University Library Committee 2002-2003

Minutes for April 18, 2003

PRESENT: Val Burris, Deb Carver, Andre Djiffack, Gina Psaki, Peter O\'Day, Dan Pope, Mark Vanscheeuwijck

Dan Pope, chair, convened the meeting at 8:40 a.m.

Rowcom/Faxon Update

Deb reported that the anticipated sale of Rowcom/Faxon to Ebsco has not yet been finalized. Only 35% of the major publishers, including Blackwell, Cambridge University Press, Elsevier, have agreed to send gracing issues. If Ebsco does purchase Rowcom, it is expected that we will not recover some of the issues that lapsed during the last several months. The library is putting together a list of those titles that are being graced. Sheila will send the url to the committee members. Subject specialists will be asked to review and prioritize titles from the non-participating publishers, at which time the library will need to discuss options for re-subscribing to critical titles.

MLA

The committee agreed to direct the memo on scholarly publishing/promotion criteria to the Council of Deans, but to also send copies to Department Heads, Faculty Personnel Committee, CAS Dean\'s Advisory Committee, Faculty Advisory Committee, and the UO Senate. [S. Gray distributed it via email to these groups on 4/29/03.]

Orbis/Cascade Alliance

Deb reported that the newly formed Orbis/Cascade Alliance recently held its first meeting. The loading of titles will begin in May. The Washington system will be down for two weeks, but Orbis will not be disrupted. Even though the design will be different, it will function the same as Orbis.

24/7

Deb announced that Knight Library will remain open 24/7 during dead and finals week spring term. Over the last several years, students have been asking for extended hours, but the library felt the costs were too high. This experiment will allow only UO students, faculty, and staff in the building between the hours of 1:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. - photo ID will be required. There will be uniformed security guards staffing the building during those hours. The only services available then will be copiers and the computer lab. The library will keep counts of users during the 1:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. period and will also ask students for feedback. The 24/7 task force will use this information to make recommendations to the Library Administration regarding the future hours of operation.

Serials Review

Deb provided an update on the review process. The $400,000 target will be used to cancel titles for 2004. The additional $200,000 target will most likely need to occur next year for the cuts to take affect in 2005. Some departments are cutting above their targets to provide a cushion for future cuts. There are some databases that departments are eliminating also. A few departments have expressed concern about reaching their targets. There may be good reasons as inflation rates vary from discipline to discipline. Deb will meet with them to discuss their concerns. One possible response might be to reduce their monograph allocation. Some ULC members felt it would not be fair to allow any department to not participate in the cancellation process as designed.

A question was raised as to whether faculty could donate personal copies to save a title from being cut. Deb responded that it is not illegal to make donations according to our previous counsel, but it is very difficult to build and manage a permanent collection using personal donations. The journals need to come in as soon as they are published, and need to continue doing so year after year. Deb will talk with library staff about faculty contributing personal copies of a journal title. The ULC agreed that this procedure would have to be kept to a minimum.

It was decided to hold one more ULC meeting before the end of the term to discuss the overall review process. For additional information on the process, visit the library website http://libweb.uoregon.edu/colldev/review/serial.html Other agenda items for the next meeting will include an update on circulating bound journals, Virtual Reference System test, and selecting a committee chair for 03/04.

Before adjourning, Deb distributed a spreadsheet comparing UO\'s materials expenditures and library staff FTE to Association of Research Libraries and UO Peer Institutions (UC-Santa Barbara, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, N. Carolina, Virginia, and Washington). UO has a slightly higher percentage of materials expenditures but has a much lower number of staff and faculty. Deb added that the library has eliminated two positions this year.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 a.m.

Submitted by Sheila Gray

Maintained by: Sheila Gray, skgray@uoregon.edu
Last Modified: 01/10/2008