VIVA Resources for Users Committee
Friday, August 10, 2012 10AM
Byrd/Morris Room in Harrison/Small Library at UVA
Present: Sharon Gasser (Chair), Karen Cary (recorder), Anna Creech, David Gray, Virginia Kinman, Ed Lener,
Louveller Luster, Pam Morgan, Jane Penner, Kathy Perry, Cathy Reed, Sylvia Rortvedt, John Walsh
Absent: Tara Cassidy, James Self, John Tombarge
Guests: Stephen Clark, Cheri Duncan, Carla Lee, Leslie O’Brien
Announcements
Sharon welcomed guests Stephen Clark (CWM), Cheri Duncan (JMU), Carla Lee (UVA), and Leslie O’Brien
(Virginia Tech). Carla will be attending meetings while Jane is on Semester at Sea. Kathy announced that the
recruitment for a new Associate Director for VIVA is almost complete.
The Steering Committee met in retreat July 18th and 19th, focusing on a wider vision and new projects for VIVA.
Some of the ideas under consideration were:
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Repository services.
Collection analysis of VIVA member holdings, an idea that grew from work carried out by video
librarians in the state on what to do with film titles that only exist in VHS format (video last copy). This
included some discussion of the feasibility of an ILS for the state.
Universal borrowing
E-science and big data. This topic will be discussed at December’s Library Advisory Committee meeting.
Use of content and copyright. This topic was referred to the Library Advisory Committee.
Cooperative cataloging. While this idea was not considered to be urgent, the ability to provide
cataloging records for VIVA purchases of e-books was a priority.
Usage statistics for all of FY 2012 are now posted.
Budget
Kathy shared the FY 2013 budget spreadsheet. December renewals will be discussed at the next RUC meeting.
Renewals
 ACS , including new title ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
 AMS Journals
 AMS MathSciNet
 CIAO
 Highwire: Journal of Applied Physiology, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of Cell Biology,
Molecular Biology of the Cell
 IOP
 Oxford Reference Online
 ProjectMuse
 ProQuest CSA
 ProQuest Congressional
 ProQuest Sociological Abstracts
 Wiley
E-book Publisher Package Recommendations
The RFI Subcommittee recommended the purchase of four Springer e-book collections and the Elsevier
Collection for 2013 (pending further price negotiations). The Springer collections are Behavioral Sciences,
Biomedical and Life Sciences, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Computer Science (in priority order). The
recommendation was made based on the evaluation of publisher responses, member survey results, and cost
savings to VIVA members. There was discussion about a possible MARC records task force for the e-book
collections. Also discussed were possible discounts for additional collections or backfiles. It was agreed that
marketing of these collections are fundamental to their success.
RFP for Demand Driven Acquisitions
The Steering Committee approved the recommendation for the appointment of an RFP Committee (see
http://www.vivalib.org/beta/ruc/rfps/VIVARFP2012.html). Committee members are Cheri Duncan (Chair-JMU),
Allison Armstrong (Radford), Tara Cassidy (VCCS), Anna Creech (University of Richmond), Dawn Dawson (UVA),
Leslie O’Brien (Virginia Tech), and Suzy Palmer (Longwood). The Committee has held a conference call and
begun work on the RFP. The Committee is working with an accelerated schedule; the RFP should be posted
during the week of August 27th, with plans to present a recommendation to the RUC by the end of November, an
award made by mid-January, and the program up and running by mid-February. Demonstrations by vendors will
take place in mid-November in Richmond at a location to be determined. A subcommittee to work on the MARC
records was discussed. Committee members were asked to send Sharon names of individuals interested in
working on the subcommittee by August 31.
Collection Analysis Project
As referenced above, this project was discussed at the Steering Committee retreat and grew out of the work
being done on video last copy. A Collections Task Force will plan and develop a VIVA-wide collection analysis.
There are only a few models for consortia. The lack of a state-wide ILS requires an approach different from
other models. There are many issues to address, such as what software to use, what should be included and
excluded, and whether the charge should be refined. Send recommendations for membership on the Task Force
to Sharon, including information about the person’s current position, background, and what strengths he or she
could bring to the work of the Task Force. The Task Force is expected to report to the RUC in November with a
briefing paper and a revised charge. It is possible that another group will be appointed to carry out the actual
analysis.
Mergent Update
The Ad Hoc Subcommittee on revising the Mergent cost sharing plan presented the RUC with a rough draft of a
proposal and also asked that the RUC provide guidance on next steps. The draft proposal focused on using a
combination of elements to revise the cost sharing. The committee discussed the elements and provided
feedback. The Subcommittee will report at the next RUC meeting.
Update on Balanced Scorecard
The “Strengthening Communication” objective in the context of what it means for the RUC was discussed. Many
ideas were shared, including different methods of communicating, liaison to all collection contacts, venues and
meetings where information could be distributed, and including others in RUC meetings. How best to optimize
VIVA culture and push out collections-related information to all institutions were also discussed.
Other
The MLA RFP, chaired by Karen Cary, will be drafted during the fall and issued during the winter.
Next meeting: November 30 in Byrd/Morris Room, Harrison/Small Library at UVA