ARKLink Meeting Minutes
October 27, 2000
Arkansas Tech University

Following lunch, the meeting ARKLink was called to order at Arkansas Tech University October 27, 2000 at 1:00 p.m. by Myron Flugstad. 

The minutes of the August 13, 2000 meeting at the University of Arkansas were approved. 

The ARKLink Library Consortium Bylaws were presented for changes/additions.  Article III, Section 1b. will be changed to include December 31^st.  

A question was raised as to whether or not clarification is needed regarding dues and a forced renewal pertaining to Article III, Section 1.  It was decided that membership is assumed to be perpetual according to the Memorandum of Understanding until such time as the Board is notified otherwise.  It was proposed that a subsection "c" be added to Article III, Section 1 stating that an institution becomes a member by signing the "MOU".  The amendment was passed without objection. 

Discussion followed on the need of each member institution to name a voting member. This voting member would be named by the person who signed the "MOU". 

There was unanimous approval to correct the typo in Article IV, section 2, wherein the capital "C" will be changed to lowercase. 

A proposal to formally adopt the Bylaws was put forth and it was agreed that once Henry makes the two slight modifications mentioned above, a hard copy will be sent, by mail, to each member institution.  A representative generally determined to be the Library Director, from each institution will then review the Bylaws and upon approval sign and return them.  A majority is required for acceptance, therefore twenty-four returns will be necessary for approval. 

The ARKLink Executive Board meeting report covered the meeting held in early September.  The qualifications for the ARKLink Executive Director position were presented at the Joint Education Committee Meeting.  A conversation with Jack Mulkey, the new State Librarian, revealed that Mr. Mulkey welcomes the opportunity to work with ARKLink and that he holds no public v. academic library bias.  ARKLink will not ask Mr. Mulkey to speak on its behalf, but determined that, if asked, he would.  In addition, Mr. Mulkey expresses interest in promoting any kind of library initiatives.

ARKLink is on the agenda to speak at the Joint Budget Committee sometime after the November elections. We will be allotted approximately ½ hour. On that agenda are plans to present the ARKLink proposal and brochure.  It was mentioned that we ask Linda Bennett to do a five-minute presentation outlining the database sharing initiative.  In addition, a UCA student may also speak in support of the proposal.  Then Janet will speak about the monetary issues. 

ARKLink presented it's proposal to the Arkansas Dean's Association Meeting.  Legislator Lou Hardin stated that there is no money, so priorities are scholarships and salaries.  And that while a Digital Library is a good idea, the funds are not available at this time.  As for the ARKLink proposal, he stated that it is "doable", and that the "20 million was not, but this is". 

Keeping any encumbered funds, when and if received by ARKLink, neutral is of the highest priority.  No single institution may house the funds and the Executive Director's offices may not be located at a specific institution. 

ARKLink has received some advertising in three Arkansas newspapers, the Log Cabin Democrat, the UCA Student Newspaper and the Northwest Arkansas Times. 

There was no ARKLink meeting during the ArLA Conference in Springdale.  Some members did have the opportunity to speak with Richard Hudson, as well as Jeff Downing of Amigos and Danny Overstreet of SilverPlatter.  Jeff and Danny expressed their eagerness to work with ARKLink by providing information and bids. They reiterated the importance of trying to do whatever they can to support ARKLink. 

Janet has written a cover letter, to accompany the ARKLink brochure, detailing the ARKLink legislative proposal.  The cover letter and brochure will be distributed to campus administrators.  The cover letter will also serve as a follow-up tool to be distributed to committee people with whom ARKLink has already spoken to. The distributors of this information should consist of citizens and students.  This will keep ARKLink members off the hook with their campus administrators.  In addition, having non-library advocates gives support and credence to the initiative. 

The CINAHL database renewal is now in progress.  The price should stay the same or reflect only a small increase.  The response for the MLA biography was too minimal to proceed with.  PsycINFO is changing its pricing structure, which may endanger the ARKLink proposal of consortia buying of the database. 

ARKLink new web address is: www.arklink-libraries.org.  

David Glick has accepted a new position beginning January 2, 2001.  Congratulations David, we will miss your hard work and dedication!  Needless to say, we will be needing a new web person. 

The Collection Development Task Report will be made available on the web site and will serve as a point for discussion. The need to assemble a list of Collection Development/Database contacts for each member institution was agreed upon.  Please determine who should represent your institution and pass the name on to Amanda Moore. 

The Resource Sharing Courier Service report states that the cost is $2600.00 per year, per site and will be prorated. The courier service is a commercial transportation mode that would take the place of the mail service.  The $2600.00 is based upon 50 original transactions per month.  In order to determine if the courier service will be a cost effective alternative for your institution, figure the postage costs for 50 transactions a month and compare the postage now encumbered by ILL to the Amigos cost of $2600/year.  The courier service is not limited to ILL materials only.  You may also elect to share your $2600 fee with up to 11 other sites.  For more information see the Amigos web site at http://www.Amigos.org/tae/index.html/.  Send your current ILL postage costs and possible partner sites to Peggy Morrison. 

The next ARKLink meeting will be held on December 1, 2000 at UCA Conway at 12 noon.