Library Technical Services (LTS) is one of the three units in Library Services and Content Management (LSCM). The other two units are Federal Depository Support Services and Projects and Systems. LTS is responsible for several aspects of the life cycle management of U.S. Federal Government publications:
The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) has been part of the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) since 1895, providing Government information to libraries serving the needs of people across the Nation for information by and about their Federal Government. Federal depository libraries (FDLs) are members of the FDLP. LTS provides services and products to FDLs to manage their government information collections and to assist their communities to use the materials.
LTS acquires publications to distribute to FDLs and to meet GPO’s Cataloging and Indexing (C&I) Program requirements mandated by Title 44 of the United States Code (U.S.C.). LTS catalogs the publications according to national standards and the GPO Cataloging Guidelines and classifies them using the Superintendent of Documents Classification Guidelines. GPO makes the MARC bibliographic records available in a number of ways. Most of these options are free of charge to libraries.
At GPO’s Laurel Distribution Facility, LTS staff members pack boxes with publications based on the FDLs’ selections and send them to the libraries. The FDL staff members use the shipping lists included in each box to receive the materials.
LTS also contributes to GPO’s mission of providing permanent public access to Federal Government publications. Staff members harvest publications from agency websites, create permanent URLs (PURLs) that direct users to the archived resources, and add the PURLs in GPO’s bibliographic records.
Our mission is to support FDLs, U.S. Federal Government agencies, and all Library Technical Services (LTS) stakeholders to fulfill their needs for U.S. Federal Government information by providing them with the best services and products related to the life cycle management of Federal Government information products, including but not limited to cataloging/metadata, classification, acquisition, and distribution of new publications, and collection development and collection management activities related to the National Collection of U.S. Government Public Information.
Our vision is a network of Federal Depository Libraries equipped to identify, locate, and provide access to the National Collection of U.S. Government Public Information for their constituents.
This vision is achieved through: