ARKLink Meeting Minutes

April 27, 2001, 12:00 p.m.
Arkansas State University Beebe

People in attendance were:

The meeting was called to order at 12:00 p.m.  The minutes from the Feb. 2, 2001 meeting were approved.  Motion by Dena Plaisted, seconded by Jerrie Townsend.

Dr. Ruth Couch, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at ASU Beebe thanked ARKLink for its efforts in securing library resources for students in Arkansas colleges & universities and offered whatever hospitality the campus could afford.

Resource Sharing Task Force
Peggy Morrison reported that the task force will meet after ARKLink to further discuss implementation of the courier service.

Legislative Report (Janet Parsch)
Janet reported that in the last legislative session, Sen. David Malone (D-Fayetteville) sponsored S.B. 556 for consortial purchasing of online databases.  The bill appropriated $1M the first year, and $2M the second.  Unfortunately, the bill died in committee. Janet said that with the $53 million state revenue shortfall, and the $5M that was omitted initially in other bills, Malone's bill did not stand a good chance of passing. Peggy added that with term limits, later appropriations bills for ARKLink may not get passed.  Janet advised a new direction for funding.

State Library Network Advisory Committee (Susan Goldner)
The Network Advisory Committee will meet on May 7th, 2001 to award almost $500,000 for online databases.  Concern is that the focus on full-text databases may threaten the existence of FirstSearch, which academic libraries find useful.  Amanda stated that if FirstSearch is not funded, ARKLink should look at providing access for members.  Last year, monies were found to purchase extra databases (called the Serendipity Project)  For academic libraries these extra databases are Books in Print with Reviews and the Arkansas Democrat Gazette online. Susan felt the money for those two databases would probably not be there again for the State Library.  Susan ended by commenting that the committee should meet & decide earlier in the year so that the decision on which vendors will be awarded the contract is not "rushed."

Database Purchasing (Amanda Moore)
Amanda apologized for the miscommunication about the deadline for renewing the PsycINFO database. 

A trial to Moody's FISOnline was secured.  Amanda handed out information on content and login instructions.  The trial ends May 14.

Amanda gave a chronology of her negotiations with the American Chemical Society (ACS).  It has been a long process in trying to hammer out the license agreement for access to online + print journals.  The society publishes 30 journals total, some of which libraries are required to carry in order to be accredited by the ACS.  Some of the sticking points have included:

1) Trying to base the prices on FTE, which is more fair to smaller institutions.
2) How many journals will actually be included?  The exact number has changed from 28 to 25.
3) Should smaller libraries pay a $250 flat fee for access?
4) If online only is an option, what about archival print copies?  Amanda said that perhaps some institutions could be designated as an archive for print copies of ACS journals.

At this point, negotiations continue between Amanda and the ACS representative. Reverse Option B offers online access to Web Editions journals (now established at 25 journals) for the same cost as the print ACS journals to which each library currently subscribes.  Any library wanting to maintain a print subscription can do so by paying an additional 15% of the print subscription cost for each subscription.  Janet proposed that ARKLink ask for free access for the first year for those who do not have the print ACS journals.  Bob Frizzell noted that the group must be wary of overstepping Fair Use guidelines.

Janet reported that Oxford University Press is offering some attractive pricing on their newer online journals in order to get them established.

The idea was raised of opening up access to CINAHL for hospitals and other non-academic institutions.  ARKLink members felt this was not a good idea at the time, because 1) the amount of work and difficulty in coordinating access for just colleges and universities, and 2) ARKLink has no paid staff members to help coordinate such additions.

Encyclopaedia Britannica is contacting institutions regarding online subscriptions.  The free service will be ending sometime in May.   Amanda suggested that ARKLink approach Britannica about consortial pricing.

Governance (no report)

Report from the ICOLC Meeting and Other Items (Janet Parsch)
Janet reported on her attendance at the ICOLC meeting International Coalition of Library Consortia (http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia/)  About 125-140 members of library consortia from all over the world were in attendance. Online vendors such as American Psychological Association, E-Psyche, Ovid, Elsevier, and Oxford University Press made presentations.  Janet said she was proud to represent ARKLink at the conference and was surprised that people recognized the name ARKLink. The conference topics included governance, publicity and the provision of "perpetual access" to online resources.  From conversations with other attendees Janet discovered that there is quite a variety in funding,  governance, and staffing models, and that not all consortia have 501(c)3 status. She advised that ICOLC is important and hoped that ARKLink would continue to participate in their initiatives and be represented at the conferences and on the ICOLC website. 

A product called SerialSSolutions (http://www.serialssolutions.com/) was introduced at the ICOLC meeting.  It identifies all the specific electronic resources that a library may has access to so that a searcher can select which version of the resource (full-text, index, etc.) that he or she may wish to use.  This product could also be used to create a union list of serials for a group of libraries.  Amanda will contact the vendor for more information.

Janet reported that the State Binding Contract is about to be awarded.  Two vendors have submitted bids.  Heckman has been the vendor for the past two years. This year the contract was written so that it is for two years and can be renewed three times if vendor performance is satisfactory.

Janet resigned as Chair of ARKLink at the end of the meeting.  She expressed pride in "what we've accomplished in 3 years on just a volunteer basis."  Since Peggy Morrison will be assuming the Chair, a nominating committee will be formed to find a Vice-Chair.

Janet also asked the Fundraising Task Force to identify four potential funding sources.  A grant proposal will be prepared later by ARKlink members for funding electronic resources.

The next ARKLink meeting will be sometime in August.  Watch the ARCULI-L listserv for more details.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Shores
ARKLink Secretary & Webmaster

Posted 5/24/01
corrected 6/1/01