Editor's Note

Welcome to the first online issue of the Clam Chowder. One copy of the newsletter is being sent out in paper to each institution, individual members, and those folks who requested that format. Please let me know of any access problems, questions or suggestions for improvement. Of course, I'd love hear compliments too, as I hope it is a page of which we can be proud. A special thanks to Ron Davis, a member of the Centralia College Computing Center staff, and Kathy Brooks from the Teaching Learning Center, who helped me create the page. We had a lot of fun coding and de-coding.

Send comments/addendums to: Stephanie Carter, Librarian, Centralia College Library Media Center.

IMPORTANT!
If you do not want your directory information on the home page, please let Tom Pollard at Highline Community College know as soon as possible.

Volunteers needed: The Executive Board is still seeking individuals to chair the Technical Services and Media Interest Groups. Contact Jennifer Wu is you are interested in one of these positions.

New Executive Board

Jennifer Wu, President
Sarah Beasley, President-Elect
Monica Tobin, Past President
Robin Crane, Secretary
Helen Feeney, Treasurer
Kate Bradley, Co-Chair, Reference Interest Group
Stephen Badalamente, Co-Chair, Reference Interest Group
?, Chair, Technical Services Interest Group
?, Chair, Media Interest Group
Stephanie Carter, CLAM Chowder Editor

My special thanks go to:

• Sandi Blackaby, Jim Rice and Ann Daly for so graciously hosting our Spring Conference
• The CLAMS Executive Board for their continual help and support throughout my year as Head Mollusk

Spring Conference

This year's Spring Conference was held at Walla Walla Community Colege. Our Presenter was Candace Morgan, Deputy Director of Fort Vancouver Regional Library and Chair of ALA's Intellectual Freedom Committee, who spoke on "The First Amendment in Cyberspace." Having received her undergraduate degree in Political Science, Candace believes in going back to our country's founding documents to aid libraries in developing policy. She spoke of libraries as First Amendment Agencies that provide a marketplace of ideas and protect access to those ideas. She defined that right to access as being a constitutional right and one that's inherently protected through publishing rights.

In discussing the Communications Decency Act (passed in 1996 to protect minors from "indecent" or "patently offensive" material available electronically), she commented that it was passed without a single public hearing. While this bill is geared toward the publishers of such material, she opined that, if a library has a home page and/or makes its library catalog available on the Internet, it could arguably be considered a publisher, and thus, liable under this Act. She spoke at length about the historic suit that ALA and other interested parties have brought challenging the legality of this legislation as well as for libraries if the Act does eventually take effect.

In talking about Internet access, she stressed that there are two important principles involved that can often be at odds, particularly in academic settings. Those are: 1. the need for a compelling interst to narrow First Amendment rights when providing access, and 2. protecting the security of computing systems within an institution. She recommended a need for vigilance on the part of librarians in this regard and stated that we should be constantly advocating to assure that our collective First Amendment rights are not being violated by our computing personnel.

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© 1996 CLAMS