission of statements by (a) individuals who have experience in preparing relevant operational models and cost/benefit analyses, and (b) individuals, institutions, and organizations that have experience with government information in electronic formats, and experience with the federal depository library system.

The Coalition is prepared, if necessary, to defray the travel and other expenses incurred by and to provide honoraria to the individuals or institutions and organizations who are selected to participate in this project. Results from these studies may be needed as soon as June 1, 1992.

Please submit a Statement of Interest and Experience to the person identified below. Review of statements will begin on March 16, 1992.

Contact

     Joan K. Lippincott, Assistant Director
     Coalition for Networked Information
     1527 New Hampshire Avenue NW
     Washington, DC 20036
     Voice:  (202) 232-2466
     Fax:  (202) 462-7849
     Internet:  joan@cni.org

---

	Developed & Maintained by: webmgr@cni.org	© 2008 Coalition for Networked Information ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Any comments, or feedback?		Last Update:   Wednesday, 03 July, 2002 - 04:22 PM - EDT