informing for results

[Petter Naess]

I'm a librarian trying to come to terms with GPRA, the Government
Performance and Results Act. Those of you who are government
librarians may be familiar with this, uh, challenge, and I'd be
interested to know what you are doing to comply with its
requirements.

 My particular agency is the United States Information Agency,
funded through the foreign affairs budget. Our information
activities are expected to result in measurable and favorable (from
the U.S. perspective) changes of attitudes and (if possible) behavior
among audience members. Our audience consists largely of journalists,
government officials, researchers, policy makers, and other influential
people in this country who can have an impact on U.S. interests.

I'm curious as to how USG librarians within the U.S. are justifying their
activities to the U.S. taxpayer? Has GPRA had any discernible
impact on your goals and objectives and day to day business, or is the
GPRA burden merely shifted over to the parent institution?

Sorry about posting this essentially governmental question on Web4lib (I
posted it on FEDREF-L a few days ago, but got no responses...), but I
assume the result orientation that GPRA represents poses a challenge to
non-government librarians as well, especially those of us who are spending
time and effort on web projects.

After all, whether your library is corporate, public or academic, it takes
some creativity to convince management that the web's impersonal shotgun
broadcast approach is the best way to reach your constituents (and them
only), and to achieve results. I'd be interested to hear any imaginative
verbiage this challenge has spawned in libary goals and objectives
statements, etc. Of particular interest are any innovative ways you may
have to measure the results of your information efforts.

Thanks, Petter Naess






Petter Naess
Information Resource Center
United States Information Service
Drammensvn.18
0244 Oslo, Norway
phone 22562522, ext.2238
fax 22440436
email pnaess at usis.no