2. Library Development Campaign--Kaye Madden, the Libraries' Senior Development Officer discussed the importance of fund raising for the renovation of the Main Library over the next few years and the hope that the momentum gained during this effort can be sustained in the following years via endowments, chairs, etc.

The intent is to raise $20 million from private funds toward the total of $70-100 million that will be needed for the entire renovation project. In addition to herself, a second development officer, Shannon Tippie, will be assigned half time to work on this campaign, with the remainder of her time continuing to be spent with the Friends of the Libraries. The campaign will have three phases--the Quiet Phase, the Active Phase, and the Post-Campaign Phase.

It is anticipated that the Quiet Phase will last approximately one year during which we will be identifying "who, where, and how" for the active phase of the campaign. This will involve an active travel schedule for her and Joe Branin to get as much exposure as possible for the Libraries, and also to identify what other libraries have done to be successful in their fund raising efforts. She and Joe Branin visited Duke University, where they managed to raise $9 million for their building prior to the development of architectural plans, and a visit to Penn State is scheduled for later in this calendar year.

One third to one half of the $20 million we hope to raise needs to be in hand before the Active Phase of the campaign gets underway. People who love OSU will be the key to the Libraries' campaign, as we have no constituency of our own. Twelve to 20 volunteers (all of whom must be donors) will be identified to work on the Active Phase of the campaign.

Members of the Council reiterated their interest in assisting in any way possible in the fund raising efforts.

3. Library council Annual Report to University Senate--Chairman Scott led a brief discussion of the Council's Annual Report, which he will be presenting at the next meeting of the University Senate. The major topics to be covered are:

Plans and Status of Main Library Renovation
Fund Raising/New Development Director Hired
Libraries' Priorities for 2000/2001
Scholarly Communication/Electronic Publishing
OhioLINK/Digital Resources
Libraries' Book Depository Program
Acquisition Index
Library Faculty and Staff

4. Status of Main Library Renovation--Wes Boomgaarden provided a status report on both the short and long term renovation activities for the Main Library building. The PowerPoint slides outlining the major points in his presentation can be seen by clicking here.

5. Principles for Emerging Systems of Scholarly Publishing--In May 2000 a document entitled "Principles for Emerging systems of Scholarly Publishing" was issued; this document resulted from a March conference sponsored by the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Research Libraries(ARL), and the Merrill Advanced Studies Center of the University of Kansas. The conference had been convened "to seek agreement on a framework for re-shaping the current system of scholarly publishing to contain its explosive cost increases and improve its service to the academic community and the public at large." Attendees at the conference were university administrators, librarians, faculty members, and university press and academic society publishers. The AAU Intellectual Property Committee endorsed a draft of the document at its April meeting, and ARL endorsed the principles at its membership meeting in May. The document was distributed to Library Council members prior to the meeting, and was the basis for the following discussion.

The basic problem with which libraries have been faced is that their buying power has been eroded, buying 25% fewer books now than 10 years ago. The prices of journals, particularly in the sciences, have increased at a staggering rate; the Library Materials Index here at OSU has allowed the Libraries to continue subscriptions, but other research libraries have not been so fortunate and have been faced in some instances with massive cancellations of journal subscriptions. The pressure to publish helps drive the system, but scholars shouldn't be giving their research results away to commercial publishers who then turn around and charge high prices to the individuals and universities to buy back that information. Many publishers will not agree to publish unless the author signs over the rights, but once ownership is signed over, authors aren't allowed to use their own materials without buying them back. In many instances, copyright fees as high as $5 per page are being charged for photocopying journal articles. Alternatives--new publishing venues such as preprints and Web publishing--that will do as well for the researcher and his/her publishing needs, but will cost less to purchase, must be explored.

It is imperative that the Faculty become involved with this issue. Robert Perry of the Universtiy Senate Steering Committee has expressed interest in pursuing this issue, and it has been suggested that Joe Branin should address the Faculty Council and Graduate School Forums. Presentations on this issue should also be made at Faculty Meetings, articles submitted for inclusion in newsletters, etc. Electronic publishing has become more and more prevalent, but it has definite implications for the promotion and tenure process, and raises the need for a change in the academic culture.

The Libraries is becoming involved in digitizing existing print materials to make them available on the Web at no charge; three projects are currently underway involving the Libraries' preeminent John Foxe collection, molecular spectroscopy materials, and materials held by the Cartoon Research Library. Other universities such as Stanford and Johns Hopkins have become heavily involved in electronic publishing with the establishment of an electronic press and Project MUSE, respectively.

5. The next meeting of Library Council will be held in January; the Chair will contact Council members after the first of the year to determine the best day and time for that meeting.

Elizabeth Sawyers for
Joseph Branin, Secretary