University Library Committee Minutes
Frebruary 17, 2004

Present: J. Langlois, D. Magidson (Chair), J. Rothchild, S. Yee, S. Bell, H. Cannon, B. Lessin, K. Pothukuchi, C. Schochet

  1. Committee approved the minutes of the January 20, 2004 meeting.
  2. There was discussion concerning a possible program focusing on the Patriot Act. Schochet reported that Sol Green had been approached and expressed an interest in the program and a willingness to recruit others to participate. Names mentioned as possible additions to a panel included Bob Sedler, Kary Moss of the ACLU and current US Attorney Jeffrey Collins. Green’s law firm may be willing to provide some financial support to underwrite the costs of this program. A specific request will have to be prepared when it is feasible to do so. Target for this program is now fall, 2004 as the April date is no longer workable. (Use of the Bernath Auditorium has been cancelled for that date.) Tuesday, September 14, 2004 is one possibility and 11-12:30 was suggested as a possible time for the program. These and other planning items will be the topic of conversation for the sub-committee.
  3. Elsevier Update. Dean Yee spoke to issues of scholarly communication and the trend by academic libraries not to accept the whole Elsevier package. Wayne State University Libraries now pick 600 core titles plus up to 1100 titles total from the full package of 1200 titles. Before purchasing the full package, the Libraries purchased about 600 Elsevier titles. We currently have a five-year agreement with Elsevier that carries with it a 5% inflation cap each year. Dean Yee shared a recent article from the Wall Street Journal about Elsevier with members of the committee. She noted that a brochure on scholarly communication distributed at the last committee meeting will be given to all who were unable to attend that meeting.
  4. School for Scholars. April 1 is the target date for this program that is intended to make the acquisition process more understandable for academic leaders. No specific time has been set for this program. Richard Jasper, Director of Resource Services is the primary speaker. He has already prepared a Powerpoint presentation for this event.
  5. III Purchase. Dean Yee provided a brief description of the Innovative Interfaces Inc. purchase and how the change in systems will impact library users. She also spoke to the intersection of OCLC and Google and some of the challenges that the use of Google presents to the library world. Those interested in trying Google as a library search engine were directed to use worldcatlibraries;asubjectoftheirchoosing. Google will later provide an opportunity to add a zip code so that the user can determine if libraries in a chosen area hold books that match a given subject or title interest.
  6. Vendor presentations. Dean Yee and B. Lessin responded to a question concerning the vendor presentations that took place on Friday, February 13th. These were by the finalists for the architectural study of the Purdy/Kresge Library and were intended to provide the university with a better understanding of the capability to handle the job at hand. An open hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 19th to give those who attended the presentations a chance to share their insights with the review panel. A decision as to the vendor of choice is planned for Friday, Feb. 20th by the review committee.
  7. H. Cannon is unavailable for the meeting scheduled for March 23, 2004.
  8. Meeting adjourned at 2:53.