SCHEV -- LIBRARY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

 

Virginia State University

Johnston Memorial Library

Conference Room, 2nd Floor

Petersburg, Virginia

June 10, 2005

9:00 a.m.

 

MINUTES (revised 9-16-05)

 

 

ATTENDANCE: Ralph Alberico (James Madison University), Wendell Barbour (Longwood University), Christopher Bean (Shenandoah University), Robin Benke (University of Virginia’s College at Wise),   Gene Damon (Virginia Community College System), Elaine Day (Averett University), Cathy Doyle (Christopher Newport University), David Hayes (Radford University),  John Jaffe (Sweet Briar College), Connie McCarthy (The College of William and Mary), Colette Macin (Norfolk State University), Gail McMillan for Eileen Hitchingham (Virginia Tech), Mary Mayer-Hennelly (Tidewater Community College), Frank Moran (Blue Ridge Community College), Virginia O’Herron (Old Dominion University), Jane Emister Penner for Karin Wittenborg (University of Virginia), Kathy Perry (VIVA), Don Samdahl (Virginia Military Institute), Aileen Schweitzer, (Thomas Nelson Community College),  Carol Sinwell (Northern Virginia Community College),  LeRoy Strohl (University of Mary Washington), John Ulmschneider (Virginia Commonwealth University), Deborah Vroman (Richard Bland College), Elsie Weatherington (Virginia State University), Nolan Yelich (Library of Virginia), John Zenelis (George Mason University).

 

CALL TO ORDER: Robin Benke, Chair, called the meeting to order at 9:00 A.M.

 

INTRODUCTIONS AND PRELIMINARY COMMENTS:

Robin Benke thanked  Elsie Weatherington for the VIVA and LAC meeting and dinner arrangements and for the hospitality at Virginia State University.

 

Dr. James Hunter, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Affairs at Virginia State University, delivered welcoming remarks on behalf of the VSU president and provost.  Dr. Hunter noted the key role that VIVA has played in benefiting both the VSU faculty and the library.

 

The minutes of the March 4, 2005, meeting were approved. 

 

 

VIVA REPORTS:

 

 

Ralph Alberico, Chair, Steering Committee, VIVA

1.       Ralph announced that Connie McCarthy had been elected as the Steering Committee Chair for the July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2007 term.

 

2.       Ralph shared an ambitious agenda for the Steering Committee retreat on July 14 – 15, 2005.  Among the proposed topics are:  cost sharing; VIVA funding of multimedia collections; storage facility; VIVA budget for the next legislative session; institutional repositories; digitization project; and potential new directions for VIVA.

 

3.  Eric Rector has accepted the position as Associate Director for VIVA and will begin work            July 14, 2005.  Eric was most recently employed at the University of Maryland –             Baltimore County with extensive work experience in user services, digital collections and information technology.

 

 

Kathy Perry, VIVA Project Director

1.       Kathy recognized Robin Benke for his participation and service on the VIVA Steering Committee;  LeRoy Strohl and Frank Moran were also recognized for their participation.  All were given tokens of appreciation.

 

2.       Frank Moran has been named as the VCCS representative on the Resources for Users Committee, filling a vacancy left by Sherle Abramson who moved out of state.

 

3.       Other committee chairs were reminded to inform Kathy of any rotations on their committees. 

 

4.       Kathy highlighted two recent presentations about VIVA projects:  a.  Gene Damon presented the VIVA report on the Ulrich’s Serials Analysis Project at the April 10 – 13, 2005, ICOLC meeting; b. Jim Self represented VIVA at the UK Serials Group meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, April 11 – 13, 2005, and shared the consortial viewpoint of Project COUNTER.  Both presentations were well-received.

 

 

Resource Sharing Committee: Kathy Perry for Eileen Hitchingham, Chair

1.       Kathy distributed a handout and list of registrants for the VIVA Interlibrary Loan Community Forum, July 15, 2005, at Sweet Briar College.  Kathy encouraged strong participation and noted that there was still time to register for the forum.

 

  1. The VIVA Steering Committee voted to provide $5,500 each to the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary from 2005-2006 funds to replace fiche-to-fiche duplicators and supplies.  Of the twelve schools that purchased fiche-to-fiche duplicators in 1995, William and Mary and the University of Virginia have the largest fiche collections.

 

 

VIVA Resources for Users Committee:  Gene Damon, Chair

Gene disseminated the “VIVA Resources for Users Committee Report to the Steering Committee, June 9, 2005,” summarized the Committee’s recommendations for renewals and reported the Steering Committee’s actions on other matters:

 

1.       The VIVA Steering Committee approved renewals for:  a. Annual Reviews; b. FirstSearch basic package; c. Bowker Books in Print, Ulrich’s and the Serials Analysis System; d. Nature, Nature Methods and Nature Chemical Biology.

 

2.       The Steering Committee approved the purchase of the full set of Nature archives which covers the period 1950-1996.

 

3.       Seven vendors responded to the RFP for several databases for which the existing contract was due to expire.  Core databases in the RFP were PsycINFO, CINAHL  ERIC and PsycArticles.  The Steering Committee will vote electronically on the proposals.  Gene noted that regardless of who gets the bid, there will be a new interface.  In addition, the RFP requested quotes for other databases that that subcommittee identified as being needed.  These will be evaluated and discussed in a second phase.

 

4.       The Steering Committee approved the RUC’s recommendation to acquire EconLit and PAIS through CSA beginning July 1, 2005.

 

5.       Two VIVA training fairs will be held in August:  August 3rd at The College of William and Mary; August 5th at Radford University.

 

6.       Gene’s report also included these informational notes:  a. VIVA has been working with PBS to acquire access to their video collection of more than 300 titles; secured access will be required.  b. Negotiations are underway with Oxford University Press for a new subscription to the OED; the current contract expires in February 2006.  c. The Serials Analysis project has been reenergized, with a target date of June 30, 2005 for institutional corrections and data reloads.  The first serials analysis identified possible titles  to acquire, including the purchasing of archival rights and perpetual access.

 

 

 

 

VIVA Outreach Committee:  John Ulmschneider, Chair

John distributed the “VIVA Outreach Committee Quarterly Report, 6-9-05” that noted  a committee meeting in Charlottesville on April 22 and committee work by email and conference call throughout March, April and May. 

 

The report also summarized progress on the committee’s main project for the period-- that of the VIVA web site design upgrade.  The committee received considerable feedback from librarians and implemented many of the suggestions.  In addition, many comments from the VIVA community revealed some confusion about the primary audience for the VIVA web site.  According to the report, the committee agreed on five goals for the design of the VIVA web site:

·         Promotion of VIVA, targeting non-librarian visitors to the site

·         Information about VIVA for constituents, primarily non-librarian visitors

·         Services for end users of VIVA resources

·         Convenience for staff of VIVA institutions

·         Information for vendors

 

John thanked Elaine Day and the other committee members for taking all the ideas that were submitted and putting them into focus.

 

The Steering Committee approved the web site design and goals.  John Ulmschneider will send a message to VIVA libraries asking for photos of their library buildings to be posted on the VIVA web site.  The photos should include people and should show something distinctive and recognizable about their institutions.  Kathy Perry and Eric Rector will assist the committee in the web design implementation this summer.

 

 

 

 

 

Virginia Heritage Project:  John Jaffe, Chair

John reported that the taskforce had met on February 4, 2005.  Members discussed the need for a new Virginia Heritage Project brochure and recommended this for funding to the VIVA Steering Committee. The Steering Committee approved funding for 1,000 copies of the brochure.  John Jaffe distributed samples of the brochure, which are being printed at Virginia Tech.

 

 

Digital Preservation through Regional Cooperation:  New LOCKSS Applications:  Gail McMillan, Director, Digital Library and Archives, VPI & SU

Gail provided an extensive overview of a two-year grant project awarded by the Library of Congress in which VPI is participating with 4 other institutions.  The acronym “LOCKSS” means “Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe.”  Gail explained that the project focuses on low-cost storage and management of e-content, providing access and links to journal collections when libraries cannot access the servers of participating publishers.  Member institutions take responsibility for storing content on their servers so that “volumes” can be retrieved from any one of the backup servers.  Currently LOCKSS has agreements with approximately seventy publishers.  Gail noted a number of features of these arrangements:  Libraries have access to the collections in perpetuity, even if their subscription ends; Software can run on a desktop or a mega server; LOCKSS software turns a PC into a preservation tool; Databases are text-based files that don’t require a lot of computer storage space.

 

Gail explained that the VPI LOCKSS project involves more than e-journals.  Also included are the:  MetaArchive of Southern Digital Culture; Electronic theses and dissertations; 9/11 web sites; Newspapers; and Government documents;  The Association of SouthEastern Research Libraries (ASERL)  is asking for volunteers with technical expertise, time and personnel to further develop and customize work on LOCKSS.

 

Spirited discussion followed the presentation and a suggestion was made that the VIVA Steering Committee discuss the potential for VIVA working with publishers on this project, perhaps considering individual titles within the Virginia Heritage Project.

 

 

 

Library Services to Distance Users:  Carol Sinwell

Carol reported that Northern Virginia Community College is aggressively developing online courses and as a consequence, there are numerous issues related to student success and retention in those courses.  A natural question is, “What is the role of the library in serving the distant learning student population?”  Carol is seeking input from librarians who are providing support to distant learners and who can share how they are serving users at remote sites.  Carol distributed a survey of “Distance Learning Efforts” and agreed to email it to LAC libraries for their response.

 

Extensive discussion ensued with LAC members sharing distant learning practices, policies, staffing and fee structures at their institutions.  Members agreed that the libraries need to be proactive in their involvement with distant learning support and in strengthening faculty development for effectively using online resources.

 

 

 

Virginia Learning Infrastructure Initiative:  Ralph Alberico

Ralph reviewed recent developments with the VLII and reminded LAC members that funding and resources had not been approved.  However, Ralph and other workgroup leaders had collaborated on a document to help develop a strategic plan and to formalize an approach for the next legislative session.  Ralph created an executive summary that he will send to SCHEV and to the Library Advisory Committee.  Ralph advocates using VIVA as a model for support and governance structure.

 

 

Nominating Committee:  Roy Strohl

Roy presented the slate of new officers for the SCHEV Library Advisory Committee:  Chair, Don Samdahl; Secretary, Aileen Schweitzer.  The nominees were unanimously affirmed.

 

 

Library of Virginia Update: Nolan Yelich

Nolan expressed appreciation for the opportunity of participating in the SCHEV LAC meetings and shared the following updates on behalf of the Library of Virginia:

1.       The former State Library building is being dedicated as the Commonwealth’s new Executive Office Building where the legislature will be meeting during renovation of the Capitol building.  Nolan commented that the State Library Building was originally constructed as a WPA project and that the recent renovation work was very well done.

2.       The Library of Virginia is sponsoring a year-long study on all aspects of public library service in Virginia, with the final report due out in September.  The report will be available online.

3.       A subcommittee has been looking at the Public Records Act of 1976 in order to address electronic records management issues and to ensure that state institutions are capturing electronic information.  The Library of Virginia is working with the current administration to transfer all such records to its archives.

4.       The Council on Virginia’s Future has established a website where users may view the council’s roadmap for the future and long-term objectives:  http://www.future.virginia.gov/Index.htm

5.       Several noteworthy events merit attention:  a. The Library of Virginia exhibition on Capitol Square Art; b. The 100th anniversary of the Virginia Library Association; c. The launching of a new video about the Library of Virginia – its collection and its legacy.

 

Other Business

  1. Cathy Doyle noted that a recent fire in the William and Mary dormitories had destroyed some anime collections and she asked that libraries donate materials to replace those lost in the fire.
  2. Ms. Mary Sellen has been hired as the new director of the Christopher Newport University Captain John Smith Library.  Cathy Doyle is moving to Massachusetts where she will be the director of the Westfield State College Ely Library.
  3. LeRoy Strohl thanked Ralph Alberico for chairing the VIVA Steering Committee and expressed his appreciation for the work of all the current officers and subcommittee members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the Good of the Order

 

The meeting was adjourned at 11:55 a.m. and was followed by a tour of the renovated Johnston Memorial Library lead by Elsie Weatherington.

 

Future LAC Meetings with VIVA Steering Committee the preceding day:

 

September 16, 2005       Longwood University (changed to University of Mary Washington)

December 2, 2005         Blue Ridge Community College, Weyers Cave

March  2006                 TBD

May/June/July 2006?     Radford University

 

Aileen Schweitzer, Secretary