Aaron the Librarian

OITP Advisory Committee Meeting(s)
Friday June 23

Contents:

OITP Macro Issues
OITP Finances
OITP Pressures/Observed Trends
Other discussions
*Possible net neutrality resolution
*Copyright
*Strategic Planning

Macro issues on OITP side of ALA Washington Office
*Director, Rick Weingarten, is retiring summer 2007
*The a sub-committee was assigned for succession planning to help WO Director, Emily Sheketoff, frame the OITP Director replacement strategy
*The committe will do strategic planning this year to assist with succession planning and for continuity and future directions

OITP Finances
*MacArthur Grant for copyright - ongoing
*Potential for large new Grant focusing on E-rate and advocacy for library access to internet and content

OITP office pressures and long-term trends
*Legislative + regulatory pressures on library related technology from government is swamping the Washington Office
*Lobbyists are having trouble keeping up
Current coverage includes:
*Telecom Bill
*Net Neutrality
*National franchising - currrently a 200 page legislative fight to control internet
*E-rate
*CALEA - Dept of Justice going nuts, getting uncomfortably close to libs
*Retention reqirements from DoJ - probably going to be legislation - currently want 2 years traffic data retained - no idea what data about the traffic they’ll need - long drawn out discussion/fight ovr direction here
*Copyright
*Broadcast flag
*Networking treaty

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Other discussions

Dr. John Carlo Bertot at FSU is conducting Public Library Internet connectivity studies. The new Public Library survey data are gathered and under analysis. Look for it in September. (98+% libraries connected to internet in one manner or another, will start looking at “quality of connection” and other qualitative data with the forthcoming study)

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Mass Digitization Project
–my notes somehow went away for this agenda item

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Telecom Resolution on Net Neutrality
(direction for Chair if such a resolution comes to OITP for buy-in before heading to Council)
The committee agreed that we should take a 50,000 foot view of this and generally suport the ideal of Net Neutrality, and the details could be handled by more closely involved ALA stakeholders, too
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Copyright
Some legislators are considering changes to Section 108 of the 1976 Copyright Act (and 1982 and 1998 codicils) - this will be part of near future debates, interested librarians should become more acquainted with this Section and be ready to follow developments

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OITP Strategic Planning planning session
Issues to be covered in Strategic Plan
-Firefighting
-Think Tank
-Core Projects
–E-Rate
–Copyright Education
–Equity of Access
–Privacy
–Bandwidth (TeleCom issues, too)
-OITP spin-offs
–Infocommons Initiative (on its own now)
–eBook issues passed on to LITA and ACRL