1. EPA Libraries Receive Funding, SLA Receives Clarification on EPA Plan to Restore Libraries
2. Report of the Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control Released
3. Revised FOIA Bill Signed into Law
4. NIH Public Access Now Mandatory
5. EU to Examine Antitrust Case with Microsoft
6. German Foreign Minister Praises Open Document Format
7. Japan Considering Extensive Web Regulations
8. Save the Date: National Library Legislative Day
9. Save the Date: Sunshine Week

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.

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.

Revised FOIA Bill Signed into Law
The U.S. House passed revised legislation designed to improve and strengthen the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the law that protects the public's right to know what the government is doing. The measure was passed in the Senate on 14 December and signed into law by President Bush on 31 December. The measure was introduced in response to findings by the National Security Archive that some FOIA requests had been pending since 1989. The legislation requires federal agencies to set up tracking systems for FOIA requests and require agencies to publish FOIA exemptions that have been relied upon when information is redacted from a FOIA request.
Read revised legislation.
Read press release.
Read NSA findings.

NIH Public Access Now Mandatory
The omnibus federal budget bill for fiscal year 2008 (H.R. 2764) includes a provision directing the National Institutes of Health 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. Researchers will now be required to deposit electronic copies of their peer-reviewed manuscripts into the National Library of Medicine's online archive, PubMed Central. Full texts of the articles will be publicly available and searchable online in PubMed no later than 12 months after publication in a journal.
Read press release.
Read Guidelines.

EU to Examine Antitrust Case with Microsoft
Following a complaint filed by Opera, a Norwegian software company, the European Commission will examine under its antitrust regulation the link created by Microsoft between its Internet Explorer Web browser and its Windows operating system. The complaint issued by Opera was immediately supported by the European Committee for Interoperable Systems, along with other information and communication technologies software and hardware providers such as Adobe, IBM, Corel, Nokia, Oracle, and Sun Microsystems.
Read Opera Press Release.
Read ECIS Press Release.

German Foreign Minister Praises Open Document Format
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier voiced his approval of Standard Open Document Format (ODF) during his opening statement at a Berlin workshop for public sector ODF users held in October 2007.

SLA supports ODF as the standard for all electronic documents created by government agencies. Backwards compatibility may be difficult to achieve in 100 years because the developer of proprietary software may have gone out of business, and the specifications for the document formatting may also have disappeared. ODF will significantly ease access to information for future generations as any future programmer will be able to finds its open, nonproprietary specifications.
Read news story.

Japan Considering Extensive Web Regulations
The Japanese government is considering new Internet and mobile phone regulations, including banning downloads of copyrighted files for personal use and requiring mobile operators to filter Web content for users under the age of 18. By consolidating existing Japanese laws and regulations, the government hopes to extend control over a wide range of previously unregulated content, including blogs, bulletin boards and chat rooms. All of the proposals are still subject to final approval by the Japanese parliament. Read news story.

Save the Date: National Library Legislative Day
SLA, in collaboration with the American Library Association, will participate in National Library Legislative Day 13-14 May 2008. Information professionals are invited to Washington, D.C., to participate in the two-day event that will focus on advocacy and issue training sessions, interact with Capitol Hill insiders and visit Congressional offices to support legislation that backs libraries. Read more.

Save the Date: Sunshine Week
On Wednesday, 19 March 2008 from 1:00pm- 2:30pm eastern U.S. time OpenTheGovernment.org and other organizations (including SLA) will present a dialogue on executive branch secrecy and more as part of Sunshine Week. The event will be held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and webcast to sites around the country.