Home Legislative Update 9-14-2007

ACRL Legislative Update

Volume 6, Number 6
September 14, 2007

Full Senate considers NIH public access; opponents launch new tactics

Current Status: The full Senate will consider the fiscal year (FY) 2008 Appropriations soon. The Senate Appropriations Committee passed the FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill in late June that would require National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigators to make the results of funded research publicly accessible within 12 month of publication in peer-reviewed journals. We want to ensure that language stays in the bill when the full Senate reviews it. On July 19, the full House passed the FY08 appropriations bill with this language in. Now we’re in the home stretch and need your help getting this through the Senate.

For additional background on the issues around the NIH public access policy, listen to an interview with Heather Joseph of SPARC, read the last three issues of ACRL’s Legislative Update, and go to the Alliance for Taxpayer Access website. Also, read tips on making an effective visit, phone call or written communication to your Senator in the ALA library advocacy now action kit - ways to communicate.

Related Developments:  An anti-open access lobbying effort was launched recently. “PRISM – the Partnership for Research Integrity in Science and Medicine, supported by the Association of American Publishers, specifically targets efforts to expand public access to federally funded research results – including the NIH Public Access Policy. The core messages of PRISM, which is aimed at key policy makers, directly correspond to the PR campaign reportedly undertaken earlier this year. AAP publishers met with PR “pit bull” Eric Dezenhall who advised them to focus on simple messages, such as “public access equals government censorship” and suggested that “the publishers should attempt to equate traditional publishing models with peer review.”

The reaction against the launch of PRISM by the academic research community has been immediate and quite strong. (See the Chronicle of Higher Education for a nice overview.) The launch of PRISM provides a timely opportunity for librarians to talk with faculty members, researchers, students, and administrators on important issues in scholarly communications. To assist in this conversation, the Association of Research Libraries has prepared a series of very useful talking points.

ALA, ARL and SPARC have also issued a joint brief to address concerns that scientific publishers are gearing up to oppose the mandate, if passed, on copyright grounds. (Read more about this topic in LJ Academic Newswire.)

Action needed:

1. Fax both of your Senators **no later than Friday, September 28, 2007**. Urge them to maintain the language put forth by the Senate appropriations committee on the NIH public access policy. The Senate will undoubtedly be hearing from opponents and we want to be sure that supporters raise their voices loudly. Find talking points and contact info in the ALA Legislative Action Center.

2. Ask library advocates in your state to talk to their Senators.

3. Talk about this issue with leaders on your campus -- your government relations office, library advisory committee, faculty senate -- to enlist individual and institutional support.

4. Send a thank you note if your Representative voted yes to pass the House appropriations bill (check the roll call). Your legislators want to hear from you and need to know they did the right thing.

SKILLS Act – Help Save School Libraries

Summary: On September 24, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor will be considering reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In order for the ‘Strengthening Kids' Interest in Learning and Libraries' (SKILLs) Act to be included in NCLB - that is, to place a highly qualified school library media specialist in every school - each member of the House must co-sponsor the SKILLS Act.

We’re asking academic librarians and all library supporters across the country to join with the school library community to contact all of their respective Congressional Representatives in reauthorizing this bill so critical to the future of school libraries and preparing students for college.

Issue for Academic Libraries:  Academic librarians well know that school libraries are KEY to student readiness for college. Learning information literacy skills -- so essential for college students to succeed -- starts in the school library. That is why we need your help, as academic librarians, to ensure the inclusion of the SKILLs Act in the reauthorization of NCLB. This is the single most important piece of legislation concerning school libraries that will come before Congress this year!

Action Needed:

1. Contact your US Representative. If your Representative's name DOES NOT appear below as a co-sponsor, please call his/her office by September 24, 2007 and request that he/she support the SKILLs Act. Find talking points and contact info in the ALA Legislative Action Center. If your Representative's name DOES appear on this bill, contact his/her office and thank him/her for the continued support of school libraries and school library media specialists.

   • Sponsors:
     Raul Grijalva (AZ-7)
     Vernon Ehlers (MI-3)
   • Co-Sponsors:
     Bart Gordon (TN-6)
     Tim Holden (PA-17)
     Steve Cohen (TN-9)
     James McGovern (MA-3)

2. Post this notice in your library.

3. As members of your campus community to take action. We need as many people as possible to call their Representatives.

ALA President Loriene Roy on Net Neutrality

In early September, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) calling upon the FCC to carefully consider the possible effects of regulating the Internet. ALA implores the FCC to ensure that producers and consumers of information are able to access and provide services on the Internet free from discriminatory practices, to ensure network neutrality.

ALA asks for this neutrality to be maintained as an open network, free from discrimination, is essential to giving the public access to any lawful content within the library. Access to this information creates an informed public that is better equipped to participate in the digital age. Read more in a September 10, 2007, ALA press release.

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