ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries February 1 9 9 7 / 103 i t . Academ ic libraries an d the 105th Congress (cont.) Last month this column cov­ ered renewed initiatives on intellectual property and the reauthorization o f the Higher Wash Education Act (HEA)— criti­ cal legislative issues impor­ tant to academ ic libraries Ho during the 105th Congress. O ther issues will include access to government infor­ Lynne E mation and development of Internet II and the Next Gen­ eration Internet (NGI). Access to governm ent information. The debate on access to government information and the transition to all electronic formats will inevitably continue in the 105th Congress. Ini­ tiatives to revise the major laws related to pub­ lic access to government information through the Depository Library program (revision of “Title 44”) have great impact on academic li­ braries since more than half o f all depository libraries are in academic libraries. Internet II and Next Generation Inter­ net. There have been many policy concerns directed to the limitations and strains on the current Internet. Three related developments may bring increased congressional attention during this next Congress. 1) A number o f re­ search universities have announced the forma­ tion o f a consortium to develop and implement “Internet II.” The new system will be a greatly enhanced Internet, in terms o f speed (roughly 200 times the speed of the current system) with new capabilities and embedded services. 2) The National Science Foundation (NSF) has an­ nounced the expansion and redirection o f its vBNS (very high speed backbone network ser­ vices) program. Originally conceived as a plat­ form strictly for research on high-speed data transport, NSF’s program will now support the connection o f up to 100 universities and re­ search laboratories to a set o f advanced net­ work services. 3) A “Next Generation Internet” (NGI) announcement was made by President Clinton. While still in the planning stage, the initia­ tive will have two parts: a research program focused on the near term development of very high speed infrastructure and associated ser- vices, and a longer term re­ search program exploring ultra high speed data net­ works (loosely defined as ngton networks with 1,000 times the speed and capacity of the current Internet). The line th re e e ffo r ts are cle a rly clo se ly related , although p re c is e ly how th ey will evolve is still under discus­ sion. ALA will monitor the B rad ley NGI program development in the executive branch and le g is la tiv e in te r e s t as it evolves and work with ACRL on this issue. O pportunities fo r advocacy and getting involved A “Legislative Update” is sponsored by the ALA Committee on Legislation (COL) at each ALA Annual Conference and Midwinter Meeting (usually the Saturday morning o f each confer­ ence). This is an excellent opportunity to hear from congressional staffers and library support­ ers about the status of key legislative issues at the federal level and how library advocates can be involved. There are also numerous oppor­ tunities for academic librarians to participate in library advocacy training at ALA conferences and other state library association/affiliate meet­ ings. The ACRL Government Relations Com­ mittee is involved with these activities and is an excellent resource for academic librarians. Academic librarians are also strongly encour­ aged to participate in the annual Library Legis­ lative Days held each spring in Washington, D.C. The next National Library Legislative Day will be May 5 -6 , 1997. Contact Legislative Day coordinators in the state library associations to find out more about how particular states are organizing their delegations. See also the Leg­ islative Day Web page at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/legday. html. Through these and other activities we look forward to our continuing work with ACRL members during the 105th Congress. It will be a very busy session. ■ Lynne E. B rad ley is deputy execu tive d irector o f ALA’s W ashington O ffice; e-m ail: leb@ alaw ash.org; (8 0 0 ) 941-8478. http://www.ala.org/ mailto:leb@alawash.org 104 / C&RL News Extend Your Reach S t r e t c h beyond the b arriers o f standard databases. ISI® Citation Indexes help you co n stru ct solid paths th at fo llow the com p lex p rocess o f scien tific d evelopm en t— regardless o f tim e, author, language, o r w here it was published. Trace the history o f an idea. D isco ver colleagu es and co m p etito rs w ho are citing your w ork. 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