13-14 May 2008
National Library Legislative Day
SLA, in collaboration with the American Library Association, participated in National Library Legislative Day 13-14 May 2008. Information professionals were invited to Washington, D.C. to participate in the two-day event that focused on advocacy and issue training sessions, interacting with Capitol Hill insiders and visiting Congressional offices to support legislation that backs libraries. Read more.
27 March 2008
EPA Officials Brief SLA on Plans to Reestablish Closed Libraries
SLA met with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials to review the agency's report to the U.S. Congress on the future direction of its library network. The report lays out the general approach EPA plans to take for each library location to reopen, and establishes operational standards applicable to all libraries in the EPA network. Read press release.
22 March 2008
Comments Provided to Committee on the EPA
SLA provided comments for the record regarding the House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Investigations & Oversight on the EPA. The comments specifically addressed the issue of authentication of digitized documents housed in EPA libraries that may be required in legal proceedings. Read letter.
19 March 2008
"Government Secrecy: Censoring Your Right to Know" Free Webcast a Success
On Wednesday, 19 March from 1:00pm - 2:30 pm eastern U.S. time several organizations, including SLA, presented a dialogue on executive branch secrecy and more as part of Sunshine Week. The event was held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. and webcasted to sites around the USA. Sites were encouraged to promote and show the national program and plan local programs tailored to open government issues in their communities. Audience members at all sites viewing the live event had the opportunity to call in and e-mail.
12 March 2008
Gratitude Expressed for the Support of Orphan Works
The Library Copyright Alliance, of which SLA is a member, delivered letters to U.S. Representatives Howard L. Berman (D, California), Howard Coble (R, North Carolina), and the members of the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property expressing gratitude to the House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight for holding a hearing on orphan works. The letter also expressed gratitude that the Subcommittee has begun its process for considering this issue in this Congress as well as the hope that the protections the legislation is intended to provide users of orphan works are not diluted. Read letter.
5 March 2008
Organizations Request Hearing on PRO-IP Act
The Library Copyright Alliance (LCA), of which SLA is a member, and others wrote a letter to the chairman and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee in support of the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act's (H.R. 4279) moving forward in the legislative process. Given the importance of the structure and operation of the current statutory damage framework and alternative approaches that would promote innovation, the LCA is requesting a hearing on this subject. Read letter.
14 February 2008
Public Access Mandate Made Law
President Bush has signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2007 (H.R. 2764), which includes a provision directing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide the public with open online access to findings from its funded research. This is the first time the U.S. government has mandated public access to research funded by a major agency. Read press release.
Eight organizations, including SLA, wrote a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt thanking him for his past support of open and timely Internet access to NIH research articles and urging him to ensure that the policy be implemented without delay. Read letter.
Letters were also written to Sen.Tom Harkin (D, Iowa) and Rep. David Obey (D, Wisconsin) thanking them for their leadership in delivering public access to publicly funded research. Read letter to Sen. Harkin. Read letter to Rep. Obey.
6 February 2008
Concern Expressed Regarding FOIA Funding
Forty-three organizations, including SLA, wrote letters to congressional Appropriations Committee chairs and ranking members expressing concern that Bush proposed FY 2009 budget attempts to repeal a section of law and shift funding for a new Office of Government Information Services at the National Archives and Records Administration to the Department of Justice.
The letters urged congressional appropriators to protect the OPEN Government Acts creation of the Office of Government Information Services at the National Archives and Records Administration. Read Senate Letter. Read House Letter.
25 January 2008
PRO IP Act Proposes to Weaken One Work Rule
The Library Copyright Alliance, of which SLA is a member, and others have submitted comments on a meeting hosted by the Copyright Office. The comments, entitled "The Threat Posed by Inflated Statutory Damages", referred to the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act (H.R. 4279) (PRO IP). The PRO IP Act proposes to weaken the long-established one work rule, which today imposes a measure of certainty on how copyright statutory damages are calculated. Under current law, a copyright plaintiff may seek up to $150,000 per work infringed. In the case of compilations, the one work rule recognizes that the compilation is being marketed as one work, although it may in fact consist of multiple components. Read comments.
Amicus Brief Filed in Geller Copyright Infringement Case
SLA and other groups have filed an amicus brief in the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania in support of Electronic Frontier Foundation client Brian Sapient. Entertainer Uri Geller has sued Sapient for copyright infringement for uploading to YouTube an eight-second clip in which Geller claims copyright. At issue is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which makes it easy for Geller and others to persuade Internet companies to remove videos and music simply by sending so-called takedown notices that claim copyright ownership. Most companies, including YouTube, do almost nothing to investigate the claims. Read Amicus Brief. Read news story.
17 January 2008
EPA Libraries Receive Funding, SLA Receives Clarification on EPA Plan to Restore Libraries
Thanks to SLA and other library associations, the 2008 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency budget, approved in the omnibus budget bill, allocates $1 million to restore EPA's network of libraries. The bill requires the EPA to provide Congress with a report regarding "actions it will take to restore publicly available libraries to provide environmental information and data to each EPA region within 90 days of the enactment of this Act."
In communications with EPA staff on 10 January, SLA received clarification that this $1 million is additional money, above the budget requested by the EPA, and is specifically to restore the network of regional EPA libraries which were recently closed or consolidated by the current Administration.
Concern has also been aired that the EPA may not resume physical library operations in all of its regions. On 17 January 2008, SLA received clarification regarding the future physical presence of EPA Libraries.
Molly O'Neill, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Environmental Information and chief information officer, said: "EPA intends to fully comply with the Congressional instructions included in our FY08 appropriations bill. In accordance with the bill, the agency will complete a report to Congress on our plan for reestablishing a physical presence to complement our existing library services in the Regions. We remain committed to improving the EPA library network to enhance access to environmental information." Read more.
10 January 2008
Report of the Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control Released
The Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control, of which SLA Information Center Director John Latham was a member, has sent its final report on the future of bibliographic description in light of advances in search engine technology, the popularity of the Internet, and the influx of electronic information resources. The group's recommendations emphasized the role of the Library of Congress not as a sole supplier but as an important leader in the cataloging world. Read Final Report.
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