Part-Time Policy Wonk

From OpenTheGovernment.org:

Candidates for the House of Representatives and President have been filing contribution reports electronically for years, but the Senate still allows candidates to file paper reports with the Secretary of the Senate. After receiving the reports, the Secretary of the Senate delivers the reports in paper to the FEC, who then must input them into their computer databases to be accessed by the public online. As a result of the delay, donors can bundle contributions in the final, critical weeks of a campaign - providing the funds necessary for last minute negative attack ads or push polls - with absolute anonymity.

The Senate is considering a bill, S.233, that would require candidates for the Senate to file reports electronically. The bill is widely supported by Senators on both sides of the aisle.

Posted by Anne at 07:52 PM | Permalink

From AALL's Washington Blawg:

As Congress heads home for August recess, please considering contacting your House Representative with an urgent request to co-sponsor H.R. 6589, the Charles H.W. Meehan Law Library Improvement and Modernization Act. This bill, which AALL and the American Bar Association have been working toward for years, will authorize a one-time, additional $3.5 million for the Law Library of Congress and its own separate line item in the Federal budget beginning in FY 2010. It will also establish the Charles H.W. Meehan Law Library Support Program, which will allow outside funding to be raised and provided to the Law Library for new enhanced services, such as interlibrary loan and electronic document delivery.

Posted by Anne at 07:49 PM | Permalink

From the EPA Partner Blog for the National Dialogue:

EPA is holding an on-line discussion among state, tribe, and other federal partners of EPA, as well as the public to foster collaboration on information access. For this discussion, we are using a blog which is a more interactive and personal form of technology. Everyone is invited to use this site to identify and share their best resources, tools, and ideas for improving access to EPA’s environmental information. This is a key part of the National Dialogue on Access to Environmental Information – working with you to enhance information access.

This blog will be open for comment for one week (June 9-13, 2008). The blog will then be closed and a summary report will be posted on the “What We’ve Learned” section of the National Dialogue website by June 20th.

Posted by Anne at 08:47 PM | Permalink

From SLA’s Legislative Action Center:

Please contact your members of Congress today and ask them to OPPOSE the proposed FY2009 budget cuts to the National Agricultural Library (NAL). The President's FY2009 budget request of 18 million dollars for US National Agricultural Library is 4 million dollars (18.8%) less then the 2008 budget, and 6 million dollars (25%) less the 2007 budget.

The NAL is the largest agricultural library in the world and has been serving agriculture since 1862. Established by Congress, its mission, stated simply, is "to ensure and enhance access to agricultural information for a better quality of life." NAL's work in collecting, preserving, and making agricultural information available is fundamental to the continued well being and growth of U.S. agriculture, and the development of food supplies for the nation and the world.

Posted by Anne at 08:52 PM | Permalink

From SLA:

If you have a representative serving on the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, please contact them in support of Orphan Works legislation, but in opposition to the "dark archive" that is proposed in the House version of H.R. 5889. The requirement of the dark archive would overly burden users, while at the same time be of little benefit to owners. The dark archive would require users to file a notice of use with a government agency, significantly increasing the cost of compliance. As we discuss below in greater detail, the requirement of such a filing will dramatically limit the usefulness of the legislation.

Posted by Anne at 08:28 PM | Permalink

Posted to STS-L:

I am forwarding this message, which you may have received on other lists, on behalf of the STS Government Information Committee. It is a lengthy, and important, message regarding the appropriations proposed (representing a decrease of $2.9 million) for NBII: National Biological Information Infrastructure.

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Thank you very much to those of you who have written support letters. We appreciate your help and your sending us copies. For those of you who haven't yet written, we need your help before May 23rd. Here's why:

As you know, the President's Budget Request for the NBII for FY 2009 is currently under consideration by the House and Senate Interior Appropriations subcommittees. The President has requested a $2.9 million cut to NBII.

Posted by Anne at 08:46 PM | Permalink

From AALL's Washington Blawg:

Last week, AALL signed onto a letter to the White House asking for a public review of proposed new rules governing the designation of Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) information.

Sensitive But Unclassified information, sometimes referred to as “Pseudo-Classified Information” or Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), describes unclassified information that is governed by a varying set of restrictions that allow government officials to keep the information out of the public’s reach.

Posted by Anne at 08:26 PM | Permalink

From the AALL Washington Blawg:

What kinds of information do you look for from EPA and how do you use that information? What words do you use when you search for environmental information? How would you like to receive the information you need? Those are some of the questions EPA is asking as part of their National Dialogue on Access to Environmental Information, a new project that will help EPA develop a strategy to improve access to their diverse body of environmental information. Through June, EPA is inviting comments on their public discussion board or via email.

Posted by Anne at 09:12 PM | Permalink

From the California Library Association:

Library Legislative Day in Sacramento will be held on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 and our network of Legislative Contacts is busy making appointments with legislators to discuss topics of interest to the library community.

Posted by Anne at 05:24 PM | Permalink

From the Friends of the San Francisco PublicLibrary:

YES on Proposition D!

VOTE TO RENEW THE FUND: The Library Preservation Fund, approved by San Francisco voters in 1994, is scheduled to sunset in 2008-09. This November, you can vote to renew the fund for another 15 years and keep our libraries fully funded, staffed and stocked with materials.

The Library Preservation Fund ensures that our libraries remain a safe haven of learning for residents of all ages and backgrounds, and that they serve as anchors for neighborhoods throughout San Francisco — contributing to our City's livability and vitality.

About Proposition D (pdf)

Posted by Anne at 08:04 PM | Permalink

From ALA's District Dispatch:

The Presidential Records Act Amendments bill (H.R. 1255) is currently being prevented from a vote in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY). He has not stated his reasons for doing so. H.R.1255 removes restrictions placed by President Bush’s 2001 Executive Order 13233 and enhances the Presidential Records Act, one of the nation’s most important open-government laws.

On March 14, 2007, by a vote of 333-93, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 1255.
The bill was brought to the Senate floor last week under unanimous consent. Sen. Bunning objected to the request under his own name – so the hold is no longer anonymous.

The White House has threatened to veto H.R.1255. Sen. Bunning may be acting on the administration’s behalf considering he has not stated his own specific concerns.

We are asking for your help,

1) Contact Sen. Bunning’s office by phone and ask that he release the hold on the bill so it can be scheduled for a vote. His direct office number is 202-224-4343.

2) Contact your Senator, tell them of your support for H.R.1255 and ask them to urge Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to have Sen. Bunning release the hold on the bill. You may do this via email, phone or letter.

Posted by Anne at 08:05 PM | Permalink

From ALA's District Dispatch:

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor will soon be considering reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In order for the SKILLs Act to be included in NCLB – that is, to place a state-certified school library media specialist in every school – each member of the House must co-sponsor the SKILLS Act.

The House has postponed mark-up for sometime in October and there is still time to call your Representative. The name of your Representative must appear on this bill! If your Representative’s name does not appear as a co-sponsor, please call his/her office immediately and request that he/she support the SKILLs Act. If your Representative’s name DOES appear on this bill, contact his/her office and thank him/her for the continued support of school libraries and school library media specialists.

Look for more information, a list of sponsors, and a flier you can post in your library about the SKILLS Act, all at the ALA Legislative Action Center.

Please contact your Representative immediately and ask him/her to co-sponsor the SKILLs Act

Posted by Anne at 07:35 PM | Permalink

From ALA's District Dispatch:

As the U.S. Senate considers Appropriations measures this fall for fiscal year (FY) 2008, please take a moment to remind your Senators of your strong support for public access to publicly funded research and, specifically, ensuring the success of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy by making deposit mandatory for researchers.

Please fax a letter expressing your support to your Senator no later than Friday, September 28, 2007. Use the Legislative Action Center to get your Senator's contact information, as well as to send emails and faxes to Congress.

Posted by Anne at 07:31 PM | Permalink

The fiscal year (FY) 2008 Interior Appropriations bill which includes language restoring the EPA libraries is now headed to the full Senate for consideration. The House-passed FY 2008 Interior Appropriations bill doesn’t contain the EPA library language. We need to insure that the final Senate bill contains the EPA library language when the House and Senate meet in conference to negotiate differences.

Contact your Senator now and tell them to pass the FY 2008 Interior Appropriations bill with this important language included.

Posted by Anne at 08:28 PM | Permalink

From ALA's District Dispatch:

The House Committee on Appropriations will consider the fiscal year (FY) 2008 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill on July 11. If you have a Representative on the House Appropriations Committee, please call, email or fax them to support the inclusion of language that would require National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigators to deposit their "final peer-reviewed manuscript upon acceptance be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication." The Senate Appropriations Committee passed the FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill with this language in June

The Association of American Publishers is asking members of the Committee to eliminate and/or change this language, so it is critically important that Representatives hear from those who support the change in the NIH public access policy.

A list of members of the House Committee on Appropriations can be found on the Committee's website, and talking points courtesy of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) are included below.

Posted by Anne at 07:48 PM | Permalink

From the AALL Advocacy listserv:

BACKGROUND

H.R. 2771, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for FY 2008 and its accompanying Report 110-198, were filed late Tuesday night. The recommended amounts for the Government Printing Office are not good.

H.R. 2771 is scheduled for a House floor vote tomorrow and we have just learned that Rep. Jeff Flake (AZ-R-6) will offer an amendment that would reduce the recommended funding level for GPO’s Congressional Printing and Binding (CP&B) by an additional $3.2 million. This is especially bad news because during the full House Appropriations Committee mark-up last week, $5 million of the recommended level was taken out of the CP&B.

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED

Please contact the office of your House representative immediately through the US Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Urge your representative to vote “No” on the Flake amendment (amendment #11) to H.R. 2271.

The CP&B funding is crucial so that GPO can publish and distribute to federal depository libraries the essential legislative resources of the 110th Congress, including the 2006 U.S. Code.

Posted by Anne at 09:44 PM | Permalink

SLA Action Alert:

The National Archives and Records Administration, was created within the National Archives in 1934, given its own staff in 1951, authorized to make grants in 1964, and reorganized in 1975 as the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Its 15 members represent the three branches of the federal government and six professional associations of archivists, historians, documentary editors, and records officers. Budget talks for 2008 are starting the week of the 18th of June. Please contact your Congressional representatives now. The NHPRC grants program is authorized at $10 million through FY 2009. This valuable program received its fully authorized $10 million back in FY 2004. In FY 2007, Congress appropriated $5.5 million for NHPRC grants and $2 million for administrative costs, despite the Administration’s continued efforts to eliminate the program. If Congress allows the NHPRC grants to be dropped from the budget it would have a detrimental effect, causing funding from other sources to be withdrawn or reduced. This would be devastating to such projects as development of new archival programs, promotion of the preservation and use of historical records, coordination in addressing major archival issues, editing and publication of the papers of nationally significant individuals and institutions; and a series of other activities relating to documenting America's heritage.

Posted by Anne at 09:32 PM | Permalink

From OMB Watch:

Tell Congress to stop the EPA from rolling back reporting requirements on toxic pollution. In the new Congress, the House and Senate have another chance to stop the EPA from implementing roll backs to toxic chemical reporting. Tell your Representative and Senators: SUPPORT THE TOXIC RIGHT TO KNOW PROTECTION ACT. The TRI is our country's best source of health and safety information. If Congress passes the Toxic Right to Know Protection Act, it will be a step forward in saving TRI.

The House of Representatives heard your earlier calls to stop the EPA from destroying our nation's premier tool for public notification about toxic pollution - the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Unfortunately, the Senate never got around to voting on the Bill. We now have another chance to stop EPA from harming our right to know.

Posted by Anne at 08:38 PM | Permalink

From the Sunlight Foundation:

In 1995 Congress defunded the Office of Technology Assessment, a nonpartisan scientific and technology research arm of Congress. Today, two congressmen are trying to bring it back. Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Rep. Michael Castle (R-DE) need your help to reinstate this important institution in Congress. The OTA would provide nonpartisan research on technology issues ranging from energy independence to net neutrality. Here at Sunlight we are especially excited about the reinstatement of OTA as it would provide members of Congress with assessment of the technology infrastructure within Congress itself. The OTA would also put all of its research online for everyone to access.

On Wedensday, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a markup that will address the OTA. We need you to call your member of Congress and tell them to 1) support the reinstatement of the OTA and 2) to sign the Dear Colleague letter that they received from Reps. Rush Holt and Michael Castle and return it to Reps. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Zach Wamp. When Congress defunded the OTA one of its supporters, Rep. Amo Houghton (R-NY), said, "Members of Congress are deluged with advice from many quarters, but it is often tinged with the underlying bias and political agenda of the bearer. ... We are cutting off one of the most important arms of Congress when we cut off unbiased knowledge about science and technology." It's time to bring back the OTA and unbiased research on science and technology. Call your congressman now!

Posted by Anne at 07:52 AM | Permalink

Press Release:

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Thursday called on the Senate to pass bipartisan reforms to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act before adjourning for the Memorial Day recess.

Following up on their efforts last Congress, Leahy and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) teamed up again this year to introduce the “Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act” (the “OPEN Government Act”) S.849. The bill, which has broad bipartisan support, won the approval of the Senate Judiciary Committee in April, but its passage in the full Senate is being delayed by an anonymous hold.

“It is both unfortunate and ironic that this bipartisan bill, which promotes sunshine and openness in our government, is being hindered by a secret and anonymous hold. This is a good government bill that Democrats and Republicans alike, can and should work together to enact,” said Leahy.

If you have a Republican senator, please call or email to ask: Did you place the secret hold on the OPEN Government Act?

Posted by Anne at 08:43 PM | Permalink

Like every other federal agency, the Government Printing Office has been operating under a continuing resolution which has held it to FY 2006 funding, and here we are just 5 months from FY 2008.

On May 1, 2007, Mary Alice Baish of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) testified in support of full funding for the Government Printing Office (GPO) before the House Committee on Appropriations for AALL and the Special Libraries Association (SLA).

Read Baish's full statement then contact your Members of Congress and insist they fully fund the GPO so that "it is able to fulfill its mission of disseminating the Federal government information of all three branches of Government."

A vote on this budget request is expected before Memorial Day, but it could come any time.

For more information, including a sample letter, see the GOVDOC-L message available at http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0705c&L=govdoc-l&T=0&P=2760.

Posted by Anne at 07:51 PM | Permalink

ALA Press Release:

Yesterday, coinciding with National Library Workers Day, the Librarian Incentive to Boost Recruitment and Retention in Areas of Need (LIBRARIAN) Act of 2007 was introduced in both the U.S. Senate (S. 1121) and the House of Representatives (H.R. 1877).

This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for Perkins student loan forgiveness, which will encourage individuals to become and remain librarians in low-income schools and public libraries.

Take Action at http://www.capwiz.com/ala/issues/alert/?alertid=9622316&PROCESS=Take+Action

Please contact your Senators, especially if you have a Republican Senator, and urge them to show their support by co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation. It is important that the bill have Republican support. We have not been able to get a Republican to agree to co-sponsor this in the Senate. Constituents will have a much better chance of getting some support.

Posted by Anne at 08:59 PM | Permalink

From the California Library Association blog:

Just the idea of talking with legislators can be intimidating. Long-time activist Nancy Amidei takes the confusion and fear out of grassroots lobbying by providing hints and tricks to having a successful, meaningful Library Legislative Day. Nancy recently came to the state capital to share her experiences and secrets to grassroots lobbying. If you missed it, we are providing the podcast, produced by InfoPeople.

Listen to the Podcast

Posted by Anne at 08:28 PM | Permalink

Tuesday March 27th retired British Columbia Legislative Librarian Joan A. Barton spoke movingly to forty members of the Victoria Librarians Association of the long history of the Legislative Library, now threatened with closure. The library was established in 1863, with Dr. Helmkin's private collection at its core, as Thomas Jefferson's was for the Library of Congress. (Dr. Helmkin was British Columbia's first doctor, who married a daughter of Sir James Douglas, the first governor.)

The Legislative Library is part of the national and international network of libraries which serve not only as sources of information, but as a repository of recorded knowledge in a way the ephemeral Internet does not.

Ms Barton urges that those outside British Columbia protest this closure, with most of the collection being boxed and stored. It is important that the Premier and Speaker realize that this action is a blow to the reputation of the Province nationally and internationally.

Protests may be addressed to the Premier: Premier Hon. Gordon Campbell: premier@gov.bc.ca

and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly: Speaker Hon. Bill Barison: toll free number and feedback form http://www.leg.bc.ca/speakers-message.htm.

Those within British Columbia might wish to address their protests to their own Members of the Legislative Assembly: http://www.leg.bc.ca/mla/3-1-1.htm.

It is particularly important that MLAs from the interior hear from their constituents.

Article in the local paper, The "Times Colonist":
Dark day for legislature library

Posted by Anne at 08:18 PM | Permalink

Oh, to live in DC. . .

Public Forum co-sponsored by Center for American Progress and OpenTheGovernment.org: CLASSIFIED: Ensuring Congressional Access to National Security Information

March 30, 2007, 12:30pm – 2:00pm

The Constitution gives Congress broad authority to oversee and investigate the activities of the executive branch. If Congress is to carry out that authority, it must have access to many kinds of government information, including classified or sensitive national security information which government agencies may be reluctant to reveal.

How do Congress and the executive branch strike a proper balance between the congressional need to have such information and the government's duty to protect it? What options does Congress have when the government refuses to provide the information it requests? When is it appropriate for Congress to make national security information available to the public and the press?

Posted by Anne at 08:13 PM | Permalink

Momentum for public access to publicly funded research reached a height last month with the celebration of a National Day of Action by students across the U.S. and the presentation of over 21,000 individual and organizational signatures to the European Union's Commissioner for Science and Research.

To build on this momentum, several leading American organizations - representing libraries, health groups, students, and consumers - are jointly supporting a Petition for Public Access to Publicly Funded Research in the United States.

This petition, which is open to supporters around the world, will demonstrate clearly to U.S. policymakers the depth and breadth of support for access to federally funded research in the United States. As U.S. lawmakers consider policies and legislation to advance public access, it is critical that supporters step forward and be counted. . .

. . . The Petition for Public Access to Publicly Funded Research in the United States is open to individuals and organizations of all types. If you are a researcher whose work is funded by the federal government, your signature is especially important since it shows that you want your work to be shared and used.

Posted by Anne at 08:42 PM | Permalink

On March 8, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee unanimously approved H.R. 1255, the “Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007.” The bill is expected to go to the House floor during the week of March 12. The National Coalition for History has a ghttp://www.humanitiesadvocacy.org/action_ctr.htmlrassroots legislative site that allows you to send a pre-written electronic message to your Member of Congress or to edit the letter to express your own personal views.

Posted by Anne at 05:18 PM | Permalink

Sunshine Week is a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. The event is Monday, March 12, 2007; registration forms are due by Thursday, March 8. More information and the registration form is available here as a Word document or PDF.

Posted by Anne at 07:31 PM | Permalink

From Searcher magazine:

To be effective, lobbyists must work in a bipartisan manner to effect change. As information professionals, our broad range of policy and legislative issues are not tied to any political party. While the 109th Congress was ruled more by acrimony than a spirit of collegiality and bipartisanship, the library community in fact worked very well with members of both parties on such important issues as freedom of information and access to government-sponsored research. Nonetheless, leadership changes in both the House and the Senate bode very well for many of the issues that the national library associations and allied organizations have supported during the past few years. Although not all the committee assignments are finalized and the rosters remain incomplete as I write this in late December, here’s a view from inside the “beltway” on some very significant leadership changes in the House and Senate that could impact our legislative agenda. . .

. . .With both House and Senate Democrats now in control of Congress and the resulting substantive leadership committee changes, whether or not you’ve been active in support of the library community’s legislative agenda in the past, now is the time to take action. To succeed as an advocate for our legislative agenda, you must start to build positive long-term relationships with your senators and representatives. All politics is local, and it’s important that you, as individuals and members of state library groups, get to know your members and begin to build that important relationship.

Posted by Anne at 06:02 PM | Permalink

Library Copyright Alliance Press Release:

The Library Copyright Alliance (LCA) strongly supports the introduction of the Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship (FAIR USE) Act of 2007, H.R. 1201. The FAIR USE Act is co-sponsored by Congressmen Rick Boucher (D-VA), Congresswomen Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Congressman John Doolittle (R-CA).

Co-sponsors are needed. Please contact your representative, especially if s/he serves on the House Judiciary Committee.

Posted by Anne at 07:46 PM | Permalink

From the First Amendment Center:

The 2007 National FOI Day Conference will be held as usual this year on March 16. . .

. . . The conference brings together access advocates, government officials, lawyers, librarians, journalists, educators and others to discuss the latest issues and developments in access to government information and the public’s right to know.

The ninth annual FOI Day Conference is sponsored by the First Amendment Center. Sunshine Week will co-sponsor the event, which will be held in cooperation with the American Library Association, OpenTheGovernment.org and the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government.

Posted by Anne at 09:08 PM | Permalink

As the year charges on, Sunshine Week fast approaches. Sunshine Week is a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.

The SLA San Francisco Bay Region Chapter will once again be co-sponsoring the Sunshine Week National Webcast with the Northern California Association of Law Libraries (NOCALL).

Date: Monday, March 12, 2007
Location: County of Alameda Training Center, 125 - 12th Street, Suite 400, Oakland, CA
The Training Center is easily reached from the Lake Merritt BART station. Additional directions and a map are available at: http://www.acgov.org/conference/location.htm.

Agenda:
9:00-10:00 a.m. Continental breakfast
10:00-11:30 a.m. National Webcast
11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Break
12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunchtime program
1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Questions and discussion

The Second National Dialogue on Open Government and Secrecy is titled Closed Doors; Open Democracies?. The program will focus on access to government information, including the impact of government suppression and manipulation of scientific information on public health and safety and accountability. The dialogue will start with a lively discussion of the issues and end with ideas for action. The program will be webcast from the National Press Club in Washington, DC to host sites around the country, and will consist of two panel discussions. Panel 1 will focus on national issues. Speakers include:

• Susan Wood, former assistant FDA commissioner for women's health and director of the Office of Women's Health who resigned in August 2005 over the delay on making Plan B accessible
• Rick Piltz, former Senior Associate with the U.S. Climate Change Science Program who blew the whistle on the Bush administration's manipulation of scientific reporting related to global warming
• Francesca Grifo, Senior Scientist and Director of Scientific Integrity Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists to give an overview of how "Secrecy Can Make You Sick" - how secrecy of and manipulation of science can hurt you and your community
• Jay Dyckman, director of The Knowledge Project at the National Coalition Against Censorship to discuss first amendment free speech issues and describe what you can do

Panel 2 will focus on state and local issues. Speakers include:
• Bill Wolfe, Director of the New Jersey chapter of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
• Mark Tapscott, Editorial Page editor of the Washington Examiner
• Dottie Biggs, former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) librarian from Region 8

The discussion will be moderated by Ira Flatow, host and executive producer of NPR's Science Friday. The SLA/NOCALL sponsored event will conclude with a lunchtime program on open meeting laws and freedom of information requests. Speaker to be announced.

Lunch Menu: Sandwiches, salad, drinks including water, tea & coffee, and cookies.

Registration must be received by Thursday, March 8, 2007.

Posted by Anne at 08:31 PM | Permalink

You may sign this petition to register your support for free and open access to European research and for the recommendations proposed in the EU's 'Study on the Economic and Technical Evolution of the Scientific Publication Markets of Europe'.

The sponsoring organisations are JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee, UK), SURF (Netherlands), SPARC Europe, DFG (Deutsches Forschungsgemeinschaft, Germany), DEFF (Danmarks Elektroniske Fag- og Forskningsbibliotek, Denmark).

Posted by Anne at 08:46 PM | Permalink

From LibraryLaw Blog:

A documentary filmmaker just contacted me, looking for examples of libraries that have received govt requests to destroy information:

For a documentary film on the nature of government secrecy and information, I am looking for copies of "withdraw and destroy" notifications.

If you can help him, put a comment on this post and I will forward to him. Feel free to forward to other blogs/lists.

Posted by Anne at 08:41 PM | Permalink

The National Freedom of Information Coalition protects the public's right to oversee its government.

Toward that end, NFOIC offers some $220,000 annually in pass-through grants to members to:
• foster the creation and growth of state FOI coalitions;
• assist with projects furthering public access to government records and meetings; and
• ensure the public's right to oversee its government.

The grant application deadline is March 15, 2007.

Posted by Anne at 08:01 PM | Permalink

Please participate in Library Legislative Day in the District on Friday, January 26, 2007, and Friday, February 2, 2007.

"Day in the District" provides an opportunity for the California library community to meet with Legislators and their staff in their local offices and inform them about the important role libraries play in the lives of their constituents.

For more information or to register for an appointment with your legislator go to http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/mt/archives/cat_advocacylegislation.php#000279.

Some things to keep in mind:

* The focus of Day in the District is on fostering dialogue between local libraries and the legislators who represent the communities served by those libraries. Unlike Library Legislative Day in Sacramento we do not present formal position papers at Day in the District. Please come prepared to talk about your library and how you are making a difference in the lives of the Legislator's constituents.

* The emphasis of Day in the District is primarily on California State Assembly and Senate representatives rather than federal elected officials.

Posted by Anne at 08:26 PM | Permalink

SLA's Chief Executive Officer Janice R. Lachance is meeting with EPA staff members to discuss the closure of regional EPA libraries and the transition to electronic access. This meeting is tentatively scheduled to take place during ALA's Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, WA from January 19-24, 2007.

If you will be attending the ALA Midwinter meeting and have an interest in participating in a discussion with the EPA regarding EPA Library closures and next steps, please contact:
Douglas Newcomb
Chief Policy Officer, SLA
331 South Patrick Street
Alexandria, VA 22314 USA
Tel. 1-703-647-4923 (Direct)
Tel. 1-703-647-4900
DNewcomb@sla.org

Posted by Anne at 08:24 PM | Permalink

If you know of any Federal library, other than an EPA library, that has been closed, had its budget and service reduced, or has been otherwise diminished, please write to Fred Stoss and provide as much detail as possible. The newly created Federal Libraries Subcommittee of the ALA Committee on Legislation is compiling as comprehensive a list as possible for the upcoming ALA Midwinter meeting. Please send your replies directly to Fred at: fstoss@buffalo.edu.

Posted by Anne at 08:25 PM | Permalink

The Smithsonian Institution has been telling Congress and the public to move on and get over it. This note summarizes the situation and contains a "call for action" in the form of a letter to Congress.

Smithsonian lobbyists are trying to paper over their exclusive 30-year sellout to Showtime, saying that the contract has posed no problems and nobody seems to be upset about it anymore.

This position is meant to convince Congress that they should rescind language in pending House bills, such as provisions that no contracts shall be issued that limit access by the public. The situation is timely since the House and Senate will soon be meeting to reconcile bills in conference.

Pease read and consider signing the letter to members of Congress found at http://public.resource.org/smithsonian_congress.html. Signatures will be accepted through Sunday, November 25.

Posted by Anne at 08:36 PM | Permalink

From the American Library Association Washington Office Newsline:

Senators Barbara Boxer and Frank Lautenberg have drafted a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee stating their concern that EPA is dismantling their unique library system.

Call your senators today and ask them to sign onto Boxer-Lautenberg "Dear Colleague" letter! The letter asks the Appropriators to direct EPA to maintain access and research expertise at all of EPA's regional and headquarter libraries until the Agency solicits adequate public and Congressional input.

The deadline for signing the letter is November 1st, so call today! Tell your Senator's Office that they can arrange to sign the letter by calling Grant Cope (4-7931) or Daniel Rosenberg (4-7225) and that they must do so before November 1st.

Status of EPA Regional Library Closures and Reductions in Service:

(Specialized Libraries Not Included)

1. Closed

* Region 5, which served Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
* Regions 6, which serves Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Iowa.
* Region 7, which serves Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.

2. Closed to the Public with Reduced Hours to EPA Staff

* Region 2 Library, which served New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

3. Reduced Access to EPA Staff and the Public

* EPA Region 1, which serves Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
* EPA Region 9, which serves Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands, and Tribal Nations.
* EPA Region 10, which serves Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Native Tribes.
* EPA Headquarters

Posted by Anne at 08:18 PM | Permalink

Join Us Oct. 10, as OMB Watch and the Center for Responsive Politics Draw the Curtain Back on Federal Spending and Congressional Conduct!

Do you want to make the most informed decisions possible on Election Day? Do you want to see which programs and agencies get the most federal dollars? How about which contractors or congressional districts?
We're unveiling a tool that will help you do just that.

Join us for what will be an extraordinary moment for good, accountable government. Participate in a live webcast on Oct. 10, 2006, 9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, when OMB Watch will launch its much anticipated online database allowing you to search, aggregate and analyze all federal spending, FedSpending.org.

Also during the webcast, the Center for Responsive Politics will release two new online databases that will be made available on their government transparency mainstay OpenSecrets.org. The first will allow users to see overviews of members' net worth and holdings, and learn how many members own stock in pharmaceutical firms and oil companies, for instance. The second gives updated information on the lavish trips taken by members and their staffs that are financed by third parties--in many cases special interests with business before Congress.

When: LIVE Tuesday, October 10, 2006, 9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Where to view it: http://www.ConnectLive.com/events/sunlightfoundation

What you'll need: Windows Media Player (free download available here) or Real Player (free download available here)

Posted by Anne at 08:03 PM | Permalink

Free Government Information is calling for help in collating examples of George W. Bush's use of presidential signing statements.

In the spirit of sunshine being the best disinfectant, we have decided to collect signing statements where the President appears to state that he will not honor an Act of Congress to provide information.

Since the President has used this hidden and untested veto power hundreds of times according to some accounts, we at FGI are hoping that you will send us instances of earlier signing statements that ignore reporting requirements

Posted by Anne at 08:20 PM | Permalink

ALA Washington Office Offers FREE Online Advocacy Training

Just in time for Congress' return to Washington, D.C, and designed for both veteran library advocates and those who are new to Capitol Hill, the three-part online course "Messaging and Talking with Congress: An Interactive Workshop" will help library supporters build or hone effective messages and successfully communicate library needs to Congress.

This course guides you through every step of the process for effective communication -- from background research, to developing and delivering your message, to effective follow-up. You'll gain practical insights, such as how to use the Internet effectively to answer critical questions, the secrets to getting someone in a government office to