ACRL Legislative Update

Volume 5, Number 5
August 7, 2006

Support Grows for Federal Research Public Access Act (S. 2695)

Background: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) & Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) introduced The Federal Research Public Access Act,  S. 2695, on May 3. This bill requires that authors’ final manuscripts for virtually all federally funded research appearing in peer-reviewed journals be made openly accessible in digital repositories within six months of publication. (ACRL  endorsed this bill soon after introduction.)

Current Status:

  • ALA passed a  resolution supporting the bill at Annual Conference 2006 in New Orleans. It was endorsed by ACRL, PLA and GODORT.
  • ACRL, along with six other library groups and SPARC, sent a  letter encouraging Senator Collins, Chair of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, to hold hearings.
  • The provosts of 25 top universities released an open  letter to the higher education community in support of the bill, calling it a watershed and urging the academic community to support its passage.
  • An additional 23 provosts added their backing in a  letter issued by the Greater Western Library Alliance and individual correspondence.
  • The Consumer’s Union, non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports, along with seven other consumer groups  pledged their support of the bill.
  • The large majority of U.S. adults support free access to federally funded research, according to a  Harris poll.

More Information: Learn more about this bill at the  Alliance for Taxpayer Access Web site and in the C&RL News article " Public Access to Federally Funded Research: The Cornyn-Lieberman and CURES Bills". Help your campus community understand and support the bill with  Campus FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions for University Administrators and Faculty.

Communications Assistance Law Enforcement Act (CALEA)

Background: In an ongoing effort, the Department of Justice is pressing the FCC to extend the CALEA wiretapping law to cover Internet access. Although it is not yet clear what CALEA compliance entails and what the technical requirements will be, it could mean burdensome costs for many institutions.

Current Status: There has been some question in higher education circles about whether public access terminals in campus libraries expose institutions to greater CALEA obligations. To assist in campus-based discussions on the applicability of CALEA to academic institutions, ALA, ACRL and ARL requested a  legal opinion from Al Gidari of Perkins Coie on whether libraries were exempt from CALEA wiretap obligations. He prepared an additional  issue brief focusing on whether user authentication is necessary to maintain private network status.

More Information: Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) is considering introducing a bill, drafted by the Department of Justice, which would be a sweeping rewrite of CALEA. This would essentially codify the FCC decision to expand CALEA to broadband providers. This is a complex issue with a lengthy history. For more information read the  policy brief issued by ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy and visit OITP’s  CALEA web page.

Seeking Participation in ACRL Legislative Network

Are you interested in legislation affecting academic libraries? Can you communicate effectively about these issues and engage others in your state?

The ACRL Legislative Network consists of Legislative Coordinators from each ACRL chapter, who are appointed by Chapter officers. The following Chapters are working now to appoint members to this position:

  • Colorado
  • Indiana
  • Maryland
  • Michigan
  • Mississippi
  • Nevada
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon

To be considered, contact your Chapter Chair or President listed in the  ACRL Chapters Council Roster.

This digital update is regularly issued as part of our ongoing efforts to make it easier for you to connect with ACRLs advocacy efforts. Feel free to forward this message to appropriate electronic lists.

To join the list of academic and research librarians receiving the ACRL Legislative Update directly, subscribe today by sending an e-mail to  listproc@ala.org with subscribe LEGUPDATE your name in the message. To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to  listproc@ala.org with unsubscribe LEGUPDATE in the message.

We want the Legislative Update to be helpful to you. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please contact ACRL Scholarly Communications-Government Relations Specialist Kara Malenfant at  kmalenfant@ala.org .

Published by the Association of College and Research Libraries, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611, www.ala.org/acrl.