Taxpayer Assets Project
Information Policy Note
July 20, 1992
Questions and Answers about S. 2813/H.R. 2772
(the GPO Gateway to Government/WINDO)
Q-1.WHAT WILL THE GATEWAY/WINDO DO?
a) The GPO Gateway/WINDO will provide one-stop-shopping for online
access to government databases. The service will be provided by
the Government Printing Office, which now provides one-stop-
shopping for paper publications. The Gateway/WINDO will be
priced at the "incremental cost of dissemination," for most
users, and will be free to 1,400 federal depository libraries.
b) The Gatway/WINDO will be available through ordinary telphone
lines and also through computer networks, such as the National
Research and Educatin Network (NREN).
c) The basic approach of the Gateway/WINDO, including the dual
dissemination approach (sales program combined with free use at
depository libraries) is the way paper publications have been
disseminated since the middle of the 19th century. The
Gateway/WINDO simply prevents a "technological sunset" of the
Government Printing Office.
Q-2.WHY IS THE GATEWAY/WINDO NEEDED?
a) Advances in computer technology have created exciting new
opportunities to collect, store, manipulate and retrieve
government information. While taxpayers have spent hundreds of
millions of dollars creating sophisticated information systems
and vast databases, it is often difficult or impossible to
obtain access to the information.
b) Among the barriers to access of this information are the
difficulties of locating, using and paying for government
databases. The Gateway/WINDO would attempt to develop
standardized user interfaces. Citizens would no longer have to
maintain dozens of separate business accounts with different
federal agencies, since the Gateway/WINDO would provide for a
single invoice system of paying for information.
c) Because of the enormous economies of scale in online systems, it
is often far cheaper to add users to an existing system than to
build new systems. Thus, access to government systems is often
far cheaper than commercial database services. For example, a
study by the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) found that the
cost to use LEXPAT, a commercial service to search patent
information, was about $340 per hour, given normal use patterns.
In contrast, the PTO estimates it would cost about $15 per hour
to provide public access to its own $300 million Automated
Patent System.
d) The Gateway/WINDO will vastly expand access to government
information in hard to reach rural communities that do not have
ready access to federal Depository Libraries or other sources of
government information.
Q-3. WHAT TYPES OF INFORMATION WILL BE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE
GATEWAY/WINDO?
a) Within one year after the passage of the bill, the Gateway/WINDO
will provide electronic access to the Congressional Record and
the Federal Register. (This requirement is currently in S.
2813)
b) The Gateway/WINDO will also provide access to such agency
databases as are "reasonably appropriate, based upon input from
Federal agencies, database users, libraries, and others likely
to be affected"
c) Citizens have expressed interest in using the Gateway/WINDO to
obtain access to such databases as:
House and Senate LEGIS systems
Department of Justice JURIS system
SEC's EDGAR system
FDA Bulletin Board
MEDLINE
The full text of U.S., European and Japanese Patents
Testimonies from Congressional hearings
White House press releases
Department of State Dispatch
Scientific Research Abstracts
National Trade Data Bank
and many, many others.
d) Every year GPO will give the public an opportunity to comment on
its product line, prices, and other policies and practices.
Q-4. HOW MUCH WILL THE GATEWAY/WINDO COST THE TAXPAYERS?
a) The fiscal note for S. 2813 is $3 million for fy 1993 and $10
million for fy 1994, for GPO to set up the Gateway/WINDO. This
is a modest amount compared to the investment by the taxpayers
in the collection of the information that would be disseminated.
b) The Gateway/WINDO would include a "sales program" component and
a component for the federal Depository Library Program. The
"sales program" component would charge fees equal to what it
cost. The only "free" distribution would be to 1,400 federal
depository libraries. Everyone else, including the more than
100,000 libraries that do not have federal depository status,
would have to pay their own way.
c) The Gateway/WINDO will probably save the government more money
that it will ever cost. It is far cheaper to disseminate
information to the federal depository library program in
electronic formats than in paper or microfiche. This will lead
to substantial savings. Agencies such as the Navy have found
that electronic dissemination of public notices, such as
procurement specifications, are far less costly when
disseminated electronically. Perhaps more important, many
federal agencies are currently "buying back" government
information from commercial database vendors at high prices.
The Gateway/WINDO will provide a lower cost way for government
employees and federal contractors to obtain access to government
databases.
Here are a *few* examples of government agencies buying back
information from commercial vendors.
i) Government agencies use LEGI-SLATE, a Washington Post
subsidiary, for search and retrieval of bills before
Congress. The Gateway/WINDO could provide access to the
House and Senate LEGIS systems, which already exist, at
a far cheaper price.
ii) Agencies also spend large sums of money to receive
copies of SEC filings from commercial vendors. Access to
the SEC's new EDGAR system through the Gateway/WINDO
will lower this cost.
iii) The National Institutes of Health, the Department of
Energy and other agencies search patent databases
through commercial vendors. Better access to the Patent
and Trademark Office's $300 million APS system would
lower these costs.
Q-5. HOW WILL THE GATEWAY/WINDO AFFECT THE PRIVATE SECTOR DATA
VENDORS?
a) In the short run vendors who simply provide access to public
records with little value added service will see a reduced
demand. These vendors will have to develop value added services
and enhancements to broaden their market share.
b) Over a longer time period, the Gateway/WINDO will likely expand
business opportunities for the private sector. The availability
of high quality and low cost research services through the
Gateway/WINDO will "prime the pump" for the online market.
Millions of persons who currently do not use online services
will become customers. As the overall market expands, the
private sector providers will have a larger market for their
non-government databases and the value added services they
offer.
c) Private sector companies that provide "value added" information
services will be better off, since it will be less expensive for
them to acquire access to the basic documents and records of the
government. The higher up the "food chain" in the information
service sector, the more the Gateway/WINDO will "complement"
private sector services.
Q-6.WHAT CAN YOU DO?
The most important thing you can do is to write your Senators and member
of the House of Representatives to express your support for these bills.
The address for all members of Congress are as follows:
Senator John Doe Representative Jane Doe
U.S. Senate U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515
voice: 202/224-3121 voice: 202/225-3121
Specifically ask that they become cosponors of the legislation. If you
belong to an organization that can endorse the legislation, send letters
of endorsement to Senator Gore and Representative Rose, with copies to
your own congressional delegation. Be sure to send an additional copy
of your endorsement to the Taxpayer Assets Project or the American
Library Association so we can tell others of your support.
For an email copy of either bill, send a note to tap@essential.org. For
more information contact:
American Library Association, Taxpayer Assets Project,
Washington Office Washington Office
110 Maryland Avenue, NE P.O. Box 19367
Washington, DC 20002-5675 Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 202/547-4440; Fax: Tel: 202/387-8030; Fax:
202/547-7363 202/234-5176
INTERNET tap@essential.org
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James Love voice: 609/683-0534
Director, fax: 202/234-5176
Taxpayer Assets Project internet: love@essential.org
P.O. Box 19367
Washington, DC 20036
