5.0738 GPO WINDO Legislation (1/100)
Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Tue, 3 Mar 1992 19:05:04 EST
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 5, No. 0738. Tuesday, 3 Mar 1992.
Date: Sat, 29 Feb 92 10:28:22 EST
From: James P Love <LOVE@PUCC>
Subject: WINDO - the Bill
Members of this list might find the GPO WINDO legislation of interest.
It would set up low cost one-stop-shopping online access to federal
databases through the Government Printing Office. This service would
be free to 1400 federal depository libraries, and available at the
incremental cost of dissemination to everyone else. Let me know if you
want a fact sheet on the bill. At present there are about ten sponors
for the bill, including Rep. Rose (D-NC), who is the chair of the house
committee the bill must pass. Organizational endorsements and personal
letters to congress are needed for this important legislation to pass.
jamie love.
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H.R. 2772
A BILL
To establish in the Government Printing Office a single point of
online public access to a wide range of federal databases
containing public information stored electronically.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 26, 1991
Section 1. This act may be cited as the "GPO Wide
Information Network for Data Online Act of 1991."
Sec. 2. Findings. The Congress finds that --
(a) Federal agencies increasingly receive, generate,
and handle public information in electronic form;
(b) agency possession of public information in
electronic form has stimulated interest in public accessibility
of that information through electronic networks;
(c) for substantial numbers of federal electronic
databases, public access is limited by difficulties in locating
and accessing the data or by high prices imposed by private
vendors;
(d) public access to public electronic information
will be greatly enhanced by a single point of online public
access;
(e) the Government Printing Office is the appropriate
federal office to establish, coordinate, and maintain a federal
program to provide online access to electronic public information
for the federal government; and
(f) information available through the Government
Printing Office's online access program should be provided
without charge to depository libraries, as designated under
chapter 19 of title 44, United States Code, and priced at the
incremental cost of dissemination for other subscribers.
Sec. 3. Title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding
a new chapter 40 as follows:
"Chapter 40 -- Government Printing Office: Online Access to
Government Electronic Information
"Sec. 4001. The Superintendent of Documents, under the
direction of the Public Printer, shall establish a program for
providing to the public access to public electronic information.
Such program (hereafter referred to as the "GPO WINDO") shall
provide the public single-point access to a wide range of
government electronic databases in accordance with section 4002
of this chapter and shall be established and maintained after
consultation with and consideration of comments from potential
users and others likely to be affected by the program.
"Sec. 4002. In establishing and maintaining the GPO WINDO,
the Superintendent of Documents, under the direction of the
Public Printer, shall --
"(a) include such databases as are reasonably appropriate,
based upon input from database users, libraries and federal
agencies;
"(b) rely upon agency data storage and retrieval software
for accessing agency databases to the maximum extent feasible;
"(c) provide for access to GPO WINDO databases through a
wide a range of electronic networks, to allow broad, reasonable
access to the data; and
"(d) permit depository libraries to connect to, access, and
query GPO WINDO databases without charge.
"Sec. 4003. The Public Printer may, except as provided in
section 4002(e) of this chapter, charge reasonable fees for
providing access to databases through GPO WINDO. Such fees shall
be limited as follows:
"(a) for databases maintained by the Government Printing
Office, the fee should approximate the Government Printing
Office's incremental cost of dissemination of the data, without
regard to section 1708 of title 44, United States Code; and
"(b) for databases maintained by agencies and accessed
through the GPO WINDO, the fee should approximate the incremental
cost of dissemination of the data;
"Sec. 4004. The Public Printer shall each year publish a
notice in the Federal Register requesting public comment on the
services, prices and policies related to the GPO WINDO and on
such other issues as the Public Printer shall determine. On or
before March 1 of each calendar year the Public Printer shall
publish an annual report on GPO WINDO describing the program,
summarizing public comment thereon, and stating the steps it has
taken to address the comments received. Such report shall be
submitted to the Committee on House Administration, the Senate
Committee on Rules and Administration, and the Joint Committee on
Printing.".
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James Love, Director Voice: 609-683-0534
Taxpayer Assets Project Fax: 202-234-5176
7-Z Magie, Faculty Road bitnet: Love@pucc.bitnet
Princeton, NJ 08540 internet: Love@pucc.princeton.edu