An electronic publication of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services
ISSN: 1056-6694 ALCTS NETWORK NEWS An electronic publication of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services Volume 15, Number 6 February 25, 1998 In this issue BYRUM NAMED RECIPIENT OF ALCTS MANN CITATION ACTION ALERT: ALCTS BOARD URGES SUPPORT FOR DIGITAL COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION ************ BYRUM NAMED RECIPIENT OF ALCTS MANN CITATION John D. Byrum, Chief, Regional and Cooperative Cataloging Division at the Library of Congress, is the recipient of the 1998 Margaret Mann Citation presented by the ALCTS Cataloging and Classification Section. The award, a citation and $2,000 donated by OCLC Online Computer Library Center to the library school of the winner's choice, recognizes outstanding professional achievement in cataloging or classification either through publication of significant professional literature, participation in professional cataloging associations, or valuable contributions to practice in individual libraries. "The Margaret Mann Committee is pleased to award the Citation to Mr. Byrum for his sustained leadership in the continuing development of cataloging standards, nationally and internationally," said Carlen Ruschoff, chair of the Margaret Mann Citation Committee. "Internationally, his notable contributions have been through his work on the Joint Steering Committee for Revision of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules; IFLA committees on various international standard bibliographic descriptions (ISBDs); and other IFLA/UBC committees. Nationally, he has been deeply involved in efforts toward bibliographic standardization through initiatives such as the Name Authority Cooperative Program (NACO) and the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC)." Byrum has received many other awards throughout his career. He won the Emblem Club National Scholarship in 1958 and the Harvard College Honorary Scholarship in 1960. He was inducted into Beta Phi Mu in 1967 for academic excellence. In 1975, he was awarded the ALCTS Esther J. Piercy Award for his service and contributions to the development of the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules in the dual role of Chair of the ALA Catalog Code Revision Committee and representative to the Joint Steering Committee. From the Library of Congress, Byrum has earned service and achievement awards during his tenure. These include: Award for Meritorious Service (1987), Award for Superior Service (1991), and Awards for Special Achievements (1996, 1997). Byrum has a Masters in Library Science from Rutgers-The State University, New Brunswick, N.J., graduating first in class and a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The award will be presented on June 29, at 9:30 a.m. at the ALCTS Membership Meeting and the ALCTS President's Program during the ALA Annual Conference, June 25-July 2, 1998 in Washington, D.C. ************ ACTION ALERT: ALCTS BOARD URGES SUPPORT FOR DIGITAL COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION At the Midwinter Meeting in New Orleans the ALCTS Board endorsed a motion from the ALCTS Legislation Committee to support an effort to pass landmark legislation which would update the nation's copyright laws for the digital age, including the Fair Use Doctrine. The Board asked that ALCTS members contact their individual Representatives and Senators to become cosponsors of these bills. These watershed bills, endorsed by ALA Council, are S. 1146, Sen. John Ashcroft's (R-MO), Digital Copyright Clarification and Technology Act, and H.R. 3048, the Digital Era Copyright Enhancement Act, introduced by Reps. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Tom Campbell (R-CA). The bills represent a positive approach to updating the Copyright Act to meet the challenges of the digital environment while, at the same time, preserving the critical balance between copyright owners and users in the electronic age. It is crucial that all librarians, educators, trustees, parents, and friends of libraries ask both of their Senators to cosponsor S. 1146 and ask their member of the House of Representatives to cosponsor H.R. 3048. Most members will not sign on as the cosponsor of a bill unless a constituent requests it. All ALA members, trustees and library supporters are urgently requested to write or call your House and Senate delegations specifically requesting "cosponsorship" (not merely "support") of these bills. The U.S. Capitol Switchboard phone number is 202-224-3121. E-mail also can be effective. For a directory of Congressional e-mail addresses, consult the Library of Congress web page at http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/legislative/email.html Your letter or communication might include these key points: I recently learned that bipartisan legislation has been introduced (insert bill number and name of sponsor; see NOTE below) which would broadly update copyright law for the future in a way that will both protect the owners of information and continue to allow librarians and educators access to information under reasonable circumstances. I am writing to you today to ask that you lend your name to that legislation. As a (librarian/library user/library trustee/friend of libraries), I feel strongly that any changes made to the Copyright Act must be balanced in a way that allows the benefits of the Internet to reach all sectors of society, especially library users and students. This bill will accomplish this very important goal in several important ways. Please add your name to this bill as a cosponsor. NOTE: Letters to Senators should refer only to: S. 1146, Sen. John Ashcroft's (R-MO) Digital Copyright Clarification and Technology Act. Letters to House members should refer only to: H.R. 3048, the Digital Era Copyright Enhancement Act, introduced by Reps. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Tom Campbell (R-CA). For detailed information about contacting your Senators and Representatives and further background on this critical legislation, please consult the ALA Washington Office website at http://www.ala.org/washoff and the Digital Future Coalition's home page at http://www.dfc.org. ANOTHER LIBRARY ADVOCACY ALERT Library supporters represented by any member of the full House Judiciary Committee -- especially members of its Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property -- are asked to write, call or fax their representatives as soon as possible regarding two bills strongly opposed by the library community: H.R. 2281, the WIPO Copyright Treaties Implementation Act -- a flawed and incomplete proposal to protect the rights of some information owners that would jeopardize the future of fair use and the public's access to electronic information); and H.R. 2652, the Collection of Information Antipiracy Act -- a dangerously over broad bill to provide sweeping new protection for "databases" that threatens access to even public domain information). These bills are scheduled to be considered by the Subcommittee on February 26 and March 12. No such markup is scheduled for WIPO-related bill -- H.R. 3048, the Digital Era Copyright Enhancement Act sponsored by Reps. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Tom Campbell (R-CA) and supported by the library community. This bill would update the nation's copyright laws in a way that fully protects fair use, digital preservation, library lending, distance education, and access to technology needed to engage in such activities. SEE ARTICLE ABOVE. Key message points: it is premature for the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property to vote on either HR 2652 or HR 2281; additional hearings are needed on HR 2652 to determine whether the protection it would provide is justified, and a first hearing is needed on the library-friendly HR 3048; and members of the House Judiciary Committee are encouraged to evaluate and cosponsor HR 3048. For more information see www.arl.org/info/frn/copy/ hr2652sum.html. Inquiries also may be directed to Adam Eisgrau, legislative counsel for the ALA Washington Office: at 800/941-8478. E-mail: ame@alwash.org ************ ALCTS NETWORK NEWS (ISSN 1056-6694) is published irregularly by the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, a division of the American Library Association. Editorial offices: ALCTS, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; Janet Swan Hill, President; Karen Muller, Executive Director. Editor: Karen Whittlesey (kwhittlesey@ala.org); Editorial Assistance: Karen Muller, Shonda Russell. ALCTS NETWORK NEWS is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the division. News items should be sent to the editor at the e-mail address above. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to listproc@ala.org with the only line of text being "subscribe an2 [your name]" (without quotation marks). Back issues of AN2 are available through the listserver or the ALCTS web site: www.ala.org/alcts/publications/index.html. 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