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State-Assisted Academic Library Council of Kentucky
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§ SAALCK Directors' Council Meeting

12:00 noon, March 11, 2003
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY

Present:
Lee Van Orsdel, EKU (Chair); Arne Almquist, NKU; Larry Besant, Morehead; Mike Binder, WKU; Janet Brewer, Murray; Karen McDaniel, KSU; Hannelore Rader, U of L, Larry Rees, KCTCS
Guests:
Kandace Rogers, UK; Barbara Brazis, ProQuest
Absent:
Mary Molinaro, UK
  1. Welcome and Introduction of Special Guest:
    • Kandace Rogers, UK, Chair of the SAALCK Virtual Reference Task Force.
  2. Lunch:
    • Provided by University of Louisville
  3. Approval of Minutes of February 7th Meeting.
  4. Next Meeting at WKU:
    • Binder discussed the upcoming SAALCK meeting at WKU. The meeting will be held on Friday, April 11th. The WKU Libraries will provide lunch and a tour of the main library, Helm-Cravens, and the Kentucky Museum. Attendance at the Authors' Reception will be provided for those who decide to stay overnight (Binder says his office will cover the fee of $50 per person so provision can only be for one representative per institution). The following day, Saturday, the Southern Kentucky Festival of Books--presented by Binder's WKU Libraries in partnership with the Bowling Green Public Library and Barnes & Noble--will be held at the Bowling Green Convention Center (for which admission is free).
    • Participants at the Festival include Avi, David Baldacci and Robert Morgan, among the 200 authors signed up for the event. Several high quality author and panel presentations are scheduled including some being filmed by C-SPAN BookTV. More details will be provided by Binder between now and the meeting.
  5. VLAC Update (Rader):
    • Rader was pleased to note that the new KYVL Director, Enid Wohlstein sits with VLAC rather than attending as a guest. This sends a positive message to the other members of the Committee. At the March 7th meeting, Rader asked Wohlstein to produce a set of updated goals for the group. She also asked about the status of funding for databases. Wohlstein answered that planning is underway and that numbers are not yet available.
    • Rabuzzi reported KYVU usage statistics. Approximately 72% of registration is from KCTCS, 11-12% are adult continuing ed. students, 4-5% are from the Educational Standards Board (P-12 personnel), and 11-12% are from 4 year institutions.
    • KYVL is very focused and we are very confident as we move into the year to come. Besant indicated that it is important that we have advance knowledge of financial issues and that KYVL must avoid surprises.
  6. HarpWeek Update (Almquist):
    • Almquist indicated that he had received letters from each of the Universities that are members of SAALCK as well as from a number of private institutions. NKU Library's Grants Officer is putting together the formal proposal and the next step is to arrange an in-person meeting where the proposal can be presented to the Executive Director of SAALCK. Almquist reminded the group that HarpWeek representatives plan to attend. The group felt that all interested SAALCK Directors' Council members should be able to attend. Almquist will schedule a meeting time/date.
  7. GCLC (Almquist):
    • Almquist related information from discussions that he had with Michael McCoy, Executive Director of GCLC. McCoy indicated that GCLC is very interested in serving as our fiscal agent. The initial relationship would concentrate only on fiscal agency with GCLC opening a bank account in SAALCK's name, providing accounting services, and a Kentucky mailing address. Costs were estimated to be very moderate. Van Orsdel suggested that we wait to do this until we have a report from the Collection Development Committee listing items for which we would like to obtain licensing. We may also want to invite McCoy to a future SAALCK meeting to discuss this further.
  8. Virtual Reference Report (Rogers):
    • The Virtual Reference Task Force looked at a number of virtual reference packages and chose two: DocuTek (DT) and OCLC's QuestionPoint (QP). The task force examined the benefits and drawbacks of each. QP allows management of both e-mail and chat reference. The program comes in a basic and an enhanced version. Both can push pages to the patron, although the basic version pushes only static pages. The program does require that an applet be loaded by the patron for advanced features and there was some concern about this. The applet is not currently available for the MacIntosh. It was pointed out that most products do require some sort of applet. Some software also allows remote control of the patron's desktop. The instructional possibilities for QP caused UK to select it as their virtual reference product of choice.
    • Q Does the basic system have this functionality? A: No. It does include chat and the ability to send static pages but doesn't allow interaction. The enhanced version allows interaction. Also, the global knowledge base comes only with the enhanced version. The basic version includes the local knowledge base. Over time, the knowledge base grows from questions that are answered through QP. This allows reference people to quickly access information from earlier queries.
    • The ASERL deadline for the 40% discount has been pushed back. We believe that the discounted cost for the enhanced version is $2,400. This is a subscription, so the cost is per year. The 40% discount is available for the first year. We don't know what future costs would be. Binder and Rogers pointed out that the software cost is only one issue. The staffing issue is more problematic.
    • UK is buying the enhanced version of QP. U of L will be switching to it from the product that they are currently using. UK is setting up the service on a pilot basis this summer, probably from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. Almquist indicated that NKU will also be adopting QP. At UK, chat will be used to build visibility to undergrad students. QP does not have a required number of "seats." You can have as many librarians on the system as you need. Besant asked about QP interfacing with Blackboard. Rogers will check to see how this would work.
    • SOLINET is working to provide training for ASERL. Hopefully the SAALCK libraries may be able to participate as well. A live demo for the SAALCK Directors' Council may be possible.
    • The task force identified four critical issues:
      1. Hours
      2. Local questions (assignment/institution-specific questions)
      3. Training
      4. Coordination
    • Rogers pointed out that the chat service provides a way to provide outreach to Google-dependent undergrads who may have never set foot in a physical library.
    • ASERL's plans are available as a report on www.aserl.org. ASERL has identified the same basic concerns as our task force.
    • Van Orsdel stated that we need to tackle the issues. She asked about additional information needed and what the process should be. In answer, Binder suggested that the report from the task force be considered a preliminary report. He suggested that each institution needs to gain experience on an individual basis then come back to the table to carry on discussion. He also asked why DT rose to be selected as one of the two products selected by the task force.
    • Rogers answered that DT has made a number of advancements over the period of consideration that caused it to advance in the rankings. The product was considerably improved and gained functionality. Van Orsdel stated that while it appears that DT may have been slightly favored, the committee may have been swayed by ASERL adoption and the credibility of SOLINET/OCLC.
    • Binder reported that WKU has adopted the enhanced version of DT. Their service will be set up as a night service, catering to distance learning students. WKU is upgrading a paraprofessional reference position to serve as a dedicated virtual reference specialist. There will also be one backup person.
    • Besant agreed that a two stage approach is the correct one. We still need to answer some questions, such as interfacing with Blackboard, staffing, etc.
    • Rees asked if this is a faddish thing. Is it a solution in search of a need? Are there statistics that support instituting such a service? Rader answered that in her library's experience, demand grows once students find out that it is available. Both the volume and the quality of questions keeps growing. It is also a very good vehicle for Distance Ed. Van Orsdel emphasized that Rees' question was a legitimate one that has been raised in the literature. Binder suggested that extended campus (distance ed.) learners are currently well served, in terms of materials, by courier, document delivery, etc.. The missing piece is reference service and this product provides that. However, we do need local experience before beginning a collaborative effort.
    • Van Orsdel suggested that we table the discussion for the time being and take it up again in the fall or late summer once institutions have individual experience with the service and that there was not much value in pushing further at this time. She further stated that we could probably do this in the next year once we gain experience. All agreed. Van Orsdel then asked those present to recognize the efforts of Rogers and her group. This was affirmed. The task force's work is finished.
  9. ProQuest (Brazis):
    • Barbara Brazis of ProQuest presented general information on the company's products and talked generally about possibilities for consortial arrangements. Ongoing projects at the company include digitization of microform collections and digitization of dissertations/theses. The latter is done at the request of individual universities and there is a charge to the requestor. Digitized dissertations and theses are then made available through Dissertation Abstracts full-text. The process is customer-driven rather than a methodical progression through the universe of dissertations/theses.
    • Rader asked about availability of the Louisville Courier-Journal. Brazis indicated that there is currently a rights issue. McDaniel asked about ethnic papers, such as the Louisville Defender. KSU currently has the complete run on microfilm and hard copy. Brazis will talk to her colleagues about this.
    • Brazis indicated that a number of resources are being added to ABI/Inform, including full text of the Wall Street Journal from its origin to 1986. The ABI/Inform Archive is a full-image, full run collection of journals with links to JSTOR. It can be purchased on a one-time basis. ProQuest is also adding Hoover's Company Information to the ABI full-text product. This will include company profiles and company capsules.
  10. May Meeting: We will meet on Friday, May 9th at the University Club, University of Louisville.

Respectfully submitted by Arne J. Almquist

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