GODORT Education Committee
Minutes
Arlene Weible, Chair
1997 Midwinter Conference, Washington D.C.
February 16, 2:00 p.m. -- 5:00 p.m.
JW Marriott Hotel, Salon H, J
Members in attendence: Arlene Weible (Chair), Patricia Cruse, Amy Spare, Sherry DeDecker, Sandra Webber Debora Cheney, Jan Oberla, Nancy Kolenbrander
Liaison Reports
ALA Library Education Assembly - Mary Mallory reported on the major issue under discussion, recent changes regarding ALA's approach to the evaluation of foreign educational credentials. ALA's Committee on Education had previously referred individuals to its Country Resources Panels, who provided an informal opinion on applicants' foreign credentials. ALA's Office of Accreditation is now directing individuals to the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), Office of International Education Services, an outside agency. AACRAO certifies the courses taken and level of education obtained by the applicant. This includes a $75 fee per application for ALA members and $100 for non-ALA members, payable to AACRAO. ALA's Committee on Accreditation, who developed the proposal to refer applications to AACRAO, and the Committee on Education are meeting at this conference to resolve this matter.
Federal Documents Task Force - Sherry DeDecker reported on the work of the four working groups from the FDTF meeting. Issues discussed included the development of a fact sheet on privatization issues, developing a recommendation for GPO to improve the methods for notification of publications migrating to an electronic format, Title 44 revisions, and the revitalization of the Agency Liaison Program.
International Documents Task Force - Debora Cheney reported on the desire to evaluate the EU publications database now available on OCLC, and the concern that it needs to be made more widely available, such as through OCLC's FirstSearch service. IDTF will also present resolutions encouraging the continued funding of UN information access and library services.
State and Local Documents Task Force - Sandra Webber reported on the work with the Legislation Committee to prepare a resolution asserting principles of free access to government information on the state and local level. Also, the National Newspaper Association has contacted the group for input into an investigation of the privatization of state and local government information.
Old Business
Handout Exchange - Sheila McGarr reported that GPO can distribute the Handout Exchange Disk, but cannot support the duplication of the disk for all federal depositories. The Committee questioned the need to replicate 1400 disks, given that the files are available on the Internet, and that those who really want the information continue to purchase the disk. To reach a wider audience than those attending ALA, Sheila also offered to provide space in Administrative Notes for publicizing the Handout Exchange, including a list of documents available on the disk. Larry Romans agreed to coordinate the compilation of this year's disk (yet again!), which will continue to be sold as long as the costs can be recovered. Volunteers to help Larry solicit handouts were identified.
New Business
Education Committee Web Page - As a result of the need to gather information for the work of the Ad Hoc Committee on Continuing Education Fund, Amy Spare has put together a prototype web page. Aside from including official Committee business, the Web page could also serve as a clearinghouse for government information education resources. Suggested catagories of materials to be linked include: workshop announcements, descriptions of library school curricula related to government information, other groups within ALA that provide educational resources, model Web pages for different approaches to the organization of government information from various libraries, training materials, finding aids, and handouts related to government information issues. Volunteers will help further develop ideas for the Web page and report back to the Committee at the Annual meeting. They include: Amy Spare, Sherry DeDecker, Ann Roselle, Debora Cheney, Wen-Hua Ren, Larry Romans, Bill Sudduth, Jan Oberla, Trisha Cruse, Jeanie Welch, Victoria Packard, and Michael Levine-Clark. Amy will coordinate the effort, and Trisha will make contact with the Ad Hoc Committee on GODORT Web Presence to get further feedback.
Ad Hoc Committee on Continuing Education Fund - In a meeting held jointly with GITCO, feedback was solicited about the proposals being put forward by the Ad Hoc Committee. After lengthy discussion, the group endorsed the concept of creating a preconference that addressed the development of managerial and advocacy skills, which could be broken into smaller modules, and delivered in other venues using distance education technologies. Details of the proposal will be presented at GODORT's second steering committee meeting.
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