Protection
Information Resources
Management
(3404)
• EPA INFO ACCESS
EPA 220-N-95-010'
Issue Number 51
JULY 1995
Communications
EPA NETWORK LIBRARIES SUPPORT PUBLIC ACCESS
by Jonda Byrd, IMSD, Manager, National Library Network Program
Since its inception in the early 1970's,
the EPA Library Network has been
providing information and access to
information to the public on a daily
and ongoing basis. The participation of
each of the libraries in this public
access has taken a variety of forms, and
has evolved with the changes in
information and telecommunications
technology.
The mission of the EPA Library
Network is to improve access to
information, which corresponds
directly to the Agency's public access
initiatives. The EPA libraries closely
coordinate their public access activities
with other information resource centers
that provide the public with
information or access to information.
The information professionals
operating the EPA libraries are
knowledgeable about other information
resources available within the Agency
and frequently provide referrals to
those sources when appropriate.
The libraries, however, provide a
unique level of service beyond that of
those information resource centers such
as public information centers, hotlines,
dockets, and clearinghouses. All of the
libraries are open to the public and the
staff members respond to walk-in,
telephone, fax, and email requests for
information. They provide reference
and research assistance to those who
seek EPA and environmental
information, and facilitate the use of
EPA databases. They help the public
use the extensive resources held by the
libraries, through the library network's
Online Library System (OLS). The
libraries provide assistance to members
of the public using OLS at their nearest
EPA library, at work, or from a
computer workstation at home, and
produce and distribute user
documentation tailored to a wide range
of audiences.
This issue of INFO ACCESS
describes some of the public access
activities ongoing in the libraries. The
article beginning on page 2 discusses
initiatives and projects in several of the
network libraries. A brief item on page
2 outlines the dramatic and continuing
increased use of OLS, both via direct
dial and Internet access. Other articles
describe network and individual EPA
library home pages, the Superfund
Information Center at the Headquarters
Library, and new listservers established
to distribute current environmental
information.
The EPA Network Libraries are
committed to supporting the agency's
initiative to provide efficient public
access to environmental and agency
information regardless of format. •
IN THIS ISSUE
PAGE 2
PUBUC ACCESS TO
EPA RESOURCES THROUGH OLS
PAGES 2-4
PUBUC ACCESS ACTIVITIES INTHE EPA LIBRARIES
PAGES 5-6
PUBUC ACCESS VIA A HOMEPAGE
PAGE?
ASK EPA FORUM
PAGE/
ELECTRONIC NETWORK ACCESS
PAGES
LIBRARY USER SURVEYS
PAGE 9
THE SUPERFUND INFORMATION CENTER
PAGE 9
AROUND THE NETWORK
PAGE 10
REVEAL-ING DEVELOPMENTS IN ADA
PAGE 10
FACILITATING THE PUBLIC'S RIGHT-TO-KNOW
PAGE 11
ENVIRO-NEWSBRIEF AND INTERNET NEWSBRIEF:
Now ON LISTSERVERS
PAGE 11
ANOTHER NEW LISTSERV: CDA-SDWA
Printed on Recycled Paper
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INFO ACCESS
JULY 1995
PUBLIC ACCESS TO EPA
RESOURCES THROUGH OLS
One of the EPA Library Network's
most powerful public access tools is the
Online Library System, which was
made available to the public in
December 1992. OLS can be accessed
by dialing directly to the EPA
mainframe, via an Internet connection,
and onsite at each of the network
libraries. The librarians provide user
assistance and support; several of the
libraries provide search tips and system
information in electronic form as well
as in the more traditional paper format.
In ever increasing numbers, the
public is finding and accessing EPA's
Online Library System (OLS). A
comparison of the first six months of
1995 and the first six :nonths of 1994
illustrates that there has been a 13%
increase in the use of OLS. From one
month to another, there have been
increases of as much as 20%. Not
surprisingly, the file on OLS that is
used the most is the National Catalog,
followed closely by ACCESS EPA.
1995 1994
PUBLIC ACCESS ACTIVITIES IN THE EPA LIBRARIES
Since their creation a few decades
ago, the EPA libraries have actively
supported the public's thirst for
information about the agency and
the environment. As the public has
increasingly demanded more access
and more information, the libraries
have responded with a variety of
projects designed to ... Following
are examples of some of these public
access projects:
REGION 1 —BOSTON
PUBLIC INFORMATION CENTER
The Region 1 Library PIC
(Public Information Center) became
visible in March 1995 with the
placement of multiple copies of 50
titles on four 3-tier display racks;
another 25 titles have been added
since then. Arranged by broad
subject area, these pamphlets, fact
sheets and reports have been self-
selected by EPA and public visitors
at an average of 500 titles distributed
per month. The main PIC collections
contains an additional 350
pamphlets, 140 videos and 210
educational resources materials-
curriculum guides, course plans and
classroom activities kits are in the main
PIC Collection. Regional staff can
search the PIC database by type of
media and keywords to identify
materials to use in educational outreach
efforts. Library staff can conduct
searches and print records including
title, source, and abstract for videos
and curriculum guides upon request by
teachers or parents. Two computers are
available for the public to conduct
searches to augment their findings on
the PIC display rack.
REGION 3—ANNAPOLIS
CRL LIBRARY-
EARTH DAY OUTREACH
This past April Americans celebrated
the 25th Anniversary of Earth Day.
Always a special anniversary, every
year activities take place celebrating
Earth Day. For years, chemists from
the Region III Central Regional
Laboratory located in Annapolis
January 5,738 4,637
February 6,150 5,262
March 6,748 5,698
April 6,201 5,256
May 5,538 5,229
June 5,458 4,643
The statistics were provided by Jim
Mitchell (contractor), OLS Database
Administrator. 919-541-2524. •
1 INFO ACCESS
INFO ACCESS, a forum to provide information and report on progress
in information management across the Agency, is produced by the
Information Access Branch (IAB) of the Information Management and
Services Division (IMSD), Washington, D.C., under the direction of
Jonda Byrd, National Library Network Program Manager. Please send
comments and suggestions to: Mary Hoffman (contractor), Network
Coordinator,
1521 East Franklin Street, B300, Chapel Hill, NC 27514. Telephone:
(919) 968-3849. Electronic mail: Hoffman.Mary.
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INFO ACCESS
JULY 1995
>articipated in local activities. This
/ear, however, was the first year that
he librarian was invited to join in the
;vents. The chemists thought it would
)e a good idea to bring along the
librarian/Information Specialist to
mswer questions; outside of those
questions relating to analytical
;hemistry, who is better prepared to
provide general environmental
nformation to the public? In a
•ecognized effort by the Agency to
•each the public the Librarian was
unlisted.
The purpose of the EPA's presence
it such events is to stimulate
understanding and appreciation for not
Dnly the environment but for the
agency and its role in protecting the
snvironment. And of course this
squates with good old fashioned public
relations. It gives citizens the
opportunity to ask questions, find out
facts, and "touch base" with the
agency. Armed with EPA documents
ranging from "Household hazardous
waste" to "Indoor air quality" to
"Green lawns" the chemists and
librarian set up house. They brought
along giveaway EPA paraphernalia
including wildflower seeds, balloons,
and fuzzy chemist creatures. In
addition, a watershed model was used
to illustrate point and non-point source
pollution. This handy transportable
model was a great success in showing
people hands-on the effects of their
actions to the Chesapeake Bay. The
first day's activities took place at Anne
Arundel Community College's Earth
Day festival. On the second day
activities were located at the U.S.
Coast Guard Station in Baltimore. Both
days offered citizens the opportunity to
not only meet EPA staff, but also
afforded them the chance to ask
questions about the EPA, the
environment, and ask personal
questions. The EPA's presence was
most appreciated at both locations.
They are working hard to meet the
agency's call for public access. Going
out to meet the public at Earth Day
activities is one small way of
accomplishing this objective.
LIBRARY SERVICES OFFICE—RTP, NC
AIR QUALITY INFORMATION
The RTP Library staff encourages the
public to drop-in at any time and
utilize the library. They have several
CD-ROM products available to the
public including: Agricola, Air
CHIEF, Analytical Abstracts, BNA
Environment Library, ChemBank
Computer Select, El Energy and
Environment, Einecs, Environment
Abstracts Environment Library,
EPADOC Exposure Models Library,
Faulkner's Microdata Infodisk, Federal
Register, GPO, IHS Worldwide
Standards, Lotus CD/Prompt, Material
Safety Data Sheets, NEPA/BRAC,
NTIS, OSH-ROM, PC-SIG,
PhoneDisc, Risk Assessment Library,
RODS, Toxic Release Inventory,
Toxline, U.S. Code. In addition, they
furnish the public with any of the air
quality documents that are published,
and offer extensive referral for other
EPA documents. They have just
installed an INTERNET Public Access
workstation in the Library.
REGION 4—ATLANTA
PUBLICACCESS
WORKSTATION AND MORE
The Region 4 Library maintains a
Public Display which is available for
the public to review and comment
regarding Region IV state and federal
waste initiatives. The library also
maintains the Superfund Docket which
is also available to the public either by
walk-in or appointment, particularly if
they need the assistance of the
Superfund Librarian. In addition, the
library maintains the Regional Public
Information Center (PIC) which is
housed in the library. Individuals
groups and EPA personnel use
information from the PIC for
workshops or to distribute
environmental information to the
public. The library recently installed a
Public Access Workstation which
provides public access to the following
environmental information: Internet
(EPA GOPHER, MOSAIC WINFTP,
WINTELNET); SearchMagic, the
library's online catalog, which
provides access to the Region 4
library's collection; CD ROM Services;
and Pathfinder which provides access
to a variety of EPA databases by
category and pointers to other
environmental resources. Future public
access services under consideration or
in progress at the Region 4 Library
include adding library information to
Public Access continued on page 4
a
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INFO ACCESS
JULY 1995
Public Access from page 3
Region IV s homepage; providing
public access to GIS information and
adding additional CD ROMs to the
library's CD ROM Services which the
public can access; and adding materials
to and maintaining the library's section
of the agency's FAX-ON-DEMAND
SERVICE.
REGION 6—DALLAS
ELECTRONIC ACCESS
The Region 6 Library staff provide
information and library services in
electronic form whenever possible. The
unwritten policy in this Library is to
avoid the use of paper, if at all
possible, when satisfying patron—EPA
or public—requests. Many requests are
filled electronically. Literature
searches, OLS generated
bibliographies, current awareness
services from the OPPT, INFOTERRA
and HQ libraries, and Internet
publications (EPIN, Texas prefiled
bills, downloaded speeches of the
President, the EPA Administrator, etc.)
are distributed using WordPerfect
Office locally or via the Internet e-mail
option. If the requestor does not have
e-mail capability, the information can
still be transmitted electronically to a
fax machine using the ALL-IN-ONE
mail system.
The public can use a 486 computer
in the EPA Region 6 Library to access
various EPA LAN based databases
(including IRIS, Hazardous Waste
Collection database, OLS, Register of
Lists (ROLs)) and CD-ROMs (the most
recent year of the "Federal Register",
current Code of Federal Regulations,
business, western & eastern residential
PhoneDisc listings, PESTBANK,
AirChief, Mexican Environmental
Regulations, Bibliofile, EPADOC).
The workstation is also equipped with
a CD-ROM drive used to access a
variety of sources including Microsoft
Bookshelf '94, the World Almanac and
Book of Facts 1994, the USA
Factbook, old issues of the CFRs,
issues of the Federal Register dating
back to August 1992, OHEA's Risk
Assessment database, the Toxic Release
Inventory, the Exposure Models
Library, and the RODs database. The
public workstation has a TCP/IP
connection and the Windows version of
MOSAIC for easy access to the EPA
homepage and various EPA Internet
based databases.
The library staff also transmit EPA
and library-related information in
electronic form. For example, they
send an enhanced electronic version of
the flyer Public Access to EPA's
Online Library System (EPA 220-F-94-
004) to requesters. The code to the
four letter library holdings is included
along with a brief explanation of the
NTIS records and how to order the
materials. In addition, the library
distributes directions for accessing
EPA bulletin boards, the homepage,
and how to sign on the servers for
various EPA discussion lists or Federal
Register notification.
REGIONS—DENVER
ENVIRONMENTAL
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH
The Region 8 Technical Library
organizes and maintains a collection o
environmental education materials to
facilitate responses to requests from th
public. Currently there are 216 subject
headings in this pamphlet file. In
addition, the Region Library compiles
and distributes packets of information,
both to individuals that walk into the
library and to libraries that request
information. The packets include
general information about the library,
OLS dial-in access information, TRI
dial-in access information, and the
Region 8 Journals List.
REGION 9—SAN FRANCISCO
WORKING HAND IN HAND WITH
THE PUBLIC INFORMATION CENTER
At Region 9 the PIC office and the
Regional Library are located in
adjacent space. The Library helps
promote the use of the PIC to patrons
by posting numerous signs within the
library and maintaining two display
racks where the public can browse
among and select PIC brochures. The
library also has a display rack for
pollution prevention documents that
can be given to the public. In addition,
the library frequently conducts library
tours for the public and offers special
tours for students taking some of the
many environmental classes given in
the Bay Area. The library also
maintains a bulletin board which
focuses on a topical matter of interest
to the general public. •
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INFO ACCESS
JULY 1995
PUBLIC ACCESS VIA A HOMEPAGE
AWBERC Library, Cincinnati, OH
The AWBERC Library World Wide
Web (WWW) Home Page made its
debut on the Internet in June. This
Home Page provides an overview of
the Library's collections and services,
in-house electronic information
sources, and current library news. The
Home Page also provides information
on the EPA Library System and access
to other environmental and government
information available on the Internet.
Anyone with a web browser such as
MOSAIC or Netscape and an Internet
connection can access the AWBERC
Library Home Page at:
http://earth 1 .epa.gov:80/awberc/
awberc.htm
UNIQUE AND VALUE-ADDED
INFORMATION
The AWBERC Library's collections
and services are the main emphasis of
the information provided on the Home
Page. Most of the text was taken from
existing publicity materials such as
library brochures and Access EPA. The
ability to instantly update these
formerly print-only materials makes it
a valuable tool for providing up-to-
date information on the library.
Likewise, the library's journal holdings
list is also being loaded onto the Home
Page (currently under construction).
Journal holdings are constantly
changing with weeding, microfilm
purchases, etc. The listing on the Home
page will reflect the most recent
changes in the journals collection.
Access to the library's electronic
newsletter is also provided on the
Home Page. This monthly newsletter is
currently distributed in-house through
AWBERC's Word Perfect Office e-
mail system to about 170 subscribers.
Each issue of the newsletter contains
recent library news, new EPA reports
added to the collection, and
information on new Internet sites of
potential interest to EPA and
contractor staff. For the Home Page,
an HTML version of the newsletter has
been developed that allows users to
directly access any of the Internet sites
mentioned in the Newsletter. The
HTML version is not only a more
visually pleasing product, it's also
interactive.
The AWBERC Library Home Page
also provides telnet access to the
Online Library System (OLS) and
includes access to the National Center
for Environmental Publications and
Information (NCEPI) catalog for
ordering EPA documents.
In the process of building the
AWBERC Library Home Page from
information downloaded from Chapter
6 of Access EPA, it was decided to
include a directory type listing of the
entire EPA library system. One of the
more difficult aspects of using this
information through the EPA Gopher
server or the EPA WWW Home Page
is that Access EPA is a linear file. For
example, to get to Region 5, AWBERC
Library, you would have to page
through 50 pages of text to get to
AWBERC's entry. By using HTML, a
directory was created to resemble a
table of contents divided by region.
The Home Page user may scroll
through the regions and click on the
library in which they are interested,
thus accessing information on a
particular library directly. This part of
the Home Page is still under
construction and it is hoped that once
an EPA Library Home Page is
established, each library will be able to
maintain its own entry.
In addition to individual library
information, separate entries on the
"Overview and Mission of the EPA
Libraries" are provided, as well as a
connection to Access EPA which is
located on the EPA WWW Home
Page.
One of the AWBERC Library's
most frequently asked questions from
the public is how to obtain EPA
publications. The Home Page provides
information for ordering publications
from NCEPI and NTIS. NCEPI will
soon be establishing its own home page
which will provide more detailed
information for ordering EPA
publications. At that time a direct link
will be made. Until then, a connection
to the NCEPI MAIS catalog via OLS
is provided. For NTIS publications, a
link is made directly to their "Ordering
Publications" screen on the NTIS home
page.
CONNECTIONS TO OTHER
INFORMATION SOURCES
The growth of environmental-related
WWW information sources is
increasing so rapidly that it would take
HomePage continued on page 6
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INFO ACCESS
JULY 1995
HomePage from page 5
most of one person's time just to keep
up with the day-to-day developments.
The AWBERC Library Home Page is
very selective in establishing links to
other web servers. We defer to the
EPA Home Page for information about
the EPA itself and its various
information resources available
through the WWW, gopher servers, or
via telnet.
However, there are several sites
belonging to other federal agencies and
universities that provide access to
important information on the
environment. Links to the most
relevant of these sites are provided
through the AWBERC Library Home
Page. In addition to the sites that
provide environmental information,
links to scientific electronic reference
sources (electronic text of reference
works) are also provided.
The links provided in this category
will constantly be evolving and
changing. This will require a
commitment from the developers of
the home page to assume the
responsibility for maintaining valid
links to these sources.
BUILDING A HOME PAGE
Building a WWW Home Page is easier
than it may appear at first glance,
especially for EPA Libraries.
Instructions on the approval process,
formatting requirements, and
submitting data to RTP (the site of
EPA's Internet server) are available on
the EPA Home Page and on the EPA
gopher server. The RTP staff are very
helpful in providing information on the
technical aspects of loading your
information onto the server.
Creating a WWW home page
requires an HTML editor in order to
process the text into HTML format.
The AWBERC Library staff used the
shareware version of HTML Assistant
Hypertext Editor (HTMLAsst -
produced by Brooklyn North Software
Works in Nova Scotia) to create its
home page. HTMLAsst is available for
downloading from a number of
sources, one being:
http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/
get/html/editors.html
There are also a number of internet
resources available that provide helpful
advice and instruction for building
home pages:
LEARNING HTML
http://salazar.aa.psu.edu/courses/
artl22w/LearningHTML.html
BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO HTML:
http://turnbull.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp/html-
primer.html
CREATING A HOME PAGE:
http://www.ncw.net/
create_home_page.html
In addition to these electronic
sources, a recent article in Database
also provides a good overview of home
page development: "Home sweet home
page: creating a web presence," by
Kathleen Falcigno and Tim Green.
(Database, April/May 1995, pp.20-
28).
FUTURE OF HOME PAGE
DEVELOPMENT FOR EPA LIBRARIES
The importance of the Internet
continues to increase as a mechanism
for timely and accurate information
transfer. The establishment and
maintenance of WWW home pages by
EPA libraries will increase our
visibility within the Agency and to the
outside user community. The
development of consistent,
informative, and visually pleasing
home pages will enhance the already
well-established reputation for
environmental information.
As the libraries plan for the future
of information delivery and public
service, the following topics should be
considered:
• What is the library's role in
providing access to internet services
to internal and external users?
• Should the EPA libraries establish a
master home page, from which all
other library home pages connect?
• What information is universal to all
libraries (i.e. union list of serials,
OLS, etc.)?
• What information is unique to
individual libraries?
• Work should focus on making
valuable unique information
available through the Internet: i.e.
index to test methods (full text?),
OSWER directives, and others.
These are but a few of the questions
likely to be considered as the EPA
librarians explore- the use of the
Internet as a mechanism for the
dissemination of information to EPA
staff and the general public. One thing
should be remembered, if the libraries
don't take advantage of the Internet as
tool for providing this information,
other organizations (within or external
to the EPA) will, and the resulting loss
of control over the very information
we work so hard to compile and
provide, will be co-opted by competing
interests. •
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INFO ACCESS
JULY 1995
ASK EPA FORUM
U.S. EPA Region 2 and Office of
Research and Development are
presenting the "ASK EPA" forum on
four Internet environmental electronic
mailing lists, and on EPA's
Enviro$ense computer bulletin board
system (BBS). Other regulatory
agencies participating are:
The ASK EPA forum will allow
people to post questions, and receive
answers from EPA (Region 2, Region
4, and ORD), the New York State
Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC), and the
Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Resources (DER)
experts within 30 days. Other
individuals interested in the topic can
read the questions and answers.
Questions will be answered on the
mailing list or BBS where they were
received. In addition, all questions and
answers will be posted on the
Enviro$ense BBS.
• People who want to utilize the
ASK EPA forum on Internet
environmental mailing lists should type
"ASK EPA" in the subject line. The
question should be distributed to the
entire mailing list. The person asking
the question should indicate if they
want an answer from the EPA Region
2, EPA Region 4 EPA's Office of
Research and Development, New York
State Department or Pennsylvania.
Individuals utilizing the ASK EPA
forum on the Enviro$ense BBS should
follow the instructions posted on the
Enviro$ense BBS.
• The Enviro$ense BBS can be
reached at 703-908-2092 (2,400-
14,400 baud, VT-100 or
BBSemulation, 8 bits, no parity) or
via the WWW at http://
wastenot.inel.gov/envirosense/.
Different EPA Regions and States
utilize different guidances. If your .
answer is not from the agency with
primary enforcement authority,
please verify the answer with the
appropriate agency.
If the ASK EPA staff cannot answer
a question, or if the answer is too
complex, we will identify an expert
who can give the caller more
information. For additional
information on ASK EPA, please
contact Leon Lazarus at (908) 321-
6778 or at lazarus.leon@epamail.
epa.gov. For additional information
on utilizing Enviro$ense via a BBS,
please call (703)908-2007. For
additional information on utilizing
Enviro$ense via WWW, please
contact (208) 526-6956. •
ELECTRONIC NETWORK ACCESS
LIBRARY NETWORK HOMEPAGE
The Internet Librarian, with the assistance of various
network librarians, is developing a home page for the
EPA Library Network. The home page will outline the
services and resources of the network libraries around the
agency, and will include a link to the network's Online
Library System.
The home page will also incorporate the following
information:
• Listings of the network libraries: an alphabetical
listing, a list by area of specialization, and a list by
region or type of libraries, and links to the home pages
of individual libraries.
• Network publications such as the Journal Holdings
Report, the Core List for an Environmental Reference
Collection, and the Public Access Users Guide to OLS.
(There are plans to add a core list of environmental
journals.)
• Links to other sources of information such as
ACCESS EPA, the National Center for Environmental
Publications and Information (NCEPI), and EPA's
Public Information Centers.
• EPA reference tools such as Terms of Environment:
Glossary, Abbreviations, and Acronyms.
The Internet Librarian is also developing a home page
template to be shared with the network libraries, to
support the creation of home pages designed by
individual EPA libraries.
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INFO ACCESS
JULY 1995
LIBRARY USER SURVEYS
NERL/CRD-LV Library, Las Vegas, NV
When a patron visits a Library, you
want to ensure that they receive the
best possible service. One way to
measure the quality of service is
periodically send out a library users
survey to your clients. A survey is a
good indicator of what the user
considers to be the libraries strengths
and weaknesses. It also provides a
forum for the clients to suggest
on how the library is succeeding as a
whole.
The following is an example of a
Library Users Survey that the NERL/
CRD-LV Library presented to the
improvements and becomes a reflection clients.
LIBRARY USERS SATISFACTION SURVEY
The purpose of this survey is to gather view points, usefulness, value and impact of information that the library provides to
you as a user.
Excellent Good Needs N/A
Improvement
[. Access to the Library Collection
a) Journal Routing
b) Circulation
c) Materials Read in Library
7) What changes or additions would you as a
user want to see implemented in the'
2. Interlibrary Loans
a) Timeliness
b) Accuracy
3) Purchasing Materials
a) Books
b) Journals
4) Photocopying by Library Staff
a) Timeliness
b) Accuracy
5) Database Search Services
a) Timeliness
b) Accuracy
6) Reference Requests
a) Directional Reference/Assistance
b) Brief Reference and Research
c) In-depth Reference and Research
d) Research
8) Overall satisfaction with the library services
that are being provided to you.
Thank You!
Please submit your responses to the NERL/
CRD-LV Library.
Once the responses have been gathered the
results can be posted on the Library. The
Library staff can then assess the situation and
make improvements where necessary.
a
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INFO ACCESS • JULY 1995
THE SUPERFUND INFORMATION CENTER
The SIC, which is located at the EPA
Headquarters Library, contains a
collection of documents dealing with
hazardous waste issues and the
Superfund program. Bibliographic
records of these documents are
included in the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Online Library
System (OLS) which can be reached
by direct modem at EPA's mainframe
at (919) 549-0720 (300-9600 baud, 1
stop bits, 7 data bits, even parity.)
THE COLLECTION
The document collection contains a
broad range of information sources
including:
• Commercial books,
• Toxicological profiles and health
assessment documents relating to
contaminants at Superfund sites,
• OSWER Directives,
• Records of Decision for Superfund
sites, and
• Other EPA-produced publications.
SERVICES PROVIDED BY SIC
Many of the items in the Hazardous
Waste/Superfund Information Center
may be borrowed. In addition to
helping people find information on
hazardous waste or Superfund issues,
they can:
• Provide videos and journals dealing
with hazardous waste and/or
Superfund issues;
AROUND THE NETWORK
This section of INFO ACCESS is
used to report on projects
currently underway or recently
completed in the Regions,
laboratories, and Headquarters
Libraries. Contact Mary Hoffman
(contractor), Libary Network
Coordinator, at (919) 968-3849,
or at e-mail box hoffman.mary if
you would like to contribute to
this column.
NEIC PHONE NUMBERS
The NEIC Library Staff
informed us that we printed the
wrong numbers for them in the
May 1995 Library Network
Directory that appeared on page
34 in the last issue of INFO
ACCESS. Please amend your
copy of the directory with the
following correct phone numbers.
• Dotty Biggs, 303-236-5111
ext 254
• Char Moss (contractor), 303-
236-5111 ext 287
• Kazuko Uchida (contractor),
303-236-5111 ext 246 (on the
Network Directory of ILL
Contacts)
We apologize to Dotty, Char, and
Kazuko, and any of the network
members who tried to use the
numbers previously printed.
• Create subject oriented
bibliographies using the EPA's
Online Library System (OLS) or
selected CD-ROM databases,
including Toxline, Environment
Abstracts, and the National
Technical Information Service
(NTIS) Database;
• Provide training in OLS or
CD-ROM searching;
• Refer people to appropriate sources
of EPA documents, including
hotlines and clearinghouses, the
National Center for Environmental
Publications and Information
(NCEPI), and the National
Technical Information Service
(NTIS); and
• Create current awareness services
for EPA employees, featuring
electronically disseminated tables of
contents for subject oriented
journals, including titles not
currently held at the EPA
Headquarters Library.
LOCATION AND CONTACTS
Please feel free to contact the
Hazardous Waste/Superfund
Information Center staff for your
information needs! They are open to
visitors from 10 AM to 2 PM, Monday
through Friday—but their phones are
always open to you!
Superfund Information Center, 3404"
US EPA, Headquarters Library
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
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INFO ACCESS
JULY 1995
REVEAL-ING DEVELOPMENTS IN ADA
RSKERL Library, Ada, OK
The Subsurface Protection and
Remediation Division of the National
Risk Management Research Laboratory
(formerly Kerr Lab Library in Ada,
Oklahoma) has recently implemented
the CARL UnCover Reveal service.
The site license commencing June 1,
1995 and running through May 31,
1996 provide service for 50 users for
an annual fee of $750. The site license
allows researchers to select up to 50
journal titles to track and to define up
to 25 search profiles to be run against
the journals tracked.
As soon as the tables of contents are
uploaded to the CARL database, they
are available to the researchers
electronically by e-mail. Once weekly,
the search profile is run against the
tracked journals to identify relevant
current citations which are
instantaneously e-mailed to researchers.
At this site, researchers forward their
electronic citations to the Library by e-
mail to fill, either in hard copy or by
interlibrary loan.
There are multiple advantages to
both researcher and contractor alike
accrue from this service. Researchers
receive material in the most timely
manner possible. Journals for which no
local subscriptions are held can be
tracked—an advantage in the age of
increasing serials costs. Paper, toner
and mail delivery costs can be reduced,
and the mandate to reduce paper
circulation within EPA is met.
The initial investment in the service
includes setting up individual profiles,
which can be amended as research
needs shift. The RSKERL Librarian,
recommends that there be a site
coordinator to take responsibility for
getting profiles set up and maintaining
profile numbers in case they are lost or
forgotten. She volunteered to
coordinate these activities at RSKERL
to facilitate implementation. One
hurdle to overcome is working with
"technophobes" who not inclined to use
the computer as a tool. The RSKERL
Librarian has become evangelistic
about this, however, in an effort to
present time-saving advantages to hard-
pressed researchers considering the
service. So far, only five researchers
have opted to take advantage of this
service. Hopes are that the license may
be more fully utilized at the site in the
near future. •
FACILITATING THE PUBLIC'S RIGHT-TO-KNOW
The following was abstracted from
article that appeared in the April 1995
issue of WIRED. It gives EPA credit
for a job well done in the area of
public access and information
dissemination.
A REVOLUTION IN THE "RIGHT-TO-KNOW,"
BY JACQUES LESLIE. WIRED, APRIL 1995,
p.52-53.
Since its creation in 1989, EPA's
"right-to-know" network (RTK NET)
has demonstrated the effectiveness of
providing the public with electronic
access to government information.
RTK NET was created after the
passage of the 1986 Superfund
Amendments and Reauthorization Act,
which required companies to report
their toxic releases to EPA.
Initially EPA made this reported
data on toxics available through the
National Library of Medicine. When
this mode of access did not prove cost-
effective or user-friendly, OMB
Watch, backed by grants from several
foundations, put the data in more
accessible form and trained local
groups to use it.
According to the WIRED article,
RTK's longest running database, the
Toxic Release Inventory System
(TRIS).which contains EPA statistics
on corporate emissions of 300 toxic
chemicals, has changed the balance of
power between industry and the
environmentalists. By regularly
disseminating its data on local
computer bulletin boards, RTK NET
has helped win more than a hundred
lawsuits, and has aided community
groups in pressing local companies to
reduce pollution.
Access to RTK NET:
Via Modem: (202)234-8494
Via Telnet: rtknet.org
Login - public
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INFO ACCESS
JULY 1995
ENVIRO-NEWSBRIEF AND INTERNET NEWSBRIEF: Now ON LISTSERVERS
EPA Headquarters Library, Washington, DC
In July 1995, the EPA Headquarters Library has changed
the distribution mechanism for Enviro-Newsbrief and
Internet Newsbrief from e-mail distribution lists to a
listserver. They decided to take this step to both improve the
quality of the weekly service and streamline the publishing
process. They are confident that the listserver mechanism
will resolve many of the problems encountered by
subscribers under the distribution list method, and at the
same time make both Enviro-Newsbrief and Internet
Newsbrief more widely available and easier to access.
SUBSCRIBING TO THE LISTSERVS
To continue receiving Enviro-Newsbrief, all current
subscribers need to resubscribe to the listserver list. Simply
send an e-mail message to:
listserver@unixmail.rtpnc.epa.gov
(Note: All-in-1 subscribers need to append @IN to this
address.)
with the following request in the body of the message:
subscribe ENVIRONB-L .
for example: subscribe INTERNETNB-L Jonda Byrd
Be careful to observe all upper and lower case characters as
this list is maintained on a UNIX platform, which is case
sensitive.
The advantages of using a listserver rather than a
distribution list are numerous:
• Subscription requests will be handled automatically and.
subscribers will receive confirmation of their
subscription.
• Subscribers will no longer have to scroll through pages
of e-mail addresses before reaching the content of the
Newsbrief.
Interruptions or cancellations in subscriptions caused by
the inability of some e-mail systems to properly process
the large numbers of subscribers will be eliminated.
• Issues of Enviro-Newsbrief and Internet Newsbrief will
be archived for future retrieval.
Note: Only issues posted to the listserver will be
archived; issues distributed prior to the establishment of the
listserver will not be available as archives.
Please note that the listservers were created solely as a
distribution mechanism for Enviro-Newsbrief and Internet
Newsbrief; they are not discussion groups and will not
support posting messages.
Problems concerning subscriptions, suggestions, and
questions regarding information published in Enviro-
Newsbrief and Internet Newsbrief can still be sent to
Library-HQ@epamail.epa.gov. The HQ Library staff will
do their best to respond to your concerns, and answers to
frequently asked questions will be posted to the listserver
with the next issue of the Newsbrief.
The Headquarters Library appreciates your patience with
problems posed by the distribution lists, and regret any
inconvenience this has caused. They trust that these changes
will result in improved service to their subscribers, and that
Enviro-Newsbrief and Internet Newsbrief will continue to
meet your needs in this new format. •
ANOTHER NEW LISTSERV: CWA-SDWA
A listserv has also been implemented to facilitate distribution of the CDW-SDWA Reauthorization Update. To
continue receiving the update, all current subscribers need to resubscribe to the listserver list. Simply send and email
message to: listserver@rtpnc.epa.gov
[All-in-1 subscribers need to append @IN to this address.}
with the following request in the body of the message: subscribe cwa-sdwa firstname lastname
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