****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File**** *************************************************************************** ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 2, Number 33 July 30, 1993 In this issue: (243 lines) HEARING ON THE TECHNOLOGY FOR EDUCATION ACT COPYRIGHT - SOFTWARE LENDING BY LIBRARIES HEA II REGULATIONS ISSUED NTIA PILOT PROJECTS BILL INTRODUCED *************************************************************************** HEARING ON THE TECHNOLOGY FOR EDUCATION ACT On July 21, the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee held a hearing on S. 1040, the Technology for Education Act (see the June 25 _ALA Washington Newsletter_). The bill's sponsor, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), chaired the greater part of the hearing. Panel 1 was composed of students, teachers, a school principal, and a librarian discussing "Classroom Success via Technology," and Panel 2 included teachers, students and software providers demonstrating "Classroom Opportunities via Technology." Valerie Wilford, the Executive Director of the Illinois Valley Library System, testified on behalf of the American Association of School Librarians, a division of ALA. She explained that her system, composed of school, public, academic, and special libraries, is committed to resource sharing. She applauded the inclusion in S. 1040 of school library media centers and school library media specialists as "an essential element, a partner, in the educational infrastructure." She stressed that while technology will be an important part in the achievement of the national education goals, strong school library media collections and programs are also needed. Merging the former school library assistance into the Chapter 2 block grant program, Wilford said, caused a dramatic decline in support for school libraries; preliminary studies showed that collections in some libraries were extremely outdated, with many books in science, health, and astronomy dating back to 1965. She noted that librarians led the way in the application of automated systems to enhance learning, but said that resource sharing can only occur when there is something to share, so attention must also be paid to school library resources. Wilford urged the committee, in designing a legislative response appropriate to the achievement of the national education goals, to "guarantee student access to the wide variety of school library media center resources and skills;" to reexamine the components of S. 266; and to recognize legislatively that library media resources are not fixed assets, but must be regularly replaced and updated. Senator Bingaman asked some of the panelists what they considered to be the most important thrust of the bill. Many of the teachers expressed the importance of training in the successful use of new technology. Ann Marie Ryan, a teacher from Charlestown High School in Massachusetts, said the logical spot for technology in the school would be the library. Senator Paul Simon (D-IL), a member of the committee and sponsor of S. 266, the Elementary and Secondary School Library Media Act, issued a statement for the hearing in which he said he was pleased that S. 1040 included a portion of his legislation. He added that school libraries "are in great need," and used sources cited in Wilford's testimony to show that even in one of the more affluent school districts in Illinois, "60 percent of all the high school's science books...are significantly older than the students using them;" that in California, "more than half of all school libraries have closed during the last ten years;" and that "library and media spending affects student achievement more than any other school expenditure." He concluded: "If we are to prepare our nation's children for the challenges of the future, every school in the United States must be equipped with the best and most up-to-date library resources available." S. 1040 was "a step in the right direction," according to Simon. *************************************************************************** COPYRIGHT - SOFTWARE LENDING BY LIBRARIES The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is preparing a report for Congress on the extent to which the Computer Software Rental Amendments Act of 1990 has achieved its intended purpose with respect to lending by nonprofit libraries. The Act permits nonprofit libraries to lend computer programs for nonprofit purposes, provided that each copy lent by the library bears a warning of copyright in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Register of Copyrights. The Copyright Office is required to report to Congress by December 1, 1993 on whether the Act has achieved its intended purpose of maintaining the integrity of the copyright system while allowing libraries to fulfill their functions. The report will also give Congress any information or recommendations that the Register considers necessary to carry out Congress' intent. The Copyright Office is seeking public comments on and information about lending of computer programs for nonprofit purposes by nonprofit libraries, for the purpose of evaluating how the nonprofit lending provision is working. The Office invites comment from all interested parties including software proprietors, librarians, and library patrons. Comments are due by October 12, 1993. Ten copies of written comments should be mailed to Dorothy Schrader, General Counsel, United States Copyright Office, Library of Congress, Department 17, Washington, DC 20540; or delivered in person to the Office of the Register of Copyrights, Copyright Office, James Madison Memorial Building, Room 407, First Street and Independence Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20559. The Office is particularly interested in comments in several areas, including: * Whether nonprofit libraries and educational institutions are meeting patron needs with regard to computer software, and whether the software lending provisions facilitate or impede fulfilling institutional functions; * How often institutions are lending software; * Whether the regulations requiring warning labels represent an onerous burden; * Whether unauthorized copying, adaptation, redistribution, public performance or display of computer programs is occurring as a result of lending by libraries; * Whether the exemption allowing libraries to lend software is harmful to the interests of copyright owners; and * Whether new legislation is needed to clarify existing legislation or to rectify any imbalance between the rights of owners and the needs of users. For further information, see the _Federal Register_, July 13, 1993, pp. 37757-8, or contact Dorothy Schrader, General Counsel, Copyright Office, Library of Congress, Department 17, Washington, DC 20540, 202-707-8380. *************************************************************************** HEA II REGULATIONS ISSUED The Department of Education has published final regulations for several library programs to implement provisions of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 (PL 102-325), the recent HEA reauthorization legislation. Regulations are now in place for the HEA II-A College Library Technology and Cooperation Grants Program, the HEA II-B Library Research and Demonstration Program, and the HEA II-C Improving Access to Research Library Resources Program. Only two changes were required to the draft regulations published for comment in April, and both relate to the HEA II-A program. The definition of "developing institution of higher education" has been revised to clarify that it includes institutions eligible under the Strengthening Institutions Program or the Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program. The definition of "network" has been revised to clarify that networking grants may be made to a network that coordinates the resources of one type of library entity or any combination of types of library entities. See the July 27 _Federal Register_, pp. 40245-49, or contact Louise Sutherland or Frank Stevens, 202-219-1315 (for TDD, 800-877-8339) at the Department of Education. *************************************************************************** NTIA PILOT PROJECTS BILL INTRODUCED On July 14, House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA) introduced HR 2639, the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure and Public Broadcasting Facilities Assistance Act of 1993. Introduced at the request of the Administration, the bill would authorize the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in the Department of Commerce to award matching grants to assist in the development of a national telecommunications and information infrastructure. The House subcommittee heard from Larry Irving, the recently confirmed Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information (and head of NTIA) at a hearing on July 15. Irving stated that through this bill, "NTIA will devote special attention to bringing the benefits of the Information Age to traditionally unserved and underserved groups including the poor, minorities, women, rural Americans and disabled individuals. In short, we will work to assure that the enhanced infrastructure serves the telecommunications and information needs of all Americans." The objectives of the grants authorized under title II, Assistance for Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Development, are to: (1) expand telecommunications networks or systems for health care providers, educational institutions, research facilities, libraries, museums, State and local governments, and other social service and public information providers; (2) enhance the ability, through interconnection, of health care providers, educational institutions, research facilities, libraries, museums, State and local governments, and other social service and public information providers to access existing and new sources of information; (3) improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of social services, such as education and health care, to the American people; (4) promote innovation in the use of telecommunications services and technologies by supporting telecommunications demonstration projects in the delivery of social services; and (5) increase the professional productivity, personal growth, and quality of life for all citizens of the United States, especially traditionally underserved populations thereof, through efficient access to information. Training would be an eligible use of funds. Planning grants would not require matching funds. Special consideration would be given to applications that would increase participation by underserved populations. For FY94, $51 million would be authorized for such grants (the same amount requested by President Clinton in his FY94 budget), plus such sums as necessary for FY 1995-98. Other titles of the bill would authorize assistance for planning and construction of public broadcasting facilities, extend the National Endowment for Children's Educational Television, and reauthorize NTIA generally. The ALA Washington Office was asked by the House subcommittee to provide comments on the bill. The July 27 response from Director Eileen Cooke indicated that ALA was "pleased that the bill would authorize the funding of pilot projects to promote the availability--to libraries, educational institutions, state and local governments, and other agencies and institutions--of advanced telecommunications and information technologies to enhance diverse social services and access to information. HR 2639 has the potential to assist all types of libraries in their public mission of providing equitable access for the American people to a wide variety of information resources in all formats." *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ALAWON is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363; Internet: alawash@alawash.org. Editor and List Owner: Fred King (fdk@alawash.org). 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, issue the command "send filename filetype" to the listserv. Do not include the quotes in your commands. *************************************************************************** ***End of file******************End of file******************End of file***