ALAWON v4n31 (March 30, 1995)
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v4n31

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                                                                  ISSN 1069-7799
                                     ALAWON
                         ALA Washington Office Newsline
                        An electronic publication of the
                 American Library Association Washington Office
 
                              Volume 4, Number 31
                                 March 30, 1995
 
   In this issue: (160 lines)
     NATIONAL ELECTRONIC OPEN MEETING PLANNED FOR MAY 1-14
          LIBRARIES ENCOURAGED TO BECOME PUBLIC ACCESS SITES
 
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             NATIONAL ELECTRONIC OPEN MEETING PLANNED FOR MAY 1-14
               LIBRARIES ENCOURAGED TO BECOME PUBLIC ACCESS SITES
 
Public access sites are needed for a National Electronic Open Meeting on
the subject of "People and Their Governments in the Information Age."  The
meeting will be held from Monday, May 1 to Sunday, May 14, 1995, and is
sponsored by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the National
Technical Information Service (NTIS), and the National Performance Review
(NPR).  The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) will assist by providing
telephone registration for public access sites, and pre-conference
information.
 
BACKGROUND:  The electronic open meeting will seek to garner public opinion
on the use of information technology by federal, state, Tribal and local
governments.  The meeting will encourage public discussion about the
respective roles of the aforementioned levels of government, industry, the
public interest and library communities, academia, and the general
citizenry in creating an electronic government.
 
The meeting sponsors have released a "Call for Public Access Sites" stating
that one of the fundamental tenets of the Clinton Administration is that
government information is a public asset and valuable national resource.
The open electronic meeting is an extension of earlier efforts, such as the
Government Information Locator Service (GILS) initiative, to establish a
framework for governments' roles and activities in the information age.  In
early April, OMB will publish a "Notice of Inquiry" in the Federal Register
setting forth five topics (mentioned below), referencing key reports and
other documents, and seeking comment.
 
Along with the traditional methods of responding to a "Notice of Inquiry,"
the open meeting will be conducted through the nation's electronic networks
including: the World Wide Web, newsgroups, e-mail listservs, commercial on-
line providers, Public Access Sites, and dial-up bulletin board
connections.
 
HOW THE CONFERENCE WILL BE CONDUCTED:
 
NTIS' FedWorld will create five e-mail discussion groups.  The five
discussion groups will also be accessible through five corresponding
Internet newsgroups, the World Wide Web, and dial-up bulletin board
connections.  Each discussion group will be devoted to a specific topic
relating to "People and their Governments in the Information age."  Each
topic will be hosted by one or more experts, who will provide an
introductory statement to initiate the discussion and who will also take
part in the discussion.
 
The open meeting will focus on five topics:
 
SERVICES--from emergency help and health care to business licenses.
 
BENEFITS--from social security and food stamps to small business grants.
 
INFORMATION--from declassified secrets and travel aids to satellite weather
maps.
 
PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY--ensuring everyone's chance to be heard in a
democracy.
 
TECHNOLOGY--how the technical portion of electronic government will work.
 
                                     *****
 
                           PUBLIC ACCESS SITES NEEDED
 
A primary goal of the meeting is to enable as many Americans as possible to
participate in the dialogue.  This includes people who do not have a
computer with a modem, or access to the Internet.  In order to ensure
participation by the "unconnected," the meeting's sponsors have asked
public and private organizations to volunteer as "Public Access Sites."
The following criteria will apply to institutions interested in serving as
Public Access Sites:
 
*  Willingness and ability to make computer facilities available, free-of-
charge, to the general public on a full or part-time basis throughout the
two-week meeting, and to provide logistical and technical support to the
public.
 
*  Ability to access Internet e-mail, newsgroups, or the World Wide Web.
 
*  Willingness and ability to publicize the institution's participation as
a Public Access Site to the local media and community, and answer local
public and press questions about participation.
 
*  Willingness to be listed in a national directory of Public Access Sites
that will be made available to the public and press, before and during the
meeting.
 
If your institution would like to serve as Public Access Site, please do
one of the following:
 
Point your World Wide Web browser to:
 
http://meeting.fedworld.gov
 
Or, send a blank e-mail message to:
 
pas-info@meeting.fedworld.gov
 
In response to your e-mail, you will receive an automated response
detailing how to register as a Public Access Site.  If you do not presently
have e-mail, newsgroup, or World Wide Web capability but plan on having
such capability by the time of the meeting, you may register as a Public
Access Site or receive general end user information by calling the GPO
Access User Support Team at (202) 512-1530 from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Eastern Time, or by e-mail at help@eids05.eids.gpo.gov.
 
For more information about the content and format of the meeting, send a
blank e-mail message to infor@meeting.fedworld.gov.
 
ACTION NEEDED:  The ALA Washington Office encourages libraries with the
appropriate electronic capabilities to participate by volunteering to be a
public access site.  Participation offers the public an opportunity to have
a significant involvement in this nationwide effort to seek public opinion
on the use of information technology at all levels of government.  Library
supporters, librarians and other library employees are encouraged to
participate.  Depository libraries may want to take special note of this
opportunity.
 
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ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library
Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC
20002-5675.  Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-547-4440;
Fax: 202-547-7363.  Contributing to this issue:  Anne A. Heanue;  Editor:
Lynne E. Bradley (leb@alawash.org).
 
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