The meeting was called to order at 7:30 a.m. in the conference room at Café de Grasta by Chairman Harvey Bender. Also in attendance were John Adams, Maureen Boulton, Roger Jacobs, Margaret Porter, Walter Pratt, Laurence Taylor, Jennifer Younger, observer Joanne Bessler and secretary Melodie Eiteljorge.
 

1. Welcome and agenda review

2. Approval of minutes of September 14, 2000: approved as written.

3. Director's report

The University has accepted the Theodore M. Hesburgh Library Master Plan. Detailed planning for renovation of the basement as Phase One will start immediately with construction estimated to begin in early 2002. 

At the beginning of the year Younger summarized issues from last year's meetings. She will ensure issues are put on the agenda as appropriate. 

The College of Arts & Letters is holding elections to fill the three vacancies identified for Arts & Letters and Architecture. 

4. Resolution to encourage on-line publication of UND journals

Jacobs brought forth a draft resolution to encourage digital publishing of Notre Dame journals. It is based on efforts nation-wide to bring together and disseminate information in digital form.

* Discussion points:

- Bender asked if there are any models. Younger replied that Project Muse and JSTOR are models. Notre Dame's American Midland Naturalist is available in JSTOR. Also, there are university initiated pre-print and/or dissertation databases. There is currently an Open Archives Initiative to generate a framework for digital repositories and disseminate standards. Bender suggested that we might sponsor a forum on this subject.

- Boulton raised two questions: In order to digitize material, do we have to destroy it? And, how do we deal with the approximate five-year shelf life of anything on a computer? Younger replied that the physical books or journals are preserved post-scanning or not, as appropriate to the situation. Data does have to be migrated from one format to another as new formats evolve. This makes adherence to standards important. 

- Pratt asked whether fostering online-publishing is the role of the library or of OIT? He also noted concerns that other preservation might suffer, e.g., newspapers which lose much of the meaning inferred from the layout when formatted in a way to make them readable online. Younger noted that digital publishing can be an extension of preservation through microfilming and that digital publishing will not yet meet all collection preservation needs. Libraries build collections to meet the needs of campus scholars and build collections that set them apart as a destination for scholars worldwide. In the case of the latter, the Libraries at Notre Dame have always taken on a greater preservation role in the form of microfilming. We encourage digitizing of journals because faculty and students want access via the Web. 

Adams noted that information transfer is the role of the library. Younger noted that while definitions of what is a library vary among individuals, nationally, research libraries are taking a larger role in publishing than has traditionally been the case. Adams stated the library has done a good job in providing access to electronic journals, while Boulton noted the availability of electronic journals varies by discipline.

* Next steps:

The resolution is a first draft that outlines the concerns but lacks a fully developed solution. The last paragraph describes the Libraries and other campus units as having an advisory role in advising about and supporting online publication of Notre Dame journals. The University Libraries are already receiving requests for assistance and supported the Graduate School in forming a task force on electronic dissertations. Taylor added the task force looked at some of these same issues, and they intend to go forward with implementation. Data can be migrated to new standards as technology changes. Younger will collect additional information on institutional models. The issue and the resolution will then be brought back to the committee.

5. Electronic journals at ND

Younger reported that the University and Law Libraries collectively subscribe to about 23,000 journals. Of these, 3,000 are in both paper and electronic format. Where there is reliable access to the electronic format, we are looking at migrating to the electronic format only, as the University of Texas at Austin has recently done. She asked what advice this committee could provide on how to communicate it to faculty. Suggestions included the following: use the committee minutes in Notre Dame Report for general communication, consult college library committees, contact deans and department heads via UCL, and send a letter to all faculty. 

6. Adjournment: 8:45 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Melodie Eiteljorge
Secretary