Technology in government document collections: Current status, impacts, and prospects

Abstract

This article assists the depository documents librarian in assessing both the promise and the reality of information handling technologies for government document collections. The article first surveys the current applications of OCLC, online bibliographic data base searching, microforms, automated systems, and other technologies in documents collections. Constraints, such as training, cost, workload and staffing, government policies, and access to appropriate information, that can limit the application of technology are discussed with possible strategies to reduce their impact. After a brief review of technology utilization at the Government Printing Office, the article concludes by discussing the areas where technology applications will impact on the documents collection, the need for research related to utilization of technology for documents collections, and the impact of technology development on the depository library system. The success of technology utilization in documents collections may be determined more by the initiative and dedication of documents librarians than by the availability of technology.