Government Information in Canada

Government Publications Review, 1993

The distribution of Canadian government publications has remained virtually unchanged for 60 years. While there is much development work being done currently. two key influences on the activities stand out. Firstly, there has been a tremendous change because of technological advancement in data accessibility. Secondly, there has been an awareness by librarians that either legislation will have to replace guidelines in the distribution of documents or that the present guidelines must be strengthened and enforced properly. There have been many developments on the provincial scene as well in terms of depository distribution mechanisms. * The author would like to express special gratitude to Andrew Hubbertz of the University of Saskatchewan for his tremendous help in editing this paper, offering suggestions, and helping to write parts of the Statistics Canada section. ** Vivienne Monty has been a government and business specialist for 20 years. She is the author of Ctrmditrn Su7trll BlrsinrJss Handbook, Toronto: CCH Canadian Ltd. 1992 [2nd edition], 210~. She is also the author of a forthcoming article on "The Documentation of the EEC." in Jmrrntrl of Busincs.s crnd Finrrncr Lihricrmhip.

Government Publications Review, 1992

Recently promulgated policies indicate that the federal government views government information as a corporate resource. While the policies acknowledge that revenues need to be generated to offset the considerable cost of gathering and disseminating government information, there is an explicit recognition of an obligation on the part of the government to keep the citizenry informed. This paper surveys the present status of major government information players and selected information issues in the context of possible policy impacts on Canadian libraries. Print on paper is the traditional medium for disseminating official information to the Canadian citizenry. The locus for this medium resides in the Canada Communication Group-Publishing Division (CCG-P) [until recently referred to as the Canadian Govemment Publishing Centre (CGPC)], which operates under the general administration of the Department of Supply and Services. The CCG-P is charged with carrying out the following functions: procurement of printing and control of stock; fulfillment of mail orders; warehousing and distribution of publications; advertising, promotion, and marketing; coordination of copublishing government issuances with the private sector; and production of the checklist of government publications and administration of the nation's network of depository libraries through the Depository Services Program (DSP). Historically, all departments within the Canadian federal government have arranged for the publication of their traditional print materials through the Publishing Centre. This practice is currently being modified. In an effort to encourage greater service orientation and to promote cost-effectiveness, the CCG-P in April 1990, was granted the status of a special operating agency. This status is eventually to make the Division's services totally optional for most federal departments and place it on the same footing as the private sector. The precedent of similar actions in 1983 by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in the United Kingdom, leads one to anticipate further changes in the relationship of the Division with government departments [2]. While until recently the CCG-P was obligated to accept all manuscripts submitted by authoring agencies, the Division, in an effort to meet a mandate to become self-supporting, was not obliged to sell an agency's publication at an agency-specified price. As a result, departments' arrangements with the Publishing Division vary greatly. The Division will take the risks and absorb all costs associated with publishing and printing in cases where a department will let CCG-P retain any profits, set the print run, market, and sell a publication at a price established by the Group. Otherwise, departments must pay in full CCG-P's costs in publishing the materials, or the department must pay the difference between the cost of producing the publication and the price it wishes to have the Publishing Division charge. There is concern that such full-cost recovery charges by CCG-P, combined with the general financial exigency that has been prevalent in the Canadian federal government, may well be having a chilling effect on departmental publishing activities, although the number of titles published by the Division has increased significantly in recent years [ 31. Government departments also have an additional option in that they can arrange through the Publishing Division to have a manuscript copublished with a private sector publisher. Originally established to serve as a subsidy to encourage the growth of the domestic Canadian publishing industry and to protect it from being overrun by United States firms, copublishing provides the private sector publisher with an opportunity to do business with the government. In all arrangements with the private sector, the Division attempts to determine if value to the government will be forthcoming. Value can be evident in such ways as making additional copies of resulting publications available to depository libraries, more success in marketing books and getting them on to bookstore shelves, payment of royalties to the government, cost avoidance to the government, or perhaps even the transfer of some of the government's research and development costs to the private sector. Critics of the program maintain that the lure of private-sector publishing and distribution channels diverts the most profitable governmental works to private publishers. Expense and

IFLA, 2021

Boulder printing of government documents ended. By this time, most government documents were available online. The Depository Services Program (DSP) became the DSP E-collection. Many publications are not included because of strict guidelines for acceptance. Canada has had a legal depository program since 1953, and two copies of each publication must be deposited at the National Library of Canada, including digital publications. All Canadian Parliamentary records from 1867 to date are available. Research publications from the Library of Parliament assist in finding needed information. Many government publications are available on the Open Government Portal. Mohammed Zuheir Bakleh and Lize Denner focus on government libraries in the Middle East and North Africa. They provide us with details about the types of government libraries in these regions, which include legislative libraries, judicial libraries, and executive libraries (such as the libraries of ministries and departments of government) and the services they provide. These services include document delivery, research assistance, and current events awareness. These libraries lack adequate budgets, staff, and technology. Collections are weak because of the lack of acquisitions plans, as well as a lack of Arabic tools for doing research. The authors point out that there is a lack of understanding of the value of libraries in many Middle Eastern and North African countries and suggest that libraries need to work cooperatively through their library associations to strengthen their role. Library associations can offer a venue to discuss current issues and offer support to each other. There is also a need for increased training of librarians.

2014

It has been a confusing and stressful couple of years for those of us working with Canadian federal government information. Changes to information policies and procedures have impacted the way publications and documents are produced, disseminated, and accessed. The library community's response has, by necessity, been reactive but renewed federal programs might provide opportunities for partnerships that were not possible in the past. Background The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), akin to the Office of Management and Budget in the United States, leads the Government of Canada (GC) information management strategy. This includes the development of policies and directives, standards, guidelines, and tools that inform departmental policy implementation. Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is responsible for acquiring, preserving, and providing access to the documentary heritage of Canada, as established by the Library and Archives of Canada Act [1]. The Depository Services Program of Canada (DSP) is administered by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) and provides a central distribution source for published Canadian government information. The DSP is informed by the Communications Policy of Canada [2]. Both organizations collect and provide access to Canadian government information. Poorly-Implemented Policy In the late 1990s, the TBS began implementing a precursor to the "Common Look and Feel" protocol (CLF) in order to harmonize the look of government websites and improve accessibility standards, making it easier for people (both sighted and visually impaired) to navigate GC web content [3]. Unfortunately, not all departments dedicated the resources necessary to make this change and/or adapt existing content to be in compliance with the new standard. Despite requests from LAC and DSP staff to capture web content before removal, much was lost as departments made under-funded attempts to bring their sites into compliance. A government audit in 2007 showed that all tested websites failed basic priorities for compliance and that roughly half suffered from serious violations [4]. This was highlighted in a 2010 Federal Court judgment that found the noncompliance to be an infringement of subsection 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court declared that the government had a constitutional obligation to bring its websites into compliance with the Charter within 15 months [5]. Since the declaration did not apply to

Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, 2018