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Vol. 2006, Issue 1
August 23, 2006
http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash/
The Washington Office is pleased to release the inaugural issue of our
new electronic newsletter, The AALL Washington E-Bulletin. In each issue
we will cover current action alerts, updates on the recent activities of
the Washington Office, news from AALL chapters, and a section of
interesting reading material. Our new electronic publication will be
distributed via the AALL Advocacy listserv and will also be posted to
the Washington Office web site. If you are a member of AALL or one of
our chapters, you can subscribe to the listserv from our web site
<http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash/>.
Without further ado, we are pleased to offer for your reading enjoyment
the first issue of The AALL Washington E-Bulletin.
IN THIS ISSUE
Take Action Now
* Net Neutrality <#_Net_Neutrality>
* "The Official Secrets Act" <#_The_Official_Secrets_Act>
Washington Office Activities
* FY 2007 Budget Concerns <#_FY_2007_Budget_Concerns>
* AALL Response to "Proposed Revision of the Essential Titles List"
<#_AALL_Response_to_Proposed%20Revision%20>
* Summaries of Meetings and Hearings Attended
<#_Summaries_of_Meetings_and%20Hearings%20>
Outside the Beltway: Chapter News
* SNELLA Creates Government Relations Committee
<#_SNELLA_Creates_Government_Relations>
Free Time Well Spent: Further Reading for the Information Policy Junkie
<#_FREE_TIME_WELL_SPENT:%20%20Further%20Read>
TAKE ACTION NOW
The release of the Washington Office's first electronic newsletter
coincides with the August congressional recess. While members of
Congress tend to business in their home states, the Washington Office is
hard at work on several key issues. Please take the time to become aware
of the following two issues and contact your representatives in the
Senate before Congress returns for the fall session. You can reach your
Senator through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at: 202.224.3121, or via
email
<http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm>.
Your efforts are greatly appreciated, thank you.
Net Neutrality
The Washington Office released an Action Alert
<http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash/aa07262006.html> on July 26, 2006
regarding the lack of substantive network neutrality language in the
Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006
(S. 2686). Telecom companies, without net neutrality, could charge
Internet companies a higher premium to have access to a higher speed
broadband connection. This would create a two-tiered system and a
segregated Internet in which telecom companies, through the use of
premiums, could indirectly control access to web sites.
Controlling Internet activities through tiered premiums would create a
barrier to creativity and ingenuity. Start-up companies with little cash
on hand would not be able to access the highest speed connection, which
would make it difficult to bring their ideas to fruition. Also, law
libraries may not be able to provide the same volume of information
online as most do now due to the cost of accessing the fastest
connections. We need you to call or email your Senators and urge them to
oppose any new communications bill unless it includes meaningful net
neutrality provisions.
The Official Secrets Act
The Washington Office also released an Action Alert
<http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash/aa08162006.html> on August 16,
2006 opposing S. 3774, a bill To amend title 18, United States Code, to
prohibit the unauthorized disclosure of classified information,
introduced by Sen. Christopher Bond (R-MO) on August 2, 2006. Bond's
bill would give the executive branch broad discretion to prosecute
individuals engaged in disclosure of government secrets because it
allows for the prosecution of individuals without proving that a
disclosure poses a threat to national security. We are concerned about
S. 3774 because we believe in transparency and accountability in
government. The bill is an attack on the First Amendment rights of the
press, whistleblowers, and others whose intention it is to monitor
government actions and ensure that the government does not abuse or
overstep its authority. Help us and other open government organizations
to oppose this bill by contacting your Senators this month.
WASHINGTON OFFICE ACTIVITIES
FY 2007 Budget Concerns
The new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2006 and Congress has yet to
complete action on most of the appropriations bills. We are very
concerned with budget cuts to the Government Printing Office, the
National Archives and Records Administration and libraries at the
Environmental Protection Agency. We are working hard this month with
other organizations to try to get their funding restored.
* The Government Printing Office (GPO) - The House of
Representatives approved a total of $130.5 million for GPO's FY
2007 budget, including $35.3 million for the Salaries and Expenses
(S&E). The Senate has now reported its version of H.R. 5521 and
approved a total FY 2007 budget for GPO of $140.3 million,
including $40 million for the S&E. The higher level of funding
reported in the Senate is needed for GPO's Future Digital System
(FDsys); training and user support; the conversion of cataloging
records; cataloging for web-harvested documents; the
authentication of web-harvested and digitized document; and
capital expenses associated with authentication and access. The
conference committee will meet this fall and we are already
working hard to ensure that GPO receives the level of funding
approved by the Senate.
* The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) - The
Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the
Judiciary, the District of Columbia and Independent Agencies
Appropriations Act, 2007 was passed in the House and is currently
being considered in the Senate. The bill contains glaring budget
cuts to NARA as noted in an AALL Action Alert
<http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash/aa07172006.html>. The FY
2007 budget proposed by President Bush included $355.6 million in
funds for NARA. During the June 14, 2006 House floor debate, $8
million was cut from NARA's operating expenses to fund an
unrelated drug interdiction program. Unfortunately, the Senate
reported a cut of approximately $8 million as well following
mark-up on July 20, 2006. As a result of the proposed budget cuts,
NARA has issued a Federal Register notice proposing the
elimination of evening and Saturday hours at the National Archives
I and II.
* The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Libraries - The EPA
budget for FY 2007 is $7.3 billion. A troubling part of the
President's budget that has been approved by the House and Senate
is a $2 million cut for the EPA's network of technical research
libraries. As a result, it has already been announced that EPA's
Chicago, Dallas and Kansas City regional libraries are being
closed. Other libraries are facing reduced staff and shortened
hours of operation. In addition, the D.C. Headquarters Library is
being closed to the public. As a result of these mass closures,
many original research documents will be completely inaccessible
as they are not available online. Additionally, materials housed
in the closed libraries may not be part of an inter-library loan
program, thus making it extremely difficult to access these
resources as well.
AALL Response to Proposed Revision of the Essential Titles List
AALL President Sally Holterhoff submitted a letter
<http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash/lt07312006.pdf> to Judith
Russell, GPO Superintendent of Documents, in late July to oppose
revisions to the Essential Titles List (ETL). Ms. Holterhoff stressed
several points including the fact that there is no consensus as to what
should be considered "essential." GPO is proposing that titles selected
by more than 85% of the 1243 depository libraries would be added to the
ETL. This high threshold is unacceptable and would lead to a "one size
fits all" program. There is a need for depository libraries to build
unique collections to serve their patrons more effectively.
Ms. Holterhoff's letter also addressed problems with the stability and
reliability of GPO's online databases. She noted that the Future Digital
System (FDsys) is under development. GPO Access is not a reliable
system. It does not ensure version control, authenticity, preservation,
and permanent public access. Additionally, GPO's online system should
always be accessible and servers should never be down. Ms. Holterhoff
offered AALL's expertise to work with GPO staff and others in the
depository library community to develop more balanced criteria for
determining formats for dissemination to depository libraries.
Summaries of Meetings and Hearings Attended
* Library of Congress: Library of the 21st Century - The U.S. House
Committee on House Administration held an oversight hearing on
July 27, 2006. Issues of interest to law librarians included a
discussion on the progress of the National Digital Information
Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP). Dr. James
Billington, Librarian of Congress, reported that Library of
Congress (LC) has invested its resources in three specific areas:
acquiring, preserving, and providing access to digital content;
engineering the technical infrastructure to support preservation;
and conducting digital preservation research to ensure that what
is preserved today is accessible tomorrow. For further
information, you can access statements from the hearing, as well
as a link to a webcast, at the Committee on House Administration
web site <http://cha.house.gov/hearings/hearing.aspx?NewsID=1370>.
* Dialogue on Shaping the Future of Regulations.gov - eRulemaking
plans to launch an enhanced Regulations.gov
<http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main> site in
September 2006. A focus group was held on August 1, 2006 to
receive feedback from various groups on these enhancements and
future proposed changes. Changes that may be part of future
enhancements include the ability to do full text searches and to
search within a docket. eRulemaking is planning a public forum for
September in Washington, D.C. for further discussion on
Regulations.gov. The forum will include a national web conference.
The exact dates of the forum have not yet been determined, but
when they are announced we will be sure to let you know.
OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY: CHAPTER NEWS
The Washington Office would like to hear news from our chapters about
state legislative or policy issues to include in this section of our
newsletter. Please contact us if you have anything to report. Also, if
you are an AALL or chapter member who has not signed up for our Advocacy
listserv, you can do so at our Washington Office web site
<http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash/>.
SNELLA Creates Government Relations Committee
Steve Mirsky, Law/Leg Reference Librarian at the Connecticut State
Library, informed the Washington Office that the Southern New England
Law Librarians Association (SNELLA) established a government relations
committee at its July board meeting. SNELLA's GRC is already hard at
work contacting its members and urging them to become involved in
advocacy efforts. SNELLA also created a government relations section on
its web site <http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/snella/index.htm>.
Congratulations, SNELLA, the Washington Office looks forward to working
with you in the future!
FREE TIME WELL SPENT: Further Reading for the Information Policy Junkie
Common Cause has released two reports
<http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=1499059>
examining the lobbying methods used by telecom companies in the net
neutrality battle. In March, the first report, "Wolves in Sheep's
Clothing," was released. "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing, Part II: More
Telecom Industry Front Groups and Astroturf," released on August 10,
2006, chronicles the activities of five additional groups.
The Law Library of Congress announced the release of the June/July issue
<http://www.loc.gov/law/public/reports/glm.pdf> of the Global Legal
Monitor. This publication tracks legal developments around the world,
and it digests cases and recent legislation.
The American Library Association (ALA) Washington Office wrote a short
piece <http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washnews/2006ndx/078aug03.htm> for
their August 3, 2006 newsletter discussing the benefits of personalizing
letters to Congress.
The Center for Technology in Government recently released two reports
<http://www.ctg.albany.edu/> focusing on efforts to preserve digital
information at the state level. The goal of the two-year project was to
create a method for the Library of Congress (LC) to work collaboratively
with state governments in preserving critical government information.
The Berkman Center at Harvard Law School released a report
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home> about education and copyright
restrictions, entitled "The Digital Learning Challenge: Obstacles to
Educational Uses of Copyrighted Material in the Digital Age."
The 2006-2007 edition <http://www.gpoaccess.gov/gmanual/index.html> of
the United States Government Manual, the official handbook of the
Federal Government, is now available on GPO Access.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report
<http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06906.pdf> on August 18, 2006 entitled
Electronic Records Archives: The National Archives and Records
Administration's Fiscal Year 2006 Expenditure Plan. The report by GAO
judges how effectively NARA satisfied various legislative conditions
with its 2006 spending to develop the ERA.
Bryan Stevens
Mary Alice Baish
AALL Advocacy/Communications Assistant
AALL Associate Washington Affairs Representative
202.662.4058
202.662.9200
bfs24@law.georgetown.edu <mailto:bfs24@law.georgetown.edu>
baish@law.georgetown.edu <mailto:baish@law.georgetown.edu>
<mailto:bfs24@law.georgetown.edu>
© 2006 American Association of Law Libraries
-- Bryan Stevens Advocacy/Communications Assistant Georgetown University Law Library 111 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20001-1417 TEL 202.662.4058 FAX 202.662.4059 bfs24@law.georgetown.edu
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