Library Names in FDLP eXchange

Some users have noted that the “Library Name” field in their library record in FDLP eXchange contains both their library name and institution name, while the “Parent Institution” field only contains the institution name.

Information in this field was pulled from the Federal Depository Library Directory (FDLD), but in most cases, the Library Name field in FDLP eXchange has been edited to include both the library name and the parent institution. This was done because the Library Name field is used in the drop-down menus for the “Filter by library” library function. The “Filter by region” function also uses the Library Name field, utilizing the regional depository’s Library Name to identify the region.

When the original training site was launched in October 2017, GPO discovered that using the library name alone made it difficult to identify libraries in the drop-down filters in many cases. For libraries with common library names, such as “Library,” “Main Library,” “Law Library,” etc., it was difficult to identify which of multiple listings was the one to use when filtering. This was also problematic for libraries named after individuals, which might not be easily identified by other libraries without the associated parent institution information.

For this reason, when FDLP eXchange was launched for full production use, GPO included both the library and parent institution in the Library Name field. The only exception would be for matters of redundancy. For example if the “Cincinnati Public Library” had “City of Cincinnati” as the Parent Institution in the FDLD, then the Library Name in FDLP eXchange was left as “Cincinnati Public Library.” The institution name was left as it was in the FDLD in all cases.

Users are able to edit this information in their library records. GPO recommends that any editing of this field be done with the ease of identification in the drop-down menus in mind. Changes to library names in FDLP eXchange do not impact the listings in the FDLD, and the FDLD remains the system of record for this information.