University Library Committee 1997-1998

Minutes for April 16, 1998

PRESENT: James Bailey, Peter Gilkey (chair), Michelle Johnston, Lucy Lynch, Gordon Sayre, James Schombert, Sergey Yuzvinsky.

ABSENT: Francie Cogan, John Nicols, Peggy Prentice, Regina Psaki, George Shipman, Ray Weldon.

GUESTS: Deborah Carver, Associate University Librarian for Public Services and Collections; Jeff Hurwit, Senate Vice President.

The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by Peter Gilkey, chair.

SUMMARY

Orbis Discussion

The ULC met persuant to the request by the University Senate Executive Committee to look into the utilization of the UO Library collection by Orbis. University Senate President Ann Tedards sent an email on 26 February 1998 writing:

Dear Peter: As you know, the Senate Executive Committee agreed at its meeting yesterday to ask the Library Committee to review ORBIS, especially with an eye towards whether or not the U of O is in any way subsidizing programs at other institutions because of its excellent holdings. We hope the Library Committee will be able to take on this task and we look forward receiving your report. Ann Tedards, D.M.A. President, University Senate Associate Professor, School of Music.

Senate Vice President Jeff Hurwit attended the ULC meeting and provided the ULC with a 3 page document outlining his concerns and asked that the 1998/9 ULC "is formally asked to review the ORBIS system, and to present its findings to the University Senate at some future date."

The 1997/8 ULC committee agreed to recommend that the 1998/9 ULC committee look into the matter further in fall 1998.

Discussion of the Library Review.

The ULC will meet at 0900 on Monday 11 May with the internal reviewers

The 1997/8 ULC has adjourned sine die

Information concerning Orbis borrowing policy 20 May 1998 Contact the chair P. Gilkey if you have further items of business if there are any further items of business for the 1997/8 LIBCOM. Professor James Schombert has been elected chair of the 1998/9 LIBCOM and should be contacted concerning business of that committee.

DETAILED MINUTES

Library Hours

Carver reported that the change in library hours this term has been very positive. Students are using the libraries up until the midnight closure. Office of Public Safety and Saferide have revised their schedules to accommodate the midnight closure Sunday through Thursday.

ORBIS

Gilkey welcomed guest Jeff Hurwit, who is attending at the request of the Senate Executive Committee. Hurwit stated that the Senate has asked him to review with the ULC some concerns faculty have expressed relating to the Orbis borrowing system, and to invite a representative to present information on Orbis at a future Senate meeting. Hurwit distributed and reviewed a handout listing questions concerning Orbis. Those questions, and Carver's responses, follow:

Q. The UO Library loans 2= times more than it borrows. Is this acceptable? The A&AA Library lends five times more than it borrows. Is there a way to protect libraries from this kind of disproportion? Are there limitations placed on the number of books that can be borrowed?
R. The Orbis Council realizes that the UO is the largest lender in the consortium. The Council is in agreement that each institution's priority is to first address the needs of their own students and faculty. The situation within A&AA Library is unique. The perceived problem within AA&A Library is largely due to the fact that the other Orbis member libraries do not have extensive art and architecture collections, and the A&AA Library's collection is used very heavily by UO students and staff. To correct the situation that is occurring in the A&AA Library, and to prevent it from happening to other collections, library staff are working with teaching faculty to find out what materials they will be using for their classes - it will be possible to restrict certain items from circulating. At this time, there are not limits placed on how many books a person/library can borrow. But if it is discovered that someone/library is borrowing a large percentage of one of our collections which is creating access problems for UO, we can "block" that material from Orbis lending. Plans are underway to change the institutional priority codes, e.g. the UO will be selected last for any Orbis borrowing request.
Q. What are the lending/borrowing statistics of the member institutions? Will statistical data be available on the web for the campus community to review?
R. Orbis borrowing statistics can be put on the web.
Q. What is the status of Oregon State University's membership in Orbis? Will UW or WSU join in the future?
R. It is expected that Oregon State University will become part of the Orbis borrowing system by Fall '98. This should change our net lending percentage significantly. The large Washington schools have no immediate plans to become members of Orbis.
Q. What is the actual delivery turn-around time? Have there been any books lost or damaged through Orbis borrowing?
R. There have not been any reports of lost or damaged books. If this were to occur, it is the borrowing library's responsibility to replace or pay the repair cost.
Q. Who was involved in the decision-making process to authorize private institutions to borrow state-owned materials? Most would agree the UO does benefit from the Orbis borrowing process. But given the fact that we lend far more than we borrow, is this necessarily "good and justifiable?"
R. As far as faculty input, the University Library Committee and University Administration were part of the decision-making process from the beginning. Shipman would have more information on other campus involvement. The UO, as a whole, does benefit from the Orbis borrowing system. Orbis borrowing increases chances of obtaining a title that we do not hold and it also provides access to unique titles.
A motion was made to have representatives from Orbis/Library/ULC attend a Senate session this coming fall to discuss the questions presented by Hurwit - to provide information on the status of Orbis, the benefits and disadvantages of the system. The motion was seconded. All voted in favor of the motion. Gilkey will instruct the chair of the 98/99 ULC to follow through with this motion.

Library Program Review

Carver reported that the Library Program Review will be taking place May 10-12. The external review members are James Williams (University of Colorado), William Studer (Ohio State University), and Charles Osburn (University of Alabama). The members on the internal review committee are Frances Cogan (Honors College), John Gage (English), and Janet Wasko (School of Journalism). She distributed a draft of the review schedule. The schedule includes a meeting of the ULC and the external review committee. All agreed to meet Monday, May 11 from 9-10am in the Librarian's Office Conference Room. The reviewers will present the agenda. Carver asked the ULC members to send her names of students, both undergraduates and graduates, who would be interested in participating in the review process.

New Business

Gilkey stated that he will not be serving on the ULC next year. He asked if anyone continuing to serve on next year's committee would be interested in serving as chair. It was suggested that he present this to the entire committee, since several are absent from today's session. Gilkey will do so and report back to the committee. There are no other agenda items to be addressed this spring. Gilkey thanked everyone for their participation. He will draft a final report for the committee's approval, and will then forward it on to the Senate President. The meeting was adjourned at 3:55 p.m.

Submitted by Sheila Gray
May 2, 1998

Maintained by: Sheila Gray, skgray@uoregon.edu
Last Modified: 02/07/2008