Resources for Users Committee -- Minutes
March 27, 2002 -- 10:00 AM
Alderman Library, University of Virginia
Gene Damon, Presiding
Present: Gene Damon, Chair; Karen Cary, VCU; Jacque Dessino, TCC; Sharon Gasser, JMU; Pat Hausman, W&M; Louveller Luster, VSU; Paul Metz, VPI; Pam Morgan, ODU; Jane Penner, UVA; Kathy Perry, VIVA Director; Sylvia Rortvedt, NVCC, Jim Self, UVA; John Tombarge, W&L; John Walsh, GMU
Absent: Jim Rettig, UR
1. Announcements -- None
2. Changes to agenda -- None
3. Approval of Minutes of , January 25, 2002 meeting
No changes --Minutes approved by consensus.
4. Budget -- K. Perry
Kathy distributed updated copies of the current budget, noting an uncommitted balance of $93,243.54.
5. Steering Committee Meeting Report: G. Damon, K. Perry
Gene Damon reported that Kathy Perry and he had prepared and distributed a document to the Steering Committee on reducing the VIVA budget. The Steering Committee authorized Kathy Perry, Sharon Gasser, and Iris Moubray to enter into negotiations with Ovid Technologies, Inc. to see if a number of performance and customer service issues could be resolved. The Steering Committee expressed its appreciation for the clarity of the report regarding IDEAL. Faced with the necessity to cut resources, the Steering Committee reiterated its support for the central mission of VIVA, for full-text over indexes, and underscored the importance of clearly communicating to all VIVA constituents what was being cut and why. The Committee also approved the proposed VIVA workshop on statistics.
6. Training Subcommittee: P. Hausman
Pat Hausman reported that Jim Self would present a workshop on statistics at the University of Virginia on May 14, 2002. This is expected to be a popular workshop and, at this point, registration will be limited. An announcement about the workshop will be made on the VIVA listserv. Pat noted that Jane Penner had made all the local arrangements for the workshop.
7. Ovid Review: J, Self
Jim Self distributed a packet of information put together by the Ovid Review Subcommittee, which included survey results, use statistics, usability study, pricing, and narrative reviews of the databases and interface and of VIVA’s experience with Ovid’s customer service. The Subcommittee made the following recommendations: 1) move Sociological Abstracts to Cambridge Scientific Abstracts; 2) inform Ovid of serious problems with their products and services; if Ovid does not provide a satisfactory response, then VIVA should initiate the RFP process to find a provider for CINAHL, ERIC, MLA, and PsycINFO. The Subcommittee had expected this process to take place over a period of several months. The budget crisis caused an acceleration of activity. After receiving a recommendation from the Subcommittee, the VIVA Steering Committee authorized Kathy Perry, Sharon Gasser, and Iris Moubray to begin negotiations with OVID.
8. Ovid Negotiations: K. Perry, S. Gasser
Kathy Perry reported on the negotiations with Ovid. A meeting between the VIVA negotiating team and high-level executives from Ovid (including the CEO) took place on March 16, 2002. In response to a number of issues raised by the negotiating team, Ovid agreed to allow the transfer of Sociological Abstracts to another vendor with no penalty; to refund the cost of the OpenLinks software; to reduce the charge for the Ovid user license; to provide search statistics by database, institution, and month; and to work towards the provision of additional use statistics. Sharon Gasser reported on customer and technical services issues, noting that Ovid is developing a new linking toolkit to replace OpenLinks. Sharon also reported that Ovid has made progress in making Cross-ref links active. Some volunteers from VIVA institutions will review the Ovid administrative module and make recommendations to improve its interface. After the report, a motion was made and passed to suspend the Resources for Users Committee’s recommendation to initiate the RFP process in Spring 2002 to find a provider for CINAHL, ERIC, MLA, and PsycINFO, pending the outcome of the negotiations with Ovid; and if Ovid meets an April 5, 2002 deadline for 2002/2003 pricing. It was further resolved that Ovid’s response and performance would be reviewed during November 2002, as per the original recommendation of the Ovid Review Subcommittee.
9. Product Reviews:
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts: P. Hausman
Pat Hausman distributed the CSA Evaluation Subcommittee’s report and gave a special thanks to Subcommittee member, Jeremy Garritano, noting that he had done all the statistical work for the report. Pat reported that the Subcommittee performed a survey of VIVA librarians regarding their satisfaction with the features of CSA and their use of the databases. In general, the Subcommittee found that people were happy with CSA’s customer service and technical support, but wanted improvements to the interface. The Subcommittee recommends that VIVA retain the current mix of CSA databases. The Subcommittee also recommends that VIVA make the following suggestions to CSA: streamline the search interface; combine smaller specialized databases into larger products; eliminate duplicate records when performing cross-database searching; for those schools that purchase non-VIVA databases from CSA, combine statistics into one password. After the report, a motion was made and passed to present the report and recommendations to CSA.
HighWire: J. Dessino
Jacque Dessino distributed the Highwire Evaluation Subcommittee's report, noting that the purpose of the Subcommittee was to evaluate the original ten HighWire Press electronic journal subscriptions. The report details the long-standing problems associated with invoicing, interruption of service, and use statistics. VIVA librarians were surveyed on the importance of each title and subscription status at the respondent’s institution. After analyzing the survey results, use statistics, and other available data, the Subcommittee made the following recommendations: Continue to subscribe to the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of Cell Biology, American Journal of Psychiatry, and Molecular Biology of the Cell (the first three account for 88% of total usage of HighWire titles); Cancel as of January 1, 2003 the remaining subscriptions to Academic Psychiatry, Biophysical Journal, Clinical Chemistry, Journal of Applied Physiology, Journal of General Physiology, and Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry. A motion was made and passed to retain the Journal of Applied Physiology as an active VIVA subscription. After the report, a motion was made and passed to accept the report’s recommendations and to send the matter to the Steering Committee for final action.
10. AP/IDEAL: S. Gasser
Sharon reported that Noella Owen, a sales representative with Reed-Elsevier, said that at the end of current contracts, Elsevier did not intend to participate in future consortial purchasing. In the face of this, the Steering Committee made the decision not to renew the AP/IDEAL contract, which ends December 2002. VIVA will retain access to the subscribed years.
11. Renewals
Books in Print: Gene Damon reporting for Jim Rettig
After receiving Jim’s report, the Committee voted to recommend renewal of Books in Print.
12. OCLC Update -- J. Walsh
John Walsh reported that OCLC is increasing prices on FirstSearch products for the 2003 fiscal year. OCLC says the increases are necessary to keep publishers/database providers on board. Searches will cost $.85 each, up from the current $.67, an increase of 27%. Port prices will increase between 7% and 9.5%, depending on the port level. John presented a number of cost-savings options for FirstSearch centered on reductions in the base package and per-search subscriptions. Scaling back database offerings also lowers port costs. After reviewing the options, it was decided to recommend a number of changes in FirstSearch to the Steering Committee. Recommended changes are as follows:
Discontinue:
ArticleFirst
Business and Industry
Business Organizations, Agencies, and Publications Directory
Business and Management Practices
EventLine
DataTimes
Disclosure Corporate Snapshots
Biography Index
Book Review Digest
FactSearch
Newspaper Abstracts
Readers’ Guide Abstracts
These were selected because of comparable coverage from other VIVA resources.
John also suggested that VIVA should find a way to ensure that all institutions, both public and private, actually do block all VIVA-mandated blocked databases. VIVA paid $17,172 last year for searches done in blocked databases. It was also suggested that VIVA employ a method to recoup part or all of the estimated $20,000 it will pay to support ECO port access for those few VIVA schools with ECO subscriptions. John pointed out that the Wilson indexes no longer contain abstracts, making them less useful at an increased cost. He proposed that the Committee consider discontinuing Art Index and Education Index as a cost-saving measure. The Committee decided to investigate and evaluate all of the indexes against current VIVA resources. Jacque Dessino will solicit volunteers and coordinate the analysis of the indexes, with the goal of reporting at the May meeting of the RUC. John recommended starting the academic year with 18 ports. The number can be reviewed during the fall and increased if use warrants this action. The Committee agreed to send all of these recommendations regarding FirstSearch to the Steering Committee.
13. Dow Jones/Factiva: J. Tombarge
John Tombarge reported that Factiva will replace Dow Jones as of January 2003. Reviews of Factiva are largely positive; Factiva has more sources, especially foreign language sources. A trial account was supposed to become available March 1st, but, so far, has not come through. The VIVA Business Resources Subcommittee will evaluate the trial and offer recommendations for training.
14. Oxford University Press: P. Morgan
Pam Morgan reported that Oxford University Press will notify institutions that paid full price for their print subscriptions the amount of each institution’s refund.
15. Other business
The RUC voted to recommend canceling the FirstSearch subscription to RILM, due to the large increase in cost for next year. Jane Penner is investigating vendors for RILM and invited other institutions to participate in a possible group subscription. Sylvia Rortvedt asked that she be notified if StatUSA is unable to be accessed
Next meeting: May 10, 2002 at 10:00 a.m. , UVA
March 27, 2002 -- 10:00 AM
Alderman Library, University of Virginia
Gene Damon, Presiding
Present: Gene Damon, Chair; Karen Cary, VCU; Jacque Dessino, TCC; Sharon Gasser, JMU; Pat Hausman, W&M; Louveller Luster, VSU; Paul Metz, VPI; Pam Morgan, ODU; Jane Penner, UVA; Kathy Perry, VIVA Director; Sylvia Rortvedt, NVCC, Jim Self, UVA; John Tombarge, W&L; John Walsh, GMU
Absent: Jim Rettig, UR
1. Announcements -- None
2. Changes to agenda -- None
3. Approval of Minutes of , January 25, 2002 meeting
No changes --Minutes approved by consensus.
4. Budget -- K. Perry
Kathy distributed updated copies of the current budget, noting an uncommitted balance of $93,243.54.
5. Steering Committee Meeting Report: G. Damon, K. Perry
Gene Damon reported that Kathy Perry and he had prepared and distributed a document to the Steering Committee on reducing the VIVA budget. The Steering Committee authorized Kathy Perry, Sharon Gasser, and Iris Moubray to enter into negotiations with Ovid Technologies, Inc. to see if a number of performance and customer service issues could be resolved. The Steering Committee expressed its appreciation for the clarity of the report regarding IDEAL. Faced with the necessity to cut resources, the Steering Committee reiterated its support for the central mission of VIVA, for full-text over indexes, and underscored the importance of clearly communicating to all VIVA constituents what was being cut and why. The Committee also approved the proposed VIVA workshop on statistics.
6. Training Subcommittee: P. Hausman
Pat Hausman reported that Jim Self would present a workshop on statistics at the University of Virginia on May 14, 2002. This is expected to be a popular workshop and, at this point, registration will be limited. An announcement about the workshop will be made on the VIVA listserv. Pat noted that Jane Penner had made all the local arrangements for the workshop.
7. Ovid Review: J, Self
Jim Self distributed a packet of information put together by the Ovid Review Subcommittee, which included survey results, use statistics, usability study, pricing, and narrative reviews of the databases and interface and of VIVA’s experience with Ovid’s customer service. The Subcommittee made the following recommendations: 1) move Sociological Abstracts to Cambridge Scientific Abstracts; 2) inform Ovid of serious problems with their products and services; if Ovid does not provide a satisfactory response, then VIVA should initiate the RFP process to find a provider for CINAHL, ERIC, MLA, and PsycINFO. The Subcommittee had expected this process to take place over a period of several months. The budget crisis caused an acceleration of activity. After receiving a recommendation from the Subcommittee, the VIVA Steering Committee authorized Kathy Perry, Sharon Gasser, and Iris Moubray to begin negotiations with OVID.
8. Ovid Negotiations: K. Perry, S. Gasser
Kathy Perry reported on the negotiations with Ovid. A meeting between the VIVA negotiating team and high-level executives from Ovid (including the CEO) took place on March 16, 2002. In response to a number of issues raised by the negotiating team, Ovid agreed to allow the transfer of Sociological Abstracts to another vendor with no penalty; to refund the cost of the OpenLinks software; to reduce the charge for the Ovid user license; to provide search statistics by database, institution, and month; and to work towards the provision of additional use statistics. Sharon Gasser reported on customer and technical services issues, noting that Ovid is developing a new linking toolkit to replace OpenLinks. Sharon also reported that Ovid has made progress in making Cross-ref links active. Some volunteers from VIVA institutions will review the Ovid administrative module and make recommendations to improve its interface. After the report, a motion was made and passed to suspend the Resources for Users Committee’s recommendation to initiate the RFP process in Spring 2002 to find a provider for CINAHL, ERIC, MLA, and PsycINFO, pending the outcome of the negotiations with Ovid; and if Ovid meets an April 5, 2002 deadline for 2002/2003 pricing. It was further resolved that Ovid’s response and performance would be reviewed during November 2002, as per the original recommendation of the Ovid Review Subcommittee.
9. Product Reviews:
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts: P. Hausman
Pat Hausman distributed the CSA Evaluation Subcommittee’s report and gave a special thanks to Subcommittee member, Jeremy Garritano, noting that he had done all the statistical work for the report. Pat reported that the Subcommittee performed a survey of VIVA librarians regarding their satisfaction with the features of CSA and their use of the databases. In general, the Subcommittee found that people were happy with CSA’s customer service and technical support, but wanted improvements to the interface. The Subcommittee recommends that VIVA retain the current mix of CSA databases. The Subcommittee also recommends that VIVA make the following suggestions to CSA: streamline the search interface; combine smaller specialized databases into larger products; eliminate duplicate records when performing cross-database searching; for those schools that purchase non-VIVA databases from CSA, combine statistics into one password. After the report, a motion was made and passed to present the report and recommendations to CSA.
HighWire: J. Dessino
Jacque Dessino distributed the Highwire Evaluation Subcommittee's report, noting that the purpose of the Subcommittee was to evaluate the original ten HighWire Press electronic journal subscriptions. The report details the long-standing problems associated with invoicing, interruption of service, and use statistics. VIVA librarians were surveyed on the importance of each title and subscription status at the respondent’s institution. After analyzing the survey results, use statistics, and other available data, the Subcommittee made the following recommendations: Continue to subscribe to the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of Cell Biology, American Journal of Psychiatry, and Molecular Biology of the Cell (the first three account for 88% of total usage of HighWire titles); Cancel as of January 1, 2003 the remaining subscriptions to Academic Psychiatry, Biophysical Journal, Clinical Chemistry, Journal of Applied Physiology, Journal of General Physiology, and Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry. A motion was made and passed to retain the Journal of Applied Physiology as an active VIVA subscription. After the report, a motion was made and passed to accept the report’s recommendations and to send the matter to the Steering Committee for final action.
10. AP/IDEAL: S. Gasser
Sharon reported that Noella Owen, a sales representative with Reed-Elsevier, said that at the end of current contracts, Elsevier did not intend to participate in future consortial purchasing. In the face of this, the Steering Committee made the decision not to renew the AP/IDEAL contract, which ends December 2002. VIVA will retain access to the subscribed years.
11. Renewals
Books in Print: Gene Damon reporting for Jim Rettig
After receiving Jim’s report, the Committee voted to recommend renewal of Books in Print.
12. OCLC Update -- J. Walsh
John Walsh reported that OCLC is increasing prices on FirstSearch products for the 2003 fiscal year. OCLC says the increases are necessary to keep publishers/database providers on board. Searches will cost $.85 each, up from the current $.67, an increase of 27%. Port prices will increase between 7% and 9.5%, depending on the port level. John presented a number of cost-savings options for FirstSearch centered on reductions in the base package and per-search subscriptions. Scaling back database offerings also lowers port costs. After reviewing the options, it was decided to recommend a number of changes in FirstSearch to the Steering Committee. Recommended changes are as follows:
Discontinue:
ArticleFirst
Business and Industry
Business Organizations, Agencies, and Publications Directory
Business and Management Practices
EventLine
DataTimes
Disclosure Corporate Snapshots
Biography Index
Book Review Digest
FactSearch
Newspaper Abstracts
Readers’ Guide Abstracts
These were selected because of comparable coverage from other VIVA resources.
John also suggested that VIVA should find a way to ensure that all institutions, both public and private, actually do block all VIVA-mandated blocked databases. VIVA paid $17,172 last year for searches done in blocked databases. It was also suggested that VIVA employ a method to recoup part or all of the estimated $20,000 it will pay to support ECO port access for those few VIVA schools with ECO subscriptions. John pointed out that the Wilson indexes no longer contain abstracts, making them less useful at an increased cost. He proposed that the Committee consider discontinuing Art Index and Education Index as a cost-saving measure. The Committee decided to investigate and evaluate all of the indexes against current VIVA resources. Jacque Dessino will solicit volunteers and coordinate the analysis of the indexes, with the goal of reporting at the May meeting of the RUC. John recommended starting the academic year with 18 ports. The number can be reviewed during the fall and increased if use warrants this action. The Committee agreed to send all of these recommendations regarding FirstSearch to the Steering Committee.
13. Dow Jones/Factiva: J. Tombarge
John Tombarge reported that Factiva will replace Dow Jones as of January 2003. Reviews of Factiva are largely positive; Factiva has more sources, especially foreign language sources. A trial account was supposed to become available March 1st, but, so far, has not come through. The VIVA Business Resources Subcommittee will evaluate the trial and offer recommendations for training.
14. Oxford University Press: P. Morgan
Pam Morgan reported that Oxford University Press will notify institutions that paid full price for their print subscriptions the amount of each institution’s refund.
15. Other business
The RUC voted to recommend canceling the FirstSearch subscription to RILM, due to the large increase in cost for next year. Jane Penner is investigating vendors for RILM and invited other institutions to participate in a possible group subscription. Sylvia Rortvedt asked that she be notified if StatUSA is unable to be accessed
Next meeting: May 10, 2002 at 10:00 a.m. , UVA