ALAWON v5n78 (November 4, 1996) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v5n78.txt ------------------- ALWN578.ASC follows -------------------- ================================================================= ALAWON Volume 5, Number 78 ISSN 1069-7799 November 4, 1996 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (146 lines) SOMERVILLE'S "GATEWAYS TO CYBERSPACE" PUBLISHED TELECOM RECOMMENDATIONS EXPECTED THIS WEEK; ONLINE ONE-PAGE POSITION BRIEFS AVAILABLE MARKUP OF GOV'T. PRINTING REFORM ACT AVAILABLE ONLINE; COMMENTS NEEDED BY FRIDAY, NOV. 15 LSTA SUMMARY, HIGHLIGHTS, & QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ONLINE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: HUMANITIES, TIIAP FUNDED _________________________________________________________________ SOMERVILLE'S "GATEWAYS TO CYBERSPACE" PUBLISHED ALA President Mary Somerville's op-ed article, "Gateways to Cyberspace: Discounts for libraries and schools are an investment in the future," was published in The Washington Post (October 23, 1996, A23). Somerville said, "Without significant discounts, it will be impossible for many libraries, especially those in rural and low-income areas, to offer a full range of electronic services. And their users would be left riding the information superhighway in a horse and buggy." The article can be viewed from a link from the ALA's Universal Service page, . Related editorials and op-ed pieces were also published in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Capital Times, and recently in The Miami Herald. _________________________________________________________________ TELECOM RECOMMENDATIONS EXPECTED THIS WEEK; ONLINE ONE-PAGE POSITION BRIEFS AVAILABLE The Federal-State Joint Board is expected to make recommendations worth possibly millions of dollars to libraries and schools this Thursday, November 7, one day before the deadline mandated by the 1996 Telecommunications Act. New ALA one-page position briefs on Services Eligible for Discount; High Bandwidth, Interactive Applications in Libraries and Schools; Discounted Rates for Libraries and Schools; Discounted Rates for High Cost and Low Income Areas, and Terms and Conditions are available from ALA's Universal Service Web page, . _________________________________________________________________ MARKUP OF GOV'T. PRINTING REFORM ACT AVAILABLE ONLINE-- COMMENTS NEEDED BY FRIDAY, NOV. 15 Thanks to efforts by the GODORT Legislation Committee, markup of six of the chapters of Title 44 USC (7, 9, 11, 15, 17 and 19) based on the provisions of H.R. 4280 are now available in portable document format(.pdf) at . As reported in the October 15, 1996 ALAWON (v. 5, #76), House Oversight Committee chair Bill Thomas (R-CA) introduced H.R. 4280, the Government Printing Reform Act of 1996. The bill is a major revision of the sections of Title 44 USC, applying to government printing, procurement, dissemination of government publications, and the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). The bill would also replace the Joint Committees on Printing and the Library with a Joint Committee on Information. For more information see, "Drastic Changes Prosposed to the Federal Depository Library Program--Comments Needed" at . Continuing a strong and enhanced Federal Depository Library Program into the 21st century is an important priority of ALA. To help achieve that goal and respond to legislative challenges, ALA is soliciting suggestions, comments, criticisms, etc., about the provisions of H.R. 4280 and also other related issues involving the Depository Library Program that need to be addressed. Please send your comments to Anne Heanue at aah@alawash.org by Friday, November 15. Additionally, before Congress reconvenes in January 1997, invite Senators and Representatives to visit your depository library. Help them understand the tremendously valuable service--public access to a multi format government information collection--federal depository librarians provide to constituents. _________________________________________________________________ LSTA SUMMARY, HIGHLIGHTS, & QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ONLINE Three new documents summarizing the legislation of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) are available online. The documents, Library Services and Technology Act Enacted, Highlights of the Library Services and Technology Act and Library Services and Technology Act: Basic Questions and Answers, can be viewed at . _________________________________________________________________ LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: HUMANITIES, TIIAP FUNDED HUMANITIES: The National Endowment for the Humanities received level funding of $110 million for FY97 in the omnibus appropriations bill. In last minute negotiations on the bill before the September 30 deadline, the Administration came forward with proposals to increase funding for both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities to the $110 million level and to increase the Institute for Museum Services to $22 million. In the end, NEA funding dropped to $99.5 million, the amount set in FY96. TIIAP: The National Telecommunications Information Administration's (NTIA) Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) awards program received appropriations of $21.49 million in FY97. The appropriation came in H.R. 3610, the FY97 omnibus appropriations bill(P. L.104-208). After Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-NE) negotiated with Senate appropriators and sent a letter with 13 other Senators supporting TIIAP to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS), the Senate Appropriations Committee's slated $4 million appropriation was restored to $21.49 million in the omnibus appropriations package. The FY97 appropriation of $21.49 million is nearly level funding compared to FY96. According to Department of Commerce's NTIA, federal matching grants help bring the benefits of the Information Age to all Americans, particularly those living in rural and under served inner city areas. The Denver and New York Public Libraries were among the 67 grant recipients in 42 states and the District of Columbia selected in this year's TIIAP Program. More than a dozen other libraries are also involved in partnerships with other organizations. _________________________________________________________________ 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 . ALAWON archives gopher.ala.org; select ALA Washington Office Newsline. Visit our Web site at . ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Contributors: Deirdre A. Herman Anne A. Heanue All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================