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Ohio State University logo University Libraries arrow Collection Management header
Collections Advisory Council Meeting
Agenda
January 12, 2006
1:30 - 3:00
122 Main Library

Minutes this month to be taken by:  David Lincove


  1. CIRM update: OhioLINK's January CIRM meeting was cancelled. CIRM has not met since November and little info has been coming from them. CIC will in fact teleconference on 1.10.06, so I may have a report. (Bracken).

  2. "Opportunity Funds": On 12.13.05, I sent out to all collection managers the email pasted below. I have received some questions from some collection managers who proposed to use most of the $$$ for their specific interests. I am pointing these folks back at you. So, what have you CAC folks done to use these funds? Please be prepared to report.
    Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2005 09:01:16 -0500
    From: Jim Bracken
    Subject: "Opportunity Funds"

    At my request, funds from a "Director’s Reserve" have been released for the materials budget. I would like to call these "Opportunity Funds." Of these funds, I have allocated $100,000.00 to each of CAC’s three general interdisciplinary group funds for the humanities, sciences, and social sciences (gnh, gnsc, and gnss). These funds will continue to be managed by CAC members who are responsible for consultation with individual collection managers.

    These "Opportunity Funds" are one-time funds. There is, of course, the hope but no guarantee that any similar additional funds will be released for the materials budget in the next fiscal year.

    The funds are intended to (1) help fund continuation price inflation and (2) foster collaborative and strategic decision-making about new resources and/or initiatives. I have asked Acquisitions Accounting to work out procedures that would permit these funds to be used for multi-year commitments (including continuations). This means that the one-time funds can be used for current or new subscriptions.

    In that inflation on continuations for FY 2006 is estimated at about 10% (about $600,000.00), these funds will not eliminate the continuing responsibility of collection managers to cancel continuations when allocated funds approach exhaustion. Indeed, the recently passed University Senate "Resolution from the Council on Libraries and Information Technology supporting the library's strategy for responding to rapidly rising costs of some scholarly journals" ( http://senate.osu.edu/Senate%20Packets/Meeting%20Materials/Nov%202005/LITRes1.pdf ) validates the practice of good stewardship that includes cancelling titles that inflate excessively. On the other hand, the "Opportunity Funds" may be used to preserve titles that are collectively regarded as essential. At the same time, it is hoped that the "Opportunity Funds" will enable collection managers to better work together to identify new materials that the Libraries should acquire.

    Let me again emphasize that these funds are under the management of your colleagues serving on CAC who represent the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. Please let me know if you have any questions and please do not hesitate to contact any CAC member ( https://portal.lib.ohio-state.edu/intranet/staff/group/CAC ).

  3. How to talk to Dept. chairs, etc.: Leta's minutes for the 12.8.05 CAC meeting neatly described discussion of "Ted Riedinger's request that an assessment of library materials be required for the approval of new academic programs. The assessment should include:

    "A statement that outlines the nature of significant new programs they are creating and that details the kind of library materials such programs will need; Itemizes the cost of a new program to the Libraries and, especially, the collection unit fund and; Specifies how the department will aid the Libraries with supplementary funding."

    That, as Leta reports, "CAC generally agreed" with Ted's position means that I am not going to let this go so easily. It intimately relates to engaging teaching faculty and changing scholarly communication which are topics prominently posted in the "Discussion" space of the "Carmen Libraries Community." For the CAC non-CIPS members, I have pasted the points below. So far, there hasn't been much discussion. I am asking CAC to start it.
    Engaging Teaching Faculty: 10 things that you can do (and that can be reported in your FAR)

    Note: Over the next few months I will be adding ideas to this list. Please feel free to comment on each. If you have other better ideas, I will likely steal them and quote you.

    1. Promote the content that we are buying! (0 messages - 0 unread)
      Too many teaching faculty do not know what OSUL is paying about $10 million per year to access, not for ourselves, but for them and their students. I personally have told a particular faculty member (not one of my immediate constituents) at least a half dozen times that OSUL subscribes to the online New York Times. It is the responsibility of collection managers to tell faculty repeatedly what OSUL can offer them for their research and for their classes. Referring them to the home page (or counting on them to use the home page for this information) is not enough.

    2. Propose and teach whole credit courses! (0 messages - 0 unread)
      If students and faculty aren't coming into the Libraries for your content and services, etc., take them out of Libraries in courses. If you engage students in courses, you'll find that your students will talk about your courses to other faculty, particularly if the students find your courses useful and wonder (out loud) why the content hasn't been offered before. From your course you'll get your content into others' courses.

    3. Develop programs that bring faculty and students into the Libraries and host those programs! (0 messages - 0 unread)
      Reasons that faculty and students come into the Libraries don't have to be limited to research, studying, and one-shot instruction lectures. The successful marathon relay reading of the Odyssey that concluded the Read Aloud attests to this. Displays like that for the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum winners and for the Faculty Recognition Books Exhibit also bring faculty and students into the Libraries. Use your imagination to exploit what the Libraries can offer as a place for students and faculty to meet with you as the convener. Yes, sometimes making programs like this succeed requires pizza and Coke (meaning a budget). Make a proposal.

As indicated at the 12.8.05 CAC's meeting, discussion of revising the "Guidelines for the Withdrawal of Library Holdings" http://library.osu.edu/staff/techservices/wthhold.htm will be on the Collection Mangers Forum 2.15.06 agenda. Additional discussion of "J. Kuehn’s proposal for bound journal document delivery to campus offices. Patrons are now allowed to use the "My Office" option for requested journal volumes. J. Kuehn will submit proposal to Circulation Managers." has been moved to a higher level: what can OSUL do to make access easier for our customers?

This agenda should fill an hour. See you Thurs. 12 January 2006 from 1:30-3:00 pm in Thompson 122.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.