• A Little Grafting of Second Life into a Legal Research Class: Rob Hudson discusses how Second Life can be used to enhance legal research instruction. Experiments in full class lectures and other uses of Second Life in higher education offer a mixture of hype and excitement. Published May 9, 2008
• CongressLine: Running for Congress: Paul Jenks recounts how for the past two years he has run marathons and monitored Congress at the same time, describing how the two experiences are very similar. Published May 9, 2008
• LLRX Book Review by Heather A. Phillips - A Guide to HIPAA Security and the Law: Heather A. Phillips reviews Stephen S. Wu's book whose focus is coming into compliance with the recent and complex new HIPAA requirements. Published May 7, 2008
• Conrad Jacoby's E-Discovery Update: Attorneys, Experts, and E-Discovery Competence: Conrad J. Jacoby focuses on two recent cases that emphasize the credibility problems counsel can face in the context of e-discovery - and suggest that outside assistance may be the only way for some counsel to demonstrate that these materials are being managed in a competent and trustworthy way. Published May 7, 2008
• FOIA Facts - My Proposal: FOIA Litigation Reporting Requirements: Scott A. Hodes makes the case that there should be a reporting requirement for all FOIA lawsuits requiring agencies to inform a central FOIA Office the outcome of FOIA lawsuits. Published May 7, 2008

"On May 7, Mary Alice Baish of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) gave testimony [Statement on behalf of GPO funding] before the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, Legislative Branch Subcommittee, in support of the fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget request of the U.S. Government Printing Office. She testified on behalf of AALL, the American Library Association, and the Special Libraries Association." [via ALA District Dispatch]

"Our communities have a very strong interest in Federal information policy and a fervent commitment to public access to government information and a robust FDLP for the 21st Century. The mission of the Government Printing Office (GPO) is uniquely important. GPO provides the three branches of the Federal government with expert publishing and printing services and electronic access to government information through GPO Access. In addition, GPO ensures perpetual, no-fee, ready public access to the printed and electronic information published by the Federal government, in partnership with federal depository libraries.

The public’s ability to access e-government information, either at their local depository library, neighborhood library or directly from their desktop, has grown exponentially since the enactment of the GPO Access Enhancement Act in 1993 and the move towards greater e-government by agencies, Congress and the courts. While e-government brings us many opportunities for enhanced public access, many difficult challenges remain unresolved as government moves away from producing its information in print and relies increasingly on “born digital” government information. We believe that GPO has a critical leadership role in helping the Federal government meet these unique challenges."

News release: "The FBI has withdrawn an unconstitutional national security letter (NSL) issued to the Internet Archive after a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). As the result of a settlement agreement, the FBI withdrew the NSL and agreed to the unsealing of the case, finally allowing the Archive's founder to speak out for the first time about his battle against the record demand...The NSL was served on the Archive -- a digital library recognized by the state of California -- and its attorneys in November of 2007. The letter asked for personal information about one of the Archive's users, including the individual's name, address, and any electronic communication transactional records pertaining to the user. Kahle, who is also a member of EFF's Board of Directors, decided to fight the NSL because it exceeded the FBI's limited authority to issue such demands to libraries."

• For the newly unsealed documents (still partially redacted)
  
• For more information about this case
  
• Related postings on National Security Letters

The Orphan Works Act of 2008 (HR 5889 and S 2913) "attempts to create a system where new creators can use old works without fear of massive lawsuits, provided that a good faith effort has been made to find out if the work in question is copyrighted." [Link]

• Public Knowledge resource guide to Orphan Works and related posting.
  
• beSpacific postings on orphan works

The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online: "For decades available only to scholars at Cambridge University Library, the private papers of Charles Darwin, one of the most influential scientists in history, can now be seen by anyone online and free of charge. This is the largest ever publication of Darwin papers and manuscripts, totalling about 20,000 items in nearly 90,000 electronic images. This vast and varied collection of papers includes the first draft of his theory of evolution, notes from the voyage of the Beagle and Emma Darwin's recipe book." Readers may also browse the papers here.

"This presentation [April 7, 2008] is an overview of recent data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project about internet use and Web 2.0 activities. It also focuses on the Project's findings about the role of libraries when Americans are trying to solve problems...This presentation covers the highlights from the report issued late last year about library use and the experiences people had at libraries when they went there for problem-solving help."

Inside the Experience: "Opening April 12, interactive technologies will make the Library of Congress and its collections more dynamic and accessible than ever. This Library of Congress Experience will offer “hands-on” interaction with rare cultural treasures in ways that inspire and engage. Artifacts like the Waldseemüller map (the first to include the name “America”), the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence, the Gutenberg Bible and original volumes from Thomas Jefferson’s Library will be virtually at your fingertips. You’ll be able to flip through their pages, magnify sections of interest and access commentary from the Library’s top experts-all on the same touch screen."

FDLP Desktop: "The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) was directed by the Joint Committee on Printing (JCP) to conduct a study on the conditions of regional depository libraries. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the extent to which public access to Federal depository resources may be impaired by current or projected organizational, financial, technological, or other conditions affecting regional libraries. The findings are to be delivered to the JCP by June 1, 2008. The Draft Outline."

News release: "Together with its supporting documentation, the PREMIS Data Dictionary provides a comprehensive, practical resource for implementing preservation metadata in digital archiving systems. Preservation metadata is defined as information that preservation repositories need to know to support digital materials over the long term. This document is a revision of Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata: Final report of the PREMIS Working Group, issued in May 2005. The PREMIS Data Dictionary is a specification that emphasizes metadata that may be implemented in a wide range of repositories, supported by guidelines for creation, management and use, and oriented toward automated workflows. It is technically neutral in that no assumptions are made about preservation technologies, strategies, syntaxes, or metadata storage and management."

• The Personal Information Trainer, by Stuart Basefsky
• Criminal Law Resources: Fingerprint Evidence Challenges, by Ken Strutin
• The Social Networking Titans: Facebook and MySpace, by Deborah Ginsberg and Meg Kribble
• Update to Choosing Law Librarianship: Thoughts for People Contemplating a Career Move, by Mary Whisner
• Living With the Asus Eee PC, by Conrad J. Jacoby
• Competitive Intelligence - A Selective Resource Guide, by Sabrina I. Pacifici, completely revised and updated.
• Doing Legal Research in Canada - revised and updated, by Ted Tjaden
• The Tao of Law Librarianship: If the Books Go, Will They Still Want Us? by Connie Crosby
• E-Discovery Update: Minimizing E-Mail Archive Data Conversion Issues, by Conrad J. Jacoby
• Reference from Coast to Coast: Making A Federal Case Out of It, by Jan Bissett and Margi Heinen
• FOIA Facts: Increasing the Quality of FOIA Releases, by Scott A. Hodes
• The Government Domain: Rich Resources from the Librarians of the Fed, by Peggy Garvin
• LLRX Book Review by Heather A. Phillips - Jerome Neu’s Sticks and Stones: The Philosophy of Insults
• Commentary: Waterboarding, Congress and the President, by Beth Wellington

EPA National Library Network News - Update on EPA's Library Network - March 2008

"EPA submitted a National Library Network Report to Congress (PDF, 8 pages) on March 26 as requested in the Explanatory Statement accompanying the FY 2008 consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 2764).

In the Report, EPA commits to reestablish physical libraries in EPA Regions 5, 6, and 7, as well as the Headquarters and Chemical libraries by September 30, 2008 to complement existing library services. The report was transmitted to the Honorable Todd Tiahrt, the Honorable Wayne Allard, the Honorable Norman Dicks and the Honorable Dianne Feinstein.

The Report lays out the general approach EPA plans to take for each location to reopen, and establishes operational standards applicable to every library in the EPA Network. More specific planning for each site continues.

EPA will allocate the Congressional appropriation of $1 million using the following priorities:

• Re-establish on-site libraries in Region 5 in Chicago, Region 6 in Dallas, Region 7 in Kansas City, and the consolidated EPA Headquarters Repository and Chemical Library in Washington, DC.
  
• Enable Regional EPA libraries to update their collections, facilities, and equipment to meet Network standards.
  
• Conduct a formal needs assessment for EPA library services to support future development.
  
• Over the next few months, EPA will continue to engage with internal and external stakeholders on developing final plans for each library. The Agency is committed to working with its employees and outside parties on its future digitization plans (based on the third party review), a customer needs assessment, and long term strategic planning efforts.

Follow up to previous postings on the EPA library closures, news today via AP: "The Environmental Protection Agency plans to reopen five closed libraries to the public by this fall, the agency said in a report Thursday. Three of the EPA's 10 regional libraries and two libraries at the agency's Washington headquarters were closed because of limited public use and resources being available online, EPA officials had said. The closings prompted criticism from lawmakers. The EPA said in a report to Congress that it expects the closed agency libraries in Chicago, Dallas and Kansas City, Mo., as well as at its Washington headquarters to be reopened by Sept. 30 and possibly earlier. Congress added $1 million to the EPA's budget so that the libraries could be reopened. It also required the agency to provide the report on its library plans."

News release: "The Special Libraries Association (SLA) today met with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials to review the agency's report to the U.S. Congress on the future direction of its library network. The report, EPA National Library Network Report to Congress (March 26, 2008), explains the steps EPA intends to take to reopen libraries closed over the last two years, and details how the agency will allocate an additional $1 million dollars for libraries provided in the FY08 EPA budget earmarked for that purpose."

Workshop 8 – Monitoring & Current Awareness: Mining Blogs & RSS for Research, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM, Sunday April 6, 2008 - Sabrina I. Pacifici, Law Librarian, Founder/Editor/Publisher, LLRX.com and Author, beSpacific.com.

Environmental Protection: EPA Needs to Ensure That Best Practices and Procedures Are Followed When Making Further Changes to Its Library Network, GAO-08-304, February 29, 2008.

• "Established in 1971, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) library network provides staff and the public with access to environmental information. Its 26 libraries contain a wide range of information and resources and are located at headquarters, regional offices, research centers, and laboratories nationwide. In 2006, EPA issued a plan to reorganize the network beginning in fiscal year 2007. The plan proposed closing libraries and dispersing, disposing of, and digitizing library materials. GAO was asked to assess (1) the status of, and plans for, the network reorganization; (2) EPA's rationale for reorganizing the network; (3) the extent to which EPA has communicated with and solicited the views of EPA staff and external stakeholders in conducting the reorganization; (4) EPA's steps to maintain the quality of library services after the reorganization; and (5) how EPA is funding the network and its reorganization. For this study, GAO reviewed pertinent EPA documents and interviewed EPA officials and staff from each of the libraries.

  Since 2006, EPA has implemented its reorganization plan to close physical access to 4 libraries. In the same period, 6 other libraries in the network decided to change their operations, while 16 have not changed. Some of these libraries have also digitized, dispersed, or disposed of their materials. Since the reorganization, EPA has begun drafting a common set of agencywide library procedures and has hired a program manager for the network. While these procedures are under development, however, EPA has imposed a moratorium on further changes to the network in response to congressional and other expressions of concern. EPA's primary rationale for the library network reorganization was to generate cost savings by creating a more coordinated library network and increasing the electronic delivery of services. However, EPA did not fully follow procedures recommended in a 2004 EPA study of steps that should be taken to prepare for a reorganization. In particular, EPA did not fully evaluate alternative models, and associated costs and benefits, of library services. EPA officials stated that they needed to act quickly to reorganize the library network in response to a proposed fiscal year 2007 funding reduction. EPA did not develop procedures to inform staff and the public on the final configuration of the library network, and EPA libraries varied considerably and were limited in the extent to which they communicated with and solicited views from stakeholders before and during the reorganization effort. In particular, EPA's plan did not include information that the Chemical Library was to close, and EPA did not inform staff or the public until after the fact. EPA's communication procedures were limited or inconsistent because EPA acted quickly to make changes in response to a proposed fiscal year 2007 funding reduction, and because of the decentralized nature of the library network."
  

• Related postings on EPA Library Closures

Follow up to previous postings on EPA library closures, this news release dated February 28, 2008: "A federal arbitrator has found the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guilty of unfair labor practices and acting in bad faith in its national series of library closures, according to a ruling posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). EPA is ordered to bargain with affected public employee unions before making any further changes in its library network. During the past two years, EPA has closed or reduced access to much of its network of libraries which serve both its own specialists and the public. Altogether, access to EPA libraries in 23 states has been completely lost, and several specialized collections have been shuttered, including its headquarters library."

Press release: "New York State schools with certified librarians have higher scores on average on the fourth grade English Language Arts (ELA) test than those who don’t, according to the findings of researchers at Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool).

Preliminary findings of research conducted by Professor Ruth Small and graduate students in the Center for Digital Literacy (CDL) show a statistically significant increase—with an almost 10 point difference—in the ELA test scores among fourth-grade students whose schools had certified librarians over students in schools without certified librarians." [via ALA]

"First Book is a nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. We provide an ongoing supply of new books to children participating in community-based mentoring, tutoring, and family literacy programs.

First Book was founded in 1992. The First Book model was developed to leverage the work of local heroes who reach children through existing literacy programs in a variety of settings, such as Head Start centers, libraries, soup kitchens, churches, housing projects, and afterschool initiatives. Working through this vast network of organizations, First Book plays a critical role in transforming the quality of preschool and after-school programs nationwide.

First Book's model is national in scope and local in impact. In our first year, First Book distributed approximately 12,000 books in three communities. Since that time, First Book has distributed more than 50 million books to children in over 3,000 communities around the country."

"Through Government Information Online (GIO) you can ask government information librarians who are experts at finding information from government agencies of all levels (local, state, regional, national international) on almost any subject from aardvarks to zygomycosis. GIO is a free online information service supported by nearly twenty public, state and academic libraries throughout the United States. All participants are designated Federal depository libraries in the U.S. Government Printing Office's Federal Depository Library Program. Many are also official depository libraries for their other types of governments and public agencies."

Google Book Search: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly, 1/1/2008, By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology.

Press release: "Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) today called for the papers of the Founding Fathers Project [Pew Charitable Trusts: "The Project was established more than a half century ago to publish the complete, annotated writings of the country’s founding fathers—including George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin—and to make these historical treasures available to the public."] to be made available to all Americans through the Internet, at a hearing to examine the program. Established more than 50 years ago to catalogue, annotate and public the writings of some of the country’s Founders, the program has been criticized because of slow progress and high costs."

Preservation in the Age of Large-Scale Digitization, A White Paper by Oya Y. Rieger, February, 2008. 52 pp. Published by the Council on Library and Information Resources.

Press release: "The President's budget request for fiscal year 2009 seeks $271,246,000 for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The request, which was released by the White House today, represents an increase of $26,023,000 or 10.6 percent, over the FY 2008 enacted level for the Institute’s programs and administration."

"The University of Michigan's University Library has just put the millionth book from its collection on-line. That's one million out of the 7.5 million volumes in the library's current holdings. Digitized materials are made available publicly via the Mirlyn library catalog and MBooks. MBooks provides full text of works that are in the public domain, creating new ways for users to search and access U-M Library content. Materials that are currently in copyright are available for searching on-line, allowing users to assess the contents of a book before deciding whether to purchase it or borrow it from the library."

Press release: "The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today announced that three universities - [text of the guidelines linked as follows] Hofstra, Syracuse and Marquette — have reached agreement with the AAP on new copyright guidelines affirming that educational content delivered to students in digital formats should be treated under the same copyright principles that apply to printed materials. The guidelines, which were developed separately by the three universities, govern how librarians and faculty members distribute copyrighted content through library electronic course reserves systems, course management systems, faculty and departmental web pages and other digital formats. AAP worked with each of the three universities in cooperative efforts to establish easily understood and common-sense standards that help faculty and staff understand and interpret their rights and responsibilities when using copyrighted content in educational settings. Each of the guidelines reflects the specific needs of the particular university and is consistent with the principles of fair use while providing helpful guidance as to when permission from the copyright holder is required to copy or post materials in digital formats. AAP believes the guidelines, which are similar to those adopted by Cornell University last year, will serve as models for others colleges and universities."

Do you need to read books to be clever? By Denise Winterman, BBC News Magazine: "...books are hyped as life changing and a way out of crime, poverty and deprivation by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who launched the National Year of Reading on Wednesday. Quite simply, they have the potential to open up new worlds for the reader...book sales in the UK are huge and on the rise. Last year we bought an estimated 338 million books, at a cost of £2,478m. This was 13% higher by both volume and value than five years ago, according to the Book Marketing Limited's latest Books and the Consumer survey."

Report of The Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control, January 9, 2008.

"The NIH Public Access Policy ensures that the public has access to the published results of NIH funded research. It requires scientists to submit journal articles that arise from NIH funds to the digital archive PubMed Central. The Policy requires that these articles be accessible to the public on PubMed Central to help advance science and improve human health."

The Law:

Press release: "A new report, commissioned by the UKL JISC [Joint Information Systems Committee] and the British Library, counters the common assumption that the ‘Google Generation’ – young people born or brought up in the Internet age – is the most adept at using the web. The report by the CIBER research team at University College London claims that, although young people demonstrate an ease and familiarity with computers, they rely on the most basic search tools and do not possess the critical and analytical skills to asses the information that they find on the web. The report Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future [11 January 2008] also shows that research-behaviour traits that are commonly associated with younger users – impatience in search and navigation, and zero tolerance for any delay in satisfying their information needs – are now the norm for all age-groups, from younger pupils and undergraduates through to professors. 'These findings add to our growing understanding of subjects that should concern all who work in further and higher education – the changing needs of our students and researchers and how libraries can meet their needs.'

The study calls for libraries to respond urgently to the changing needs of researchers and other users and to understand the new means of searching and navigating information. Learning what researchers want and need is crucial if libraries are not to become obsolete, the report warns."

Follow up to postings on EPA library closures, this press release from January 10, 2008: EPA To Set Up Human Resources Shared Service Centers: "The Environmental Protection Agency has announced plans to establish shared service centers in three locations, beginning in June 2008, to process personnel and benefits actions for the agency's 17,000 employees. The centers, to be located in current EPA facilities in Cincinnati, Ohio, Las Vegas, Nev., and Research Triangle Park, N.C., also will process vacancy announcements throughout the agency. The move will improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and customer service of agency human resources operations. It is expected to take 12-24 months to complete. Staff affected by the creation of the shared service centers will continue their employment at one of the centers or elsewhere in the agency. The centers will enhance the timeliness and quality of customer service and standardize work processes."

Press release: "The Library of Congress and the Foundation Center, in a joint partnership, have recently compiled a new Web-based fundraising guide to help the preservation community save the nation’s millions of at-risk artifacts for future generations. The guide, titled Foundation Grants for Preservation in Libraries, Archives and Museums, is available for free download at the Library of Congress."

Follow up to December 27, 2007 posting Mandate for Public Access to NIH-Funded Research Now Law, see this press release: "The Association of American Publishers [January 3, 2008] criticized a controversial new NIH research publication policy that was enacted as part of the omnibus appropriations package for 2008, and reaffirmed that journal publishers who have opposed the policy will continue to pursue their concerns with Congress regarding the policy’s negative impact on science publishing and the protection of related intellectual property rights. Publishers will also urge NIH to conduct a rulemaking proceeding, with opportunity for public comment, before implementing the new policy."

Perceptions 2007: An International Survey of Library Automation
by Marshall Breeding. January 9, 2008: "Introduction - The year 2007 saw considerable upheaval in the library automation industry. To get some sense of the aftermath of the recent rounds of mergers, acquisitions, product consolidations, and to gauge interest in open source automation systems, I created and executed a survey that aims to measure the prevailing perceptions in libraries."

Press release: "The Library of Congress and Microsoft Corp. have signed a cooperative agreement that will change the way Library visitors experience history. The joint technology initiative will electronically deliver the Library’s immense collection of historical artifacts to patrons visiting its Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C., and will allow unparalleled and immersive interactive experiences that will bring the institution’s vast historical collections and exhibits to life–on-site and online–through the upcoming myloc.gov Web site."

The buslib-l archives are now available from 1998 to present at http://list1.ucc.nau.edu [Tina Adams (BusLib Moderator)]

"The European Library launched a new version of its website on the 4th of December; the changes involve significant lay-out improvements and reflect a constant care for understanding user needs. It also introduces the latest partners’ collections and the first The European Library web-exhibition."

Internet2 and Libraries - Serving Your Communities at the Speed of Light, by James Werle and Louis Fox.

The Secret Library of Hope, by Rebecca Solnit, The Nation: "Hope is an orientation, a way of scanning the wall for cracks--or building ladders--rather than staring at its obdurate expanse. It's a world view, but one informed by experience and the knowledge that people have power; that the power people possess matters; that change has been made by populist movements and dedicated individuals in the past; and that it will be again. Dissent in this country has become largely a culture of diagnosis rather than prescription, of describing what is wrong with them, rather than what is possible for us. But even in English, a robust minority tradition can be found. There are a handful of books that I think of as "the secret library of hope." None of them deny the awful things going on, but they approach them as if the future is still open to intervention rather than an inevitability. In describing how the world actually gets changed, they give us the tools to change it again..."

Pew Internet & American Life Project: Information Searches That Solve Problems, 12/30/2007

Follow up to previous postings on EPA Library Closures, news from Library Journal: "Reversing a policy bitterly opposed by library advocates, many Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees, and the watchdog Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), Congress in its omnibus appropriations bill sent to President George W. Bush has earmarked $3 million to restore service at the EPA’s technical and research libraries."

Press release: "...in a statement to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the American Library Association (ALA) addressed the critical yet unacknowledged role public libraries play in delivering E-government services to the American people. Increasingly, government agencies refer individuals to their local public libraries for assistance and access to the Internet for citizen-government interactions. Yet public libraries are not considered members of the E-government team. ALA's statement (PDF), for the Committee's hearing on E-government, highlighted the stress these E-government services are placing on public libraries' infrastructure and suggested taking steps toward creating a partnership between public libraries and the government in order to improve E-government delivery to citizens."

Acceptance Speech, Doris Lessing, Nobel Prize in Literature 2007, December 7, 2007: "...We are in a fragmenting culture, where our certainties of even a few decades ago are questioned and where it is common for young men and women who have had years of education, to know nothing about the world, to have read nothing, knowing only some speciality or other, for instance, computers. What has happened to us is an amazing invention, computers and the internet and TV, a revolution. This is not the first revolution we, the human race, has dealt with. The printing revolution, which did not take place in a matter of a few decades, but took much longer, changed our minds and ways of thinking. A foolhardy lot, we accepted it all, as we always do, never asked "What is going to happen to us now, with this invention of print?" And just as we never once stopped to ask, How are we, our minds, going to change with the new internet, which has seduced a whole generation into its inanities so that even quite reasonable people will confess that once they are hooked, it is hard to cut free, and they may find a whole day has passed in blogging and blugging etc."

The Looming Infrastructure Plateau? Space, Funding, Connection Speed, and the Ability of Public Libraries to meet the Demand for Free Internet Access [First Monday], December 2007.

Library of Congress: The period for public comment on the report is open until December 15, 2007. Comments can be submitted via the Web site at http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/contact/. Electronic submission of comments is encouraged.

News.com: "The Universal Digital Library, a book-scanning project backed by several major libraries across the globe, has completed the digitization of 1.5 million books and on Tuesday made them free and publically available. The online library offers full text downloads of works that are in the public domain, or for which the copyright holder has been given permission to make available. Having the backing of prominent institutions such as the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt, however, the collection goes far beyond the widely available classics, though those are there, too..." According to the director of intellectual property for the Universal Digital Library, Michael Shamos, "But once books are digitized and stored on servers around the world, it becomes impossible for any one government to destroy all the copies of a book. Once it's there it remains immortal."

LC press release: "The Library of Congress, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek and OCLC have signed a memorandum of understanding to extend and enhance the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF), a project that virtually combines multiple name authority files into a single name authority service. Building on a previous proof-of-concept research project by the Library, the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (the German national library) and OCLC, the new agreement adds the Bibliothèque nationale de France (the French national library) as a principal partner in VIAF and will lead to the inclusion of content from name authority files maintained by the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The French name authority records will be added to the existing VIAF files built from authority data from the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek and the Library of Congress. VIAF’s matching routines were developed by OCLC research."

Press release: "The New York Public Library has acquired the papers of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., the late American historian, social critic, and advisor to President John F. Kennedy, announced Paul LeClerc, President of The New York Public Library. "Arthur Schlesinger was a pivotally important American in the last century. He was both a brilliant historian and also a witness to, and participant in, most of the significant events of his era," said Dr. LeClerc...The Arthur Schlesinger papers consist of almost 300 linear feet of correspondence, journals, manuscripts of his writings, research files, phone logs, sound recordings, videos, date books, and clippings and will be housed in the Library’s Manuscripts and Archives Division. The correspondence in Schlesinger's papers includes letters from nearly every significant figure in American politics, as well as many prominent scholars, thinkers, writers, and artists. Examples of prominent correspondents include Kofi Annan, Brooke Astor, Truman Capote, Bill Clinton, Marlene Dietrich, Allen Ginsberg, Hubert Humphrey, Jacob Javitz, Edward Kennedy, Edward Koch, Norman Mailer, Walter Mondale, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Ralph Nader, I.M. Pei, John D. Rockefeller IV, John Updike, Kurt Vonnegut, and Caspar Weinberger."

Reinventing the Law Library - Year is 2020, NE2007: Law Libraries Without Borders II: 4th Northeast Regional Law Libraries Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Claire M. Germain, Professor of Law & Edward Cornell Law Librarian, Cornell University Law School, October 19, 2007.

AP: "The papers of two of Arkansas' most prominent political leaders former Govs. Clinton and Huckabee remain locked in storage four years after both promised to donate them to two separate archival projects."

Documents Center, University Library, University of Michigan, Guide to Elections 2008. Choose this web guide as your basis for any aspect of election related research. It is comprehensive, current, and presents a wide spectrum of state and federal resources, as well as annotated links to free and fee-based publications, subscription services, and online guides maintainted by government, newspapers, campaigns, advocacy groups, lobbying groups, and academics.

National Endowment for the Arts Report: To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence: "This report is a new and comprehensive analysis of reading patterns of children, teenagers, and adults in the United States. To Read or Not To Read assembled data on reading trends from more than 40 sources, including federal agencies, universities, foundations, and associations. The compendium expands the investigation of the NEA's landmark 2004 report, Reading at Risk, and reveals recent declines in voluntary reading and test scores alike, exposing trends that have severe consequences for American society. November 2007. (100 pages, PDF)

Engaging Privacy and Information Technology in a Digital Age, James Waldo, Herbert S. Lin, and Lynette I. Millett, Editors, Committee on Privacy in the Information Age, National Research Council.

"Health Policy Picks is a monthly selection of recent publications, such as technical reports, conference proceedings, and other material produced by organizations and government agencies that conduct health care policy analysis and research. Health Policy Picks is a partnership between KaiserEDU.org and the New York Academy of Medicine Library's Grey Literature Collection...This month's Health Policy Picks presents recently released publications on Medicare, Medicaid, the Uninsured, and Health Systems."

The Future of Reading, by Steven Levy, Newsweek, November 17, 2007: "...the Kindle...has the dimensions of a paperback, with a tapering of its width that emulates the bulge toward a book's binding. It weighs but 10.3 ounces, and unlike a laptop computer it does not run hot or make intrusive beeps....with the use of E Ink, a breakthrough technology of several years ago that mimes the clarity of a printed book, the Kindle's six-inch screen posts readable pages... (The Kindle gets as many as 30 hours of reading on a charge, and recharges in two hours.)...E-book devices like the Kindle allow you to change the font size: aging baby boomers will appreciate that every book can instantly be a large-type edition. The handheld device can also hold several shelves' worth of books: 200 of them onboard, hundreds more on a memory card and a limitless amount in virtual library stacks maintained by Amazon. Also, the Kindle [costs $399] allows you to search within the book for a phrase or name...Some of those features have been available on previous e-book devices, notably the Sony Reader. The Kindle's real breakthrough springs from a feature that its predecessors never offered: wireless connectivity, via a system called Whispernet. (It's based on the EVDO broadband service offered by cell-phone carriers, allowing it to work anywhere, not just Wi-Fi hotspots.)"

"The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) issued its first library statistics report on state library agencies, on state library agencies in the 50 states and the District of Columbia for state fiscal year (FY) 2006. The State Library Agency Report for FY 2006 [released November 2007] includes a wide array of information on topics such as libraries’ Internet access, services, collections, staff, and revenue, and is used by state and federal policymakers, researchers, and others."

A Tribute to Carl Linnaeus - November 13 and 14, 2007: "Scientists around the world are celebrating the 300th anniversary of the birth of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus. He is best known for instituting a two-name method for identifying plants and animals, called binomial nomenclature. Considered the “father” of modern taxonomy, Linnaeus named approximately 4,400 species of animals and 7,700 species of plants. Today, many museums, including this one, continue to research the relationships between species, and rely on Linnaeus’ classic works. For two days in November we will celebrate this 300th anniversary with an exhibition of Linnaeus’ Systema Naturae and symposium."

US Courts press release: "Free public access to federal court records is available at 16 libraries in 14 states [the list is included with this release] under a joint pilot project of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and the Government Printing Office. The project offers free access, at the participating 16 federal depository libraries, to the federal judiciary's Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system. PACER allows users to obtain case file documents, listings of all case parties, judgments, and other information from district, bankruptcy and appellate courts online, with the data immediately available for printing or downloading."

Press release - "In a statement issued on Thursday, November 8, 2007, Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein said: I welcome the Inspector General’s recommendations included in the ‘Audit of the Process of Safeguarding and Accounting for Presidential Library Artifacts’. This audit which was completed on October 26, 2007, examined the management of Presidential artifacts at six Presidential Libraries: The Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, the John F. Kennedy Library, the Gerald R. Ford Library, the Ronald Reagan Library, the George Bush Library, and the William J. Clinton Library."

2007 Global Faculty e-Book Survey Sponsored by ebrary

National Center for Education Statistics, Public Libraries in the United States: Fiscal Year 2005: "This report includes national and state summary data on public libraries in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, with an introduction, selected findings, and several tables. The report, based on data from the Public Libraries Survey for fiscal year 2005, includes information on population of legal service area, service outlets, library collections and services, full-time equivalent staff, and operating revenue and expenditures. The report includes several key findings: Nationwide, visits to public libraries totaled 1.4 billion, or 4.7 library visits per capita. The average number of Internet terminals available for public use per stationary outlet was 11.2."

Press release: "According to the latest Harris Poll, the number of adults who are online at home, in the office, at school, library or other locations continues to grow at a steady rate. In the past year, the number of online users has reached an estimated 178 million, a ten percent increase."

The New Yorker: Digitization and its discontents, by Anthony Grafton, November 5, 2007

UNESCO launches new Literacy Portal: "In today’s world, one in five adults is still not literate (two-thirds of them women) while 72 million children are out-of-school. Since its foundation in 1946, UNESCO has been at the forefront of global literacy efforts and is dedicated to keep literacy high on national, regional and international agendas. However, with some 774 million adults lacking minimum literacy skills, literacy for all remains an elusive target. UNESCO’s literacy programmes aim to create a literate world and promote literacy for all."

OCLC press release and related links: "The practice of using a social network to establish and enhance relationships based on some common ground—shared interests, related skills, or a common geographic location—is as old as human societies, but social networking has flourished due to the ease of connecting on the Web. This OCLC membership report explores this web of social participation and cooperation on the Internet and how it may impact the library’s role, including: The use of social networking, social media, commercial and library services on the Web; How and what users and librarians share on the Web and their attitudes toward related privacy issues; Opinions on privacy online; Libraries’ current and future roles in social networking."

"A new Web page designed to keep libraries informed of weekly depository shipments has been released and is available at http://www.fdlp.gov/distribution/index.html."

A mission to remember: Volunteers for the Library of Congress are racing against time to collect oral histories of America's remaining World War II veterans. By Deborah Horan, Chicago Tribune staff reporter, October 14, 2007: "Since 2000, volunteers working with the library's American Folklife Center have collected more than 50,000 taped interviews as part of the Veterans History Project...Between 1,000 and 1,500 World War II veterans are dying every day, according to estimates at the Department of Veteran Affairs. Of the estimated 17 million U.S. veterans still living, about 2.9 million served in World War II. Unless volunteers hurry to interview others who fought in World War II, participants in the project worry that servicemen...will slip away without leaving their memories for posterity."

"This Wise Guide portal was designed to introduce you to the many fascinating, educational and useful resources available from the nation's library and one of the most popular Web sites of the federal government. The "Wise Guide" will be refreshed monthly, much like a magazine, offering links to the best of the Library's online materials. Each of these "articles" is based on items contained in a collection, database, reading room or other area of the Library's online offerings. You will see that we are "more than a library," and our holdings range from prints, photographs, films, audio recordings, maps, manuscripts, music and digital materials to (of course) books. We are also a place that sponsors concerts, lectures, dance performances, film screenings, and poetry readings. We hope the Guide's monthly "articles" will encourage you to explore the millions of items we make available at www.loc.gov."

Nixon's Library Now a Part of NARA - California Facility Will Hold All Documents and Tapes From a Half-Century Career in Politics, by James Worsham, NARA, Prologue, Fall 2007, Vol. 39, No. 3.

GPO: "Library Services and Content Management (LSCM) and volunteers from the Federal depository community worked to consolidate and update the Instructions to Depository Libraries and the Federal Depository Library Manual, including its supplements, into one online publication. All the chapters were reviewed by key stakeholders, including the Depository Library Council and the professional library associations. Each chapter was also posted for public comment. LSCM staff reviewed comments, integrated them as appropriate, and served as final editors. The resulting publication is the Final Draft Version - Federal Depository Library Handbook."

European Parliament: Resolution i2010: towards a European digital library, September 27, 2007

Rising Journal Costs Limit Scholarly Access, Emory University:
"Are publishers getting rich publishing your research? A Bear-Stearns evaluation of Reed-Elsevier (one of the world's largest publishers of scholarly journals) recently rated the company, which earns profits of almost 40% annually, "a stockholder's dream." Should private publishers be getting rich selling information generated by research that is funded by academic institutions and the public? What's happening and how does it affect scholars? This article looks at one university’s experience."

Cyberinfrastructure, Data, and Libraries, Part 1 - A Cyberinfrastructure Primer for Librarians, by Anna Gold, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, D-Lib Magazine, September/October 2007, Volume 13 Number 9/10.

"GPO is pleased to announce the renewal of its partnership with the Troy H. Middleton Library of Louisiana State University through 2010.
Originally signed in 2001, this partnership provides for Federal
depository library access to the List of Federal Agency Internet Sites Web site. Based on the U.S. Government
Manual, the List directs users to the Web sites of active Federal
agencies, and can be searched in several ways. Users can view a
hierarchical or an alphabetical list of all agencies. The agencies are
also listed by broad category, such as boards/commissions, legislative, and quasi-official. The entire list is searchable by agency keyword as well."

"The Law Library of Congress is pleased to announce the release of its newly designed web site. The web site includes information on a range of legal issues and research topics as well as our services and logistics of using the Reading Room. In addition to established products such as the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN), Guide to Law Online and the Global Legal Monitor, new Law Library products are available as well." [Emily Carr, Law Library of Congress]

Highlights include:

"Fair Use exceptions to U.S. copyright laws are responsible for more than $4.5 trillion in annual revenue for the United States, according to the findings of an unprecedented economic study released today. According to the study commissioned by the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and conducted in accordance with a World Intellectual Property Organization methodology, companies benefiting from limitations on copyright-holders’ exclusive rights, such as “fair use” – generate substantial revenue, employ millions of workers, and, in 2006, represented one-sixth of total U.S. GDP. The exhaustive report, released today at a briefing on Capitol Hill, quantifies for the first time ever the critical contributions of fair use to the U.S. economy. The timing proves particularly important as the debates over copyright law in the digital age move increasingly to center stage on Capitol Hill."

ALA: "Ever-growing patron demand for computer and Internet services in U.S. public libraries has stretched existing Internet bandwidth, computer availability, and building infrastructure to capacity, according to a new study “Libraries Connect Communities: Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study 2006-2007,” conducted by the American Library Association (ALA) and the Information Use Management and Policy Institute at Florida State University (FSU). The study, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and ALA, found that more than 73 percent of libraries report they are the only source of free public access to computers and the Internet in their communities. Surveyed libraries said that the top three Internet services most critical to their community are online educational resources and databases for K-12 students (67.7 percent); services for job seekers (44 percent); and computer and Internet skills training (29.8 percent)."

Reading Books in the Digital Age subsequent to Amazon, Google and the long tail by Terje Hillesund, Associate Professor at the University of Stavanger, Norway. First Monday, volume 12, number 9 (September 2007),

"Between 1971 and 1973, President Richard Nixon secretly recorded 3,700 hours of his phone calls and meetings. These recordings were made in the Oval Office (commonly designated by the abbreviation "OVAL"), his hideaway office in the Executive Office Building ("EOB"), the Cabinet Room ("CAB"), Camp David ("CDHW"), and on various White House telephones ("WHT"). Currently, approximately 2,100 hours of these tapes have been declassified, released, and are available to the public. However, neither the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) nor the Nixon Presidential Library has made official transcriptions. Instead, they have left this monumental task--a task that NARA once estimated took 100 hours of staff time to transcribe 1 hour of tape--to researchers. The purpose of this website is to make these transcripts available, side-by-side multiple audio formats, to members of the public who are not able to travel to the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) Archives II facility in College Park, Maryland, or to the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California, to listen to and transcribe the conversations for themselves."

Foreign Law Research: "FLARE is a collaboration between the major libraries collecting law in the United Kingdom: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Bodleian Law Library, Squire Law Library, British Library, and School of Oriental and African Studies. It is working to improve the coverage and accessibility of foreign legal material