As a librarian who follows congressional documents, I see a lot of publications cross my desk.  Some look interesting, some seem pretty routine, and some force me to stop what I’m doing and get lost for an hour in new information. That happened to me recently when a coworker mentioned an update of Senate Print 112-31 covering the cloture rule from 1917 to 2008.

Now, I’m certainly used to finding things interesting as a documents librarian that I know would not be of enough interest to warrant a blog post but the cloture rule and the associated notion of the filibuster have become an increasingly visible part of our legislative process. Whether it’s through increasing political news consumption or political dramatizations like The West Wing episode, “The Stackhouse Filibuster,” and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, the American public has become fascinated with this particular piece of our legislative process. (For those who aren’t familiar with the distinction, filibuster can be any act meant to slow or halt approval of a bill and cloture is the formal procedure used to end debate and bring the bill to a vote).

On Monday, 28 November 2011, President Obama signed off on the most significant step since the Truman Administration (wow!) to improve the management of Federal records. In his memorandum, President Obama stated, "When records are well managed, agencies can use them to assess the impact of programs, to reduce redundant efforts, to save money, and to share knowledge within and across their organizations. In these ways, proper records management is the backbone of open government."

Stay tuned over the coming months as the required actions in response to this memo bring further clarity, and perhaps complexity, to the vast issues of records management and open government. 

If you have ideas you would like to contribute to the discussion, you can do so by:

Hot off the presses! Congratulations to Steve Beleu, Chris Brown, Marie Concannon, Rosemary LaSala, and Larry Romans who've just been named to Depository Library Council!. It's hard work, but, speaking as an outgoing Councilor (and outgoing Chair!), it's an extremely rewarding experience. Good luck new Councilors!! Acting Public Printer Names New Members to Depository Library Council

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 6, 2012 No. 12-15 MEDIA CONTACT: GARY SOMERSET 202.512.1957, 202.355.3997 cell This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ACTING PUBLIC PRINTER NAMES NEW MEMBERS TO DEPOSITORY LIBRARY COUNCIL WASHINGTON-Acting Public Printer Davita Vance-Cooks is pleased to announce the appointment of five new members to the Depository Library Council (DLC). The Council, composed of 15 members each of whom serve three year terms, advises the Public Printer on policy matters relating to the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). The FDLP, which traces its roots to 1813, provides access across America to the published information of all three Branches of the United States Government through partnerships with more than 1,200 libraries ranging from public libraries to research universities. "I am very pleased to appoint these five librarians to the Depository Library Council. They are all proven leaders in the depository community and their experience and expertise will be invaluable as the Council advises me on the issues facing the Federal Depository Library Program," says Acting Public Printer Davita Vance-Cooks. The five new DLC members for the June 1, 2012 - May 31, 2015 term are: Steve Beleu is one of Oklahoma's two Regional Librarians for U.S. Government Information, as well as the Director of the Oklahoma State Data Center Coordinating Agency. Since 2003, Beleu has conducted over 243 workshops on several topics for the library community in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri. These efforts helped his library earn the Depository Library of the Year award in 2009. Beleu is currently working with Oklahoma's four Tribal Colleges to introduce Federal Government Web sites to their faculty and staff. Christopher Brown is the Reference/Government Documents Librarian at University of Denver's Penrose Library. Brown has published and presented extensively about matters related to online Government information. His contributions to the FDLP include new ideas involving tracking online usage, adding URLs to older documents, and providing more granular statistics for PURL clickthroughs from local online public access catalogs and Web sites. Marie Concannon is the Government Documents Regional Coordinator at University of Missouri (Columbia)'s Elmer Ellis Library. Concannon is a strong advocate for promoting the FDLP and for preserving historic documents, both digital and tangible. Concannon is active in several national and local library organizations, including the American Library Association (ALA), the Missouri Library Association (MLA), the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), and the Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT). Rosemary LaSala is the Reference/ Government Collections Librarian at St. John's University Rittenberg Law Library in Jamaica, New York. She is the current president of the Government Information Roundtable (GIRT), and a past chair of The Government Documents Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). LaSala was the recipient of the 2008 Mildred Lowe Award given by the New York Library Association Government Information Roundtable in recognition of her outstanding contributions to Government Documents Librarianship. Larry Romans is Head of Government Information and Media Services at Vanderbilt University's Central Library in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been a leader in the depository community for many years, contributing numerous presentations and publications to the field, and actively participating in many professional associations. Romans has been a member of ALA's governing Council since 1992, served on the ALA Executive Board from 2007-2010, and served as chair of ALA/GODORT. He won the 1995 ProQuest Documents to the People Award and the 2008 James Bennett Childs Award for lifetime and significant contribution to the field of documents librarianship.

On January 11, 1908, Theodore Roosevelt dedicated the Grand Canyon as a National Monument. It wouldn't achieve National Park status until 1919.

I encourage you all to think about how much the National Park Service offers American citizens. I am, personally, extremely thankful for their work and service. 

While a good number of National Parks are free to enter, this weekend (January 14-16, 2012) everyone can take advantage of Free Entrance Days in the National Parks. Get out, see some sights, and revel in the beauty of our national landscape and history!!!

for an extended hiatus. Hooray! I'll see you back here in 2012!!

I trust you will all have a wonderful holiday season filled with family, friends, and cheer! May 2012 bring you continued joy, prosperity, and good health.

All the best,