ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries April 1 9 9 2 /2 6 7 Policy debate o n th e pro vision o f b ro ad b an d telecom m unications capacity an d the delivery o f electronic infor mation services is heating u p again in the w ake o f recent court decisions, Federal Com W ashi m u n ic a tio n s C o m m is s io n proposals, an d p ending leg H ot islation. A series o f ad s in major daily n e w sp a p e rs by th e n e w s p a p e r a n d t e l e Carol C. phone industries (specifically by the Regional Bell O p erat ing C o m p an ies o r RBOCs) have raised q uestions am ong librarians ab o u t ALA’s position concerning the issues addressed by the ads. In o n e ad, ALA w as listed as a p o tential inform ation provider. The issue prom pting this cam paign for p u b lic attention is u n d e r w h at conditions the re gional p h o n e com panies sho u ld b e allow ed to provide inform ation services. T he issue itself dates b ack to the b reak u p o f the Bell system in 1982 thro u g h an antitrust decision (the Modi fied Final J u d g m e n t o r MFJ). Ju d g e H aro ld G reene o f th e U.S. District Court for th e Dis trict o f C olum bia, w h o has co n tin u ed to p re side over issues resulting from divestiture, p ro hibited the RBOCs, new ly created in 1984, from entering un reg u lated businesses such as elec tronic publishing b ecau se o f th e RBOCs’ d om i nant p o w e r in their local service areas. While this dominance over local telephone service is erod ing, most telephone customers are still able to ob tain local service from only one company. Judge Greene last year reluctantly lifted the restrictions. T h e RBOCs n o w h a v e w h a t th e y w a n t through th e courts a n d o p p o se an y legislation to u n d o the court decision or to im pose restric tions o n their provision o f inform ation services, but they w o u ld like to get into o th e r areas still off limits to th em — provision o f cable TV sig nals an d program m ing, an d provision o f long distance service. T he regional telcos claim they n eed to carry TV signals as econom ic incentive to replace c o p p e r w ire w ith high-capacity fi ber to the hom e. T he cable industry w o u ld like to get into th e p h o n e business. The n e w sp a per publishers are the m ost vocal o p p o n e n t of H RBOC entry into inform a tion services, fearing loss of classified ad revenue. A dd ing to th e policy ferm ent are ngton FCC proposals to further d e regulate th e telecom m uni cations industry, including line allow ing the p h o n e co m p a n ie s to p ro v id e a “v id e o d ia lto n e ” service. V arious bills (am ong them , HR 3515, S. 2112, HR 2546, S. 1200, enderson an d HR 3701) are pen d in g in C ongress s u p p o rte d by o n e industry g ro u p o r an other, an d hearings have b e e n h eld o n m ost o f them . Public interest, consum er, a n d education g ro u p reactions have b e e n mixed. ALA’s C om m ittee o n Legislation, active in recent years o n telecom m unications issues such as o p p o sin g access charges o n en h a n c e d ser vice providers, a n d prom oting library interests in legislation to establish the National Research an d E ducation N etw ork, has n o t y et reco m m e n d e d an ALA position o n th e issue o f RBOC p rovision o f inform ation services. T he arg u m ents for o p p o sin g p h o n e com pany provision o f inform ation services are strong. T he RBOCs, w h ic h o fte n h av e m o n o p o ly p o w e r in their local service areas, w o u ld h av e th e incentive a n d th e ability to d iscrim inate against co m p e tin g in fo rm atio n p ro v id ers o r to subsidize th e ir o w n info rm atio n services w ith reg u lated re v e n u e s, d e sp ite statu to ry p ro tectio n s. For p ro te c tio n o f free e x p re s sio n , th e co m m o n carrier c o n tro llin g th e local c o n d u it sh o u ld hav e n o c o n tro l o v e r th e c o n te n t carried over th at conduit. H ow ever, som e librarians have arg u ed that sophisticated inform ation services will never reach rural libraries or residents o f rural and sparsely p o p u lated areas until the p h o n e com p an ies are perm itted to provide them . Some have suggested that libraries sho u ld w o rk w ith p h o n e com panies a n d negotiate favorable ar rangem ents to m ake library services available to the public via p h o n e com pany gatew ays. T h e C o m m ittee o n Legislation d iscu ssed th ese issues recently, felt that further informa- ( Cont. on p age 269) Carol C. Henderson is deputy executive director o f the A m erican Library Association ’s Washington Office; 202) 547-4440 (Bitnet: NU_ALA WASH@CUA)( “Far and away the best mutual fund coverage ever.” K enneth L. Fisher, Forbes Magazine M o rn in g s ta r M u tu a l A n Easy-To-U se U p d a te s E very T w o Funds has become what many R esearch T oo l W e e k s believe to be the most compre Take a look at the sample page. W hen you order, you’ll get a hensive, timely, and useful At your fingertips are 13 years hardcover binder filled with source for mutual fund of historical performance infor reports on 1,240 funds. Then, information. 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T o order, or for a free brochure, call: 800-876-5005 W hen ordering, please m ention code 9 K E 53 W. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60604 April 1 9 9 2 /2 6 9 v w ed Stanford develops preservation fact sheet for scholars Stanford University Libraries has d ev elo p e d a fact sheet on w hat scholars can d o to prom ote preservation o f li Preser brary m aterials. It w as dis tributed by Stanford staff at N e the M odern Language Asso ciation A nnual C onvention in D e c e m b e r 1991. F re e Jane H copies are available from the Commission o n Preservation and Access, 1400 16th Street, N.W., Suite 740, W ashington, DC 20036-2217; (202) 939-3400. D uplication o r ad ap ta tio n is encouraged. Clareson reports on highlights of three ALA preservation meetings The ALA M idw inter activities o f th ree groups, the C ooperative P reservation Program s D iscus sion G roup, th e Preservation o f Library Materi als Section (PLMS) T ask Force o n Preservation E ducation N eed s, a n d th e PLMS D iscussion Group, have b een summarized in AMIGOS Agenda & OCLC Connection by Tom Clareson, AMIGOS preservation service manager. For free copies con tact Tom at AMIGOS, 12200 Park Central Dr., Suite 500, Dallas, TX 75251; (800) 843-8482. NARA publication provides infor mation on preservation photo copying A National Archives a n d R ecord Adm inistration 1990 publication, A rch iva l Copies o f Therm ofax, Verifax, a n d O ther Unstable Records (T echni cal Inform ation P aper, no. 5), contains valu able inform ation o n p h o to co p y in g a n d p h o to copiers, according to th e Science Panel o f the C om m ission o n P re se rv a tio n a n d A ccess. It covers th e p h o to co p y in g process, its suitability for archival purposes, h o w to test for “archivally acceptable c o p y ,” a n d a n u m b e r o f practical suggestions to im prove any preservation p h o tocopying program . T he 31-page publication (order n u m b e r PB90-171836/GAR) is available from NTIS, 5285 P ort Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161; (703) 487-4650. Copies cost $17.00 in paper or $9.00 in microfiche, plus a $3.00 handling Prepared by Jane Hedberg f o r the College Libraries Committee, Commission on Preservation a n d Access fee. Orders not charged or pre paid are subject to an additional $7.50 fee. ation CPA plans preserva tion management seminar for 1993 s T he College Libraries Com m ittee o f th e C om m ission on Preservation an d Access, in co o p eratio n w ith SOLINET, Inc., is p lan n in g to offer a berg second Preservation Manage m en t Sem inar in 1993- T he first sem inar w as held at W ashington & Lee Uni versity from July 20-27, 1991, an d w as judged b y th e 16 participants to b e an overw helm ing success. The 1991 program was designed to pro vide librarians w ho have part-time preservation re sponsibilities with strategies for preserving general collections. For more information contact SOLINET, 1438 W. Peachtree St. NW, Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30309-2955; (800) 999-8558. Subm issions f o r this co lu m n m a y be m a d e via: Internet: JHEDBERG@LUCY. WELLESLEY. EDU; F ax: ( 6 1 7 ) 2 3 9 -1 1 3 9 ; o r m a il: J a n e Hedberg, Wellesley College Library, 1 0 6 C en tral Street, Wellesley, M A 02181-8275. ■ (W ashington c o n t.fro m p age 2 6 7 ) tio n is n e e d e d by the ALA m em bership, an d th at the com m ittee n e e d e d w id er ALA in p u t into its deliberations o n h o w to p ro tect basic principles an d library interests as policy evolves. Steps tak en by com m ittee chair E. J. Jo sey at th e ALA M idw inter Meeting in Jan u ary include: ■ Establishing an a d h o c subcom m ittee o n telecom m unications, chaired b y Elaine Albright o f th e University o f Maine. (Albright is chair o f th e Legislation A ssem bly.) ■ Focusing the C om m ittee o n Legislation’s Inform ation U pdate Session o n these telecom m unications issues at th e ALA A nnual C onfer e n c e in San Francisco. T he tim e slot is Satur day, Ju n e 27, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ■ Holding a hearing at the ALA Annual Con ference to solicit opinions from ALA members and units o n Sunday, June 28, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. An issues b ack g ro u n d p a p e r an d inform a tion a b o u t the conference activitieswill b e dis t r i b u t e d to ALA u n it s th is s p r in g . C a ro l H en d erso n is staff liaison to th e com m ittee. ■