The Executive Board of the American Association of Law Libraries adopted a
resolution endorsing the work and the report of the Chicago Conference on
the Future of Federal Government Information.
The cover letter, list of recipients, and text of the resolution follow:
List of Recipients:
The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
The Vice President
Office of the Vice President
276 Old Executive Office Building
Washington, DC 20501
Mr. Michael DiMario
Public Printer
U.S. Government Printing Office
732 North Capitol Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20401
Mr. Wayne Kelley, Jr.
Superintendent of Documents
U.S. Government Printing Office
732 North Capitol Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20401
The Honorable Wendell H. Ford
Chair, Joint Committee on Printing
173A Senate Russell Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-1701
The Honorable John Glenn
Chair, Committee on Governmental Affairs
503 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-3501
The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman
Chair, Subcommittee on Regulation and Government Management
316 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-0703
The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
Chair, Committee on Government Operations
2426 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-2214
The Honorable Gary A. Condit
Chair, Subcommittee on Information, Justice, Transportation
and Agriculture
1123 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0518
The Honorable Charlie Rose
Chair, Committee on House Administration
2230 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-3307
Ms. Sally Katzen
Administrator
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
350 Old Executive Office Building
17th St. & Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20503
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Cover Letter:
Respond to: Carol Billings
AALL President
Law Library of Louisiana
301 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70112
July 18, 1994
1~
2~
Dear 3~:
On behalf of the American Association of Law Libraries, I present a
Resolution Endorsing the Work and Report of the Chicago Conference on the
Future of Federal Government Information that has been adopted by the
Association's Executive Board.
The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) is a nonprofit
organization with over five thousand members. AALL members respond to the
legal and government information needs of legislators, judges, and other
public officials at all levels of government, corporations and small
business
persons; law professors and students; attorneys; and members of the general
public.
Government information is absolutely indispensable to the legal
community and to citizens who want to exercise their democratic rights,
participate in the political process, begin and expand their businesses, and
understand and monitor the activities and policies of their elected
representatives. For the last century, one of the most trusted and
cost-effective mechanisms for the timely delivery of Federal government
information to the people has been the Federal Depository Library Program
managed by the Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents.
Recent budgetary, technological, and policy issues and decisions
threaten to significantly reduce the effectiveness of the Federal Depository
Library Program and the ability of citizens to obtain no-cost access to
vital
government information. Concerned by these developments, a representative
group of depository librarians gathered last year to design a new model for
the dissemination of and public access to Federal government information.
The attached resolution signals AALL's support for the work of the
participants of the Conference on the Future of Federal Government
Information, held in Chicago in October 1993, and for the product of that
meeting, "Reinventing Access to Federal Government Information."
The members of the American Association of Law Libraries ask that you
consider the issues raised and suggestions given in the Chicago Conference
as
you develop and implement policies and programs that impact the free flow of
government information to the people of the United States.
Respectfully,
Kay M. Todd
AALL Past President
Resolution
Endorsing the Work and the Report
of the
Conference on the Future of Federal Government Information
Chicago, Illinois, October 29-31, 1993
Whereas, The American Association of Law Libraries has long supported the
Federal Depository Library Program as a cost-effective and efficient
mechanism for providing the American people with free access to information
about
the activities, policies, and programs of the Executive, Legislative,
and Judicial branches of the United States Government; and
Whereas, The continued viability and value of the Federal Depository
Library
Program is threatened by a confluence of budgetary pressures,
uncoordinated
implementation of electronic information management technologies by Federal
agencies, and uneven public access to an use of electronic information
technologies; and
Whereas, One hundred and fifty concerned librarians from all types of
Federal Depository Libraries (including law libraries associated with
courts,
government agencies, and law schools and state law libraries) met in
Chicago in October 1993 at a Conference on the Future of Federal Government
Information to
discuss and develop a framework for a new Federal Information Dissemination
and
Access Program; and
Whereas, The Conference participants designed the new Federal Information
Dissemination and Access Program to strengthen the existing partnership
between
Federal Government information creators and providers and libraries around
the country that promote the utilization of Federal Government information
and
assist business people,pubic officials, scholars, students, attorneys, and
members
of the general public in locating government information; and
Whereas, The new Program encompasses those elements necessary to ensure
public access to legal information and the ongoing participation of many
types of
libraries, including law libraries, which provide specialized tools and
services that enable citizens to learn and understand the law; and
Whereas, The philosophy underpinning the new Program is consistent with
previously adopted resolutions and statements from the American Association
of
Law Libraries on government and legal information issues; Now therefore
be it
Resolved, That the American Association of Law Libraries endorses the work
of
the participants at the Chicago Conference on the Future of Federal
Government Information; and be it further
Resolved, That the American Association of Law Libraries endorses the
principles and programs described in "Reinventing Access to Federal
Government
Information: Report of the Conference on the Future of Federal Government
Information;" and be it further
Resolved, That the American Association of Law Libraries recommends the
"Report of the Conference" to Federal lawmakers and policy makers as a
document
that expresses the collective experience of scores of dedicated information
professionals for whom public access to government information and
materials is a guiding belief.
Approved by the AALL Executive Board July 8, 1994.
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Cheryl Rae Nyberg
University of Illinois Law Library
217/244-3044
cnyberg@law.uiuc.edu
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