ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ October 1999 / 719 N e w s f r o m t h e F i e l d Mary Ellen Davis C o lu m b ia U n iv e rsity lau nches p u b lis h in g EPIC C olum bia University has lau n ch e d a n ew m edia center to foster th e developm ent of online scholarly publications intended to ri­ val their p a p e r counterparts in quality and prestige. T he new ly established Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia (EPIC) links the expertise of Columbia University Press (CU Press), the Libraries, an d the Academic Infor­ m ation System. “Columbia intends to take a leadership role in developing n ew forms o f scholarly com ­ munication and enhancing the ability o f schol­ ars to access materials n eed ed for teaching an d research,” said Provost Jon ath an Cole. According to Elaine Sloan, vice president for Information Services and university librar­ ian, “W ithout com prom ising traditional qual­ ity an d p u rpose o f university-based research, EPIC will develop innovative, economically viable electronic products that will take full advantage o f the very latest in technology.” Columbia broke w ith traditional publish­ ing m odels in 1997 w ith Colum bia Interna­ tional Affairs O nline (CIAO), w hich includes full-text online b o o k s, b o o k sum m aries, links to over l6 0 related sites, a calendar, w ork­ ing papers, etc., an d grow s at th e r a te o f 2,000 p a g e s a m onth. This project, originally fu n d e d b y th e A n d re w W. M ellon Foundation, w as d e ­ signed to b e self-supporting through subscription sales af­ ter three years o f developm ent. To date w ith 190 subscriptions ranging from $595 to $1,200 p e r year, the project is o n bu d ­ get. “Because of CIAO’s success, w e now know that scholars are G ifts fro m th e E. L. Cord F oundation (to ta llin g m ore th a n $90,000 f o r 1997-98) helped fu n d this new com p u tin g lab at th e Getchell Library at th e U niversity o f Nevada, Reno. The lab includes a help desk and c o m p u tin g instruction room. A g if t also led to th e opening o f th e Patricia L. Chase Study area, w hich includes a q u ie t study room , conference rooms, and an instruction/teaching room f o r m ultim e d ia presentations. interested in exploring the p o ­ tential o f o n lin e publication a n d research, and that enough librarians an d en d users find this material sufficiently valu­ able to purchase it at a price that will perm it cost-recovery over the long term ,” said Kate W itten b erg , e d ito r-in -c h ie f o f CU P ress. W ittenberg has b e e n nam ed director o f EPIC. D ick in so n lib ra ria n d e tain e d in C h in a D ickinson C ollege officials re p o rte d th at Yongyi Song, head o f technical services at Dickinson’s Waidner-Spahr Library in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, an d his w ife w ere detained in Beijing an d are su sp ected o f illicit activities, including stealing an d buying state secrets. Song, a bibliographer an d researcher of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and his wife traveled to China in Ju n e to conduct research for a b o o k h e is w orking on. According to Tammie Brush-Campbell, associate director of College Relations, D ickinson w as told in­ formally in mid-August by a source w ith con­ tacts in the Chinese em bassy that Song had b e e n detained. The sam e source w as able to confirm in S eptem ber that Song and his wife are su sp ected o f the illicit activities. Song has lived in the U nited States since 1990 an d has w orked for D ickinson since 1997. The couple w ere nearly through the 720 I C&RL News ■ October 1999 ACRL Legislative Agenda 1999-2000 ACRL has a com m itm ent to representing aca­ dem ic libraries’ needs and interests in the leg­ islative arena. In o rder to accom plish this, the ACRL G overnm ent Relations Com m ittee (in consultation with the ACRL B oard and staff) w as charged w ith taking a direct and active role in form ulating an d updating the ACRL Legislative A genda. The com m ittee m onitors legislative efforts an d issues of in­ terest to academ ic libraries and higher e d u ­ cation. Since the legislative lan d scap e is c o n ­ stantly evolving, the G overnm ent Relations Comm ittee reviews its legislative agenda at Midwinter Meeting and Annual C onference, and, if needed, recom m ends a revised legis­ lative agenda to th e ACRL Board. H ere is the ACRL Legislative A genda 1999-2000, a p ­ pro v ed by th e ACRL B oard at the 1999 An­ nual C onference 1. Next Generation Internet (NGI) and Inform ation Technology for th e 21st Cen­ tury (IT2) • S upport Next G eneration Internet and Internet 2 initiatives. The ALA W ashington Office reco m m en d s th at NGI a n d IT2 be fu n d ed at $1.8 billion. NGI will advance cut­ ting-edge Internet technologies and applica­ tions. IT2, in addition to advancing a broader range of inform ation technology, will also fund im portant research in application areas such as education and digital libraries. 2. Intellectual Property • Follow-up o n distance education im­ plications o f the Digital Millennium Copy­ right Act. Enact an u p dated exem ption for use o f copyrighted m aterials in sup p o rt o f distance education that not only prom otes distance education but also m eets reason­ able proprietor concerns. • Preserve the concept of fair use in the digital environm ent. • Monitor the database protection legis­ lation (specifically H .R. 1858) to ensure that the historical balance in copyright law is not upset. H.R. 1858, the C onsum er and Inves­ tor Access to Inform ation Act of 1999, is a constructive alternative to H.R. 354, the Col­ lections o f Information Antipiracy Act. It p ro ­ tects against piracy o f databases w hile p ro ­ tecting value-added dow nstream uses of data. 3. Governm ent Inform ation • Work to strengthen an d im prove next generation GPO access, w hich governs the distribution of governm ent information to the public. Seek sponsors for the new draft “Next G eneration GPO Access” legislation. 4. A ppropriations As there are a limited num ber o f federal agencies that provide support for academ ic libraries, ACRL must m onitor an d support ad eq u ate appropriations for: • NTIA Inform ation Infrastructure Grants (TIAAP)—T he ALA W ashington Office rec­ om m ends that TIAAP be funded at the re­ quested $20.1 million. • Institute for Library an d M useum Ser­ vices (IMLS)—T he ALA W ashington Office recom m ends that IMLS be funded at last year’s level o f $166.2 million, w hich is m ore than th e $154.5 million that the President is re­ questing for FY2000. • N a tio n a l E n d o w m e n t fo r th e Arts (NEA)—T h e ALA W ashington Office recom ­ m ends that NEA b e fu n d ed at $150 million. • National E ndow m ent for the H um ani­ ties (NEH)— The ALA W ashington Office rec­ om m ends that NEH b e fu n d ed at th e re­ qu ested level o f $151.4 million. • Support adequate appropriations for the national libraries. The ALA W ashington Of­ fice recom m ends that the Library o f Congress b e funded at th e requested $383.7 million and that the N ational Agricultural Library be funded $5 million above the requested $21 million b ecause services have b e e n cut and it has h ad to service its collections at 1991 budget levels • S upport G overnm ent Printing Office (G PO) salaries an d ex p en se appropriations. The ALA Washington Office recom m ends that GPO be funded at the $31.2 million requested fo r th e S u p e r i n t e n d e n t o f D o c u m e n ts (SuDocs) account. 5. Preservation and D igitization • Make decision makers aware of relevant issues related to preservation and digitization. ■ C&RL News ■ October 1999 / 721 process o f becom ing U.S. citizens b u t had not taken the final oath. They have family in China and h ad traveled to China before w ith­ out incident. Song has a daughter at Carnegie Mellon University w ho, as far as officials at Dickinson knew , has not b een contacted by the Chinese. Dickinson College held a community gath­ ering of support in front o f the library in Sep­ tember. “We are pursuing all avenues to keep abreast of the situation. It’s a w aiting gam e just n ow ,” said Brush-Campbell. Su b scrip tio n a g e n ts d ev e lo p sta n d a rd licen ses Five subscription agents: Blackwell, Dawson, EBSCO, Harrassowitz an d Swets have, in co­ operation, developed a suite o f standard li­ censes designed for th e acquisition o f elec­ tronic journals and other electronic resources. T he agents claim th ey contain th e w ords n eed ed to express m ost o f the variables p u b ­ lishers and librarians— and the subscription agents w h o are experienced in handling the supply o f journals— will m eet in negotiating licenses. T he license u sed as a starting point was the UK’s PA/JISAC m odel license, jointly d e­ v elo p ed by publishers an d librarians from the Publishers Association and th e Joint In­ form ation Systems Committee o f th e H igher Education Funding Councils, the U.S. P rin­ ciples f o r Licensing Electronic Resources from the ALA et. al, the Statem ents o f C urrent Per­ spectives from th e International Coalition of Library Consortia, an d th e LIBLICENSE Web site. T h e licenses m ay b e fo u n d at h tt p :/ / w w w .licensingm odels.com . Jo h n Cox Asso­ ciates, an in tern atio n al pub lish in g consultancy specializing in licensing an d content m anagem ent will keep the site up-to-date. Com m ents an d suggestions may b e sent to Cox at john.e.cox@ btinternet.com . A C R L p u b lish e s A cc e s s ib le L ib r a rie s o n Cam pus Accessible Libraries o n Campus: A P ractical G uide f o r the Creation o f D isability-Friendly Libraries, edited b y Tom McNulty an d published by ACRL, exam ines the issues involved, along w ith specific guidance o n the m ean s, fo r th e c re ­ ation o f accessible li­ braries. T he text re­ v ie w s th e ADA guidelines governing th e physical accessi­ bility o f libraries and o t h e r e d u c a t i o n a l buildings, as w ell as a d is c u s s io n o f ADA- c o m p l i a n t s i g n a g e an d o ther w ayfinding a id s fo r th e lib rary user. Chapters cover special situations such as appropriate text, access for blind an d par­ tially sighted co m p u ter users, services for those w ith hearing loss, accom m odating the hand-disabled, accessible Web pages, and staff training an d support. A ppendices in­ clude notew orthy program s, projects, an d a resources directory. Accessible Libraries (0- 8389-8035-X) is available for $22 ($20 for ACRL m em bers) from ALA O rder Fulfillment, 155 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606 or call (800) 545-2433, press 7. Univ. o f M ich iga n Sch o o l o f In fo rm a tio n o ffe rs d ual d e g re e s The University o f Michigan School o f Infor­ m ation has a d d ed three dual degrees to its m aster’s curriculum. N ow students can earn the Master of Science in Information in con­ junction w ith either th e Master o f Business Administration from the Business School, the Master o f Public Policy from the School of Public Policy, o r th e Juris D octor from the Law School. Additional information is avail­ able at http://w w w .si.um ich.edu. ■ http://www.licensingmodels.com mailto:john.e.cox@btinternet.com http://www.si.umich.edu 722 I C&RL News ■ October 1999