Forum Call
With the advent of the worldwide Web and the emergence of E-Government as the watchword for federal agencies, the role of federal librarians has changed dramatically in just a few years. What new competencies have professional information managers already developed to adapt to this swift pace of technological change and what additional skills will they need to traverse this new electronic world in the next decade? The 2004 FLICC Information Policy Forum will address some of the major information issues ushered in with E-Government programs and will identify the competencies needed to address developing trends in electronic content.

For Fiscal Year 2003, the President responded to the nation's evolving need for information professionals by introducing his program for "Recruiting and Educating Librarians for the 21st Century." Congress subsequently authorized $10 million in funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to provide grants for recruitment and education projects in the field of librarianship. Although focused primarily on academic, public and school libraries, this new national initiative acknowledges that the profession is critical for the nation to maintain its leadership role in the world and succeed in the global market place. It also offers financial support for the field to update its focus, its skills, and its role in electronic content management, digital reference and archiving, and knowledge management. How will this understanding of the changing role of librarianship outside the federal government inform the actions of key decision makers within the government?

Segment I

This first segment features the opening of the forum with Susan M. Tarr, FLICC Executive Director, and Dr. James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress, presenting the annual FLICC Awards for Federal Librarianship to the Federal Library and Information Centers of the Year, the Federal Librarian of the Year, and the Federal Library Technician of the Year.

The awards program is followed by a keynote address by Janice R. Lachance, Executive Director of the Special Libraries Association and former Director of the Office of Personnel Management. With 10 years at the Office of Personnel Management (the last four years as its director), combined with her current position as executive director of the Special Libraries Association, Lachance offers a unique vantage point for projecting future competencies for federal librarianship.

Segment II

The morning panel begins with remarks from moderator Robert Martin, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and then presentations from Artemis Kirk, university librarian, Georgetown University Libraries on selecting future librarians and Suzanne Grefsheim, chief, National Institutes of Health Library Branch, on defining the “informationist concept.”

Segment III

This segment concludes the morning panel session with an introduction of Jane Dysart, principal and founder, Dysart & Jones Associates, who explores enhanced and evolving e-competencies. The session ends with a roundtable discussion of all the morning panel participants.

Segment IV

The afternoon sessions begins with an executive keynote by Karen Evans, associate director for Information Technology and E-Gov, Office of Management and Budget. She discusses what chief information officers and agency program managers are doing to advance electronic government and how information specialists responsible for deploying content can assist these efforts in their respective agencies. Then, Jonathan Womer, an analyst for OMB, introduces the first two members of the afternoon panel of Oscar Morales, chair, Federal eRulemaking Initiative and Deanna Marcum, associate librarian for Library Services, Library of Congress.

Segment V

This segment features remarks by the third member of the afternoon panel, Judy Russell, Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office. The formal presentations conclude with a lively discussion of policy issues related to efforts to improve content management of electronic information in the U.S. government. and .

Segment VI

The final segment includes a a review of content rights management issues faced by government information providers, creators and consumers by Sarah Sully, Associate Attorney, Morrison & Foerster, and then a wrap up of the day's topics with Donna Scheeder from the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, who sends participants home with a few key ideas to ponder and selected action items to address.

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Updated April 2004