Minutes of February 18, 1999 Meeting

Present:

Ben Beede; Jeanne Boyle; Veronica Calderhead; Howard Dess; Harriette Hemmasi; Ann Montanaro, recorder; Jim Nettleman; Bob Sewell, conducting and editing; Jane Sloan; Addie Tallau; Myoung Wilson (replacing Kevin Mulcahy).

Handouts:

Results of the 1998/99 Library Materials Budget Survey of the ALCTS/CMDS/Chief Collection Development Officers of Large Research Libraries RGS); Database Use Chart, 1998-99 (results through Jan. 99) (AM); two charts: Science Serials in Next Five Years Projected Increases and Science Serials in Next Five Years with status quo budget (RGS); Cost per Use Examples (HD); Methodological Issues in doing a Journal Cost per Use Study (AT); "Recommended Networked Resources Progress Report Part I: Resources Not Requiring Central Funds" (HH)

1. AUL Report
   Risk Management is having an outside insurance company appraise 40 campus buildings including several libraries to determine replacement costs for the buildings and their contents. Bob is working with them to establish replacement costs for library materials. They are also reviewing the replacement cost of collections, furniture, and equipment. In addition to the replacement cost of items in the collections, they need to determine the processing cost per item. Harriette Hemmasi has calculated the processing cost at $42.00/item.
   
   Bob distributed "Results of the 1998/99 Library Materials Budget Survey" which he prepared and presented at the Big Heads [ALCTS/CMDS/ Chief Collection Development Officers of Large Research Libraries Discussion Group] meeting at the ALA Mid-Winter Meeting. It shows the total library funding for materials; increases received; expenditures for electronic resources, bibliographic utilities, and memberships; interlibrary loan and document delivery; and expenditures for serials and approval plans. The report will be available on the web.
2. Acquisitions
   Jane is reviewing Blackwell profiles with selectors in high return areas. Since cataloging records are now being received with each approval plan record, the workflow will be more cost-effective if the return rate is reduced. Tech Services will soon be acquiring catalog records for items firm ordered from Blackwell as well.
   
   A discussion is taking place among the N.B. Collections Group on the need to impose spending limits and to cut off spending in particular funds when the free balance (expenditure and encumbrance) reaches 110%. A systemwide approach needs to be developed. Jim Nettleman reported that he monitors all Robeson funds now.
   
   Jane is meeting with Yankee to review their approval plan.
3. Systems
   Ann distributed the database use statistics. The cost per use figures have not been updated to reflect January use. The VALE use figures are not yet available nor are the individual title statistics for Proquest.
   
   Systems is in the process of upgrading memory in all of the public PCs and will further upgrade staff machines if WorkFlows or other applications require additional memory. The Unicorn software will be upgraded in March and the Novell servers are also in the process of being upgraded.
   
   Ann attended the JSTOR user meeting at ALA and distributed a list of the volumes and issues needed by JSTOR to complete their holdings. All but one title is held by Rutgers, several are held in multiple locations. JSTOR has completed the first phase of their development and the next phase will include titles added, and available for purchase, by discipline.
4. Long Range Plan.
   a. There was a lengthy discussion about finding a solution to the science journal problem. Marianne Gaunt recently met with CSPAD and the committee members encouraged her to fund the Web of Science. The Web of Science will be purchased from the 1999-2000 collections budget. Ovid Current Contents will be canceled as will other overlapping indexes. The remaining funds will have to come from science journal cancellations or possible additional funds. Bob presented cost estimates showing the projected cost of science serials in the next five years and the number of science journal titles which would have to be cut to:
   1. cover projected inflation,
   2. cover the cost of converting paper subscriptions to electronic, increase support of ILL and commercial document delivery, and
   3. support the purchase of the Web of Science. Various models with and without increases to the budget are being developed.
   
   
   b. Howard reviewed Steven Bensman's article "Scientific and Technical Serials Holdings Optimization: A LSU Serials Redesign Project Exercise" in LRTS ( July, 1998 v 42 n 3). The detailed study is a model for reviewing access vs ownership. Bensman identifies an elite core of essential science and technical journals that are reasonably priced and typically association publications. [Howard agreed to develop such a list of science and technology journals relevant to Rutgers programs.] The author suggests that consortial purchases, document delivery, and resources sharing strategies are temporary and incomplete solutions to the science/tech serials crisis and in the long run will not solve the problem. It will take a major overhaul of the scholarly (and particularly the scientific) communication process.
   
   c. Journal use study. Part of the temporary solution to RULs science/tech serials problems is to determine if it is cheaper to own/subscribe or access individual articles through commercial document delivery and ILL. Howard presented a review of ways of doing a journal cost per use study and outlined alternative ways the both the cost and use could be calculated. Addie presented a methodology for doing such a study and identified a number of problem areas, i.e. determining the cost of the journal is often difficult because it comes as part of a package or membership; such a study can be used to differentiate between high use and low use journals but those with moderate use are difficult. The cost to do such a study would be high because of staffing and equipment.
5. Other Annoucements:
   • Ebsco is providing a 60 day trial of their e-journals which will soon be on the Trial page.
   • Jeanne is reviewing all of the licensing agreements and license restrictions for directions to our RRS staff and as a part of the ARL's effort to collection comments on the Digital Millennium Copy Right Act as it pertains to distance education.
   • Harriette distributed the "Recommended Networked Resources Progress Report Part I: Resources Not Requiring Central Funds."