[AMS-announce] Call for comment: National Recording Preservation Board hearings, Nov. 29 2006

[ams-announce-admin at list.bowdoin.edu]

The NRPB will  be holding hearings for a report to Congress on the Current
State of Recorded Sound Preservation and Access in LA on Nov 29 and in NYC
Dec 9.  We also desire written submissions.  We are mostly looking for
compelling stories about collections that are being lost or recordings that
can't be studied or used in class.  We need first to convince Congress that
there is a problem that needs to be solved. An explicit request is for
information about how current law is affecting availability to students and
researchers.  We'd like to hear about local library and university policies
that govern (and essentially reinterpret) fair use policies.

We do not expect lighting change from Congress, but the Library is moving
all 5M recordings and film into a new facility in Culpepper VA, the National
Audio Video Conservation Center, where everything will be converted to
digital. (Yes, no more recordings or films will be housed in DC.) So the
technology will now allow for wider access and the questions become legal.

Those seeking to testify or provide written statements should contact Rob
Bamberger <rbamberger at CRS.LOC.GOV> or Stephen C Leggett <sleg at loc.gov> at
the Library of Congress.

--Jose Bowen, NRPB delegate to the AMS