The meeting was convened by Dr. Alan Grant, chair, at 4:00 p.m. in the McAfee Tower Conference Room.

Present: Rosemary Buck, Mahmood Butt, Ian Davis, Steve Davis, Alan Grant, Richard Jacques,  Newton Key, Allen Lanham, Peter Loewen, Charles Phillips, Jeff Stowell, John Weber

Absent: Melanie Burns, Marilyn Lisowski, Matthew Monippallil

I. Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the November 15, 2000 meeting were approved.

II. Communications

E-mail communication was received from Newton Key correcting a statement made during the November 15, 2000, Library Advisory Board meeting. The discussion was about the PT3 mini grants requiring Apple-based applications. Newton Key contacted Brian Reid who indicated that the grants do not require Apple-based applications.

III. Old Business

Newton Key expressed appreciation for the enhancement of the music CD collection, particularly the jazz collection. Allen Lanham added that the African-American Studies department is looking for funds to purchase the PBS Jazz Series videos as presented recently on WILL television. Alan Grant questioned whether they would be made available digitally.

IV. New Business

Ian Davis asked if the resources on the library�s web site would be updated in the near future. Allen Lanham explained that the Library Services Committee and the Web Development Committee constantly make changes to the site. In addition, the use of electronic resources necessitates the process to remain up-to-date, and a faculty member is assigned to keep the site current. Dean Lanham asked the student to bring specific suggestions to the attention of the web master or send a note to the Ask a Librarian e-mail on the web site.

Alan Grant recently went through the journal list for his subject area and was prepared to delete journals that are currently available online. The subject bibliographer for his area cautioned him not to eliminate the subscriptions unless they can determine over time that the journal will remain available online and for an affordable price. Lanham added that the databases that offer these journals are vendor-driven. The closer the vendor is to the publisher, the more likely the electronic journal format is stable. However, databases are negotiated yearly, and can vary. Rosemary Buck asked if we could expect to eventually be totally online. Dr. Lanham explained that not all resources are suited for electronic format, but he felt electronic formats will continue to grow. Mahmood Butt asked about the cost factor of electronic versus print. Dr. Lanham explained there was no discount for electronic forms; for example, access to a book on NetLibrary costs approximately 150 percent of the print version.

Newton Key asked about an online version of the cards used to order books. Dr. Lanham explained that the cards are only one vehicle to transmit information to the bibliographer. You can also send an e-mail or send a copy of a page from a catalog circling the item(s) you want ordered. Newton Key added you can obtain the ISBN numbers, titles, etc., by utilizing Amazon.com, as well. Dr. Lanham encouraged the department library coordinators to do whatever is easiest for them in providing the information to the subject librarians.

Newton Key recently discovered that Bell and Howell plan to sell sections of Early English Books Online individually. Dr. Lanham explained that EEBO is very expensive to utilize. The University of Illinois does offer EEBO, but you have to go there to utilize it. Eastern does have consortial arrangements that provide many items online, but he does not expect that EIU will be able to offer EEBO. Dr. Lanham mentioned he would bring this issue to the attention of our consortial partners.

V. Dean�s Report

Human Resources Issues

Catherine J. (C. J. ) Wong has been hired as a reference librarian replacing Virginia Baldwin who left to go to the University of Nebraska as head of their engineering library. C. J. is serving as the bibliographer for physics, chemistry and economics.

Ann Hudson has been hired as the new secretary to administration. Ann will begin her work on March 1. She will serve as the secretary/recorder for the Library Advisory Board.

Budgetary Issues

Library Services recently underwent a budgetary exercise to identify funds for the annualization of faculty salaries. One of the two open professional positions in the library has been earmarked to be utilized to fund this initiative.

Jill Nilsen, Vice President for External Relations, has agreed to approach the president regarding a fund-raising campaign to enhance the budget for the furnishings for the renovated library. The hope is to be able to solicit support from the small number of Master of Library Science graduates, as well as canvassing university faculty and staff and alumni. This will provide an opportunity to those who want to help. Rosemary Buck asked how much money the dean was hoping to receive. Dr. Lanham indicated that no set dollar amount had been determined, but he wanted the Advisory Board to know of his intentions and hopes the campaign will help raise awareness of the need. The campaign plan is to announce the news of the renovated library and include with the announcement a donation card for their use, if they are so inclined.

Planning

The renovation continues to take significant time and attention. Many of the library�s faculty and staff were able to tour the renovation project. The reopening of the renovated library is still on target with the opening planned for January 2002. Ian Davis asked about the manpower to move the library back. Dean Lanham explained that the process will be the same as the move out. A firm will be contracted with to move the books. It is possible that the firm will look to hire local personnel to assist with the move. It is assumed at this time that the EIU movers will be responsible for moving all furnishings, etc., that will be moved from their current locations back into the renovated library.

Dean Lanham shared with the Library Advisory Board various samples of the fabrics and carpet swatches along with picture examples of the various furnishings under consideration. Recently, library faculty and staff completed a questionnaire regarding the furniture being considered that was recently on display in the main library at McAfee. The results of those surveys will be used by the Holabird and Root design team to guide their choices in furnishings. Rosemary Buck asked how many vendors would be utilized. Dr. Lanham explained that the number of vendors would not be known until the bidding process has been completed. There were approximately eight vendors who participated in the vendor show. The current library furnishings that will not be utilized in the renovated library will be returned to the state for redistribution.

The contractors have been busy cleaning the stone both inside and out on the renovated building. In addition, Facilities Planning and Management will replace the roof on the north building and will be changing some of the windowpanes, as well. The crane is in place that will be utilized to open the roof for the atrium in March, weather permitting.

Dean Lanham encouraged the board to attend the open session for the Technology-Enhanced and -Delivered Education (TEDE) planned for 8:00 a.m. in the Physical Science room 332. The number of faculty in attendance at the first two sessions was very low, and the third session had only a small amount of faculty in attendance, as well. Feedback from the open sessions will be accepted by the committee through March 2. After that time, the committee will review the feedback and prepare its recommendation to the Interim Provost who will, in turn, provide the President with a recommendation supporting one of the models or a variation of the models presented. Model B has an extremely negative impact on Library Services. Models A and C would be more desirable for Library Services.

John Whisler, Head, Cataloging Services, is serving as Eastern�s representative to the committee that is looking for another provider for online cataloging services. To date, six companies have submitted bids.

Library Advocacy Day is set for Wednesday, April 18, 2001 in Springfield. This is a once-a-year opportunity to meet with legislators and have them concentrate on the important work of libraries, inform them of the challenges we face, and make them aware of our funding needs. The April meeting of the Library Advisory Board is scheduled for the same day. Dean Lanham will need to travel to Springfield for the event, and has asked to change the date of the April meeting. In addition, he invited any members of the Library Advisory Board to attend the event with him. Members were asked to let Dr. Lanham know if they wanted to attend. A decision to set an alternative meeting date for the April meeting will be determined during the March 21 board meeting.

Other

Dean Lanham distributed copies of the Patron Satisfaction Survey. The survey will be discussed at the next meeting of the board.

A draft of a letter to be sent to faculty regarding severely overdue/presumed lost materials was discussed. There are over 1,000 items that are several months to several years overdue from faculty members. Students with overdue books are billed a late fee; however, faculty are not. Faculty must be cleared by the library before separating from the university, at which time the books are either accounted for or paid for. The letter being drafted is intended to encourage the process of being able to keep the collection accounted for and to return to the shelves any materials no longer being utilized by the faculty members so that the materials are available for other patrons� use. The board encouraged the utilization of this type of notification for faculty with severely overdue/presumed lost materials. Dr. Key wondered if our system had any way of knowing if someone was looking for one of these books that has been missing from circulation. Dean Lanham explained that if the system checks for library materials and if they are not available at EIU, it automatically requests the materials from another institution within the ILCSO group.

Representatives from Gateway will be meeting with Dean Lanham, Nackil Sung, and Ron Phillips (ITS) on Friday, March 9. It is hoped that they will be interested in sponsoring an area in the renovated library.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 5:07 p.m.

Next meeting will be on Wednesday, March 21 at 4:00 p.m. in the Tower Conference Room.

Peggy Manley, Acting Recording Secretary