This session will be a continuation of a discussion from the last Task Force meeting in which we examined the criteria that might be needed in order to ensure that "archival" electronic scholarly journals can actually become part of our society's long-term intellectual record. This session will report on the outcomes of a workshop CNI held on this topic in December, 1999 and will include current thinking on archivability criteria for electronic journals.

PubMed Central is a Web-based repository established at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide barrier-free access to primary research reports in the life sciences. Proposed last spring by Dr. Harold Varmus and his colleagues, PubMed Central began accepting and distributing reports early this year. The system serves as a host for scientific publishers, professional societies, and other groups to archive, organize, and distribute at no cost peer- reviewed reports from journals, as well as reports that have been screened but not formally peer-reviewed. Several journals have expressed an interest in participating in PubMed Central. Many organizations have also expressed support for PubMed Central and some are also interested in submitting their journals. NCBI has been involved in the development of the project and is working with publishers and other organizations to establish efficient data flows and to make the content available as soon as possible.

IMLS supports digitization of library and museum resources as well as research to improve the management, preservation and interoperability of digital libraries. IMLS is one of four federal agencies (with the National Science Foundation, National Park Service and Smithsonian Institution) directed by the President to work together to establish a Digital Library for Education. This year, IMLS has

• Created new funding opportunities for digitization and technology development in museums;
• Sponsored a national conference highlighting significant digital library projects and issues; and,
• Begun planning for a survey of digitization activities in libraries and museums.

The Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act or UCITA, a proposed "uniform law," is under consideration by many states. The goal of UCITA is to harmonize the law regarding computer information transactions. UCITA is very broad in scope and is applicable to everything from copyrighted expression to patents to online databases. Because colleges, universities, libraries, and businesses rely upon computer technologies, UCITA will, if passed in a state, affect every facet of operations from payroll processing to terms and conditions for licensing of online databases. This highly controversial proposal has been significantly critiqued and/or opposed by many in the commercial and not-for-profit sectors including insurance companies, consumer groups, the Association of Computing Machinery, the Federal Trade Commission, the library community, 25 attorney generals, and more. Supporters of UCITA include large software companies such as Microsoft and associations such as the Association of American Publishers.

Since UCITA will be considered by state legislatures, CIOs and librarians need to understand both its broad implications and specific provisions of particular concern to higher education. The experience of members of the higher education community in opposing UCITA in the Maryland State legislature will be presented as an example of how the issues are being considered at the state level. In addition, the presenters will discuss the serious and detrimental effects of the proposed legislation on the education community.

The goals of the National Learning Infrastructure Initiative are improving the quality of teaching and learning, containing or reducing rising costs, and providing greater access to higher education by harnessing the power of information technology. As key players in this effort, faculty are one of the NLII's areas of attention this year. NLII staff have been working with members to develop a white paper on best practices in faculty engagement and support, and this session will discuss the findings to date. (See   <http://www.educause.edu/nlii/meetings/seattle2000/>   for a draft of the white paper.)

Columbia University has recently announced the creation of the Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia (EPIC), a partnership of the university press, the libraries, and the Academic Information Systems. EPIC's mission is to create innovative models of digital scholarly communication through the use of creative editorial, technology, and evaluation systems, efficient organizational and staffing models, and cost-effective business plans designed to achieve long term sustainability for the resulting publications. EPIC will explore, in a research and production environment, strategies for digital content development, use of technology, issues of intellectual property and copyright management, development of business plans, and evaluation of use. In this session we will describe the issues we confronted in developing the center, editorial and technical staffing challenges, integration of different organizational cultures and operational models, and the issues that lie ahead as we develop our current projects, Columbia Earthscape and Gutenberg-e.

Research and education depend increasingly on electronic media and networks. In Europe and elsewhere, networking services for research institutes, universities and schools are provided by (national) research and education networks. These networking organizations collaborate at the European level, creating a high-quality international information infrastructure. TERENA, the Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association, is the organization in which the research and education networking organizations from countries in and around Europe collaborate. One of the pillars of TERENA's activities is the Technical Programme, in which new technologies and services are developed, tested and promoted. The presentation will describe the European research networking community, give an overview of TERENA's activities and then focus on the Technical Programme. Some key topics are: searching and indexing; storage, caching and replication; streaming media; video-conferencing; security and incident handling; Quality of Service. We will discuss in particular current American-European collaboration in these fields and opportunities for new joint activities.