Meeting Minutes Oct. 17, 2006.

Present: John Haar, Janice Adlington, Mary Beth Blalock, Sue Davis, Bill Hook, Lee Ann Lannom, Mary Prince, Kathy Smith, Holling Smith-Borne, Mary Ellen Wilson.

Absent: Deborah Broadwater, Carlin Sappenfield, Deb Sommer.

1. Electronic reference sources. The committee discussed the extent to which each library is replacing print reference sources, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, and directories, with electronic sources. While many of the libraries are acquiring electronic sources as they become aware of these materials, no library has conducted or plans to conduct a systematic review of its reference collection to replace print sources. Cost is a major consideration, and some libraries do not want to promote electronic sources if it discourages use of many still-valuable print sources.

There was general dissatisfaction with our current methods of organizing electronic reference materials on our homepage. The group felt that we do not present digital reference tools in a way that promotes patron awareness and encourages effective use, though we were unable to suggest more promising methods of presentation and promotion. We agreed to refer the matter to the Research Services Committee to see if they share our concerns about the problem and can offer solutions.

2. Ebooks. John noted that we have an extensive collection of historical ebooks in sets such as Early English Books and Eighteenth Century Collections Online, but that our collection of contemporary ebooks, chiefly netLibrary, is small by comparison. Is there an interest among the libraries in acquiring more ebooks? Committee members acknowledged that the searchability of ebooks makes them a valuable resource, but the cost factor is an impediment to further acquisition. In the humanities and social sciences we are not at a point where we can acquire ebooks in place of print; thus ebooks are seen as a burdensome additional cost.

One ebook vendor, ebrary, has made an offer to the Information Alliance for a multidisciplinary collection of 33,000 titles that would cost $1.00 per FTE if all three libraries participate. Our cost would be $11,000 per year. While the cost-per-book is attractive, paying a large annual subscription fee is not. We will, nonetheless, ask for a trial of ebrary to evaluate its potential.

3. Collection development staffweb. The committee found the Central staffweb collection development page to be a useful tool and agreed that we should expand it into a library-wide collection development page. John will appoint a subcommittee to review all the libraries’ staffweb information on collection development and create a library-wide page.