================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 15 ISSN 1069-7799 February 10, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (97 lines) OITP TO HOST VENDOR BRIEFING ON UNIVERSAL SERVICE MARCH 1 ALA ENDORSES "E-RATE: THE IMPLEMENTATION" VIDEOCONFERENCE ON MARCH 26 _________________________________________________________________ OITP TO HOST VENDOR BRIEFING ON UNIVERSAL SERVICE MARCH 1 The ALA Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) will host its second "OITP Vendor Briefing on Universal Service" at the 13th annual Computers in Libraries 98 conference on Sunday, March 1, 1998 from 9-11 am in the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA. The briefing is primarily designed and intended for vendors. The first briefing was held in January at ALA Midwinter in New Orleans. At the second briefing OITP staff and representatives of the Schools and Libraries Corporation will respond to questions. The briefing will provide participants with background information on the libraries and schools telecommunications discount program (popularly known as the "e-rate") and focus on issues such as the status of evergreen contracts, the treatment of non-profit vendors, and the eligibility of library-specific services such as library automation servers and Online Public Access Catalogs. To attend the "OITP Vendor Briefing on Universal Service", contact Beth Perretta at the ALA Washington Office by phone (202/628-8421), fax (202/628-8424), or e-mail (bap@alawash.org) by Monday, February 23, 1998. Space is limited to 40 on a first-come, first-served basis. Please include the names of all those attending. (Note: You do not have to register for the Computers in Libraries 98 conference to attend the vendor briefing.) For more information about Computers in Libraries 98 Conference, go to www.infotoday.com/cil98/cil98.htm. _________________________________________________________________ ALA ENDORSES "E-RATE: THE IMPLEMENTATION" VIDEOCONFERENCE ON MARCH 26 ALA has joined other major educational associations in endorsing the satellite videoconference, "E-Rate: the Implementation," to air Thursday, March 26 from 1-2:30 pm ET. The videoconference, live via satellite, will be produced by Convergence Services, Inc. of Alexandria, VA and distributed by PBS. The broadcast will provide the first real look at how the $2.25 billion discount program is functioning and what can be learned from the first round of procurements. It will examine strategies for achieving the greatest cost reduction through aggregation of demand. It will also explore strategies for bundling discounts with other "ed-tech" funding sources, such as the new National Technology Literacy Program. In short, it will help ensure that libraries and education institutions receive the maximum discounts to which they are entitled. Panelists from the Schools and Libraries Corporation (SLC) will include Ira Fishman, chief executive officer, K.G. Ouye, city librarian of San Mateo (CA) Library and chairperson, and Brian Talbott, executive director of the American Association of Educational Service Agencies and board member. Cheryl Lemke, vice president for Educational Technology at the Milken Family Foundation, will also be a panelist. "E-Rate: the Implementation" follows last year's successful PBS broadcast, "Maximizing Your E-Rate," produced by Convergence Services in June 1997. The program was licensed and downlinked at nearly 1000 viewing sites across the U.S. For information on licensing downlinks for "E-Rate: the Implementation" or locating licensed viewing sites, contact local public television stations or call PBS Customer Service at (800) 257-2578, or visit the PBS website at www.pbs.org/learn/als/programs/live/erate2 _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Carol C. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================