Minutes May 23, 2003

12:00 noon, May 23, 2003
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY

Present:

Arne Almquist (NKU), Larry Besant (Morehead), Michael Binder (WKU), Janet Brewer (Murray), John Griffin (Murray), Mary Molinaro (UK), Diane Nichols (U of L), Lee Van Orsdel (EKU)

Guests:

Michael McCoy (GCLC), James Burgett (UK)

Absent:

Karen McDaniel (KSU), Hannelore Rader (U of L), Larry Rees (KCTCS)

1. Introductions and Lunch (courtesy UK)
2. Minutes of the April 11th Meeting: Accepted.
3. SAALCK Officers for 2003/04
   • Terms of SAALCK officers run for a period coinciding with the fiscal year. Election of new officers was discussed. The current officers were asked to continue for another year and they agreed to do so.
4. VLAC representatives for 2003/04
   • Terms for the current SAALCK representatives to VLAC are as follows:
     • Van Orsdel: Term expires 2004
     • Almquist: Term expires 2005
5. VLAC report (April 14 meeting)
   • KYVL is renegotiating database pricing. The subscription cycle runs from September to September which is out of synch with our fiscal year. This was due to the original RFP. There is some flexibility in regard to the selection of databases when working with approved vendors. At this point, it has been proposed that the Spanish encyclopedia be discontinued due to low usage and that it be replaced with another database.
   • Another area in negotiation is the courier service. Lanter has met KYVL halfway in its quest to cut the cost of the service. At this point, they still want to increase the effective price per stop in exchange for cutting the total number of stops, but the increase would be less than originally proposed resulting in an overall cost savings. This is still under negotiation. Any change in the service will most likely affect the private colleges and small public libraries much more than our campuses.
   • An informal comment was made indicating that Wohlstein is planning to form a workgroup to look at portals. This is something that SAALCK should follow.
6. Update on the HarpWeek Presentation to the Gheens Foundation.
   • The ask went very well. Presenting the proposal was a team composed of Almquist and Van Orsdel (SAALCK), Susan Brown (AIKCU), John Adler and Susan Severtson (President and Vice President for Sales, respectively, of HarpWeek), and NKU Steely Library Grants Coordinator Laura Sullivan.
   • Sullivan prepared the documentation and coordinated the ask. Van Orsdel commended Sullivan for her thorough job on the proposal and the obvious relationship of trust that she built with the Executive Director.
7. Report from Collection Development Committee Chair, James Burgett
   • Public Health Administration Project (email forwarded to all on March 25):
   • U of L has dropped out of the partnership. There is currently not a comprehensive curriculum, just five core courses which may not all be taught in the near future. Materials for the next course to be taught should easily be made available through reserves and/or ILL. In short: We should not have to worry about the issue of having to make expensive information resources available to students from all institutions. It is, however, important to make sure that instructors realize that they have to plan courses based on available materials. Burgett talked to various vendors at ALA to see if they would be willing to make materials available to all of the partnering institutions as needed (sharing). Understandably, they did not like the suggestion that students from institutions lacking licensed access be signed up as special users with those institutions having licenses.
   • The meetings of the Collection Development Committee took the better part of a day at Elizabethtown Community College. In summary: These issues need to be solved at a much higher level. We can identify some items that need to be part of a core list but cannot guarantee access to resources at this point. Q: Would the SAALCK Directors' Council like the Collection Development Committee to create a common web page? If so, we can also come up with a list of common holdings that would be applicable to the project.
   • Binder agreed that this was an excellent idea and commended the committee on its work. He suggested that instructors should craft courses based on commonly available resources. This could be determined by accessing the web page mentioned above. Some potential problems include getting someone to do the work and web hosting space.
   • Van Orsdel reminded the group that one of the reasons that we did this was because we were being accused of obstructionism by the Deans. She suggested that the Collection Development Committee write a report and then pass that on to CPE to let them know what is possible. We would offer to do these things, but emphasize that we need effective liaison between us and the CPE. This would put the ball in CPE's court.
   • Besant suggested a variation on this that goes a bit further. He suggested that SAALCK should ask CPE to have KYVL come up with a portal/web site solution. Binder indicated that issues of responsibility and precedence can be made through the Executive Summary.
   • Van Orsdel summarized by saying that the Collection Development report and cover letter should be forwarded to the CPE and CAO groups with suggested actions on their part. Burgett and Van Orsdel will work on this project over the summer with the report slated to go forward this fall.
   • Database Task Force:
     • The Database Task Force has been trying to get consortial pricing on two databases: MLA and ABI Inform. Almquist reminded the group that the Database Task Force's charge was only to identify databases. Negotiation on price would happen at a different level once a fiscal agent was put into place. The purpose of the test is to see if centralized billing and payment from a single source will result in lower pricing vs. the previous attempt when price quotes came in high due to the need for individual billing.
     • AIKCU wants to work with us on consortial pricing. AIKCU is currently working to get a quote on MLA through EBSCO. They will get two quotes: one with SAALCK institutions included and one without. They are also looking at pricing on BIP+. In this case, AIKCU would act as billing agent. Burgett will contact Susan Brown. It was suggested that Burgett contact AIKCU to see if they would be interested in enlarging the group even more. We could then connect GCLC with AIKCU if they are interested.
     • At this point, we are looking at three scenarios:
       1. MLA and BIP+ potentially with AIKCU/SAALCK/GCLC together acting as a buying group
       2. 2 databases to be negotiated through KYVU from their approved vendor list
       3. Other databases that we would like to pursue for purchase as a group independently using GCLC as fiscal agent
8. Discussion with Mike McCoy, GCLC, regarding fiscal agency:
   • Discussion ensued with Mike McCoy, Executive Director of GCLC, concerning the possibilities for GCLC to provide management services to SAALCK. McCoy described his previous experience with the business of association management (scientific associations) and described GCLC as a multitype library organization with members in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, bound by an interstate compact signed by the governors of those three states.
   • The group discussed the basic perceived needs for fiscal agency. McCoy suggested that SAALCK look at a more comprehensive solution, for example, a staff person who attends meetings to provide institutional memory and execution of administrative tasks for the group. This would take the form of an institutional relationship where SAALCK pays for services on a modest basis--monetary/fiscal services. One possible advantage that had not been foreseen: potentially using GCLC to leverage the size of the buying group. The question of cost arose. McCoy replied that this would depend on how much we want to have done.
   • McCoy estimated that it would take about 1/8th FTE to cover our tasks. Seamless access could be provided with callers being greeted with a SAALCK identity.
   • The group came to consensus that we would like to explore possibilities and asked McCoy to provide a proposal. McCoy queried the group on the services desired. They included:
     • Fiscal agency (billing, payment)
     • Identity (KY phone and address)
     • 501c(3) status
     • Web services
     • Staff support at meetings
     • Annual statistics gathering
   • Discussion ensued concerning SAALCK's relationship with KYVL. It was pointed out that this would be complementary, not a replacement, for that relationship. Binder and others suggested that we continue to pursue concerns (such as the Public Health Administration degree program) with CPE and we would definitely continue with the proposal for KYVL to serve as fiscal agent for the purchase of additional databases from their approved vendor list.
   • Van Orsdel asked about the possibilities for creating training opportunities, for example, by bringing in LAMA and ARL-OMS sessions. McCoy said that this was a definite possibility and suggested, additionally, that we could identify experts from within SAALCK and set up training sessions for the group.
   • There was a motion to ask McCoy to draw up a proposed contract for submission to Van Orsdel. She will then circulate the proposal to the SAALCK directors. The motion was seconded by Molinaro and passed unanimously.
   • Van Orsdel asked if McCoy could meet with us again in July. If the group determined that they would like to pursue an agreement with GCLC, SAALCK would like to be ready to proceed with the agreement to begin at the new fiscal year. Van Orsdel did emphasize that this is a proposal and is not a finished deal.
   • Besant suggested that our institutions' administrations may have questions about the need for formal structure within SAALCK when KYVL exists to meet the needs of libraries. It was pointed out that there are a number of unique needs among the libraries of SAALCK that are not being met by KYVL and that discussions with Rabuzzi indicated that these were not needs that KYVL felt that it could meet (i.e., acting as general fiscal agent for consortial purchases, coordinating specialized projects, etc.). It was suggested that we might wish to pull together a statement that could be circulated to help us to best make the case to our administrations that we need a formal structure in SAALCK to deal with the unique needs of libraries in higher ed. Van Orsdel and Almquist will work on these and distribute when the draft contract is sent out. Van Orsdel will bring our absent members up to date.
9. Discussion of RFID technology--group interest? Task force?
   • Postponed to August. Ask a vendor? Decide at July 11th meeting.
10. Other Business:
    • Analysis of Serials Collection: Morehead recently did this through Bowker for $2,875. We could possibly get a discounted price if we did this as a group. This involves a comparison of your list of subscriptions to a variety of national lists. Both electronic and paper holdings are analyzed. The service is Ulrichs based (USAS--Ulrichs Serials Analysis System). Besant will send information to Van Orsdel.
11. Meeting Schedule
    • Next Meeting: July 11th at 12 noon at U of L
    • Host: Morehead
    • Prior hosts in current cycle: U of L, Western, and UK