Winter, Vol. 16, no. 3 (2003)

From the Editors    

“Without experiencing the cold of winter, one cannot appreciate the warmth of spring”
     ---Chinese proverb

  We awoke on the coldest day of the 2003 winter season, and were reminded of the Chinese proverb above.  Experience we are doing and appreciate warmth we do.  At the moment all we can do is appreciate, hope and dream.  Carolinians have found themselves in search of their sandy coastal beaches.  It seems they are covered with snow.  Floridians have rushed to protect fruit and vegetable crops (so we won’t have to go without) from the freezing temperatures.  Finally pigskin (a.k.a. Superbowl) fans are ‘rushing’ for sunny southern California - albeit San Diego.  Did we hear correctly, San Diego?  Isn’t that where the 2003 MLA Conference is being held?   Isn’t it warm there? Yes, yes, and yes.  

Well it is not too early for medical librarians to begin California dreamin’ about San Diego and the conference.  Among this issue’s reports we find ourselves being invited to volunteer, recruit, mentor, warm up with “Hot Topics” and finally take a swim with e-resources.   With activities such as these to look forward to, can the warmth of spring, the San Diego sunshine and the conference be far off?  We do not think so!  Hope to see you in San Diego.

Connie & Jan                                                                                                       

Connie Machado Head of Cataloging Rowland Medical Library University of Mississippi Medical Center cmachado@rowland.umsmed.edu

Jan Cox Acting Head Librarian/Asst. Director for Technical Services IU School of Dentistry Library Indianapolis, Indiana jcox2@iupui.edu

From the Chair

I bring you greetings from Colorado and best wishes for a wonderful new year!  

The section has been working to meet the goals we set last May.  The Midyear Report found later in this issue details what we have accomplished.  I want to thank all of the committee members who have worked so diligently on behalf of the section. 

The MLA program for which we are the primary sponsor is a contributed paper session called, “Swimming in a Sea of Electronic Resources”.  This session has proved so popular and the number of abstracts received so numerous that it is being offered as two sessions in order to offer more people the opportunity to present papers.  Our Program Chair, Virginia Lingle is working hard on this year’s section programming.  She will be soliciting ideas for our “Hot Topics” programming soon.  Let Ginny know if you have an idea for a Hot Topic we should discuss. 

The Nominating Committee will be meeting in January to build a slate of officers.  If you receive a call asking you to serve, please say yes.  None of the officer positions take too much time and they are very necessary in order for our section to thrive.    

I hope to see you all at MLA in San Diego this spring.  Mark your calendars now for May 2-7, 2003.             

Sandy Arnesen
University of Colorado Health Science Center
Chair, Technical Services Section, 2002-2003
Sandy.Arnesen@UCHSC.edu

    TSS Program Update for San Diego Meeting

The contributed paper session titled "Swimming in the Sea of Electronic Resources," co-sponsored by the Technical Services Section, the Collection Development Section, and the Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section, received one of the highest numbers of abstracts submitted. For that reason, the session may be expanded to include 10 presentations instead of only 5 papers. Plans for other sessions are progressing well. Look for more information in the Preliminary Program.

In January, we will be able to propose ideas for "Hot Topic" sessions that can be held throughout the meeting. These sessions are intended to be small discussion groups around very specific topics. I welcome your ideas on what sessions you would like to see scheduled in San Diego. What specific questions would you like to discuss with colleagues? XML applications, OCLC issues, the OpenURL standard? Send me an email with your ideas. I look forward to hearing from you.

Click on the icon above or this address for conference information: http://www.mlanet.org/am/am2003/index.html

Virginia (Gin) Lingle
San Diego Program Chair
val3@psu.edu
717-531-8581

Opportunities for Professional Development

The purpose of this column is to list opportunities which may be of interest to our members.  While the column is not intended to be a comprehensive listing, the compiler/editor welcomes information on continuing education opportunities for possible inclusion in future editions of the column.  Although some of the courses listed below may indicate the awarding of continuing education units, only those specifically indicated as being MLA-approved have received prior approval from the Medical Library Association.

Winter ' 03 Learning Opportunities

Please help me improve this column! There are so many meetings, conferences, and workshops available, and I do not always know which ones to feature here. So, please send me any suggestions for events to include, and please also send me general feedback about this column. Is it helpful? How can I make it more helpful? You can reach me at the address/phone number/e-mail address listed below. Thanks!

Calendar of Events

  March - April
Planning Ahead

March

  LITA Regional Institute

eBooks: After Hype and Death, What Really Works, Pittsburgh, PA, March 10, 2003, March 10, 2003
Sponsored by PALINET

Planning Ahead

SLA Annual Conference

Putting Knowledge to Work, New York, June 7-12, 2003

The Special Libraries Association will hold its 2003 Annual Conference in New York City, June 7 - 12. The Conference will create an environment for networking, communication, learning and other developmental opportunities for information professionals. Available sessions will highlight strategies used in organizations that reflect the Association's strategic plan - Professionals Putting Knowledge to Work in the 21st Century. We will learn how our colleagues actually put knowledge to work in their organizations.

SLA is also pleased to bring you three dynamic keynote speakers for New York.

The Honorable Madeleine Albright Former U.S. Secretary of State	David McCullough Pulitzer Prize winning author	Stewart Brand Futurist

If you are currently an SLA member, you understand the importance and value found by attending your conference. If you are new to SLA or the information profession, the New York conference will be one of the best venues for highly concentrated formal and informal learning.

Please join us in New York for the SLA 2003 Annual Conference, where you will have the unique opportunity to join a global community developing the future of the information industry!

For more information: http://www.sla.org/content/Events/conference/2003annual/index.cfm

The American Library Association Annual Conference is the world’s largest and most comprehensive library conference and exhibition. Drawing over 26,000 librarians, educators, writers, publishers and special guests, the conference includes more than 2,000 meetings, discussion groups and programs on topics affecting libraries.

For the 2003 Annual Conference, the ALA will be holding a joint conference with the Canadian Library Association (http://www.cla.ca/conference/cla-ala2003/). The 2003 ALA/CLA Annual Conference will be held in Toronto, ON from June 19 - 25, 2003. The exhibition will take place from June 21-24, 2003 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (http://www.mtccc.com) in Toronto.

For more information: http://www.ala.org/events/annual2003/index.html

  2003 NASIG Annual Conference

Serials in the Park: Blazing Diverse Trails in the Information Forest, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, June 26-29, 2003

For more information: http://nasig.org/public/conferences.html

The Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning is sponsored by
©University of Wisconsin-Madison
Organized by: The Graduate Program in Continuing and Vocational Education

For more information: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/

2003 LITA National Forum

6th Annual LITA National Forum, Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel, Norfolk, Virginia, October 1-3, 2003

For more information:  http://www.lita.org/forum03/propcall.html

Compiled and edited by:
Kristin B. Sawyer, M.L.I.S.
MLA/TSS CE Chair
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
kristin-sawyer@ouhsc.edu  

    NLM Authority Records Accessible in LOCATORplus

On January 21, 2003, NLM implemented the Web Authorities feature in LOCATORplus (www.locatorplus.gov), making its authority records accessible to library users worldwide. This new feature allows users to search and browse the name authority records established in NLM's internal authority file, reinstating a capability that has not been available since 1995 when the Name Authority File (NAF) was removed from the MEDLARS system. The Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms and term/subheading combinations used in cataloging at NLM are also now accessible in LOCATORplus. Of particular interest to librarians, this feature also provides the capability for display and download of NLM authority records, including those for subjects, in a modified MARC 21 authority format.

Types of Authority Headings Available

Users now have the ability to search and browse over 1,175,000 authority records, including:

- approximately 510,000 subject authority records structured as MARC 21 authority records (including subject terms and subject term/topical subheading combinations and names and titles used as subjects)

- more than 625,000 name authority records (ca. 450,000 personal, 125,000 corporate, 45,000 meeting, and 5,000 geographic names)

- approximately 40,000 series and uniform title authority records

- ca. 800 name/title authority records.

Associated references and scope notes are also provided.

Limitations of Web Authorities

This release does not include:

- Z39.50 functionality

- Full MARC 21 character set for display and download of authority data

- Use of diacritics in searches

- Keyword searching of authority data

For further information regarding the authority records in LOCATORplus, see the documentation posted under "Cataloging Databases, Online Publications, and Products" on the NLM Cataloging Section HomePage at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/cataloging/mainpge.html.

Comments or questions regarding this feature in LOCATORplus should be directed to custserv@nlm.nih.gov.

Alice E. Jacobs
Assistant Head
Cataloging Section
National Library of Medicine
Phone: 301-496-7136

NISO News Plus

NISO STANDARDS 

A November 4, 2002 press release announced that NISO and EDItEUR will work on the Serial Exchange Standard which will facilitate the exchange of serials subscription data.  Specifically the investigative group will: “(1)  Recommend specific enhancement to the ONIX for Serials schema and documentation to support exchange of serials subscription information, (2) Recommend how the query/response scenarios can be accommodated within the emerging EDItEUR framework for transaction-based exchange, and (3) Plan, organize and coordinate a pilot project involving publishers, intermediaries, and libraries to demonstrate the feasibility of using ONIX for Serials as an exchange format for serials subscription information,” from the web page: http://www.niso.org/news/SerialsExchange.html.  

Also hot in the standards world is the revision of the ISBN (ISO TC 46 SC 9 WG4, see: http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/iso/tc46sc9/) to increase the numbering capacity by increasing the number from 10 digits to 13 so that the ISBN system can accommodate electronic versions in addition to print manifestations of works. 

NISO’s  Annual NISO/BIC Seminar was held December 5, 2002, focusing on “Preparing for Digital Preservation.”  See: http://www.niso.org/news/events_workshops/digpresv1202.pdf.  

During the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting, NISO will be participating in two programs: (1) Making E-books Work on January 23^rd and (2) a NISO/EDItEUR Program to Focus on Metadata on January 26^th.  

APPLICATIONS 

This “Applications” section is new and is a place where I would like to take the liberty to discuss current trends that involve standards. For this issue, I highlight the controversial articles by Roy Tennant that have recently appeared in Library Journal. In case you have not read them they can be found at: (Article #1, October 15, 2002 ) http://libraryjournal.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleId=CA250046&display=searchResults and (Article #2, November 15, 2002) http://libraryjournal.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA256611 .  Impassioned about standards, as I am, I felt compelled to write a response on AUTOCAT and did with the following statement: 

"I have just read Tennant's article today (10/16/2002) and believe that he is making this strong sweeping statement to get us (especially catalogers) sensitized, enlightened, and challenged. Tennant's main thesis, "The very nature of the MARC (machine-readable cataloging) record is, to some degree an anachronism" which he supports through a discussion of "MARCing time" (the difficulty of reading a MARC record, its rigidity, and complex syntax), "Granularity" ("...it lacks essential checks and balances to assure appropriate granularity...", the problem of finding author and  editor references in subfields of the 245 title field, and "...ambiguous encoding of respective parts of a personal name..."), "Extensibility and language" ("...MARC is flat, whereas a table of contents is hierarchical...a breeze in XML..."), "Technical marginalization" ("an arcane standard" not used by other professions and "the wider information technology industry is moving wholesale to XML as a means to encode and transfer information"), and "The real reason" ("Libraries exist to serve the present and future needs of a community of users. To do this well, they need to use the very best that technology has to offer...To create standards that are both adequate for present needs and flexible enough to offer new opportunities, we should begin with the requirements of bibliographic description...and devise an encoding standard that provides power and flexibility.").

Our world is changing faster than we can bat an eyelash and are comfortable with.  I agree with Tennant that we must be responsive to user needs and focus on what truly is bibliographic description for the information/library science professional goals of recall and precision. The problems of consistency (or ambiguity that Tennant talks about) which exists within current and past MARC implementations will also exist with current and future XML implementations. Standards are absolutely essential along with the discipline to enforce/ensure standardization and prevent and minimize chaos.

XML is a language and thereby another coding scheme.  It can and will be only as good as it is implemented and follows standards. MARC had value and has value as an experience and source of valuable information.  The millions of existing MARC records contain important bibliographic description and subject enhancement/access. MARC, rather than dieing needs to be transformed. The experience, conventions, and not to forget its counter part (AACR2) need to be incorporated into the next generation which is right now flying with XML.  MARC was not created to incorporate images of book covers, or to include a videoclip of XYZ. While XML can handle these other formats, "records" or some kind of "recording/cataloging" will be needed to find/discover valuable resources and continue the information/library science professional goals of providing recall and precision.  Coding of some sort will not die (somewhere and somehow) authors, editors, titles, subject headings, summaries, etc. need to be represented and able to be retrieved/indexed by computer systems.  Additionally there still remains the challenges of standardizing the "forms" of names and/or launching an "International Authority File" and other kinds of "Access Control" that Barbara Tillett has been proposing and discussing. I can go on and on...but we must start moving now!!!  I am glad to see Tennant ruffling our feathers - we need to be ruffled, roused, and ready for action!!!” (Originally written on Autocat by Nadine P. Ellero, October 16, 2002) 

I sent a copy to Mr. Tennant and he replied, “I appreciate your perspective, and you are correct that I "stirred the pot" to get us all thinking about the possibilities we now have from a fresh perspective.” (from email sent by Mr. Tennant, October 22, 2002) 

Dan Dorner, who wrote “Cataloging in the 21^st Century-part 2: Digitization and Information Standards” (Library Collections, Acquisitions, & Technical Services 24 (2000): 73-87) expressed this same continuing concern of mine: 

“The new forms of retrieval and filtering systems and services, however, are not likely to operate successfully because of a lack of standards. Standards ensure consistency within and across information retrieval systems and make it possible for machines to process information. Librarians, and cataloguers in particular must realize that they are past masters in developing worldwide standards for information organization and retrieval. Among the most prominent library standards are the MARC standard; the Anglo American Cataloging Rules; the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), and the Dewey Decimal and the Library of Congress classification systems. This high level of standardization has allowed a tremendous amount of cooperation in resource sharing and in system development work among libraries around the world.  It also has allowed libraries to aim for Universal Bibliographic Control.” 

MARC, while not perfect, is and has been a huge step forward as a practical implementation of cataloging ideals (precision and recall) as well as a movement into the electronic age of cataloging. Whatever the next implementation will be (e.g. XML, XML-MARC combination, etc.), it will always need its two companions: standards and the discipline to follow them. 

Another article to check out is: “’Standard’ Issue: Defining Standards and Protocols” by Andrew K. Pace, Computers in Libraries 22 (September 2002): 42-44. Pace looks at the “standards” and “protocols” that are currently being set by the IT world and library system vendors and contrasts them with the classic library  MARC standard and the Z39.50 protocol.  In Pace’s own words, he perplexes over: 

“The term “standard” itself has become so confused that we now have to call most of them “open standards”(p. 42) [and] “The struggle over standards and protocols is easily seen in the paradoxical relationship between library vendors and their customers. Libraries want vendor adherence to standards to be so strict, so open, and so well-documented as to make the distinctions between one vendor and another nearly invisible. Vendors, on the other hand, want to distinguish themselves from one another and capture market share among a relatively fixed customer base.” (p.43) 

OPPORTUNITIES 

The MLA Technical Services Standards Committee continues to welcome new members. Please contact Leopoldo Montoya at lm46@EXCHANGE1.DREXEL.EDU if you would like to serve in this capacity. 

As always, Nadine Ellero welcomes any communication regarding standards that are being developed, up for review, etc.  Please contact Nadine@virginia.edu.

Nadine P. Ellero
Head of Intellectual Access
University of Virginia Health System
The Claude Moore Health Sciences Library
Nadine@virginia.edu

    TECHNICAL SERVICES SECTION MLA MIDYEAR REPORT 2002-03

Goal 1. Professional development.  The Continuing Education Committee communicated via e-mail to coordinate a list of various CE offerings that might be of interest to the Technical Services members of the MLA.  A report was submitted by Chair, Kristin B. Sawyer, to MLA's TSS-CE Column - Fall 2002 issue of Technical Trends Newsletter: Opportunities for Prof. Development.  A brief summary, which reported some of the highlights of the Continuing Education Needs Survey completed in the spring of 2002, was also included.  A new list of CE opportunities is currently being compiled for the TSS-CE column in the upcoming Technical Trends. 

 Goal 2. Advocacy for technical service librarians. The Program Committee is working on two section-sponsored programs for the MLA annual meeting.  The program for which we are the primary sponsor and received the most abstracts for contributed paper presentations is - "Swimming in the Sea of Electronic Resources." This program will be presented as two different contributed paper sessions because of the high interest this topic generated.  Medical Informatics is sponsoring a panel session called "Surf Report: Forecasting Technology Trends" and we are a co-sponsor for that session.  In January, the Program Committee will solicit suggestions for "Hot Topics" sessions - small group discussion sessions that can be scheduled throughout the annual MLA meeting.  Virginia Lingle has submitted a request for topics, which will appear in the winter edition of Technical Trends newsletter and on the section listserv.   

Goal 3.  Organization.  The section's Membership Committee is planning to build section membership through communication with various non-member and non-renewal populations, i.e., MLA student members and meeting attendees that are not currently section members. The committee will also identify candidates in their regions as potential new members. They will be working on that activity during the winter months.  In addition, they will promote membership by making TSS stickers available for badges at the annual meeting in April, and distributing membership promotion initiatives via the TSS listserv. Members are working on an internal database of members to improve the efficiency of tracking membership to the section.  

The updated bylaws were approved on May 21, 2002 at the business meeting.  The section Policy and Procedure Manual (including the new bylaws) was announced to officers and committee chairs and distributed to them via email.  They will be posted to the TSS website soon. 

Goal 4. Research.  In response to the recommendation to increase seed money for research, the members present at the TSS business meeting on May 22, 2002 suggested supporting a range from $500 to $1,000. At the recommendation of the CE Committee, the group agreed to remove the wording  “a listing approved CE classes.”  TSS supports expanding possibilities to many kinds of educational opportunities. 

Goal 6.  Information technology.   Walter Morton, our Webmaster, updated the section web site with names of current officers, committees and committee members, and the latest annual report.  The newsletter editors posted the fall issue of our newsletter, Technical Trends, on the web.  The TSS listerv was moved to a new server in August.  One hundred fifty two individuals are currently subscribed to the e-mail listserv.  Listserv subscription information is maintained on the TSS web site.   

Our information technology goals have also been furthered by the activities of the TSS Standards Committee, which has reviewed drafts of the following new standards in this first half of the current fiscal year:

• NISO Z3987-2002: Technical Metadata for Digital Still Images

• NISO X39.7-2002: Information Services and Use: Metrics & Statistics for Libraries and Information Providers

• NISO Committee AZ (no number yet): Networked Reference Services Protocol 

 MOTION

This report is informational and requires no action by the Board of Directors.

Respectfully submitted by 
Sandra L. Arnesen, Technical Services Section chair 

Section Officers and Committee Chairs, 6/02-5/03

Chair:  Sandra Arnesen
Chair-elect, and Program committee chair:  Virginia Lingle
Immediate past chair, and Bylaws committee chair:  Maggie Wineburg-Freed
Secretary/treasurer:  Karleen Darr
Section Council representative:  Mary Holcomb
Membership committee chair: Judith Wilkerson
Continuing education committee chair: Kristin Sawyer
Standards committee chair:  Leopoldo Montoya
Nominating committee chair:  Connie Poole
Ad-hoc research committee chair:  Bob Pisciotta
Newsletter editors: Walter Connie Machado and Janice Cox
Webmaster:  Walter Morton
E-mail list manager:  Mary Buttner

    Mentoring:  Sharing Experiences for Professional Growth 

Mentoring has become a national movement in business and industry as organizations strive to insure recruitment, retention and productivity of talented employees.  Librarians who have traditionally sought talented and respected colleagues to share opinions and experiences in an informal manner are experiencing the need to explore more formal approaches to mentoring as we continue to recruit new members to our profession. 

This year at the MLA Annual Meeting in San Diego, there will be a three-hour program on Wednesday, May 7 from 9 am to 12 noon where members can learn about and discuss how to further develop, implement and maintain mentoring activities in our organization.  The committee responsible for planning this program is the first to be composed of members from both Section Council (Stephen Greenberg, Jeff McCann, Tovah Reis) and Chapter Council (Irene Lovas, Paula Raimondo, Debbie Sibley).

Consultant Karen Garman, Ed.D., who spoke at the November 2001 joint meeting of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Librarians (AAHSL) and the Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC), will set the stage for  the program by providing an overview of mentoring.  Dr. Garman is a nationally recognized speaker and consultant who specializes in the fields of mentoring, healthcare education, leadership and performance.

To share some of their unique experiences of professional growth, a distinguished panel of health sciences librarians including Sue Trombley, from the Arizona Health Sciences Library in Tucson, Ruth Holst, currently the associate director, NN/LM Greater Midwest Region, and Rick Forsman, director of the Denison Memorial Library at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center will bring their perspectives of mentoring to the discussion.  Sue is a recent graduate, Ruth is a mid-career and a former hospital librarian who has been and has mentored, and Rick is a “senior” librarian who has mentored librarians throughout his career.

A Town Meeting will cap off the morning.  This will be the time for everyone to express opinions, to offer ideas and thoughts, and to ask any questions about mentoring.  It will be an opportunity for MLA members to hear about the mentoring activities of MLA, its Sections and Chapters, and other professional associations and organizations.  The Town Meeting will be the place to continue planning mentoring initiatives for our professional organization.

Before the Annual Meeting, there will be opportunities for you to assist the Committee in planning the Town Meeting.  A bibliography of mentoring resources will be posted on MLANet.  There will be a place on MLANet to post suggestions, comments and questions to be addressed at the Town Meeting.  You also can email any ideas or questions to either Irene Lovas (email:  Irene.Lovas@cshs.org) or Tovah Reis (Tovah_Reis@brown.edu).  Please take this opportunity to participate as the MLA membership continues to develop and implement mentoring activities for future health sciences librarians.

Irene Lovas and Tovah Ris
 Co-Chairs, MLA Joint Section/Chapter Councils Committee for MLA 2003

        THE MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE NEEDS YOU 

At the annual meeting, Virginia reported that Technical Services Section had lost no members.  The committee is exploring ways to have a more accessible and manageable database of members.  

The committee would also like to hear from members if you have ideas for recruiting or you wore your “MLA needs you..” badge at your regional meeting.  We have received names of two new MLA members who have indicated they work in technical services but are not members of TSS.  It is not too late to recruit new members.  And don’t forget to send in your annual dues payment.  (Your committee chair almost overlooked it this year.)   Members of the Membership Committee are:    

Stephanie Ferretti  Sferett@Temple.edu 
Mary L. Holcomb  mholcomb@ahsl.arizona.edu
Jan Cox  jcox2@iupui.edu
Erica R. Powell  epowell@coldmed.med.miami.edu
Karleen Darr Kldarr@ucdavis.edu (as secretary-treasurer)
Mary Buttner, ex officio buttner@stanford.edu  (as email list manager)…

Joy Summers-Ables is working on some member profiles to promote MLA and recruit new members.  Among the examples already included are hang-gliding, body building, equestrian activities…  If you have an interesting hobby or avocation and you would be willing to be profiled for this promotion please notify me at the email address below.    I would also encourage sending suggestions of your colleagues who might be persuaded to participate.  It would be great to have TSS well represented in this promotion. 

Technical Services is facing challenges to test the best of us.  We need the programming, and assistance of our colleagues to stay informed and competent as we face the new technologies and changing publication environment.

Please send your comments and ideas to any of the committee members.   

Judy Wilkerson, Chair, TSS Membership Committee
mailto:judy-wilkerson@ouhsc.edu

    A post-teleconference report submitted by Jan Cox:

On December 11, 2002, the American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, Association of Research Libraries, Medical Library Association and Special Libraries Association cosponsored the very thought provoking satellite teleconference entitled “Safeguarding Our Patrons’ Privacy : What Every Librarian Needs to Know About the USA Patriot Act & Related Anti-Terrorism Measures”.    Panelists for the presentation were Thomas M. Susman, Partner, Ropes & Gray, James Neal, Columbia University, Gary Strong, Queens Borough Public Library and Tracy Mitrano, Cornell University.   The panelists presented information concerning various post 9/11 legislative and guideline initiatives; implications for libraries; policies, protocols and procedures; and issues and concerns.  

Mr. Susman noted that the USA Patriot Act of 2001 (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001) was the most immediate legislative response to the 9/11 attacks. The Act was signed into law on October 26, 2001.  Post 9/11 information policy issues addressed by Mr. Susman included:  1] USA Patriot Act of 2001; 2] removal of government information from the web, government agencies and libraries; 3] Homeland Security legislation; and 4] the new “sensitive but not classified” designation. 

Mr. Susman reported that the USA Patriot Act not only amended more than 15 different statutes including existing legislation dealing with bio-terrorism, money laundering, wiretap and immigration but it also gave law enforcement greater authority to conduct searches.  The portions of the Act that he believes will impact libraries are the computer trespasser exception, which targets persons who access a computer without authorization, “trap and trace”, and business records seizure under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).   The computer trespasser exception, which applies to terrorism and computer hackers, expands law enforcement’s authority to determine phone numbers dialed and includes Internet addressing and signaling information.  The FBI’s ability to obtain secret court orders under FISA to gain access to business records is seen as posing the greatest potential for intrusion into library operations.   The FBI can seize any library records including patron, computer use and acquisitions records.   A cloak of secrecy surrounds these orders and a library cannot tell the public that such an order has been received.   

Mr. Susman concluded by sharing his observations about what the USA Patriot Act means for libraries, implications and changes.  He stressed the importance of establishing procedures for responding to judicial processes and reminded teleconference attendees that this federal law reigns supreme over state and/or local laws. 

Mr. Strong and Mr. Neal addressed aspects of the Act from their respective  public and academic library director perspectives.   Mr. Strong reviewed a list of six service concepts/traditions and library environments for which there is concern.  He also noted that with the introduction of the Internet library staff is being called upon more than ever to protect the confidentiality of what is being used by patrons.   Mr. Neal, building upon Mr. Strong’s service concepts, noted that college libraries live in a broader academic community.  He then identified eight academic communities and expressed concerns associated with each.   Mr. Neal stressed the importance of addressing the following things as we move forward under the impact of court actions and legislative initiatives:  1] clear policies and procedures; 2] training methodologies; and 3] open channels of communication.  Mr. Strong reaffirmed the importance of respecting patron privacy/confidentiality and stressed the need to 1] adopt the confidentiality legislation of your state as library policy even though it may be trumped by federal legislation; and 2] establish staff procedures for dealing with situations where staff may be approached by law enforcement, fellow staff members, or patrons.  Mr. Neal stressed the importance of reaching beyond our libraries into the broader university setting to involve university administration, university counsel, security forces, IT staff, etc.   The speakers summed up their presentations by saying that they were stressing the importance of policy, procedure, training, protocol, having the right collaborative and communication trees in place, learning from each other and communicating with all who may “touch the life and work of the library”. 

Ms. Mitrano indicated that we have never had absolute privacy, but rather have had a balance between state and individual interests.  She noted in the post 9/11 environment, the balance, which had been moving in the direction of increased privacy seems to have shifted in the direction of state interests.   Ms. Mitrano indicated that policies, protocol, and guidance are the best bulwark against abuse.  She reviewed some recommendations for handling the routing of various types of legal papers and the conditions under which emergency disclosures of IT communications is permissible.   She advised keeping a record of all legal requests.   She also feels that the Patriot Act’s amendment to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act under the Computer Trespasser provisions deserves attention by libraries and all institutions with IT facilities.  She recommended having established procedures for routing inquiries.  

Ms. Mitrano then discussed constitutional issues relating to the USA Patriot Act.  She reported that questions have arisen concerning whether the Patriot Act is in violation of FERPA (Family Education Rights Privacy Act).  She does not believe so because it is the one place in the Act that is narrowly tailored to terrorism.  Ms. Mitrano did advise keeping an eye on potential conflicts with SEVIS (Student Exchange Visitors Information Service)  She feels the big questions are with FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), the definition of terrorism, the blurring of the lines between terrorist and criminal investigations, and ‘rubber stamp’ subpoenas.  

The panelists concluded the teleconference by commenting on the Act’s impact on traditional library values and fielding a number of attendee questions.

Among the numerous questions the panelists fielded were inquiries concerning the applicability of the law to private college libraries, non-profit vs. for-profit organizations, and electronic transactions including email, the placement of software on library computer equipment, etc.   

This link will take you to the handouts at the ARL website:   http://www.arl.org/patriot/patriot.pdf

Jan Cox
Head Librarian
Indiana University School of Dentistry Library
January 14, 2003

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