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Mapping Out Monday

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Wow, in business barely three days, and I already have to apologize for “light blogging.”

What a day it has already been! In addition to dealing with a parking glitch that has had me spending far too much time trying to keep from being towed by the good people of the District of Columbia, I had a wonderful noontime meeting with the folks at C-SPAN — practically all of them, it felt like — and members of the Senate Press Secretaries Association. Talking with them, it was hard to believe that it has only been about two decades that the goings-on of both chambers of Congress have been televised live across the country.

The best news I heard at C-SPAN was their announcement that they are relaxing their copyright policies to allow the bulk of their content to be directly streamed via congressional Web sites. To paraphrase a C-SPAN official, they want to “let a thousand flowers bloom.” (Hope I’m not preempting anything!)

But the really exciting news is what has consumed much of the rest of my day, a major event next week for which we’re now busily preparing: We will be visited by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who will be officially transferring the 1507 Waldseemüller Map — “America’s Birth Certificate” — to the Library of Congress. It will be accepted on behalf of the American people by the House Majority Leader, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland.

As a Library PR guy, I hope you’ll have the opportunity to see some good coverage in the news media. Either way, we will do our best to report on the event directly. (We will also have an archived webcast shortly afterward.)

Comments (3)

  1. Can I repeat: please create full-text RSS feeds.

  2. I concur with Ellen. Please, please, please…….

  3. Hi, folks. We’re taking a look at what our policy should be regarding RSS. I don’t think we’re necessarily averse to this, but it is under discussion.

    It’s government — EVERYTHING involves a policy. 🙂

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