Section 108 Study Group Public Roundtable Announced

The Section 108 Study Group will host a public roundtable on Wednesday, January 31, 2007, in Chicago, Illinois (exact time and location to be announced). Exceptions in the Copyright Act applicable to libraries and archives will be discussed at the roundtable, specifically those pertaining to the making and distribution of copies of copyrighted works pursuant to a patron’s request.

The roundtable will address issues in the four following areas:

1. Amendments to provisions relating to copies for users [current subsections 108(d) and (e)] to reflect changes in the way digital technology is used by both rights-holders and libraries and archives.

2. Other amendments to applicable section 108 provisions specifically addressing copies made for users via interlibrary loan.

3. Amendments to the provisions currently set out in subsection 108(i) that would permit libraries and archives to take advantage of subsections 108(d) and (e) for a broader category of works.

4. Amendments to section 108 requiring libraries and archives, as a condition of being able to take advantage of the exceptions, to use effective technological protection measures and limits on the provision of access to electronic materials, including via performance or display.

A Federal Register notice detailing the specific topics to be addressed and the procedures for submitting requests for participation, as well as written comments, will be published in December 2006. An advance copy of the notice will be available on the Section 108 Study Group website and the Copyright Office website in late November.

Look to future ALAWONs for updates about this issue.

Background

The Section 108 Study Group was convened in April 2005 under the sponsorship of the Library of Congress’s National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) in cooperation with the U.S. Copyright Office. It is charged with examining how the exceptions and limitations applicable to libraries and archives under section 108 of the Copyright Act may need to be amended, specifically in light of the changes produced by the widespread use of digital technologies. Please visit the Study Group website for more information.

ALA Promotes Online Voter Registration

In a joint effort to make registering to vote easier and more convenient for eligible Americans, the American Library Association (ALA) is participating in GoVote, a project of Working Assets and Mobile Voter. Throughout the 2006 national election season, ALA will host on its Web site a link to the GoVote.org initiative, where individuals can click to register to vote or update their voter registration information.

Using the bilingual, nonpartisan site, people can register any time, from virtually anywhere—via conventional web browser, mobile phone browser and text messaging. People also can send email reminders to family and friends and sign up for information about volunteer opportunities in their local communities. Deadlines for voter registration vary by state, and a full list of registration deadlines can be found at: www.eac.gov/register_vote_deadlines.asp.

“Libraries are a vital part of the American democratic landscape,” said ALA President Leslie Burger. “They serve the public by connecting citizens to valuable information regardless of economic status.” Beyond providing library users with the resources they need to make smart and informed voting decision, ALA encourages its members to become registered voters and to promote the GoVote.org voter registration site in their local libraries.

Working Assets is a long distance, wireless, and credit card company. In 2003 and 2004, Working Assets launched and ran a campaign that registered over 1 million new voters.

Founded in 2004, Mobile Voter is a non-profit, non-partisan organization seeking to facilitate the process of civic participation via mobile technology.

For more information about ALA’s participation in GoVote.org, please contact Joan Claffey at 1-800-545-2433, extension 3215. If you have technical questions about using the GoVote.org site, contact GoVote by email at govote@workingassets.com or by phone at 1-877-205-8683.

REMINDER: Only Three Weeks Left to Enter the National Library Legislative Day Student Contest!

On September 19, the ALA’s Washington Office and YALSA started taking submissions for the National Library Legislative Day 2007 Student Contest, through which one student will win a free trip to Washington, DC, for the 33rd Annual National Library Legislative Day (NLLD), to be held on May 1 2, 2007. All you have to do is submit the winning theme idea and logo!

This is simply a reminder that there are only three weeks left in the contest! Entries must be received by October 29, 2006!

LIBRARIANS: Post the Official Contest Flyer (available on the website and below) in your libraries, especially public and school libraries! And please spread the word so we can get as many contest entries as possible!

For more information, please visit the official Contest Website.

Or use the forms below:

• Official Contest Flyer (PDF)
• Contest Rules and Information (Word)

• All contestants must fill out the official contest Entry Form and submit it with their entries.

  • National Library Legislative Day Theme Contest Entry Form (Word)

Contribute to Paper on Social Networking, Libraries

ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) commissioned a paper from the Information Institute of Syracuse to study the social networking phenomenon and how it affects libraries. The authors, R. David Lankes and Joanne Silverstein, have created a wiki-style website for comments on a draft of the paper, which is entitled “Participatory Networks: The Library as Conversation.” This wiki can be found at:

http://iis.syr.edu/projects/PNOpen/index.html

Once on the website you can download the paper, add comments in the wiki, or participate in the forum discussions. The paper will be available for comments until October 25. By using this method of participatory network, we hope to inspire a conversation about social networking sites.

Thank you in advance for your participation. We look forward to sharing the final draft of the paper with the ALA community in November.

Follow-Up: New IRS Claim Form

Thank you all very much for responding to yesterday’s IRS survey.

The IRS program that sends paper forms to the libraries reports that there will be a new form for Individuals who file for a Refund for the Telephone Excise Tax. The form is not completely approved yet.

The IRS will inform the ALA Washington Office when the form has been approved and is on its web site; we will send out an ALAWON at that time, which we are hoping will be before December 1, 2006.

Beginning December 1, the IRS plans to send those libraries that still get paper forms shipped to them a quantity of this new, four-page form that is at least 20% of the number of the 1040 forms they receive. The contractor who ships IRS forms will ship these new forms based on “container logic,” so some libraries could get more than 20%.

After you look at this form on the web site, if you think you would need more than the 20% number they plan to send you, you can request more.

Our survey of libraries who get paper forms from the IRS indicated that you thought you would need an average of 58%, so the IRS says that they will make more forms available if you ask for them.