Welcome to the second half of the program  year!  It is kind of shocking to realize I’m halfway through my year as president already.  It has been an interesting adventure, with some challenges and no shortage of excitement.

We have a very exciting second half of the year planned.  In July, the chapter will be participating in the Western States Chapters Reception at the SLA Annual Conference in Chicago.  I hope you’ll all be joining us on Monday, July 16, from 6 to 8 pm  at the Historic Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street in Chicago.  We’ll take a break in August and pick up again in September with an East Bay meeting.  The location is still TBD, but our speaker will be Gray Brechin, historical geographer and visiting professor in UC Berkeley’s Department of Geography.  In October and early November we’ll hear once again from our own Deb Hunt and David Grossman, who will reprise their two-part professional development programs on career development, this time as webinars!  Professional development programs via webinar are a new thing for our chapter, so we’ll be watching carefully to see how they are received.  In November, we’ll have the second tour of the year, and in December, we’ll have our traditional holiday party.  So you can see there’s plenty to look forward to.

On a sadder note, we have said goodbye to our Bayline Editor, Alys Tryon, who has left California for personal reasons.  Special thanks go to our Secretary, Heather Gamberg, who has graciously agreed to take on management of Bayline for the remainder of the year, with the support of the rest of the Executive Board.  I anticipate that you’ll be seeing more regular Bayline e-mails throughout the rest of the year, keeping you in touch with the SLA community.   Heather welcomes submissions for Bayline.  We’d particularly like to have those of you who are attending the conference write a paragraph or two about  an interesting session you attend.  If you liked it, your fellow chapter members should know about it, too!

Obviously that means we have an opening for Bayline Editor, but we also expect to have a number of other openings on the chapter Advisory Council in 2013.  We’re currently recruiting for both the Executive Board and the Advisory Council for 2013, and I hope you’ll respond positively if you’re contacted by a member of the Nominating Committee regarding a position.  In addition to recruiting for board positions, the chapter is looking at ways to open up more short-term volunteer opportunities and give all of you more chances to participate in committees, even if you can’t commit to a board position.  Look to see more of those opportunities announced here and in Bayline.  And don’t hesitate to let me or any other board member know if there’s something you’re interested in working on!

Finally, I want to make you all aware of a decision the Executive Board has made regarding announcements on our chapter listerv.  As you know, employment opportunities should not be posted on our chapter listserv, but instead be posted on the Jobline service that we share with Silicon Valley.  However, following a request, the board has decided to allow volunteer positions and unpaid internships to be posted on the listserv.  We’ll make sure that postings include language noting that the posting exception applies to unpaid positions only.

I look forward to seeing many of you in Chicago!  Don’t forget to post your travel details on the chapter wiki (http://wiki.sla.org/display/SFBRWiki/Chapter+Members+Attending+SLA+2012+in+Chicago).  The site will let you see what other chapter members will be in Chicago, and maybe you can share a cab!

Freedom of Information

Rebuttal to McConnell’s War of Misinformation on DISCLOSE Act
“A war is being waged against the DISCLOSE Act. Its Commander in Chief is Senator Mitch McConnell, his secret weapon is misinformation and his goal is to protect unlimited dark money contributions to the political process. It’s time for a counter-attack. . . The Sunlight Foundation refutes the worst inaccuracies being lobbed against reasonable efforts to disclose the dark money that is infiltrating our elections.”
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/06/22/rebuttal-to-mcconnell%e2%80%99s-war-of-misinformation-on-disclose-act/

Political Ad Transparency Will Advance After House GOP Drops Effort to Block FCC Rule
“This morning, Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee reversed their position and allowed a crucial new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) transparency rule to stand. The FCC rule, adopted in April, requires television broadcasters to disclose who is buying political advertisements. These disclosures will be posted in a public online database.”
http://www.ombwatch.org/node/12109

New Open Data Partnership Improves Government Transparency at State and Federal Levels
“In a significant step toward greater government transparency, two organizations focused on publishing government data have joined forces to present major new comprehensive, user friendly, publicly accessible databases of state and federal bills. LegiNation, creator of the BillTrack50 solution to track state bills will exchange information with open government technology company Civic Impulse, developer of the federal legislative monitoring tool GovTrack. The aim of the data exchange is to provide individuals, advocacy groups, businesses and legislative professionals with access to information to better engage with government.”
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/759752

Public Policy

The Economic Impact of Ending the American Community Survey? Not Good.
“On Tuesday, the Congressional Joint Economic Committee held a hearing entitled, “The Economic Impact of Ending or Reducing Funding for the American Community Survey and other Government Statistics.” In direct response to the May 10th vote by the House of Representatives to strip funding for the American Community Survey (ACS) and 2012 Economic Census, the hearing offered inquiry into the economic value of U.S. economic statistics, their timeliness and accuracy.”
http://aallwash.wordpress.com/2012/06/21/the-economic-impact-of-ending-american-community-survey-not-good/

Congress’ Rush to Pass Anti-Leak Law Has Grave Ramifications
“Imagine an America where journalists and whistleblowers cannot reveal government misconduct without facing grave punishment. Does that sound like a healthy democracy to you? Well, if Congress rushes anti-leak legislation without carefully considering the ramifications on the public’s right-to-know, the U.S. will be one step closer to that dim future.”
http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2012/06/the-danger-of-hasty-anti-leak-legislation.html

Maryland State Archives running out of space
“The Maryland State Archives collection is among the largest in the country with nearly 400 years of history, including Colonial-era paintings, keepsakes of the state’s governors, and thousands of land, court and genealogy records. With all that history, the Archives has run out of space.”
http://thedailyrecord.com/2012/06/18/maryland-state-archives-running-out-of-space/

Open Access

Open access is the future of academic publishing, says Finch report
“Making all the UK’s publicly funded scientific research free for anyone to read could cost up to £60m per year, according to an independent study commissioned by the government. Professor Dame Janet Finch, who led the work, said “open access” was the future for academic publishing and that the short-term transition costs she had identified should reduce over time as more articles became freely available and the journal subscription costs currently paid by university libraries fell.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jun/19/open-access-academic-publishing-finch-report
Full Text of Finch Report (140 pages; PDF)
Executive Summary of Finch Report (11 pages; PDF)

Internet Access

FCC chief applauds House Internet resolution
“Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), praised the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday for advancing a resolution opposed to international regulation of the Internet. The House panel unanimously approved the resolution on Wednesday.”
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/234143-fcc-chief-applauds-house-internet-resolution

Most Censorship And Content Takedown Requests Come From US, Says Google
“Google has released data from its latest Transparency Report covering censorship and content removal requests. The report features separate presentations of copyright-based removal requests and government requests. Google began publishing this data about two years go. The report is updated regularly; however government censorship and removal requests are updated every six months. The number of copyright removal requests has grown dramatically over the past six months. Most of these requests involve file sharing domains.”
http://searchengineland.com/most-censorship-and-content-takedown-requests-come-from-us-says-google-125149

Intellectual Property

Unprecedented Vote: EU Parliament Trade Committee Rejects ACTA
“In an unprecedented move, the European Parliament Committee on International Trade (INTA) today in Brussels passed a report recommending the rejection of the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Never before has INTA voted to reject a trade agreement negotiated by the Union.”
http://www.ip-watch.org/2012/06/21/unprecedented-vote-eu-parliament-trade-committee-rejects-acta/

International Outlook

Denmark drops reform of EU access to documents rules as disagreements prove insurmountable
“The Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU yesterday gave up on trying to reach an agreement between the European Commission, the Parliament and the Member States on reform of the rules that govern public access to EU documents. With the European Parliament standing firmly in favour of greater transparency for citizens, and the European Commission pressing for amendments to the Regulation that would exclude entire classes of information or narrow the definition of a document, the process hinged on an agreement between the 27 Member States meeting in the Council. But divisions between the Member States were so acute that the Danish Presidency has abandoned the file after six months of intense negotiations.”
http://blog.okfn.org/2012/06/20/denmark-drops-reform-of-eu-access-to-documents-rules-as-disagreements-prove-insurmountable/

UK Mass Surveillance Bill: The Return of a Bad Idea
“This week the British government unveiled a bill that has a familiar ring to it. The Communications Data Bill would require all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and mobile phone network providers in Britain to collect and store information on everyone’s internet and phone activity.  Essentially, the bill seeks to publicly require in the UK what EFF and many others have long maintained is happening in the US in secret – and what we have been trying to bring to public and judicial review since 2005.  Put simply, it appears that both governments want to shift from surveillance of communications and communications records based on individualized suspicion and probable cause to the mass untargeted collection of communications and communications records of ordinary, non-suspect people. This shift has profound implications for the UK, the US and any country that claims to be committed to rule of law and the protection of fundamental freedoms.”
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/06/uk-mass-surveillance-bill-return-bad-idea

Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.

The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.

By Cynthia Berglez, SLA-SF 2012 Chapter Past President

On May 31^st the SLA SF Bay Region Chapter co-hosted, with the Silicon Valley Chapter, an evening discussion with our international leadership in the Delancey Street Foundation’s Private Club facility. It was a great turnout for the opportunity to talk with SLA CEO Janice LaChance, President Brent Mai, and President Elect Deb Hunt. Juanita Richardson, who is running for President Elect, was also there to introduce herself to us, and Deb Hunt read a statement from Kate Arnold, another candidate for President Elect. (Voting will take place electronically in mid-September. More information on the candidates can be found on the SLA web site at http://www.sla.org/content/SLA/governance/12election/index.cfm)

David Grossman collected chapter members’ questions in advance of the event and added a few of his own to help us learn more about the path our organization is taking through the difficult economic times. The topics included advice for students and new graduates on entering our profession, recent changes in membership, the future of the Annual Conference, and support for our senior members.

It is great to know that our leadership is thinking about how to change our organization and our profession looking forward. Their thoughtful responses to our questions were inspiring. Knowing that they understand our organization needs to change to thrive, and that they have many ideas to take us into the future, was reassuring.

Janice LaChance pointed out that membership throughout the organization is still in decline, not only in our two chapters, but internationally. However, she notes that the membership decrease is slowing, and she is encouraged that many of our new members are joining at the highest membership rate, indicating that our new members are in the higher salary ranges. This is not only good news for our organization, but for our profession as well.

Brent discussed some of the ways that our Annual Conference (this year’s takes place next month in Chicago) could be changed to make it, and our organization, more sustainable. Some of the ideas he mentioned were two smaller conferences in different locations, one bigger conference every other year, and division-focused conferences. He said, “Vancouver [the Annual Conference scheduled for 2014] could look very different from our previous conferences.”

In response to our declining membership numbers and the comment that many employers are no longer paying for our membership dues, Deb Hunt discussed the value proposition of librarianship and the return on investment in our career development and continuing education. “Three words,” she said about our future, “Invest in yourself.”

For those of us who attended the program, it was an interesting and thoughtful discussion of our future. And thanks to the Silicon Valley Chapter, who video taped the panel discussion, everyone can watch it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/SLASiliconValley

In the photo: Moderator David Grossman poses questions to SLA CEO Janice LaChance, President Brent Mai, and President Elect Deb Hunt. (Photo by George Plosker)

Freedom of Information

Some Unauthorized Disclosures of Classified Info Are Routine
“The brewing controversy over leaks of classified information presumes that disclosures of classified information to unauthorized persons are always impermissible and undesirable.  But that presumption does not correspond precisely to the reality of government operations as they are conducted in practice.”
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/06/routine_leaks.html

Not All Leaks of Classified Information Violate the Law
““The unauthorized release of classified information is a crime–it is a crime–because it threatens our national security and puts the lives of those who are sworn to defend our Nation in jeopardy,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said on the Senate floor yesterday. “Everyone agrees [this] is criminal conduct.” A resolution introduced by Sen. John McCain and twenty Republican colleagues calling for appointment of a special counsel to investigate recent leaks stated flatly that “the unauthorized disclosure of classified information is a felony under Federal law.” But these statements are imprecise and misleading.  While some unauthorized disclosures of classified information are indeed contrary to law, it is not the case that all such disclosures violate the law.  In fact, there is no law that categorically prohibits the release of classified information.”
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/06/not_all_leaks.html

NARA’s Open Government Plan for 2012-2014
“On Friday, the National Archives released the updated Open Government Plan that will guide our efforts in transparency, participation, and collaboration for 2012-2014. Over the past two years, we’ve implemented most of the 70 tasks we set out to accomplish in our 2010 Open Government Plan, including major initiatives in records management, declassification, and FOIA, as well as redesigning Archives.gov and FederalRegister.gov. Within our newly updated plan, you will see the specific items we plan to work on over the next two years.”
http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/?p=8115

Issa Launches The Open Gov Foundation
“California Congressman Darrell Issa, a prominent advocate for Internet users, open government, and transparency issues unveiled a new initiative Monday called the Open Gov Foundation. The Foundation builds on much of the work previously done by the California Republican’s office, but this new effort is meant to institutionalize the work beyond his time in office, he said during a conversation with Personal Democracy Media’s Publisher Andrew Rasiej at PDM’s annual conference in New York City and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Also new is a proposed Digital Bill of Rights, the main bullet points of which are below.”
http://techpresident.com/news/22317/issa-launches-open-gov-foundation

Political Ad Transparency at Risk as Republicans and Special Interests Attack
“In April, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved reforms to modernize the disclosure requirements for broadcasters operating on the public airwaves. The rule will expose the influence of money in politics by making information about who is financing political advertising available online. However, the transparency rule is under attack: broadcasters quickly filed suit against the FCC, while House Republicans attached a policy provision to a spending bill that would block the rule from taking effect.”
http://www.ombwatch.org/node/12099

Scout: Sunlight’s New Custom Alert Service
“A core mission of the Sunlight Foundation is to enable citizen participation through technology and lower the bar to access government. Through our free tools we’re constantly looking for ways to produce a more transparent and accountable government. Today, we’re proud to introduce Scout, a tool that allows you to create customized keyword alerts to notify you whenever issues you care about are included in legislative or regulatory actions. This project embodies our goals as an organization: anyone can now freely get the immediate access to information that previously required significant organizational capacity in your state capital or Washington, D.C.”
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/06/11/scout-sunlights-new-custom-alert-service/

Sunlight Foundation Brings Congressional Data to Any Phone
“The Sunlight Foundation today launches a free telephone service that helps people learn more about how their representatives in Congress are voting on bills and raising campaign money. All you need is a phone line. Call on Congress is a toll free number — 1-888-907-6886 — that provides instant information, in both English and Spanish, on how lawmakers are representing their constituents. Users can also be connected directly to the DC office of their representative and senators and even get details on where to vote on Election Day.”
http://sunlightfoundation.com/press/releases/2012/06/11/sunlight-foundation-brings-congressional-data-any-/

Public Policy

OMB not enamored of House-passed data transparency measure
“The DATA Act, the government spending transparency bill that passed the House in April, has ruffled some feathers at the Office of Management and Budget, signs of which were on display Tuesday at a panel discussion of lessons learned from implementation of the 2009 Recovery Act. Controller Danny Werfel, addressing a workshop put on by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and sponsored by Grant Thornton LLP, clashed with Obama administration colleague Earl Devaney, recently retired as chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, over whether new legislation is needed to advance their shared goals of improving transparency and accountability in agency spending. The legislation known as the DATA Act (H.R. 2146), which is pending in the Senate, would impose a universal reporting requirement for recipients of federal grants, loans and contracts. It would require all agencies to use the same formats to publicly share their internal and external obligations and expenditures. A five-member Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency Commission would oversee the measure’s implementation.”
http://www.govexec.com/technology/2012/06/omb-not-enamored-house-passed-data-transparency-measure/56229/

Federal Statistical Programs in Jeopardy
“Information Today, Inc. has been monitoring events related to the passage of federal agency budgets as these decisions and Congressional votes have an impact on statistical programs and publications that our readers rely on to do their jobs. Last year, InfoToday Newsbreaks covered the possible de-funding of data.gov and the discontinuation of Statistical Abstracts, recently rescued by ProQuest. Last month, we addressed the fight in Congress over continued funding to conduct the American Community Survey (ACS) that centered on the nature of the questions, the issue of privacy, and the constitutionality of the program itself. The Census Bureau is not the only data source frequently tapped by information professionals (among others) in jeopardy. Nearly every federal agency has some statistical program that will be affected by budget cuts.”
http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/Federal-Statistical-Programs-in-Jeopardy-83195.asp

Open Access

Utah State University Adopts Open Access Policy
“Utah State University has joined an emerging national trend and the ranks of a growing number of the country’s universities in adopting an official “Open Access” policy. USU’s University Libraries headed the effort.”
http://www.usu.edu/ust/index.cfm?article=51244

UNESCO Policy Guidelines For The Development And Promotion Of Open Access
“These Guidelines provide an account of the development of Open Access, why it is important and desirable, how to attain it, and the design and effectiveness of policies.”
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002158/215863e.pdf

Privacy Issues

Loophole in Law May Allow Warrantless Surveillance of Americans
“Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee are divided over whether there is a loophole in current law which would permit government agencies to monitor the communications of American citizens without any kind of warrant or other judicial authorization. The dispute was presented but not resolved in a new Senate Intelligence Committee report on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments Act (FAA) Sunsets Extension Act, which would renew the provisions of the FISA Amendments Act through June 2017.”
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/06/faa_loophole.html

Internet Access

Internet Archive Sues to Stop New Washington State Law
“The Internet Archive has filed a federal challenge to a new Washington State law that intends to make online service providers criminally liable for providing access to third parties’ offensive materials. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is representing the Internet Archive in order to block the enforcement of SB 6251, a law aimed at combatting advertisements for underage sex workers but with vague and overbroad language that is squarely in conflict with federal law.”
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/internet-archive-sues-stop-new-washington-state-law

Intellectual Property

Google Ends Legal Dispute With French Authors Over Scans
“Google Inc., owner of the world’s largest search engine, ended legal disputes with a French publishing trade group and a French authors’ association over the U.S. company’s scanning of books. The Syndicat National de l’Edition, which represents more than 600 publishers, and the SGDL Society of Authors agreed with Google to end litigation over Google’s scanning of copyright- protected books without permission, according to two statements today. This means Google no longer faces French legal action over book scanning, according to Bill Echikson, a spokesman for the Mountain View, California-based company.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-11/google-ends-legal-dispute-with-french-authors-over-book-scans.html

Google Appeals Class Action Certification
“Google appealed Judge Denny Chin’s order granting the Authors Guild class certification in the ongoing litigation between the two over whether Google Books is fair use. In its filing, Google again raised the issue of “whether class plaintiffs seeking to stop alleged copyright infringement can adequately represent class members who benefit from the defendant’s conduct and want it to continue.””
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/06/litigation-2/google-appeals-class-action-certification/

Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.

The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.

Freedom of Information

House Approves Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill While Leadership Prioritizes Bulk Access
“The House of Representatives approved the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (H.R. 5882) today by a vote of 307-102. The bill spends $3.3 billion overall, about $33 million below the FY 2012 level and $190 million below the requested level. Under the bill, the Library of Congress receives $592.6 million, an increase of $5.3 million above the FY 2012 enacted level and $10.9 million below the requested level. The bill allocates $122.6 million for the Government Printing Office (GPO), $3.6 million below the FY 2012 enacted level and $3.6 million below the requested level.”
http://aallwash.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/4073/ http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr5882rh/pdf/BILLS-112hr5882rh.pdf

Major Transparency Milestone in Bulk Access Statement
“It may feel like an ordinary Wednesday, but today is a milestone for legislative transparency. The House’s leadership has issued a statement adopting the goal of “provid[ing] bulk access to legislative information to the American people without further delay.” They have stated that bulk access “ranks among our top priorities in the 112th Congress” and directed a task force “to begin its important work immediately.”"
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/06/06/major-transparency-milestone-in-bulk-access-statement/

Congressional data may soon be easier to use online
“Online, searching for a bill in Congress feels a little like time travel: Go looking for legislation, and you wind up in the Internet of 1995. At Congress’s ’90s-vintage archive site, there’s no way to compare bills side by side. No tool to measure the success rate of a bill’s sponsor. And there’s certainly no way to leave a comment. Congress makes it hard for outside sites to do any of this, either, by refusing to give out bulk data on its bills in a user-friendly form. On Friday, there was a signal that might change, as the GOP-led House moved toward releasing an unprecedented trove of data on its doings.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congressional-data-may-soon-be-easier-to-use-online/2012/06/08/gJQAdikBNV_story.html

Public Policy

New White House Digital Government Strategy Offers Promise, Raises Concerns
“On May 23, the White House launched its new Digital Government Strategy, an initiative aimed at improving the way government agencies utilize new tools and technologies to serve the public. The plan lays out clear-cut procedures for making public information open and machine readable within one year, allowing Americans to engage with their government more easily.”
http://aallwash.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/new-white-house-digital-government-strategy-offers-promise-raises-concerns/

Bill to Strengthen Whistleblower Protections Advances
“Last week the House Oversight Committee reported out the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, a bill that is intended to increase protections for government employees and contractors who “blow the whistle” and disclose illegal or improper government activity.  Among other things, the bill would require intelligence agency heads to advise employees on how to make lawful disclosures of classified information without retribution.”
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/06/wpea_advances.html

Open Access

Open Access Petition Passes 25,000 Threshold
“A petition calling for public access to all federally funded research posted last month on the White House’s “We the People” website has garnered the 25,000 signatures necessary to be considered for action by the Obama Administration.”
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/06/legislation/open-access-petition-passes-25000-threshold/

Open access to research is inevitable, says Nature editor-in-chief
“Open access to scientific research articles will “happen in the long run”, according to the editor-in-chief of Nature, one of the world’s premier scientific journals. Philip Campbell said that the experience for readers and researchers of having research freely available is “very compelling”. But other academic publishers said that any large-scale transition to making research freely available had to take into account the value and investments they added to the scientific process. “My personal belief is that that’s what’s going to happen in the long run,” said Campbell. However, he added that the case for open access was stronger for some disciplines, such as climate research, than others.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jun/08/open-access-research-inevitable-nature-editor

Internet Access

Civil Society is Key to the Debate on International Control Over the Internet
“Civil society will be the critical player in a policy debate that has dominated recent tech news – whether the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will be given the power by its Member States to regulate internet access and the internet itself.   Despite the fact that the US Government and US industry have vocally opposed this outcome, it is US civil society that has the biggest role to play to ensure that the Internet continues to be open and decentralized.”
http://www.publicknowledge.org/blog/civil-society-key-debate-international-contro

ITU Chief Calls Fears Of The “UN Takeover” Of The Internet “Frankly Ridiculous’
“The chief of the United Nations’ special telecom agency on Wednesday called recent characterizations of its negotiation process as an attempt by the agency to “take over” the Internet “frankly ridiculous.” The U.N.’s International Telecommunications Union’s Secretary-General Dr. Hamadoun I. Touré delivered a speech to his staff in Geneva, Switzerland Wednesday in an apparent attempt to reframe the basis of the long-running international conversation about how best to expand and build upon the broadband Internet infrastructure as it grows up. U.S. lawmakers and some policy wonks suggest that U.N. member countries with views about Internet freedom divergent from the U.S. State Department’s — like Russia and China — are pushing for greater international regulation of the Internet. This view holds that the ITU would become the means for these countries to exert more influence on Internet infrastructure and governance.”
http://techpresident.com/news/22302/itu-chief-calls-fears-un-takeover-internet-frankly-ridiculous

World’s Largest Organization for Computer Professionals Comes Out Against CISPA
“The US Public Policy Council of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), representing ACM, came out against CISPA, the cybersecurity legislation recently passed by the US House. ACM is the world’s largest organization for computer professionals. They are joining a diverse group of individuals and organizations opposing this bill, including a wide array of digital civil liberties organizations like EFF, computer scientists like Bruce Schneier and Tim Berners-Lee, and companies like the Mozilla Foundation.”
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/06/worlds-largest-organization-computer-professionals-comes-out-against-cispa

Intellectual Property

EU Negotiators Tentatively Agree On Plan For Orphan Works
“European Union institutions this week informally agreed on how to handle “orphan works” – those whose creators cannot be found. The proposed new directive is the first legislation to come out of the European Commission (EC) intellectual property rights strategy adopted in May 2011, Internal Market and Services Commissioner Michel Barnier said on 6 June. . .The Parliament press release is here. The measure will give European libraries, archives, film heritage institutions, public broadcasters and other organisations the appropriate legal framework to enable them to provide online, cross-border access to their collections, including orphan works, Barnier said. Greater legal security could boost funding of digitisation projects, he said.”
http://www.ip-watch.org/2012/06/09/eu-negotiators-tentatively-agree-on-plan-for-orphan-works/

Anti-ACTA Protests Expected In Two Dozen Countries; Parliament Opposition Rises
“All seems to come down to the numbers on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: how many protesters will turn up at the ACTA Action Day in Europe tomorrow and how many members of the European Parliament (EP) will vote for it in plenary on 3 July. Without the agreement of Parliament, ACTA will fail, at least in Europe, observers say.”
http://www.ip-watch.org/2012/06/08/anti-acta-protests-expected-in-two-dozen-countries-parliament-opposition-rises/

International Outlook

EU decision-makers push for less transparency
“. . .Although the revision of the EU access to documents Regulation appears to be on schedule to conclude before the end of the Danish Presidency of the Council – 30 June 2012 – it seems that the traditionally pro-transparency government has been overpowered by Member States such as France, Germany and the UK, which are seeking to limit the public’s right of access to EU documents. The influence of these Member States has led to a common Council position, which, if adopted, would increase the opacity of the EU decision-making process, lead to a regression of the right of access to EU documents and weaken citizens’ ability to hold the institutions to account; thus violating the Treaty of Lisbon and the case-law of international courts such as the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.”
http://www.access-info.org/en/european-union/255-eu-decision-makers-for-less-transparency

Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.

The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.

A Tour of The Asian Art Museum’s C. Laan Chun Library Center

Thursday, June 21st, 2012 6:00 – 7:30 PM

Asian Art Museum

San Francisco

Please join us for a tour of one of the most comprehensive research libraries on Asian art and culture in the United States.

With over 40,000 titles and more than 230 active serial subscriptions, as well as auction catalogs, microforms, and photograph collections the C. Laan Chun Library Center has many materials, both rare and scholarly, not available in many of the local university and college libraries.

Subject areas cover not only art but archaeology, architecture, landscape architecture, history, philosophy, religion, folk culture, festivals and folklore, literature, the performing arts, and music, as well as some specialized materials on Asian science and medicine.

Museum Librarian John Stucky will be our guide to the C. Laan Chun Library Center. He will show us some of the collections, and discuss the library’s role as a museum library with an in-depth collection of material on the culture and cultural history of Asia.

http://www.asianart.org/library.htm

When: Thursday, June 21st, 2012 6:00 – 7:30 PM

Agenda:

6:00 PM – 6:30 PM Check-in, networking, and refreshments in the Fisher Room at Cafe Asia

6:30 PM – 7:30 PM Tour of the C. Laan Chun Library Center

SLA Tour Cost: $10 for everyone

Where: Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St • San Francisco, CA 94102

Getting There: The Asian Art Museum is located in the building that formerly housed the San Francisco Public Library, at 200 Larkin St, between McAllister and Fulton. The Civic Center BART Station is only about a block away. Parking is very limited in this part of San Francisco, so use of public transportation is advised. http://www.asianart.org/gettingthere.htm

Registration: CLOSED **This tour is limited to 25 attendees, so please register early!**

Registration Form: Mail-in Registration

Freedom of Information

Instead of Ramping Up, Declassification Activity Slowed in 2011
“The total number of pages of government records that were reviewed for declassification last year, as well as the number that were actually declassified, declined slightly from the year before, according to the 2011 annual report from the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) that was published today.”
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/05/declass_down.html

CIA Stops Charging Declassification Fees …For Now. White House and Congressional Intervention Still Needed.
“The Central Intelligence Agency’s legal counsel has confirmed that “as a courtesy to requesters,” the Agency, “has decided not to charge fees under the new [Mandatory Declassification Review] regulation while judicial review of the regulation is pending.”  The CIA, however, still “believes the new regulation is within the scope of its authority.”  Fee language has been absent in CIA letters responding to MDR requests from the National Security Archive.”
http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/cia-stops-charging-mdr-fees-for-now-white-house-and-congressional-intervention-still-needed/

Congress Will Allow Energy Dept to Reclassify Nuke Info
“Congress is poised to amend the Atomic Energy Act to allow certain nuclear weapons-related information that is classified as Formerly Restricted Data (FRD) to be restored to the Restricted Data (RD) category.”
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/05/frd_reclass.html

Appropriators May Undercut Legislative Transparency House
“Appropriators may deal a tremendous blow to prospects for improving public access to legislative information. In a draft report expected to accompany the Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill for 2013, scheduled for a full committee vote tomorrow, appropriators misunderstand how data can be “authenticated,” and kick responsibility for improving public access to legislative data to a non-public task force with no set reporting date. Unless corrected, this draft report represents a tremendous step backward for transparency, and fails to seriously grapple with the history of efforts to free legislative information for widespread public use.”
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/05/30/appropriators-may-undercut-legislative-transparency/

Move to Declassify FISA Court Rulings Yields No Results
“An initiative that was started two years ago to declassify significant rulings of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court regarding domestic intelligence surveillance has produced no declassified records, a Justice Department official confirmed last week.”
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/05/fisa_null.html

The state of open records laws: Access denied
“Early last month, lawmakers in Iowa completed work on a new open records statute. Senate File 430 creates the Iowa Public Information Board, a nine-member commission charged with enforcing the state’s open records and meetings laws. For good government advocates in the Hawkeye State, the new legislation was cause for celebration — sort of.”
http://www.iwatchnews.org/2012/06/01/9037/state-open-records-laws-access-denied

California State Senate Moves Key Transparency Bills
“The California State Senate on Thursday approved a couple of key transparency bills that will both help to make government documents more accessible online, and provide funding for the state’s decrepit online lobbyist disclosure system Cal-Access. The senate on Thursday voted 34-0 to approve an open data bill sponsored by Sen. Leland Yee, (D-San Francisco/San Mateo.) The body also voted 27-10 to approve a bill sponsored by Yee that establishes a new fund that would pay for upgrades to the state lobbyist disclosure database. The Political Disclosure, Access, and Transparency Fund will be financed by doubling the fees that California’s 2,000 registered lobbyists have to pay for filing forms with the government regarding their activities.”
http://techpresident.com/news/22268/california-state-senate-moves-key-transparency-bills

A.G. Schneiderman Launches “NY Open Government” Online Tool To Promote Transparency & Accountability
“Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman took another major step in his drive to bolster transparency in state government by launching “New York Open Government,” a major expansion of the office’s Project Sunlight website. The new site is designed to help voters, the media and government watchdogs hold state government accountable by providing the public with comprehensive, up-to-date, and user-friendly information on campaign contributions, lobbying, and state contracts.
http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-launches-%E2%80%9Cny-open-government%E2%80%9D-online-tool-promote-transparency

Public Policy

Obama Plans to Further Harness Technology for Transparency
“A new White House strategy could revolutionize transparency by reforming the fundamentals of how government uses technology. The plan lays out procedures for establishing openness as the default for public information and raises the bar for usability, efficiency, and innovation. The reforms promise to make government information easier to find and use through a series of concrete actions to be taken over the next year and would help Americans engage with their government.”
http://www.ombwatch.org/node/12089

Bulk Access Developments after the H. Approps Hearing
“In the last 24 hours there have been three significant developments on providing the public with better access to legislative information. The Appropriations Committee approved a fundamentally flawed report; Rep. Honda spoke out in favor of bulk access to legislative information; and Speaker Boehner’s spokesperson reaffirmed House Republicans’ commitment to bulk data while simultaneously praising the move by appropriators.”
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/06/01/bulk-access-developments-after-the-h-approps-hearing/

Open Access

Horizon 2020: A €80 Billion Battlefield for Open Access
“As negotiations proceed to shape the next installment of Europe’s gargantuan research funding programs, scientists, librarians, and publishers are eagerly awaiting the answer to a critical question: How strong will the new 7-year program, called Horizon 2020, be on Open Access (OA)? The European Commission has said that making the research it funds widely available is one of its priorities.”
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/05/horizon-2020-a-80-billion-battle.html

British Library, Open Rights Group and ISPs accused of “tawdry theft”
“The chief executive of the Publishers Association has accused organisations including the British Library and the Open Rights Group of using the language of freedom of expression “as a cloak for their tawdry theft”. Speaking at the Westminster Media Forum, Richard Mollet said that these organisations, along with research councils, ISPs and search engines were trying to erode copyright and that using the language of freedom of expression was a “grotesque attempt to draw moral equivalence between stealing someone’s work and the struggle for political representation”.”
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-05/29/publishers-association-criticises-copyright-reform

Digital History

Warning over digital archive ‘black hole’
“The National Library of Scotland said online and social media coverage from the past 20 years was disappearing. It has urged the UK government to act swiftly on proposals to give libraries the legal right to collect and store electronic publications. Legislation passed in 2003 is scheduled to be implemented in 2013.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-18250826

Privacy Concerns

When the Government Comes Knocking, Who Has Your Back?
“When you use the Internet, you entrust your thoughts, experiences, locations, and more to companies like Google, Twitter, and Facebook. But what happens when the government asks these companies to hand over your private information? Will the company stand with you? Today, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) releases its second annual “When the Government Comes Knocking, Who Has Your Back?” report – this time as a white paper and chart tracking some of the Internet’s biggest service providers on their public commitments to their users’ privacy and security.”
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/when-government-comes-knocking-who-has-your-back

Intellectual Property

ALA 2012: PW Talks with Jonathan Band, Lawyer to the Library Community
“Can’t we all just get along? For all the common interests between the library and publishing communities—interests vividly on display at the ALA annual conference—relations have been strained in recent years by significant legal and legislative developments. Digitization, open access, licensing, and a thorny e-book transition have yielded contentious court battles, market actions, and controversial legislation that cuts to the heart of the library enterprise. . . The library community is fortunate to have a strong, savvy legal and legislative team, including the American Library Association’s Washington office, the Association of Research Libraries, and the Association of College and Research Librarians. And they have Jonathan Band. An experienced intellectual property attorney, Band is a valued consultant to libraries, and the author of many of the library community’s court briefs. Band has been a busy man. In recent years, new technology has led to unprecedented court battles, from the Georgia State case to Google and the HathiTrust. PW caught up with Band to talk about the lawsuits and litigation now facing libraries.”
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/copyright/article/52123-public-defender-pw-talks-with-jonathan-band-lawyer-to-the-library-community-ala-2012.html

Authors Guild vs. Google Books Now a Class Action Lawsuit
“The Authors Guild’s case against Google Books is now a class action suit, as of May 31. Judge Denny Chin did not find Google’s survey showing that many authors have different views of the damage done them, if any, by Google Books, reason enough not to certify the class. “That some class members may prefer to leave the alleged violation of their rights unremedied is not a basis for finding the lead plaintiffs inadequate,” he said.”
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/06/copyright/authors-guild-vs-google-books-now-a-class-action-lawsuit/

International Outlook

National Printing Office Unveils New Digital Library in Costa Rica
“Thanks to an initiative by the National Printing Office, public school students in Costa Rica will soon be able to access all their mandatory reading assignments online. The project named “Editorial Digital” was presented to the government weeks ago, and according to Jarmon Noguera Gonzalez of La Prensa Libre, the initiative also aims to foster good reading habits among citizens of Costa Rica.”
http://news.co.cr/national-printing-office-unveils-new-digital-library-costa-rica/7432/

Spread the news and sign the petition to save Library and Archives Canada (LAC)
“Here’s more news from our Canadian colleagues regarding the ongoing erosion of library services and Library and Archives Canada (LAC).”
http://freegovinfo.info/node/3712

Google To Chinese Searchers: Your Search Interruptions Are Not Our Fault
“Google announced on their blog that they have noticed an increase in complaints from searchers in mainland China. The issues they are reporting is that Google.com and searchers are not coming up, as if Google.com is down. So Google investigated their servers and operations and noticed no issues with anything on Google’s side. So they ran some tests and were able to confirm that many queries lead to Google acting as if Google is unreachable.”
http://searchengineland.com/google-to-chinese-searchers-your-search-interruptions-are-not-our-fault-123109
See also this story from USA Today: Google helps Chinese avoid censorship

Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.

The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.

By Judy Bolstad, Editor

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Congratulations to Rita Evans!

Rita Evans will receive the Transportation Division’s Professional Achievement Award at SLA’s Annual Conference in July. Rita is the director of the Institute of Transportation Studies Library at the University of California, Berkeley. She has chaired the Transportation Division and many of its committees, working to ensure sound finances and revamping an annual day-long program at the annual conference. She was a member of SLA’s Division Assessment Task Force for Division Cabinet, where she advocated the concept of viability for small divisions.

Rita is also active in transportation librarianship outside of the division, serving as Secretary of the Transportation Research Board’s library committee for the past five years, presenting at annual meetings, and serving on a panel to improve information management in state transportation agencies. She is the co-author of the “Transportation Engineering” chapter in CRC Press’s Using the Engineering Literature. Rita was President of the San Francisco Bay Region Chapter from 1997-1998 and received the Chapter Award for Professional Achievement in 2005.

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A Presentation

Nancy Crossfield, of the Owen Medical Library, Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, gave an invited talk in May to the San Joaquin chapter of the crime-writers’ group Sisters in Crime. She introduced them to special libraries, medical Internet sites (basic, disasters, drugs, lab tests, free apps), forensic blogs, resources such as Blood at the Source, and cool stuff such as the Nursing Skills database (animations of procedures), photo atlases (rattlesnake bites in color) and surgical instrument guides (great for unusual wounds!).

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Report on National Library Week

Cindy Beck Weller shares that the attorneys and staff at Cooper White & Cooper LLP celebrated National Library Week this year. The 15th annual event featured a week of games, demos, and treats, drawing attention to the library and its contributions to the firm. This year’s theme, Rev it Up! @ your Library, encouraged researchers to update their online and print research skills by introducing them to new products and publications. The campaign played upon a race theme, using quotes from race car drivers, checkered flags and, of course, a few toy race cars! Fun was had by all at the week’s culmination party where a drawing for Giants tickets was held.

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Dear readers:

The next submission deadline is July 25.

Please continue to send me your news. Photos (with captions) are also welcome. I look forward to hearing from you!

Judy Bolstad, Editor, Mosaic column, jbolstad@library.berkeley.edu