***Begin File*******************Begin File********************Begin File*** *************************************************************************** A LL A W W OO NN NN A A LL A A W W OO OO NNN NN A A LL A A W W W O O NN N NN A A A A LL A A A A W W W O O NN N NN A A LL A A W W W OO OO NN NNN A A LLLLLLLLLL A A W W OO NN NN ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 1, Number 1 July 9, 1992 In this issue: WELCOME ALA CONFERENCE ACTIONS ON LEGISLATIVE ISSUES *************************************************************************** WELCOME Welcome to the ALA Washington Office Newsline. After eight years (through 1991) of providing the ALA Washington Newsline on ALANET, we are pleased to be back in business with our second generation electronic newsletter, courtesy of ALA's LISTSERV at the University of Illinois at Chicago. As with any new venture, we will undoubtedly encounter some bugs getting started. If you experience any problems with your subscription, send us a message at nu_alawash@cua (Bitnet) or nu_alawash@cuavax.dnet.cua.edu (Internet). *************************************************************************** ALA CONFERENCE ACTIONS ON LEGISLATIVE ISSUES Here's a quick report on ALA Council actions on legislative and regulatory issues taken during the ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco. The resolutions listed below, with an unofficial summary of the substantive "resolved" clauses, were all adopted on July 1, 1992. CD #20.7, RESOLUTION ON THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS FUND ACT OF 1992, S.2748 RESOLVED clauses list the improvements that the Library of Congress has made to its fund legislation as a result of library community suggestions, and the problem areas in S. 2748 as introduced on May 20, 1992. RESOLVED, that ALA's goals in working with the Library of Congress to improve the legislation have not been fully met; RESOLVED, that ALA recommend that Congress amend S. 2748 to achieve greater clarity in definitions, to more carefully define appropriate costs for different levels of service, to ensure that fees are not a barrier to access for the nation and its libraries to the national treasure which is the Library of Congress, and to ensure full compliance with all other applicable statutes, before taking action on the legislation; RESOLVED, that ALA stand ready to be of assistance to Congress and to its Library in working to achieve these goals. CD #20.8, RESOLUTION ON REAUTHORIZATION OF THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT RESOLVED, that ALA urge the U.S. Congress in its reauthorization of Chapter 2 of ESEA to include targeted funds for library materials in each state's allocation to aid in meeting the National Education Goals and to begin to implement the top priorities of the White House Conference on Library and Information Services in order to ensure that the youth of this nation will be effective, productive citizens able to compete in a global society. CD #20.9, RESOLUTION CONCERNING CONTRACTOR COPYRIGHT AND USE ROYALTIES FOR THE ERIC DATABASE RESOLVED, that ALA urge the Department of Education to withdraw its permission to copyright the ERIC database, thereby keeping this taxpayer- funded database in the public domain; and be it further RESOLVED, that ALA urge the Dept. of Education to utilize appropriated funds for needed enhancements to the ERIC database and to reject its contractor's proposal that royalty charges and user fees be imposed to fund improvements and generate additional revenues for the contractor for its services; RESOLVED, that ALA urge Congress to prohibit copyrighting of the ERIC database and the imposition of royalty charges by any contractor. CD #20.10, RESOLUTION TO ENSURE PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE PAPERS OF FORMER GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS RESOLVED, that ALA urge Congress to pass legislation recognizing that the information accumulated by agency heads and other presidential appointees while serving in office is public property, subject to the Freedom of Information Act. CD #20.11, RESOLUTION OPPOSING ROYALTY CHARGES FOR REDISSEMINATION OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION RESOLVED, that ALA urge the U.S. Congress to refrain from enacting laws that require a government-imposed royalty charge for secondary distribution of government information products and services; RESOLVED, that ALA encourage members of Congress to reaffirm their commitment to the equitable dissemination of government information in all formats to the American people. CD #20.12, RESOLUTION ON THE PROPOSED REVISION OF OMB CIRCULAR A-130 (Management of Federal Information Resources) RESOLVED, that ALA urge the Office of Management and Budget to revise its interpretation of "government publication," so that government information in any medium or form be considered a "government publication," and that such publications be made available to the public through the Depository Library Program and other channels. CD #20.13, RESOLUTION ON S. 2813 - GPO GATEWAY TO GOVERNMENT RESOLVED, that ALA urge Congress to recognize that the GPO Gateway would provide a needed focus and allow broad, reasonable, online public access to government information in electronic formats through a variety of channels, including the Depository Library Program; RESOLVED, that ALA urge Congress to enact S. 2813, the GPO Gateway to Government Act of 1992 (the companion measure to HR 2772, the GPO WINDO Act). CD #54, RESOLUTION ON THE TAXATION OF PUBLISHERS' BOOK INVENTORIES RESOLVED, that ALA urge Congress to exempt books and other publications from the Thor ruling. CD #55, RESOLUTION ON TAXATION OF LIBRARY INFORMATION RESOURCES RESOLVED, that ALA condemn the taxation of library information resources as an infringement upon the public's right to know by increasing costs, thereby reducing libraries' purchasing power resulting in less accessibility to information. CD #57, RESOLUTION ON HR 1300 AND S. 2320, THE UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE ACT RESOLVED, that ALA endorse these bills. CD #18.1.1, RESOLUTION ON REAUTHORIZATION OF THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING RESOLVED, that ALA support the reauthorization of CPB without restrictions on the scheduling or content of programming developed by CPB or the Independent Television Service. CD #18.1.2, RESOLUTION ON LOYALTY OATHS RESOLVED, that ALA protest conditions of employment predicated on inquiries into library employees' thoughts, reading matter, associates, or membership in organizations; that ALA strongly protest compulsory affirmations of allegiance as a condition of employment in libraries; that ALA call on libraries not to impose loyalty tests or oaths as conditions of employment. CD #18.1.3, RESOLUTION ON SHIELD LAWS RESOLVED, that ALA exhort its chapters to work vigorously for the enactment of broad and effective shield laws (establishing the privilege of confidentiality for the sources of information used by authors, journalists and broadcasters) in every state. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ALAWON is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Editors: Eileen D. Cooke, Carol C. Henderson. List Owner: Fred King. Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363; Bitnet: NU_ALAWASH@CUA All or part of ALAWON may be redistributed, with appropriate credits. ALAWON is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your name]" to the Bitnet address listserv@uicvm. Back issues of ALAWON will be available soon. Instructions on how to retrieve them will be published in future issues. *************************************************************************** ***End of file******************End of file******************End of file***