Minutes of Herrick Library Faculty Meeting October 3, 2011
Present: Stephen Crandall, Ellen Bahr, Laurie McFadden, Brian Sullivan
eBooks
Steve, Laurie, Ellen, and Linda recently met to discuss the logistics of the proposed ebrary PDA program.
Ellen is going to arrange a conference call with ebrary to gather further information about handling MARC records.
We discussed a variety of issues surrounding the move towards purchasing ebooks, including what portion of our materials budget to dedicate; how to determine what model and vendor will work best for us; what to do if the money we put towards ebrary runs out before the year is up; whether compatibility with mobile devices is important; what “ownership” means in the ebook market and potential long‐term implications of owning electronic formats; how to balance the time required for collection development with other competing demands; the impact of purchasing more ebooks on collection management staff; what current usage might indicate about the appropriate balance between print, ILL, and ebooks; and what our goals are with regard to publishers, content, and audience when it comes to ebooks.
We decided to go forward with the ebrary PDA program, but to use a smaller portion of our materials budget ($5,000 initially). Steve will talk to ebrary about setting up a “pay‐as‐you‐go” arrangement instead of creating a non‐refundable deposit account. Ellen recommended that before we begin the contract, we put a plan in place for removing access to the PDA collection in case that becomes necessary (i.e., if the money runs out). We also agreed that we should review the ebrary contract for limitations with regard to ownership (i.e., what happens when a publisher or ebrary go out of business).
Printing
Last week, ITS fixed some of the problems with the Toshiba printer and Patty manually updated the drivers on most library machines (staff who weren’t here may need to contact ITS to have their driver updated). We don’t know if the laptops were affected (Ellen will test them). Brian said that no problems were reported over the weekend.
Steve will send an email reminder about the ITS appreciation luncheon.
Coffee
Dave is responsible for arranging for coffee service. He is meeting with Scholes and gathering
information. We will need a plan to ensure management of the coffee area on a day‐to‐day basis, and especially on days when Dave isn’t here.
This led to a more general discussion of tasks that need to be taken care of each morning when the library opens, including updating the room signs (or taking down old signs if there are no reservations for the current day), turning on the neon sign and TVs and otherwise straightening up the front desk and café areas. We discussed the possibility of needing a more robust room reservation system if the current one isn’t sufficient for the volume. Ellen has some information on other systems.
Description of Herrick for AU campus map
Steve was asked to update the description of Herrick that accompanies the AU campus online map. We
agreed that we should provide a more up‐to‐date description of library services, similar to the one that appears in the course catalog.
Steve hasn’t heard back from the web team about whether the library could be listed with other
academic services on this page: http://www.alfred.edu/academics/ (the addition was suggested to us by Kerry Kautzman). Ellen asked if the libraries could also be listed under “Academic Services” on that page instead of (or in addition to) “Information Services”.
Learning Commons
Steve reported that discussions are continuing.
Intern
Ellen reported that Autumn is keeping busy with projects. Laurie thought that we may need more students working on the children’s literature project since Autumn is only dedicating 1‐2 hours per week to that project.
CITE programs
Steve confirmed that the mental health certificate program is available to students in Victor, NY. and downstate. We don’t yet have a meeting scheduled with the CITE faculty.
Special Collections website
Ellen hasn’t received any further information about the special collections pages. Laurie would like some reassurance that the data was backed up. Ellen has a meeting with ITS this week and will ask for an update on the status of the special collections pages. Ellen has also asked Matt Speed to meet with her and Brett next week to discuss DSpace. Ellen will ask Brett for an update on what kinds of things are blocking progress.
LibQual
Steve is hoping to administer it before Thanksgiving. He will look into whether we need permission from the human subjects group and how LibQual handles random prize drawings.
Project Updates
Laurie provided some updates on projects. She has a contract to scan additional issues of the Fiat Lux and is working to get access to issues of the Fiat that were published electronically. She is looking for a company that can handle digitization of films. The AURA work group continue to meet weekly and is writing “how to” documentation which Scholes will test. Laurie plans to teach her maple syrup honors class again in the spring.
Respectfully submitted, Ellen Bahr
