The Virtual Library of Virginia
Steering Committee Meeting
Thursday, January 30, 1997
VIRTUAL MEETING
I. PROJECT UPDATE
A. Pending Procurements:
1. FirstSearch -- Kathy reported that FirstSearch block searches were again available and that steps were being
taken to try to avoid any similar problems in the future.
2. These contracts are at JMU:
· Britannica (a slight delay in order to have Britannica recognize JMU as the legal purchasing agent for
VIVA)
· Project Muse –renewal;
· CSA;
· GaleNet;
3. MathSciNet – Kathy reported she is still working on that contract.
4. Dow Jones and Chadwyck-Healey PCI are both in committee.
B. Printing Status:
1. Publicity Committee recommended that each VIVA library receive another three posters, so those are being reprinted.
2. Inserts describing all 19 products have been proofed and are being printed.
C. Charlene reported:
1. Task Force on Database Strategies: she had appointed the committee and the members are: Jeff Barry (ODU), Lee
Christner (UR), Gene Damon (VCCS), Jacque Dessino (TCC-Virginia Beach), Berna Heyman (W&M), Kathy Perry (VIVA),
and Carol Pfeiffer (chair). Carol reported that the task force will hold its first meeting on February 12.
2. Kathy spoke to 400 members of the NOVA faculty.
3. Charlene will be speaking at the NLII meeting of EDUCOM in early February about how VIVA resources are being
used in the teaching program of New Century College at the Johnson Center. The presentation is called "High
Tech, High Touch" and will be done with the Dean of New Century and VP for Information Technology, John O'Connor.
4. Attendees at the CONSORT meeting will be Kathy, Carol, and Eileen.
5. Jean and John will attend the SOLINET meeting on consortia.
6. No word from the Mellon Foundation regarding JSTOR.
7. Charlene discussed problems with access to First Search with Gary
Houk, Vice President, OCLC, and he promised to look into the problems and possible solutions, including a line
to Virginia.
ACTION: Please send information about problems with FirstSearch to TIC representatives with a copy to Charlene (for the present).
D. John Jaffe reported on the participation by independent schools.
1. The independent schools have completed the Books in Print Contract and are working on the billing questions.
2. Chris Millson-Martula (Lynchburg College) is assisting with canvassing the independent members on purchases.
3. Barbara Brown (WLU) is working with Open Text and UVA to check into revised pricing structure for the independent
institutions.
4. They are working on posting the participation lists for independent schools on the Virginia Independent Colleges
and Universities Library Association web site: http://www.vicula.sbc.edu .
IV. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. Organization Committee (Charlene Hurt)
Charlene distributed the Recommendations for VIVA’s Organization Structure.
B. ILL Enhancements (Dennis Robison)
1. Dennis has appointed the ad hoc committee to study the appropriateness of commercial document delivery as part
of a VIVA ILL service. The subcommittee will be chaired by Harry Kriz from Virginia Tech.
2. The next meeting of the ILL Committee is scheduled to take place on February 7 at UVA with the ILL department heads and lending staff of the 6 doctorals. The primary purpose is to discuss ways to improve VIVA interlibrary loans.
C. Collections (Carol Pfeiffer)
1. COST-SAVINGS/VALUE-ADDED SURVEY. Carol has distributed the cost-savings/value added survey summary and spreadsheet
to all members. The discussion on the topic will be deferred.
ACTION: Steering Committee members should give Carol feedback on substantive and/or editorial suggestions before the March meeting.
2. STATUS REPORT ON CCM PROJECTS. All four CCM projects are proceeding on the schedules set at the November
workshop with George Soete. Momentum for these projects remains high. As a reminder, the projects are:
· Allied Health & Nursing: Develop a statewide collection of allied health/nursing journal literature;
· Business: Undertake a coordinated review of all economics journals over $200;
· Project Confidence: Compare fulltext titles in available general periodicals
databases to identify a "core electronic journal collection" for VIVA;
· Science & Technology: Develop a cost-sharing model for electronic journal subscriptions, using the
Academic Press contract as one basis for a model (i.e., not this year's license but a new model they will develop).
3. Status Report on BIP through FirstSearch. Access to BIP via FirstSearch was not yet disconnected because the Collections Committee learned that there is at least one type of search (by editor) that can be done on FirstSearch but cannot be done on IAC. Our TIC contact for IAC (MaryAnn Chappell) is researching this.
4. Recommendation to License STAT-USA. The proposal for this resource was presented. This product provides access
to over 300,000 reports and
statistical services from more than 50 federal agencies. This resource was ranked highest by the VIVA government
document librarians as being of most interest to them for VIVA purchase. Since technical review on this product
had not been completed, the Collections Committee recommended approving this purchase, pending technical review,
if deemed necessary.
ACTION: The Steering Committee approved this purchase through an email vote.
D. Special Collections (Betsy Pitman)
Betsy provided the minutes of the last Special Collections Committee meeting. These were posted to the listserv
1/27/97.
E. Technical Issues (Eileen Hitchingham)
Eileen reported that the next TIC meeting will be held in later February. A major discussion item will be user
authentication.
V. OTHER BUSINESS
A. The next VIVA Steering Committee will be held on Thursday, March 6, 10 a.m. - 1:45 p.m. at the Library of Virginia
in Richmond.