| Library Programs Service (LPS) | |
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| W e b T o u r | ||
STOP #1 - Customer Service: The beginning
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LPS acquisitions staff in GPO's 8th floor Customer Service Department analyze agency print requests to determine if a publication is suitable for including in the FDLP. Quantity and initial classification and item number decisions are also made here. |
When an agency wants to print or procure a publication, microfiche, or a tangible electronic product, the agency usually comes to GPO, either the central office in Washington, DC, or the Regional Printing Procurement Offices (RPPOs) located in a number of cities around the country. The agency submits a SF-1 Printing and Binding Requisition Form to GPO and subsequently, Form 3868, Notification of Intent to Publish, is initiated either by the agency or GPO procurement staff. Only a minimal amount of information, mostly related to printing, is furnished on the Form 3868.
LPS and GPO Documents Sales Service staff have eight working hours, or less if it is a "hot" job, to determine if the publication is suitable for distribution to depository libraries or for inclusion in the Sales Program. Should the material described on the Form 3868 meet the requirements of Title 44, United States Code, sections 1901-1903 ("public use or education value"), then a preliminary SuDocs classification number and item number are assigned to the title.
Only when an item number is determined will LPS be able to know how many copies of this particular publication are required.
As an example of how this process works, let's take a hypothetical request by the Department of Agriculture to print 50,000 copies of its pamphlet, "How to Grow Strawberries." When the Form 3868 is faxed to LPS, our acquisitions staff decides it should be distributed to the 350 libraries which have requested the item number that includes this pamphlet. LPS then adds a specified number of claims copies. Should the Sales Program decide not to sell the pamphlet because of the agency's free distribution, the total printing run would be 50,360 copies.
Some agencies never realize that depository copies of their materials are being procured and distributed, as GPO picks up the costs of these extra publications, CD-ROMs and software licensing, maps, etc., when the printing or procurement is performed by GPO. When an agency does not go through GPO for its printing or procurement, Title 44 specifies that depository copies should be supplied to LPS at the agency's expense. Agencies sometime forget about depository distribution. When this occurs, "fugitive document" materials that never find their way into the depository program, may result. It has been estimated that approximately 50% of all government titles are distributed though the FDLP.
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