Electronic availability lists for U.S. Federal document depository libraries: Opportunities and realities

Abstract

Throughout the United States, selective depository libraries withdraw and dispose of older materials. By law, these materials must be made available to other libraries, as they are still federal property. Lists are drawn up of withdrawn materials and shared with the regional depository and other depositories in the region. This paper explores the issues that arise when an electronic list of available materials is planned. When considering an electronic forum, the format of the records and the method of searching those records must be chosen. A prototype network is examined and a survey is conducted to address some of the problems that attend such plans.