ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ June 2 0 0 2 / 441 W a s h i n g t o n H o t l i n e Lynne E. Brad ley and Patrice M cD erm o tt P re sid e n tia l R e co rd s A c t HR 4187, a bill to nullify President Bush’s No­ vem ber 2001 Executive O rder 13233, “Fur­ th e r Im p le m e n ta tio n o f th e P re sid e n tia l Records Act,” was introduced on April 11 by Representative Stephen H orn (R-California). The original Presidential Records Act of 1978 declared that the official records of a former president belong to the American people. It gives custody of those records to the Archi­ vist of the United States and imposes u p o n the archivist “an affirmative duty to make such records available to the public as rapidly and completely as possible consistent with the pro­ visions of this Act.” The first presidential records to come u n ­ der the act, and w hich should have becom e publicly available in February 2001, are those of former President Ronald Reagan. For m uch of last year, their release was delayed by the current administration. O n November 1, 2001, President Bush issued an Executive O rder to govern the review of a form er president’s re c o rd s for p o ssib le e x e cu tiv e privilege claims. The Executive O rder asserts an ex­ tremely expansive view of the scope of that privilege and takes virtually all authority for release of the records away from the archi­ vist. HR 4187 w ould nullify the Executive Or­ der a n d set procedures for form er and in­ cum bent presidents to make claims of execu­ tive privilege. The bill limits claims of execu­ tive privilege to incumbent presidents and liv­ ing form er presidents only. Claims can not be m ade by any vice president nor by any designee of a form er president. ALA is on record as opposing Executive O rd er 13233 a n d calling o n C ongress to am end the Presidential Records Act as neces­ sary to reaffirm the intent of Congress that presidential records be m ade generally avail­ able to the public with limited statutory re­ strictions by th e e n d of 12 years. ACRL a n d Lynne E. Bradley is Office o f Government Relations director o f ALA's Washington Office, e-mail: leb@alawash.org and Patrice M cDerm ott is assistant director o f ALA's Office o f Government Relations, e-mail: pmcdermott@alawash.org o th e r library a d v o cates are a sk e d to urge th e ir re p re sen ta tiv e s to fully s u p p o rt HR 4187. A c a d e m ic lib ra rie s a n d LS T A The current Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA, also called the Museum and Li­ brary Services Act, HR 3784), must be reau­ thorized this year. LSTA reauthorization usu­ ally occurs every five years w hen Congress approves a n d sets levels of funding level for the program. HR 3784 has been passed by committee and is headed for a House floor vote. All types of libraries are im pacted by LSTA through the national leadership grants and the state-based funding distributed by state library agencies for netw orks and other li­ brary projects. ACRL m em bers and other li­ brary supporters should contact their repre­ sentatives to ask for full support during the House floor vote. Ask Senators to cosponsor legislation now being developed. A p p ro p ria tio n s f o r LST A While ALA is asking for an authorizing level of $500 million for the new LSTA for each of the next five years, w e m ust still conduct an­ nual appropriations battles. ALA has requested Congress to appropriate $500 million for FY 2003 to m eet the needs of library users in all types of libraries across th e country. The adm inistration’s proposal w ould fund pro­ grams at $181.7 million. Ask your representa­ tives and senators to support full funding for LSTA. The "T e a ch " A c t Libraiy supporters should ask House m em ­ bers to pass S.487, the Technology Educa­ tion and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act. S. 487 passed the Senate in June 2001 and updates the distance education provisions of the Copyright Act to account for advance­ ments in digital transmission technologies for distance learning. ACRL m em bers are asked to contact the House Judiciary Committee, and (co n tin u ed on p a g e 452) mailto:leb@alawash.org mailto:pmcdermott@alawash.org 452 / C&RL News ■ June 2002 A c o m p re h e n s iv e c o lle c tio n o f b o o k s and other publications by the po et and novelist Jam es Dickey (1923—97) has been acquired by the University of South Carolina (USC). Dickey taught at USC for three decades as p o e t-in -resid e n ce a n d First C arolina professor of English. The collection comprises 436 first editions, limited editions, proofs, other books, and periodical issues containing Dickey items, many with personal inscriptions, covering the range of his career. The B a rb a ra H arbach C o lle c tio n has b e e n a c q u ired by W ilm ington College. H arbach is a noted com poser, performer, recording artist, and professor of music. She is also the founder, publisher, and editor-in- chief of Vivace Press, w h ich prom otes u n d e r r e p r e s e n t e d c o m p o s e r s ( m a in ly w o m e n ) by p u b lis h in g m u sic s c o re s , producing CDs on the Hester Park label, and issuing the W omen o f Note Quarterly journal. The H arbach Collection consists of H arbach’s c o m p le te p u b lis h e d c o m p o s itio n s a n d recorded w orks and perform ances, as well as a substantial portion of the catalog of Vivace Press and a com plete run of W omen o f Note Quarterly. A major collection of the w orks of author W. Somerset Maugham has been acquired by Boston University. The Loren and Frances Rothschild-W. Somerset Maugham Collection co n tain s h u n d re d s of letters chronicling M augham’s personal and intellectual life, ev­ ( “From C ataloger. . . ” continued fr o m page 4 N otes 1. Eric Liu, The Accidental Asian: Notes o f a Native Speaker (N ew York: Random House, 1998). 2. “Mi: Beauty in Korean Art and Culture” is a v a ila b le at h t t p : / / l i b r a r y .c s u n .e d u / jwakim oto/koreaexhibit.htm l (10/1/01). 3. “Land of the Morning Calm: the Western ( “W ashington H otline” contin u ed fr o m p a g e 4 then the full House, to pass this important leg­ islation, which has been held up to leverage passage of other legislation. Let’s get this bill out of committee and passed by Congress. O th e r h o t issu e s in C o n g re ss in c lu d e p riv a c y bills, a n d d a ta b a s e a n d d ig ital 34 ery significant first edition of the a uthor’s novels, short stories, and the original m anu­ scripts of The Gentleman in the P aulour and The P ainted Veil. Also included are personal docum ents and ephemera; audiovisual m ate­ rial; photographs and art of the author; thou­ sands of additional m anuscripts and type­ scripts, page proofs, and galleys dating from 1906 to 1953; and m ore than 200 periodicals containing the first publication of many of M augham’s works. The p a p e rs o f th e la te Dr. W illia m Kaufman, a leader in the field of vitamin therapy research, and the papers of his wife, Charlotte Schnee Kaufman, have b e e n ac­ quired by the University of Michigan (UM). Kaufman, w ho earned both his Ph.D. and M.D. at UM in the 1930s, is best know n for his research in the 1940s and 1950s on the use of Niacinamide (a form of vitamin B3) to treat osteoarthritis. Kaufman published m ore than 60 papers in scientific and m edi­ cal journals m ainly dealing with arthritis, nutrition, food allergy, and psychosom atic m edicine. He also published 25 articles for a general audience in such m agazines as Coro- netanà. M cCall’s. Charlotte Kaufman, a 1938 graduate of UM, acted as his research assis­ tan t for m any years a n d later serv ed as founder and executive director of the Fam­ ily Life Film Center of Connecticut, w here she p io n ee red techniques for using films followed by discussion. The archive consists of 30 feet of material. ■ ) View of Korea, 1741-1960” is available at http:// library.csun.edu/jwakimoto/maengexliibit.html (10/1/01). 4. A version of this pap er was first given at the First National Conference o n Asian Pacific American Librarians in San Francisco on June 14, 2001. ■ 1) rig h ts m a n a g e m e n t p r o p o s a ls . W atch fo r f u rth e r re p o r ts o r s u b s c rib e to th e e le c ­ tro n ic n e w s lin e , ALAWON. To s u b s c rib e , s e n d th e m e s s a g e : s u b s c r i b e a la - w o [ y o u r _ f ir s tn a m e ] [ y o u r _ l a s t n a m e ] to lis tp ro c @ a la .o rg . ■ 4 http://library.csun.edu/ mailto:listproc@ala.org