Oral History Exemption from IRB Review (NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 10, #3; 22 January 2004)
Forwarded to HISTNEUR-L from H-SCI-MED-TECH. Note item no. 4: Oral History Exemption From IRB Review. --RJ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Suzanne Moon , H-SCI-MED-TECH" [mtedit@MAIL.H-NET.MSU.EDU]
Date: Friday, January 23, 2004 2:33 pm
From: Bruce Craig [rbcraig@historycoalition.org]
Subject: NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol. 10, #3; 22 January 2004)
NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol. 10, #3; 22 January 2004)
by Bruce Craig (editor) rbcraig@historycoalition.org
National Coalition for History (NCH)
Website http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~nch
*****************
1. Congress Returns to Work!
2. Smithsonian Secretary to Plead "Guilty"
3. Clark Issues Secrecy and Openness Statement
4. Update: Oral History Exemption From IRB Review
5. Bits and Bytes: FRUS Volume on Arab-Israeli War Issued; ALA Seeks
Award Nominations;
The Dirksen Congressional Center Congressional Research Awards;
Position Announcement --
Deputy Executive Director NHPRC
6. Articles of Interest: "At 110, Still Asking 'Why Should It Be
Easy'?" (New York Times, 21
January 2004)
1. CONGRESS RETURNS TO WORK!
As the remaining candidates in the Democratic presidential nomination
contest bandage their
wounds from the Iowa caucuses and march to New England to battle it out
again in Tuesday's
New Hampshire primary, members of Congress returned to Washington this
week with another
battle on their minds -- one to pass those bills that have yet to be
acted on that impact the FY
2004 appropriation cycle. Republican and Democratic combatants will
also need to start focusing
on the proposals outlined in the president's State of the Union address
as well as the president's
FY 2005 budget, which is expected to be released in early February.
George Bush's third State of the Union address reflected the White
House's top priority -- get the
president re-elected. Bush, for example, spoke on education-related
issues for only a few
moments in his 45- minute speech and even then the focus of his
comments was on the "No Child
Left Behind Act" initiative accomplishments. Unlike his previous
addresses there were few new
ambitious goals outlined.. Instead, his speech focused on his
administration's past legislative
successes. Hill insiders expect that in coming months the White House
will probably push hard
for only a limited number of proposals outlined in the speech and
relegate to the back-burner
other parts of his stated agenda. As one seasoned Hill-watcher put it,
"the importance of an
election year session is to score political points, not to pass
legislation."
So where does that put history and archives? Republicans are once
again expected to push for
early action on the FY-2005 budget. But first, the Senate must act on
the massive $820 billion
(yes that's billion) omnibus appropriations bill that wraps together
seven appropriation bills that
Congress failed to dispense with prior to adjournment last year. Of
special concern to the
historical and archival communities is the still-in-limbo budget for
the National Archives and
Records Administration (NARA) including the record increase to $10
million ("full-funding") for
National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Republicans have threatened to enact a year-round Continuing Resolution
(CR) that would keep
spending for the remaining federal agencies frozen at last year's
levels should Senate Democrats
continue to "block" passage of the massive spending bill. Should a
year-round CR be the route
Congress decides to adopt it would be disastrous for NARA and the other
federal agencies whose
FY-2004 appropriation levels have yet to be decided. This is not too
likely as at stake is not just
the NARA budget increases but over $10 billion in Congressional
earmarks that benefit literally
hundreds of members of Congress. Naturally, incumbent members who are
up for re-election will
want to bring home federal dollars and programs to benefit
constituents. Though at this writing
the Senate has blocked immediate passage of the spending bill, Hill
insiders believe the initial
blocking action was largely designed to deprive the president a
legislative victory just prior to the
State of the Union address. Insiders expect the controversial measure
indeed will pass prior to the
end of the month. Keep your fingers crossed!
2. SMITHSONIAN SECRETARY TO PLEAD "GUILTY"
Lawrence Small, the embattled secretary of the Smithsonian and
reportedly an avid art collector,
is expected to plead guilty this Friday in a Federal Court in Raleigh,
North Carolina, to one-count
of a Class-B misdemeanor violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty
Act. After literally years of
investigation, federal officials finally have officially determined
that Small's personal collection
that he purchased in 1998 included feathers from several protected
species. While few details
were made public about the investigation or the bargaining leading to
the plea, the U.S. Attorney
decided not to recommend any fine or incarceration. When the matter
first came to the attention
of federal authorities in November 2000, Small maintained (as he has
consistently since then in
other statements) that if he violated the law it was unintentional.
The Board of Regents, the body that hired Small and also has the
authority to fire him, concluded
that since the secretary "cooperated fully with the investigation,"
since he "voluntarily
surrendered his entire feather-work collection to the government," and
since his actions do not
involve "criminal intent," the Board does not expect the case to affect
Smalls status as head of the
Smithsonian. A statement issued by the Executive Committee of the
Smithsonian Board of
Regents declares, "This matter has not impaired, is not now impairing,
and will not hereafter
impair the secretary's ability to continue serving the Smithsonian
Institution in the excellent
manner he which he has performed over the past four years."
3. CLARK ISSUES SECRECY AND OPENNESS STATEMENT
Following up on last week's posting outlining Senator Joe Lieberman's
plan for government
openness should he be elected (see "Lieberman on Government Secrecy" in NCH
WASHINGTON UPDATE; Vol. 10 #2; 16 January 2004), on 16 January 2004,
Democratic
presidential contender General Wesley Clark announced his intention "to
reverse Mr. Bush's
secrecy policies" and "to create the most open and honest government in
American history."
Clark cited the now-familiar litany of Bush Administration excesses and
declared that "on day one
of my Administration, I'll sign an Executive Order reversing George
Bush's FOIA rollbacks, and
restoring the public's right to know....We're [the Democrats] the party
of accessibility and
accountability," he said while the Republicans are "the party of
secrecy and special interests. This
is just another way to draw the line between us."
Thanks to the Federation of American Scientists, the text of the
candidate's remarks may be
found at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2004/01/clark011604.html
4. UPDATE: ORAL HISTORY EXEMPTION FROM IRB REVIEW
As readers may recall, on 26 August 2003, the Office for Human Research
Protection (OHRP)
concurred in a policy statement developed jointly by the American
Historical Association (AHA)
and the Oral History Association (OHA) regarding the application of
federal regulations
governing research on human subjects to oral history. Since then many
campus-based oral history
projects have been able to proceed with their interviews without
submitting protocols for review
by an Institutional Review Board. (The policy statement can be found at:
http://omega.dickinson.edu/organizations/oha/org_irb.html .
There have, however, been
several memos in circulation in which IRB representatives have raised
questions about the
standing of the policy statement or suggested hypothetical cases in
which oral history projects
might still be subject to review.
Subsequent to a conference call between representatives of history
organizations and OHRP
officials, on 7 January 2004, the OHRP confirmed its concurrence with
the existing policy
statement. On 8 January Dr. Michael Carome, the Associate Director for
Regulatory Affairs,
issued the following statement: "To summarize from OHRP's perspective,
OHRP yesterday
reaffirmed its concurrence with your policy statement that oral history
interviewing activities, in
general, are not designed to contribute to generalizable knowledge and
therefore do not involve
research as defined by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
regulations at 45 CFR
46.102(d) and do not need to be reviewed by an institutional review
board (IRB). OHRP has tried
consistently to confirm this concurrence whenever it receives inquiries
about this matter from
representatives of IRBs or other institutional officials."
Confusion arose around the concepts of "research" and "generalizable
knowledge." In a
statement issued by Linda Shopes (representing the AHA) and Donald
Ritchie (representing the
OHA):
"While oral history clearly involves historical research and
interviews can lend themselves
to generalizations, oral historians' standard operating procedures do
not fit the type of research
defined by federal regulations: "a systematic investigation, including
research development, testing
and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable
knowledge." Individually-
tailored interviews with the narrator's informed consent do not meet
this definition of "research,"
nor do they contribute to "generalizable knowledge," even if conducted
with people identified
with a common group, theme or event, and whether or not the interviewer
or other researchers
might draw some historical generalizations from the multiple
interviews. The interviews must be
designed specifically to produce generalizable knowledge in the
scientific sense (as detailed in
paragraph two of the August 26th policy statement)." In summary, only
those interview projects
that meet the above federal definition should be submitted for IRB
review. Those that do not are
not subject to review.
In order to avoid future confusion Shopes and Ritchie urge IRBs and
historians to consult with
each other when developing campus-wide policies.
5. BITS AND BYTES
Item #1 -- FRUS Volume on Arab-Israeli War Issued:
The Department of State has published the latest volume in its official
Foreign Relations of the
United States (FRUS) documentary series on U.S. foreign policy,
focusing on the 1967 Arab-
Israeli War. The volume documents U.S. policy immediately before,
during, and after the June
1967 Arab-Israeli war and includes newly declassified documentation on
the USS Liberty
incident," referring to the 1967 attack on a U.S. naval vessel by
Israeli forces in which 34
American lives were lost. Among numerous noteworthy items, the new FRUS
volume includes
excerpts from the President's Daily Brief relating to the 1967 war.
The full text of Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968,
Volume XIX, "Arab-Israeli
Crisis and War, 1967" may be accessed at:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/johnsonlb/xix/
Item #2 -- ALA Seeks Award Nominations: The American Library
Association (ALA) seeks
nominations to be considered for the James Madison Award that will be
presented 16 March
2004 at the Freedom Forum National Freedom of Information Day
program. The James Madison
Award is presented on Freedom of Information Day to recognize those
individuals or groups that
have championed access to government information and the public's right
to know. FOIA Day is
an annual event on or near March 16, the birthday of James Madison,
regarded as the Father of
the Constitution as well as the foremost advocate for openness in
government. Nominations may
be made in letter, email, or fax to the American Library Association,
Washington Office no later
than 2 February 2004. Submissions should include a statement (a
paragraph or two) about
nominee's contribution to public access to government information and
why you think it merits the
award, and, preferably, a seconding letter. Please include a brief
biography and contact
information for the nominee. Send nominations to: JAMES MADISON AWARD,
American
Library Association, Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW,
Suite 403, Washington,
D.C. 20004-1701 or by e-mail to: pmcdermott@alawash.org . For further
information or
questions, please contact Patrice McDermott at 800-941-8478;
pmcdermott@alawash.org .
Item #3 -- The Dirksen Congressional Center Congressional Research
Awards: The Dirksen
Congressional Center invites applications for grants totaling $35,000
in 2004 that will fund
research on congressional leadership and the U.S. Congress. The
competition is open to
individuals with a serious interest in studying Congress. Political
scientists, historians,
biographers, scholars of public administration or American studies, and
journalists are among
those eligible. The Center encourages graduate students to apply and
awards a significant portion
of the funds for dissertation research. Undergraduate or pre-Ph.D.
study, research teams of two
or more individuals, and organizations are not eligible. There is no
standard application form.
Applicants are responsible for showing the relationship between their
work and the awards
program guidelines. Applications are accepted at any time. All
application materials must be
postmarked on or before 1 February 2004. Awards will be announced in
March 2004. Complete
information about eligibility and application procedures may be found
at the Center's website at:
http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantcongresearchaward.htm
Item #4 -- Position Announcement -- Deputy Executive Director NHPRC: In
adherence to a long
tradition in this publication, the NCH does not normally post job
announcements. Nevertheless,
occasionally a position is of such importance that every avenue of
recruitment is deemed
necessary. This is one such instance. Please note that the National
Archives and Records
Administration (NARA) invites applications for the position of Deputy
Executive Director of the
National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). The
NHPRC promotes the
preservation and publication of American historical records by public
and private institutions
through its grants and educational programs. The Deputy Director is
responsible for managing
the day-to-day operations of the NHPRC. Candidates for the position
must possess knowledge of
American history, professional research practices, and current trends
in historical research and
archival usage; archival, records management, electronic records
management, and documentary
editing principles and methods; and Federal grant programs which
support archival activity or
historical research/education efforts. The position is advertized at
the federal GS 13/14 level
(salary range $70,519 to $108,335 per year). For a copy of Public
Notice Announcement #N 04-
71B, visit the NARA website at:
http://www.archives.gov/careers/employment/employment.html
or call
1-800-827-4898.
Complete applications must be postmarked by 3 February 2004.
6. ARTICLES OF INTEREST
One article this week, Julie Salamon's "At 110, Still Asking 'Why
Should It Be Easy'?" (New
York Times, 21 January 2004) examines the Jewish Museum, an institution
not afraid to challenge
and even anger visitors. Tap into:<
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/21/arts/design/21MUSE.html?th .
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