ALCTS Network News v5n02 (January 8, 1993) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/ann/ann-v5n02 ISSN: 1056-6694 ALCTS NETWORK NEWS An electronic publication of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services Volume 5, Number 2 January 8, 1993 In this issue HEARING ON FREE ACCESS TO CONTROVERSIAL MATERIALS SET FOR MIDWINTER MEETING ADVISORS NAMED TO UPCOMING TECHNICAL SERVICES GUIDE NREN WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS AVAILABLE LAMA TO REPEAT POPULAR LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE ************************************************************************** HEARING ON FREE ACCESS TO CONTROVERSIAL MATERIALS SET FOR MIDWINTER MEETING An open hearing on free access to controversial materials, titled "The Rubber Hits the Road: An Open Forum on Access to Difficult Books," will be held on Saturday, January 23, 8 to 10 p.m., during the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Denver. The hearing is sponsored by the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee and Coordinating Committee on Access to Information. Librarians who encountered controversies regarding materials such as "Daddy's Roommate," a children's picture book depicting life with a gay father, and Madonna's "Sex," will share their successful strategies for protecting and implementing local polices consistent with ALA policies on intellectual freedom and open access to library materials. The presentations will be followed by open discussion and questions on how librarians handle controversial materials. Several library directors and staff who directly dealt with controversies in their communities will be featured. Some of the participants are facing petition campaigns and threats of prosecution or job loss in connection with making controversial materials available in their collections. "This has been a year that tested librarians' commitment to the principles of intellectual freedom," said Candace Morgan, Intellectual Freedom Committee chair. "This forum will provide an opportunity for colleagues to share techniques for upholding local policies as well as their professional principles and surviving with their careers and community relationships intact." "Librarians are very vocal about their commitment to intellectual freedom and a free exchange of ideas," added Gordon Conable, ALA Coordinating Committee on Access to Information chair and Intellectual Freedom Committee past chair. "We want to carry that commitment forward into an open discussion of how various libraries handled recent, highly publicized, controversial materials and how professional colleagues support each other by implementing and upholding the policies which protect the principles of intellectual freedom." ************************************************************************* ADVISORS NAMED TO UPCOMING TECHNICAL SERVICES GUIDE Thirteen library professionals have been named advisors to the "Guide to Technical Services Resources," a new American Library Association (ALA) Publishing project scheduled to debut in October 1993. With a basic volume and periodic updates, the publication will track the most important sources in each area of technical services and organize its information for quick, systematic access. Representing the full range of technical services activities, the advisors will provide another dimension of authority to the "Guide," now being prepared by a select group of professionals under the general editorship of Peggy Johnson, assistant director, University of Minnesota/St. Paul Libraries. Appointed by Johnson and Art Plotnik, ALA Associate Publisher, the advisors are: Barry B. Baker, University of Georgia; Doris H. Clack, Florida State University School of Library and Information Studies; Frances E. Corcoran, Des Plaines (Ill.) Public Schools District 62; Karen M. Drabenstott, University of Michigan School of Library and Information Studies, and Doina G. Farkas, University of Florida. Also, Joe A. Hewitt, University of North Carolina; Denise Kaplan Hildreth, King County (Wash.) Library System; Dorothy J. Owens, CARL Systems, Inc., Denver, Colo.; Vivian M. Pisano, Oakland (Calif.) Public Library; Laura Stalker, Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif.; William E. Studwell, Northern Illinois University, and Penelope Swanson, Douglas College Library, British Columbia. Bill Robnett of Vanderbilt University will advise the project ex officio as chair of the ALCTS Publications Committee to assure coordination with ALCTS activities. ************************************************************************* NREN WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS AVAILABLE "Proceedings of the National Research and Education Network (NREN) Workshop," is now available. The report includes background papers prepared for the American Library Association (ALA) by Carol C. Henderson, deputy director of the ALA Washington Office, and Patricia Wand for the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of ALA. The workshop, recently held in Monterey, Calif., was sponsored by the Institute for Electrical Engineering and Electronics (IEEE) U.S. Activities Board, EDUCOM and the Computing Research Association. It received support from the National Science Foundation. More than 80 attendees, including representatives from higher education, the library community, the computing industry, federal agencies, telecommunications companies, network service providers and K-12 education met for two days to review congressional questions and other key issues in the evolution of the NREN. The report highlights the key policy issues at the workshop and includes copies of the 18 position papers submitted. It is intended to provide context and reference material for future deliberations on the NREN by the United States Congress, federal agencies and other bodies with a policy role in the development of the network. The NREN is one of the major components of the High Performance Computing Act (HPCA) of 1991 (PL 102-194). Section 102(a) of the Act states, "The Network shall provide for the linkage of research institutions and educational institutions, government and industry in every state." The 225-page report has been presented to the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House to assist in the development of a report on the following questions requested in the HPCA (PL 102-194): (1) effective mechanisms for providing operating funds for maintenance and use of the Network, including user fees, industry support and continued Federal investment; (2) the future operation and evolution of the Network: (3) how commercial information service providers could be charged for access to the Network and how Network users could be charged for such commercial information services; (4) the technological feasibility of allowing commercial information service providers to use the Network and other federally-funded research networks; (5) how to protect the copyrights of material distributed over the Network; (6) appropriate policies to ensure the security of resources available on the Network and to protect the privacy of users of networks. Possible congressional actions identified by workshop participants include establishment of a national commission to develop, with involved constituencies, a detailed NREN plan and program; inclusion of additional federal agencies in the NREN program; creation of a public sector governing body for the NREN; reaffirming and further defining the federal role in the development of the NREN system, and supporting NREN applications such as medical care and lifelong learning. Among the conclusions shared widely by the participants were that the NREN should be more than a program supporting high performance computing. They feel the NREN has the potential to facilitate development of the National Information Infrastructure; provide tools for increasing the effectiveness of research, education and technology transfer at all levels, and demonstrate network applications and technologies which can aid in addressing critical social needs. Copies of the report are available for $10 each from: Elizabeth Barnhart, EDUCOM--Networks, 1112 - 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. Telephone: 202-331-5342. Fax: 202-872-4318. E-mail: Barnhart@EDUCOM.EDU. ************************************************************************* LAMA TO REPEAT POPULAR LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE "A Leadership Survival Kit," a regional institute on leadership, will be offered a second time by the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA) on Friday, March 19, 1993, at the Sheraton Colony Hotel in Atlanta, Ga. The deadline for registration, limited to 125 participants, is March 5, 1993. Co-sponsored by SOLINET, the Southeastern Library Network, the one-day institute will provide librarians with an opportunity to expand their perspectives on leadership through greater awareness of issues that impact their effectiveness. Participants will assess the values, biases and beliefs that influence leadership styles, determine strategies to optimize achievement of organizational goals and broaden awareness of the needs of employees and client groups. Topics to be addressed are leadership and decision-making styles, approaches to confronting and managing conflict and stimulating creativity. The institute will be presented by veteran workshop leader Abigail Hubbard, a consultant to managers and a lecturer in the Department of Management, College of Business Administration at the University of Houston. Hubbard teaches organization behavior, international business and power, politics and culture in organizations and has worked in academic, special and medical libraries. She has a master's degree in library science and a doctorate in higher education administration and management. The registration fee is $110 for LAMA and SOLINET members and $150 for Non-members. For more information and registration, contact: Amy Bernath, SOLINET, 1438 W. Peachtree St. N.W., Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30309-2955. Telephone: 800-999-8558, ext. 226. Fax: 404-892-7879. ************************************************************************* ************************************************************************* 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; Liz Bishoff, President; Karen Muller, Executive Director. Editor: Karen Muller (u34261@uicvm); Editorial Advisory Board: Liz Bishoff, Jennifer Younger, Arnold Hirshon; Editorial Assistance: Alex Bloss, Yvonne McLean. 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 Bitnet address u34261@uicvm. To subscribe, issue the network command "tell listserv@uicvm sub alcts [your name]." Back issues of AN2 are available through the listserver. To find out what's available, send the following command to LISTSERV@UICVM: send alcts filelist The ALCTS FILELIST contains the list of files with the EXACT filename and filetype. To get a particular file, issue this command to the LISTSERV@UICVM: send filename filetype. Send questions about membership in ALCTS to the ALCTS Office, u34261@uicvm. All materials in the newsletter subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or education advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. For other reprinting or redistribution or translations, address requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. *************************************************************************