Maarja's note:

I don't usually forward this to Recmgmt-L, only to the rchives List.  
But this version of the NCH Washington Update contains some information 
on the FY 2007 Federal budget picture and how it may affect NARA, the 
Electronic Records Archives, etc. so I thought I'd post it here, as 
well.

Also, Bruce links to an article on libraries in the Christian Science 
Monitor as the last item below. His link doesn't work, here is the 
correct one:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0113/p09s02-coop.html

Maarja
***********************************************************************
NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol. 12, #2; 13 JANUARY 2006)
by Bruce Craig (editor)
NATIONAL COALITION FOR HISTORY (NCH)
Website at http://www.h-net.org/~nch/
***********************************************************************

1. HUMANITIES ADVOCACY DAY PLANS ANNOUNCED
2. FUNDING NEWS -- SOME GOOD, SOME BAD
3. AHA MEETS IN PHILADELPHIA
4. NATIONAL HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS AND RECORDS COMMISSION SWITCHES
TO GRANTS.GOV
5. NEH TEACHER WORKSHOPS ANNOUNCED
6. BITS AND BYTES: National History Day Theme Set
7. ARTICLES OF INTEREST: "Libraries as Places to Linger and Mingle" 
(Christian Science
Monitor)

1. HUMANITIES ADVOCACY DAY PLANS ANNOUNCED
Once again it is time for historians and archivists to make plans to 
advocate support for various history
and humanities programs. Humanities Advocacy Day is an annual event 
organized by the National
Humanities Alliance (NHA), a coalition of ninety non-profit 
organizations dedicated to the advancement
of the humanities. The Advocacy Day event is sponsored by over thirty 
organizations (the National
Coalition for History among them) that provides history and humanities 
grassroots advocates the
opportunity to inform members of Congress about issues of concern to 
them and encourage federal
support for research, education, preservation, and public programs in 
the humanities.

In previous years, participants have helped to secure significant 
increases in funding for the National
Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and, most recently, the National 
Historical Publications and
Records Commission (NHPRC). In addition to advocating for enhanced NEH 
funding, participants will
focus on the funding needs of the National Archives and the NHPRC, the 
Institute of Museum and Library
Services, the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust, and the Department 
of Education's "Teaching
American History" grants program. During this year's Hill visits (as 
was the case last year as well)
participants will also be encouraging members of Congress to join the 
new House Humanities and Senate
Cultural Caucuses which in time are expected to become especially 
important forums for humanities
advocacy.

With rumored news that the president's FY 2007 spending blueprint is, 
in the words of Treasury
Secretary John Snow, "a call for sacrifices" (according to informed 
sources the NHPRC is
zeroed out again and there is insufficient funding for the Electronic 
Records Archive in the
president's budget proposal for FY 2007), advocacy efforts by 
historians and archivists are especially
needed this year if we are to sustain and hopefully increase financial 
support for the NEH, National
Archives, NHPRC, and other federal history/archives programs.

Participation in Humanities Advocacy Day requires no prior knowledge or 
experience in advocacy.
Participants receive advocacy training as well as an in-depth briefing 
(including background material)
on a variety of legislative and policy issues prior to making visits in 
small groups to members of
Congress. Registration is free, and hotel rooms can be reserved at a 
discounted rate of $169 per night
at the City Center Hotel (Dupont Circle/Foggy Bottom). The deadline to 
reserve a room at the
conference rate is 30 January 2006.

Registration is available online at http://www.nhalliance.org/had/. To 
allow staff to fully coordinate
advocacy visits, the deadline to register for Humanities Advocacy Day 
is 8 February 2006. For more
information, please contact Erin Smith at (202) 296-4994 x150 or e-mail 
to: [log in to unmask]

2. FUNDING NEWS -- SOME GOOD, SOME BAD
Good news! For some time the National Coalition for History as well as 
other government openness
organizations have been advocating funding for the Public Interest 
Declassification Board. The board is
an advisory group that has the power to officially air concerns over 
classification and declassification
policies and actions of the federal government. It was established by 
law six years ago and was recently
reauthorized, but has yet to convene because of lack of funds. We now 
learn that in the enacted FY
2006 Defense Appropriation Act (H.R. 2863) Congress finally 
appropriated $1 million for the board.
For PIDB membership and related information, see visit the webpage at:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2005/pida.html .

Now for the bad news. Last year the Senate Education and Early 
Childhood Development
Subcommittee held hearings on the "American History Achievement Act" 
(S. 860) -- legislation that
sought to authorize a $7 million pilot program to require state 
academic assessment of student
achievement in United States history and civics. Funding for the 
legislation was wrapped into the
Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill (P.L.109-149).

We now learn that the expected funding was removed when the House and 
Senate managers
conferenced the bill for what Hill insiders describe as "purely 
financial reasons." The conference report,
however, does include a statement of support for the legislation but it 
does not earmark funding, thus
leaving it to the Department of Education to try to find some 
discretionary funds to
implement the program. Education department insiders report that the 
department is trying to identify
some funding within their limited FY 2006 discretionary budget but with 
things so tight it is questionable
whether funding will be forthcoming.

3. AHA MEETS IN PHILADELPHIA
The 120th Annual meeting of the American Historical Association took 
place 5-8 January in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In attendance were some 5,600 participants 
who had the opportunity to
attend over 200 official AHA panels and some 110 others sponsored by 
affiliated history societies. The
diverse panels included sessions on ancient, world, comparative, and 
American history. Over 150
private and non-profit companies, commercial, and university presses 
exhibited their wares in the exhibit
hall. Several exhibitors donated books to the AHA which in turn is 
donating books to four
history departments in New Orleans -- University of New Orleans, Tulane 
University, Loyola University
at New Orleans, and Xavier University of Louisiana.

The highlight of the first day's events was the presentation of the 
AHA's Theodore Roosevelt-
Woodrow Wilson Public Service Award that was presented to Steven 
Spielberg.
The prize was given to him for his founding of the Shoah Visual History 
Foundation. The noted
director was not present to personally accept the award but on hand was 
Doug Greenberg
of the Shoah Foundation Institute who accepted it on Spielberg's 
behalf. On the second day a rather large
crowd was in attendance for the General Meeting where scholarly awards 
were handed out and
Stanford University's James Sheehan delivered his presidential address, 
"The Problem of Sovereignty
in European History."

On Saturday evening a gala event was held at the National Constitution 
Center. Conference attendees
were provided an opportunity to have an exclusive, private viewing of 
the center's permanent exhibits
about the Constitution and also could view a special exhibition (that 
runs though 30 April 2006) titled,
"Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World." The exhibit features 
250 artifacts and
manuscript materials and many interactive interpretive devices that can 
engage both adults and
younger attendees. The event was co-sponsored by Oxford University 
Press, Bedford/St. Martin's, the
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, the National History Center and 
the AHA.

During the annual business meeting two resolutions were passed. The 
first put the AHA on record as
opposing torture. A second motion was also approved, and, like the 
first, it was subsequently
unanimously approved by the AHA Council the next day. The second 
resolution states the AHA
opposes the "Academic Bill of Rights" (ABR), an effort by a faction of 
conservative activists
who have long claimed that universities are dominated by left-wing 
professors and that all universities
should be required to hire conservative scholars in order to achieve a 
"balance" of perspectives (for the
resolution go to http://www.historians.org/press/2006_01_13_ABOR.htm . 
Interestingly, the effort to have states
adopt the ABR has evoked concern and opposition from conservative 
Christian colleges as well; they fear that if a
state legislature adopts the ABR the colleges would be required to hire 
so-called left-wing instructors to
balance the large number of conservative instructors that are often 
employed at such institutions.

4. NATIONAL HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS AND RECORDS COMMISSION SWITCHES
TO GRANTS.GOV
On 4 January 2006 the National Historical Publications and Records 
Commission (NHPRC)
announced that it has switched its application process to Grants.gov -- 
the Federal web site designed to
accept online grant applications. In the past, the printed guidelines 
were distributed to potential
applicants who then would mail in their completed forms. Now the 
process can be done completely
online through the Grants.gov web site.

Here's how the new process works: All organizations that do business 
with the Federal government
must have a DUNS number. Those unsure whether they have a DUNS number, 
can go to
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/grants_docs and follow the instructions. 
Once a DUNS number
has been secured, register with Grants.gov by visiting the site at 
www.grants.gov and filling out a few
simple forms. It may be necessary to download the PureEdge Viewer in 
order to fill out, save, and
submit the application forms. Organizations interested in grant 
opportunities for preserving or publishing
historical records can also search the site for current announcements 
and set up an e-mail notification
for future opportunities as they are announced by NHPRC (and other 
Federal agencies). Once
registered and the PureEdge Viewer program has been loaded one can 
search for grant opportunities
for particular projects and grants funding. NHPRC officials suggest 
that applicants should check to
see if their organization meets the specific eligibility requirements 
for each announcement.

The NHPRC has five new announcements online at Grants.gov: two for 
State Historical Records
Advisory Boards; Publishing Historical Records of the Founding Era; and 
Electronic Records projects.
Full descriptions of these grant opportunities are available on the 
National Archives web site by visiting
www.archives.gov/nhprc/announcement, which also lists two pending 
announcements for Publishing
Historical Records and Archival & Records projects. The latter two 
categories will be announced
before 1 March 2006.

Applicants who cannot access Grants.gov, can download the forms and 
submit
applications via e-mail directly to the NHPRC or by delivering 
completed printed applications. For
additional information, visit the Commission's website at 
www.archives.gov/nhprc/ .

5. NEH TEACHER WORKSHOPS ANNOUNCED
On 11 January 2006 the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) 
announced that the 2006
"Landmarks of American History and Culture" teacher workshops will be 
held this summer at 26
historic and cultural sites across the United States, with 19 for K-12 
teachers and seven for community
college faculty. NEH established the grant program for "Landmarks of 
American History and Culture"
as part of the Endowment's "We the People" initiative to encourage and 
strengthen the teaching, study,
and understanding of American history and culture.

These residence-based, week-long workshops will bring up to 1,935 
school teachers and 350
community college teachers together with scholars for a week of 
intensive study on history and literature
associated with each historic site.

"Amazing things happen when you bring teachers who love learning to 
historic places to work with
some of the nation's finest scholars," said NEH Chairman Bruce Cole. 
"History becomes so much
more than dates to memorize or pictures on a page; it takes on the 
sights, sounds, and images of what
really happened. The experiences gained at these workshops will affect 
teachers for a lifetime and their
students for years to come."

Teachers from across the U.S. may apply to participate in these 
academically rigorous workshops;
those selected will receive a stipend of $500 each to help defray their 
transportation, books, and living
expenses. The full text of the release, with complete lists of the 2006 
Landmarks workshops for K_12
teachers and community college faculty is available online at:
http://www.neh.gov/news/archive/20060111.html.

6. BITS AND BYTES
Item #1 -- National History Day Theme Set: During the 2006 school year, 
National History Day invites
students to research topics related to the theme "Taking a Stand in 
History: People, Ideas, Events."
The theme makes it possible for the investigation of topics ranging 
from local to world history, and from
ancient times to the recent past; it also presents students with 
opportunities to explore history and to
learn to use a wide range of primary and secondary sources. This year's 
theme also offers teachers an
excellent entry into philosophical discussions about personal action 
and responsibility. For more
information contact NHD at (301) 314-9739, by e-mail at [log in to unmask] or 
vist the webpage at
http://www.nhd.org .

7. ARTICLES OF INTEREST
One posting this week: In "Libraries as Places to Linger and Mingle" 
(Christian Science Monitor)
reporter Alex Wright suggests that the current vision of the digital 
library rests on a deeply flawed
assumption "that the function of libraries is to connect solitary 
readers with isolated texts." For the
thoughtful article, tap into: 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0113/p09s02_coop.html?s=hns .

***********************************
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