2003/2004 UNIVERSITY LIBRARY COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes

January 29, 2004

PRESENT: Deb Carver, Dan Falk, Carol Hixson (Head, Metadata & Digital Library Services), Judith Musick, Dan Pope, Margaret Prentice, Rennard Strickland, Mark Watson (Associate University Librarian for Collections and Access), Ray Weldon.

Due to the absence of Chair V. Burris, Deb Carver convened the meeting at 8:35 a.m.

CONSULTANT FOR SPECIAL COLLECTIONS & UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
Deb reported that Bill Crowe, former Dean of Libraries at the University of Kansas and currently the Spencer Librarian at the Research Library at Kansas, visited the library this past Monday and Tuesday, meeting with library staff to help evaluate the priorities and services in Special Collections and University Archives. Deb thanked Dan Pope and Judith Musick for their participation in the process. The main focus will be promoting the collection to our faculty. It is also important to find the resources to help process the backlog of materials. It was suggested that we consider using graduate students as processors. She said this “mini program review” was very productive and that the library may use this kind of evaluative model for other areas in the library.

CATALOG REORGANIZATION
Deb announced that the Catalog Department has a new name and structure. Carol Hixson, head of the department, gave an overview of Metadata and Digital Library Services responsibilities. The department continues to catalog material, but also assists members of the UO community with organizing collections of materials and making them more widely available. The department also has responsibility for coordinating digital library projects. There are several digitizing projects currently underway, including “Picturing the Cayuse, Walla Walla, and Umatilla Tribes” and the “Historic Photograph Collection.” A number of projects are also in the planning stages, such as the Aerial Photograph Collection, Medieval Manuscripts, and Western Waters, which is a digital collection relating to the waters of the West. To learn more about this department, see http://libweb.uoregon.edu/catdept/home/.

Deb asked the committee how the library can get the word out to the campus community about these kinds of services the library provides. Several suggestions were provided:
· Cooperative venture with a department to work on a specific collection
· Provide a seminar on a particular collection to the disciplines that would have the most interest.
· Work with existing Centers for grant-funded projects to process/digitize collections.
· Create a demo CD, highlighting the collections, and give to campus departments.

CAMPAIGN UPDATE
Deb announced that the library has raised $5 million for the campaign, which is half of the library’s $10 million goal. She is very pleased with our fundraising efforts. Richard and Mary Solari have funded the newly endowed University Historian & Archivist position. There are two more positions that the library is hoping to endow – MAP/GIS Librarian and Photography Curator.

ICC FUNDING
Deb reported that Library ICC funding (grant overhead dollars distributed to departments) has traditionally been a flat amount of $350,000. Deb is working with Rich Linton/Research Services to provide the library a percentage rather than a dollar amount. We are hoping for 3%, which would help fund several core resources.

OPEN ACCESS JOURNALS
Deb reported that Open Access, a non-subscription based model to journal access, is gaining a great deal of momentum. The vision behind OA is to provide free, widespread access to journals. She would like the ULC to discuss at its next meeting how the library can get the faculty involved in promoting/supporting Open Access. She suggested the members read the January 30, 2004 article on OA in the Chronicle of Higher Education to prepare for that discussion.

FAXON/ROWECOM BANKRUPTY UPDATE
Mark Watson distributed and reviewed the following memo on the Faxon/RoweCom bankruptcy:

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1/29/04

MEMORANDUM

To: University Library Committee

From: Mark Watson, Associate University Librarian for Collections & Access
Faye Chadwell, Head, Collection Development & Acquisitions

Subject: Faxon/RoweCom Bankruptcy Update

Background:
The UO Libraries utilize several vendors to help manage its thousands of serial subscriptions. Funds are paid to the vendor who in turn handles contacts, orders, claiming, etc. with the myriad of publishers.

After having placed over $415,000.00 in prepaid orders for several thousand titles with Faxon/Rowecom in November and December 2002, the company subsequently filed for bankruptcy in January 2003. All told, approximately $73 million in prepaid orders from libraries across the country disappeared into the coffers of a financially ailing parent company (divine, Inc.). In February 2003, the bankruptcy court established a procedure by which each of the customers that prepaid for subscriptions could assign its claim against Faxon/RoweCom to the publishers that were willing to “grace” content even though they had not received payment. Lawyers representing the libraries involved believe that this arrangement had the effect of shifting about $45 million of the $73 million in library claims to the gracing publishers. Additionally, RoweCom completed a sale of substantially all of its assets to EBSCO—another large serial subscription vendor used by the UO Libraries.

Next Steps:
The next step in the process will be to verify a dollar figure that RoweCom believes represents the UO Libraries claim against its estate, taking into account the graced content provided by participating publishers. This process will begin once the debtor files its Second Omnibus Objection to Claims some time in February 2004. According to Christopher J. Panos, the lawyer from Craig and Macauley Professional Corporation who provided an update at the ALA Midwinter in San Diego, in the best case scenario, excluding any claims against directors and officers Faxon/RoweCom and divine, Inc., the range of recovery would be around 25 cents on the dollar. For example, if the ratio of total library to total publisher claims ($73M/$45M) holds true for the UO Libraries ($415K/$259K), the library would stand to collect about $65,000.00 from the settlement.

Summary:
The process of verifying the UO Libraries claim against Faxon/RoweCom, as stated in the forthcoming Second Omnibus Objection, will be difficult and time consuming. Allowing for the time needed to work through this and other legal processes, resolution of the case and reimbursement of some amount to the library is probably still at least six months away.

Q & A:
Q. How many titles did the $415,000.00 represent?
A. Approximately 1,350 serial titles.

Q. How much content was provided to the UO by participating publishers?
A. The Library estimates that approximately 616 titles or roughly 45% of the content may have been received.

Q. How has business with EBSCO changed because of the bankruptcy?
A. In 2003, the Library paid about $833,000.00 for the majority of its subscription renewals with this vendor. For 2004 renewals, the Library will pay EBSCO over $1,136,000.00 for existing and transferred subscriptions.

Q. What will the Library do with any money reimbursed through the settlement of the Faxon/RoweCom estate?
A. Current thinking is that these funds would be applied toward the purchase of replacement issues and backsets. Of course, there is no guarantee that gaps can be filled given the length of time that has passed.

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Deb asked the group for their thoughts on whether the library should spend its own money on trying to acquire the missing journals. The worse case scenario is that some journals may have one year or more of lost content. It may also be that publishers do not have back issues to fill the gaps. The committee feels that the library should not pay a second time to acquire the journals. It was suggested to try to get faculty to contribute their personal copies to replace the missing issues. Deb also stated that some of the missing content is available online. The committee asked that a list of missing titles be provided to them, if possible.

Dan F. asked if it might be possible to fill gaps by asking publishers to supply electronic copies of missing issues, either in lieu of, or as substitutes, for the print issues if they are no longer available. Deb suggested that library staff have more conversations about this suggestion.

SERIALS REVIEW
Mark distributed a copy of the January 16 memo that was sent to department heads and departmental representatives outlining the next steps for the serials review. The memo can be found at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/colldev/review04/memo040116.html. The review process is also linked to this page. Most departments have already identified titles to be cut, but are being asked to review their lists one more time before the library completes the cancellations in May. The library has $3.5 million in serial subscriptions. Each year, our base budget decreases and serial prices increase. The library would need an additional $300,000 each year to cover the inflationary costs.

The library will no longer have serials cancellations every few years. That process is very time consuming, both for departments and the library. Instead, there will be a constant review of journal titles. Library staff will look at use statistics, look for possible databases to cut, investigate electronic only for some journals, etc. These suggestions would then be presented to departments for consideration.

Several steps are underway to try to maintain as much access as possible to research materials. OSU and UO libraries are establishing a shared collection of serial titles. Orbis Cascade Consortium is working to ensure that all journals would be through at least one of its member libraries. More group purchases will be done within the consortium.

Deb emphasized that these strategies do not address the long-term affects of increasing serials costs. Another model, whether it be Open Access or something else, must be implemented. Another area that Dan F. would like to see addressed is how to lower the prices for “works in progress.” Deb responded that a way to make works in progress available to researchers might be through Institutional Repositories.

INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORIES

Carol Hixson gave an update on the progress of the library’s institutional repository, “Scholars’ Bank.” IR’s are long-term digital archives on campuses. The goal is to have the authors deposit their own work, choosing keywords, etc. Currently, there are 95 titles loaded in Scholars’ Bank. The library would like to see conference papers deposited into Scholars' Bank. Departments hosting conferences on campus might consider having their speakers/presenters consider posting their papers on the IR. To learn more about Scholars’ Bank, see http://libweb.uoregon.edu/catdept/irg/AboutSB.html.

NEXT MEETING
The next ULC meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 1, 9:00 a.m. in the Rowe Conference Room.

Submitted by
Sheila Gray