Summary of Directors Council Meeting, February 24, 2012

Maine Shared Collections Strategy Directors Council Meeting
February 24, 2012
10-11:45, Colby College Library Conference Room

Attending: Sarah Campbell (via phone), Valerie Glenn, Clem Guthro, Linda Lord, Judy Montgomery, James Jackson Sanborn, Barbara McDade, David Nutty (via phone), Deb Rollins, Joyce Rumery, Gene Wiemers

1. Grant Activity Update
a. Reclamation
We were hoping to have the scan/delete process finished by the end of February; now it looks like that will not be happening due to some delays by OCLC in processing our records. Should still be completed by the end of March (in time for the next quarterly snapshot for WCA). We are also arranging a conference call with OCLC to address questions we have about WorldCat Collection Analysis, the WorldCat Knowledge Base, and WorldCat Local.

b. Collection analysis
In order to gauge the comfort level of attendees, Valerie asked them what they felt the minimum number of copies of a title would be enough for areas that support the mission of their institution. All agreed that usage plays a factor; however if usage was low, 0 or 1 copies would be enough. It was mentioned that none of the collections are comprehensive – there are titles in areas that support various missions that have never been purchased.

It was noted that public library patrons are less likely to borrow an item if it is out of state; moving to WorldCat Local could change this.

It was also pointed out that having only a digital copy available is not ideal for some, and would depend on the level of access, lendability, etc.

c. HathiTrust membership
We are considering using the cost of HathiTrust membership to off-set some of the partner match costs that were initially earmarked for the EBM. Valerie asked which partners may be thinking of membership in this calendar year; one has received a quote; others are considering, but much depends on the implementation of Shibboleth, also perceived value. It was reiterated that there is no consortial pricing for membership; each institution is billed for its holdings plus a portion of the public domain items.

d. Advisory Board visit
The Advisory Board will be in Orono on May 21st. This is during the Maine Libraries United conference. We have asked the Board to speak on some broad topics related to shared print management; their presentation is scheduled for the morning of the 21st and is open to all. We are planning for a lunch following the presentation, and all members of the Directors Council are invited. Valerie will send further details once they are known.

2. Budget
It was mentioned that we need to submit a revised budget to IMLS based on several decisions (not to purchase the EBM; not to build our own collection analysis system). Part of this will be a partner match, which does include the subscription to WCA. This will be a multi-year expense, as opposed to the one-time expense budgeted for the EBM.

3. POD/EOD requests incorporated into catalog
James indicated that in order to incorporate Print-on-Demand or E-on-demand request options into MaineCat, work would need to be done on the local level (using scripts).
There is some confusion over what EOD means for grant purposes; strictly speaking it is not digitization on demand, rather it is incorporating existing digital objects into local discovery sources (ie, MaineCat) and making them downloadable.

4. Last Copy Center
Barbara reminded us that the future of the Last Copy Center is a related to the grant. The question was asked if operating costs for the Last Copy Center could be considered a part of the match.

Also: Clem mentioned that a potential niche for the LCC would be to house copies of reference material for circulation around the state. This was met with mixed reactions; it was mentioned that if a digital option has already been purchased, the print has already been de-accessioned. Gene mentioned that the “unique” category of items from the collection analysis may be a source of items to send to the LCC.