Present:  Susan Brady, Cynthia Crooker, Jo-Anne Giamattei, Tanja Lorkovic, Fred Martz, Marianna McKim, Ann Okerson, Kimberly Parker, Marcia Romanansky, Sue Roberts, Andy Shimp, Rochelle Smith, David Stern, Paul Stuehrenberg, Will Wheeler (Chair)

Absent:  George Miles, Martha Smalley, David Walls, Chris Weideman

I. Announcements, Questions, Agenda Items.

A. Wiley license.  Kimberly Parker and Ann Okerson announced that the Wiley electronic journals license has just been signed and access is being turned on to all 347 Wiley titles that are currently available in e-form.  This will increase the access of Yale users to Wiley titles by about 250%.  Wiley is focused ontitles in the medical and sciences areas.

B. Metadata about electronic journals.  The Wiley announcement led to articulation of a broader set of questions regarding cataloging of e-journals, links between them (who links to what), the utility of jake in answering some of these questions, and the desire to capture more data about electronic journals than we are currently able to do at Yale.  CDC asked for future discussion of these matters.

C. Simultaneous users.  A brief segue into the topic of Simultaneous Users for electronic resources led some CDC members to suggest this as an item for future consideration.

D. Orbis borrower account information.  Fred Martz announced that Orbis borrower account information has just gone live; i.e., readers can handle online their own transaction activities such as recalls, holds.  Currently this feature is linked from the opening pages of Orbis, but it has not yet been widely announced.  Fred asked that CDC members take the new features for a road test and report problems, should any arise.

E. Subject lists of e-journals.  David Stern asked if we are able to generate subject or location lists for electronic journals.  Kimberly Parker said that subject headings have not yet been added, but we are "inching closer."

F. Process improvement.  Will Wheeler alerted CDC members to Paul Conway's discussion of plans for technical services process improvement.  This item is scheduled for January 4th and the relevant background documents will be available for that session.

II. ORBIS 2  (Fred Martz)

Fred Martz updated the CDC about the process of "getting to two" finalists in the Library Management System decision-making process.  At this point, the two finalists are Endeavor and ExLibris.  Each of these vendors is being invited to the Library in January for week-long demonstrations and visits that will help the various evaluation teams study and assess effectiveness and functionality.  At that point, it would still be possible to return to the longer list of vendors, should one of the two prove disappointing.  Fred noted that the functionalities of the initial four vendors (Innovative Interfaces, SIRSI, Endeavor, and ExLibris) are closely competitive and that it was not easy to winnow the list to two.  In the end, the Migration Management Group was concerned about III's relatively small amount of experience in converting customers from NOTIS and the relatively small base of SIRSI research library customers, as well as SIRSI's slightly slower developmental pace.

We should expect an initial reduction in productivity after we migrate to a new system, for some logical reasons:  (1) Every member of library staff who works with Orbis – and that is nearly everyone – will need to learn a brand new system, i.e., way of working.  The familiar NOTIS routines and the shortcuts (such as macros) will be unavailable.  (2)  Each of the new generation systems operates mostly with a GUI (graphical user interface), and, at least initially, this will be a slower work mode than the command-driven NOTIS system, which staff find to be very very rapid.  A great deal of training is part of the picture for the next year or two.

That is not to say there is no real advantage in moving to a new generation LMS – there is immense advantage!  NOTIS is a design of essentially the late 1960s, a stand-alone system.  Many of the features we need and desire today, for staff (such as electronic interfaces with our vendors), for readers (such as the ability to display non-Roman scripts for our significant area collections), and technical staff (new, flexible architecture) are not possible with our much older system.  In addition, we expect good customer support and development (which NOTIS is now offering less of), and redundant hardware -- and thus better system security, flexibility.

Question:  Given that the Library has chosen two systems, will participation in the demos make a difference to the MMG's decision-making?  Answer:  Yes, indeed!  The input of all the working groups will be key in the final decision.  It is possible that input will lead us to choose one of the two finalists – but it may also return us to our longer list.  All are encouraged to participate in aspects of the demos that are vital to their work.

Question:  Are there differences between the costs of the systems?  Answer:  The costs are not that much different; we believe we have set aside enough money to afford them.  Conversion costs are part of the software package.

III. Blackwell's Update (Marcia Romanasky)

Marcia Romanansky updated CDC on various aspects of our Blackwell's relationship.  We are expecting an all-day visit from two top Blackwell's Executives (Dan Halloran and Martha Whittaker), a follow-up to their visit to the Library about one year ago.  A large general session will be available for interested selectors; and small meetings can be arranged on request.  Questions that will arise include:  integration of BBS &ABC (purchased last year); integration between US and UK operations; and plans for the future.  This will be an opportunity to ask the Blackwell's leadership any questions we may have.  Also, our local sales representative, Pat Adams, will be visiting the Library on January 31st.

Marcia and her staff are reviewing various aspects of our Blackwell's approvals operations and accounts and adjusting them to be more effective.  For example, currently a Yale Library order stays open for 999 days with Blackwell's – and this makes little sense, so the time will be reduced to a year or far less, depending on the type of order.  The open order matter also ties directly to order status reports, which are now being reviewed and instructions being re-vamped.  Not all status reports need to be entered by Acquistions stsaff into Orbis, and deciding which are and are not important – and reducing unnecessary work in that area -- will save staff time and improve processes.  The shift to ordering online from Blackwell's is also another aspect of the various process improvements that Marcia and staff are pursuing.

Another area of current Acquistions emphasis involves selecting the most appropriate vendor for a given type of order and receiving the largest possible discount, when this is appropriate.  For example, it may be possible to increase the discount rate on US books from 5% to 16.2% by moving them from being received on Blackwell's Standing Order to coming as part of approval shipments.  There is some risk here, of missing some books in a series, which needs to be assessed.

In order to get first-hand experience, Marcia has arranged with Social Sciences that she will handle aspects of Psychology and Education domestic book selection for an interim period.

NEXT MEETING:  Thursday, January 4, 2001, 2:30 p.m., SML, Room 409