ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries Septem ber 1 9 9 6 / 5 1 5 Washington Hotline Lynne E. Bradley A recess w rap -u p T he 104th Congress recessed for A ugust as w e w e n t to press. C opyright initiatives rem ain pen d in g while action has b e e n taken o n som e key legislative bran ch appropria­ tions. N II C o p y r ig h t P r o te c ­ t i o n A c t ( S .1 2 8 4 / H .R . 2 4 4 1 ). It is w idely regarded that this bill is “d e a d ” after three unsuccessful attem pts to “m ark u p ” this controver­ sial legislation in th e H ouse’s Courts a n d Intellectual P roperty Subcom m ittee, c o u p led w ith an “indefinite p o stp o n e m e n t” fol­ low ing the Senate Judiciary C om m ittee’s sec­ o n d hearing o n th e bill. Staff o n b o th sides o f the Hill p u t th e od d s o f a bill clearing b o th cham bers an d reaching the p resident at virtu­ ally zero percent, although retiring H ouse Chair­ m an Carlos M oorhead (R-CA) recently h eld out som e h o p e for action in Septem ber. T he d eb ate n o w m oves to th e international arena w h e re th e U.S. d elegation to th e W orld Intellectual Property O rganization (W IPO) still stro n g ly ad v o cates a d o p tio n o f co m p a ra b le p ro p o sals in a n international treaty to b e forged this com ing D ecem ber in G eneva. ALA (in co n ­ junction w ith th e Digital Future Coalition that ALA help ed establish) continues to actively urge international delegates to the com ing Diplomatic C onference to d efer action o n th e so-called “Digital A genda” until m ore o f a n international consensus has form ed regarding h o w interna­ tional copyright laws sho u ld deal w ith these com plicated a n d rapidly evolving issues an d industries. ACRL m em bers are invited to for­ w ard inform ation ab o u t W IPO ’s u p com ing dip­ lom atic conferen ce to library a n d o th e r aca­ d em ic colleagues h ere a n d abroad. ACRL m em bers can find o u t m ore a b o u t this critical m atter th ro u g h th e ALA W ashington Office an d th e Digital Future Coalition, w hose W eb site is at: h ttp ://w w w .d fc.o rg /d fc o r co n ­ tact A dam Eisgrau, ALA’s legislative counsel in the W ashington Office: e-mail: ame@ alawash. L y n n e E. B ra d ley is d e p u ty e x ec u tive director o f A L A ’s W a sh in g to n Office; e-m ail: leb@ alawash.org. This c o lu m n w a s p re p a re d w ith A d a m Eisgrau, ALA W a shington O ffice legislative co u n sel org o r phone: (800) 941-8478 for further inform ation. C op yrigh t T erm E x ten ­ s io n Act (S. 483/H .R . 9 8 9 ). L eg islatio n to e x te n d th e length o f copyright protec­ tio n b y 20 y e a rs re m a in s p e n d in g in C o n g re ss a n d m ay b e o n e o f th e few bills acted u p o n w h en th e H ouse a n d S e n a te r e c o n v e n e in S eptem ber prior to adjourn­ m en t o f th e 104th C ongress a ro u n d O cto b er 4. A lthough the bill rem ains before the H ouse IP Subcom m ittee, the full Senate Ju d i­ ciary C om m ittee v o ted in Ju n e to rep o rt this bill to th e full Senate. T he legislation ap p ro v ed by the Senate com ­ m ittee in clu d ed a prelim inary version o f a so- called “library e x e m p tio n ” from th e 20-year extension u n d e r specified circum stances. ALA will co n tin u e its efforts to achieve a negotiated resolution o f this im portant m atter th ro u g h o u t the A ugust recess an d to assure that the final v ersion p lace d before th e H ouse an d Senate includes a b alan c ed exception for libraries, ar­ chives, a n d n o nprofit educational institutions. O m n ib u s Patent A c t(S .1 9 6 l). ALA, in con­ cert w ith o th e r m ajor library associations, o p ­ p o se d S. 1961 w hich w as in tro d u ced o n July 16 in the Senate b y Judiciary Com m ittee chairm an Orrin H atch (R-UT). A hearing originally sch ed ­ uled to b e held o n th e bill o n July 23 w as p o st­ p o n e d to Septem ber. T he legislation includes a p ro p o sal to create a new , fee-funded govern­ m en t corporation called th e Intellectual P ro p ­ erty O rganization (IPO) h e a d e d by a p resid en ­ tial ap p o in te e responsible to th e secretary o f com m erce. IPO w o u ld replace b o th th e exist­ ing P atent a n d T radem ark Office (PTO) an d th e Library o f C ongress’ Copyright Office. ALA will continue to actively express to Con­ gress its longstanding opp o sitio n to separation o f the Copyright Office from th e Library o f Con­ gress as w ell as its o p p o sitio n to any m easure that w ould jeopardize the continued grow th and com prehensiveness o f th e Library’s extraordi­ nary collection. L e g is l a t i v e A p p r o p r i a t i o n s B il l A p ­ p r o v e d (H.R. 375 4 /S .R eρ t. 1 0 4 -323). O n July 30 th e Senate p assed th e legislative b ran ch a p ­ propriations bill for FY 1997; th e H ouse p assed http://www.dfc.org/dfc mailto:leb@alawash.org 5 1 6 /C&RL News its version o n July 10; $2.17 billion w as a p p ro ­ p riated to p ay for th e o p eratio n s o f th e H ouse, Senate, a n d legislative b ran ch agencies, includ­ ing th e Library o f C ongress a n d th e G overn­ m en t Printing Office. T he H ouse rep o rt languag e stressed th e use o f electronic form at a n d telecom m unications technologies a n d that the Legislative B ranch w as “striving to w ard a C yberC ongress m o d e w h e re ­ by information can b e shared m ore easily am ong th e ag en cies a n d w ith th e p u b lic at larg e.” G o v e rn m e n t P rin tin g O ffice. T he .Senate a ccep ted th e sp en d in g levels ap p ro v e d b y th e H ouse: $29,077,000 for th e Office o f th e Super­ in te n d e n t o f D ocum ents. T he largest share o f this go es for th e o p eratio n s o f th e Federal D e­ pository Library Program . This is a red u ctio n o f $1,230,000 from FY 1996 an d $1,750,000 less th a n th e Public P rin ter re q u e s te d . C ongress d e n ie d th e $500,000 req u ested for technology g rants to h e lp depositories m ake the transition to a m o re electronic program . T he re p o rt also reflects th e H ouse a c cep ­ tan ce o f a five- to seven-year tim e fram e for the m ove to electronic form at reco m m en d ed by th e G overnm ent Printing Office, the library com m unity, an d o th ers (reversing last y e a r’s p u sh b y th e H ouse for a tw o-year transition to a m ore electronic d e p o sito ry program ). L ib rary o f C o n g ress. T he Senate p a sse d a total o f $331,758,000 for th e Library o f C on­ gress in FY 1997. This includes $62,641,000 for the Congressional Research Service; $44,964,000 for b o o k s for th e b lind a n d physically h an d i­ cap p ed ; an d a total o f $33,402,000 for th e co p y ­ right office (including th e authority to sp e n d $22,269,000 in receipts.) T he Senate in clu d ed $928,000 for th e American Folklife C enter (sam e level as FY 1996). T he Senate p assed its ver­ sio n o f H.R. 3754 re au th o rizin g th e Folklife C enter fo r tw o years. In passing its version o f H.R. 3754, th e H ouse instructed th e Library o f C o n g ress to p r e p a r e a p la n to tra n sfe r th e Folklife C enter to th e Sm ithsonian Institution. D ifferences in th e tw o versions o f th e bill will b e resolved in conferen ce b e tw e e n th e Senate an d H ouse. T he H ouse version o f th e bill in­ cludes a total o f $330,758,000 for the library. ■ T h is re p lic a o f th e P a r th e n o n is t h e o n ly full-size o n e in th e w o rld . (Nashville cont. from page 509) sic a n d m any types o f music are perfo rm ed a n d reco rd ed here. It is a significant player in th e m usic “jingle” field an d is h o m e to several artists an d a c ts w ith p o p , ro c k , a n d rh y th m & b lu e s e m p h a se s. N ashville m usicians are sig­ nificant parts o f the ro a d e n ­ tourages o f m any out-of-tow n perform ers, a n d m any music v ideos are ta p e d here. Blue­ grass, blues, jazz, p o p , classi­ cal, a n d o p e ra — it’s all part of the Nashville m usic scene. Convention city T ourism b ro u g h t m ore th an nine m illion visitors to N ash­ ville in 1995. N ashville has b e c o m e a p o p u la r conventio n site for associa­ tions an d m eetings o f all kinds. ACRL’s 8th Na­ tional C onference site is h e a d q u a rte re d in the h eart o f d o w n to w n Nashville at th e C onven­ tio n C enter a n d the adjoining R enaissance H o­ tel. O th er hotels, alo n g w ith restaurants, shops, a n d a variety o f entertainm ent options, are avail­ able w ithin w alking distance. A sh o rt ride by trolley o r taxi offers visitors m ore options. T h e lo c a l a rra n g e m e n ts c o m m itte e h a s p l a n n e d a n u m b e r o f events a n d tours d esig n ed to acq u ain t confer­ en ce atten d ees w ith Nashville a n d its surroundings. Future articles in th e News will p ro ­ vide further detail a b o u t as­ pects o f Nashville’s cultural at­ t r a c t i o n s , i n c l u d i n g a r t m u seu m s, libraries, m usical h e rita g e , lo c a l re s ta u ra n ts , an d th e en tertain m en t scene. In th e m e a n tim e , y o u c a n learn m ore ab o u t Nashville by visiting its In tern et sites. note: th e ACRL N ational C on­ ference h o m e p a g e at h ttp :// w w w . a l a . o r g / a c r l . h t m l is (Ed. linked to the Nashville C onvention a n d Visi­ t o r s B u r e a u h o m e p a g e a t h t t p : / / nashville.m usiccityusa.com /tour.) Y our Nashville area library colleagues are d elig h ted that ACRL has c h o se n to h o ld its 1997 conferen ce in o u r capitol city. C om e join us in “Music City, USA” an d enjoy all that Nashville has to offer. ■ http://www.ala.org/acrl.html September 199 6 /5 1 7 Y o u r p a r t n e r in c re a tin g in n o v a tiv e so lution s fo r lib ra rie s . “ Outsourcing with Brodart w ill enable your staff to take on additional assignments and to implement technical innovations. ” M ich a el W ild e r C u sto m C ataloging Services M anager, C o m p le a t B o o k -S e rv , B rodart Co. For more than ten years, Brodart’s Compleat Book-Serv has been providing libraries with outstanding technical services. From book-in-hand cataloging to custom processing, we provide shelf- ready b o o b w hen you need them. O u r extensive resources will help you manage your library’s expansion project, your new opening day materials collection or eliminate backlogs. Take a look at the advantages o f outsourcing w ith C om pleat Book-Serv: • material in-hand cataloging • full MARC records with customized classifications • customized holding records • customized physical processing • shelf-ready books drop shipped to branches • management reports Brodart’s Compleat Book-Serv is convenient and totally B ro d a rt Co. flexible. A project team will be assigned to work with your library Automation • Books • Furniture • Supplies in developing specifications. We’re so easy to work with that you 500 Arch Street, Williamsport, PA 17705 800-233-8467. Fax 800-999-6799 will begin to think o f us as an extension o f your own technical Brodart Ltd., 109 Roy Blvd., services department. Brantford, Ontario N 3R 7K1 If your technical services backlog is becoming unmanageable, Fax 800-363-0483 let Brodart’s Compleat Book-Serv put your books on the shelves www.brodart.com quickly and efficiendy. C u s to m T echn ical S ervice s http://www.brodart.com 51 8 /C&RL News