November 8, 2002

Attending: Liz Bagley, Charles Beard, Pat Borck, Carol Bray, Ray Calvert, Byron Drew, Kim Eccles, Bob Fox, Kathy Gallo, George Gaumond, Debbie Holmes (chair), Charlene Hurt, Lynn Kelly, Marilyn Lary, Ben Lee, Kay Lowry, Harriett Mayo, Callie McGinnis, LaVerne McLaughlin, Marilyn Miller, Joyce Mills, Bede Mitchell, Bill Nelson, Bill Richards, Paul Robards, Gene Ruffin, Brenda Sellers, Vera Weisskopf. Ex Officio: Merryll Penson. Guests: Richard Sutton

RACL met in the Georgia Center for Continuing Education at the

University of Georgia. Debbie Holmes of Floyd College, chair of RACL, presided. The meeting began at 10 a.m.

University System Report

Dr. Richard Sutton, Director of International Programs & Senior Advisor to Academic Affairs, gave the report from the University System. He discussed the reorganization of the central office with the departure of Vice Chancellor Papp.

With regard to the budget, the System anticipates another rollback in the range of .5% to 3%, but with the election of a new Governor, uncertainty is even greater. The FY04 request does not include funding for new programs, but there could be some growth due to formula adjustment.

Dr. Sutton reviewed the status of the Regents Strategic Plan and the report on the University System, scheduled to be released by the Office of Educational Accountability. Again, the results of the election may affect planning at several levels.

Dr. Sutton mentioned that a System wide committee is studying the USA PATRIOT Act to determine what if any steps are required by University System institutions. Bill Potter (UGA) and Merryll Penson (USG) are RACL members serving on this committee.

Statistics

George Gaumond (VSU) discussed library statistics. Two years ago, we sent our statistics to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), which is about to release a web site that will allow peer comparisons. NCES is about to undertake Academic Library Survey 2002 and we will need to complete the forms online between November 6 and February 14. Dr. Gaumond suggested that the Statistics Committee, which was appointed in 1999, be reactivated to look at whether we can use the NCES site rather than our own printed statistics. Rich Meyer (GIT) suggested that the committee also look at licensing the ACRL package for $200. Dr. Gaumond distributed the copy of the compiled library statistics that will appear in the University System Information Digest.

HBCU Conference

SOLINET recently hosted a conference for library directors at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). LaVerne McLaughlin (Albany State) and Mary Jo Fayoyin (Savannah State) attended and they reported that this was the first time these librarians have assembled. Over 100 institutions were represented, including the 1890 Land Grants. Our own Merryll Penson served as the facilitator of the meeting. Issues discussed included preservation, funding, inventory of collections, recruitment, statistics, information technology, campus visibility, joint grants, needs assessment, and best practices. The possibility of a joint meeting with HBCU presidents was also discussed. In all, it was an excellent meeting.

GIL/GALILEO

Ray Calvert (CGCC) gave the report for the GIL Steering Committee which met recently. Topics discussed included functional committee charges, using virtual meeting software, and Knowledgebase. The GIL Users Group is planned for May 21, 2003 at Macon State College.

Merryll Penson, Executive Director of Library Services for the University System, reported on the status of various projects and programs.

• There are still problems with de-dupping in the GIL Universal Catalog. There is a GIL UC FAQ that discusses these problems. The UC is sometimes very slow and the cause has not yet been discovered.
• GIL Universal Borrowing (UB) is going well for walk-in traffic with heavy use in the Atlanta area. Rich Meyer remarked that he found the UB statistics very useful and asked how often they came out. After discussion, it was decided that they should be posted quarterly.
• Billing for GIL has been delayed because of problems getting reliable figures form Sun Computer Systems on maintenance costs. Billing should go out shortly.
• The GALILEO Collection Committee will once again compare ProQuest and EbscoHost to determine the best arrangement of databases for the funds we have available.
• GALILEO will undertake the annual user survey beginning November 12.
• The GALILEO Local Resource Integration project is currently in beta testing. This will allow a library to integrate databases acquired locally into the GALILEO menuing system. Merryll reported that GALILEO staff are also looking at linking products and federated searching software, such as SFX, Metalib, Encompass, and WebFeat.
• Methods for linking WebCT pages to Ebsco and other GALILEO databases are being investigated.
• Merryll reported that Ken Williams, husband of Jayne Williams, who played an active role in the establishment of GALILEO, is very ill. All expressed considerable concern and sent their best wishes and thoughts to Ken and Jayne.

Computer Security

Given the widespread concern about computer security, the RACL Executive Committee discussed what libraries should do to balance the need for security with the privacy of our patrons. The Executive Committee asked Debbie Holmes, Charles Beard (SUWG), and Bill Potter to meet with Randall Thursby, Vice Chancellor for OIIT, to discuss. They did so and found him to be understanding. They stressed that the state law that protects the privacy of patrons borrowing books suggests that similar protections should be extended to online activities. To that end, they proposed that libraries be given the option of allowing patrons to log on anonymously as guests when they wished to search the web or use GALILEO databases. Randall was agreeable to this with the understanding that legal or policy developments may require stricter controls. Following discussion, it was also stressed that demand for scarce resources may cause libraries to require that patrons log-in.

Tour of UGA Student Learning Center

Following lunch, Bill Potter conducted a tour of the Student Learning Center, UGA’s newest library facility, which is combination classroom building and electronic teaching library. Florence King from UGA, who will be responsible for the library portion of this building, joined the group for the tour.

Respectfully submitted,

William Gray Potter
Secretary of RACL