Resouces for Users Committee -- Minutes
May 12, 2000 -- 10:00 AM
James Monroe Bld. Richmond
Gene Damon, Presiding
Present: Jacque Dessino, Sharon Gasser, Pat Hausman, Pamela Morgan, Susanna Pathak, Kathy Perry, Jim Rettig, Jim Self (recorder), Michael Walker, John Walsh.
Absent: Sylvia Rortvedt, Jane Schillie,
Guest present: Ibironke Lawal.
1. Announcements
Susanna Pathak: VCU will celebrate the launching of its new document delivery service on June 15 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. The question was raised as to whether VIVA should look at a document delivery service. Gene Damon said the Steering Committee should determine if VIVA wanted to pursue this topic, and which committee should investigate. The RFP written by VCU allows the addition of other Virginia institutions.
Pat Hausman: The GeoRef contract (for the VIVA subset) has been settled; CSA won the contract.
Gene Damon and Kathy Perry reported on ICOLC. The ILL session was very disappointing. The netLibrary session was moderately disappointing. The IT Knowledge session was very interesting; they offer a database of full text information technology documents.
2. Changes to agenda: None
3. Approval of Minutes of April 7, 2000 meeting
No changes --Minutes approved by consensus.
4. Budget -- K. Perry
Kathy Perry reported no major changes in the FY2000 budget; the remaining funds will be spent on First Search.
The 2001 budget includes $1.18 million in new money for VIVA. The Steering Committee will meet in August and determine how much of the money will go to collections.
5. OCLC Update (J. Walsh)
Solinet, FirstSearch, and VIVA will meet next week. OCLC is still planning to switch to the new First Search format this summer, with the target date still July 1. As VIVA libraries subscribe to Electronic Collections Online (ECO), VIVA may find it needs more ports and work out how we balance general VIVA port use with the ECO use which is institution specific. Pricing for FirstSearch is in general still uncertain.
6. HarpWeek (K. Perry)
Given the number of Virginia libraries which have purchased the HarpWeek Reconstruction segments, only a small increment is needed to make Reconstruction I available to all VIVA libraries. The Reconstruction II increment could be added at an additional cost. The committee voted to recommend the purchase of Recon I to be available to all VIVA libraries.
7. Oxford English Dictionary/American National Biography trial (J. Rettig)
Jim Rettig reported that it is unclear if OED will renew the contract of the old edition; the VIVA contract runs through February 2001. The new edition would probably cost VIVA substantially more each year then the current license.
The new OED has more new words, but the searching is not as robust as in the old edition. The committee voted not to buy the new OED at this time; we will wait and see if the old version continues to be offered.
Both the OED and ANB trials have been extended. Jim Rettig will try to get a price for the product for the ANB.
8. Access Science (P. Hausman)
The trial is ongoing: we need more time to evaluate. Pat Hausman commented that it looks geared to community colleges, not universities. Pat will ask McGraw-Hill about the lack of graphics and diagrams in the electronic product. (Recorder’s note: Pat reported via email that is unlikely graphics will be available before June 16, which is the Solinet deadline for committing to the product.)
9. Review of Project Ideal (S. Pathak)
Susanna Pathak reported on the work of her subcommittee. Usage statistics (number of downloaded articles) are available from 1997 through March, 2000. An inventory of benefits, negative factors, issues, and needs has been prepared. A survey is also being prepared; it will go to the VIVA collection contacts.
If the subcommittee does recommend a change in the service; it will not be implemented until 2002. The subcommittee may recommend a change in the funding arrangement; perhaps VIVA should pay the entire cost instead of the current 45/55 cost sharing between VIVA and those institutions that owned print subscriptions when the original contract was signed.
10. Survey for "Project of Cooperative Retention of Nursing A&I Journals" (S. Pathak)
Steve Stratton of VCU has drafted a survey for the collection contacts. The survey is designed to assess the impact and awareness of the project. RUC edited the survey itself, and said an informative cover statement should be added.
11. Planning for the Next Year
The committee went over a list of products that have been suggested for review by RUC. The committee pared the list down to approximately 20 titles. These titles will be listed on a survey sent to the VIVA listserv; respondents will be asked to prioritize the list.
Next meeting
The next meeting of the RUC will be at 10 a.m. on July 21 at Alderman Library at the University of Virginia.
The meeting adjourned at 2 p.m
.