There are a number of recent events and opportunities relating to UCITA that
may be of interest to ARLIS/NA members. UCITA is the Uniform Computer
Information Transactions Act, which is a proposed state law aimed at making
shrink-wrap and click-on license agreements legally binding. The following
have been described in recent announcements from ALA and NINCH.
UCITA TELECONFERENCE, DECEMBER 13, 2000:
The Association of Research Libraries is sponsoring a teleconference on
UCITA to be held on December 13, 2000 from 1-4 pm (EST). Since UCITA is
implemented at the state level, the ARLIS/NA Public Policy Committee would
like to know if members are interested in local chapter sponsorship of this
teleconference. It might be a good chance to bring ARLIS and VRA members
together at the chapter level. Costs are geared to the number of sites
participating; 10-14 sites would each pay $300 for the downlink. ARL will
permit charging a fee (NTE $30) if participants need to defray costs. Even
3-4 sites (the major metropolitan areas) would reach a large audience.
Registrants are permitted to make one videotape, which we could perhaps make
available through HQ or ILL.
UCITA PRIMER TUTORIAL:
The ALA Office for Information Technology Policy is sponsoring a
mini-tutorial, modeled on the popular copyright e-mail tutorial presented
this spring. The UCITA Primer is FREE to ALA and non-ALA members. E-mail
sessions begin on November 6th and will run through November 20th. Librarian
experts who have fought UCITA legislation at their states will be our
tutorial hosts.
To subscribe to the UCITA Primer, send a message with the subject
line blank to:
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In the body of the email, type:
subscribe ucitatut Your First Name Your Last Name
For the most up-to-date information on UCITA, the 4CITE website has a "Hot
news" section (http://www.4CITE.org/HotNews.html). In addition to a
state-by-state list of legislative action pending or accomplished, the
section has a feature that enables interested individuals to receive email
updates regarding passage of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions
Act (UCITA) in their home states. Chapter chairs in particular may find this
information helpful.
LJ ARTICLE ON UCITA:
There is also a recent article in the October issue of American Libraries,
and the September 15 issue of Library Journal features an article by Jim
Neal (Johns Hopkins) entitled "The Fight Against UCITA" (p. 36-38).
James Mitchell
Assistant Reference Librarian
Frick Art Reference Library
10 East 71st Street
New York, NY 10021
212-547-0661
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