Minutes of the November 30, 1998 Meeting
Present: P. Chervenie, A. Ciliberti, John Cohn, Judy Cohn, J. Gaboury, M. Gaunt, J. Getaz, P. Price, R. Sweeney. Also, Rutgers Staff Member Dave Hoover.
1. John Gaboury reported on staff changes at OCLC, including the announcement that John Mihalick is no longer with OCLC. Ericka Yaeger and Ron Gardiner will be assuming more direct responsibility for our project.
2. John distributed two reports which illustrated VALE billing responses and the current status of VALE expenses. The latter report showed a cost savings of hardware and telecommunications of nearly $130,000.
3. Based upon the status of VALE expenses, the group agreed to extend the web workstation reimbursement benefit to the three research institutions which had offered to forego the reimbursement when the VALE budget was cut. Anne Ciliberti will mail out the reimbursement instructions to the three directors.
4. John also announced that he will begin to make preliminary vendor contracts and to set up meetings at ALA Midwinter. He asked that any members of the group who wish to attend these sessions let Anne know their schedules.
5. Marianne Gaunt reported on a meeting held with the four regional library directors, Jack Livingstone and Marilyn Veldof to discuss possible collaboration on databases acquisitions. The regional library directors were enthusiastic about investigating resources of potential interest to all state residents, such as the Encyclopedia Britannica, full-text newspaper packages and consumer health resources. A second meeting is planned for December 16.
6. John Gaboury reported that contracts with UMI have been signed and that APA and CINAHL will be done shortly.
7. Anne Ciliberti informed the group that several libraries had expressed interest in adding other VALE databases which might have licensing implications with the database providers. This will be discussed with OCLC during the next conference call. Dave Hoover asked for clarification about whether the licenses are for 150 simultaneous users or unlimited. John responded that the license agreements signed to date do not indicate any limit, but that the CINAHL verbal agreement was for a maximum of 50 simultaneous users. Dave indicated that there may be difficulty in monitoring the number of simultaneous users but that he would look into it.
8. A lengthy discussion ensued about the funding and choice of VALE databases for the next fiscal year. John estimated that the cost of continuing the current databases will not be double this year's costs due to carry over dollars and diminished one-time expenses paid this year only. The group also discussed the possibility of rolling or staggered subscriptions and the need to set a target deadline for determining what databases would be offered. This target deadline was established as March 1, 1999.
9. Marianne indicated that a lot of feedback about VALE had been received and that the group should decide how to handle responding to it. Richard Sweeney said that he felt all libraries should receive email and print messages that outlined the VALE problems and indicated which could be resolved and when. A lengthy discussion followed about the need to establish clear protocols for reporting emergency and non-emergency VALE problems.
10. John Cohn offered to explore the possibility of staff from Monmouth University maintaining a non-emergency listserv for reporting problems and John Gaboury suggested that he will try to authorize a member of the William Paterson staff to accept emergency calls.
11. Rich Sweeney indicated that his interface group will attempt to put together a list of the current VALE problems in prioritized order which can then be discussed with Dave Hoover in terms of his ability to address the problems.
12. The plans for the VALE reception on December 18 were reviewed and Anne reported that packets had been sent to all libraries with announcements about the reception and publicity notices. All presidents were also sent invitations. Anne will send invitations to important VALE vendors, the New Jersey State Library personnel and the Regional Library Directors.
13. Joan Getaz reported that OCLC will print the VALE flyers but not pay for the mousepads. When the price estimates are received a method of purchasing them must be developed.
14. The problem of emailing the text of full-text articles was discussed and Marianne distributed a workaround which she will ask Dave Hoover to add to the Help menu. It will also be sent to the training, technical support and interface groups.
15. Marianne reviewed the group's next steps: collaboration with the state library and regional directors, identification and agreement about next year's database offerings, discussion about future funding with Assemblyman Zecker and possible linkages with the Virtual University group.
16. The next meeting will be on January 22 following the meeting of the New Jersey Council of College and University Library Directors at Georgian Court College.
Minutes prepared by Anne Ciliberti
This page last modified: 1/5/99 10:10:02 AM KWW