To address Wayne's comments - the plan is to put everything on the website. Given how much that we previously planned to go on the web site but hadn't made it yet, the question then becomes when will 100% of the material make it to the website? Certainly not any time soon. No additional staff were hired to change the website and scan documents. This is a cost savings measure, not a public convenience measure. Plans to make things available do not make it so without the concommitent budget allocations and staff commitment. And now, it will take that much longer to make available what has already been boxed up (willy nilly, and without proper, or sometimes even any, documentation about what went where, according to some reports) because each box now has to be removed from storage, unboxed, cataloged to some extent, and someone has to decide where on the web site each document goes.
The EPA press office is speaking doublespeak, trying to confuse those of us who are concerned enough to protest this closing down of information. (If information is the coinage of the day, this is the way the administration can deplete our funds to fight their devastation of our natural resources and our overall environment.) On 12/1/06, Wayne Tyson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Amy Dewey (sp?) at the EPA press office told me that "nothing is > being destroyed" (except "duplicates") because "everything" is being > put on the website. They are in the process of putting a [damage > control?] notice on the website (epa.gov) about this. She says it's > a "budget-cutting" item. > > I didn't get a chance to express my concern over the destruction of > "duplicates," however, or about the actual numbers with respect to > net "savings" when costs are subtracted from them. Rather than > destroy physical documents, and perhaps place government documents at > the mercy of computer-only storage, one would hope that an > alternative to the landfill or furnace could be found. And, when > such a momentous action is undertaken without consultation with the > affected parties, not to mention the public interest at large, it > seems to me that an advance notice, well-publicized by the press > office, for example, could have been the best possible damage > control--unless the motive was to just do it and "explain" it later. > > This "destruction of duplicates" habit is going hog-wild among > librarians everywhere. Much as I love librarians, I despise their > ignorance of the value of existing records in their present form. (I > must say, however, that I have picked up some real treasures at > library disposal sales.) How much might EPA have netted by selling > off its records and documents. > > Ms. Dewey stayed professionally "on-message" for a good five minutes, > then had to take yet another call from the likes of us, so keep on > calling--please. They gotta know we're out here, at least! > > WT > > At 09:23 AM 12/1/2006, Val Smith wrote: > >Dear Colleagues: > > > >Without authorization from Congress, the Environmental Protection > >Agency (EPA) has slashed operating funds for its nationwide network > >of scientific libraries, forcing libraries to close and effectively > >preventing EPA scientists and the public from accessing vast amounts > >of data and information on issues from toxicology to pollution. > > > >The critical scientific information contained in the EPA libraries is > >essential to the agency's ability to make fully informed decisions > >that carry out its mission of protecting human health and the > environment. > > > >I urge you to please call EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson today or > >Monday at (202) 564-4700 and leave message with the receptionist > >urging him to halt the dismantling of the EPA library system > >immediately. It will only take a couple of minutes, and your phone > >call could make the difference. > > > >Best regards, > >Val Smith > >University of Kansas > > > > > >Val H. Smith > >Professor > >Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology > >University of Kansas > >Lawrence, KS 66045 > >785-864-4565 > >FAX: 785-864-5321 > >e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > -- Diane Henshel Indiana University 1315 E 10th #340 Bloomington, IN 47405 812 855-4556 P 812 855-7802 F [EMAIL PROTECTED]
