The meeting was called to order at 7:30 a.m.in Café DeGrasta by Chairman Harvey Bender. Also in attendance were John Adams, Gail Bederman, Roger Jacobs, Brooke Norton, Margaret Porter, Larry Rapagnani, Laurence Taylor, John Weber, Jennifer Younger, observer Joanne Bessler, guest Gay Dannelly and secretary Melodie Eiteljorge.

The minutes of the meeting of March 6, 2001 were approved as written.

Director's Report: Younger reported that elections are underway for the positions on the committee due for renewal next year.

The Libraries' self study process began in April and will continue through September. External reviewers will visit on November 4-7. The Library Executive Committee (LEC) will coordinate the process, and others in the Libraries will assist in writing. Our main objective is to assess how we make a difference in the scholarly life of students and faculty. Next spring we will participate in a national survey; there was not time this year.

We are upgrading the Aleph system to version 14.2 this summer. 

The 2001 Foik Committee's work is complete, and Younger thanked Phllip Quinn, chair, and the members for their fine work.

Committee members were invited to join the Advisory Council for University Libraries' for lunch, in conjunction with their spring meeting, on Friday, April 27.

Licensing agreements for on-line access to journals Nature and other titles including Cell, Chronicle of Higher Education, Science:

Gay Dannelly reported that the Libraries currently have about 3,000 electronic journals and 16,000-18,000 paper journals. In time these figures will reverse. There are many aspects to licensing agreements. The Libraries do not sign contracts, which are handled through the General Counsel's office. 

Presently we have encountered a problem with the terms for acquiring Nature (and the Nature monthlies) online. The publisher refuses to sell the full electronic version to institutional subscribers except on a three month delay for part of the journal, although the entire magazine is available immediately electronically to personal subscribers. The Northeast Research Libraries Consortium (NERL)individual members are refusing to accept these terms. The delay in electronic availability of this widely read material in the institutional online edition defeats the purpose of the library, which is to make material available as widely as possible on equal terms to all members of the university. Accepting these terms would open the door for other publishers to adopt similar practices. 

There were questions about the cost of Nature and other electronic journals. Online access to Nature is almost $5,000 per year, which libraries would be willing to pay if not for the delay in access. Libraries have fought similar battles in the past. The American Chemical Society offered licensing building-by-building; Elsevier asked libraries to load and manage journals locally; but gradually, these terms were changed.

The high cost of journals is another issue. Purchasing through NERL assists in lowering the cost. We are also investigating in what situations we can rely on access to the electronic version of a serial title and then discontinue receiving that title in its proper format. Archiving is one concern. JSTOR is one example of a program designed to be the permanent archive.

Jacobs: Is this problem with Nature really new? We have always faced vendors who publish different things in different formats. Tax Reporter is an example. It seems that the relevant issue is the cost structure.

Dannelly: This is a bad model for scholarly journals. Graduate students don't necessarily have individual subscriptions. This is the scholarly communication of record. 

Younger: We want to move away from buying paper copies, which would be problematic with a 12-week delay.

Library Renovation and Study Space:

The Troyer Group has been selected as the architect for the first phase of renovation, and construction is scheduled to begin a year from now. They would like to have the basement cleared by September so that they can begin deconstruction and asbestos removal.

The basement will house compact shelving, a microfilm center and a 24-hour user space. 

Younger recently received an email from Brooke Norton, inquiring about study space. The five-year master plan outlines a decline in user seats from 2,577 to 2,189, a drop of approximately 400 seats. This is necessary in order to accommodate growth in the collections and library staff for the next 15 years. While the quantity of seats will decline, the quality will improve and more flexibility will be provided. Seats in locked carrels are not fully used and over time, they will be replaced with open carrels with lockers. The only times the building is fully occupied are Sunday evenings and final exam weeks. The University is also exploring the opening of additional classrooms for study at other locations on campus.

Norton reported that student government representatives have expressed concerns. Some have expressed interest in seeing the new plans and the setup. She has noticed that in the northeast corner of the second floor there are carrels that are never used and realizes that there might be a better use of the space. She would like to have seating closer to collections and services.

Younger will check with Academic Colleges and Research Libraries (ACRL) for a best practice percentage of library seats for the number of students enrolled. 

Bessler will contact Norton about having some undergraduate and graduate students meet with the Working Group on User Space and Service, chaired by Jean McManus.

Norton added that food and 24-hour access are other concerns for students. Younger responded that the café is part of Phase 3. Meanwhile, we will continue with vending facilities, which will be available 24-hours if and when there is 24-hour study space.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:35 a.m.

Next meeting: May 10, 7:30 a.m., Café DeGrasta.

Respectfully submitted,

Melodie Eiteljorge
Secretary