ATTENDANCE:
Present: Wendell Barbour, Theresa Byrd, Barbara Ford, Eileen Hitchingham,
Charlene Hurt, John Jaffe, Jean Major, Dennis Robison, Elsie Stephens, and
Lew Terpstra. Absent: Nancy Marshall and Carol Pfeiffer.
Also Present: Frank Moran (Blue Ridge CC), Kathy Perry (GMU), LeRoy Strohl
(MWC), Diane Walker (UVA), and Karin Wittenborg (UVA).
I. MINUTES
The minutes of the July 13 meeting were corrected to reflect the fact that
Lew Terpstra had not been present. The corrected minutes were approved.
II. Project Update (Charlene Hurt and Kathy Perry)
A. Charlene reported on her presentation before the State Council of Higher
Education. She had presented the VIVA project along the lines of their
funding priorities and goals.
B. Kathy distributed the 1995-96 budget information.
III. Committee Reports
A. Interlibrary Loan Enhancements (Dennis Robison)
1. Dennis reported that the regional ILL meetings were very successful
and resulted in suggestions for improving the Ariel Protocols and the Tier
Groupings.
ACTIONS: The Steering Committee approved the revised ILL Ariel Protocol and the revised ILL Tier Groupings. Dennis will make the revised texts available over the listserv and in paper copy to all VIVA library directors and ILL Contacts.
2. VIVA ILL Guidelines & 1989 VA ILL Code: The Steering Committee discussed the Virginia ILL Code (August 29, 1989) but deferred discussion of any possible revision to it at this time.
3. Participation of Private Colleges: Dennis reported that all VIVA public institutions are required to follow the VIVA approved protocols. John Jaffe reported that the newly approved guidelines will be taken to the meeting of private colleges and universities on October 20.
ACTION: John will report back to the VIVA Steering Committee on action taken by the private colleges and universities regarding the VIVA Ariel Protocols and the Tier Groupings.
4. Proposed Workshops (SEE ACTION IV. A. below):
a. SOLINET/OCLC ILL Training: The ILL Enhancements Committee proposed convening 4 regional meetings for general interlibrary loan training. Training would be provided by SOLINET/OCLC.
ACTION: The Committee proposed holding 4 regional meetings for general interlibrary loan training to VIVA library staff.
b. VULS Workshop Status : Dennis reported that all VIVA libraries have
been invited to attend the Virginia Union List of Serials Workshops. Dennis
reminded the committee that, based upon research on the need for training,
three workshops were planned for the eastern part of the Commonwealth:
Monday, October 30, Radford University
Tuesday, October 31, Virginia Tech
Wednesday, November 1, James Madison.
Since only the first 15 registrants could be accommodated at each site,
there is a need for at least one additional session.
ACTION: The Committee proposes to hold another VULS workshop, in central Virginia.
c. ARIEL Workshop: Dennis reported that several community college librarians have requested that the ARIEL training be repeated in mid-winter, at a time when the VCCS system is fully operational and the community college Learning Resource Centers can be assured of access to the Internet for immediate installation of Ariel software.
ACTION: The Committee proposes holding one more Ariel workshop in mid-winter.
5. Tracking ILL Performance: Dennis reported that Doug Hurd and Lucretia McCulley are heading up the ILL committee's work regarding custom ILL reports (from OCLC) for VIVA. The committee will present its proposal to the Steering Committee at a later time.
B. ELECTRONIC COLLECTIONS (Frank Moran for Carol Pfeiffer)
1. Fulltext RFP: Frank reported that the RFP process for the fulltext
databases generated 10 proposals. The Steering Committee indicated their
preference for one provider (rather than multiple contracts) for both the
access to databases and databases themselves. The Steering Committee also
indicated their preference for VT100 access, to ensure access to information
from a wide variety of terminals.
ACTION: The selection committee will meet and plans to have their selection ready for Steering Committee review in time for the November Steering Committee meeting.
2. Encyclopedia Britannica: Frank reported that Carol has done what she can to move this contract along, but that it has been delayed due to turnover and short staffing at the U.Va. Purchasing Office and at the U.Va. General Counsel's Office. The contract is being reviewed by the U.Va. General Counsel, but is expected to be signed very soon.
3. Oxford English Dictionary: Virginia Tech has agreed to handle this purchase for VIVA, with Paul Metz acting as the local coordinator. Copies of the draft contract have been sent to representatives of the Technical Issues and User Services Committees for their review.
4. Cooperative Collection Development Planning Retreat: Funds for this retreat were approved via email prior to this meeting. The retreat is scheduled to take place on November 20-21. In addition to the Collections Committee members, the retreat will include the other committee chairs.
5. Committee Name: The enlarged Electronic Collections Committee has changed its name and will now be called the VIVA Collections Committee (CC), reflecting their larger role regarding both electronic collections and collection management for VIVA.
6. Budget Overview: Frank distributed the Collections budget for 1995-96. They will refrain from making any other purchasing decisions until the decision on the fulltext database is made. Preliminary estimates are that after the fulltext decision is made, there will be only approximately $385,000 remaining for allocation.
7. Cooperation with the State Library: Charlene reported that the meeting with SOLINET and the Library of Virginia was held to discuss the possibility of joint purchases of digital subscriptions in the future (e.g. FirstSearch). The Steering Committee approved the discussions to date and urged Charlene and Carol to continue to explore these possibilities, while maintaining VIVA's flexibility for future purchases.
C. TECHNICAL ISSUES (Eileen Hitchingham)
1. Open Text Training for Doctoral Institutions: Eileen presented the
committee's recommendation for Open Text Training for technical staff members
at the 5 doctoral institutions. (SEE ACTION IV. A. below)
2. FirstSearch Connections: Eileen reported that there appear to be some difficulties with the community colleges printing from the FirstSearch databases.
D. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Kathy Perry for Nancy Marshall)
1. The next meeting of the Special Collections Committee is September 29.
2. The Committee has selected Gail McMillan of VPI to attend the Cornell
Digital Imaging Workshop. The original plan had been to have one person
trained and then to consider sending other members to the training or have
the training offered in Virginia for VIVA participants. Nancy has explored
the possibility of providing this training in the state, and will get back
to them in late spring (i.e. next fiscal year's training money) to discuss
further.
3. The Library of Virginia is going to update its DIRECTORY OF REPOSITORIES,
listing historical records and collections in Virginia. The survey will
include brief information (hours, phone numbers, basic services, collection)
for private and public colleges and universities.
ACTION: The Special Collections Committee will assist the Library of Virginia in gathering information for the Directory of Repositories.
E. USER SERVICES (Barbara Ford)
1. Joint Meeting with Technical Issues: Barbara reported on the joint
meeting with the Technical Issues Committee.
2. The program for the VLA meeting will be held on Friday, November 10,
9-11 am. It is anticipated that the audience will be non-academic librarians.
Roy Strohl is heading up this effort.
3. It was suggested that VIVA be represented at the spring New Horizons
meeting for the VCCS.
ACTION: User Services will explore the possibility of offering training at the New Horizons workshop for the VCCS in the spring and will work with the Publicity Committee as appropriate.
4. Other types of training for VIVA were discussed, with special emphasis given to faculty training. The Steering Committee agreed that at this time, only the Chadwyck-Healey databases would warrant training or information sharing for faculty members.
ACTION: User Services Committee will explore the possibility of conducting training or coordinating training for faculty members of VIVA resources (e.g. the Chadwyck-Healey databases).
F. PUBLICITY (Jean Major)
1. Publicity: Jean distributed the list of press releases, publicity and
anticipated releases generated for VIVA over the past year.
2. VIVA Program Evaluation: Jean reported that she had begun gathering sources of data for VIVA program evaluation.
IV. OTHER BUSINESS
A. Training and Travel
The Steering Committee approved the training projects proposed by the committees:
ILL: SOLINET general ILL training ($3,000)
ILL: Ariel Training (February or March) ($2,500)
ILL: Virginia Union List of Serials, 1 additional meeting at central site
($1,000)
Tech: Open Text Training ($6,000)
USER: VCCS New Horizons Conference ($300)
For further review:
a. User Services will explore the possibility of offering training at the
New Horizons workshop for the VCCS in the spring and will work with the
Publicity Committee as appropriate.
b. Jean Major will discuss possibility of SOLINET convening a meeting with the other consortial groups in the southern states.
B. 1995-96 Meeting Dates
VIVA Steering Committee Meeting Schedule for 1995-96:
October: No meeting
November 9, meeting in conjunction with VLA in Roanoke
December 14, meeting in conjunction with LAC at William & Mary in
Williamsburg
January: No meeting
February 8
March 14, meeting in conjunction with LAC at Radford University.
April 11 (tentative)
May 9 (tentative)
June 13, meeting in conjunction with LAC at Virginia State University,
Petersburg, VA.