ALAWON v6n23 (April 7, 1997) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v6n23.txt ------------------- ALWN623.TXT follows -------------------- ================================================================= ALAWON Volume 6, Number 23 ISSN 1069-7799 April 7, 1997 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (158 lines) GOVERNMENT INFORMATION UPDATE: (PART 1 OF 2) LC LOOK TOWARDS BICENTENARY; CRS AND LC REQUEST NEW STAFF HIRES OAKLEY TESTIFIES ON FY98 APPROPRIATIONS FOR GPO AND LC _________________________________________________________________ Editor's note: This is part 1 of 2 ALAWONs chronicling activities before Congress regarding the Library of Congress, the Congressional Research Service, the Government Printing Office and the Federal Depository Library Program. _________________________________________________________________ LC LOOK TOWARDS BICENTENARY; CRS AND LC REQUEST NEW STAFF HIRES On March 20 the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration convened two panels on the operations and budget of the Library of Congress and the Congressional Research Service. The witnesses included Dr. James Billington, Librarian of Congress; General Donald L. Scott, Deputy Librarian of Congress and Daniel Mulhollan, Director of the Congressional Research Service. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Planning is underway for a national celebration of the Library's Bicentenary in the year 2000. "Authorization of the proposed Bicentennial Advisory Board is essential for engaging both the public and private sectors in a national program to celebrate this historic event and the role played in our democracy by librarians everywhere," Billington said. He also noted the 100th anniversary of the Thomas Jefferson Building this year and that the restored building will be fully reopened to the public. In an effort to streamline management, Billington reported the appointment of General Donald Scott as the Deputy Librarian and Chief Operating Office for the Library, responsible for all the day-to-day operations of the institution. In February 1997 General Scott appointed Kenneth E. Lopez as Director of Security to report to him and to be responsible for the security of the Library's facilities, collections and people. Billington told the Committee, "Technology is no substitute for the Library's expert staff, but it has helped the Library steadily increase access to its collections and service to Congress and the Nation despite having far fewer employees that we had 10 years ago." He requested 12 staff positions to provide critical succession planning adding that the Library has had a 10 percent decline in staff positions since 1992. Like CRS, a large number of current employees -- 50 percent by 2004 -- will be eligible for retirement. CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE. Mulhollan stated that CRS's highest priority is to sustain the scope and enhance the quality of services to Congress. He projected that the loss of staff to retirement is one of CRS's greatest challenges. More than 20 percent of current staff will be eligible to retire in the year 2000; more than 50 percent by the year 2006. Mulhollan submitted a request to the Committee to hire 60 additional entry-level researchers over the next three years. CRS's current service level is 747 staff. The Congress called on CRS for information and analysis "approximately half a million occasions" in FY96. He also reported that as a result of a joint project initiated by the Committee and directed by the Office of the Secretary, CRS will soon begin testing a system making amendments available within minutes of being offered on the Senate floor. _________________________________________________________________ OAKLEY TESTIFIES ON FY98 APPROPRIATIONS FOR GPO AND LC On February 12 Robert Oakley, law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and director of the Law Center's library, testified on the FY98 Appropriations for the Government Printing Office and the Library of Congress before the Subcommittee on Legislative, House Committee on Appropriations, chaired by Rep. James Walsh (R-NY). Oakley urged the full support of the Public Printer's FY98 appropriations request of $30,477,000 for the Superintendent of Documents Salaries and Expenses, of which $25,886,000 will maintain the Federal Depository Library Program. "While some policy makers may view the move to electronic information as a means of cutting government costs, no data exists to support this assertion. In fact, we believe the opposite likely to be true particularly during the transition period." Appearing on behalf of ALA, the Association of Research Libraries, the American Association of Law Libraries and the Special Libraries Association, Oakley expressed the library community's concern over the erosion of federal government information from the public domain, and called for a revision of Title 44 that extends the definition of government information to electronic resources. In response ALA President Mary Somerville has invited representatives from the national library associations to participate in an inter-association working group on government information policy. This group is charged with developing a detailed outline of a legislative proposal for revising Title 44 over the next few months. Their progress will be shared with the Subcommittee. Speaking again for ALA, ARL, AALL and SLA, Oakley urged funding for the Library of Congress FY98 budget request of $387.6 million (including the authority to obligate $30.4 million in receipts) needed "to position the Library to realize the benefits of the digitized networked environment while ensuring that important programs and services are maintained." Oakley said this request would fund mandatory increases, provide the necessary continuity for many programs, and target selected strategic technological activities such as the Integrated Library System and the Global Legal Information Network. Five LC program areas were the focus: services for the blind and physically handicapped, electronic initiatives, the American Folk Life Center, arrearage reduction and cooperative cataloging, and collection security. LC was able to reduce arrearage in 1996 by 1.5 million items -- a reduction of 47.2% since 1989. Oakley remarked that 213 libraries are participating in the Program for Cooperative Cataloging, contributing bibliographic records, authorities, and classification numbers. He noted that with the passage of landmark telecommunications legislation [in 1996], Congress recognized that libraries are primary points of access for the public to participate in the information age. "Although only 23.6% of public libraries have full World Wide Web capability, the discounted rates now to being implemented by the Federal Communications Commission are expected to increase this percentage rapidly. All of these efforts are undertaken with an appreciation of the importance of ensuring citizens with access to needed information resources as well as necessary skills to fully participate in the information age." _________________________________________________________________ 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. 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: Anne A. Heanue All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================