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Governance Minutes ArchiveJanuary 12, 1994
The minutes were approved as submitted at the March 16, 1994 meeting of ULC. Note that the February meeting was cancelled. UNIVERSITY LIBRARY COMMITTEE MINUTES January 12, 1994 PRESENT: Darrell Clowes, Education Ken McCleary, Chair, Human Res. Joanne Eustis, Library Cal Ribbens, Arts & Sciences Diane Kaufman, Staff Senate (for E. Fox, during spring semester) Gerald Luttrell, Engineering Marie Wall, Architecture GUESTS: Buddy Litchfield, Library Marilyn Norstedt, Library Gail McMillan, Library James Powell, Library Paul Metz, Library Stephen Zietz, Library ABSENT: Susan Brooker-Gross, Provost's Off. James Smith, Forestry & Wildlife Len Hatfield, Faculty Senate Mark Smith, Veterinary Medicine (for Stahl, during spring semester) Melissa Spengler, SGA Lori Marsh, Agriculture & Life Sci. James Yardley, Business Pamela Percha, GSA The meeting was called to order at 3:00 p.m. The minutes of the December 8, 1993 meeting were approved with corrections to the attendance list as follows: Present: Mark Smith, Veterinary Medicine, Absent: James Smith, Forestry & Wildlife. Also Marilyn Norstedt was not present. NEW BUSINESS: LIBRARY REPORT (J. Eustis): A page from a Princeton University student publication was distributed which listed the library first on a list of "What's Hot" at Virginia Tech. J. Eustis distributed the University Libraries' Annual Report. Committee members suggested that the report be distributed to the Faculty Senate, the Budget and Planning Committee, and the University Librarian Search Committee. The bids for the library storage facility are due back on January 18. Groundbreaking should occur in March, and the building should be finished by March 1995. A committee has been named to plan the move and consider policy and procedural issues. Darrell Clowes will represent the ULC on the committee. The server software has come for NOTIS InfoShare and been loaded at the Computing Center. We are waiting for the client software. As soon as that arrives we will go forward with the project. SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATIONS PROJECT (G. McMillan): G. McMillan distributed a handout about the Scholarly Communications Project which publishes electronic journals and is housed in the library. G. McMillan became director of the project on January 1, following the retirement of Lon Savage. The handout describes what is currently being published--three electronic journals, the abstracts of a fourth, the raw research data of a fifth, and the faculty/staff newspaper, Spectrum--and mentions some future plans. Project personnel work with editors to provide the journals on Internet, both as text-only to low-end users through FTP, Gopher, WAIS and Worldwide Web; and also to more sophisticated users through other formats such as Mosaic and PostScript. The project wants to continue to experiment with electronic publications and try to determine what readers of the journals would like to see done. James Powell, the technical director for the project, demonstrated some of the capabilities. Discussion followed. It was pointed out that although we are one of the pioneers in electronic publication, the number of electronic journals will soon multiply rapidly. Other universities are about to put many journals online and commercial publishers also are becoming interested. The journals published by the Scholarly Communications Project are submitted by the editors ready to be put online and have already gone through all the normal editorial process. They are refereed journals. As the field expands there will be many implications for the academic community, particularly in regard to faculty reward for publication. FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY (S. Zietz): Friends of the Library groups are engaged in literary, historical, cultural, scientific, and promotional activities such as exhibitions, lectures, seminars, workshops, publications, and other programs of interest. Funds raised by most groups are used to support their public programs, and it is hoped that this will be the case with the group organized here in August 1993. The co- chairs of the new organizational committee are Louisa (Mrs. Henry) Dekker and Frances (Mrs. Buddy) Russell, and the other members of the organizing committee are Dorothy Bodell, Phillip Buchanan, Annette Burr, Eugene and Frances Carson, Clara Cox, Patricia Givens Johnson, Don Kenney, Douglas Martin, Charles Modlin, James and Libba Robertson, Col. Harry Temple, and Lon Savage.* The organizing committee of the Friends of the Virginia Tech Libraries has decided to manage its affairs in an informal way unless or until it decides on a formal relationship and structure. A membership drive will be conducted this spring and will be coordinated with the development office. The group should appeal to anyone interested in Virginia Tech, library materials, and Western culture and history. It is hoped that by-laws, a charter, and charge will be formulated in 1994. The statement of purpose reads as follows: "The Friends of the Virginia Tech Libraries is a cultural organization established to promote an awareness of library materials, programs, and services. The Friends will plan and sponsor a variety of programs: exhibitions, lectures, receptions, seminars, publications, fund-raising events, etc. The Friends are organized in a traditional, informal way, but the organization is subject to change as the role of the group and the interest of the members becomes clearer." Some Friends groups at other universities have undertaken very important fund-raising projects with great success and that success is due in large part to faculty and administration support. It is hoped that there will be a similar reaction from the Tech community. Support from alumni will be sought for gifts of money and materials, but lasting success depends on the enthusiasm and advocacy of the local academic community. Committee members were asked to suggest ways the group might interest and involve the faculty and students in the organization. *Added in Proof: Since the meeting, Jeanette Hamlin, Dean Peggy Meszaros, and Margaret Shuler have joined the committee. OLD BUSINESS LEXIS/NEXIS UPDATE (P. Metz): There was a brief report and discussion about the ongoing negotiations to reinstate Lexis/Nexis service. The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.
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