Minutes of Wednesday, October 24, 2001 Meeting

Present:

Au, M. Fetzer, R. Gardner, M. Gaunt, T. Glynn, S. Harrington (recorder), T. Haynes, M. Li, J. Mardikian, M. Page, H. Perez-Gilbe, A. Tallau, L. Vazquez, M. Wilson

Excused:

L. Langschied

Decisions

• The ROP report on the timeline for faculty elections and the integration of the revised portion of the Bylaws into the existing RUL faculty Bylaws will be discussed at the December Coordinating Committee meeting.

• PPAAC will send the latest version of the Procedures for Filling Open or Newly Created Library Faculty Positions to the Personnel Office.

Meeting convened at 9:39 a.m.

1. The minutes of the September 19, 2001 meeting were approved as amended.

2. Old Business

a. Committee Action Plans

Research Leave Review Committee
J. Mardikian reported that the Committee reviews short research leave and sabbatical applications, and considers procedures as needed.

Public Services Council
R. Gardner reported that the PSC's goals for coming year are to: address how RUL fits into CAPS (College of Applied and Professional Studies), bring up the new RUL website design and allocate funding for graphics, and market RUL to the University community. Additionally, the Council will review and determine what services might be discontinued, what new skills are needed to support RUL services, and will review system-wide recommendations on the use of Netscape versus Internet Explorer.

Collection Development Council
T. Glynn reported that CDC is concentrating on the evaluation of the contents of electronic packages. A brief evaluation of e-journal use and user satisfaction will be conducted. State funds have been distributed into fund codes. A demo of Proquest's Historical Newspapers was favorably received.

A brief discussion on electronic packages ensued. Issues included the number of journals included in the 1-year embargo on full-text content (e.g., EBSCOHost), the existence of guidelines for selectors, and how to consult/notify the faculty of package changes. The consensus was that the subject must be addressed globally.

Technical Services Council
H. Perez-Gilbe reported that TSC examined the use of the 856 MARC field. AACR2 will present revisions dealing with the 856 field. Blackwells recently conducted training in online ordering. Proquest links have been removed from IRIS, in preparation for the transfer from Proquest to Ebsco. Web caching has created a major problem by slowing down network connections. Residence hall students may encounter problems accessing online resources because of proxy server connections due to the cache problems. The Luna project is in the early phases of implementation.

Planning Committee
A. Tallau reported that the Committee is considering the framework for planning and planning needs.

Scholarly and Professional Activities Committee
L. Vazquez reported that SAPAC presents brown-bag lunches to showcase the research and professional activities of library faculty.

Advisory Committee on Appointments and Promotions
M. Page reported that the Committee is reviewing one tenure action. Reappointment actions will be reviewed later in the academic year.

Rules of Procedure Committee
T. Haynes said that the ROP report on the faculty election timeline and related RUL faculty Bylaws changes will be issued by December 2001 and implemented for the next faculty election.

Committee of Review
M. Fetzer reported that references to the University Regulations and Procedures Manual in the RUL faculty Bylaws should be updated to accord with the new numbering system.

Personnel Policy and Affirmative Action Committee
M. Li reported that a public program on the subject of personnel recruitment and retention is planned for Spring 2002. The Committee will communicate the latest version of the recruitment procedures to the Personnel Office.

b. Status report on faculty bylaw changes relating to elections-ROP

The ROP report on the timeline for faculty elections and any necessary changes in the RUL faculty Bylaws will be issued by December 2001. M. Wilson noted that the report would be the main agenda item at the December Coordinating Committee meeting.

3. New Business

Agenda for the November 16th RUL Faculty Meeting

The Committee reviewed the Agenda for the November 16, 2001 RUL faculty meeting. Discussion centered around two agenda items:

Report of Members Serving on University Bodies--University Senators
A. Tallau said that a revised statement on CAPS is available on the University Senate website (senate.rutgers.edu/issues.html). Coordination between the University and RUL will be needed for CAPS, including the provision of budget support for trade and professional publications.

Special Topics: Scholarly Communication
The Scholarly Communication Committee, chaired by M. Wilson and H. Dess, has initiated an advocacy campaign aimed at the teaching faculty and editorial committee members. At the November RUL faculty meeting, the University Librarian and the Committee members will discuss developments in scholarly communication, the practical activities that take place at other institutions, and plans for the Spring 2002 symposium. Jean-Claude Guedon's article "In Oldenburg's Long Shadow: Librarians, Research Scientists, Publishers, and the Control of Scientific Publishing," is recommended as background reading. (www.arl.org/arl/proceedings/138/guedon.html)

4. Report of the University Librarian

The public phase gala celebration for the capital campaign "Creating the Future Today" has been postponed until June 2002. A publication has been produced in conjunction with the campaign. Capital is being raised for the Dana shell, Douglass renovations, and collections and technology endowments. RUL is halfway to its goal of $9.25 million, and has five more years to reach this goal.

ELF funding has been approved, and logistics of spending will be decided. RUL has 18 months to spend ELF funds.

M. Gaunt introduced professional training and development programs as a potential agenda item for a future Coordinating Committee meeting. RUL faculty members are encouraged to share their ideas with M. Wilt. Topics include:

• developing change management programs in a diverse climate

• engaging library faculty in issues relating to soft skills

• integration of faculty and staff training opportunities

ARL has proposed the establishment of an international scholarly communication alliance among research library organizations. Scholarly information created in academia should be accessible for the broader public good. Libraries must reevaluate their role in the current climate. Strategic issues include:

• the potential for harmonization of digital copyright laws

• open archiving and self-archiving in academia

• the simplification of metadata

• the facilitation of the use of authoring software

• the responsibility for preservation

• collaboration among institutions to broaden accessibility

The main statewide network, Njedge.net, is exploring ways to collaborate with VALE.

5. Other

The viewing of potentially offensive materials on public terminals was discussed. Discussion centered on whether or not faculty would benefit from group discussion in another venue. M. Gaunt stated that she would double check with University Counsel David Scott on federal law rulings relating to pornography. It was noted that while it is possible to delineate responses to a variety of potential circumstances, each situation is unique. The viewing of potentially offensive materials may intersect with safety and/or sexual harassment concerns. While the documents listed below provide position statements, committee members concluded that further airing of the issues might be warranted.

• ALA's Code of Ethics (www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/ethics.html)

• ALA's Library Bill of Rights (www.ala.org/work/freedom/lbr.html)

• RUL Public Services Policy Memo 1: Access to Library Resources and Services (www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/staff/staff.html)

Meeting adjourned at 11:24 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Sara Harrington
RUL Faculty Secretary