Copyright Office

Copyright Office Needs to Develop Plans that Address Technical and Organizational Challenges

U.S. Government Accountability Office | March 2015

...The Copyright Office requested over $7 million in fiscal years 2015 and 2016 to
address four key challenges: (1) reengineer recordation—one of the office’s key
business processes—to include developing an online filing capability; (2) develop
a secure digital repository for its electronic materials (e.g., books and music); (3)
develop a software application development environment; and (4) establish a
data management team, to include developing data standards. The office has
also published a report that summarizes stakeholder comments on the current IT
environment and makes several recommendations to improve this environment.

However, the office has not adequately justified these proposed investments.
Specifically, it has not identified the business needs they are intended to meet,
expected costs, or how they align with the agency’s strategic plan, as called for
by Library IT investment management policy. The office also did not present the
investments to the Library’s IT investment review board, which was established
to select investments for funding that meet defined criteria and ensure that such
investments are not duplicative of existing investments or activities performed
within the Library. Copyright officials stated that these initiatives were in early
stages and the office was not yet in a position to develop this information.
However, without identifying key costs and benefits of proposed initiatives and
presenting this information to the Library-wide investment review board, decision
makers at the Library and the Copyright Office do not have the assurance that
the selected investments support the organization’s goals and do not duplicate
existing activities. In addition, the office does not have an IT strategic plan, and
officials described difficulties in developing such a plan given that the Library has
not yet developed one. As noted in a recent GAO review of the Library’s IT
management, the Library has recently committed to developing an updated IT
strategic plan, and it will be important for the Copyright Office’s own strategic
planning to be aligned with this effort.

<The full 40-page report is at http://copyright.gov/reports/GAO_USCO_Report_20150331.pdf; related link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/opinion/sunday/digital-neglect-at-the-library-of-congress.html (Digital Neglect at the Library of Congress) and http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-librarian-of-congress-is-only-human/2015/06/14/b2292b30-1135-11e5-a0fe-dccfea4653ee_story.html (The librarian of Congress is only human)>