ATTENDANCE:
Present: Wendell Barbour, Theresa Byrd, Barbara Ford, Eileen Hitchingham,
Charlene Hurt, John Jaffe, Jean Major, Nancy Marshall, Carol Pfeiffer, Dennis
Robison, and Elsie Stephens. Also Present: Kathy Perry (GMU) and LeRoy
Strohl (MWC). Absent: Lew Terpstra.
I. MINUTES
The minutes of June 8 were approved as distributed.
II. PROJECT UPDATE (Charlene Hurt and Kathy Perry)
A. Kathy reported that copies of the Chadwyck-Healey contracts had been
distributed to all VIVA library directors.
B. Kathy distributed a printout on the 1995-96 VIVA budget.
1. The budget sheet needs to reflect the fact that all 51 campuses received
funds for maintenance.
ACTION ITEM: Kathy will revise the 1995-96 VIVA budget and summarize the
information for the VIVA members on the listserv.
2. The Committee discussed proposals for the 1995-96 travel and training
budget.
ACTION ITEM: The Steering Committee members will report back at the next
Steering Committee meeting with proposals for the 1995-96 VIVA travel and
training budget:
a. Eileen will obtain estimate for Open Text training for the resource center
systems staff.
b. Dennis will investigate options for ILL training, including using ARL
consultants.
c. Carol will investigate options for a consultant to assist with cooperative
collection development.
d. Nancy will pursue training for Special Collections Committee.
e. Eileen and Barbara will convene a joint meeting of the Technical Issues
and the User Services Committees to discuss ways to meet the technical training
needs for VIVA library staff members.
II. BIENNIUM PROPOSAL (Jean Major)
The Committee commended Jean Major and her subcommittee on their work drafting
the 1996-98 Biennium Proposal. As Chair of the Steering Committee, Charlene
will discuss the proposal with SCHEV before its submission.
ACTION ITEM: Charlene will discuss the 96-98 proposal draft with SCHEV.
III. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. ELECTRONIC COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE (Carol Pfeiffer)
1. Oxford English Dictionary: Carol submitted a very favorable price quote
for a 5-year subscription for VIVA's membership. An added feature was that
access could be provided to the 28 participating private schools at no additional
charge. Initially, the OED, which uses Open Text software, would be mounted
at UVA, but Carol believed that the agreement would allow other resource
centers to mount it if they chose to do so.
ACTION ITEM: The Steering Committee approved subscription of the Oxford English Dictionary for a five-year term. Carol will work with TIC and User Services on the support implications for this database.
2. Encyclopedia Britannica: Carol reported that they expect a signed contract by mid-July.
3. Full-text Databases: The RFP for the Full-text Databases was scheduled for release on July 17. The selection committee has been identified and is ready to review the proposals. Carol reminded the Steering Committee that once the RFP has been issued, only the JMU purchasing agent may discuss it with any of the vendors.
ACTION ITEM: Carol will post a note to the listserv to alert VIVA participants that only JMU's purchasing officer may answer questions regarding VIVA's RFP for full-text databases while it is on the street.
4. ECC Goals and Selection Criteria: Carol reviewed the ECC's Goals and Selection Criteria.
ACTION ITEM: The Steering Committee approved the Selection Criteria developed by the Electronic Collections Committee.
5. Coordination with VLIN: Carol reported that there have been many discussions with VLIN about future cooperation.
ACTION ITEM: Carol will convene a meeting with VLIN in late summer to continue discussions on future plans.
B. ILL ENHANCEMENTS COMMITTEE (Dennis Robison)
1. Fiche-to-fiche copiers: have been installed in all 12 libraries and
payment has been processed.
2. ILL Regional Meetings: Planning is complete for the regional meetings and registrations are in order.
3. Union List of Serials: The ILL Committee has identified a need to train library staff members on maintaining the union list of serials. The Steering Committee agreed that this will become even more important in the future, if libraries use the FirstSearch ILL function. Tentative plans are to convene 3 workshops in the fall with training provided by Solinet. Estimated total cost for the workshops would be $3,000.
ACTION ITEM: The Steering Committee approved up to $3,000 for the regional workshops on the union list of serials. The ILL Enhancements Committee will continue planning the regional meetings on the union list of serials for the fall.
C. PUBLICITY (Jean Major)
1. Press releases: Jean distributed 3 press releases for the Committee's
review.
ACTION ITEM: The Steering Committee approved the press releases for distribution.
2. Fact sheet: Jean distributed a fact sheet.
ACTION ITEM: The Steering Committee approved the fact sheet for distribution.
3. Feature story ideas: Jean requested that Steering Committee members keep feature story ideas in mind as the VIVA project resources are implemented at their institutions.
4. Harvard conference on "Finding Common Ground": Jean reported that the current VIVA progress makes it imperative that we develop useful assessment data for analysis and review.
D. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE (Nancy Marshall)
1. Training: Nancy reported that although the committee had not met since
the last Steering Committee, the committee had asked further questions about
the Cornell training opportunity.
ACTION ITEM: Nancy will clarify the Steering Committee's decision to support one Special Collections Committee member to attend the Cornell training on behalf of VIVA is not to exceed $3,000. The training should take place as soon as possible (either in August or October). The representative must report back to VIVA in a meaningful way. After that, the Steering Committee will decide if further training can be supported.
2. L o V's Directory of Repositories in Virginia: Nancy reported that John Kneebone had been in contact regarding the Library of Virginia's 1988 Directory of Repositories in Virginia and the possibility of preparing an electronic version of that directory.
ACTION ITEM: Nancy will gather more information on this project and report at the next Steering Committee meeting.
3. Nancy reported that the Special Collections Committee was requesting $20,000/year for each of the five institutions represented on the committee, to be allocated proportionally for software and hardware upgrades, staff, and training and travel.
ACTION ITEM: The Steering Committee's questions about the SCC budget request will be conveyed by Nancy as the Steering Committee's representative at the next SCC meeting.
E. TECHNICAL ISSUES COMMITTEE (Eileen Hitchingham)
1. Eileen reported that the Technical Issues Committee was scheduled to
meet the next day.
2. The Committee will discuss access to FirstSearch and will work on preparing the memo for VIVA participants.
3. Open Text: The Committee will provide information to VIVA participants about access to the Open Text client.
4. Open Text Training: The Committee will hear details about training proposed by Open Text for the systems staff at the resource centers.
5. Marc Records: Chadwyck-Healey will provide information about records included in the databases. This information may be of interest to libraries.
ACTION ITEM: Kathy will send a memo to all directors to alert them that
the MARC records for the Chadwyck-Healey databases can be loaded into their
OPACs.
F. USER SERVICES COMMITTEE (Barbara Ford)
Barbara reported that the committee met on June 15.
1. Committee will work on the publicity brochure.
2. Home Page: the Committee intends to provide information about accessing the home page electronically.
3. VLA Program: VIVA will have a presence at the November 9-11 VLA conference. They anticipate an audience largely of user services librarians. They would like to feature the VIVA home page, the resources available, and showcase the 1996-98 link of VIVA and the curriculum.
4. Membership: Barbara discussed the addition of a government documents librarian to the User Services committee.
ACTION ITEM: Barbara will ask Walter Newsome for a recommendation of a government documents representative for membership on the User Services Committee.
G. OTHER BUSINESS
1. There will not be an August VIVA Steering Committee meeting. The next
VIVA Steering Committee meeting will be held at George Mason University,
Fairfax, Virginia on Thursday, September 21, 1995, 10 am - 2 pm, followed
by the SCHEV Library Advisory Council on the afternoon of the 21st and the
morning of the 22nd. .