Steering Committee Meeting
Thursday, December 6, 2001
Northern Virginia Community College
Manassas, Virginia
MINUTES
ATTENDANCE: Present: Ralph Alberico, Robin Benke, Gene Damon, Eileen Hitchingham, John Jaffe, Jean Major,
Frank Moran, Roy Strohl, John Ulmschneider, Elsie Stephens Weatherington, and John Zenelis. Also Present: Doug
Hurd (UVA) and Kathy Perry (VIVA). Absent. Connie McCarthy, Don Samdahl, and Karin Wittenborg.
I. Minutes of the September 6, 2001 meeting.
ACTION: The September
6, 2001 meeting minutes were approved.
II. PROJECT UPDATE:
A. Chair's Report (Ralph Alberico)
1. The Standing Committee Charges. The Steering Committee reviewed the proposed changes to the charges for the 4 standing committees.
ACTION: The Steering Committee approved the changes to the VIVA Standing Committee charges and Ralph will take them to the SCHEV Library Advisory Council meeting for final approval.
2. Ad hoc Technical Issues Task Force. The Steering Committee identified technical issues as a priority item at the June Steering Committee Retreat. Eileen Hitchingham was asked to chair a subcommittee to explore a specific charge for a task force. Other members of the subcommittee were Ralph Alberico, Gene Damon, John Jaffe, and Kathy Perry.
Eileen presented a draft charge for the Technical Issues ad hoc Committee on Content Linking and Management for Electronic Serials and Other Digital Materials. The task force will have two purposes:
(1) To review for possible recommendation for VIVA purchase, management and linking resources that would ease the managing of VIVA resources and the ability of our customers to identify and link from one to another of them. The task force will review the appropriate literature; will ascertain if any consortia have implemented any of these products; will establish ballpark estimates for single site vs. consortial costs; and will make a recommendation to the VIVA Steering Committee to pursue, or not pursue joint VIVA purchase.
(2) To develop learning experiences including a workshop and handouts for the VIVA community with the express purpose of helping VIVA members determine the pros, cons, and general costs associated with using various services.
The Task Force will be established for the calendar year 2002. The product reviews are to be completed by June 2002 and the educational event should take place in the fall of 2002. The task force work should be completed by December 2002, at which time the task force should either be dismissed or should request an extension to carry out additional activities not included in the charge.
The Steering Committee discussed other technical issues and the need for additional work groups to address these issues. No action was taken at this time.
ACTION: The Steering Committee approved the charge for the ad hoc Technical Task Force on Content Linking and Management for Electronic Serials and Other Digital Materials.
3. LAC Advocacy. John Ulmschneider reported on the LAC Advocacy Committee's progress since the last Steering Committee Meeting. The committee convened a luncheon on September 7, met with Dr. Carl Kelly (SCHEV Council Chairperson) on October 16 following the SCHEV Council meeting at GMU, and has another luncheon planned for December 7. Additional meetings are planned.
4. VIVA Proposal. Ralph reported that the SCHEV staff endorsed the VIVA proposal and the SCHEV Council endorsed it on September 11.
5. Executive Session. The VIVA Steering Committee went into Executive session to review the Director's performance. Members of the committee reviewed the performance evaluation summary distributed by John Zenelis and concurred that Kathy's performance has been exemplary during the review period. A number of committee members noted the leadership role that Kathy plays in consortial activities at the national and international level. [Submitted by Ralph Alberico, Chair of the VIVA Steering Committee]B. Director's Report
1. Electronic Votes.a. CIAO Renewal.
ACTION: The Steering Committee voted on October 12t to renew the Columbia International Affairs Online CIAO.
b. ICOLC Endorsements.
ACTION: The Steering Committee voted on October 22 to endorse three International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) statements:i. The Statement of Current Perspective and Preferred Practices for the Selection and Purchase of Electronic Information (Update no. 1: December 2001) http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia/2001currentpractices.htm
ii. Guidelines for Statistical Measures of Usage of Web-Based Information Resources (Update: December 2001)http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia/2001webstats.htm
iii. The ICOLC Endorsement of the Bath Profile (December 2001) http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia/bathprofile.htm2. Procurement for the VIVA Private Members. Kathy reported that in addition to those products available on a "collective" basis to 30 of the 32 VIVA private members through the "pooled funds program", individual schools subscribe to many other VIVA products through our contracts. We are currently managing 550 individual subscriptions for all of the VIVA private schools. John Jaffe has been handling the re-invoicing for all of these "elective purchases" for the private schools for a service fee. However, John Jaffe reported that beginning next spring 2002, Sweet Briar College would no longer be able to handle the re-invoicing for the VIVA private members.
ACTION: The Steering Committee asked Kathy and John Jaffe to investigate the feasibility of VIVA picking up the invoice process for the privates at a cost recovery for the additional administrative costs to JMU.
3. Updates.a. Electronic Campus of Virginia (ECVA). Ralph Alberico and Kathy attended the ECVA Retreat on September 24. Ralph Alberico, Gene Damon, Eileen Hitchingham, John Jaffe, Jean Major, and Kathy Perry participated in an interview on November 14 with the ECVA consultants to discuss VIVA's support for distance education.
b. Roanoke Higher Education Center (RHEC). Kathy met with Tom McKeon, RHEC Executive Director, and Carla James-Collins, the new RHEC Librarian, on September 25, followed by a lunch meeting for all librarians connected with the Roanoke Higher Education Center. The meeting provided an excellent opportunity to discuss VIVA and the role of the individual schools in supporting distance education students.
c. ICOLC. Ralph, Gene, and Kathy provided a short update on the ICOLC meeting held in October.
d. SCHEV Council. Following up on the meeting with Dr. Carl Kelly on October 16, Eileen Hitchingham hosted Dr. Kelly in the Virginia Tech library. VIVA resources were demonstrated and library issues were discussed.
e. Mailings. The Ariel 3.01 software was mailed on October 9. The Academic Press invoices were mailed to the VIVA public members on December 4. The Ovid PsychArticles invoices will be mailed the week of December 10th.
f. New Assistant. Kathy reported that Lisa Wight, the VIVA Executive Assistant, began work on November 27.
III. COMMITTEES
A. OUTREACH COMMITTEE
Ralph Alberico reported for Connie McCarthy.1. VIVA Brochure. The Outreach Committee has sent the VIVA brochure final design to the Gale Group for printing. Print costs are well below what had been budgeted. The committee recommends printing a bookmark as well.
ACTION: The Steering Committee approved the Outreach Committee's recommendation to prepare VIVA bookmarks.
2. Regional Workshops on Teaching Skills. The committee is proceeding with the three regional workshops tentatively scheduled for March 2002.
3. Outreach Web Page. The committee is investigating ways to use the web page to share information about information literacy.B. RESOURCE SHARING COMMITTEE
John Ulmschneider reported that the committee had run into scheduling problems but they will meet on January 11.C. RESOURCES FOR USERS COMMITTEE
Gene Damon reported that the committee met on November 9, 2001 and recommended 12 renewals and 2 new acquisitions.1. Renewals.
ACTION: The Steering Committee approved the following VIVA contracts for renewal:a. ABC-CLIO
b. American Chemical Society Journals
c. Cambridge Scientific Abstracts
d. Cambridge University Press
e. GaleNet
f. HighWire (10 journals)
g. Journal of Advanced Nursing (OVID)
h. MathSciNet
i. Oxford University Press
j. PCI
k. Project Muse (though Solinet)
l. Science
2. New Licenses. The committee recommended two new acquisitions for license by VIVA.a. Encyclopaedia Britannica's Britannica Online. The subcommittee evaluating encyclopedias conducted 2 trials and surveyed the VIVA members on their preferences. The Resources for Users Committee evaluated the results and recommended that VIVA license the Britannica Online. Solinet is pursuing a contract for this product. If successful, VIVA would be able to participate in the Solinet deal at an even greater price reduction. The contract would begin on or before February 1, 2002.
ACTION: The Steering Committee approved licensing Britannica Online.
b. American Mathematical Society Journals. The subcommittee recommended licensing six AMS journals. These will be linked to MathSciNet. The society is actively encouraging libraries to cancel their print and there will not be any penalties for canceling print.
ACTION: The Steering Committee approved VIVA's acquisition of the AMS Journals beginning January 1, 2002.
IV. OTHER BUSINESS
A. The Steering Committee discussed the Commonwealth's budget situation. The impact on VIVA's budget will need to be monitored. Additional Steering Committee meetings may need to be held.
ACTION: Kathy and Gene will prepare an impact statement for the March meeting.
B. Next Steering Committee Meeting: March 7, 2001 at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington.
Contact: Kathy Perry (George Mason University), VIVA Director.
Last updated: 2/18/2002