AALL Launches New Legislative Action Center

AALL is pleased to announce the launch of a new Legislative Action Center. Our new Action Center allows you to easily send messages to your Members of Congress, look up information about your elected representatives, and share our alerts with friends and colleagues.

Please use our Action Center to respond to our current alert on GPO funding. The alert allows you to send targeted messages to your Senators and House Representative and personalize your emails with stories and experiences related to FDsys and the Federal Depository Library Program. Your personal experiences and reasons why funding cuts would hurt your lawmakers’ constituents will be the hook that catches their attention. Thank you for taking action!

House Makes it Easier to Track Floor Action

This week, the House of Representatives launched a set of improvements to its Floor Activities website to help you more easily track action on the House floor. The updates include:

• Unique tabs for bills and votes
• Precise time stamps, down to the second
• A link to download the live XML for reuse

While you won’t see much action on the site now (the House has adjourned until September 29), these are exciting improvements that will make it easier for anyone to see what their Representatives are doing. Kudos to the House Clerk for launching these useful changes!

Submit Your Comments on the Future of the Federal Depository Library Program

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) just released the second edition of its monthly newsletter, the FDLP Connection. This informative update includes a description of plans for the Fall Federal Depository Library Conference & Depository Library Council Meeting, which will take place in Arlington, Virginia from October 17-20. The meeting will include a session on October 20, “Creating Our Shared Vision: Roles and Opportunities in the FDLP,” focusing on “sharing ideas on roles and models for depository libraries; changes in information policy and their effect on libraries; and a reaffirmation of the depository library community’s commitment to ensuring the public has free access to Federal information.”

As we wrote in AALL’s Washington E-Bulletin, GPO is soliciting your comments on the future of the FDLP, which will help shape the October 20 session. Comments are due by September 16.

After you submit your comments, we encourage you to read the FDLP Connection in its entirety. The newsletter is a great new resource for depository libraries and anyone interested in what GPO and libraries in their communities are doing to promote access to government information. As Kevin McClure, Research Librarian at the Chicago-Kent College of Law Library and author of the fantastic Gov Docs Guy blog, said, “There’s a lot of good stuff in this issue that I didn’t know, like how David Cismowski persuaded Downey City Library to stay in the FDLP and transition to an all-digital depository, and how they’re going about it.” Read the latest issue here.

Network Neutrality Issue Brief Updated with Analysis of New Rules

Ryan Harrington, Reference Librarian at Yale Law School, has updated AALL’s Network Neutrality Issue Brief with an excellent analysis of the new rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on December 21, 2010. The rules require transparency of network management practices; no blocking of lawful content; and no unreasonable discrimination. The updated issue brief explains AALL’s concern, shared by many open government groups, that these new rules do not apply to mobile broadband – a significant loophole because increasing numbers of people are opting to use mobile devices to access the Internet.

Please mark your calendars for a timely one hour session on Network Neutrality during AALL’s Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, “Can the FCC Regulate the Internet?” (F2) on Monday, July 25 at 10:45 a.m. Ryan will moderate a lively discussion between Markham Erickson, Executive Director of the Open Internet Coalition, of which AALL is a member, and Dan Brenner, Partner at Hogan Lovells. The speakers will discuss the impact of the new rules on law libraries as well as legal challenges the FCC may face in implementing and enforcing these rules.

Law Library of Congress Adds More New Features to THOMAS

Implementing its final set of enhancements to THOMAS this year, the Law Library of Congress added the following useful new features:

• All GPO Access links in THOMAS have been changed to link to FDsys.
• The search has been improved so that the most important bill types appear first.
• The Bill Summary & Status page will now display the Latest Action (rather than Latest Major Action) and the Latest Title (rather than the most recent official or short title).
• Cosponsors are now listed in one column, rather than divided up into two.
• Dublin Core tags were added for title, creator (the sponsor in THOMAS), date, identifier (the THOMAS handle), and type (bill type).

Congratulations to the Law Library for adding many new enhancements to THOMAS this year, in celebration of its fifteenth anniversary. A list of all the great new features can be found on the Law Library’s Web site.

[Posted by Emily Feldman]

For the First Time, White House Reveals Total Intelligence Budget

In a remarkable step toward greater government transparency, the Administration last week disclosed for the first time the total intelligence budget. For 2010, the figure is $80.1 billion.

The intelligence budget was revealed in 1997 and 1998 in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the Federation of American Scientists. However, the “national” and “military” components of the budget were not disclosed as part of that lawsuit, so the release painted only a partial picture of intelligence spending.

Since 2007, the White House has disclosed the National Intelligence Program (NIP) budget, as required by Congress in response to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. However, at his July 20, 2010 confirmation hearing, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper admitted that revealing only the NIP budget was “disingenuous.”

This exciting step toward greater government openness would not have been possible without the tireless advocacy efforts of 2006 AALL Public Access to Government Information (PAGI) Award winner Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists. Congratulations to Steve on this significant victory!

[Posted by Emily Feldman]

Aftergood Examines Over-classification

2006 AALL Public Access to Government Information (PAGI) Award winner Steven Aftergood, author of Secrecy News, recently published a new article at ForeignPolicy.com examining the current classification system, including the potential impact of the recently-enacted Reducing Over-classification Act (P.L. 111-258).

AALL strongly supports the Reducing Over-classification Act, introduced in the 111th Congress by Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA-36). The new law institutes annual training for classifiers and requires Inspectors general to assess their department’s classification policies.

Though this law takes many positive steps to combat government secrecy, Aftergood highlights some of the changes that are still needed to encourage declassification  and ensure a shift toward greater government openness.

[Posted by Emily Feldman]

Thurgood Marshall Law Library Adds to Commission on Civil Rights Collection

The Thurgood Marshall Law Library at the University of Maryland School of Law recently added twenty new documents to their digital collection of historical publications from the United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR). The Library’s collection is a partnership of the Government Printing Office, the USCCR and the Thurgood Marshall Law Library.

Some of the latest additions include:

• Employment Discrimination in the Construction Industry in Baltimore. Maryland State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Washington, D.C. February, 1974. CR1.2:EMP1/1974

• Racial Harassment in Vermont Public Schools. Vermont Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Washington, D.C. February, 1999.

• Employment Problems of Nonwhite Youth; Report on Michigan. Michigan Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Washington, D.C.  July, 1966. CR1.2:M58

• Housing, Chicago Style: A Consultation Sponsored by the Illinois Advisory Committee. Illinois Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. October, 1982. CR1.2:H81/17

• New Black Panther Party Investigation. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. [Washington, D.C.]. 2010. CR1.2010:NBPP1

• The Impact of Illegal Immigration on the Wages and Employment Opportunities of Black Workers. Washington, D.C. 2010.

• Letter: Commission Chair Gerald Reynolds to Hugh Collins: Racial Discrimination by Louisiana Justice of the Peace. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. [Washington, D.C.]. October 22, 2009. CR1.2:Letter 7

[Posted by Emily Feldman]

Constitution Day and Citizenship Day

Each year, September 17 marks Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. This holiday is celebrated around the country in recognition of the signing of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787.

The late Senator Robert Byrd introduced legislative language into the omnibus spending bill in 2004 to establish this holiday. The law requires that each educational institution that receives federal funds hold an educational program on the Constitution for students on September 17 of each year (or during the week, if the holiday falls on a weekend) on the history of the Constitution.

The Law Library of Congress provides many resources to help you celebrate Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. Resources include:

• A new page on the Fourteenth Amendment and Citizenship.
• A commemorative page on Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, which includes information on the creation of the day, legislative branch documents, and executive branch documents.
• A new page on THOMAS with Constitution Day resources.

The Law Library also includes the Constitution in its Guide to Law Online, and a resource guide to the Constitution.

If your law library is involved in a Constitution Day event, please let us know!

[Posted by Emily Feldman]

Law Library of Congress Adds Enhancements to THOMAS

The Law Library of Congress announced this week the third major upgrade of 2010 to THOMAS. Important updates include a new mobile-friendly homepage that provides access to enhanced functionalities, and a new map of state legislature Web sites that links you to bill-tracking resources at the state level. Kudos to the Law Library for continuing to add new useful features to THOMAS!

[Posted by Emily Feldman]