Collections Committee -- Minutes
September 18, 1998 -- 10:00 AM
Peabody Hall, University of Virginia
Present: Gene Damon (chair), Doris Archer, Jim Deffenbaugh, Sharon Gasser, Karen Hartman, Paul Metz, Pamela Morgan, Chris Millson-Martula, Susanna Pathak, Jim Self, Ruth Stanton, John Walsh, Janice Wade.
Gene Damon opened the meeting by asking for changes in the agenda as distributed; a few minor changes were made. Gene also asked for corrections for the previous meeting?s minutes. Susannah Pathak reported a name correction: ?Contemporary Women?s Issues? is the First Search file which was discussed at the meeting.
1. Budget
John Walsh reported for Kathy Perry. Kathy has done a revised budget. $337,000 is uncommitted if we change Academic Press to a 65/35 payment ration. (VIVA would pay 35% of the costs; individual institutions would pay 65%.)
Everyone has agreed to return the VIVA money which had been disbursed to individual institutions. Over $420,000 was involved, and finding the money was excruciating, but it has all been identified for re-assignment to VIVA. Gene will talk to the Steering Committee about making sure that SCHEV realizes the difficulty of the process this year; we need to make sure that all the money comes directly to VIVA, rather than sending it first to the individual institutions.
2. Project IDEAL
Sharon Gasser reported that Academic Press is imposing an 8% price increase across the board for the electronic subscriptions. Print journal prices will go up 12-14%. Sharon proposed that VIVA increase its share of the costs to 35%; individual institutions would pay 65%. (The current ration is 25/75 for VIVA/institutional costs.) Sharon pointed out this was only the VIVA product in which the VIVA institutions with existing print subscriptions pay significantly more than the other institutions. The change in ratio would basically mean that VIVA (rather than the individual institutions) is covering the price increases.
There was significant discussion about this model ?we cannot purchase title by title. Academic Press will not give us statistics on a title by title basis. Susannah Pathak commented that this model is not the future of electronic journalism; we need to look for article level access. We are spending a lot of dollars on this product; we need to look for alternatives in the future.
The committee agreed to recommend renewal of the subscription for one more year on a 35/65 cost sharing basis, but put Academic Press on notice that we may cancel next year. We need title by title statistics, and a revision of the pricing model. During the next twelve months we will need to make a hard decision as to whether to continue with the subscription.
3. GaleNet
After some discussion the committee recommended renewal of the subscription to GaleNet. The prices will not increase for next year?s subscription, but the terms may have to be re-negotiated for next year.
4. Chadwyck-Healey LION
Susannah Pathak reported on an offer from C-H, which did not arrive until yesterday. It was not really what we asked for, but it would increase access. As part of the discussion it was noted that the package was expensive and inflexibly priced; they should give us a menu pricing scheme. Susannah will go back to C-H and ask for lower and more flexible pricing.
5. ACM
Paul Metz reported that agreement has been concluded with the Association for Computing Machinery; it has been endorsed by the VIVA Steering Committee. John Jaffe was able to bring in all the private institutions. By January 1 we will should access to the full text of all ACM periodicals. We need to see if Technical Services and User Services can assign ACM contacts.
6. OCLC First Search
John Walsh reported he and Kathy Perry met with an OCLC and Solinet team. First Search 5.0 should be released in Spring or Summer 1999. OCLC has offered to set up a VIVA management website, with custom statistics. Solinet is expected to come out with a group purchase price for Electronic Collections Online (ECO). For VIVA the ECO price would be $35 per title per institution. First Search 5.0 will fully integrate ECO.
Fifteen databases are currently blocked; three more databases should probably be blocked. The committee agreed we should turn off ECO, World Book encyclopedia, and WorldScope, as of November 1; this will give people time to make any needed adjustments. (World Scope is now on Dow Jones.)
The committee recommended an amount for OCLC this year. This amount includes funds for both for block searches, and a reserve for adding ports if the data shows turnaways are occurring. If the entire allocation is not spent, VIVA will purchase additional block searches which can be carried over to 1999/2000.
7. New opportunities
The committee agreed it would not pursue Facts on File as a VIVA product. After some discussion it was decided that BIP Reviews should be investigated; Frank Moran will be the contact person. The committee confirmed that it did not choose to purchase Poem Finder.
8. CCM status
Sharon Gasser raised the question of a CCM membership appointment. Gene Damon reported the Steering Committee has been discussing the role of the CCM. Are they still needed as distinct appointed committees? What should they do? Paul Metz noted that the CCM?s were originally appointed in areas (Allied Health, Business, Science/Technology) where the Collections Committee lacked subject expertise. The topic will be discussed at a later Steering committee meeting.
9. Review of renewals
Project Muse invoice has been received. The committee recommended that Project Muse be renewed. The committee recommended MathSciNet for renewal. CIS has not sent a renewal invoice, but the price is locked in for two years. The committee recommended renewal of CSA, provided the price is within 6% of this year?s price. CSA is making the aerospace database available at an additional cost, along with a number of other databases. VCU is doing a trial of Sociofile through CSA. John Walsh will ask CSA for pricing for the various other databases. The recommended renewals will be taken to the Steering Committee on September 24.
10. Selection policy
Ruth Stanton has drafted a VIVA collection policy; it will be discussed at the next Collections committee meeting.
11. Indexing and abstracting RFP
There was discussion about the suitability of First Search as a basic abstracting and indexing tool. A number of VIVA institutions are spending their own funds to purchase Ovid or Silver Platter versions of many of the same databases offered by First Search. Is it time for VIVA to put on an RFP for an abstracting and indexing service? The full-text RFP last year was very successful, so should the collections committee invest the time and energy in writing an RFP? There was general agreement an RFP would be a worthwhile endeavor. Gene Damon will inform the Steering Committee of our plans and get their assent before we move ahead on this project.
12. Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Collections Committee will be Friday, November 13, in Charlottesville.
The meeting adjourned at 1:35 p.m.