****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File**** *************************************************************************** ISSN 1069-7799 ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 3, Number 23 May 25, 1994 In this issue: (313 lines) GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE BUDGET - ACTION NEEDED LIBRARY OF CONGRESS BUDGET NEH FY95 BUDGET REQUEST ESEA REAUTHORIZATION HEAD START EXTENSION INCLUDES LIBRARIES IITF REPORT INCLUDES "LIBRARIES AND THE NII" *************************************************************************** GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE BUDGET - ACTION NEEDED The House Appropriations Committee denied the $1.1 million the Public Printer requested to distribute the 1994 edition of the United States Code in both paper and CD-ROM to depository libraries. The action was taken on May 19 when the Committee marked up H.R. 4454, Legislative Branch Appropriations for FY 1995. The Public Printer requested $33.9 for the Superintendent of Documents salaries and expenses appropriations for FY 1995. The House Appropriations Committee recommended $32.1 million for this account, reducing the funding by the $1.1 million requested for distribution of the U.S. Code to depositories. It is good news that the Committee recommended an increase in funding for the appropriation that funds the Depository Library Program- -$32.1 million in FY 1995 compared to $29.082 million in FY 1994--but librarians are dismayed at the restrictive language the Committee placed in H. Rept. 103-517 concerning distribution of the U.S. Code: The Committee has reduced the funding for the U.S. Code ($1.1 million). The Code is now available in CD-ROM format, and that product should be distributed rather than the much more expensive printed copies. This will not only save printing expenditures, but it will also allow economizing space at the GPO warehouse and at the depositories. The Committee believes that the potential to realize savings from the use of electronic formats in lieu of traditional paper products should be vigorously pursued. Recognizing that various formats differ in their utility for users, it is necessary to establish priorities for maximum value within budgetary constraints. The Public Printer presented his budget request of $33.9 million for the SuDocs salaries and expenses appropriation on May 10 to the Senate Legislative Branch Subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) and Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) also attended the hearing. ALA and the Association of Research Libraries submitted a joint letter for the record supporting GPO's budget request. ACTION NEEDED: The Senate Legislative Branch Subcommittee [Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), chair; Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.); Sen. Patty Murray (D- Wash.); Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla.); and Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.] will act within the next few weeks on H.R. 4454, the Legislative Branch FY 1995 appropriations bill. Members of the subcommittee, but also all Senators on the Appropriations Committee, should be asked to restore funding for depository distribution of the U.S. Code and to eliminate the restrictive language directing the Government Printing Office to distribute the Code only in CD-ROM format. You could point out that the U.S. Code is one of the primary resources of legal information in the United States, since it contains the text of federal laws in force; legal citations must be made to the official Code; it is one of the 21 core titles recommended for selection by all depository libraries; it is used extensively by both librarians and the general public; not all depositories have CD-ROM readers, thus limiting the ability of the public to use this key publication; even when a CD-ROM reader is available, the library may also have heavily used information like Census data or the National Trade Data Bank mounted on the same work station; more than 1,100 libraries currently select the U.S. Code in paper--while about 300 select the Code in CD-ROM; depository librarians need to be able to select the format--paper or CD-ROM--most useful for their users; since the paper version costs approximately $1,200, some depositories may not be able to buy the paper Code if their users need it; only the paper version has an index--the index is copyrighted by West Publishing, and has not been included on the government CD-ROM; there may be a time delay in the production schedule which could seriously affect the libraries selecting this publication (the current procedure for the release of the CD-ROM is to release the disk only when the basic set or the supplements are complete. This could be as much as 18-months after paper is published.). Even if GPO were to find savings that would permit distribution of the Code in paper and CD-ROM, the House's restrictive report language would prevent the distribution of a paper version of the U.S. Code to the public through depository libraries. *************************************************************************** LIBRARY OF CONGRESS BUDGET When the House Appropriations Committee marked up H.R. 4454, Legislative Branch Appropriations for FY 1995, it recommended $260.230 million for the operations of the Library of Congress with the exception of the Congressional Research Service. The funds are allocated as follows: salaries and expenses ($199.998 million); copyright office ($9.795 million); books for the blind and physically handicapped ($44.622 million); furniture and furnishings ($5.825 million). Language in H. Rept. 103-117 points out: The Library also receives funds from other appropriations and sources estimated to total $194,310,000 for fiscal year 1995 including $58,938,000 for the Congressional Research Service in title I of the bill, and $9,860,000 appropriated to the Architect of the Capitol for the structural and mechanical care of the Library buildings. The remainder consists of receipts from copyright fees and the sale of catalog cards and publications, income from gift and trust funds, and reimbursements for services performed for other Government agencies. Thus, a total of $454,540,000 from all sources will be available to the Library during the next fiscal year. Of that amount, $82,493,000 (18.1%) is for support of Congress. The balance is general government or public service in nature, such as American Folklife Center, Copyright Office, and Books for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Discussing the funding of the Library's salaries and expenses appropriations the report said: The sum of $207,857,000, including $7,869,000 in offsetting receipts, is recommended for salaries and expenses which is the basic appropriation for the operation of Library programs, a reduction of $5,348,000 under the budget request and an increase of $6,451,000 above 1994. This level provides sufficient funding for the current FTE base, adjusted for the reassignment of several American Memory positions. Thus, the current service program is provided in the House bill. Reductions available from several program improvement have been made.... Reassignments are provided to increase Library digital efforts, human resource management, and arrearage reduction in collections services and at the American Folklife Center.... The automation program has again received maximum support from the Committee, the request is fully funded. The Committee continues to benefit from the Library's assistance in improving electronic filing and recordkeeping. The Library plans to install requisite optical filing hardware to further demonstrate use of this technology and its applicability to the overall Legislative Branch Telecommunications Network. The Senate Legislative Branch Subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Harry Reid (D- Nev.), received testimony from Library of Congress officials on May 6 concerning the Library's FY 1995 budget request. On the same day, ALA and the Association of Research Libraries submitted a joint letter to the Subcommittee supporting the Library's request for $358 million (which includes authority to use $25.3 million in receipts) in FY 1995. Senate action on Legislative Branch appropriations is anticipated within the next few weeks. *************************************************************************** NEH FY95 BUDGET REQUEST Administration's NEH FY 1995 Budget Request (amounts in thousands) FY 1994 FY 1995 PROGRAM Approp. Admin. Request National Endowment for the Humanities, TOTAL $ 177,491 $ 177,491 Humanities Projects in Libraries and Archives 2,497 2,490 Office of Preservation 23,058 22,981 Research Programs 17,852 17,792 Challenge Grants 14,228 14,000 The administration's FY 1995 budget request for the National Endowment for the Humanities is exactly the same as the funding level for FY 1994. If appropriations for the NEH are enacted without change, FY 1995 will be the fourth consecutive year with virtually no growth. Legislation to reauthorize the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities is still pending in the Senate, and the agencies have been operating without authorizing legislation since October 1993. If action is not forthcoming soon, there may be a problem with appropriations, since House and Senate legislators are reluctant to place authorizing language on an appropriations bill. However in 1990, reauthorization for the Endowments was added to an Interior appropriations bill. In February, the National Council on the Humanities endorsed Sheldon Hackney's plan to end the limitation of two Challenge Grants per institution. The language approved allows all institutions receiving one, two or more NEH Challenge Grants to apply for another in the fourth fiscal year after their most recent NEH Challenge Grant has been closed out. *************************************************************************** ESEA REAUTHORIZATION On May 17, the Senate Subcommittee on Education, Arts and the Humanities approved S. 1513, the Senate version of Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization. Included in the bill is language to create a set- aside for school library media resources. Between ten and twenty percent of appropriations for title III, part A, Educational Technology for all Students, would be available for grants or allocations, according to relative need, for the acquisition of school library resources in printed, electronic, or other formats. The school library resources provision was negotiated by Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) as a way to incorporate the essence of his bill, S. 266, the Elementary and Secondary School Library Media act, into the Senate ESEA reauthorization bill. Total authorization levels for part A, the technology program, are approximately $337 million. Also specified in the bill is training in technology for school library media specialists. A printed version of the legislation as approved will not be available until after the full committee acts on the bill in late May. *************************************************************************** HEAD START EXTENSION INCLUDES LIBRARIES On May 12, Congress gave final approval to a four-year extension of the nearly 30-year-old Head Start program. Part of a larger reauthorization of community service programs, the Human Services Amendments of 1994, S. 2000 was signed into law, P.L. 103-252, by President Clinton on May 18. Changes to the Head Start program include a new initiative for children from birth to 3 years of age, and a major emphasis on parental involvement and family literacy programs. Public and school libraries have been added to the entities to which families may be referred to receive family literacy services and skills training. This new library reference is due to the work of ALA member Virginia Mathews. She has been working with ALA's Association for Library Service to Children to develop partnerships between libraries and Head Start programs, as a follow-up to the high priority for children and youth literacy initiatives of the 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services. *************************************************************************** IITF REPORT INCLUDES "LIBRARIES AND THE NII" Commerce Secretary Ron Brown released on May 4 for public comment a report that focuses on ways that the National Information Infrastructure can be used to strengthen the U.S. economy and improve quality of life. The report, "Putting the Information Infrastructure to Work: A Report of the Information Infrastructure Task Force Committee on Applications and Technology," looks at some of the opportunities and obstacles in seven key applications of the NII: * enhance the competitiveness of the U.S. manufacturing base; * increase the speed and efficiency of electronic commerce, or business-to-business communication, to promote economic growth; * improve health-care delivery and control costs; * promote the development and accessibility of quality educational and lifelong learning for all Americans; * make the nation more effective at environmental monitoring and assessing its impact upon the earth; * sustain the role of libraries as agents of democratic and equal access to information; and * provide government services to the public faster, more responsively and more efficiently. The chapter, "Libraries and the NII," concludes: Libraries are central to the success of the NII. Librarians have already begun to explore the challenges presented by electronic materials and navigation tools. Enhanced skills, roles, and alliances in the electronic environment must be explored and developed before the vision of NII digital libraries becomes a reality. Libraries and librarians are anxious to assume their place in this electronic world, but basic issues must be addressed. These issues include copyright licensing schemes, collective rights administration and guidelines for fair use in an electronic environment, the availability of sufficient resources to ensure reliable connectivity and staff knowledge in network use, and databases of sufficient quality and quantity to be useful to those in need of reliable information. While the growth of the Internet has been impressive, the NII is a much more comprehensive, ambitious initiative which necessitates resolving significant issues and meeting critical objectives for Libraries as well as other application areas. The papers were generated by the IITF Committee on Applications and Technology, chaired by Arati Prabhakar, director of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, who chairs the IITF, said he was "releasing these papers because it is not enough to discuss how information highways will be built; we must also understand--and inform Americans--about how they will be used. These papers focus on the real-life concerns of people who will rely on information technology." The papers are intended as a stimulus for further debate. ALA's Legislative Committee and its telecommunications subcommittee will be considering this paper, especially the library chapter, at the ALA Annual Conference in Miami Beach, Florida, June 23-30. Reactions or comments would be welcomed for consideration in ALA's response. Send them to alawash@alawash.org no later than June 20, or for ALA units, at the annual conference. To obtain a copy of the report, order PB 94-163383 prepaid from the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161, 703-487- 4650; or order NIST Special Publication 857 from the SuDocs, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, 202-783-3238. The lengthy document is also available electronically on the Internet via telnet (login as gopher), anonymous ftp, or gopher at iitf.doc.gov. The document is under Documents and Papers which is under Speeches, Testimony, and Documents on the main menu. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363. Editor: Lee G. Enyart (lge@alawash.org). 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