AboutObservations, commentary, and announcements on the relationship between libraries and legislation. Occasionally, there could be things to do, too. Recent Posts:Archives:
BlogrollMeta: |
NSLS Blogs
Ad Lib: Advocacy for LibrariesSeptember 25, 2006 Light ReadingNew York magazine has a nice profile on our own Junior Senator from Illinois. Nothing incredibly important or library-related in there (people really like him, he talks across ideological lines, will he run in ‘08?, & etc. etc.), but it’s a good glimpse into the politics and the man behind the Barack Obama Phenomenon, if such things interest you. posted by Alan at 3:17 pm | Comments (0) All Quiet on the DOPA FrontWe haven’t heard anything about the Deleting Online Predators Act in a while which, frankly, makes me nervous. There’s been no word on it since it passed out of the House, but with two weeks left in the Senate’s 109th session, odds are it’ll be moving soon. So where are we at? Upon arrival in the Senate, DOPA was sent to the Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation (headed up by Sen. Ted “series of tubes” Stevens), from which nothing official has since been heard. But we do know that, last week, the committee had a Hearing on Online Child Pornography, and that they’ve got a markup session scheduled for this Wednesday. Will they vote on DOPA at that markup? Probably not—at least, it doesn’t appear to be on the schedule. But at the same time, I find it hard to believe it’ll make it through the 109th without getting voted on; it got near-unanimous support in the House, and it’s being used as a major campaign issue (second bulletpoint) by our own Rep. Mark Kirk, one of the bill’s co-authors. In other words, legislators have to be seeing it as both safe and important (always a nice combination for them, especially in an election year). So what’s the holdup? Not that I’m complaining about a lack of action, but does this mean that it’ll be tabled until the 110th Congress? Held until a post-November lame duck session? Or rushed through the normal session at the eleventh hour? Best not to take chances; get in touch with the offices of Senators Durbin and Obama and let them know where you and the library community stand on this bill, so they’ll know how to vote if it comes before them. posted by Alan at 11:26 am | Comments (0) September 20, 2006 Durbin and Obama: Faster than ALAALA has sent out an urgent plea: We urge you to contact your Senator and ask them to sign on to the Dear Colleague letter by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA). In this instance, though, don’t worry about calling on Senators Durbin and Obama asking them to sign on. Instead, just give them a call to say thanks, as both of the senators from Illinois were among the first to sign on to the letter. Requests are good, but appreciation is better, so take a minute to give your senators a call and let them know you’re glad for their support. posted by Alan at 9:21 am | Comments (0) September 19, 2006 Seeing Right Through ThemBarack Obama talks about the Coburn-Obama Transparency Bill on his website’s podcast, and it’s worth a listen. The basic idea behind the bill, which has now passed both the House and Senate and is now on it’s way to the President’s desk, is to provide an online, searchable archive of government spending so citizens can see exactly where their tax money is going. Such a tool could be a great reference/research tool, and very useful to the library community. If you like it, why not contact Senator Obama and let him know? posted by Alan at 3:16 pm | Comments (0) September 13, 2006 The Straight DOPAKay pointed me to the Librarian in Black, who pointed me to this DOPA and the Participation Gap PDF of the article that Bob Doyle wrote in the ILA Reporter. Bob explains what the Act is, and what the problems with it are: The act is based on the fear that when young people reveal personal information about themselves to friends and new acquaintances online, such information becomes available to certain adults, dubbed by the act “online predators.” While this is a genuine concern, the act is overbroad and threatens not only to disrupt the value of these targeted sites, but also to do so disproportionately, seriously disadvantaging young people who rely on public access computers rather than more private access via home computers, WiFi, cell phones, etc. Basically, in a time when libraries are trying to find ways to bring teens into libraries, it doesn’t make sense to block what could be one of the biggest draws. (The article features a wonderful pull quote from an ironically anonymous teen: “If you’re not on MySpace, you don’t exist.”) Of course, none of this lessens that DOPA is overly broad legislation; the equivalent of disallowing public buses from taking kids to the mall because there might be a kidnapper there. It just provides yet another perspective to why the library community is, by and large, against the Act. All this is by way of reminder that DOPA has passed the House (by a vote of 410 – 15!) and is in the hands of the Senate even as we speak! If you have a chance, give Senators Durbin and Obama a call and let them know what you think about this bill. posted by Alan at 11:38 am | Comments (0) September 5, 2006 Attendance MattersCongress.org has put up the 2006 voting records for all the members of the House of Representatives; this is a good chance to see how your Reps are voting (or at least, how they’re voting in an election year…). Taking a look at some of ours:
It doesn’t necessarily tell you a LOT, but it’s at least some interesting infromation to have… posted by Alan at 9:22 am | Comments (0)
|
RSS|
|
|
|
© 2008, North Suburban Library System 200 w Dundee, Wheeling, IL 60090 |
http://www.nsls.info |