****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File**** *************************************************************************** ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 2, Number 5 February 5, 1993 In this issue: (167 lines) COME TO LIBRARY LEGISLATIVE DAY! NREN HEARING ADA ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR CHILDREN'S ENVIRONMENTS BACK ISSUES OF ALAWON FINALLY AVAILABLE *************************************************************************** COME TO LIBRARY LEGISLATIVE DAY! More than 600 librarians and library advocates from across the U.S. are expected to attend the 19th annual Library Legislative Day on April 20, 1993, in Washington, D.C. The day is devoted to meetings with Senators, Representatives, and their staff members on Capitol Hill. Issues to be discussed include Congressional budget priorities, the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), funding for the three national libraries (Library of Congress, National Agricultural Library, and the National Library of Medicine), the Government Printing Office, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the National Research and Education Network, as well as national information policy/access issues. The day's schedule begins with a morning briefing for all the participants which provides an overview of the current status of library legislation by Congressional staff. The briefing is followed by visits to Congressional offices, a wrap-up session for state library coordinators, and a Congressional reception on Capitol Hill. Library Legislative Day, an annual event which takes place during National Library Week, is sponsored by the District of Columbia Library Association (DCLA), the Washington Office of the American Library Association (ALA), and the Special Libraries Association (SLA). This year National Library Week is April 18-24. If you are interested in participating in Library Legislative Day, contact your state library association. For further information, contact Mary Costabile or Fred King, ALA, 202-547-4440; Diane Mohr, DCLA, 202-727-1117; or Sandy Morton-Schwalb, SLA, 202-234-4700. *************************************************************************** NREN HEARING On February 2, the House Science Subcommittee held a hearing on high performance computing and networking. Led by Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA), the hearing focused on implementation of the High Performance Computing Act of December 1991 and the need for additional legislation addressing applications of computing and networking for broad public benefit. Two panels of public witnesses testified. Robert Heterick of EDUCOM, Kenneth Klingenstein of FARNET (the Federation of American Research Networks), Thomas Tauke of NYNEX, and Mitchell Kapor of the Electronic Frontier Foundation made up the first panel; the second panel consisted of Kenneth Kay of the Computer Systems Policy Project (CEOs of eight major computer companies), Charlie Bender of the Coalition of Academic Supercomputer Centers, Michael McDonald of Windom Health Enterprises, and Sara Parker, the Pennsylvania Commissioner of Libraries, representing ALA. Heterick praised the success of NSFNET, but said much was left to be done. Only half of four-year institutions are currently connected, and more two- year institutions, libraries, high schools, and state offices should have access. He recommended funding pilot projects to share resources, focusing on network information and library access, and broadening the current NSF connections program. Tauke recommended that government invest in research and training programs and subsidize access for libraries and educational institutions, but not build and operate networks. He also argued that e- mail between people was an inappropriate use of government funds. Both Klingenstein and Kapor recommended broadening access to include K-12 and libraries. Kapor added that government should provide support for research and for precompetitive technologies. Several witnesses noted that certain federal agencies, particularly the Department of Education, are not full participants in interagency network activities. Kay referred to the report CSPP has issued on the National Information Infrastructure (NII) which recommends eleven areas of public policy that Congress should consider, including access, privacy, and security. McDonald estimated that the U.S. could save $1 trillion this decade by creating a national health care information infrastructure. Bender recommended increased funding for NSF. Parker recommended (1) expansion of the K-12 education component of an applications bill to include public libraries in their role in support of education and lifelong learning; (2) addition of a new component to provide high-level connections for key government information depository libraries and support of pilot projects to make federal and state government information available over the network; and (3) support, within the digital library component, for pilot projects in the conversion of library resources to digital formats, development of an integrated approach to organizing and locating electronic information resources, and education and training programs. Last year's bill for applications in K-12 education, manufacturing, health care, and digital libraries, has been reintroduced in the Senate by Ernest Hollings (D-SC), Chairman of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, as part of S. 4, the National Competitiveness Act. S. 4 has strong Senate leadership support. Rep. Boucher is expected to introduce an applications bill in the House after analyzing suggestions received at the hearing. *************************************************************************** ADA ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR CHILDREN'S ENVIRONMENTS The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board is developing accessibility guidelines for newly constructed and altered children's environments under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and is seeking public comment on various issues relating to the development of guidelines. The guidelines will address places such as day care centers; nursery, pre-school, kindergarten, elementary, and other school programs; temporary child care facilities in shopping malls; and children's museums. The Board would also like comment on whether the guidelines should cover facilities used by both children and adults, such as libraries, theaters, and multi-purpose community facilities. Comments should be received by April 5, 1995. For the complete list of issues being considered by the Board, see the _Federal Register_, February 3, 1993, pp. 6924-5. For further information, contact John Murdoch, Office of Technical and Information Services, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, 1331 F St. NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20004-1111. Phone: 202-272-5434; TDD: 202-272-5449. *************************************************************************** BACK ISSUES OF ALAWON FINALLY AVAILABLE After promising for seven months that back issues of ALAWON will be available soon, they finally are. To find out what is available, send the message "send ala-wo filelist" to listserv@uicvm (Bitnet) or listserv@uicvm.uic.edu (Internet). To get a particular file, send the command "send filename filetype" to the listserv. For ALAWON back issues, the filename is ala-wo, and the filetype is the volume and issue number. For example, to retrieve ALAWON Vol. 2, No. 1, the command would be "send ala-wo 201". Currently the filelist does not contain descriptions stating when the issues were distributed. We hope to have that information included soon. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ALAWON is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Editor and List Owner: Fred King. Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363; Bitnet: NU_ALAWASH@CUA; Internet: NU_ALAWASH@CUA.EDU 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 listserv@uicvm (Bitnet) or listserv@uicvm.uic.edu (internet). Back issues of ALAWON are available from the list server. To find out what's available, send the message "send ala-wo filelist" to the listserv. The ALA-WO filelist contains the list of files with the exact filename and filetype. To get a particular file, send the command "send filename filetype" to the listserv. *************************************************************************** ***End of file******************End of file******************End of file***