ALAWON v2n36 (September 1, 1993) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v2n36 ****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File**** *************************************************************************** ISSN 1069-7799 ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 2, Number 36 September 1, 1993 In this issue: (237 lines) FOLLOW-UP ON FERPA FLAP PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT REAUTHORIZATION JANE ALEXANDER NOMINATED TO CHAIR NEA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ED BOARD NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES -- GRANTS DEADLINES DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR FY94 HEA II-C GRANT APPLICATIONS *************************************************************************** FOLLOW-UP ON FERPA FLAP The ALA Washington Office has received many phone calls and e-mail messages in the past week regarding the graduate and undergraduate theses matter, reported in ALAWON Vol. 2, No. 35. After discussion with the U.S. Department of Education's Family Policy Compliance Office, which administers the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the following points have been established: * The letter was sent to one institution in response to its inquiry regarding the general applicability of FERPA to undergraduate and graduate theses. * No complaints have been made against any postsecondary institution by any student alleging that a thesis was improperly disclosed. * The Department did not before and does not now see a problem with the way schools normally treat theses that are written for publication and does not generally see the need for schools to change the way they are doing business. * The Department welcomes the opportunity to work with ALA and other interested parties in resolving any potential problems for institutions and will issue a statement further clarifying the issue of research theses in the near future. Meanwhile, ALA is consulting with the Council of Graduate Schools and others to learn what needs to be done to help lay this issue to rest. *************************************************************************** PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT REAUTHORIZATION On August 6, Rep. Norman Sisisky (D-VA) and a bipartisan group of ninety colleagues introduced HR 2995, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1993 (see _Congressional Record_, August 6, pp. H6370 and E2038-9). The bill, referred to the House Committee on Government Operations, is identical to S. 560, introduced by Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA) and 25 colleagues on March 10. The Paperwork Reduction Act has not been reauthorized since 1989, but attempts to move the legislation have been slow because of disagreements over the role of the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). HR 2995 and S. 560 provide a five-year reauthorization and substantially strengthen the ability of OIRA to foster agency action to minimize paperwork burdens. The bills have the support of the business community, particularly small business. In both bills, the proposed title V has three sections: sec. 501, prescribing government-wide standards for sharing and disseminating public information; sec. 502, agency responsibilities for sharing and disseminating public information; and sec. 503, agency information inventory/locator system. In the proposed sec. 502, agency heads would be directed--to the extent appropriate and practicable, and conforming to OMB policy guidelines--to establish and maintain a management system for the dissemination and sharing of information. Two of the seven requirements of the system are that it: ...takes advantage of all appropriate channels, Federal and non- Federal, including State and local governments, libraries and private sector entities, in discharging agency responsibilities for the dissemination and sharing of information. ...considers whether an information dissemination product available from other Federal or non-Federal sources is equivalent to an agency information dissemination product and reasonably achieves the objectives of the agency. A second PRA reauthorization bill is pending in the Senate: S. 681, the Paperwork Reduction Reauthorization Act of 1993, introduced on March 31 by Senators John Glenn (D-OH), Carl Levin (D-MI), and Daniel Akaka (D-HI). A four-year reauthorization, S. 681 strengthens agency and OIRA efforts to reduce paperwork burdens, and emphasizes management of federal information resources. The bill is similar to Glenn's PRA bills that failed to pass in the last two Congresses. Among other things, the director of OMB would be required to issue policy guidance that would "apply to all significant public information, regardless of the form or format in which public information is disseminated." The bill contains the "list of factors" that many in the library community believe would have a chilling effect on the ability of agencies to disseminate government information. S. 681 also provides that each agency's information dissemination responsibility includes promoting public access to public information by establishing and maintaining systems for dissemination of information that shall, among other things: ...provide to the Superintendent of Documents for distribution to the Federal Depository Library Program all publications regardless of format required by chapter 19 of this title to be made available. *************************************************************************** JANE ALEXANDER NOMINATED TO CHAIR NEA On August 6, President Clinton nominated Jane Alexander, actress, producer, and author, to be chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. In a letter to Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Chair of the Committee on Labor and Human Resources, the President stated that "The Endowment's mission of fostering and preserving our nation's cultural heritage is too important to remain mired in the problems of the past. It is time to move forward and Jane Alexander is superbly qualified to lead the Endowment into a new era of excellence that encourages the involvement of all Americans." Clinton further said that Alexander "will be a tireless and articulate spokesperson for the value of art for all Americans." The letter and additional information on the nominee were released at a White House briefing on August 13, 1993. ALA has joined other educational and arts groups in supporting the nomination of Alexander. Earlier in the spring, ALA and other educational and library groups supported the nomination of Sheldon Hackney, recently confirmed by the Senate as Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities. *************************************************************************** DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ED BOARD The Department of Education now has grants and contract information available via online bulletin board. ED Board uses TBBS software and currently supports four 2400 baud modems. The phone number is 202- 260-9950, modem settings are 8-N-1. The following information has been adapted from the ED Board user's guide: INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON ED BOARD: Guide to Grant Programs - General information about the Department's grant programs, including program eligibility requirements and program office phone numbers. Grant program announcements - A database of announced grant programs, searchable by program office, announcement publishing date, and current availability. Application for the Contracts Solicitation Mailing List - Instructions for completing the Contracts Mailing List Application. Guide to Doing Business with the Department of Education - General information about contracting with the Department of Education. List of current contract requests for proposals (RFPs) - Announcements as published in the Commerce Business Daily. Forecast of Contract Opportunities - List and descriptions of possible upcoming contracting opportunities at the Department. *************************************************************************** NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES -- GRANTS DEADLINES Some of the upcoming deadlines for Endowment grants for which librarians and libraries could apply are listed below. These and other grants are described in _Federal Grants and Services for Libraries: A Guide to Selected Programs_, published by the ALA Washington Office. To order a copy of the Guide, send $8.00 and a mailing label to the ALA Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002-5675. Quantities are limited. DIVISION OF FELLOWSHIPS AND SEMINARS, Summer Stipend program. Deadline is October 1 for May 1994 awards. DIVISION OF PRESERVATION AND ACCESS, Library and Archival Preservation Projects, Library and Archival Preservation/Access Projects, National Heritage Preservation Program, and the U.S. Newspaper Program. Deadline is November 1. Awards will be issued in January 1994 for the U.S. Newspaper Program, July 1994 for the other three programs. DIVISION OF PUBLIC PROGRAMS, Humanities Projects in Libraries Implementation Grants. Deadline is September 10, 1993 for awards for projects beginning April 1, 1994. Challenge Grants deadline is May 1, 1994 for projects beginning December 1, 1994. DIVISION OF RESEARCH PROGRAMS, Reference Materials, Tools, and Guides Projects. Deadline is September 1, 1993 for grants to be awarded July 1, 1994. Deadline for Challenge Grants in this program area is May 1, 1994 for grants to be awarded December 1, 1994. To receive guidelines for any NEH program, contact the Endowment for the Humanities' Office of Publications and Public Affairs at (202-606-8438). Guidelines are available at least two months in advance of application deadlines. *************************************************************************** DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR FY94 HEA II-C GRANT APPLICATIONS The Department of Education is accepting applications for FY94 grants for the HEA Title II-C program, Improving Access to Research Library Resources. The Department notes the deadline for Part I--establishing status as a major research library, is October 12, 1993. Applicants who established status in FY90 or later need not submit Part I. Part II must be submitted by all applicants with a deadline of December 9, 1993. The grant application includes a list of those institutions that currently have eligibility status. For further information contact Linda Loeb, Program Officer, or Louise Sutherland, Acting Director, Discretionary Library Programs Division, U.S. Department of Education Library Programs, 202-219- 1315, fax 202-219-1725. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363. Editor and List Owner: Fred King (fdk@alawash.org). All or part of ALAWON may be redistributed, with appropriate credits. ALAWON is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your name]" to listserv@uicvm (Bitnet) or listserv@uicvm.uic.edu (internet). Back issues and other documents are available from the list server. 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