A bill banning public access policies like the one recently enacted by the National Institutes of Health was introduced to Congress last week, as reported in Library Journal.

The article takes a look at related issues: changes in Congress and the White House, and the departure of public access advocate Elias Zerhouni from the NIH.

I found this article [Hal Varian on how the Web challenges managers] in the January 2009 McKinsey Quarterly (you need to register to read content) very thought-provoking (maybe just provoking).  Some of the points he made that triggered reactions/emotions from me (in the order they appear in the transcript) are:

 

1. …we’re going to have a totally different concept of what it means to go to work. The work goes to you, and you’re able to deal with your work at any time and any place, using the infrastructure that’s now become available.

2. When we’re all networked, we all have access to the same documents, to the same capabilities, to this common infrastructure, and we can improve the way work—intellectual work, knowledge work—flows through the organization.

3.  Back in the early days of the Web, every document had at the bottom, “Copyright 1997. Do not redistribute.” Now every document has at the bottom, “Copyright 2008. Click here to send to your friends.”

4. …there is typically a revenue-generating component somewhere in the value chain. And most commonly today we’re seeing it on the advertising side.

5. “What is it that’s really scarce in the Internet economy?” And the answer is attention. … “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” So being able to capture someone’s attention at the right time is a very valuable asset.

6. Because now we really do have essentially free and ubiquitous data. So the complimentary scarce factor is the ability to understand that data and extract value from it...skills—of being able to access, understand, and communicate the insights you get from data analysis—are going to be extremely important.

 

 I’d be interested in others’ reactions or opinions of his points.  But I do just want to share this piece, as it brings to the fore the issue of attention (as related to time, especially the “right time”) and understanding.

It’s that time of year again – time to renew your APLIC-I membership for 2009. A printable renewal form can be found at http://www.aplici.org/members/form.htm or a downloadable pdf version can be found at http://www.aplici.org/members/memberform.pdf . We hope you will continue your support of APLIC-I and renew your membership for 2009. Please be aware that the membership year is from January to December. Memberships will be active from the date of receipt of payment through December 2009.

Membership in APLIC-I offers:

• Worldwide networking for the exchange of ideas, information and resources
• Opportunities for continuing education and professional growth
• Access to the very active and responsive APLIC-I listserve—the primary means of communication and community building among members
• Open and collegial exchange of expertise, with a focus on helping members to build and expand their professional skills and knowledge

Registration is now open for the 42nd Annual APLIC Conference, to be held April 27-29 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The program includes:

• a tour of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
• a keynote by Myron Gutmann, Director of ICPSR and Professor of History at the University of Michigan
• a talk on ROI for libraries by Joan Durrance, author of How Libraries and Librarians Help and Margaret Mann Collegiate Professor, School of Information, University of Michigan
• the annual APLIC banquet, board meeting, and business meeting

You won’t want to miss it!

The Winter/Spring 2009 issue of the APLIC Communicator, APLIC’s newsletter, is now available online. There is lots of news from APLIC: an announcement of the 2009 conference, a recap of the discussion about APLIC’s identity and future from last year’s conference, and our new tagline and blog. Enjoy!

Many thanks to my co-editor Laurie Calhoun, and the newsletter contributors (Lori Delaney, Kiet Bang, Joann Donatiello, and Yan Fu).

We’ll use the APLIC Blog to keep our members up to date with the latest about APLIC, libraries, information services, population, reproductive health, and other topics of interest.

The APLIC Blog will supplement our other communication channels: the APLIC Communicator and discussion lists.

You can read the blog on the web, or subscribe to our RSS feed. If you’re not sure what RSS is or how to use it, see this guide from BBC News.

The blog was created by the APLIC Communications Committee (Tara Murray, Kiet Bang, Laurie Calhoun, and Nykia Perez). We’d love to hear what you think! Leave a comment on this post, or email me. If you’re an APLIC member and would like to contribute as a blogger, please let me know.