More than two centuries of federal documents publishing and printing together with more than one century of Washington University's collecting federal documents reflect both the growth of the United States as well as an expanding notion of the public need for public information. From the Constitutionally mandated Journals of the House and Senate (Article I, Section 5), the intellectual scope of government documents has expanded to encompass all aspects and topics of public life and debate. From only 700 copies of the first Congressional Journals in 1789, federal publishing has grown to thousands of titles and millions items printed and distributed annually, plus microfiche, CD, and electronic files. Today the Superintendent of Documents distributes government information to a network of 1250 Federal Depository Libraries that provide free public access to documents. While it took nearly a century of federal publishing before the need was recognized, librarians have created an impressive array of print and electronic tools for access to millions titles.
Publishing Congressional DebatesToday public information is deemed essential in holding our elected officials accountable to the electorate. Although the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 had been the first to require regular publishing of legislative actions, this concept was not supported in 1787 by a majority of the framers of the U.S. Constitution. Article 1, section 5 only required that "each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same," rather than a full transcription of debate and proceedings. The struggle for public access to Congressional action would continue for decades until finally in 1873 the Congressional Record was established to publish a full, impartial account of Congress debates in a timely fashion. While reporters were admitted to the House in 1789, the Senate did not admit the public to its debates until the 3rd Congress and did not admit reporters to the floor until 1802. Privately printed circular letters, mailed under the Congressional franking privilege, provided the means by which members of Congress kept their constituents informed.
In 1792 Elbridge Gerry, a Massachusetts Congressman who had voted against adoption of the Constitution over the publication issue, introduced a resolution calling for "full and impartial publication of the debates of the House," arguing that the privately printed accounts in newspapers, circulates, and pamphlets were partisan and reflected poorly on the actions of the Congress. The resolution failed to pass and the topic would come up again, but reporting Congressional debates would remain in private hands for another 80 years.
It was not until 1796 that Congress authorized printing 4,500 copies of the first collected edition of the U.S. Constitution, treaties, and laws then in force (The Laws of the United States of America, Philadelphia: Richard Folwell, 1796). After Congress retained 500 copies, the remaining 4,000 were distributed among the States and Territories based upon their representation in Congress.
Samuel H. Smith, a printer who had followed the federal government when it moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. in 1800, founded the National Intelligencer to print a record of Congressional proceedings. Like other newspapers of the era this was not a full account, but a summary of the actions and speeches deemed to be important. In 1810 Joseph Gales acquired the National Intelligencer and was joined by brother-in-law William Seaton in 1812. Both men were stenographers and were permitted to occupy the seats beside the Vice President in the Senate and the Speaker of the House and share the official snuffboxes.
In 1822, a resolution for daily publishing of the House debates failed due to the great expense. Two years later the firm of Gales & Seaton began privately publishing Register of Debates, the first contemporaneous record of Congressional debate. Although not a verbatim transcript, the Register published from the 18th Congress, 2nd session through the 25th Congress, 1st session (1824 -1837) was much more impartial than most newspaper accounts. Their privileged seats in the House and Senate and a Congressional subscription for several hundred copies insured their financial success.
With the change of administrations in 1833, Jacksonian Democrats Francis Blair and John Rives were encouraged to begin publication of the rival Congressional Globe with the 23rd Congress. With the Congressional subscription switched to Blair & Rives, the Register ceased publication after four years of competition. Their successor firms to Blair & Rives continued the Globe until 1873.
No longer the official publisher for Congressional debates, Gales & Seaton turned to historical publishing. Between 1834 and 1856 they compiled the 42 volume Annals of Congress to cover the period 1789-1824 before their Register. Although their material came primarily from period newspapers, the account is far more complete than the spare record found in the Journals. Financial success for the project was ensured by a Congressional subscription for 2,000 sets.
Elbridge Gerry's dream of impartial government published transcriptions of Congressional debates was finally realized in 1873 when the Government Printing Office established the Congressional Record. The Congressional Record is not however a verbatim transcription in that Members are allowed to edit remarks before publication and add text that was never actually spoken. As one of the "essential titles," GPO plans to continue daily printing of the Congressional Record even as they move to the 21st century electronic depository.
(TOP)Development of public printing in America is not only a story of political ideas, but also a story about the development of transportation, mass communication, and printing technology. The office of public printer began in colonial America. Before the establishment of Constitutional government in 1789, both the Continental Congress of the Revolutionary Era and the government under the Articles of Confederation had printed their Journals. Until the creation of the Government Printing Office (GPO) in 1861, Congress contracted with printing firms favored by the party currently in power.
The 1st Congress met in 1789 in New York; among the local printers, Francis Childs & John Swaine received the contract for the House Journal, while the Senate selected Thomas Greenleaf. Newspaper printers were usually selected because of their access to large amounts of type and paper. Only 600 copies of Acts of Congress and 700 copies of the House and Senate Journals were printed. John Fenno replaced Greenleaf for the second session.
The Appropriations Act of 1794 provides the first specific mention of government printing, "For the expenses for firewood, stationery, and printing work, and all other contingent expenses of the two house of Congress, ten thousand dollars." Not in until 1804 was there a process to award contracts to the lowest bidder. The House and Senate awarded their contracts separately; printing and public distribution of documents beyond the Journals required voting individual appropriations for each document. Previously documents had been printed and distributed in an ad hoc manner with separate legislation for each document to be distributed.
Two watershed events governing the printing and distribution of documents occurred in the 13th Congress (1813-1814). With the December 27,1813 Printing Resolution, Congress provided that additional copies of Congressional Journals and documents be printed and distributed "one copy to each university and college in each state, and one copy to the historical incorporated, or which shall be incorporated, in each State." The following March, Senator William B. Giles of Virginia reported his investigation of Congressional printing practices and proposed a joint committee for "establishing permanent rules for regulating and conducting the printing of the senate and house of representatives." The Joint Committee on Printing continues to this day to provide oversight for the Government Printing Office.
Beginning with the 15th Congress (1817) the Joint Committee on Printing directed that House and Senate Journals, Documents, and Reports be collected, numbered, and bound in an orderly fashion. A sequential numbering system devised in 1895 by Dr. John G. Ames has given this set of documents their popular name, "Serial Set." By the end of the 95th Congress (1978) when the format had switched to microfiche, the set had grown to over 13,000 volumes. Today only volumes of general interest are supplied in paper to most depository libraries.
The idea of a National Printing Office was first suggested in 1818; however it was rejected by the Printing Act of 1819 which set uniform prices for all government printing awarded to private contractors. Rapid advances in printing technology lowered the cost of printing; however government printing rates remained largely unchanged until 1846 - creating an environment for patronage, waste, fraud, and scandal.
A few printing bills in the early 1840's changed the printing contracts for some agencies and printing jobs. The Printing Act of 1846 was a sweeping change that required all government printing to be awarded to the lowest bidder. Wendell & Van Benthuysen of Albany, New York won the contract and set a pattern that would continue for the next six years. In fierce bidding competition, contracts were won at unprofitable rates; Congress responded by paying bonuses and claims for damages that led to six years of shoddy and very expensive printing.
The Printing Act of 1852 returned to printing contracts under fixed government rates that seemed moderate, but with the high volume of government work were actually quite profitable. Also, the office of Superintendent of Public Printing was established in the Interior Department as an auditor to oversee the various private firms engaged in printing for the government. When the fraud resumed, particularly in the job printing of Post Office forms, Congressman John Gurley, an Ohio printer, introduced a printing reform bill in 1860 to establish the Government Printing Office.
The Government Printing Office, under the direction of the Superintendent of Public Printing (changed to Public Printer in 1876) opened March 4, 1861, the same date as Lincoln's Inauguration. While Congressional documents and journals were immediately transferred to the new agency, government printing of the debates did not occur until the introduction of the Congressional Record 1873. Printing for the Patent Office, which required detailed plate engraving, was transferred to GPO in 1868. Most executive departments and agencies quickly transferred their printing, however it would be more than 60 years before the last lucrative private printing jobs were assigned to the GPO.
Seeking to curb the growing executive branch after the Civil War, Congress limited public documents in 1874 "to those printed on the authority of Congress." Except for annual reports and a few titles approved for inclusion in the Serial Set, most executive agency documents were excluded from the depository program. As the initial exploration of the vast American continent gave way to more detailed mapping and analysis of the nation and its resources, scientific documents were often flashpoints in this printing controversy. In the 1880's Social Darwinism reinforced existing political theories of a minimalist state. Even research with direct economic impact was felt best left to private enterprise. James Garfield, then a Representative from Ohio, felt that government science competed unfairly with the private sector and should be limited to maintaining lighthouses and fog-signals.
One strategy employed by John Wesley Powell, director of the U.S. Geological Survey, in his fight to publish scientific papers was to include them in his annual reports. Representative Hilary Herbert of Alabama introduced legislation in 1885 to prevent the U.S. Geological Survey "from paleontological discussions, and also from discussing the general principles of geological science." The controversy was further exacerbated when rival geologist Alexander Agassiz, who had long sailed with the Navy and the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, attacked Powell in Congressional testimony. Agassiz, who had spent his personal funds to privately publish his scientific work, testified to Congress that Powell and the scientists of the U.S. Geological Survey should do the same.
The Printing Act of 1895 made the most sweeping changes since the establishment of the GPO in 1861. The definition of documents was broadened to bring all government printing operations, including those in cabinet agencies, under the control of the Public Printer. Government agencies were now required to submit annual printing estimates and budgets. The Superintendent of Documents office was moved from the Interior Department to the GPO. By bringing all printing and distribution into the GPO, all executive agency documents were now available for distribution to depository libraries.
During the Progressive Era in the early 20th century, Frank Lester Ward, John Dewey, and Herbert Croly provided the intellectual framework for government publishing that actively supported experimentation and research not only in the sciences, but also the social sciences. Following the Printing Act of 1919 which required that all government printing be done by the GPO, the last major sets to be privately printed, the Official Postal Guide (1921) and the United States Reports; Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Court (1923), were turned over to the GPO.
The post-war imperative for national security opened the way for the government funded medical, scientific, and defense related research that is a significant portion of government publishing today. In the closing days of World War II, Vannevar Bush, Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, wrote, "The Government should accept new responsibilities for promoting the flow of new scientific knowledge and the development of scientific talent in our youth. These responsibilities are the proper concern of the Government, for they vitally affect our health, our jobs, and our national security." Washington University has had a role not only as a depository library but also as participant in the government research.
In 1945, the GPO printed United Nations documents until the organization was able to arrange for their document printing and distribution program.
The torrent of paper being printed and stored on depository shelves required that GPO examine a variety of new technologies. ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) began their publishing and distribution of education documents in the 1960s as a microfiche subscription. The first depository microfiche were distributed in 1977, in the first tentative steps towards a paperless depository program. Distribution of depository CD-ROMs began in 1988. Currently GPO is preparing to implement their 2004 Strategic Vision for the 21st Century which calls for electronic distribution of all depository documents except 50 critical titles that will remain in paper.
(TOP)The Post Office Act of 1792 established a postal basis for the distribution of government information. The congressional franking privilege allowed members free postage (both sending and receiving as most mail was sent postage due until the 1850s) on letters up to 2 ounces during sessions of Congress and for 20 days afterwards. Many members of Congress published circular letters providing constituents their views on the speeches and activity of Congress. Authority to establish post roads was placed in Congress, not the executive branch, insuring their rapid growth to satisfy constituents. Newspapers were mailed at inexpensive rates, heavily subsidized by letters, which were priced beyond means of many citizens. Additionally, newspaper editors had the privilege of postage free exchange of papers with other editors, providing an effective news network long before the telegraph. By the 1840s, newspapers constituted 90% of the mail by weight, but generated only 15% of the postal revenues.
In 1808 Congress approved a postage free mailing of Thomas Jefferson's March 22, 1808 speech. Legislation of this type increased in frequency until the December 27, 1813 Printing Resolution ended the ad hoc printing and distribution that required separate legislation for each document. Congress provided that additional copies of Congressional Journals and documents be printed and distributed "one copy to each university and college in each state, and one copy to the historical incorporated, or which shall be incorporated, in each State." The American Antiquarian Society, collecting since 1814, is the earliest known document depository. The Printing Act of 1819 reaffirmed the Depository program for colleges, universities, and historical societies.
Initially distribution of depository documents was a responsibility of the Secretary of State. Later the task moved to the Clerk of the House, and then to the Librarian of Congress. Finally in 1857 responsibility for documents distribution was assigned to the Interior Department. In 1869 the position Superintendent of Documents was created to oversee the depository program. Beginning in 1858 each Representative was allowed to designate a depository in their district; this privilege was extended to Senators the following year.
The Printing Act of 1895 moved the Superintendent of Documents from the Interior Department to the Government Printing Office, centralizing the production and distribution functions within a single agency. Along with distribution, the Superintendent was also charged with providing a monthly catalog of documents available for sale and distribution.
Washington University Libraries become a depository in 1906; the following year all Land Grant colleges were added to the depository system. Beginning in 1913 Congressmen or Senators could no longer revoke depository status; only the Superintendent of Documents could terminate a depository for failure to care for the collection or make it accessible to the public. Rather than receive all government documents, depositories were allowed to select document titles to be received starting in 1922. A program for biennial survey of depository libraries began in 1947.
The role of depository libraries is being redefined in the current electronic environment. GPO's 2004 document Strategic Vision for the 21st Century outlines a plan by which most documents will only be distributed in an electronic form.
The exhibit Celebrating 100 Years of Federal Information and this website have been created in 2006 to mark the centennial of public service as documents depository at Washington University.
(TOP)Although discussed in Congress as early as 1845, not until 1883 was Benjamin Perley Poore, Clerk of the Senate Committee on Printing, was charged with locating and cataloging all federal documents. Poore and 14 assistants, none of them librarians, combed federal agencies as well as public and private libraries to compile the Descriptive Catalog of US Government Documents, 1774-1881 which includes 63,063 documents. While Poore's volume missed many of the early executive department documents and lacks an effective index, was an important first step towards bibliographic control.
Dr. John G. Ames, Superintendent of Documents in the Interior Department from 1874 until 1895, compiled his first "Checklist of Congressional Documents" covering the 15th through 51st Congresses in 1892. This provided the basis for numbering Congressional documents and their popular name, the Serial Set.
The Printing Act of 1895 not only moved the Superintendent of Documents from the Interior Department to the Government Printing Office, but also mandated GPO responsibility for collecting and cataloging all past and future federal publications. Francis Crandall, the first GPO Superintendent of Documents sensibly hired a librarian, Adelaide R. Hasse, from the Los Angeles Public Library to organize and catalog the GPO collection. While working at Los Angeles Public Library, Hasse had made a name for herself by rejecting the Dewey Decimal system in favor of her own system for cataloging government documents. Rather than subject based, the system created by Hasse is based upon provenance, the agency that created the document, with uniform numbering system for similar documents from different agencies. Hasse immediately set about collecting millions of surplus documents stored in government libraries, attics, basements, and warehouses around Washington, DC to organize the GPO Library. She perfected the Superintendent of Documents Classification system still in use today. After only two years, Hasse moved on to New York Public Library, where she authored the standard manual for cataloging documents in 1902.
The Superintendent of Documents was required to prepare and publish "a comprehensive index of public documents beginning with the 53rd Congress." Built upon experience gained during the first indexing attempts in the previous decade, the Documents Catalog became a well-indexed and reliable reference tool, but soon began to lag months and them years behind the growing GPO output of documents. At the same time, the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications began in 1895 as an in-print list for sale and distribution of public documents. By the late 1930s the Monthly Catalog had developed from a sales list to a fairly reliable bibliographic tool and the Document Catalog now lagged printing and distribution by several years. In 1940 the Monthly Catalog was expanded to fulfill both ordering and bibliographic functions while the Document Index was completed to that year and terminated. The Document Catalog is still the most comprehensive work for the period 1893-1940; the Monthly Catalog continues today as the standard print source for U.S. government documents.
John G. Ames, no longer the Superintendent of Documents, began to compile the Comprehensive index to the publications of the United States Government, 1881-1893 to fill the gap between the work of Benjamin Poore and the Documents Catalog. This was published in 1905.
Building on the pioneering work of Poore, Ames, and Hasse, the Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909 published in 1911 provided a comprehensive listing of U.S. government documents. Unfortunately, the projected companion index volume was never published. For generations of reference librarians at Washington University and other depository libraries, this was our standard finding aid. Reprint editions are still in regular use today.
On-line cataloging of government documents began in 1976 and has been incorporated into our library catalog. One of our important finding aids for older documents are the continually evolving set of webpages for the documents stored at the West Campus Library.
(TOP)Since 1996 the GPO has been preparing for a digital future in which all Government documents, current as well as historic, will be available in electronic formats on the Web; about 50 essential titles, including the Congressional Record and Census reports, will also be issued in print formats. The GPO proposal includes a comprehensive catalog, digitizing a complete legacy collection, and a secure location termed a "dark archive." Instead of just 1250 depository libraries, government information will be freely available to all who have access to the Web. The role of documents librarian is being redefined as one who assists in locating, interpreting, and using government information rather than one who shelves and stores paper. However, until the projected digitization and cataloging of all documents is completed, documents librarians will continue to work in both the modern electronic arena as well as the traditional print library. These links provide the latest information from GPO on the development of their initiatives:
GPO has developed a draft plan for a National Collection of U.S. Government Publications - a secure "dark archive" that will become a comprehensive collection of tangible and electronic titles that will backstop the regional library collections and future shared repositories. http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/id_plan/chapter5.html#5.1
GPO's National Bibliography of U.S. Government Publications will be a comprehensive catalog containing descriptions and locations of U.S. Government unclassified publications in all formats. http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/id_plan/chapter2.html#2.1
GPO is continuing to implement its plan for digitizing a complete legacy collection of tangible U.S. Government documents to ensure that these materials will available, in the public domain, for permanent public access. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/legacy/index.html
Presents a vision for the creation and use of information in the new century. This document was presented to the 108th Congress and serves as the basis for the GPO of the future. http://www.gpo.gov/congressional/pdfs/04strategicplan.pdf
GPO's Future Digital System - Provides current documents for GPO's proposed Future Digital System (Fdsys), including the Fdsys Concept of Operations and Fdsys Requirements. Fdsys will ingest, preserve, and provide access to the information produced by all three branches of the U.S. Government and to the material currently in the custody of GPO. http://www.gpo.gov/projects/fdsys.htm
Public-Private Partnership Opportunity in Publishing Services - The GPO is evaluating the functions related to its Sales and Agency Distribution Programs and is seeking alternative revenue sharing models that could be provided by the private sector. http://www.gpo.gov/bidopps/majoracquisitions.htm
The Superintendent of Documents has compiled a list of approximately fifty "essential titles" including the Congressional Record and Census publications that will continue to be distributed in paper after the transition to an electronic format for most government documents. http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/estitles.html
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