Present: S. Bartz, K. Denda, H. Dess, M. Fetzer (Chair), R. Gardner, E. Gilbert, T. Glynn, B. Hancock, R. Jantz, M. Kesselman, L. Langschied, J. Mardikian, L. Murtha, F. Olin, P. Piermatti, F. Puniello, J. Sloan, E. Stec, A. Tallau, F. Tehrani, R. Toyama, M. Wilson, R. Womack, C. Wu

Approval of minutes: The minutes of the November 17th meeting were approved.

Announcements:

The Chair has been seeking feedback from new librarians on the orientation program for new hires, has received some valuable suggestions, and is incorporating an additional segment involving a walk-through of the acquisitions/cataloging processes.

Because there will be a real-time reference program the morning of March 16, it was agreed that our next NBL faculty meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. that day. Toyama offered to have lunch brought in at noon.

Directors' Reports:

Toyama -- report submitted via e-mail (see attachment)
Puniello -- Annex will be closed this summer to the public so that construction and roof repairs can be completed. Annex will be removed as an RRS location during this period.

Reorganization of Collection Services/Collection Services Librarian:

Toyama presented an overview of the Collection Services situation. The 1996/97 committee that investigated the issue recommended a streamlining of Collection Services so that activities were centralized across New Brunswick. This process has already been occurring with branch receipts being handled at Alex and LSM. Electronic journals have enhanced the need for coordination in cancelling and replacing print journals. The new direction is towards RUL-wide integration. Toyama recommended that the Collections Services Librarian line be transferred to Central and that there be designated liaisons between TSB and NBL. The future direction of Collection Services is still being planned, but more integration is likely.

Some key points from the ensuing discussion were the following:
· Effort needs to be reallocated from print to electronic resources as
the collections change.
· We must ensure that NBL receives proper attention as the largest unit
in RUL.
· Actual implementation of any changes in collection services is
critical. Staff will continue to be based at Alexander and LSM.
· New AUL will play a major role in the future configuration of
collection services.
· NBL should make its own recommendations to help guide any
changes in collection services. Toyama recommended that each functional
group discuss its needs and give feedback.

Public Services Council and Discussion of AAL - M. Wilson

PSC announcements : 1) PSPMs have been finalized and posted to the web. 2) PSC discussed when we should link to online documents. We do this for some government documents, but there are other cases we need to consider.

Ask-A-Librarian discussion:
The Alexander Librarians' proposal is being considered by PSC. A more general reference service assessment is being considered, which would put AAL in context with other services. Some points from the ensuing discussion were the following:
· Separation of Reference from ILL and Access Services questions is
desirable.
· More referrals to subject specialists would be desirable, but
would require guidelines on when to refer and some knowledge that the
librarian to whom the question is referred would be able to respond quickly (not
on sabbatical, at conference, etc.)
· AAL service should be more integrated with desk, phone, and other forms
of reference.

Technical Services Council - L. Langschied

Within ProQuest, we now have options to redesign how we link to journals and indexes within ProQuest. Dave Hoover has mounted a test page (announced via e-mail) showing some of these options. Everyone should take a look at these pages. For further details, refer to the TSC minutes.

Collection Development Council - H. Dess

Many announcements, including: New demos coming from Ebsco, Wilson, and Gale for general periodicals and business databases. Also AP Photo Archive will be demo'ed. New databases added in the Sciences: ACM, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Journal Citation Reports, SciFinder Scholar, Biosis Previews. New databases in Social Sciences: African Studies, Popline, D&B Million Dollar Database, FIS Online, Comm Abstracts, World News Connection. Negotiations for Periodical Contents International are ongoing.

New databases in the Humanities: AMICO, ATLA, Grove's Dictionary of
Art, Grove's New Dictionary of Music, Middle English Compendium, Granger's Poetry Online. New General databases: Books in Print. Ulrich's is in process. Further details will be available in the forthcoming CDC minutes.

Old Business

M. Kesselman reported that Sara Watstein, the facilitator from January's
advance, will be delivering her follow-up report soon.

New Business

None.

Adjournment

Minutes submitted by Ryan Womack
2/19/2001