ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


C&RL News ■  A p ril 1 9 9 8 / 2 5 5

Government information: A call to action
Access to government information contin­

ues to be a high legislative priority. ALA is com­
mitted to working to support government's ob­
ligation to create and disseminate easy-to-use 
government information. To assist the lobby­
ing efforts of the ALA Washington Office, the 
Government Relations Committee would like 
to encourage ACRL members to send stories 
that dearly illustrate the value of government 
information in education, research, and public 
affairs. Effective lobbying is often a result of 
bringing the message home for the legislator. 
Following is an example of a story taking place 
in Florida.

R e s to ra tio n  o f  th e  E v e r g la d e s
The largest environmental restoration project 
in the history o f the world is underway in 
south Florida. A multi-agency Federal Task 
F o rc e , a G o v e r n o r ’s C o m m issio n , th e 
Siminole and Miccosukee Indian tribes, nu­
merous environmental groups, state agen­
cies, and hundreds o f researchers are all 
involved in restoration o f the Everglades. 
A com m on thread o f need throughout the 
process is access to governm ent inform a­
tion. Thousands o f studies, reports, maps, 
and m onographs have b een  published by 
federal agencies since the early 1920s d e­
tailing treatments and rem edies to “prob­
lem s” in the Florida Everglades.

The Everglades exist in a swath between 
the rapidly growing Atlantic and Gulf coasts 
o f Florida and are surrounded by sugar, cit­
rus, and winter vegetable growers. In rec­
ognition o f the pressures being exerted upon 
the Everglades and that many o f the treat­
ments and remedies done to the Everglades 
have created additional problems, the 104th 
Congress 1995 (S.640, section 207.) passed 
the Everglades and South Florida ecosystem 
restoration bill. On the state level, the Florida 
Legislature passed the Everglades Forever 
Act, 1994. Money has been appropriated and 
work has begun on restoration efforts.

The h is t o r y  o f th e  riv e r
An example o f how the information is being 
collected and used for researchers involved 
in Everglades restoration is a small project at 
Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), funded 
by the South Florida Water Management Dis­
trict. The Caloosahatchee River is a major 
river flowing from Lake O keechobee out to 
the G ulf o f M exico. The river has b een

dredged, diked, and managed since the early 
part o f the 1920s, initially to stop floods and 
then to serve as a link in the inter-coastal 
waterway from the Atlantic to the Gulf of 
Mexico. The South Florida Water Manage­
m ent District is attem pting to study the 
Caloosahatchee watershed to see what has 
happened to the watershed over the past 70 
or 80 years. FGCU is collecting all o f the docu­
ments available to write a history o f the river 
and make the documents accessible to re­
searchers through the Web. This project is 
made possible because most o f the materials 
are government documents, are in the pub­
lic domain, and are freely available to the 
public through government depository pro­
grams.

The outcome o f this project is twofold: 
first, a history o f the river and the watershed 
will document the treatments and remedies 
and their impact on the Everglades to the 
south o f the river; and second, the combined 
collection o f local, state, and federal docu­
ments will provide a single resource base for 
researchers to understand the studies con­
ducted, the changes over time, and will help 
researchers define a research agenda for the 
future. The ideal outcome will b e for policy 
m akers, research ers, and environm ental 
groups to realize the importance o f a coordi­
nated effort to avoid the costly mistakes of 
the past.

The wealth of information available to re­
view is staggering and the accumulated data 
are helping policymakers and scientists come 
up with strategies for restoration. Without the 
availability o f government documents col­
lected and preserved through the Federal 
Depository Program, many o f the crucial 
pieces o f information may very well have 
been lost.

S e n d  y o u r  s to rie s
Academic librarians in particular need to find 
real life examples and develop stories that 
illustrate the strategic value o f government 
documents for research and education. The 
ALA Washington office can use these stories 
in their lobbying efforts with Congress. Please 
share your stories by sending them to Michael 
G o d o w  at ACRL: m g o d o w @ a la .o r g .—  
C arolyn  M. G ray is c h a i r  ACRL G ov ern m en t 
R elation s Com m ittee, a n d  d e a n  o f  lib ra ry  ser­
vices a t  F lo rid a  G u lf C oast University; cgray@  

fg c u .e d u

fgcu.edu