Collection Development Council
Minutes of the Meeting of June 26, 2003
SML 409
2:30 – 4:00 p.m.

Present:  Tobin Nellhaus (Chair), Christine DeVallet, George Miles (Recording), Fred Martz, Ann Okerson, Kimberly Parker, Sandra Peterson, Suzanne Roberts, Marcia Romanansky, David Walls, Dorothy Woodson.

Absent:  Cynthia Crooker, Jo-Anne Giamattei, Nancy Godleski, Andy Shimp, Martha Smalley, Paul Stuehrenberg.

Guests:  Members of the Media Task Force: Rich Richie, Liz Shaw, and Lisa Thomas.

I.    Announcements, Questions, Future Agenda Items

A.    Record loads.  Ann discussed progress made by the Systems Office in loading record sets.  Work is progressing on SerialsSolutions, EEBO, and IEEE.

B.    IConn and newspapers.  Kimberly Parker reported on the addition of a broad group of American daily newspapers to IConn, Connecticut's digital library.  All of the titles will be available to YUL users through the IConn portal.

II.    Media Task Force Report and Discussion (Tobin Nellhaus)

 The Task Force had been charged to consider how best to store and provide access to non-print, non-book material.  Their principal recommendation is to store media in the stacks and to allow them to circulate.  Selectors will retain the authority to identify media items that should NOT be allowed to circulate (just as they have the authority to identify print items that should be restricted).
CDs, DVDs, and video tapes will be placed in jewel cases, which in turn will be placed in a locked, transparent, plastic case, and shelved in open stacks.  The exterior box will be opened at the circulation desk.  Circulation will retain the exterior box; a reader will take the jewel case and enclosed media.

CDC discussion endorsed the general principles of the report and requested that the Task Force address four concerns:

1.    Reconsider the prohibition against using CCLANON to fund acquisition of media purchased for CCL.
2.    Further explore the issues associated with tracking of expenditures by format.  This exploration may be joined with a larger examination of acquisition expenditure tracking, but at the least should identify what, if any, new reporting code should be created to distinguish CD-ROMs and audio CDs.
3.    Break into their constituent parts, the cost estimates for the scenarios the Task Force presents.  In light of the Task Force’s own assessment, CDC recommends that it explicitly reject the first scenario.

III.    Center for Research Libraries (CRL) "Distributed Print Archive" project

 At ALA in the summer of 2002, Ann Okerson met with representatives of CRL and other academic research libraries to discuss their interest in developing consortial arrangements to assure the retention and accessibility of original editions of scholarly journals that have become available through JSTOR and other digital products.

Over time, the conversations have led to the development of a model in which CRL members would agree to serve as trusted depositories for selected titles, which they would treat in accordance with specific CRL-developed guidelines.  In general terms, the depository libraries would place original issues in secure, closed stacks; provide a climate-controlled environment for the stacks; and undertake basic conservation as needed.  The selected titles would no longer circulate but would be available for use in the depository’s facilities.  Under the CRL proposal, the titles would also be available for interlibrary loan to other members of CRL.

Last winter CRL asked Yale to explore whether it would be willing to serve as the archival depository for The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.  CRL based their request in part on the fact that Orbis suggested that Yale had at least two full sets of the Transactions.  At Ann Okerson's request, George Miles investigated Yale's holdings and the issues associated with CRL's proposal.  George discovered that Yale’s "duplication" consisted primarily of modern, facsimile reprints of the Transactions.  Yale owns an extensive but incomplete run of the original Transactions.   George produced a report about his findings.

 CDC discussion focused on the tension between preservation and use in CRL's proposal.  It struck several members as contradictory to restrict local circulation but permit the use of freight companies such as FedEx or UPS to courier interlibrary loans.  There was also discussion about the suitability of facsimiles within the archive.  At the same time, there was a consensus that Yale would be interested in obtaining and caring for a full set of the Transactions.  Ann and George will hold a conference call with CRL in July or August to provide them with feedback and to carry forth the general conversation.


Next meeting:  July 7, 2003