Guest Editor: Barbara Folensbee-Moore, Co-chair – Government Relations/Intellectual Property Committee

Changes in the Government Affairs/Intellectual Property Committees

August 2001

The past year has been a busy one for the Government Affairs and Intellectual Property Committees. In 1999, a Board of Directors mandate required combining the two committees into one. Although this was done rather suddenly, the committee chairs and members began the process of deciding how to make the change occur. By the end of 1999, the committee's name had been changed to the Government Affairs/Intellectual Property Committee and the two co-chairs set about the task of turning two committees into one.

David Shumaker, the chair of the Government Affairs committee, spearheaded the activities and began the effort to re-work the committee charges into meld them into one committee. He also guided the discussion on the name for the emerging committee as well. The currently proposed name for the committee is the Public Policy Committee, reflecting the broad focus that now exists for the committee. Once the proposed re-organization of the committee happens, it will continue to focus on all the issues that relate to both government affairs affecting libraries as well as any intellectual property issues that might impact Special Libraries Association's diverse professional communities.

In addition to re-working the committee itself, another activity that the committees have taken on is the rewriting of the Association’s government affairs position statements. The original topics for the position statements were: Competitive Issues for the Profession; Developing the Global Information Infrastructure, Telecommunications Issues, Access to Government Information and Copyright and Intellectual Property Issues.

Now the topics are being combined and incorporated into statements on four topics: (1) Information Commerce, (2) Government Information, (3) Information Technology and (4) The Role of the Information Professional in the Global Economy. Since the original position statements had been done in 1997, the need to review and update them was a priority. As issues confronting the Association change, the positions it must take in these areas also changes. The international flavor of the Association is also of particular interest and concern at this time; thus, the recommended name for the committee reflects a more encompassing focus than in the past. At present, the group working on the changes consists of David Shumaker, Heather Gallegos-Rex, Barbara Folensbee-Moore and John Crosby, SLA Director, Public Communications. However, other committee members are also being asked for their timely input to be used in preparing a draft for the comments at the June annual conference. Once the drafts are agreed upon by the committee, it will try to get them posted on the Association webpage for comments.

The committee was also involved in the Association’s decision to make a formal statement regarding the issues involved in the recent U.S. Supreme Court case of Tasini v. The New York Times (and others). The statement issued through Executive Director, David Bender, clearly reflected the Association’s concerns for the impact that this case might have on Association members – whether they are librarians or vendors in the information industry. Disagreements over changes in the copyright law and the information industry become more and more important as the issues of electronic rights and electronic publishing are being debated both nationally and internationally.

The committee, with the help of John Crosby, continues to keep an eye on issues at the national level that might affect SLA members and hopefully, the government relations liaisons are communicating these issues back to the members they represent.

The Committee encourages members to communicate with the committee through any of its members and call to its attention any issues you feel issues are being neglected or perhaps missed. Your input is always appreciated and valued.