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GOVERNMENT INFORMATION QUARTERLY

VOLUME 14, NUMBER 2 (1997)

CONTENTS

DISCUSSION FORUM: "The Atlanta Bombshell That Nobody Noticed"
Jane E. Kirtley .......................................... 111

A Community Closer to Its Citizens:
The European Union's Use of the Internet
Helen M. Sheehy ............................................ 117

A Call for IGO Policies on Public Access to Information
Alison Hitchens ........................................... 143

Copyright and Fair Use: A Policy Analysis
Karen Rupp-Serrano ........................................... 155

Assessing U.S. Federal Government Websites
Kristin R. Eschenfelder, John C. Beachboard,
Charles R. McClure, and Steven K. Wyman ............... 173

SPECIAL FEATURE

World Intellectual Property Organization:
Basic Proposal for the Substantive Provisions of the Treaty on
Intellectual Property in Respect of Databases
Jane E. Kirtley, Rebecca Daugherty,
and Leslie Ann Reis .................................. 191

Rejecting the WIPO Treaties
Henry H. Perritt, Jr. .................................. 201

ABOUT THE AUTHORS ........................................ 207

REVIEWS
John A. Shuler

Accessing U.S. Government Information: Sublect Guide to Jurisdiction
of the Executive and Legislative Branches
Reviewed by Barbara B. Alexander .................................................... 211

Building, Books, and Bytes: Libraries and Communities in the Digital Age.
A Report of the Public's Opinion of Library Leaders' Visions for the Future
Reviewed by Lisa M. Russell ........................................................ 212

Civilizing Cyberspace: Policy, Power, and the Information Superhighway
Reviewed by John A. Shuler .......................................................... 214

New Commuity Networks: Wired for Change
Reviewed by John A. Shuler ........................................................... 214

Data Privacy Law: A Study of United States Data Protection
Reviewed by Robert Gellman ........................................................... 215

Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism
Reviewed by Harold C. Relyea ........................................................... 217

Politics and the American Public Library: Creating Political Support for Library Goals
Reviewed by Bert Chapman ............................................................ 218

The Presidential Papers on CD-ROM: Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Washington-Taft
Reviewed by Maurie Caitlin Kelly ............................................................. 219

Helen M. Sheehy

The Internet offers government a unique opportunity to provide information about policies and programs directly to its citizens without the filter of traditional media and without the delays associated with conventional publishing methods. It also allows immediate and direct interaction between government officials and electorates. In the wake of the debate over the Treaty of European Union (Maastricht Treaty), European Union (EU) officials concluded there was a need to increase understanding of EU policy objectives. This article explores the context under which information dissemination policies have developed, how these policies are being implemented, and what role the Internet plays in disseminating information and advancing EU policy objectives.

Alison Hitchens

There is much discussion in research literature regarding the information produced by inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) and what publications are available for use in libraries. At the same time, there is little discussion of the information policies of IGOs regarding access to IGO information. In fact, the freedom of information debate, with few exceptions, has not extended to include IGOs. Although IGOs are made up of governmental bodies, the role of the IGO seems to be that of facilitator for state policy formation. This role fails to recognize that IGOs produce information of their own accord and make decisions which affect peoples in the member states. This article surveys the issue of access to IGO information and discusses how national debates can be extended to the IGO level. It shows both explicit and implicit information policies with case studies from the environmental information field: the European Union's (EU) directive on environmental information, and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). three issues emerge: these are varying levels of access to IGO information, varying levels of IGO information policy, and a relative paucity of research on the subject. The principles of accountability, transparency, and public involvement are being made explicit more frequently in the documents of IGOs. However, a continuing gap between explicit and implicit policies must be bridged.

Karen Rupp-Serrano

Rapid technological change is dramatically altering the American intellectual property system, particularly in copyright law, as balancing the rights of copyright owners and users in light of new technologies becomes increasingly difficult. This article analyzes three policy options--maintaining the status quo, adopting the Information Infrastructure Copyright Act, and adopting proposed revisions of the Digital Future Coalition--using the criteria of equity, flexibility, and ease of implementation. A combination of elements from each option should be immediately analyzed until permanent solutions can be found.

Kristin R. Eschenfelder
John C. Beachboard
Charles R. McClure
Steven K. Wyman

The exponential growth of federal Websites is outpacing federal information management policy guidelines. Federal Websites are potentially rich information resources, and the Web may well become the preeminent channel for disseminating federal information. Legitimate policy issues associated with the use of this new information dissemination channel should be assessed. This article provides an overview of information policy issues which affect federal Websites and introduces assessment techniques which federl Website designers and administrators could use to evaluate the design and management of their Web-based information resources.

World Intellectual Property Organization:
Basic Proposal for the Substantive Provisions
of the Treaty on Intellectual Property in
Resect of Databases

Jane E. Kirtley, Rebecca Daugherty, and Leslie Ann Reis

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press submitted these comments in response to the Patent and Trademark Office's request for comments on the Chariman's text of the Diplomatic Conference on Certain Copyright and Neighboring Rights Questions, to be held in Geneva from December 2 to 20, 1996.

Rejecting the WIPO Treaties

Henry H. Perritt, Jr.

This essay presents the views of Professor Perritt regarding the texts considered at the Diplomatic Conference on Certain Copyright and Neighboring Rights Questions, held in Geneva.

About the Authors

John C. Beachboard is a doctoral student and research associate at the School of Information Studies, Syracuse University. His research interests include the management of information and information technology in the public sector. He has 15 years of combined experience in government and industry related to the design and implementation of large-scale telecommunications and information systems. He received a M.S. from Boston University in Business Administration and a M.S. in Information Resources Management from Syracuse University.

Rebecca Daugherty is FOI Service Center Director, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Kristin R. Eschenfelder is a doctoral student and research associate at the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University. In collaboration with John Beachboard, Steven K. Wyman, and Charles R. McClure, she is completing research on a OCLC-funded project to assess federal government websites. She also worked on a Department of Education-funded project that resulted in Assessing the Academic Networked Environment: Strategies and Options (Washington, D.C.: Coalition for Networked Information, 1996). Her areas of interest include telecommunications and information policy, and human factors and information systems. She received an M. S. degree in Telecommunications and Network Management at Syracuse University.

Alison Hitchens recently graduated from the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto with a Master of Library Science degree. She received an award for cataloging. Previous to entering library school, she received an Honours B. A. in Anthropology from the University of Waterloo,, and was awarded the Department of Anthropology Silver Medal in 1993. Currently she is working for ISM Library Technical Services, Winnipeg, Manitoba, as a Cataloguing Assistant.

Jane E. Kirtley is Executive Director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a voluntary association of reporters and editors dedicated to protecting the First Amendment interests of the news media. A lawyer and former newspaper reporter, Ms. Kirtley writes and speaks frequently on press freedom issues. She edits The Reporters Committee's quarterly magazine, The News Media & the Law. She holds a J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law and bachelor's and master's degrees from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

Charles R. McClure is Distinguished Professor of Information Studies at the School of Information Studies, Syracuse University. He has received a number of honors for his research and has been the recipient of numerous research grants. He has written extensively on topics related to information policy, libraries and the Internet, and the planning and evaluation of library and information services. He was the founding editor of Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications & Policy. His most recent book is the co-edited work Federal Information Policies in the 1990s (Ablex, 1996).

Henry H. Perritt, Jr., is a Professor of Law at Villanova University School of Law. He formerly served on the White House staff and as Deputy Under Secretary of Labor in the Ford administration. More recently, he served on President Clinton's Transition Team, working on telecommunications issues. He is a member of the bars of Virginia, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He earned his B.S. degree in engineering from MIT in 1966, a master's degree in management from MIT's Sloan School in 1970, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1975. He is the author of more than 35 law review articles and 11 books.

Ann Reis is Legal Fellow, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Karen Rupp-Serrano is a Social Sciences Librarian and Associate Professor of Bibliography at the University of Oklahoma Libraries. She received her M. L. S. degree from Emporia State University and her M. P. A. from the University of Oklahoma in 1996.

Helen M. Sheehy is the International Documents Librarian at the Pennsylvania State University. Her interests include user education, information policy, and the use of the Internet in reference and for the dissemination of government information. She has been Secretary of the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT), chair of the International Documents Task Force, GODORT; and is currently Secretary of the Government Information and Official Publications Section of the International Federation of Library Associations.

Steven K. Wyman is a Research Associate and Doctoral Student at the School of Information Studies, Syracues University. He worked under Information Services contract for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC, where he was Head Librarian for Public Access. He managed the production of the publication Access EPA '95/96.

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